Philippines

Classes have been suspended for two days. While the torrential rains have abated since early today, the skies remain overcast and the weather people say that more rains are expected until tomorrow. The kids have been happily surfing the net and watching DVDs to get some respite from homeworks and projects due tomorrow while wondering, [...]

Continue reading 'Rains, floods and the irony of living in a Third World country' →

During the first weeks of summer, I bought a new blender. Haven’t had one since Sam was a baby. I’ve been content with my Thunderstick which chopped veggies well enough. But my kids are crazy about smoothies and fruit shakes and a blender would not only keep them busy over the vacation, I would benefit [...]

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I’m in a quandary. My life will irrevocably change in a few days and I’m not sure how to manage everything without giving up anything. I love writing. I love web publishing. But, in two days, I’m going to be Teacher Connie too. It sounds so weird. I’m not even sure it has all sunk [...]

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It’s been a hell of a day. I woke up at around 9.30 a.m. to find out that the taps had been dry since 6.00 a.m. I sent the house helper to get some information from the subdivision’s security guard and she was told that repairs were ongoing. Water service was supposed to be restored [...]

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I woke up one morning a few weeks ago to find a message from Anton on my cell phone. The message was, “You called?” I was more than a bit surprised because I knew for sure that I didn’t call him up. I checked the log of outgoing calls and, sure enough, a call to [...]

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The first time I experienced Marikina’s gay flores de Mayo was about three years ago when I was still using a Kodak point-and-shoot camera. Was finally able to see one again last night.
Just as a foreword, I am aware that Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan started out as different events. Flores de Mayo was a [...]

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Among the photos that Speedy took on his recent trip to Bicol was this one which shows hand made bracelets.

Believe it or not, that is stainless steel jewelry. And the most intriguing part? They are made with the use of pliers and nothing but pliers.
We’re still out of town. Be back soon.

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If you’re in the Philippines, I’m sure you will agree that the heat during the past week has been oppressive. And I’m sure we’re not the only family that is involuntarily making Meralco even more rich by turning on the aircon during the day instead of only at night during bedtime.
Non-Filipino friends think it’s nice [...]

Continue reading 'I love April showers!' →

When I was about six or seven years old, my father took us to witness a senakulo (derived from the word cenacle, as far as I know), the traditional play depicting the passion and death of Jesus Christ). I can’t remember anymore where it was but it was a province outside of the greater Manila [...]

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We decided to leave Baguio for Manila at noon on Sunday to beat the crowd. We were going to have lunch as soon as we got to La Union. Since we were driving down via Kennon Road, it would only take us about 45 minutes and we figured we could wait. Unfortunately, even before we [...]

Continue reading 'The long drive from Baguio to Manila' →