Where I've Been

           Thanks to my UP Mobile Theater days, my first job as a Techno-Aide, and of course, as Regional UPCAT examiner for  many years, my Lakbayan grade is B-! White spaces, here I come! 

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Our Christmas Carol

Five years ago, I won first prize for an essay about Christmas family traditions in a contest sponsored by the Phil. Daily Inquirer. Today, amidst all the frenetic pace of activities which characterize the Christmas season for me and my family, I suddenly had the urge to again share the message of what I had written then. Maybe, I needed to be reminded what this season is all about.









“Rudolp the red nose reindeer,
Had a bery shiny nose
Olop, the oder reindeer
Use to lap and call him names…”

The holidays in my childhood used to be signaled by such Christmas carols sung by the neighborhood kids outside our door. Whenever I would hear the first notes, it was as if a light inside me would be switched on. It was a time of anticipation of greater things to come!

But as my world became a little less innocent, I began to hear their off-key strains of song. The musical notes would, in my cynical, imaginative mind, transform into peso signs! Giving spare change to the urchins was becoming a mindless activity. It was something which said “You’re a nuisance and here’s something to get rid of you.” The coins also seemed to say, “Your singing is not worth it!” So kids would just rush through a poorly performed song and after a phrase or two, would break into “Namamasko po!” Night after night you were punished by discordant singing and you got back at them with the measly coins.

Then I became a mother! Suddenly, I wanted to bring back and preserve for my children the traditions I enjoyed as a child. But how could I recover something that seemed to have been lost? How could I bring back the songs sung from the children’s hearts?

Thus began one of our “new” family traditions. The year it was born, instead of spare change, my children and I gave stubs to the neighborhood children who sang at our door. These, they could redeem for gift bags come Christmas Eve. Each caroler could only get one gift bag so any extra stubs they might have earned could be shared with their siblings or friends.

Every year my children, now 20 and 15, help in decorating and packing the bags. When the carolers come, it is their task to give the stubs and explain what they are for. Come Christmas, the gifts are given with reminders about the reasons for celebrating and a request for prayers.

The neighborhood kids seem to like it as they come back year after year. I don’t know, but the singing sounds better too. Could it be the gift bags? Or is it because we go out and listen to their songs when they come by our door? Is Christmas back at our doorsteps?

What You Missed: The View from AS and PHAn

UP Centennial Lantern Parade
Dec. 17, 2008

Cultural Night ng Kumperensiya

Competing with the moon & stars

Quezon Hall in UP Diliman all ablaze and Concert by Candlelight in Church of the Risen Lord on Dec. 14, 2008

LCM Commissioning

Dec 14, 2008
Holy Family Parish

Flor and I joined the latest batch of lectors/commentators who were commissioned into the ministry of lectoring as we were both absent when the regular members had their renewal last November. We have 5 new lectors who survived the months-long training program. Yehey!

Mama's 86th birthday in Ling's new space

What true love looks like

     It was like a scene in movie that is usually shown in slow motion - long lost lovers, separated by distance or circumstance, are reunited after a long period of being apart. Except that this time, the characters in this scene were not lovers (well, not in the sappy sense) but a young nun dressed in a simple habit, her feet shod in slippers and a group of raggedy children.

    From afar, I first espied the nun pulling a trolley heavy with used bottles in crates hastily walking towards where I was. Then my eyes caught the small band of children excitedly running on the street. Nothing new about that until I realized that they were running towards the direction of the sister pulling the heavy load. I was fortunate to catch that very moment they would converge - the smiling children taking hold of the sister's hand and bringing it to their foreheads seeking blessing and the young sister, her face glowing with joy so pure that I swear its positive energy reached me as our car quickly passed them by.

     There, in that brief moment, I knew for certain that it was true love that I saw! 

Sand, Sea, and Sky in Bagac

Dec. 3-4, 2008

Birthday girls

November 30, 2008

Bye for now

On the eve of Fr. Raymun Festin's departure for Angola, Angie & I had dessert with him at Cafe Breton. Then we brought him back to the Mission House for the inevitable good-bye.

Kara & Bogoy dance the swing

Kara, with a bored looking DI at Auntie Annie's celebration (Heck, he was just doing his job!) and Bogoy, with an over-enthusiastic and tireless partner. Hello, sore legs and feet! But looks like everyone had fun!

Ilang Larawan ng Pagbubukas ng Kumperensiya

Awwwwww!

    After chopping "sili" disguised as red bell pepper (I swear that's what the label said!), burning fingers!!! Kara solves that by dipping her fingers in milk. Apparently, it works!

UP Naming Mahal Show

Pretty Pineapples All in a Row

Popo's Garden

Ling's 'Domestic Bliss'

Cousins Grace, Bitoy, Eddie Boy, Ling, Joanne, Dani, & Jingle

Opening at Green Papaya Gallery, Nov. 12, 2008

For pictures of the exhibit, please go to http://tibok.multiply.com

Auntie Annie turns 80 in Roxas

When N & F Wed

December 3, 2008
Montemar Beach Resort

Nov 2 2008 at Loyola

Ika-33ng Kumperensiya ng PSSP

Holy Angel University
Angeles, Pampanga
Nov. 20-22, 2008

(Thanks to Rene Zubieto for the pix. For more, go to http://sikolohiyangpilipino.multiply.com)

Lakbay-Aral sa Pampanga

The 3rd day of the PSSP Conference was spent by the remaining delegates, HAU Psych faculty, and the secretariat traipsing around some towns of Pampanga. Following is a brief description of some of our stops:

1) Betis Church, dubbed as the Sistine Chapel of the Philippines because of the walls and ceiling frescoes including the trompe o' leil paintings on its majestic dome. Moreover, is the 17th century central retablo, one among the many masterpieces inside the church. Paintings of Simon Flores hanging in the old convent and church laterals is also a must see. Recently declared as one of the country’s national cultural treasures by the National Museum

2) Sta. Rita Church and Town. One of the best preserved colonial towns set up in the province. The presence of the old church fronting the plaza and the tribunal (municipio) surrounded by colonial houses of 19th and turn of the century bahay na bato. A must see inside the church are the neo gothic 19th century retablos and the recently enthrone relic of Sta. Rita. Famous also for its delicacies of turrones de casoy and sanzrival and other different stuffs like mammon tostado, tarts, petite fortunes, boat tarts, arraro and others

3) Bacolor Church, the half lahar buried church, former capital of the province and once capital of the Philippines during the British occupation. A must see are the buried houses and houses on stilts to cope up during the lahar days and including the newly built houses and infrastructures. At the church's interiors are the 3 dug restored retablos especially the left side an 18th century period, which has intricate carvings and local floral designs and motifs.

My fave pix of the kiddos

These are pictures from Bong's Multiply albums which I found really adorable!!!

ARE WE DOOMED?

Wrote the following five years ago. I thought I'd like to share it on the occasion of Bong's 49th birthday. You're doing a good job, Bong!

Friday, August 12, 2005

Sabi daw ni J.K. Rowling na ang Harry Potter books niya ay "a litany of bad fathers. That's where evil seems to flourish, in places where people didn't get good fathering." I beg to disagree! I believe that we are what we are as a result of choices that we make in our lives. Yes, if our fathers did a lousy job, it can be one of the reasons why we find ourselves all twisted inside. BUT we shouldn't use it as an excuse to stay that way. I always tell my siblings that despite the tragedy of our parents' relationship and its effect on our emotional make-up, we didn't turn out so bad! They must have done something right somehow!

Fe, who knows me more than anyone else, pointed out something which never occurred to me before. She said that one good thing that came out of my having to be constantly caught in the middle of my parents' fights was my ability to see things objectively. She said she constantly ran to me for advice because I was sure to give her an honest and fair evaluation of a situation. What I thought was a weakness for not being able to readily take sides in an issue or conflict was considered a strength by my friend.

I think the more important blessing we can get from our less-than-perfect childhood is that we try to be better parents to our children than our parents were to us. Early on, I decided I would spare my children the misery I had to go through as a child being asked to take sides in a fight and having to be the one to make things right between my parents. Even my choice of a husband was dictated by his being basically unlike my father. Papa tried to be a good father but because he failed at being a good husband, he couldn't quite succeed at the fathering bit.

I know my children will be happier than I was. And they will turn out to be as great (ehem!) as their scarred parent. And that, ironically, they would owe to their grandparents!

Parang abot ko ang langit!

Isang hapon sa Lagusan Drive, Tagaytay.

Andrea Bocelli sings Elmo to sleep

Ode To Joy

Sesame street's ode to a timeless classic... A must view when one's sanity is hanging by a thread.

The Friends Who Went Away

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

who matters, 

who never did,

who won't anymore...

and who always will.

So, don't worry about people from your past,

there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.                                                                     

     Got this in my e-mail. Got to thinking about (AGAIN!) the friends who went away... the friends that were always there and suddenly had no desire to breathe the same air that sustained me. Too many blog entries have been written about them. Poems even! So many years asking why, why, why!

     Enough, I guess, even if it means not knowing the their reasons for their staying away. Too much time wasted grappling with the shadows. Too many negative emotions crowding out memories of warmth and laughter shared in days past. Too much wasted energy which should have been invested in celebrations of love and friendship instead! The time for mourning is up!  

Tapos na ang pagluluksa...

Sana magsuot na muli ng kulay ang puso ko!

 

Bakit nga ba ako titser?

     Madalas kong tanungin ito sa 'king sarili kapag ang dami ng gawain ng guro ay tila dumadagan na sa aking dibdib hanggang sa tunay na hindi na ako makahinga. May pagkakataon din na iniisip ko kung ang kakarimpot na suweldong tinatanggap ko ay sulit sa lahat ng oras na inilalaan ko upang magampanan ang aking trabaho. Pinagmumuni-munihan ko rin kung minsan kung dapat ba akong manatiling titser samantalang di nakakarating sa aking kamalayan kung may saysay nga ba ang aking mga binabahagi sa mga estudyanteng labas-pumasok sa aking buhay?

    Kapag nababasa ko ang SET results, hindi ako nabubuhayan ng loob dahil sa mga nakukuha kong rating. Hindi naman mababa ngunit hindi rin naman kataasan. Para sa akin kasi, ang katamtaman lamang ay di tanda ng magaling!  Pagkatapos kong basahin ang mga nakasulat sa peyups.com at hindi man lamang ako nabanggit  kahit na sa anumang "Most" (kahit na most hated o most boring), naiisip ko tuloy na kung iwan ko ang pagtuturo, walang mababago sa ikot ng mundo ng aming mga estudyante. Walang manghihinyanag sa aking paglisan, ni isa ay hindi makapapansin na wala na ang aking pangalan sa listahan ng mga klase sa panahon ng pagpapatala. Sa madaling salita, ramdam ko na parang invisible ako sa unibersidad!

    Ngunit ngayong hapon, lumukso muli ang aking dugo. May isa akong dating estudyante na nagsabi na naging inspirasyon para sa kanya ang aking pag-aaral tungkol sa pagsukat ng pagkarelihiyoso upang kanyang ipagpapatuloy ang pagsasagawa ng sarili niyang pag-aaral.  Lubos ang kanyang pasasalamat na walang pag-aatubili ang aking pagbigay ng payo at tulong upang ituloy nya ang kanyang pananaliksik. Dahil sa kanyang sinabi at sa aking pagkaalala na hindi ito unang pagkakataon na narinig ko mula sa estudyante ang ganitong mga kataga, nagkaroon ako ng puwang para sa ibang pananaw. Marahil ang saysay ko sa pagiging titser ay hindi masusukat sa paghanga ng maraming estudyante sa aking kakayahang magturo sa loob ng silid-aralan.

    Marahil ang tagumpay ko ay  magmumula sa kahit na mangilan-ngilan na estudyante na mabubuksan ang isipan, bubuti ang puso, at magkakaroon ng lakas ng loob na abutin ang kanilang mga pangarap. Lahat ito,  dahil minsang nagdaan ako sa kanilang buhay. 

     

Chicken Waldorf Salad

Description:
My version of this salad supposedly first served in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.



Ingredients:
2 pcs. medium-size apples, cubed (I prefer Fuji but a crunchy variety would be good)
1/2 kg. chicken breast, boiled or steamed then cubed
1 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins (optional)
2 cups Miracle Whip or any mayonnaise/salad dressing
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and chill in refrigerator. Serve cold.

Crabstick Salad

Description:
My take on Kani salad which I tried in some Japanese restaurants in Manila.

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded or chopped crabsticks
2 cups julienned cucumber
1 cup cubed ripe mango
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds (optional)
1 - 1 1/2 cups low-fat Miracle Whip (my preference but you can also use any brand of mayonnaise or salad dressing)
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Chill ingredients separately until ready to serve. Mix together all ingredients a few minutes before serving to prevent the salad from becoming watery. (Feel free to adjust the quantity of the ingredients or add other ingredients to suit your taste. I once added caviar and it was really good!)

Kaarawan, Kainan, at mga Kaibigan

Birthday blow-out namin ni Chei sa Psych department, ginanap sa Faculty lounge noong Sept. 26, 2008.

I feel 52!

On Sept. 25, the four of us had dinner in Little Asia on Morato. Then we bought dessert at Amici which we shared with the cousins in Ling's house. Birthdays after the age of 50 are meant to be celebrated quietly...Shhh!

The Hongkong I Never Knew: Buildings & Highways

The Hongkong I Never Knew: Shops, Show Windows, & Malls

Goofy times with the Mac

Trying out the Multiply Premiun feature. Ang bilis nga mag-upload ng pictures!

The Hongkong I Never Knew: Gardens

The View from Ocean Terminal

Romancing the Food

Pag bumalik ako ng Hongkong, eto ang una kong kakainin! Haaay, sarap talaga!

The Hongkong I Never Knew: Museums

The Hongkong I Never Knew: The Airport

The Hongkong I Never Knew: Bridges

Indian song at Ling's show

The Unveiling of Magdangal

No, it's not a monument to Jolina! It's the muse of the College of Arts and Letters. You can find her in front of their new building.

Coffee & Eats with the Missionaries

Despedida sa papuntang Angola

One is on vacation from Madrid while one is on the way out to Angola. As always, we celebrate our reunions with food and drinks!

A Day in the LIfe of HFP

We invade CCP

Opening reception of Ling's CCP show "MADRE"
Sept. 4, 2008

Quisumbings r us

Descendants of Mariano Que Sum Bing and Bernardina Gonzales had a clan reunion in Cabalen, Makati last August 24, 2008.

Arguelles Clan Reunion

Hey, check out how we looked like in 1979!

PSSP Board Meeting

Start:	Sep 6, '08 09:00a
End:	Sep 6, '08 12:00p
Location:	UP Psych dept faculty lounge

AS 101 resurrected!

Unearthed from my forgotten photo archives these pictures of the blessing of the renovated offices of AS 101 (CSSP Office of the College Secretary). Fr. Pabs Tagura, SVD of the Sociology Dept. officiated. In attendance were college officials, former college secretaries, CSSP faculty, non-teaching staff, and friends. The renovation of the termite-infested space took almost a year and I got to enjoy my space only all of two weeks! Oh well, all the hard work being involved with the designing down to actually painting the alibata script on the walls were all worth the effort after seeing the finished product!

Rio, Rio, Rio

Puedeng poster ng healthy, happy breastfed baby!

Ma'am Taray

       Nagbago na siya! The phrase is neutral in meaning, I guess. But by varying voice inflections, it can go either in the direction of delight or the way of panghihinayang.  When one is in dire straits  or demonstrating intolerable behavior, change is a much hoped for event. A turn-around in fortune and circumstance in that context is welcomed by all.  But not when the situation is reversed. Safe to say, it is unfortunate only when change is in the direction from good to bad. Or as I have lately concluded, when it is towards a state that other people are not in agreement with or will adversely affect their own lives.  And THAT is not necessarily bad for the CHANGEE!

         Twice in my life, I have been intensely disliked by some people mainly because I had exhibited behavior which was not usual for me. For many, my default mode is that of an agreeable and  compliant person who has made it her mission to please people. In those two instances, I showed a side of me seldom seen by many. This would be the part of me that would speak out her mind when she felt aggrieved or would take measures not in keeping with what the high and mighty think should be done or said.   When I would not care to be bullied any more by them, these people thought of me as mayabang!

      This assertive spirit has cost me friends in the past and as I do it again, I am ready to suffer the consequences. Wait, no, there is no suffering here! Instead, there is a sweet realization  that I am living my life as a mature adult who will not waste concern anymore on the fact that some people are upset that I have changed! No more groveling at the feet of domineering and think-they know-it-all creatures! Ma'am Taray has emerged! So there!

UPCAT 2008 in Zamboanga City

I was in Zamboanga City from July 31-August 2 as part of the team tasked to administer the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT). The Testing center was in Western Mindanao State University. Of course, there was very little time to do the touristy stuff thus one can only see snatches of the city in these pictures.