2010/2011

I don’t know about you guys but I feel relieved now that the year is almost gone. It wasn’t really the worst year in recent memory but not the best either; STILL, a lot of anxieties due to continuing global economic crisis dominating the last couple of years although the good news is it seems to be improving lately.

Without a doubt, in 2010 we were all challenged in so many ways but here we are still standing while in the midst of uncertainties and perhaps fears of our future. We will manage all these if only we always keep our faith alive and never stop believing in ourselves.

Someone wisely told me that to have success in life, what we need is opportunity. And with that opportunity, preparation is needed...and no less, hard work and determination.

Well folks, year 2011 is an opportunity...prepare for it!

Cheers to the New Year...and to a new beginning.

A Season of Giving

MONEY Magazine reported last week that Warren Buffett says he will donate 99% of his wealth. Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have given $14.5 billion to fund vaccines. Oprah Winfrey has given $40 million to start a school for girls in South Africa. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, pledged $100 million to improve schools in Newark. Isn’t that nice?

How about you?

I know I know...none of us have deep pockets like they do, not even close, but there's nothing wrong with contributing 100 Pesos here and 100 pesos there for a good cause like our Night High Scholarship project. Keep making donations, big or small, on a single cause can be more fulfilling. Helping to fund a simple project like ours can often be more satisfying since you'll really be able to see the impact of your pledge donations. Please continue to support our scholarship project.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah...

...and Happy Festivus for the rest of us!

We’ve only just “Vigan”

Yes, friends and klasmeyts, we’ve just begun contemplating on our next bonding trip. After Batad / Sagada in 2009 and Mayon Volcano / Butanding in 2010, a road/food trip to Ilocos Region, specifically Vigan and perhaps Laoag and Pagudpud, if time permits, are on our mind for 2011. 

An official UNESCO World Heritage site, Vigan will take you back in time with Spanish colonial architecture in sight, terracotta sidewalks and cobblestones under, a horse-drawn calesa ride on top and great foods inside our ever hungry middle.

Quiet a drive from Manila, slow down the highway and see the silhouette of Mt. Pinatubo in Pampanga, lunch at the famous or infamous Hacienda Luisita along the way.  The waves in La Union will surely get you stoked so bring your surfboard dude!

So, anyone care to join us?

17-Milllion Dollar Man

I have yet to find out in the news who actually won the recent 741-million peso lottery. That’s 17-million dollar if converted in current peso-to-dollar rate. I suppose it’s hard to imagine someone coming out in public with the winning ticket combination without fear or apprehension knowing everyone’s eyes and ears are waiting. 

Just thinking about it, I honestly don’t know what I will do if I was that doggone lucky winner and have to claim the prize one day. Should I hire the notorious and dreaded Ampatuans to protect me? 

But I definitely know what I will do with the money if I have them at my disposal. Expand our scholarship project, sending more unprivileged kids to school and build my dream library. 

Oh I forgot, I will finally retire and tour the world too!

Every soul I know played that number game hoping this Christmas will be the merriest ever. I don’t feel bad for any of them not winning, after all, lottery is a game of chance, and a game I was never interested at all in playing. Yes, once in a while I buy tickets, usually when I stop by gas station and use the change for one or 2 quick picks. Months or ever years after, you’ll still find those tickets in my wallet left folded and unchecked. That’s how uninterested I am about the game. 

But not my father-in-law! 

He religiously play week in and week out with the same numbers; a collection of birth dates, anniversary dates, death dates, blind dates and what not. That’s the only reason I have daily newspaper subscription in the first place; for him to check the winning combinations and find out if I will be a richer son-in-law. Hehehe. 

In that recent lottery, the 1-in-29-million odds of winning seem overwhelming. The good thing is all that is playing have the same fair chance of getting the right combination numbers, perhaps even have the same dreams of what they will do with the money if found 17-million dollar richer the following morning. 

Sometimes, luck really comes into play in life. Just don’t always depend on it. You’ll be disappointed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It will be a short work-week since Thursday is Thanksgiving holiday here in the US while the day after is more famous for Black Friday, when shopping takes a whole new different meaning. People are just way to crazy enough to start their shopping even when stores are still hours away from opening.

Yes, you read it right! People are in line, camping out, starting at midnight waiting for the 6AM store opening.

Isn’t that crazy?

Admittedly, I once did line up at 2 in the morning hoping to get a blockbuster deal on a mountain bike. After freezing myself for hours, I realized then that it’s not all worth it for me. But it’s quite an experience to say the least!

This Thanksgiving, I would like to give thanks to all those who continue to support our scholarship project. Your commitment and pledges you made mean a lot to Patrick and Angelyn.

Maraming Salamat Po!

Facebook with No Face

There’s no stopping now how Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg zucking us all, conquering the world, thus conquering me, with news earlier this week of rolling out a new messaging system that gives users the option of adopting a @facebook.com email address and provide a single point of access to social communication systems such as email, chat, instant messages and cell phone text messages.

As much as I thought that it’s evil, I finally gave in to the constant presence of Facebook in my face. Sorry, ako’y tao lamang na marupok.

I just created an account for SDA Batch ’78 (SDA Pulilan) using yahoo email account sdabatch78 at yahoo.com.

So, if any of you are getting request to be friends with Pulilan SDA, you have a new friend.....my friend!

I just realized, pwede pala na walang face sa Facebook...hehehe

Auto-mode Project

Our scholarship project is going well. Nasa auto-mode na s’ya. Both scholars (Patrick & Angelyn) get their school allowance on a weekly basis. You all get the monthly report reflecting those expenses and more.

Everything is detailed in the report including names of all who made their pledges, how much they have fulfilled so far. Also included were collections for the mandatory annual membership fee due each end of the year. Just check your names if I made a mistake in the reporting.

Please continue to support our project. Our initial intention is to provide scholarship to more students in the school year to come. But.

BUT.

Looking at the project timeline, currently, not all who made their pledges fulfilled them so far. With the rate things are going it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

We’ll see...

Last Lecture by UP Prop Winnie Monsod

This is a video of Professor Winnie Monsod last lecture to her UP students. The video went viral given the reactions and comments from her former students, other UP grads, and Filipinos all over the world.

I take no offense to most of what she said because for one thing I am not a graduate of UP Diliman whose lecture I believe was meant for. Referring to all UP students:

"If you are going to help this country, you've got to be in the country. If any of you have little ambitions of going abroad so that you can earn more, please disabuse yourself, because by doing that you are essentially betraying the people in the Philippines who trusted you and who invested their money in you," she said.

The irony is most of our Philippine leaders came from UP and yet, look where we are now?

So much for that honor and excellence I guess!

Video of the Month

Click here if you prefer to watch it in Youtube.

Cheers!

50’s Night...or Day

At one point we were talking about having a get-together to celebrate a milestone for all of us. Not everyone is lucky enough to be where we’re at right now in our lives, 50 golden years or more, so why not pause for awhile and take the opportunity to celebrate, spend a day...or night, with one another, just for the heck of it.

It’s been nearly 4 years since we had our grand reunion.

Don’t you think it’s about time we have another one?

When, where and how do you think we should celebrate it?

A tree-planting event? A walkathon to raise funds for our scholarship project? A trip to the mountain of Sagada maybe? A river-rally to save the famous Talioco beach? Hehehe.

How about a fun food trip to Ilocos Region? Hmmm, I can already taste the bagnet and empanada now!

Or maybe a picnic in "tumana" will be more fun and logistically easy to set up.

What do you think old farts?

Lou & the Scholars

Some pics from Lou T's last visit to Pulilan to meet our scholars.

C-4-C

Cancer takes one person every minute, one precious life in a moment.

They are our brothers, our sisters, our fathers and mothers, our husbands and wives, our best friends, our children...

...our classmates.

Very close to heart as my own mother and not too long ago our classmate and friend Connie were not spared from it. I’m sure without looking any farther, you know someone who’s suffering from it. Every day people suffer and die, some in silence, without much help and support from the outside world.

Many ordinary people, scientists, and organizations around the world continue to collaborate and provide funding to find cure to this dreaded disease. We should all continue to stand up and fight against it.

We may not be able to support all those inflicted by it, but we can always try to help those near us make their living a lot better. They need all the support they can get, in whatever forms available.

A couple of our classmates and friends need our support and prayers. 

To ignore them is unforgivable.

Confession of a Food Lover

We picked the kids up from school then went to the mall and had lunch. While eating, naaliw ako sa kwentuhan namin and didn’t realize natapos na agad s’yang kumain. When I asked why finished so quickly, ang sagot “busog na raw ‘sya”. I noticed though konti lang ang kinain nya.

I then realized that earlier nakita ko syang nag-struggle using the “sfork” (spoon and fork), so sabi ko kahit mabagal kain uli. I gave the spoon and ask to try again, natapon ang food. I then gave the fork and told kahit mabagal, take your time – ok lang yun! Again, natapon ang pagkain. Hindi nya mai-shoot sa bibig nya ang “sfork”, nalalaglag ang food before it gets to the mouth. At this point napahiya na siguro yong bata, tumigil na talaga.

This is where I started wondering about the situation.

We then went inside the department store to buy them rubber shoes and some necessities like underwear, sando pang school etc. I started asking them questions (pero tinarget ko talaga sya – kasi sanay mag ‘sfork’ yung isa at malusog).

When we finished shopping, hinatid na namin sila sa bahay nila. Una muna siya, park yung car sa labasan and then we had to walk about 200 metres to their house, parang looban-style ba. While we were walking, someone discreetly warned me baka daw ma-shock ako sa dadatnan kong bahay.

Naglalakad pa kami, we asked bakit walang ilaw sa bahay nila, to which replied, “nagkasakit ang 1 member of their family nawalan ng pambayad sa electricity” or something like that, naputulan sila.

I then asked  ‘pano sya nag-aaral sa gabi, ang sagot ‘nya– “lumalabas daw sya sa bahay at nauupo sa me poste ng kalye dahil me ilaw dun”.

Dun sya nag-aaral.

Finally, we got to the house, sa estimate ko, the whole house is like 2 x 3 metres. Ang sahig LUPA, me banggerahan, me maliit na table and no wall for a room, sa dulo ng house, me double-deck na bed na may takip lang na kumot - yun na ang bedroom, sa taas na bed silang magkakapatid, sa ibabang bed, the parents.

After seeing all these parang me big lump sa throat ko, I couldn’t say a word but finally succeeded in saying...

"Pagbutihan mo pag-aaral, uuwi ako sa graduation mo”.

Walking back to the car na medyo in shock at pigil na pigil ma-teary eyed, someone said that the very first time na makita nya situation na ‘yon and having spoken to the parents, paglabas na paglabas nila ng bahay na yun, they knew "sya na nga".

I went home that night and told my friends the story. They were all in tears and all said the same thing, habang ako (I love food), problematic almost every day on what to eat (Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Vietnamese, etc) this family is probably problematic kung ‘san kukuha ng pagkain. And the house...I only have a 2 bedroom place pero mas malaki pa ang spare bedroom ko compare sa buong house nila.

It really made me realize how truly blessed I am... and some of us really are...

...and realized we are probably their only hope, some kid's hope.

We’re just better

A few of my friends have commented to me personally why “ang tyaga ko daw” maintaining this website. They think because very few make comments or even read it, it means not all of you are interested nor would want to be involved with what I or our batch are doing.

The more than 5 years I’ve been maintaining this website and the old one, meron naman naging resulta ang pagba-blog ko; highlighted with the grand reunion and the other mini-reunions we had, and of course, the scholarship project.

At some point medyo naging rough ang roads we traveled to get to where are now. We made “major major” problems during the whole process, and we might have made “major major” mistakes too but in the end, we are managing it pretty well.

Ngayon pa ba ako or tayo susuko?

If you notice, of all the very few batch website of SDA alumni, this is the only SDA batch website that I know of that still exist or at least has life.

Humihinga pa!

This isn’t to say that I am good.

Our batch is just better than them. :-)

Mañana or Not

Below is our scholarship project schedule timeline giving you an idea on critical dates we all should be aware of.

Please click on the image below to get a full view.

You all have received the latest fund update and quite easily you can tell some of us are a little behind in their pledge payments, hence we are short of our target goal.

I can only hope that all of you who have not made their pledge payments are just inhibiting the old “Mañana” habit, exercising their procrastinating style so to speak, and not for any other reasons.

Please continue to support our effort to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged kids like Patrick and Angelyn. Below are details of our SDA Batch ’78 bank account:

Banco de Oro
SM City Bicutan Branch
Dona Soledad Ave corner West Service Road
Bicutan, Paranaque City 1700

Account Name: St. Dominic Academy Batch ’78 Alumni Association, Inc.
Peso Account No: 152-801-2794

OR personally deliver your donations to Eva Fajardo/Paperbox Store/Rowena Castillo.

Please make sure to clearly indicate your intention that the donation is meant for this particular scholarship project.

More importantly, always obtain a receipt for all your donations. Also, notify us of your payment via email at ediboyd@yahoo.com or egfajardo61@yahoo.com.

I thank you all in advance for understanding my concerns. I sure hope all is well with you and family.

Letter from Angelyn

Here's a sweet letter sent by one of our scholars, Angeline Angelyn. Click the option below for a full view.

Thanks Susan R for sharing us the letter. And thanks to you too Angeline Angelyn for writing it.

Dream Vacations, One Underwear

Now, that's what you called "being green". Traveling, yet saving the earth and the environment...one underwear at a time! hehehe

Meet the Scholars

You would wish you were there the day when the contract was signed and officially declared the two new scholars of SDA Batch ’78 Night High School.

I too wished the same to witness and experience the moment when parents of the kids were in tears as they signed on the dotted line.

It was a very touching and humbling moment to say the least.

Needless to say, everyone present felt a great, wonderful feeling knowing these two talented kids are secured and need not have to worry about their school needs until they graduate in the summer of 2015.

Some of you may have not realized yet or have second thoughts about our true intentions but I am willing to bet you will feel the same way like those people who were witnesses.

It was truly a great feeling!

Thanks to y'all who continue to offer their financial support, their time, and their prayers. Without a doubt, with all your help we can accomplish many things so please continue to support our effort.

It’s never too late...be part of this experience.

Classmates and friends, please meet our two scholars, Patrick Vasallo and Angelyn Galia:

 

Patrick & Angelyn, Our Scholars

I am happy to inform all of you that Patrick Vasallo and Angelyn Gaila were chosen to be our scholars for this school year 2010-11 after going thru the competitive process. Their complete profiles will be posted here soon.

Lilia, Susan, Teng, Vic, Dory, Precy, Violy, and Claire Melebo were there to witnesses the signing of the contract. Wena was also there but had to leave early because of prior commitment.

Many thanks to all of them for participating in the interview and selection process.

In addition, special thanks also to Precy and Teng who made their pledges. Monthly update of our funds will be email to all soon.

Please continue to support our effort to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged kids like Patrick and Angelyn. Below are details of our SDA Batch ’78 bank account:

Banco de Oro
SM City Bicutan Branch
Dona Soledad Ave corner West Service Road
Bicutan, Paranaque City 1700

Account Name: St. Dominic Academy Batch ’78 Alumni Association, Inc.
Peso Account No: 152-801-2794

OR personally deliver your donations to Eva Fajardo/Paperbox Store/Rowena Castillo.

Please make sure to clearly indicate your intention that the donation is meant for this particular scholarship project.

More importantly, always obtain a receipt for all your donations. Also, notify us of your payment via email at ediboyd@yahoo.com or egfajardo61@yahoo.com.

"Down"

Volunteers Needed

We have yet to identify the two students who will become Batch ‘78 scholars. I was already provided the partial list of Night High school enrollees. SDA administration continue to accept applications and full list of freshmen students will be provided to us as soon as they become available.

Partial list is also provided to you in the email I sent you earlier.

The next step would be to interview the top 5 for each gender based on their academic rating, study their complete profile, and then make the final determination of who among them will become recipients of the Night High School Scholarship award.

However, we need volunteers from our batch to become member of the committee and conduct the final screening process.

Anyone interested and have the time to spare?

If you would like to volunteer or have any concerns, ideas, suggestions, complaints and what not, please email me or Eva.

"Yosemite"

Best known for its many waterfalls, Yosemite National Park is one of the first wilderness parks in the United States. This is the place to go that is within driving distance (6 hours from downtown LA) if you want to find deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, wildlife, and much more. It’s so huge that you’d think you are in another planet.



Perhaps the pictures and videos I took didn’t do justice to what Yosemite has to offer. You have to be at Yosemite to fully appreciate Yosemite Falls, considered the highest measured waterfall in North America at 2,425 feet, and in the top 10 in the world.

The Graduate

Weeks before graduation day, rumors around school and from what I saw noted and inscribed in her school yearbook having voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in the entire graduating class of 2010, one would think my daughter will surely be awarded top honor (aka Valedictorian) of Class 2010.

Well, that’s what we initially thought!

Daughter received her middle school diploma (8th grade) recently amidst little annoyance and disappointment of her recent achievement.

Apparently, official school rules say you must have attended 3 full years of residency to be considered top honor of graduating class. Daughter only attended the last 2 years of middle school there.

Talk about technicalities that cost her THE top honor and the privilege of speaking over the entire class during the baccalaureate program. It would have been fun addressing the crowd knowing how daughter love to put humor and smile on everyone. She might even dance her way to the stage if her name gets called and announce “Hakuna Matata”.

Daughter still got called to the stage and awarded special honors all right! But nothing would have satisfied her and her mom even more, unless it’s the top award and she gets to address the crowd in a speech.

I on the other hand was just ecstatic of seeing her again on stage making a name for herself, knowing she’s doing her best at all times, sometimes sans the public recognition that she deserves.

I reminded her that when trying to reach the top, what is more important is that she is enjoying the climb.

Cheers to my “unica hija” and to all the other graduates!

Next stop: High school.

Araw ng Kalayaan at ng Pitong Katotohanan

PITONG katotohanan sa mundo:

UNA, mata mo lang ang hindi mo kayang sabunin.
PANGALAWA, hindi mo kayang bilangin ang buhok mo.
PANGATLO, hindi lahat ng ngipin mo ay abot ng dila mo.
PANG-APAT, su-subukan ng mga tanga ang PANGATLO.
PANG-LIMA, inisip mong abot pala ng dila mo lahat ng ngipin mo, nung sinubukan mo.
PANG-ANIM, napa-ngiti ka kasi nag-mukha kang tanga.
PANG-PITO, ipapa-pasa mo ito sa iba para maka-ganti ka.

O ngayon, happy ka na dahil hindi lang ikaw ang tanga? ;-)

Happy Independence Day, Philippines!

Scholars Selection Update

As of this writing, the two students (1 male & 1 female) we hope to provide full scholarship in the "Night High School" program have yet to be chosen.

According to Eva, about 50 kids initially applied for the program but only 10 passed the required entrance exam. Of the 10, 4 have so far been officially enrolled.

SDA continue to accept applicants and are confident that by the start of the school year 2010-11, they have at least 30 new freshmen students, 2 of which will be our full scholar.

Meanwhile, please continue to support our effort to help those underprivileged kids. We are still short of our estimated initial allocated funds. Ideally, I would want the first 2 school years fully funded.

Your pledges are very important so please fulfill them as soon as possible. In our small way, we hope to make a difference in their lives.

Thank you!

S%#T Happens!

When you thought everything is going well this thing happened....Arggghhhhh!!!

It could have been worse!

Worth Dying For?

Aren’t you glad election is over? I do...

Many peeps have spoken and in celebratory mood, most probably Noy-Bi tandem will lead the country for the next 6 “God Help Us” years. The result may not be to my liking but nevertheless I’m happy that this election is over and we can now focus on the more important things, like the Night High School Scholarship Project. ;-)

As I looked at the election results, it will be a star-studded government with so many from showbiz joining the fray. I wonder what Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada have done in the Senate so much so that they led the balloting. Looking down the list we have 2 more; Lito Lapid and Tito Sotto.

We also have of course Ate Vi, Daniel Fernando, Alfed Vargas, Herbert Bistek Bautista, Roderick Paulate, heck even Bong Revilla’s Lani Mercado and Richard Gomez’s Lucy Torres are now in the mix in case you don’t know. O.M.G!

Hindi pa nanalo si Edu Manzano, Cesar Montano, Aiko Melendrez, Ara Mina, Joey Marquez at many more pa ha! Really, O...M...G!

Are we really worth dying for that they all want to join politics? Really, really, O...M...G!

New political dynasties emerged joining the old ones. The old ones such as the Arroyos, the Cojuangcos, now found themselves in the company of the Marcoses...AGAIN!...with Bongbong, Imee, and the former First Lady winning their respective seats!

San Juan has Ejercitos, Makati has Binays, QC has Belmontes, and now the Cayetanos in Taguig.

So much for that change I guess!

Oh well we can only hope for that change Noynoy promised during his campaign...or I will join the next People Power to oust Aquino, I don’t mean Noynoy, I meant KRIS!

Anyway before I forget, we do have the town fiesta to celebrate this weekend. As you all know SDA Alumni is this year’s “Hermano Mayor” so in other words, your co-alumni back home are all busy with the preparations. You know the lechon, leche plan, halaya etc. hehehe. Of course they are all also busy preparing for the nightly entertainment, sport games, etc.; and the main attraction, the carabao parade.

From what I’ve been told, Batch ’78 was requested to by the Alumni Fiesta Committee to provide support in the form of cash award to the basketball tournament champions. Fortunately, we do have monies left in our batch fund that we can use to fulfill that request. Other batches had their shares in cash too or in other forms. The committee really needs our support and participation.

Happy Fiesta everyone!

Fr. Ex’s Sagrada Familia

On Zen’s recent trip back home, she and a few of your "la familia" visited Fr. Ex somewhere in San Jose del Monte where he is currently assigned. I believed it's in Sagrada Familia parish church, Sapang Palay.

I planned to join them but was too tired from our Bicol and Butanding trip that I backed out.

Scholarship Project Commencing Soon

We are just awaiting open enrollment of the Night High School Program which will start sometime next month or early June.

Top two entering freshmen students (1 male & 1 female) will be selected from the pool of candidates SDA school officials will be recommending to us for possible scholarship grant.

I would like to remind those who made their pledges but have not fulfilled them as scheduled to please do so as soon as possible.

Your pledge money is very important to the success of the project.

For those who have not made their pledges, it’s never too late as we need more donors to keep this scholarship project going.

Our vision is to continue this grant through college, if possible.

Thanks and God bless you all for your kindness and generosity.

Butanding Experience

Here’s the video compilation of our Butanding experience last April 2010 in Donsol, Sorsogon. Eva & daughter Ysabelle, Zeny, and yours truly had a wonderful time.

Unforgettable!!!



Special thanks to newfound friends, couple Anders & Eva for the amazing underwater video of the gentle giant whalesharks, locally known as “Butanding”.

B & B

Funny I could really use an R&R after recent trip to the Philippines. Just arrived last night and here I am up at 3AM Pacific Standard Time trying to recall everything that had happened.

My B&B experience with Zen, Eva, and daughter Ysabelle was, to say the least, quite amazing. That’s the Bicol and Butanding adventure we just had last Holy Week.

Imagine after more than 30 years of not seeing each other, Zen and I found ourselves brushing teeth in unison, and sleeping in the same room.

It’s not what you think folks! :-)

Yes, ALL four of us slept in the same room. Being the forever gentleman that I am, Eva & daughter slept in one bed, Zen slept in the other, while I slept on the floor. Eva & daughter know full well (discovered last year in Batad and Sagada) that awful music I resoundingly play while sleeping.

To Zen is another story. She found another reason not to get involve romantically with me. It’s like sleeping with the enemy! hahaha

Of course I did not allow myself to be ganged-up by the three ladies in 3days/2 nights stay in the same room though I wouldn’t mind...hehehe. We really had a great time eating, sleeping, and of course interacting with the Butanding.

We all had the amazing experience of swimming next to a playful gentle giant Butanding. Eva literally climbed the back of one and ending up with this:

I took some pics that have yet to be developed as of this writing. These are pics I snapped underwater while chasing the Butanding. Hopefully, I will be able to share them with you pretty soon along with the underwater video taken by that French guy in the picture below:

A couple of pics taken with my dSLR. The trip to Bicol is definitely not without a peek at the majestic but shy Mayon Volcano.

Sayang, di kayo kasama! Inggit kayo?

Good Friday Gathering

A special gathering will be held prior to the start of our town’s Holy Week’s traditional procession on Good Friday, April 2nd, 2010. Please plan to be at Eva’s place anytime between 12noon and 5PM, food and drinks will be served.

This special gathering is mainly to just say hi and catch up with one another. One thing for sure, if you do not show up, definitely you will miss saying hi to that someone (mentioned in my previous "Butanding" post) I have not seen in more than three decades. It’s the long-awaited reunion of sort between the two of us. ;-)

Also, if time permits and there are enough stakeholders present, it will also be a good opportunity for us to discuss details of our scholarship project that will soon commence this coming school-year 2010-2011.

By the way, I would like to take this opportunity to once again say Thank You to those who made their pledges to the scholarship project. Your support, financial or otherwise, is the key to its success. If you have not done making your pledge payments, please be reminded that our deadline is fast approaching. Click HERE to see details of our project timeline schedule.

See you all soon!

Gone With the Butanding

"Ang baterya ko ay kailangan mabilad na sa araw para magkaroon ulit ng power."

Soon I’ll be out of commission for a while. Time to re-charge my battery; the red warning light is already showing signs, parang aliptaptap sa dapit-hapon.

Things could really get rough if I let it expire. I’ll go postal!

Will just say hello to commanding-size Butanding and swim with them if I can. Will walk around century-old ruins and protruding belfry, dance with fireflies, and see a majestic volcanic view, albeit in just recent memories spewing heavy smokes; hope while we are there lest not explode.

I will also try to navigate the wonders of that popular underground river, and enjoy pitch black moment with bats, stalagmites and stalactites. Then watch swaying palms, two of them, in an island, with SanMig in one hand and a dSLR on the other. I will also be introduced to underwater landscapes too. What a sight I will definitely FLIP. You watch!

During all those times that I will be in that once infamous island, I hope to NOT meet brother Abu and the rest of his terrifying crew, let alone Rico Yan!

Oh yeah! I might see some familiars faces too, one I have not seen in at least three decades. Imagine that? Maha-halikan ko sya!

I can’t wait!

Argue With Me At Your Own Risk

Thought I’d share with you the results of many torturing research nights, weekend practices, and sleepless in Seattle moments of my daughter. This time she’s part of the debate team representing her school in tournaments all over town, much like when she was a lawyer in the Mock Trial competition late last year.



Armed this time with a video recorder, I made sure I was able to catch them "backstage", not during the actual debate(recording not allowed). Being a typical stage-father hehehe, I suffered too from endless driving, bringing her to weekend practices and to the various event locations. I also became the unofficial photographer of the team so I sure deserve the award too as much as she does!

How about another vacation in the island? Oh that would be nice...

Busy Bee

Sorry folks, I’ve been super busy making honey lately, not to mention I am also running for President of the republic...Banana Republic. hehehhe

Anyway, earlier today I emailed you all the latest fund update. We are now nearing our full project implementation; current school year is at its tail end. That means we will be in full swing with our project once the application for next school year opens.

May I remind you that your pledges and commitment to our scholarship project is every important. Below is our overall project timeline and schedules of when to fulfill your pledge commitment, if you made one.

Thanks again to all who already made their contributions, recently from Ed SanP and Mocha.

Like always, if you have any concerns/questions/suggestions/comments, please let us know. We are available 24/7/365, 366 during leap year. ;-)

Year of the Tiger

Chinese New Year started yesterday, which happened to fall on Valentine’s Day sometimes known as Single Awareness Day (SAD) for those enjoying life being single or on voluntary solitary confinement. ;-)

In Chinese culture, it’s the year of the tiger. It means my year, born in 1962. Ikaw, anong klaseng hayop ka?

According to Chinese animal zodiac, Tiger people are sensitive, given to deep thinking, capable of great sympathy. TRUE. They can be extremely short-tempered, however. VERY TRUE. Other people have great respect for them, but sometimes tiger people come into conflict with older people or those in authority. NOT SO TRUE. Sometimes Tiger people cannot make up their minds, which can result in a poor, hasty decision or a sound decision arrived at too late. SOMETIMES TRUE. They are suspicious of others, but they are courageous and powerful. OFTEN TRUE. Tigers are most compatible with Horses, Dragons, and Dogs. EWAN KO!

"Kiong Hee Huat Tsai" everyone...and belated happy Valentine's Day too!

Isang Tanong, Isang Sagot

Among the presidential candidates, tatlo lang sa kanila ang may interest ako na iboto at gustong manalo.

On the top of my short list is Gibo and let me tell you why. I’m quite impressed with the way he presents himself. Napanood ko at nadinig ang mga ideas and platforms nya which he articulated very well. In spite of him being negatively forever linked to GMA administration, I still see him as a viable candidate para mag-improve ang ‘pinas. He is obviously the most intelligent and most capable to lead the country out its mess, if that’s even possible. I really like this guy...

Next on the list is Manny V. Reading his life story and listening to what he had to say, I thought he’s capable too with his strong management skills and leaderships. Mud and every shoe had been thrown at him since he declared his candidacy and yet, he’s still standing and demonstrated professionalism. I guess I can relate to him much more than Gibo because of where he came from, where I came from. I saw in him the ambitions that propelled him to where he is now. What scary about him though is the amount of money he’s been spending, kahit sabihin na natin na pera nya yun. That’s a lot of dough bro!

Lastly, Noynoy. I guess he’s ok. Not the trapo or traditional politician you would expect. He seems to be sincere with his plans but what scares me of him is his un-presidential style and I sensed some weaknesses in his leaderships and character. I like someone who’s got more bones and stronger demeanor, and has demonstrated authoritative voice and power. He’s a good guy but I guess he’s too good, too soft...to his disadvantage.

If you asked me about the other remaining candidates, forget it! Hindi naman sila pang-pangulo eh...pang-gulo lang!

Sorry but Erap will never be my guy! Nung una syang manalo, I thought that was insanity. Pag nanalo pa ulit sya, that's stupidity na!

Have you heard Jamby talking lately? It looks like her platform is to just to do everything in her power to stall Manny’s possible presidency. My gulay! I think she’s running for that purpose alone, run negative campaign against Manny and Manny only! Ano kaya ang personal vendetta nya against him? She’s just so annoying!

Isang tanong, isang sagot...sino ang ibo-boto mo kung saka-sakali?

Scholarship Agreement

Below is the latest draft of the agreement that will be part of the overall project requirements for full implementation of our scholarship project this fast-approaching school year 2010-11.

At this point, may I remind everyone to please fulfill your pledges if you have already made one; and for those who have not, I would like to appeal once more for your kindness and generosity to help make this scholarship project a successful one. All of your participation is very important and very much appreciated.

Details of our BDO bank account are as follows:

Account Name: “St. Dominic Academy Batch ‘78 Alumni Association, Inc.”
Peso Checking Account Number: 152-8012-794
Bank Name & Address: Banco de Oro
SM City Bicutan Branch Banking
Dona Soledad Ave corner West Service Road
Bicutan, Paranaque City 1700

You can also send your contributions and payment of annual membership dues directly to Eva, Wena, PaperBox store, or myself. And remember; please always ask for a receipt and be sure to specify to which type of fund (general, membership, and/or scholarship fund) you would want your contributions/payments allocated.

Please see project timeline and guidelines for more detailed information. Once again, thank you for all your support!

As always, please review and let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, and/or questions.

I Wii-sh!

I got my daughter a Wii last Christmas and since then, I was the one who plays with it more often as I quickly got hooked with it more than I could imagine. I’ve been playing with it since and I tell you, it’s the best game I’ve played since "tumbang-preso". Hehehe...naaalala mo pa ba?

It’s really the gift that keep on giving as it became my daily routine to break sweats in the early morning when I wake up, and even at night before bed, trying to reach my ultimate goal to loose those beer bellies I’ve managed to develop over the years. I wii-sh!

Pre-wii existence, on weekends, I used to go to the local park to play basketball with pinoy homies but since I broke my hands and ankles for the nth time, I realized I’m just too old now to sprint the court, bang bodies with younger peeps, jump and grab rebounds. With wii, I can only blame myself if I break the lamp and anything around me while trying to do my backhand/forehand returns playing tennis intensely.

More importantly, daughter & I have more bonding moments as she always beat me in bowling. But she dares challenge me to a game of tennis as I finally but barely reached the pro-level after almost a month of trying...

Fifty Under the Duhat Tree

An important event is going to happen on February 6th, 2010 and you are all invited to share the fun, the wrinkles, and the joy, as our dear Dory F, you know, Eva's sistah, will be celebrating her first golden years on this earth.

Yes folks! Everyone is invited to share this moment with her in a special lunch date at her house, under the duhat tree, in Novaliches, Quezon City.

Hope to see y’all there to wish her good life, good health, and happiness for the next 50 more years, at least!

Happy Fifty, Dory!

We are all winners!

The recent alumni homecoming like I mentioned in the SDA alumni website was an eventful one. One thing I didn’t mention just yet is that we actually won something...kaserola...hehehe

Di ko alam kung paano natin paghahati-hatian ‘to. Maghiraman na lang tayo kung meron kayong gustong lutuin na espeyal. Anyway, magkakapit-bahay lang naman tayo!

Syanga pala, maraming salamat ulit sa mga nagbigay recently ng kani-kanilang alumni membership fees and of course dun din sa mga nag-donate para sa scholarship project natin. The most recent one was Ed SanP, who recently made a trip to the Philippines from Africa with his wonderful family. Pero yung contribution nya di umabot sa year-end report I sent all fo you. Sa next update na lang pinsan, for sure andun na name mo. Salamat ulit sa lahat ng support and participation.

The complete listing (as of 2009 year-end) of all who made their payments/donations is in the last fund report update I emailed you earlier. If you didn’t receive them or have trouble reading the files, please let me know.

As always, kung may tanong kayo or comments, concerns, suggestions and whatnot, just shoot me an email or put your comments down here. Okie dokie?

Pics from our Christmas party, thanks Wena for hosting it:

Year 2009: 365 Days in 36.5 Seconds

nuff said...