The Sinulog Grand Parade

Every January, Cebu City celebrates the Sinulog Festival, which is in honor of the child Jesus or the Sto. Niño. It culminates every third Sunday of that month with the Grand Parade that is  full of pomp and pageantry. Aside from experiencing culture, the occasion is also good photo ops for photographers, the tourists and the locals. Some of the participants are from other provinces. The floats and costumes evolve so there is always something new for everyone year after year.

 The Costumes

                            

                           

Truth of the Matter

Here's another joke emailed to me by a friend:

There were two evil bothers. They were rich, and used their money to keep their evil ways from the public eye. They even attended the same church, and appeared to be perfect Christians.

Then, their pastor retired, and a new one was hired. Not only could the new pastor see right through the brothers' deception, but he also spoke well and true, and the church membership grew in numbers. A fund- raising campaign was started to build a new assembly.

All of  sudden, one of the brothers died. The remaining brother sought out the new pastor the day before the funeral and handed him a check needed to finish paying for the new building.

I have only one condition," he said. "At the funeral, you must say that my brother was a saint." The pastor gave his word, and deposited the check.

The next day, the pastor did not hold back. "He was an evil man," he said, "He cheated on his wife and abused his family". After going on like this, he finally concluded, "but, compared to his brother, he was a saint."

On Making Things Happen

"A head full of fears has no space for dreams."

- Anonymous

On Being Positive

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."

- Aristotle Onasis

On Making Your Mark

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead 
where there is no path and leave a trail." 


- Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Cross Stitch: Two Mustangs

I finally completed this design called Two Mustangs

* Design size: 15 x 11.25
* Cloth: Aida #10
* Thread: Anchor
* Number of colors used: 21

TV Series Quotes: Dracula

On Life

" We are like pencils. The best part of us is inside. We make mistakes, we erase.
 But we become a better person as we are sharpened."

- Anonymous

On the Truth

"A lie may fool someone else.
 But it will tell you the truth:
 You are weak."

-Tom Wolfe ( The Bonfire of Vanities)

Loboc, Bohol

Loboc town in Bohol is a place popular for its floating restaurants and the angelic voices of the Loboc Children's Choir. But other than those popular attractions, only a handful knew that this place has a lot more to offer than what they are known for.

The man-made forest

A part of the stretch of the man-made forest is located in this town. Just a few year's back, this area has been made as one of tour stops for photo ops. As a kid, I've travelled this road in the 90s to visit my grandparents who lived several towns farther. I remembered that the forest was lush despite the trees getting older. I also remembered that there used to have monkeys that would jump from tree to tree which was always a child's delight. Sadly, there are none of these in recent times.

A recent development in this town is the zoo which they sweetly named ZooColate Thrills, a shout out to Chocolate Hills, Bohol's main attraction. Their collection of animals are not much, but to those who rarely go to zoos, anything would be a delight. They have three Bengal Tigers and one of them is named Tiggy. They also have a monkey, a civet cat, a set of eagles, a pony, a turtle and an ostrich. There's a guide that will go with your group as you roam around the zoo to introduce you to the animals.

After the the zoo trip, we passed by the Loboc River where the floating restos ply. However, during the time that we went there, no restaurant passed.

We then proceeded to Loboc Ecotourism Adventure Park. They they offered a zipline ride and and a cable car ride.The ride is to go to the other mountain an have to pass above the great Loboc River. None in our group were dauntless enough to try it, but we tried out the cable car. The ride is just like one to two minutes, but it sure feels like more than that. Even if my mates were screaming their hearts out, my knees were still shaking. The ride is totally safe, but the harness/ seat belt did not stop my mind from thinking that in case we fall, that would be the last of us. The P350.00 fee was for a two-way ride, and when we finished the ride, it seems that we'd wanted to try it again. We did not.

Loboc is about an hour's ride from the capital,Tagbilaran City.

Loboc River - the route for the floating restaurants

At the zoo. This train is actually just for photo ops. 

 Tiggy

The Animals at the Zoo Colate Thrills

The Cable Car Ride- notice how far they've come from. The girl in black is not afraid of heights.

And its our turn for the ride. We were going to that speck on the other side.

That is where we came from. We disembarked from the car and has to turn around 360 degrees for the return trip.

This is what we saw from up above. Aside from the restrictive belt, I was too scared to move even a bit to take pictures.

The Loboc church building was ruined by the October 2013 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the region.The church is one of Philippines' oldest.

On Learning

"I hear and I forget.
 I see and I remember.
 I do and I understand."

-Confucius

Life Has Now Been Explained

On the first day, God created the dog. God said, "sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of 20 years." The dog said, " that's too long to be barking. Give me 10 years and l'll give you back the other 10." So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey. God said, "entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh. I will give you a 20-year life span.". The monkey said, How boring, monkey tricks for 20 years? I don't think so. Dog gave you back 10, so that's what I'll do too, okay?". And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow. God said, "you must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of 60 years," The cow said, "that's kind of a tough life you want me to live for 60 years. Let me have 20 and I'll give back the 40". God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man. God said, "eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. I'll give you 20 years." Man said, "what? Only 20 years! Tell you what, I'll take my 20, and the 40 the cow gave back, and the 10 the monkey gave back and the 10 the dog gave back, that makes 80, okay?" "Okay", said God, "you've got a deal".

So that is why the first 20 years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves; for the next 40 years we slave in the sun to support our family; for the next 10 years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren;  and for the last 10 years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Animal Shots

A rooster

On Inspiring Others

" Try to be a rainbow on someone's cloud."

- Maya Angelou

On Heroism

" I think we all do heroic things, but hero is not a noun, it's a verb."

-Robert Downey Jr

Philippine Coins: The English Series in My Collection

I was lucky enough to be able to include some old Philippine coins which was dubbed as the English Series. Is is called as such because these coins are in the English language . These coins were minted between 1903- 1945 when the Philippines was under the United States.

 Starting 1969 all Philippine coins are minted in Tagalog, the official Philippine language.

 * Currency: Twenty Centavos ( Php 0.20)

 * Obverse shows Lady Liberty striking an anvil with a hammer. In her background is the Mayon      *  Volcano. "Filipinas" and "Twenty Centavos" are also encrypted.

 * Reverse shows the arms of the US Territories the words "United States of America" and the year          "1918".

 * Year Minted : 1918

  * Composition: 75% silver

* Currency : Five Centavos (Php 0.05)

* Obverse shows a man sitting on an anvil, and the Mayon volcano , and the words " Five Centavos"      and " Filipinas"

* Reverse shows the coat of arms of the Commonwealth of the Philippines; the words "United States    of America" and the  mint year  "1944"

* Year: 1944

US Coins

The following are the US coins that somehow went to the assorted coins I've been keeping.

* Currency:  Five Cents

* Obverse shows the bust of Thomas Jefferson, the third US President; the United States motto, In      God      we Trust; the word "Liberty" and the  year 1960 

* Reverse shows the Montecillio which was the house of Jefferson; the words "E Pluribus Unum",    which is   Latin for ' One out of many"-  a phrase in the seal of the United States; the words, "United States of        America", and "five cents".

* Year: 1960

On Faith

" The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious."

-John Sculley

Arts and Crafts

Three months ago, I decided to take a break from my day job, and have a real long vacation. If I had enough savings and less financial responsibilities, I would've taken a sabbatical and  my wanderlust, but sadly, its not meant to be -- at least for now.

Meanwhile, I learned to do some crafts and create some beautiful things. Most of my inspiration are found on different websites about crafts. Pinterest in particular have a million ideas that would make you go  oohh and aaahh.

Here are some of the projects that I have completed so far.

Redesign A Shirt

Somebody gave me this blouse, but when I tried it out, I decided there was too much fabric in the front that its not flattering to wear. It makes me feel like I'm trying to hide a bulge in my belly. So I decided to remove the dangling fabric, used the same cloth to create small butterflies and sew it to the blouse.

       before                                                                    after

Wisdom of the Innocent

A teacher of chemistry wanted to teach his 5th grade class a lesson about the evils of liquor, so he produced an experiment that involved a glass of water, a glass of whiskey, and two worms.

"Now class, observe closely the worms," said the teacher putting the first worm into the water.

The worm in the water writhed about, happy as a worm in the water as can be.

The second worm, he put into into the glass of whiskey. It writhed painfully, and it quickly sank to the bottom, dead as a door nail.

"Now, what lesson can we derive from this experiment?" the teacher asked.

One kid raised his hand and responded, "Drink whiskey and you don't get worms."

Expand Your Vocabulary

16. Dumdum n. a term for a wide range of soft ammunition
                     adj a variation of calling someone dumb.

17. Hobbledehoy /ˈhäbəldēˌhoi/   n. a clumsy or awkward teenager
                                                       adj. clumsy or awkward

18. lazulitte  / xx  n. a phosphate mineral which is blue in color
                          adj. a shade of blue

19. Prurient / ˈpro͝orēənt/ xx adj. lascivious; salacious; having excessive interest in sexual matters

20. Reel /rēl/  - v. loose one's balance; lurch violently;
                             
                            n. a device such as a cylinder or spool or frame

Words

A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000.

The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men..."

The husband then turned to his wife wife and asked, 'What?'

On Death

" Death ends a life, not a relationship."

     - Mitch Albom

Movie Quotes: Lone Survivor

" Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards."


Note: The first sentence was quoted in the movie from Mick Jagger

On the Quest for Success

" How you react to failure will determine whether you are a quitter or a winner."

- Josh Ortiz

What's In Between the Cebu and Bohol Islands

As a frequent traveler from Cebu to Bohol, and back, I became familiar of the sights during the trip. Everytime, I'd be amazed of of what I see, so I kind of documented the images here. There was this one time that the boat took another route because of the big waves, and it was an opportunity for me to pass under the bridges connecting Cebu and Mactan Island. There were  also a couple of lighthouses that we passed through, but since I always travel during the day, I haven't seen whether it was functional. When I asked the crew, they also did not noticed since they only passed that way in daytime.

On Making A Difference

CEFBEX and Cebu Auto Show 2014

This year's Cebu Food and Beverage Exhibit (CEFBEX) was held at SM City last October 9-12. It was simultaneously held with the Philippine Building Construction and Exposition (PHILBEX) and the Cebu Auto Show. PHILBEX was held at the SM Trade Hall, while CEFBEX and the Cebu Auto Show were held at the parking area of the North Wing.

The exhibit showcased the different needs of the food industry, like appliances, various kinds of ingredients, and the most interesting of all, the food itself.

Some of the food exhibitors are from different provinces who were trying to determine whether their product would be adapted by the Cebuanos before they will decide to open a store in here in the province. One of this is the Victoria's Empanada de Iloko. We tried their empanada, which was really, really good. Its a lot different from the empanadas that are made in Cebu. This empanada is not as greasy, and it has a thin crust. One can choose different fillings like egg with coleslaw, egg with meat, and a whole lot more of choices. It's best eaten with a dip of Ilokano vinegar- a vinegar made hot with chili. Its much like Cebu's 'sukang pinakurat", but is made of coconut vinegar. At a price range between 50-100 pesos, you can say that its worth it. While eating it, I can't help but purr 'yummm' and 'hmmmm'.

One of the best things during the food exhibit were the free tastes of almost all the products offered. You will not go hungry visiting this kind of Expo.

A temporary shelter was put up at the North Wing for CEFBEX

A staff of Victoria's Empanada is making this delicious snack.

The entries of the fruit presentation contest

The BRP Spyder at the Auto Show

The Mazda Flairwagon. Compact outside, spacious inside.

Pinoy Power

After digging a depth of 100 meters last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network a thousand years ago.

2016 Elections: One Student's View on the Philippines' Political Circus

Its one year and some months more to go before the 2016 Elections. And for some months now, the news on TV already reeked with the elections day after day.

My Favorite Poem: If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

On Way of Living

" I would  rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't , than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is."

- Albert Camus

Journey to the Past: Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu

The Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino, a Roman Catholic church is another major historical landmark of Cebu City, Philippines. The church was built during the Spanish occupation, and is one of the country's oldest.

Right shows the repairs being done for the belfry that was damaged by the October 2013 earthquake.

Right shows repairs being done on the belfry that was destroyed during the October 2013 earthquake

Pochero in Abuhan Dos

I've heard from friends that the best pochero Cebu  is in Abuhan Dos, along F. Ramos Street. So When my mother's birthday came, my Dad and my brother brought her there for a special lunch. And we definitely tried their special pochero.

Seafood at Co Jordan

Every now and then, we crave for something that we don't normally eat everyday, like seafood. And nothing beats eating it as fresh as can be. That is why my friends and I headed to Co- Jordan Seafood Restaurant. They offer a variety of fresh seafood like crabs, shrimps and different kinds of fish, and of course, talaba (oyster). The shrimps and the crabs are very much alive. You'll have to pick whatever you like, and then the staff will cook it for you. 

On Books

" Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

          - Sir Francis Bacon

Journey to the Past: Fort San Pedro

The Fort San Pedro in Cebu's  port area was built during the Spanish occupation in the Philippines. It was built in the 1700s under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.

Today, it served as one of the major tourist destination for those who want to learn something about Cebu's colorful history.

Part of the front facade

Collective Names of Animals

Animals have a different name when they are in a group. Here are some of them:

1. Crows - Murder

My Favorite Poem: Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
for my unconquerable soul.

A Really Interesting Day!

Here's a list of some interesting days that is being recognized whether on a national level, or even around the globe. While some of these were created to raise awareness of something that matters to humanity, others, I think, are just a marketing ploy.

1. World Water Day – March 22. This was started in 1993 by the  United Nations to create awareness for water conservation for future generations.

What the Letters in the Names of Famous People Stand For

These famous people have rather long names, so for easy recollection, they've shortened it to the first letters of those names, plus their last name which is spelled out. Notice that most of these people are British and authors.

1. JRR ( John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien -  The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and The Hobbit are among his     famous     works.

2. CS (Clive Staples) Lewis – author of the famous children's book The Chronicles of Narnia.

3. JK ( Joanne Kathleen) Rowling – another author of children's books, The Harry Potter series.

4. HG  ( Herbert George ) Wells - another British author known for his science fiction works like The War       of the Worlds and The Time Machine, which were later adapted to films.

5. TS (Thomas Stearns)  Eliot - a playwright known for Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, which was the basis of Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical, Cats. He was American by birth, but later became a naturalized British citizen.