One of the best ways to end the year 2012

We all wanted to end a year with a bang.  More often than not, we always look forward to some  special activities and  bonding moments with our family and loved ones during the Holiday Season.

I was fortunate enough to enjoy one  last  December 27-December 30, 2012 with my sisters and some of their family members. .  For four days, we invaded the summer capital of the Philippines and enjoyed the very, very  cool breeze of December.  The younger generations had their own set of activities while  we, the sisters, walked  all around the city, shopped and window shopped for new and “UK” items,  cooked,  dined out, ate food and laughed altogether.  Most of all, we enjoyed posing and taking pictures for posterity since bonding moments like these never happen every  time.  All of us have our respective lives to live and it is indeed a rare occasion for all of us to be together at the same time. Below are some of our group pictures which you can enjoy viewing, too.

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank certain  people who made this trip possible and a very memorable one.  To my sister Bengga and her husband Anthony, thank you so much for extending the invitation to us .  Your endless generosity is beyond compare.  Thank you also to Astra and Noel Velasquez for their excellent Christmas gifts to all of us ( the sisters ) and of course for their company.  Our joy would not be complete without their  family. Thank you also to all our car managers, Anthony Sr., Andrei ( d macho and d pogi ), Ton-ton ( Towni Burdado??) and of course to Tart, my brother-in-law ( the husband of Citas ), who brought us safe,  to and from Baguio,  back home.  To all my sisters who did the marketing and the cooking and  to all my nieces and nephews who cleared the dining table and washed the dishes,  thank you so much  for all the time and the effort.  To the crew of the EDC Staffhouse, thank you also for all the assistance ( from electrical to janitorial services ).   Most of all, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Mr. Jun Arciaga, who provided the superb accommodation during the entire vacation.  Our stay at the EDC Staffhouse was indeed   very comfortable and very relaxing.  Not to be forgotten of course is Elaine Baladjay Kaplan, my sister who is currently based in Pensylvannia, USA, who treated us to a sumptuous lunch at Max’s Hacienda Luisista on our way home.

Truly they say that life is like a roller-coaster.  Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down.  Sometimes it’s cold and sometimes it’s warm.  I never had a perfect relationship with my sisters but  I felt so blessed to have all my sisters with me all throughout my life’s turns. 

Bengga and her husband, Anthony

(L-R)  Fler . Bengga, Banzai, Beth, Eunice and Citas at Ayala Technohub, Baguio City

In Burnham Park, Baguio City

By the fireplace, EDC Staffhouse. Baguio Copuntry Club

At the dining table, EDC Staffhouse. Baguio Country Club

HAPPY NEW YEAR, SISTERS!  We'll be a year older this coming year and eventually, some of us will be acquiring our dual citizenship.  Let’s look forward to more bonding moments like these in the future while we can still walk , travel and have fun!  

To the rest of the gang in our Baguio trip, HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR!  More pictures will be uploaded soon!

To Ara

No matter how small a family is, you still cannot discount the possibility of disagreements and misunderstandings.  And i f it happens, more often than not, you get disturbed emotionally.

Last Saturday, i was supposed to meet two new old friends way back  in the '70s from the V. Mapa High School. While on my way to SM North, I came to know through a phone conversation  that Malou Villaruel Almazan wouldn't make it as she was not feeling well.  I felt a bit sad for her inability to join us that afternoon because that bonding moment was really meant for her considering that her lifetime partner had just passed away.  We know how sad and lonesome she was and I felt that bonding with some friends would somehow ease the pain.

After some few minutes, I received a call from Ara.  She said she would be late as she was coming all the way from Taytay.  " Haaaaay, salamat!", I uttered silently.  At least, I will still be meeting  an old friend, kahit isa man lang.

Ara and me at Barrio Fiesta in SM North

Actually, on that very same afternoon, I was nursing a pain somewhere in my heart brought by a lot of misunderstandings which eventually  led into bickerings in school. As the school administrator, I felt the burden of having teachers from two different worlds.  I really need someone to talk to and someone who'd listen to me to lighten the burden .

While waiting for Ara,  I tried to enjoy the eat-all-you-can merienda at Barrio Fiesta.   I tried everything...literally!  I wanted to forget all the troubles . . . I wanted to release the pain.  After two rounds of Arroz Caldo with matching tokwa't baboy, a saucer-full of karioka and gelatin, I was full . . . and satisfied.
At about 5:30 p.m., Ara arrived.

Oh my!  Ara is truly a stunner!  She was wearing a pink long-sleeved shirt with matching accessories.  Despite the long trip, she looked fresh.  She greeted me with a sweet smile and a kiss.

Not long after, we had a chat.  A very pleasant chat . . . and it was all about everything under the sun.
Slowly, I felt  I was smiling...laughing as if there were no more pains.  The more we enjoyed the afternoon when the pianist performed some of the most popular love songs.  As we listened  and sang to the different tunes, we ordered Ara's favorite pancit bihon guisado.  We matched it with a big bowl of halo-halo which we shared.

The pianist at Barrio Fiesta  whom Ara and I " fell in love with "

Time passed by and it was time to go.  It's getting late.  With a smile on our face, we stood up, dropped some bills to the tip glass, and left Barrio Fiesta with a light heart.

To Ara,  the little things that you've done for me meant so much in my life.  Truly, you are not an accident.  God created you for a purpose.  You are God's special creation . . . ready to brighten the burdened souls!
May the good Lord bless and keep you today and always!  See you again in another bonding moment!
Cheers!

Shouldn't We Try The Robots Instead ?

Have you ever thought of having robots in school as teachers instead of having the real persons?

It may sound weird but sometimes, I really wanted to bite the idea and see for myself  which one works better.

Teaching is one of the noblest things a person can ever do in his life.  As a teacher, whether you're a professional or not, so much is expected from you.  As a teacher, you're like a fish in a bowl, watched by so many people around, trying to check whether you're swimming the way you taught people how to swim.  As a teacher, you cannot go wrong and definitely,  you have no privilege either  to commit mistakes . Otherwise, you will lose your credibility.  Hence, teachers try their best to live up to the ideals of teaching.
They try  to become  role models to their students and be the living examples of their own preaching. 

Unfortunately, teachers are not supernaturals. They are not gods, either.  They are just  human beings with their own sets of misgivings.  Just like anybody else, teachers are also susceptible to feel good or bad on anything that affects them and to react accordingly.  And just like anybody else in other fields, teachers have their own emotions and  pride to protect, including their thick-shelled  insecurities.  All these put together make it difficult for us to understand why some teachers behave the way they should not or the other way around.

It is for these reasons that  I had this wildest thought - that is  to try robots in school as teachers.  Robots will only do what you have instructed them to do.  They will do their lesson plans as instructed and submit the same on time as ordered.  They will teach the children the way they were required to do so.  They will never sleep during vacant hours inside the classrooms or even during class  hours. They will never cheat their attendance sheets.  They will not talk about the misgivings of other robots.  They will not mind rumors and gossips.   They will never feel insecure of anybody.  There will be no professional rivalry or jealousy among them.  They will just  follow orders which some teachers  find it so difficult to do.

How I wish robots are capable of  loving their clients, both the students and the parents, their peers or colleagues and their superiors as well.    How I wish they are capable of being compassionate, too!  How I wish robots  are capable also of being sensitive to the needs and feelings of the people around them.  How I wish they can also work in a team ~ cooperating and coordinating with each other, not for the good of anyone alone, but for the good of the whole school.

Teachers are capable of doing all the things that robots can do.  Most importantly, teachers are capable of doing all the things that robots cannot do. That's how superior teachers are to the robots.      The only problem is, some teachers wanted to be treated like robots, as if they are.  Shouldn't we try the robots instead?



   

I'm so EXCITED!

Twenty-three (23) more days to go and I would be the happiest mom on earth.  It may sound very exaggerated, but it's true.

For twenty years, we were doing a lot of things together - eating, sleeping, shopping, travelling, crying, laughing at someone or even laughing at  ourselves . . . together!

Six months  after her debut,  she left for London.  From Southville Foreign University where she finished her Associate in Hotel and Restaurant Management,  she  continued  her studies in International Hospitality Management, first, at the Isle of Man, then proceeded to London Metropolitan University .  If only I could, I would have prevented  her from leaving the Philippines . . . from leaving us  (her Dad and me ).  But it was her dream and we do not want to nurture our selfishness at the expense of fulfilling her ambitions in life.

Not long after, she met the man of her life at the uni and eventually decided to get married.  There was an indescribable pain  at the start, which, through the process of acceptance, later on became a sigh of relief.  Finally,  my Queen is  in good hands over there in the land of the Brits . . . the place of the King and Queen . . . the place where Reina  now belongs.

Since her marriage last August 16, 2011 and since we bade goodbye to each other last August 28, 2011 at the Heathrow Airport in London, we will only see each other again on October 19, 2012.

Isn't that exciting?

Oh, well, as a mom, I'm so EXCITED to see my only daughter , REIN, and my only son, JOE!  They will be  my  special guests/hosts  during our  3-in-1 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL !

Believe me . . . I'm so EXCITED to be with them for fifteen looooong days!

Let's start from a bit of artz

I planted a seed today . . . the start of a new beginning!

Tomorrow, the seed will start to grow . . .

And grow... and grow . . . 

Until it becomes a healthy tree . . .

Ready to give . . . ready to share

Everything that is in it.

I am ready to nurture the seed

and let it grow until it becomes a healthy tree...

Ready to give... ready to share

Everything that is in it.