SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKASIYAM NA ARAW Change of heart. Leap of joy and faith. Be a good news to others.

SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKAWALONG ARAW Our life is a present from God

SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKAPITONG ARAW He redeems His people.

SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKA-ANIM NA ARAW Get involved. Produce. Not for our own.

SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKALIMANG ARAW Thy will be done. Accept the call.

SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKA-APAT NA ARAW God is gracious. Believe in, reflect to, live the message.

SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKATLONG ARAW Be good. God. God is with us.

SIMBANG GABI 2013: IKALAWANG ARAW You gave me Your life

SIMBANG GABI 2014: UNANG ARAW 9 mornings. Sacrifice. Our aguinaldo to the Child, Jesus.

SIMBANG GABI 2013: UNANG ARAW 9 mornings. Sacrifice. Our aguinaldo to the Child, Jesus.

kapatid

kapatid means sibling in tagalog. geographically (on land and in my heart) i feel close to many places and cultures and the philippines is one of them. when i heard about the typhoon and how many lives it effected, i found it very hard to sit among my comforts. i try to channel that discomfort into something positive - so i create art.

this is for the victims of the typhoon. if you’d like to purchase the print, 100% of the profit will be donated to Oxfam.

In a matter of hours on Friday, Typhoon Haiyan completely devastated parts of the central Philippines. It was one of the strongest storms ever recorded. The death toll is estimated up to 10,000 with hundreds of thousands more displaced. The country has declared a “state of calamity.”

To all our...

THE CAM OF TWO FAMILIES

This is the winner scene for me in this episode <3 Lily 

#modernfamily #emotionaldad 

SELFIE. VAIN. yeah, call this picture whatever you like but this is just another chapter of my "adventure". So, I went with my lola to the salon to have her hair trimmed. Then the hairstylist said, "Alam mo Kwin, parang namimiss ko yung lurking-lukringan natin, masiyadong behave ang buhok mo ngayon." and my reply went like "Ako nga rin po eh. Gawin natin?" I knew he had a plan before I even came in, I can tell. So he showed me the peg and surprisingly, I didn't care how it looked like but I was kinda ready to say "bye-bye wholesome hair". Sat there for hours, played a couple of phone apps, and just let him and his team do the magic. End result? short-long-slantback with magenta (not sure of the shade) block hair  I was really happy with what he did and left his salon without crying (because I did the last time he cut my hair short). hahaha! Looking forward to your next project for me 

JUST ONE MORE DAY

If you were given the chance to have a superpower, what would you like it to be? Top answers: (1) flying (2) read others' minds (3) X-ray vision (4) invincibility (5) dashing speed. Have you ever thought about having the power to raise someone from death? Well, today, I had.

It might be devilish or creepy as it sounds but I have actually thought about Lazarus (the biblical character whom Jesus rose from the dead) first. My thinking was more of raising someone whom you really love and spend even just one more day with them. Luckily, I have 4 to spend a morning with.

THE LOVEBIRDS

Until now, I am still amazed how they were so meant to be that their birthdays and wedding anniversary ended up on a same date- 18th of November. From the stories I heard, she was fancy and he was classic, she was intelligent and he was brilliant, she was hard to get and he was determined, she was complex and he was simple, she was a goddess and he was a heart rob, and they were a couple. I am lucky that I have them as the mom and dad of my mother. They both did a great job as parents but I can testify that they were excellent as grandparents. Lolo Sim has always been my team Alaska buddy and was a joker in his own way. I even remember, pride aside, I was asked to borrow money from him for our market needs and over the phone he joked he would send it via his helicopter. I don't know how old I was then but it left me crying at the end of the other line without letting him notice it. He was always this caring and thoughtful lolo I've known. Lola Pheya was a beauty icon for me. Looking at her old-young pictures would let me wish that may beauty grow old with me too. She never ceased to recognise my oval shaped face as a perfect one. We moved in to their home, when lolo took the glorious trip a little bit earlier, to take care of her but instead she managed to embrace us.

Lolo Sim and Lola Pheya, the first two angels whom we all believed shone the brightest stars. We'll always see the sun come shinning through and find that life is still worthwhile. That's what you have taught us.

OUR SUPER COWBOY

Adding to my fascination of how things just fell into place, my father's dad was also born on November 18. He was a pioneer of agriculture in UP Los Baños so I am still confused why a farmer was labeled a cowboy. I searched up about cowboys and it said they are a culture with work ethics, they are not big talkers, they work not for money but to make things better, they have an intimate relationship with their lands and plains. I bet Lolo Teroy wasn't only defined by the work he did but to as how he carried his self just like a cowboy. He is indeed a man to look up to, a man that even we, his grandchildren, would like to grow old with. And I don't what's the thing about grand dads but I think they must have been clowns in their past life for Lolo Teroy also has this humor which he keeps simply slipping to our bones.

I'm not being superstitious but were you trying to tell me something when I can't unlock your gates earlier or I just didn't know how to turn and click the key? Whatever it is, I felt awful not to take in the flowers for you but what's important is that somehow, I felt closer to you today. I will always take the chance to see your contagious smile once more.

A SISTER

To be a family doesn't mean you have to be blood related. Sometimes you can find one in your circle of friends. You and I can be barely considered as childhood friends for we don't even say hi even if we were in the same classroom for almost half of our young years. But there was like an instant and fast click between us and before we knew it, we were inseparable. I don't know what was that but I am just thankful that it happened. You were like the big sister that I never had. I have no secret to hide from you and you've let me know you transparently too.

You were my last stop this morning and it felt like I would like to spend the rest of the day with you. As I was approaching where you lie, I can't help the excitement I am feeling to be next to you again. I have been talking, sharing and it felt just right because I knew you were listening. And by the time I hopped and went behind the wheel, I fell into an empty emotion and it went deeper as I was slowly driving away. So I hit the brake, shifted to reverse not wanting to regret and wish I should've stayed longer. How long was that? I'm not certain but what I do know is it was just silence and sobbing. I realised how much I miss you and even though I know that the battle has won, I still wish you were here, Eget.

Why Philippines is in a struggle to get out of the "third world"

I cannot give you the most precise answer but I hope my point of view can contribute.

Initially, This should be a letter addressed to traffic officer who made us pull over after passing by the traffic light later this afternoon. Clueless, I stopped where he was standing, waving his hand on us. Beating the red light as what he said was my violation. He was in rage when he approached me. "Hindi dapat kayo sumunod sa kanya! (pointing at the car ahead of us)" I asked him, why when the three of us (in the car) saw the green light on when we crossed the line and turned yellow just right before we crossed the intersection?. But he kept on insisting that it was yellow already, even explained the meaning of it (that it's a warning to stop). I appreciated him for doing that but we all knew what we saw and politely, I was defending my side. "Eh kung ganyan pala, palitan na lang natin ang mga ilaw! Tanggalin na ang yellow, gawin ng green lahat!" and he walked out.

First, he need not to be "pilosopo" in stating his point. Second, I wasn't hysterical when I explained nor I was deaf so he should not be screaming on me. Third, if he is an authority and thinks that I really violated the rule, leaving with those statement would not sound professional and respectable at all.

That left me thinking. By walking out, would that mean his argument wasn't valid? That he really knew I didn't violate anything but he did anyways just to sip the juice? I never wanted to judge especially to those people who we should give our highest respect. But what happened made me realise that SOME of our "Men in Uniform" was just dressing up to enjoy their power (though this has been going on for a long time now, openly). I guess this would be classified under the statement "sad but true". Why can't we all be just fair? Why do we always think about something on how we can get ahead of the others? Why CRAB MENTALITY is viral among Filipinos?

Everyday, we rant about the poverty we are facing. If we really wanted to take a leap then I suggest we take Michael Jackson's advice, we should start with the man in the mirror.