7:32 PM A Quarter Used... |
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To say that the past year has been the best of my life would be a huge understatement. Sure thing, I was not able to go out as much as I had when I was an Ortigas Girl. I was not able to buy things as I was able to when I lived the “more convenient way of life”. If I will be blessed to live a hundred years, I’ve already used up a quarter of my life by now. But for whatever reason... I was glad that I was able to spend the past year the way I did. I’m so thankful beyond words that since I decided to start living my life for myself— God held me in His powerful hands. He never let me fall. He never let me get too carried away in the ways of this world. He never let my fears consume me. And finally, He helped me truly heal from the wounds of the past that even if scars remain— I know I am still whole as a person. That I am important to Him. That I shouldn’t spend my life punishing myself for the mistakes I did as a child. That I was not to be blamed for the unimaginable things that were done to me in the past. He made me feel worthy of love and life. It’ll be impossible to name all of those countless blessings but I’ll try to share some of the biggest ones. I’ve grown so much intellectually, emotionally, physically and spiritually, since my last birthday because of the following milestones in my life. Graduate School MA enrolment @PLMar (May 2012) Whilst trying to find my way in starting a new life... a life dedicated in reaching my hopes and dreams, I tried to take a chance and enrol for a Master’s Degree in Business. After much internal debate whether to do it in my College Alma Mater PUP or not, I decided to give a go with Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina Graduate School. I’ve always believed in the value of government-run universities. It was also very convenient because of its location and tuition fee. What I did not know was that, it’ll also give me a place for fun learning— a place where I can find sanctuary after a stressful week of work and family drama. I met new people that became real friends. I feel so fortunate to have been given the chance to experience school without pressure— without any need to prove myself to anyone for whatever reason... something I never experienced before. Start of Tourism Education Career (June 2012) Working as a part time tour and event consultant was good, but I still felt that something was missing. I dived in head first on my first job because I needed it to help my family with the house loans. The same happened when I got my second job. May last year, I decided to find a job for me since I already fulfilled my part with the house. What led me to teaching? I personally think that God gave us gifts for a reason. He gave me this. And I will make sure to use it. I also remembered having this dream of touching people’s life. To show people how God works in my life; to be a living testament of His power and love. What better way to do that than this? And of course, being the stubborn person that I am, I wanted to teach things about the topics I love the most. Tourism it is! And since I’ve made this choice, I’ve been tired some days and irritated with some people at times but I never had to work a single day. Tagaytay Family Day Tour (June 9, 2012) Just because someone special is not with you, it does not mean you cannot celebrate things for them and with them. So before father’s day, my mom, my sisters and I packed our bags and went to Tagaytay to celebrate both mother’s and father’s day. I came up with an idea to send a picture greeting to my dad. Corny huh? Well, guess what? My family is the best. They are the coolest... that no matter the age, they’re willing to do things to make each other happy and feel loved. Manila Hotel Familiarization Tour and Seminar (July 27, 2012) This was the first seminar I had for the New Year. I learned more things about Housekeeping and Hotel Operations while touring around the historical parts of this old hotel. This was also the first tour I had with my college students and I was really glad everything went on without a hitch in fulfilling this big responsibility. Mama’s Surprise 60th Birthday Party (July 29, 2012) For someone who used to work all her life, I understand why my mom feel so inadequate and emotional at times since she had to retire from work. If being 60 years old is not so hard enough... add to that the idea of not being able to do things you always do. Try depending on others when you’ve been independent all your life. So my sisters and I thought of the genius idea to gather all of her closest friends and family members in a surprise party. After church, my sisters went straight to Kangaroo Jack to make sure that all of my mother’s siblings and best friends: Sister Trining and Tita Ruth were there together with her closest work friends and relatives, while I made sure she’s distracted until they got everything set up. The look on my mother’s face when she realized her surprise and the way she cried with happiness— it was priceless. Calamian Islands, Palawan Tour (August 17-21, 2012) What do you when you see a cheap airfare online and you have money to spare? Well— in our case, we pulled the big guns and bought said Cebu Pacific tickets without any tours to back it up, created the tours ourselves and enjoyed the adventure for 5 days and 4 nights last August 17-21. Since my sister and I are adamant not to waste a single minute in Coron, Palawan, we decided to maximize the tours and minimize the time in our accommodation. This meant we don’t care if we sleep in a high class hotel or not— we’ll just sleep, rest a bit and take a bath there. We stayed in GLC Loding and met a very nice lady named Jenny. The room was nice with one double bed (that my sister and I shared) and one single bed (that served as an open cabinet for our things). The bath was nice too but since it’s a lodge, we wre to provide our own washroom necessities (minus the water). We checked-in. Got things settled. Changed gears. And went off to our primary step of exploration. First stop: LUNCH! And a big lunch we had at Lolo Nonoy’s Eatery. They serve common Filipino dishes (like Sinigang, Lechon Kawali, Embutido and such) and the best Corn Shake I’ve ever tasted. We stayed there eating, sipping our shake, reading kindle then eating again for hours. When it’s almost time for sunset, we finally put our spoon down and went off to our next stop. "Why am I doing this to myself?” was what I kept thinking while climbing the 720 something steps of Mount Tapyas. This climb made me realize how weak I became after I stopped my normal exercise routine months ago. I kind of hated my sister a bit for being so cool and collected during the whole thing. I think I drank 3 bottles of mineral water the whole time I was there. And since I was never one to surrender from a challenge, I reached the top with flying colors. The place was just breathtaking. On one side you could see the city, with its busy port, its lively market and thriving industries. On the east side (facing the port), you’d see nothing but islands, the sun in between them. It was majestic. When you walk a bit farther from the original trail up, you’d see the beautiful mountains with clouds that surrounded them in a lover’s caress. I forgot being tired while up there. In fact, I think I took about 140+ pictures on that climb alone. But just like what Newton’s Law of Gravity says, "What goes up must come down,” so after a little less effort we finally went back to the lodge to have some much needed bath and rest to fill up our tanks for the following days to come. That, my friends, was a really great appetizer. For our second day, we woke up at 6AM, got ready for a day of island hopping and ate a hearty breakfast at the lodge. To save money, my sister and I opted to go on a tour with a group of other tourists. This tour, we decided to name CORON European Tour (kinda lame I know) because we were able to join a group composed of fellow Rizalenos, five Latinos and two French. They were a nice and friendly bunch, and we enjoyed snorkelling, swimming, trekking and sightseeing with them so much. Our destinations were:
I was so tired and hungry that I forced my sister to eat dinner at Centro Coron. We ate our all-time favorite Spaghetti but unfortunately, ended up not happy with their Apple and Mango shake. After another day of Danggit, Tapa and scrambled egg Filipino breakfast, we went off to our Calambuyan Island Tour with some Asian friends from Korea and China on our third day. Hanna and her boyfriend Hwang (Koreans) were really friendly. We enjoyed picture-taking, swimming and snorkelling together. They also took several pictures using their instant camera and gave one to us as a souvenir. It was quite refreshing to see how these foreigners loved the area. It was surely the very definition of crystal clear water. The sands were mostly composed of dead corals that made it pure white too. Since we did all the activities most of the morning and ate ourselves out all afternoon, we decided to retire early to our room, chilling out— reading books, again… and eating some snacks. Bath. Breakfast. Rain— and lots of prayer for our tour to push through. We were astounded to reprove that Filipinos were really a race of bravery. All foreigners that were supposed to join our fourth day tour cancelled for fear of touring under the unpredictable weather. So for the first time since we came here, we went on a tour to Malcapuya Island with an all-Filipino group. After about an hour of tour, we experienced heavy rains. We were surrounded by clouds and we couldn’t see anything. Good thing our boaters had a compass with them or we might have been lost. I also learned, the hard way may I add, that rain was really a pretty hard enemy. Well— not really, but it hurt a lot when you’re on a boat ride, running at a great speed while the drops of heavy rain poured on your face and the rest of your body. Good thing there were no damages to our belongings. When we were near the island, the sky miraculously cleared though. It was as if we had to undergo some kind of a test before we could reach the paradise. And what a paradise it was with its crystal clear water and powder-like white sand beach. Seeing as we did nothing but chill out on our last day, we decided to mix up our self-created itinerary and go souvenir hunting. We bought souvenirs for Mama, little sis and some friends— and lots and lots and lots of cashew products. Yum! Fortunately, I was able to spend my last day in Coron eating a lot of the cashew yema we bought the previous day without my sister’s interference. So we had to get up early to eat our last breakfast at the lodge and then proceeded to our Coron City Tour and Souvenir Hunting Part 2. It was really sad to leave the peace and quiet I found here. Some would think that five days and 4 nights were too much time to spend on a not-so-big province with inconsistent supply of electricity but I guarantee that it will be all worth it— and it will leave you thirsting for more. 2nd Tourism Human Resource Development Congress (October 2, 2012) The 2nd Tourism Human Resource Development Congress entitled "Building Tourism Human Capital for Global Competitiveness” was held last October 2 at Intercontinental Hotel, Grand Ballroom. The said congress was attended by representatives from various sectors of the tourism and hospitality industry, government agencies and the academe. The Tourism Industry Board Foundation Inc (TIBFI) led the event with special participation of the Department of Tourism, DOLE, ASEAN, CHED and TESDA. The main events included important updates in issues that affect the industry including the following:
It was a really fruitful day. Although there had been some issues in registration, Baguio City Family Tour (November 8-11, 2012) Company benefits are there for a reason. But for whatever reason there was for EDC to own their Baguio City Guest House, I really don’t care. I was just really thankful that my family and I were able to spend the semestral break out of the city. It was not my first time in the area but it was still quite refreshing touring around with my girls. We were able to visit the following locations:
The cold was brutal though. We had to travel with several layers of clothes. I found it hysterical when my mom refused to move from the couch to her bed because it was too cold to move. We were also able to eat at Cottage G’s and shop for our favourite Ube Jam at Good Shepherd. Kwebang Lampas, Pagbilao, Quezon Province Backpacking (December 9, 2012) When my friend Lizlee told me that she needs a buddy to go with her on a backpacking adventure in Quezon Province, I was ecstatic and very easily agreed to join her. I had to say no to several opportunities while working in StarTek before. Now I had the time. I packed my bag and met her at JAC Liner Terminal in Kamias. We rode the bus for a couple of hours and tried to find our way when we got there. This was the first time I travelled without researching about the area first! Good thing we were able to find our way without much difficulty. The people around Poblacion were really helpful and kind. Kwebang Lampas is a cave jutting out of the beach area out to the water. There was nothing much inside the cave and it was pretty much vandalized, much to my dismay. But the water was glorious. It was very clear and the sand was white too. It was not as powder-like as the sands of Malcapuya in Palawan but it’s a very good alternative for those who don’t have the time and money to go to Palawan. Negros Oriental- Siquijor Tour (January 25-29, 2013) This was the tour that my sister and I prepared for, for more than six months. After our failed attempt to have a tour down south (Cebu and Bohol) with our mom last 2010, this was the only time we tried again. Could anyone blame us for sulking? After all, that tour was paid for and she had to bail out at the last minute because of work. Now, we figured that since she retired, there’ll be no reason for her to not join us. For a great deal of PHP7000 (more or less) the four of us got a roundtrip plane ticket to and from Dumaguete City. And so, the tour commenced. Our flight via Cebu Pacific was delayed for two hours so instead of checking-in at Harold’s Mansion during lunch we had to do it around 2PM. Once we got in, we immediately looked for a diner. Good thing there were many around the area. We were starving! Late arrival means we could not follow the itinerary anymore. We were supposed to go at Apo Island that day but it was too late to do it so we planned to try it another day. Instead, we tried chilling out around Rizal Boulevard (It was actually Rizal Avenue--- I don’t know people keep on saying its Rizal Boulevard when it’s not) We walked through the park, checked out shops where we plan to go the following days and finally, we ended up getting some snacks and fried ice cream at Panda Ice Cream Shop. The second day, my girls and I woke up early to catch the ferry going to Siquijor. It was actually funny how many food and water we brought with us because of the things we’ve heard and read about the province. Well, I figured that it’s better that we pray for God’s guidance and be careful than be sorry. We planned to ride the Montenegro Ferry that was scheduled to depart in an hour but guess what?! When we got to the terminal, Aleson Ferry bound to the same destination was about five minutes to its departure. Because of their last minutes sales to fill up the seats we got a huge amount of fare discount and was able to ride the ferry without much fuss. After two hours of travel, we met Kuya Judelito at the terminal. He made an offer of PHP1000 to tour us around the island of Siquijor using his tricycle. Considering that there were four of us and it’ll take almost the whole day to tour around, we agreed to pay the amount. Kuya Jude (I insisted on calling him that because it’s cooler. My mom however kept on saying that Lito was more appropriate for his full name.)was a great tour guide. He was also very patient with us, considering he must have taken over 100 of our pictures. Some of the destinations we visited are:
Unfortunately, since my mom couldn’t do extreme activities, we were not able to go spelunking. But it was still great and we enjoyed the province a lot. We ended the day by giving some small tip to Kuya Jude to show our gratitude before going back to Negros Oriental. We ended the day by eating at my favourite Dumaguete restaurant: Jo’s Inato. Third day of our adventure, we decided to go to Valencia. Backpacking was really easy in the area because there were terminals assigned for each specific destination. We just told the tricycle driver to bring us to the Terminal bound to Valencia and no further questions were asked. We agreed to take another private tricycle tour. However, since we will be visiting extremely steep areas, we had to take two tricycles with two passengers each. Kuya Junjun was the one assigned to me and my sister Aiz while Kuya John drove my mom and Ate Ivy’s tricycle service. We visited the Twin Falls and had a great view of Mt. Talinis. It was just really sad that the entire way, we had to witness the destruction caused by Tropical Storm Undoy and Pedro. Large boulders were everywhere. You could still see what remains of a once inhabited village. The river was full of large rocks. You could still see remains of what might have been soil erosion on some parts of the mountains. I was still amazed though when I saw the natural smoke coming from Mt. Talinis. It smelled like burning asphalt. Kuya Junjun said they had no idea why that came about around a decade ago. We ended up having lunch at Forest Camp. It was a picture of a perfect nature resort. It also had a small trail for hiking. It was a great resort composed of several pool areas carved out of mountain rock with natural flowing water from the mountains. We headed back to the Mansion just in time for dinner inside our room. On our fourth day, my sister and I decided to take the much awaited Dauin-Apo Island Tour. Again, since we were backpacking, we had to take a jeep to get there. After arriving at the Malatapay Market, we walked our way to the boat terminal. We hired a small boat at PHP2000. The ride was an adventure itself. My Ate Ivy and I decided to sit in front of my mom and younger sis since the high waves were making them really nervous. For half an hour we were fully drench in sea water. It was a good thing that we had all our belongings sealed under the boat’s storage area. Once we got there my Ate wanted to go snorkelling. Since I was not really into fishes, I told her to go ahead. I think she got really disappointed that she had to do it all alone since my mom and Aiz refused to go snorkelling too. To make her happy I offered to pay her guide and gears rent. She enjoyed snorkelling for about an hour while the rest of us enjoyed taking pictures and walking around the shore. It was not really a good place to swim since the area was rocky but still, it was a sight to behold. In truth, we didn’t even have to swim or snorkel at all since the Marine Turtles were all over the place. We were able to see turtles of all sizes. It was an amazing experience. Since we got all wet again on our way back, we decided to take a quick shower at the Mansion before having pizza and pasta dinner at Jutz Cafe. We also went to pre-order Silvanas and Brownies from Sans Rival so we could just easily pick them up the following day. Since we went non-stop the previous days, we decided to take the time off and just laze around a bit while waiting for our afternoon flight. We also took some time biking around Siliman. We had tour meal at Jo’s Inato then went to pick up our take-home boxes from Sans Rival. In Luv Ka Ba? – Charis Gospel Ministries Concert (February 10, 2013) After six years of being an independent Church of Christ, the Charis Gospel Ministries held its own concert entitled “In Luv Ka Ba?” last February 2012. Its main aim was to provide means of funding for the church’s building while sharing God’s good news through music. The Charis Praise Team performed during the first set together with a couple of special number in between sets. Several Christian students also shared their gift of music. PRASIA, an evangelistic arm of PRASIA Ministries that communicates the gospel of Jesus Christ through different artistic media presentations and personal testimonies was invited as the main performer of the event. It was also my first time hosting such a big event. I was blessed to have Jobelle Mones as a partner. We balanced each other perfectly if I say so myself! Even if we were not able to fill the whole of Teatro Marikina, the guests’ reception of the event was great. Great reviews of the performers, the committees and hosts were given. I really hope for more of this in the future. Continuing Education Program towards Excellence (February 23, 2013) Because the entire Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina: Graduate School required us to attend a certain "Continuing Studies” seminar, my classmates in MBA and I attended it last Saturday (February 22, 2013) where one of our beloved professors, Dr. Erico M. Habijan (REGION 4A DepEd Chairman) stood as the main speaker. Before he started his piece, he mentioned something that really surprised me. I grew up in an environment where programs always started with a prayer. "God above country,” they said. But Dr. Habijan mentioned that the Constitution requires the national anthem before the prayer. Of course, being the curious person that I am, I decided to check on it. One thing caught my attention though while reading the Republic Act No. 8491: "Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines." SECTION 7. The flag shall also be displayed in private buildings and residences or raised in the open on flag-staffs in front of said buildings every April 9 (Araw ng Kagitingan); May 1 (Labor Day); May 28 (National Flag Day) to June 12 (Independence Day); last Sunday of August (National Heroes Day); November 30 (Bonifacio Day); and December 30 (Rizal Day); and on such other days as may be declared by the President and/or local chief executives. SECTION 26. The period from May 28 to June 12 of each year is declared as Flag Days, during which period all offices, agencies and instrumentalities of government, business establishments, institutions of learning and private homes are enjoined to display the flag. Hmmm. I didn’t know that the display of the Philippine flag should also be done in private homes and residences during these days. Nobody in school told me about this until last Saturday... And that is saying something since I’ve been in school for more than 15 years. Granted that it may be my fault for not reading the constitution, but it makes me wonder how many citizens of the Philippines actually know and practice this section. Now, back to the main question, what comes first? I’ve read a very interesting blog entry here: http://riknakem.net/2009/02/01/537/ and I quote: "And our constitutions, while giving recognition to the free exercise of religion as a basic right, since 1935 have also given equal recognition to the right of the individual not to invoke God: from the President of the Philippines on down, officials have the option of making an affirmation, instead of a solemn oath before God, when assuming office. The principle here is that all Filipino citizens owe allegiance to the state, created by the people in their sovereign capacity; it is the constitution that acts as the guarantor of the right of every individual to belong, or not belong, to a religion. However as citizens you have definite, unavoidable, and indisputable rights and obligations not only to the state, but to each other. That is why the anthem must come first; it is what demonstrates our community and our nationhood, the very things that permit an invocation to even be held afterwards.” Well, I suppose it makes sense. If it is a public gathering, national anthem was said to precede the prayer. This way, it shows that the Philippines, as a country, respect each of its citizen’s faith and religion. It gives them the right to pray or not to pray or how to pray based on their beliefs. However, I personally believe that God should always be first in everything. I have no qualms about singing the national anthem before praying IF the congregation includes people of different faith and culture. But if it is a place where we believe in ONE GOD, there shouldn’t be any questions as to what comes first at all. Ilocandia Tour (March 5-9, 2013) I was so blessed to be given a/an FOC tour with my TM students and up north no less! I was actually a bit guilty of being a fan of touring south. The Northern provinces— admittedly beautiful as they were, did not interest me before. It was probably because of the long hours of drive. Somehow, I felt that it was not worth the air travel expenses. Huh! Little did I expect to enjoy the way I did. The Ilocos Region proved to be a great destination for those who enjoy nature, culture, history and food! List of visited tourist destinations: ILOCOS NORTE
(Churches in the region have their bell tower a few feet away from the church’s main structure due to the area being earthquake-prone)
Places to Eat:
Where to Stay?
ILOCOS SUR
Places to Eat:
Boy’s Town: Girls Dormitory Outreach (March 17, 2013) My MBA: Entrepreneurial Management Class was tasked to complete a Corporate Social Responsibility Project as a subject completion. It was a good thing that my classmate Ms. Gen was very much acquainted to the process of outreach in Boy’s Town, Marikina City. And in true PLMar MBA class fashion, we were able to pull it off with less than two weeks of planning. We held the program in the Girls Dormitory. Several games were done— and for the first time, no one had to force me to join and I actually enjoyed it. I learned a lot from our simple interactions with the kids. Some of them were orphans, some were left by their parents either because of some birth deficiencies or because their parents and/or guardians could not afford taking care of them anymore (I don’t really know what feels worse). There were a few who ran away from abusive or neglectful family. It was really an eye-opener. These kids had so much taken away from them. Their youth robbed from them. The amazing thing was that— they could still smile and laugh genuinely. They survived and they kept on surviving. I hope and pray that they continue to survive until they could reach the path that God wants them to take. Sidekick Reloaded: Real Power Comes from God Alone – Vacation Bible School 2013 (April 21-26, 2013 / Graduation Day: April 29, 2013) It probably is the best CGMI Vacation Bible School I’ve participated in! Apart from the biggest number of students we’ve accepted so far, it was also the VBS that got the most generous support from the church members and other sponsors. The lessons were up-to-date and the activities were well-loved by the kids. The stories were something that they very easily related to. I was also so happy to see lots of parents who attended the graduation day. Of course, how could I forget to be thankful of my kids? All of the kids are lovely of course! But I am exceptionally proud of my defenders. I really hope to be there for them throughout the year until we could be in another VBS next summer. I can honestly say that it is the BEST way to spend someone’s birthday. And I didn’t even have any sort of party or simple celebration. Please watch and enjoy the video I made of it!
Realistically, the past year were not all flowers and butterflies. The great loss of our family during the Holy Week was tremendous. Two people moved on to the afterlife. One, whose body was overcome by illness, whiles the other, whose life was taken by people with murderous intent. Whenever I think of Tito Wong, I remember the story my mom used to tell me when I was still a young girl. She said that my grandmother was really against his and my Aunt’s courtship. My aunt was a beautiful and smart, young woman and my grandma wanted a lot of things for her. However, the two of them fought their way to be together. I am in no position to say if they did the right thing... or if what they did was all worth it. It made me question a lot of things. More importantly, he left bittersweet memories of the kind of death that was painless: A sleep that never ended. The bigger tragedy was that another death came on almost the very same date. Ate Pia and I were not really close to each other. I only met her during the surprise party we held for my mom July of last year. However, she was able to make a pretty big impression on me. I personally saw— on that short amount of time how she lights up the room with her laughter and antics. She loves her family. I was able to be friends with her younger brother and sister-in-law, both of which were very vocal about their love of her. I saw pictures and videos of them. She was the strong one in their family. A loving daughter. A protective sister. A great mother. And no matter how brutal her life was taken away, she was able to still show these parts of her personality. She made sure everyone was taken care of. She made sure they knew of her love for them before she left. Thinking of her death breaks my heart every time. She was young— so alive. And I could not even imagine the pain that her family had to deal with every second of every day. Surely, it was God’s will. Maybe she’d done her purpose and it was time for her to be with Him? But that does not nullify the loss of those she left behind. No. Life was not all flowers and butterflies. Bees came and left a sting too. But God lets everything happen for a reason. In lieu of the lessons thought in the Sidekick Reloaded VBS, we just have to believe that God’s power and love does not end. It is more than enough. It is never shaken. He loves us without condition. We just have to stay strong in our faith. Don’t fear. Don’t doubt. Trust in Him. Obey his commands. Don’t be misled by this world’s lies. To God be the glory! |
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