Warm Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of You...

Day 7 and 8 of simbang Gabi

I'm bouncing back from an absent on Day 6 and this time, I'm already HOME. I decided to hear mass at our very own parish in Baao - St. Bartholomew Parish. I thought that they have the same time of start of masses like in Manila but it's much early here. As early as 4 AM you can already hear the voice of the priest. What has been a tradition here during dawn masses is that every after the mass, some sponsor barangays of our town conduct ashort program in the Patio asa way to entertain the parishioners. I've been used to it since I was a kid.

You really have here the "Probinsya Christmas Fever". Unlike in Manila where there is the Puto Bumbong and Bibingka, it's Ginalpong that greets the parishioners after masses which is a "kakanin" prepared by the sponsor barangay. Another thing I love aout masses here is that every dawn mass from Day 1 to Day 9 makes the church Jam-Packed. People are coming from far places and even from those mountainous areas of our town. It's really one big proff how devout the people of Baao are.

No wonder because history has been a big part of it. Hello? This is where the first Filipino Bishop was Born. No Baaoenyo is an idiot of that fact.

Anyways, I'm still enjoying and ecstatic about my stay here. Tomorror is the last morning of the 9-day sacrifice and hoping I would come early for the mass.

Day 6: I'm home

I missed Day 6 of Simbang Gabi ending my streak to 5.

Reason? I went home to Camarines Sur. Hoping that the bus would come as early as 4 AM so I could still attend the mass in Baao, I decided to go home early for the Christmas break. Unfortunately things got worse. There was a major traffic in EDSA(which always happened) and a car accident along the way in Laguna. I got home around 5 AM and decided not to go to the Church anymore because it would be too late.

I'm home. I'm enjoying my stay here but I'm also missing some people I left there in Manila.

By thins time, let me greet everyone an advance Merry Christmas.

Day 5 at PACO

With no Church left in my list, I decided to hear mass for Day 5 at the San Fenando Dilao Parish in Paco, Manila.

It was a newly painted church. They have those Latin phrases encrypted on its walls and ceilings which makes it hard for like ordinary layman to understand. I think one thing why its hard for parishioners to understand the teachings of God and why it is hard for priests to evangelize is because most teachings are really hard to understand by the ordinary people. How will someone try to reflect on those teachings if they could not understand what it means? What will a mother tells her child if asked what does those things in the ceiling says?

I hope that with the new order of Pope Bendeict that Catholics evangelize Catholics, maybe the Church reaches out to its people on how they could clearly understand the teachings in their own tongue.

My Wish List for Christmas

It's Christmas time and gifts have been a necessity this time.

I've received a Havaianas Slipper from my girlfriend Clarizze yesterday and its one of the best gift I've received so far. Thank you.

Christmas is not yet over. The season is just about to begin and I'm accepting gifts even until January. Here is my wish list for the 12 Days of Christmas.

"Girl Trouble"
A book by Alan Navarra
PhP 250.00
(available in all leading bookstores)

"Love in the Time of Cholera"
A book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Php 245.00 (Powerbooks) PhP 285.00 (NBS)

"MLB Cap"
Boston Red Sox/any baseball team
available at www.ebay.com.ph

"Parker Pen"
Php 350.00
available at NBS

"MTRCB Movie Pass"
-I want to have the royalty of watching all movies for next year.

"Starbucks Tumbler"
Php 385.00
available at all Starbucks Coffee shop

"Key Chain"

any key chain

"MAPED Sharpeners"
-any Maped Sharpeners
Php 30.00

"Movie Editing Software CD"
-any editing software better than Windows Movie Maker
PhP 100.00

The Beatles ARTWORK T-Shirt
-print says BEATLES in Shea Stadium
-PhP 380.00

"Across The Universe DVD"
-PhP 100.00
available in Quiapo I think

* a dead TRILLANES in the coming year

Wednesday is for Baclaran Church: Simbang Gabi Day 4

I'm still on my "Visita Iglesia 2007" which coincides with the Simbang Gabi and unlike before which I have my last minute decision of where and what place Church to go, this time it was my girlfriend Clarizze who suggested 2 days ago that we hear mass at Baclaran in Paranaque or the National Shrine of our Lady Of Perpetual Help.

It's wednesday and for most religious Filipinos, Baclaran is the number one place to go even in normal Wednesdays and not only during Christmas Season. Many believed that the Our Lady of Perpetual Help image is really one of the most miraculous among all images of the Virgin Mary. No wonder that thousands flocked in this Church yesterday for the fourth day of Simbang Gabi despite the slumpy streets of Paranaque along its way and the danger of snatchers notorious in all corners of its streets. This is the only church where in I've lost my concentration during the mass because I can't help to look at the people around me who really came from all walks of life.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out where to go later for Day 5 of Simbang Gabi. On my list are Paco Church and Ermita Church.

Binondo Church : Simbang Gabi Day 3

I'm still on my 9-day "Visita Iglesia " as part of my Simbang Gabi ritual which I intend to start only this year.

After Malaate Church and Manila Cathedral for Days 1 and 2, Clarizze and I intended to hear mass for the 3rd day of Simbang Gabi at theMinor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo, Manila.

The Church was stunningly beautiful. It's one of the most beautiful church I've ever been to. It's like a replica of the St. Peters Basilica in Rome with all its beautiful paintings and murals hanged in all its wall. Too bad I haven't brought my camera to capture the beautiful church of Binondo.

Simbang Gabi Day 2

I'm currently on a RELIGIOUS TOUR of the different churches here in Manila as I plan to complete the nine dawn masses or the Filipino's official countdown of Christmas.

Yesterday I was at MALATE CHURCH or the OUR LADY of THE REMEDIES PARISH and earlier this morning, me and my girlfriend Clarizze hear mass at The Basilica-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception or known to many as THE MANILA CATHEDRAL.

It was my second time to be in that Church but it was my first time to hear mass inside the Cathedral. It was really one of the most beautiful Cathedral I've seen in my entire life with all those Spanish Architecture depicted in every wall. There really is a strong Spanish environment inside. We were waiting to see Padre Damaso or even Maria Clara to appear. LOL.

I really wish I could complete my 9-dawn expedition and right now, I'm thinking of where I plan to hear mass tomorrow for Day 3 of Simbang Gabi.

Dawn Mass

Today is December 16.

"Simbang Gabi" kicked off earlier this morning . It is a 9-day early masses which starts December 16 and ends on December 24 and concluded by a mass on Christmas eve. Of course, being in Manila where Christmas is felt as early as October, I decided not to sleep yesterday so I could be on time for the for the start of the "Misa De Gallo".


I decided to hear mass at the Our Lady of Remedies Parish or popularly known as MALATE CHURCH. I was one of the first to go inside because I was there as early as 3:15 AM and the Church is only about to open. I intentionally planned to go there early so as to have a seat luxury and I was lucky to be in front of the altar and beside the Chorale Group.

Lights inside the church were turned on at around 3:30 AM and I was amused to see that they are using LCD projector for their masses. Wow and lucky for them to have that kind of luxury. An early reminder was flashed on the screen saying:

ATTENTION
Please do not leave your
Personal Belongings Unattended.
Somebody might think
its the ANSWER to their prayers

I grinned when I read the sign. COMEDY inside the Church. Anyways, the whole flow of the mass in Malate was different from those I've attended in the past year. In Malate Church, they change the tradition of praying the rosary before the mass to giving lectures to the people and letting the parishioners understand why they celebrate such things and how Jesus infancy was told in the GOSPEL. I think its better than the old one because we should put importance in educating everybody and telling them about God as a whole instead of letting them pray tons of Hail Mary's without understanding why such things were done.

Another good thing about the MALATE CHURCH is that the Celebrant gives homily as fast as One Minute unlike in other Churches that HOMILY could take to about 30 minutes. Just a short message and everything was fine. Let the people think and reflect on the message rather explain to them the whole bible which for sure they could not understand.



Of course, as soon as the mass ended, the best way to start the morning after the simbang gabi is to have a taste of the PUTO BUMBONG and BIBINGKA. The Puto Bumbong took time for them to cook that is why I opted for the BIBINGKA.

And yes, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED for today.

Cheating History in RP

Before, only HIGH SCHOOL students were the one known to have been practicing CHEATING in LONG QUIZZES and MONTHLY EXAMS.

In the MODERN TIMES, from SOFTBALL players in the LITTLE LEAGUE to LOLIT SOLIS FAMAS AWARD BEST ACTRESS controversies to the 2004 NATIONAL ELECTIONS SCANDAL...

and now...

TV RATINGS??



The list goes on and on...

Is RP becoming the CHEATING CAPITAL of the WORLD?

Misty Glass Window

This is the song I've been looking for a long time and finally I've found it in IMEEM.

I hope you would love this song the way I did.

I'm always in-love whenever I hear this song by PIDO and ARTStart

EUREKA..

Welcome to Paraiso

Return to a land called Paraiso,
a place where a dying river ends.
No birds there fly over Paraiso,
no space allows them to endure.
The smoke that screens the air,
the grass that's never there.

And if I could see a single bird, what a joy.
I try to write some words and create
a simple song to be heard
by the rest of the world.

I live in this land called Paraiso,
in a house made of cardboard floors and walls.
I learned to be free in Paraiso,
free to claim anything I see.
Matching rags for my clothes,
plastic bags for the cold.

And if empty cans were all I have, what a joy.
I never fight to take someone
else's coins and live with fear
like the rest of the boys.

Paraiso, help me make a stand.
Paraiso, take me by the hand
Paraiso, make the world understand
that if I could see a single bird, what a joy.
This tired and hungry land could expect
some truth and hope and respect
from the rest of the world

Living in an Unknown World

Why am I here? It is the question I always asked myself when I'm in an environment I'm not used of.

Like now, I'm in a place of mixed people. Different races. Separated of different status. Yes, of different personalities. Mixed as they say. I am here. I am alone. I am unknown. Nobody knows me here. Nobody knows why I am here.

I'm sipping my hot coffee and all I can think of is the aroma that is as sweet as the agonies I am enduring. I wanted to relax. I'm trying to relax. I wanted to breath. I wanted to taste every air I can. I wanted a life for myself. I wanted myself today all unknown.

Why am I here? I asked myself again. I don't belong here. I know. I'm a minority and I should be out there with all of them. Well who cares? This place is where the minority are. They work. They run the whole thing. They are called the manpower. They have the strength that could pin down any system as big as a block of an ice. They are hot and they won't cool down. They are on the attack. No resting. No one could stop them. Actually, they're just not allowed to stop. They are robots. Someone behind their backs have controlled to each and everyone of them.

Why am I here? I did not pay for this cup of coffee. The whole working class paid for this. I owe them. Do I deserve this? Do I deserve them? Do I deserve to relax why they are working to death? Or am I another hypocrite? How many hypocrites are here around me? Do they ask the same question as mine?

Status is a question always left unanswered in our minds. We always try to look at ourselves higher and bigger than the other, or if not, level ourselves among the elite. We are envy. Always. What we do not know is that there are more higher than us. We worked for them to death that we even have to kiss their feet.

People walked in and out of here in this place where I am right now. Do they have questions same as mine? I asked again. Am I the only unknown here? Why am I here? I again asked myself.

I am here for a cup of coffee. That is all I know. I'm here to sip the goodness of aroma that is as sweet as my yesterdays of hatred, gore and total animosity.

This is reality. I'm reality. Why I'm here is because of reality.

Having Fun

I am a free man yesterday and there is no other way to enjoy it but to hop and hop everywhere.

After our duty in RITM, I was supposed to get back to my dorm and just enjoy playing NBA LIVE 08 at the nearby cafe when I saw Rio and Tarah also on their way out of the RITM complex so what I did was to join them. Unluckily, there is no available FX ride so we decided to walk from the institutes' gate up to Metropolis Alabang.

Realizing that it's going to be a long journey plus the fact that it is raining, we decided to get a cab but unluckily, the cab would charge us 80php from RITM to Metropolis but he voluntarily offered his cab that he will take us up to Festival Supermall for free and told us that we could get a ride from Festival Mall to Metropolis. So we hopped in and went to Festival Supermall which is actually my first time to be in that mall.

Another bad luck came while we were in there because there are no jeepneys going to Metropolis at that time that is why realizing that it was already past 12PM, we decided to have lunch first inside the mall.

We ate at KFC per Rio's request. It was my first time to eat with other people other than Clah or my groupmates again since NINETEEN NINETY- whatever. After eating, we again waited for a jeepney that will take us to Metropolis but again because we were unlucky, there is none but the same taxi who took us to Festival was still around the area so he decided to take us to the terminal station near Metropolis Alabang.

The fact that playing NBA LIVE 08 will just washed my brain out, I decided to join Rio to take Tarah to SM MegaMall because it is where Tarah usually ride on her way to Rizal.

When we arrived at the mall, knowing that there is nothing for us to do in there, we just played at the World of Fun amusement center inside the mall and there we enjoyed playing games over and over until we run out of tokens(chips).

It was totally fun. It was a whole lot of environment to me. Maybe because I get used to my life that I meet the same faces day in a day out.

The whole experience was so simple yet it keeps me wondering how I'm missing my old life. I keep telling myself yesterday that I knew I have done this before and now I'm doing this again and it was fun. I really enjoyed being with Rio and Tarah that whole afternoon.

When I arrived in my dorm, I knew the day is not yet over to get a life so I decided to go to SM Manila and just stroll around the area. I ate, ordered my favorite Green Mango shake at Juice Ave., and then went home tired yet very relaxed.

I slept early yesterday... and dreamed badly...

Break- Ups 1

A break-up is absolutely the term used to coin an end to a relationship.

A friend asked me before a question that really haunted my mind from day 1. She asked me if why despite everything in a relationship like those never-ending arguments, overnight crying, fatigue and of course depression, people tend to still hold on and never command or initiate a break-up. I told my friend that in their case it's still easy to find an answer to your question. The solution is just a simple sense of humility as well as understanding of the whole situation. Never thinking of a possibility for a break-up may help but even if you taught about a single percent of a possibility for break-up, you still lose courage to push it forward because yes there is still love and if you do not call it love for some, the memories are just simply hard to forget.

Then she asked me again, that is their situation and how about yours? There are never-ending arguments, jealousy, depression and a plus factor that I admitted that I have never yet seen my future to that person where I am right now. I know it's too ironic to explain. So let me dissect some things to you. To summarize the whole story of my life, I kept asking myself why I never initiate a break-up despite a relationship which is almost taken for granted everyday. I kept thinking of looking for answer to that question but then I ended up formulating a reason and not an answer.

My reason- simply because break-up words and declarations such as "it's over", "we need space", "it's too complicated" are reasons that are repeated over and over again by people who commit the same mistake and who goes back to the same scenario in almost all of their relationships. I told the one who asked me that if I'm going to initiate a break-up with my girlfriend, then I would tell her no other words but simply "I wish I never met you". Then she told me its too sarcastic. But then I answered its brief and concise. I think the explanation is already in the reason or statement I formulated.

That is the same reason that has haunted for so many long time that I am afraid losing someone. It's not that love is always a factor, but because in all situations, there is fear you need to face. It is the fear that hurts the most. To coin a word and prepare for a mock break-up is easy even if you just practice the whole thing in front of a mirror. To tell it to the person you've been with and you've dreamed and wished that would change in the coming days just makes your feet tremble each and every moment you keep thinking of initiating a break-up.

Again...

Ok. So I'm definitely getting over with all that Trillanes' scenarios this country has have in the past week. It's time to move to another issue this time.

So I'm here in front of my best friend again trying to converge what's on my mind right now. I hope it would work. Yeah, they have the infrared before and now the Bluetooth so maybe they should try working out how to transfer memories of the human brain direct to PC. So maybe now that they have not tried to figure out how to do it despite all our advancements right, I have first to organized how I could do it manually.

Anyways, I'm currently listening alternately to two songs right now. The first one is "Before I Got High"by Afroman and the other one is "Apologize" by One Republic. I just got so addicted to those songs today. A very good friend of mine told me about the Last Song Syndrome and for today I'm suffering of two tracks. Who cares? As long as there is no tumor in it so what?

I really don't know what exactly I would like to write right now. I don't exactly know what I should be doing right now. I don't have any idea what is going on with myself and basically I all I know is that things are getting worse each and everyday I'm trying to do something or failed to do something.

I'm having plans of creating a substitute blog about the weirdest things I've done in the past as well as my revelations about my life of course. Watch out for it.