Partying the Tondo Way

Fiesta All-time favorite-Leche Flan

3rd sunday of May, a significant day for "laking tondo" like myself. That only means our parish is having a fiesta to commemorate our parish patron St. Joseph. And fiesta only means party, party, party.When you hear the word "tondo" you would probably think of it as a stinky, dangerous, and gangster-inhibited place. For a person who haven't been to our town, they are most probably to avoid going to our place, if not, avoid taking the way passing through tondo and take the longer way instead if they need to go to Navotas, Divisoria or Caloocan. Though the stereotypes about tondo has been filling minds for ages, still, Tondo hides it's real nature: camaraderie among homeowners, concern for the whole community, and concern for safety per se. Those aspect of tondo have been shown in our baranggay for this year's fiesta. What's so great about fiesta is that, it gave our family a chance to reunite and catch up with each other. Oh I just missed my cousins.

Of course, a fiesta without gastronomic adventure is, well, not a feast at all. And yearly, all mothers in our family cook foods that can only be tasted on special occasions. Lechon, Garbanzos, Ube Halaya, Leche Flan, and the all-time favorite- Kare-Kare. 2 types of Kare-Kare were served. One is Seafood Kare-Kare cooked by my aunt, and the other, the traditional Kare-Kare. Both recipes are handed down by our late grandmother, Aling Adeling. It' so nice to be with my cousins. We sang together, took pictures together, had our nails painted, and ate our favorite, leche flan! We ate like pigs! (:

Before

After

I'm just thankful I have friends for cousins. (:

Me and my cousins.

Who says flip-flops are out?

We volted in!

Ate, Chinie, IC and Mara

Gawin daw ba akong photographer?

Party! Party!

It was exactly four years ago ( I was just thirteen back then) when I first entered the world of blogging. I had my first-ever blog which was made in xanga. Funny how I started blogging, since my first blog was made for my admiration for an actor-yes, a fan site. From there I met friends whom I share the same interests, and the good thing is, they're still my friends even that admiration just faded away like time. I had no idea how blog works, all I know are the basics-basic html, basic writing, and basic tools needed to run a blog. But blogging isn't as complicated as a newbie would think.I moved to different blog hosts, from xanga to tabulas, mutiply, blogdrive to a few I can't even remember, and finally, in blogger. Moving to blogger is somewhat a challenge given to me. A challenge to make friends with fellow bloggers, to promote traffic to one's blog, and of course, to defeat writer's block. There are a number of times when I felt like I don't have anything interesting to share the world. But everything have changed. People here in blogger are so nice, so nice that they know how to give back to the readers visiting their blogs. That's why I decided to settle down here.

To my blogring mates in xanga: Alyn, Marc, Sam, Bhadz, Ate Maju,Carl, thank you for the continuous support and friendship despite of our "blog differences" (hahaha, ano daw? xanga X blogger)
To my friends Jamie, Charmaine, Kambz, and Micah, thank you for giving me favors for my blog! (:
To iko who has what it takes to be the next top graphic designer, thank you for laughing out loud with me.
To kuya Quincy thank you for giving me advice whenever I needed one.
To anabanana who helped me with my traffic (thanks for the now dead bloghopper) pis!
To Kuya Ayel,thank you for sharing your adventures in life which serves as my inspiration
To Kuya Aethen who never forgets to pay a visit despite his busy schedule, thank you for being my "idol", for giving me the drive to be a better student like yourself.
To Kris (the future columnist), thank you for giving me the drive to improve my writing skill, you're an inspiration. (:
To Johnray, for the wonderful posts that make me realize things I never thought of before.
To Kuya Redlan, for the constant visits, comments, advices, jokes, and everything a little girl would ask for a kuya. Thank you for being my kuya! (:

To Ms. D (terror print adviser! pis!), thank you for the support, for the encouragement to continue writing, I will always be a part of The Light. (:

To the 2000+ visits from the people who come and go to this blog, thank you!

and to the geniuses who invented blog, thank you for giving us, bloggers, a place to spill out our thoughts, a place to interact, and a place to develop awareness to the important events.

* * *

ANOTHER YEAR
ANOTHER LAYOUT!

To celebrate a eyar of blogging here in blogger, I made a new header for my blog. (:

Cheers to blogging!

Jesus Saves...once again

In relation to my blog post Robbed, here is an event that had happened just this morning (as told by my tito Romie a.k.a Chome) which I can't believe myself.

10;30 am, our family had our breakfast together. Then, my tito showed up with a huge smile on his face. Then, he told us about his wonderful smile we only see once in a blue moon. It was 10 am when my tito woke up, walked out of the house near the pool to get his daily dose of morning fresh air together with a cup of coffee. While sipping his coffee, he saw scraps of wood and stone near the window where the robbers entered. He decided to clean up the area, and to his astonishment, he saw a gold pendant, without a chain. Its shape is a crucifix-Christ on the cross- which belongs to him. Of all the jewelries taken by the thieves, only the pendant was left. Now, we're wondering, of all things to be left, why is it the pendant.

Is it a miracle? We don't know. But one thing's for sure: God moves in mysterious ways. This event somehow gave us the feeling of ease, and assurance that things will be alright after the event. We're very thankful, despite the hundred thousands worth of jewelries stolen, we're left with a pendant that shields us from harm.

Fooled or what?

I decided to head back to Las Pinas after fixing few things for school. I rode a jeep to Tayuman, and was seated beside a guy in blue polo and black pants. He approached me, asking for my number. I told him I don't give my number to strangers. He even asked my school, what course I take up and the like. I was scared, because I was approached by a person whom I totally don't know. Then, he told me that he went to visit his sister in her workplace, and without expectations, his pockets were picked. He asked me if I could give him 40 pesos for him to be able to go back home, told me he's not a bad person,that he's from UP Diliman, he's a born-again, and that he's willing to give his 2 phones for 40 pesos. I was about to give him 40 pesos but I remember my father telling me to be careful with people asking for money in the streets. Half of me wanted to help , and half of me wanted to just ignore what he asks of me. I just told him that I'll have to travel 1 hour to my destination. He told me If I could pay for his fare and give him 20 pesos (half of what he really needs) , and asked me where I was going. I payed for his fare, gave him twenty pesos and told him I'm going to Las Pinas. With enthusiasm, He told me that his grandmother lives in Pilar Village here in Las Pinas. Again, He asked for my number, but I refused to give my number. He gave me his name (my poor memory isn't working during that time), and I gave mine. We shook hands, and I told him there are so many bad guys in the area.
He was asking me some more questions, personal questions you won't expect from a total stranger. Few meters away, He told me that He's going. He asked the driver to stop the vehicle, told me to take care, thanked me and went away. A few moments after, I remember. He told me that He's going to Espana, and that the place where the driver dropped him off is meters away from the jeepney terminal going to Espana. Was I fooled or what?

I hope the money I lent him really helped, and that he's not into some modus operandi.
To where he used the money isn't my concern anymore. My only concern is to help those who needs my help.

Robbed!

I was in my tita’s house in Las Piñas last Friday when my mother asked me to go home to comply with the requirements needed for my enrollment. I was having a second thought of coming home, thinking that it would be boring at home. My mother persuaded me to come home, so I decided to go home with my brother. Sunday night, our family watched a movie and had dinner together. During those times, we didn’t have the idea that something was happening in Las Piñas. The day after, my mom checked her phone and saw 11 missed calls from Las Piñas. My mom caught the next phone call, and it was my sister on the line. I didn’t have the idea what was happening, and my mom gave me that horrifying facial expression. I was worried, because I thought something bad happened to my sister, who is suffering from thyroid and potassium problems. After the phone call, my mom relayed the news to us: My tita’s house got robbed. Thousands worth of jewelries were stolen. The good thing is, everybody in Tita O’s house left for Mall of Asia. No one was hurt. Actually, my other tita decided to be left at home because she was having allergies and my sister wants to accompany her. Good thing they were convinced to go with everyone, because if not, they could have been killed. Why? Because the thieves equipped themselves with the gardening tools found in the laundry area, something they could use just in case somebody was left at home, and left it in every place they have inspected. God is really great, at least no one was left at home, and He didn’t permit those bad guys hurt anyone. The thieves intruded the house through the window of Tita Mar’s room. They ran into her closet and got all of her jewelries. Then, passed through the old laundry area, got the gardening tools, passed through the kitchen, went to Tita O’s room, bagged some jewelries (Thank God volt was invented!) and projector. The projector was found in the garden( I don’t know if it was done on purpose or what. . .) They also attempted to get into the old office but failed; the locks are just too good for them.

Here are some pictures of the crime scene:

The entry point

Projector in the garden
Robbers thought they could find something in the library
Tita Mar's room... everything was scattered.
Jewelry boxes found in the kitchenTita O's closet

Really, this event is tragic. Actually, Tita O and her family are set to leave on the 29th for Hawaii. Now, they are not quite sure if leaving is a good thing to do in this condition. We’re just thankful that no one was hurt; we just pray that everyone will be safe and that justice shall be given.
To the robber/s, our family wishes that you put your dirty earnings on good purpose. God is a witness to everything you do and justice shall be served to the ones who were deprived of it.
7th Commandment: YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.
10th: Commandment: YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S GOODS.
Two mortal sins in the price of one crime.

Patience is a virtue.

It's hard to be a teacher. That's a conclusion I was able to prove after being a teacher to my cousin for two days. My patience was at brink of collapsing, my hands are tired; my eyes ,teary, and know I am wondering how many great things a teacher must sacrifice for the good of her students.
My attention was called by my tita the day I came back to Las Pinas. She asked me to teach and review my cousin for she was about to take entrance exams two days after for the school she was applying for. I love teaching (it runs in the family, I guess. My mom is an economics professor while my tita taught design in U.P.) but my love for teaching was tested when me and my cousin had a one-on-one tutorial and review. For two days, we had Math. I prepared materials for our lessons, like rounding off numbers and etc., done research just to verify if my idea of the lessons she will have to take up was right, and prepared series of tests to check on how well she understands the things I will teach her.

Day 1: Patience is a virtue.
The very moment my tita asked me this favor of teaching my cousin, I immediately asked her to go with me and start with our tutorial session. She told me to give her 1 hour to prepare, and it was fine since I haven't eaten lunch yet. After exactly one hour, I asked her again, but she gave me these unreasonable excuses. I gave her the time she asked me, and we agreed that we start it at 6 in the evening. Our agreed time arrived, again she tried to escape, but this time I didn't permit her delaying tactics. We started our session, I discussed to her the lesson, gave her tips and all the things she needed for her to easily understand what I was teaching her, but she gave me this look that gave me this impression that she wasn't interested at all. I didn't mind what she was trying to tell, though.I just gave her exercises. She was yawning, and was not paying attention to the things I tell her. I was running out of patience. I was nearly shouting, explaining things to her even though we were just a foot away from each other. I asked her if she wants to go to that school, she should take the test seriously. Whoa. I wonder if I was as stubborn as her when I was a kid.

Day2: Is this true?
First thing in the morning today, I woke her up, and I told her to grab some breakfast before she goes for her exam. I asked her few questions about the things I taught her the day before. Some answers were right, and some were wrong. I was really worried. Worried that she might fail her test. I gave her tips on how to deal with problem solving and math tests, and let her cram a little bit before her departure. Few moments past, I was informed that she failed her math test. She was three correct answers away from the passing score. I felt disappointed, and I feel sorry for her at the same time. Am I that bad for a teacher? Failed math test means more days to prepare again for her math exam. Good thing the school allowed her to have a retake of the math exam. I hope this time, she'll take everything seriously. I don't want her to retain that impression that ate tricia is an evil teacher.

Oh well, this experience just gave me another reason to look up to teachers.

May God spare me more patience.