heddy's Site

Yesterday was mother's day. "It is a secular celebration but let us spiritualized our intention......." from the homily of Father Joel Baes DCC. I was the commentator during the mass. At the service, I coordinated well with the celebrator, co- lectors, choir and participants. I felt proud to have done the job well. I was very happy to be that close to the altar and doing my small service to the church.
Yesterday was a day well spent because of the many warm-hearted text messages and greetings from friends and family. My children who were either in Quezon City, Zambales, Seattle and Coventry tried to reach me as early as possible. I got Martha's beautiful email Saturday night. She was going to Zambales for an excursion and she sent me a beautiful picture and letter the night before. She also texted me a greeting while in Zambales. Marion in UK, could not be outdone. She sent me a heart warming email, as well as a text message from her roaming phone, even though it was not mother's day in England. Roy in USA contacted me through chat and I was happy to talk to him. I knew Tom and Angel greeted me first thing when they woke up in the morning. And maybe Emil, the first thing he did when he remembered the occasion :) Anyway, even without this promotional day of celebrating. I knew they all love me!!!
In the morning, I had light snacks with Lucas and friends Siolan and James Yap. There were also lots of people with their families celebrating.
Late in the afternoon, after my nap and taichi, my sister Jeannette surprised me by coming over. Friend and neighbor KianHua came too. We had supper together. Aside from the usual Sunday's fare, I served ngo hiong and sweet corn for our meal. After supper, my sister-in-law Tina came over to chat with us. I further served Pinoy sorbetes ice cream for dessert. A really nice day for celebrating.
Most importantly for this occasion, let us not forget the greatest mom of all - the Mother of our Savior and of all humankind too.

It all began last year when one of our employees had a freak accident. He was sucked up and got electrocuted from a misplaced high tension wire. Boyet, our warehouseman survived the horrible accident but he would need months maybe years of medical care and hospitalization. He may even become incapacitated for life.
Aside from the accident, another sad news followed. Abelardo, our top parts man, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor on the upper nape of his head. He must go to Davao City for radio active and chemotherapy treatments. (Abe is still at the prime of his life and his children are all young and needing him.) He asked for leave to be treated in Davao City.
After Abe's sickness, a third unfortunate thing happened. Our family driver Alvin was suddenly stricken with a mild stroke. We got to know later that Alvin lived a very unhealthy after-work life style of drinking, smoking and eating too much salty food.
Although LCT the establishment and my husband and other family members extended financial help and other personal supports, yet with all these unfortunate events occurring and coming too soon one after the other, it made us all feel helpless and sad. Our sympathy and aid may come in handy but I knew I had to do something else. I began to offer prayers. Everyday I offered a decade of rosary for those who were sick. I specially mentioned their names for healing. 
Then there were more:
- Norma Ngo, the sister-in-law of Jean (one of our trusted secretaries) was rushed to Davao for fear of gangrene. Her open wound on the foot was not healing for months despite treatment of antibiotics. Doctors here in Cotabato were dropping hints of amputation.
- Our retired parish priest Father Gerry Tiagga, DDC who had Parkinson disease was becoming very weak.
- The mother of my close friend Anita Go in Manila was bedridden due to a fall.
- My former classmate and volunteer fireman Mike Sy fell from a roof top during a fire duty in Cotabato. His fall caused partial paralysis and he was rushed to Davao and was later airlifted to Manila.
- My former classmate Ernesto T. Lim had reoccurring pains after being discharged from the hospital. He had just undergone a liver operation at St. Luke Hospital, QC.

The list of names included in my prayers were becoming longer and longer..................but I was seeing a good progress from the people I was praying for:

1. Norma Ngo was discharged from Davao Hospital and her wound started to heal.
2. Boyet was transfered to the care of Dr. Leopoldo Lugtu. He was discharged after several months in the hospital. Although his burns were not completely healed yet but his physical condition was now stable. He could continue his medication as an out-patient. He came to the store to visit a month ago in crutches. His worst burns were on the scalp and feet. He was still in pain but he was able to move around.
3. Abelardo finished his treatments in Davao City. He came back with a good fighting spirit and continued to work at the store.
4. Alvin took medication and went through physical therapy and rehabilitation. He came back to the store after 3 months. He was given light duty inside the store. He seemed to have recovered quickly though. He could not wait to be driving again.
5. The ladies of the church visited Father Tiagga at his residence hall in Queen of Peace Church. He was cheerful, lucid and looking good. Everybody commended him for a good physical appearance and aura. I was the first one who jokingly said. "Father nagpogi ka yata ah!"
6. I got to visit the mother of Anita Go while I was in Manila. And according to my friend, her mother was feeling much better after she was fitted with a lighter body and hip brace jacket which they bought at Divisoria Market. At her age (90 plus) she was mentally keen, talkative and in high spirit that day when Imelda, Arthuro and I visited her.
7. Mike Sy, after the fall went into medication and physical rehabilitation program. Although not quite fully recovered but he was up and about. He walked with a limp but or else he could get up and walked. He even attended school functions as a member of the school board.
8. We did not get to hear any more bad new from our classmate Ernesto Lim. He must be recovering I hope.

My prayers are not however over yet. I have to add many more names. I have now included Elena Yu Ekey, Johnny W. Tan, Suan Aie Siao Rosete, Chua Yu Beng and many others.
I may not have done any great things in my life but maybe I can help my neighbors and friends with prayers. (Faintly just like St. Therese of the Child Jesus.) I hope they get relief from their pains, and may they all get well soon.
God, please bless my family and my love ones too. Keep us safe and healthy.

The month of May spells "Flores de Mayo" This is my story:

When Roy was about 5 years old, my husband and I agreed to sign in our first born child for the summer catechism class called "Flores de Mayo". But during his first day of attendance at Queen of Peace Church, I was peering down at him from the windows of the City Health Building where my youngest son Emil was confined due to amoebiasis. From the window I saw my husband brought and fetched Roy and his cousin Jocelyn from classes. I was so down and depressed because Emil was sick. I turned to prayers and offered them to the blessed mother. Thankfully, my 6-month-old baby got well. Roy continued his catechism, and my husband and I became attached and supportive of the program ever since. At the end of the month, we proudly attended the culminating activity and fiesta mass where Roy was chosen by the Oblates Sisters as Prince Constantino to Clarissa Barrios who was the Reyna Elena.

When it was time for Tom to participate, I was asked by the MMLC (ladies organization) to enter Tom in the fiesta pageant. I sold tickets to win him a third place in the pageantry. Unluckily Tom had a mishap and sprained his ankle. Emil the younger brother happily took his place. During the coronation, despite Emil being the youngest and smallest  participant; his brave stride and winsome smile captured everybody's heart and attention. I remember Susan Sy fondly calling him "The little prince charming"
 
Few summers later, Tom finally took his place in another pageantry. I sold tickets to land him in another third place in our church fund raising activity. It was a bigger event. The coronation was done inside the CCI gym instead of the church compound. My Tomas was good looking. I was proud of him. He was the most helpful and gentlemanly escort of the group.

Not all summers were spent in Cotabato though. We would be in many other places but every time when May arrived, I would be comforted at the thought that the blessed Mother was with us. Most specially I had entrusted my children to her care.

For during all these random times of May while the children were growing up and I was struggling with my own personal formation, I did not forget to give what I had. For aside from the fund raising affairs, I brought my children (including the twins) to know about their God. They attended catechism classes with mostly many other children from the poorer section of society. Three of them received their first communion at the Queen of Peace Church. And they were also confirmed at different times during the fiesta. As parents, we religiously followed and supported all these church activities, as I quietly offered my children to God as flowers to our blessed Mother. My "Flores de Mayo."

A lot of people ask me what do I do these days. Well, I am preoccupied everyday :) Here's my schedule of activities for today:
1. Wake up at 7 AM
2. Breakfast at 7:30 .... two pieces skinless pork longaniza, one egg, two slices of local baguette and two cups of green tea.
3. Check my email at 8:00 o'clock. Nothing much.
4. Prepare ingredients for pinsik (fried dumplings) at 8:15 AM. Find out I need some more wanton wrappers.
5. Call up my bank after 9:00 o'clock and get a call from Siolan.
6. Walk to South Sea's Mall to get wanton wrappers and other grocery needs at 9:30 AM. The walk is good exercise but sun is so hot. I use an umbrella though.
7. Get back home at 10:20 AM to finish preparing my pinsik. The family cook fry my preparation.
8. Use the internet. By the time I am done, it is already 11:00 AM
9. Play the piano to while the time
10. Lunch  with Lucas at 11:45
11. Noon break from 12 to 2PM
12. Do a 15 minute exercise and open the computer.
13. Go to the store office at 3 PM to read the papers and get acquainted with the tsismis (gossips) of the day.
14. Get back to the kitchen to talk to the cook before 4 PM and help prepare one vian (saute diced preserved radish with ground pork and eggs) Divide the food into three sections for distribution: for Lucio & Conchita, for Luna & Tina and for Lucas & Heddy.
15. Do crossword puzzle for the day until the store starts to close at 5 PM
16. Play the piano again while Lucas watches local TV news after 5 PM
17. Supper at 6 o'clock
18. Say my rosary and other prayers after supper
19. Do personal chores
20. Watch American Idol at 8:00 and other tv shows.
21. Write my blog at ten
22. Watch more tv shows, read papers and comic books before going to bed.
That's all folks :)

I am spending a quiet laid back holy week, observing most of the Catholic religious rites of my parish such as:
1. Attending mass on Holy Thursday
2. Participating a half hour vigil on the repository of the blessed sacrament after the mass
3. Doing the way of the cross around the designated stations in town on Good Friday
4. Attending the communion service on the same day in the afternoon

Other activities I am unable to do:
1. The recollection at our parish hall in the morning of Holy Thursday
2. And the "Seven Last Words" done by the Knights of Columbus inside the church.

This holy week isn't even over yet, when here come text messages again from some sources telling us that evil persons from Kabuntalan/ Tamontaka are on the prowl again in the city. And this morning we heard news that South Sea's residential gate in College was bombed last night.

O Lord protect us from all these evil plotters and doers. I continue to pray that the city will be rid of these evil masterminds and become peaceful again. For all our sufferings and prayers and faith in you dear Jesus, please do hear us O Lord. Thank you.

Summer in the Philippines is:
When school year ends
And graduation is on the air
When fasting and abstinence are borne
Of the Lenten season, here we observe to pray
Some parents and children pack their multicolor bags
Off to Boracay, Bohol or Puerto Princesa's land
To Hong Kong, Japan, China, maybe USA they say
Any better places their money sure can pay.

Many summers I did all these in shorts and jeans
Hauled my young children on buses and planes
With plastic bags, water and crackers inside my pack
We stayed in crude inns or some semi luxurious bins
No matter where I must spend my two months teacher's break
Off to where there's beach, the sun and shore
To the mountain, to the sea for asthma cure
Not only to read and write yet count and swim
Thank God for your summer's surviving skills

Motion sickness, fever, there were more to bear
As Emil threw up from trail to trail
How Roy messed up my brother's car
And sleepless nights we fought
With coughs and whizzing gasps
But on we throve in nature's lure
To find some cure and hopes endured
We roughed it out and survived despite the odds
For God's Spirit was there to accompany us.

I came to Manila last February 16 with my husband Lucas. Together we did a lot of things here, such as I accompanied him to his routinary check up at Cardinal Santos Hospital and went to the DFA office to renew our passports etc. His doctor gave him a clean bill of health and renewing our passports went on smoothly without any problem.

Then on February 23, together with  22 of my high school classmates, I embarked for an early morning flight to Puerto Princesa, Palawan for a reunion trip. It was a blast. We had lots of fun for 4 days and three nights. We went on a city tour, sightseeing, shopping, eating and tasting exotic food, swimming, snorkeling etc. We talked and teased and enjoyed each others company like old high school days. I slept late, woke up early and laughed so much that I lost my voice on the 2nd day of the trip. It was fun though and now everybody is looking forward to another reunion trip in the future.

I came back to Manila once more but briefly and on March 1, I took an airplane flight to be in Dumaguete City for the national convention of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Catholic Women's Organization. The hosting chapter led by the abled hands of their priests was very well organized and hospitable. I had only good praises for all their programs and arrangements.
Cotabato City was one among the biggest contingents that was represented during the convention. We were composed of 34 delegates. However the internal divisiveness and personal aggrandizement of  many of our chapter members made our own group so topsy turvy. Our accommodation placement was a mess. We had to share different roommates on some occasions and transferred to other rooms and hotels on succeeding days. I tried to make the most out of the situation but complains were running high and there were burst of temperaments from some quarters. I was lucky enough to share my first night with Rosalinda Masot. We got a small room but with separate beds. Others got bigger rooms but with 4 or 3 persons sharing and some people did not like sharing beds too.
The next morning prior to the convention proper, we had time to tour the city on our own. Because I was her roommate, Rose Masot invited me to join her on a sightseeing trip courtesy of her niece and nephew-in-law. Together with Gloria Lu, her own relative, I had the good fortune to see Dumaguete City and it's surrounding towns from a good touring perspective.
During the convention, I enjoyed all the meals and meriendas prepared for the delegates. I loved celebrating daily eucharistic mass. The first evening of the convention, we rendered our Filipiniana dance and people lauded me for my dance performance. I did not think I danced to perfection though. Hehe. During the healing session of Father Faller, I was emotionally touched by the passing of the Blessed Sacrament. For a moment I thought Father Faller was coming towards me because he swirled to my direction and he came so close, almost right in front of me. I silently cried to God and asked for mercy for me and my family. I asked to be loved and healed. The next day however though, I intentionally escaped and cut the afternoon talk of Jean Goulbourn to take a long needed nap in my hotel. Haha. ( I took a tricycle by myself to get to my hotel in pretense that I was not able to bring and take my medicine which was really true. I was dead tired when I reached my room. Because of the noontime heat, I was but all yearning to go to sleep. Everything  happened so easy and fast. I just went to sleep. Hahaha). Anyway to make the narration short, I survived the convention by taking care of myself and enjoying and learning to the fullest. The last night of the convention was a concert performed by the New Priests on the Block. I had a blast swinging and dancing! Near the end of the sessions, the priests came distributing red roses. I got two: one from Bishop Jausian and the other from Father Eking. I believed my prayers were answered by the significance of the roses. (By the way, I also got a long stem rose from Robert Tan during the last night of our reunion program in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Thank you Robert for acknowledging all the girls present.)
After the convention was over, the Cotabato chapter members took a side trip to Siquijor. We were around 30 persons. All the while I think the organization of the trip was poor and inefficient. The tourist bus cost us 6 thousand pesos when we could have saved more by hiring 3 vans that cost P400.00 each. Upon reaching our hotel, there were more flare up of temperaments. But we mostly took care of ourselves upon arrival at Coco Groove. The first thing everybody did was to get a good shut eye. Siquijor was a lovely place. We got to enjoy the beach and the pool before sunset. We also got to see the Cambugahay falls and went to the top of the mountain for the nice breeze and wonderful sky view. All in all it was a worthwhile trip.

I came back to Manila on Monday evening, all so exhausted from all the recent trips. Home for three days, I seemed to be so hungry and sleepy all the time. I slept from 9 in the evening to 9 in the morning. I am still recovering until now, but I am getting back to my normal activities little by little. I thank God for these travel opportunities and also for keeping me fit and strong and happy and wholesome all the while. I thank the Lord for keeping my family safe while I was away. I am so grateful for indeed a lot of my prayers and concerns were heard by my Lord. Thank you O my God. I love you so.

Today is Ash Wednesday. It ushers the 40 days observance of Lent. Lucas and I attended mass at 7 o'clock this morning and received the mark of ashes on our forehead. Today Catholics are supposed to fast and abstain from eating meat. Because of my age, I am also supposedly excused from fasting already. Yet I think I am still able and capable enough of practicing self discipline, so I shall continue to do so. It is really not as hard as how the muslims do it. We Catholics are allowed two light snacks and one full meal. This morning, I ate half a pandesal with sardines filling and drank a cup of honey beverage. For lunch I had banana soup and two servings of tilapia and water. It's not so bad. I am not feeling hungry, except for that particular time when I went to Gateway Mall. The many food display there made me salivate. Haha! I shall have my full meal tonight.
Today makes me also think about last year's Lent. If I recall right, the first Friday of Lent last year, Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami. Although it really happened in the month of March. I heard the horrifying news from my sister-in-law Jean on my way to Mount Carmel Church. For the culmination of Lent 2011 however, I was in Seattle together with my husband Lucas, my sister Helen and my children Roy and Marion. I went to church in Seattle and spent my Easter Sunday in Skagit  tulip farms. How time flies.............

I find myself these days in a dance frenzy. Hahaha. My high school classmates and I are practicing two dances at the same time in preparation for our reunion party  and trip : a costume dance and a retro number.  I am confident with the muslim dance but I tend to still get confused with my retro moves and sometimes I get out of sync.  The reunion is oh so fast approaching that I am beginning to feel the jitters.

After the reunion, I have my participation with my church group for the Federation of Chinese Catholic Women's convention in Dumaguete. Since my friends in the church are still in Cotabato, they have been continuously practicing the Filipiniana dance medley to perfection. All I have now is a medley copy which I have to practice the dance moves all by myself through memory. But I don't want to worry about it now. Let me take care of it after the high school hulabaloo is over.But I must practice by myself when I get back from our reunion trip in Palawan. I don't want to disappoint the audience. My friends, they do think I am good and I have to be. I hope and pray that everything goes well with all of my activities. Will talk to you again soon

This week, I began a dance work-out with friends in preparation for our trip to Dumaguete. I was feeling oh so hungry and drowsy when it all started, because the exercise has to be conducted during the noon time.
Luckily, I have adjusted to the schedule now. Here's how I do it: Before the practice, I eat some carbo snacks. (I even sneaked to Chowking once to eat a bowlful of mami. Hehe). Then I take a late lunch after the practice and off to my afternoon nap. Yes, that I can do it now because I don't have any good paying work or obligation to attend to anymore. If I were still teaching at school or working in the store, I could not have joined this group to Dumaguete. This is actually my first convention and presentation after saying so many no's to a lot of invites. I am looking forward to enjoying this camaraderie. I am actually having a lot of fun now and feeling lighter with my body. Hurrah to myself! Hehehe............

Not too long ago, my sister Helen TanSuk, friends Remy Wee and Ivy Tan and I went to Seoul, Korea for a vacation. It was kind of a promo package on a lean travelling season during the month of November. Our tour was so specially arranged that it comprised entirely only of the four of us and a chaperon travel guide. Indeed, It was one of the most wonderful vacations I had with friends.
But silly me, in preparation for my travel, I was half expecting, subconsciously for a winter scene. The four of us ladies brought only one luggage each. We lugged our own heavy weights through different hotels each day. My luggage was the biggest of all but thanks to the sturdy rollers and good pavements and efficient help of our tour van driver, it was all a piece of cake. No sweat! 
First day upon arrival, it was evening time. We checked in at a hotel and were brought to a small cozy restaurant for supper. I jotted down what I ate. It was sundubu -spicy hot tofu with vegetable mix, and steam rice cooked in stoneware. There were lots of appetizing side dishes, of which my favorite was the kimchi. I felt so uneasy using stainless chopsticks. I finished my steam rice and side dishes but couldn't get to finish the bowlful of sundubu. After supper, we were brought back to the hotel to rest.

"The night is still young." I said. Still feeling pretty hyper.
I suggested to walk the neighborhood and so we did. After which we walked around different neighborhoods almost every night in different destinations.
The first walk took us by surprise. Although it was night time, the streets of Korea were pretty safe and well lighted. Along the road, we saw line of tall upright trees covered with yellow flowers.
"What kind of tree is that full-blooming with yellow flowers?"
Curiosity led us to go nearer. Upon approached, we were extremely surprised that they were not flowers at all but yellow leaves. Immediately it dawned to me that these were fall leaves. I began to realize that I was witnessing autumn in Korea. What an amazement. My thoughts went immediately to my husband who had so wanted to see autumn in USA but the nearest to autumn we got there was in early August, and it was still pretty green. In Korea, I got to see my first Fall, without really expecting it. I was so naive or rather ignorant or uninformed.:)
The beautiful tree which we would come to see more often, I learned was called the white poplar tree. Since some of its leaves were scattered around the floor, I quickly picked a few good ones lying on the ground to take as souvenir. Then I saw Remy and Ivy bent down to pick more. Haha!  It would be crazy for people to see us four ignoramus ladies picking leaves along the streets. So I straightened up and watched them gathered more leaves as we walked along the road. Yet whenever my friends stopped picking, I would quickly bend down to pick mine again. How hilarious!!!
I was awed struck by the beauty of fall, so cold and different, although it was kind of dry and late already during our visit. Another tree which gave so much color was the small-leafed maple tree. In comparison, it was reddish. I took some samples home too and pressed them in a small book.

We had a good seven wonderful days in Korea:
- We went to Everland,
- Went on Chungju Lake Cruise and danced together with all the ladies inside the boat,
- Had a private Karaoke night after supper in a resort village,
- Went climbing along the high steps of a big beautiful cave. The heights scared me so!
- Almost signed in for a hot spa which we had to all go nude. Luckily I did not pay-up before entering. " See first. See first. " I insisted. The attendant at the lobby allowed us to get in, but we all backed-out after seeing all the nakedness inside :) Haha I didn't even get close. I was only at the door step, couldn't bear to see the nudity. I told the attendant "I can not!". He was so surprised. "You can not?!"
Haha...and many many more funny, exciting and good travel experiences to cherish and remember!!! Thank God for the wonderful chance and opportunity. With God's blessing, I hope to see Autumn again with my husband and children. Thank you very much!

After the yuletide comes Chinese New Year. For good luck and good vibes, I have to embark on some spring or general cleaning. I wash and dry and return my Christmas decors back to their boxes again, to stash them in the storage for another year's use.
For the coming Chinese New Year, I put up some oriental decors to adorn my home. In the process, I clean up some drawers and throw away broken and useless old things. It's the coming of the year of the dragon. Hopefully it's going to be a big and prosperous and peaceful year for all of us good people :) My husband Lucas is a dragon person. I pray it will be a great year for him as in the year 2000 and 2001, when he was the president of the CCI alumni association for two years. With the help of his officers and friends, he brought the Ling Nam Martial Arts Association to Cotabato to perform for the first time in the streets of the city and during our alumni homecoming party the notable dragon and lion dances. It was a safer year that time. This time around 12 years after, everybody is praying for peace and safety. For the past three years, the city is enveloped in darkness. So much wickedness has been unleashed. I hope this year, the water dragon will drown them all, so that we can live in peace again. Gung si fa chai!!!

Enthusiastically I have many tentative plans this year. Hoping to fulfill them with God's blessings:
1. Attend high school reunion in Manila.
2. Go on a reunion excursion to Puerto Princesa, Palawan with my classmates.
3. Join the Chinese Catholic Women's Federation convention in Dumaguete. (My first convention so far)
4. Visit Siquejor with our group delegates.
5. Observe a peaceful Holy Week in the Philippines.
6. Be quiet and prayerful.
7. Be helpful and charitable.
8. Visit my daughter Marion in UK.
9. Go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes with my husband and my children. (My first time ever too)
10. Spend Christmas and New Year in Manila.
May I be able to attain all of them with God's graces. Thank you my God!
See you all pretty soon :) I love you all!!!
Happy Feast of the Epiphany!

Happy New Year!!! Thank God, I give a sigh of relief that my children after spending the holidays with us have now left Cotabato City. While they were here, they stayed at home most of time and bonded with us, sharing our daily routinenary life and our problems regarding peace and safety as well. Because God is good, I will not dwell on the evil side of those threatening my sister-in-law Conchita and us, but rather praises on the family members here who love and care for each other:
1. My brother-in-law Lucio has been brave and sincere in his concern and care for all.
2. My husband Lucas who is loyal, constant and dependable.
3. Eugene and Dominic are brave young men. They are helpful and caring new generation.
4. And all the rest of us, members of the family, we just simply and honestly love and are concern with one another.
This new year God finds us deep in prayers and supplication for his love and protection. He is my refuge and fortress. My God in whom I trust (Psalm 91). He will not let us down. Infact I believe He will give us more blessings and grant us in our helplessness his powerful protection. May we all have a happy and peaceful year ahead. Happy New Year and God bless us all!!!

In the process of preparing for our forthcoming high school reunion, I have been meeting with my high school friends more often than not these days. We have had several group dinners since last year to discuss about possible dates and venues. After several brainstorming, we finalized our plans during the birthday party of Robert Tan last October. I wrote a class letter to inform all members about the general details of the affair. The letters were sent through emails, facebook, via classmates and through forwarders. Follow-ups were done through calls and text messages also. There was of course a few dissension,  but the organizers are firm with the majority's decision. At this point, plans are already on the process. Imelda Bugayong, our class treasurer is the busiest person of all.
Mobilizing some few things this week, at ramdom:
1. Last Tuesday, we went for ocular inspection to many other possible party venues here in Quezon City. We have so far chosen one particular venue which is really pretty and functional.
2. Counting more than 23 classmates who responded to attend.
3. My daughter Martha has agreed to emcee the party for us.
4. Planning the trip and discussing about the programme make us all pretty excited.
5. Dateline for submission and confirmation of attendance is so close now, which is this November 30, 2011. Many of us in fact have submitted our contribution already even earlier before the dateline.
6. There are lots of things to tackle yet with the travel agency once attendance is more or less settled.
7. We need to communicate and meet more often.
8. So far everything is going smoothly until the big event......
9. On turning 60 this November, my friends Imelda, Anita and I are seemingly the happiest persons; we can now avail of fare discount for our trips, free parking, discount for food etc. A lot of help for our meetings and the forthcoming reunion!
10. Don't forget November 30, dateline for submission and confirmation of attendance.
 

Hello! I am legally a senior citizen now. I celebrated my 60th birthday with a dinner in Davao City last Thursday with my husband Lucas, daughter Martha, nephew Eugene and his kids, and niece-in-law Carol and her kids at Garden by the Bay, Sasa, Davao City. The place was quiet and breezy and the food was good. It was a simple intimate dinner among family members and I love the serenity and normal atmosphere of the occasion.

Actually Lucas and I went to Davao for purpose of attending the wedding of Junie Ma and Honeylet Yap on November 11. They are officially Mr. and Mrs. Romeo Ma II now. Both the newly weds hail from Cotabato and both their parents are our good friends. The bride's father Efren Yap was my classmate in CCI and my late mom's first cousin too. (That makes him my uncle to the second degree. haha) The Ma's family on the other hand has been our long time neighbors and friends. The wedding was well attended. It was great to see the big contingent of Cotabatenios and those who used to live in Cotabato long time ago. It was some sort of a reunion of people from Cotabato. Two of my children, Emil and Martha enplaned from Manila to be with us for the occasion too.

Next morning, after the wedding, my family went to pearl farm resort for a day tour.

In general, my family loves the beach and we always take occasion to swim on the blue sea if ever time allows us. I have been to pearl farm with my family for more than 4 times already always on a day tour.

This time around I was pretty disappointed with Pearl Farm because their Mandaya beach was really murky. The other beach at the resort front, although better was itchy, swarming with jelly fish. I actually did not mind the little stings as I was used to beach swimming, but that day, I was painfully bitten by some sort of animal in the water. Where I was bitten, a spot on my leg became reddish and swollen. I swam in the pools too. The eternity pool was okay though, but I saw this slightly hunchback attendant supervising the pool and spitting on the water. That was around 3 in the afternoon when we were almost ending our swim and day tour. Next time I go to Davao for a swim, I would prefer to go to Paradise Island instead.

And one big sour note..............I booked my family for a 3 day stay at the Pearl Farm Marina Inn for the convenient location of the place. But the inn was under renovation when we arrived. Although I made reservation a month ago and I called them up for confirmation the night before our trip; yet they did not inform us about the renovation before hand, not until we arrived that very day. When the front desk offered to help us look for another hotel, we were just too tired from our long trip to go looking for another place to stay. By evening time, when they realized that we could not get any rooms around the vicinity for all hotels were fully booked that weekend, they decided not to give us any discount after the initial stay. Mind you, they did not even make any amends for not being able to serve us the package breakfast. There were also a lot of malfunction in the rooms and noise of renovation. It was too late for us to do anything anymore or our vacation will become a total wreck.

Lastly, this I would say to anybody..................................Don't stay at Pearl Farm Marina because the owners, the operating manager and the reception staff are vicious people. They are totally not customer centered nor customer friendly. I wouldn't want to go back there in 5 to 10 years time.

It is the semestral break here in the Philippines, hence many families take the opportunity to go on vacation. Others take advantage of the long weekend (Oct. 29 to November 1) for a provincial haul. During these holidays, I observe All Saints Day on November 1st. My parents are buried in Manila and my parents-in-law in Cotabato. I visit the graveyards whether I be in Cotabato or Manila. This year I am baking cakes and preparing suman to take to the cemetery. At the cemetery, friends and relatives, priests and their retinues pass-by the graves to light candles and say prayers. I always prepare some refreshments for them. This year the weather is so hot. Don't forget to bring your umbrellas.

1. Writing letters
2. Looking at pictures
3. Creating silly comments
4. Eating meriendas
5. Cooking and baking
6. Sweating from exercises
7. Breakfast, lunch and dinner
8. Doing crosswords puzzles
9. Reading comics
10. Visiting churches
11. Sunday mass
12. Afternoon nap
13. Planning for trips
14. Playing simple piano pieces
15. Dancing
16. Green and dried mangoes
17. Young coconuts and coco juice
18. Coke regular
19. Christmas songs
20. Christmas decors and lights
21. Parties
22. etcetera, etcetera

I have been writing a lot of letters lately. Last month, I sent a hand written letter to France through snail mail. Then I wrote 2 letters, one to Lisieux and the other to Prague care of my sister Helen. Since my daughter Marion is in UK, I email her now and then. As of late, I have been writing letters to my friends regarding our forthcoming reunion for 2012. I make use of the internet but for local dissemination, I use Microsoft Office Word, my Epson LX-800 printer and Sharp copier to facilitate a good memorandum letter. I use big font for we mostly have weak eye sight. Gosh....My printer's ink needs replacement, my copier's toner is running low and to top it all, I have been making typographical errors. This morning I accidentally spilled my breakfast drink on my keyboard and alas, it got short circuit. I have it quickly replaced with a new one, so I am using a new keyboard as of this moment. Despite all the clumsiness, I still love writing. Would you believed that I had secretly wanted to become a journalist or a writer in my younger days?!. Hahaha!

Yesterday, my friends Imelda Tan Bugayong and Corazon Te Taeza and I went to Greenbelt, Makati. Aside from shopping and eating, we enjoyed an afternoon of marathon talking, most specially plans for our forthcoming reunion next February. When my good friends and I get together, time goes really fast. We can't seem to have enough of it. Hahaha!
This time around though, we have one long time high school friend who missed meeting us. Anita Du Siy is currently in the Philippines on vacation from New York. We haven't heard and seen her for so long. I was able to talk to her though over the phone the night before, as her schedule was quite hectic. She left for Boracay yesterday, and I may not be able to see her when she gets back next week. Because she hasn't communicated with us for so many years and may not be that enthusiastic to meet us, still I want to revive communications with her again. In light of friendship, I remember a quotation which we used to write at the back of our pictures. (When we used to give away photos of ourselves to our friends.)
The dedication goes this way......
"Friends are like melons, to have a good one you must a hundred try..."

And I like to add some more:

- You can make more friends in 2 months by becoming really interested in other people, than you can in 2 years by trying to get other people interested in you.........Bernard Metzer

- We can not tell the precise moment when friendship is formed.......Drop by Drop

- In the sweetness of friendship, let there be laughter and sharing of pleasure....Kahil Gibran

- Your friend is your needs answered.......Kahil Gibran

- Wishing to be friend is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.......Aristotle