My Cup of Tea

Kate Middleton and her mother, Carole Middleton, can be compared to Sir Thomas Boleyn and his daughter Anne Boleyn. Both great schemers. But unlike the Middletons, the Boleyns were aristocrats. THE BOLEYNS During medieval period, being linked to a King or a future King is like acquiring a large Estate, it would also enhance their standing in the society, so parents pushed their daughters so hard to be near to the royals. Sir Thomas Boleyn was exactly one of them. When his two daughters, Mary and Anne, were growing up, he made it clear they would be hovering around royalty. He sent both his daughters to the French court to be trained as Ladies-in-waiting.  When Anne returned home, she became an accomplished and well-educated woman ready to become a mistress of a King. Her father and uncle, Thomas Howard, the 2nd Duke of Norfolk, moved forward to place her in the English royal court, they introduced the young Anne to the notorious King, Henry VIII. Anne first served as...

Why the wedding of Prince William and his commoner girlfriend is being sensationalized by the media as if it is the most important thing in the world that could save the world from the global crisis? Though, I  posted several entries in my ROYAL WORLD blog about their upcoming wedding, I am not totally drawn with their union, the only reason I followed the event is because Prince William is a royalty and my royal blog talks about European royalty, and it is just very logical to include his wedding event. But unlike other people, I am not fascinated with his non-aristocratic bride-to-be. I've been a royal watcher f o r nea rly 20 years now . I am one of those royalists out there who strongly opposed the inclusion of commoners into the royal fold, this personal displeasure is probably shared by most conservative royals in the European royal court.  Andrew Morton, biographer of the late Princess of Wales, Diana, said it more blatantly: "Drafting commoners into the ...

Today is Easter Sunday, one of the most important celebrations in the Catholic calendar, when I attended the 9:00 am mass today, the homily of the priest touches a deep cord in everyone's heart, because it tells how Jesus Christ suffered and sacrificed for the salvation of mankind. Easter Sunday, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the center of the Catholic faith because without resurrection, our Christian life would not be meaningful at all. But I am just surprise the way people in the city celebrated the Holy Week, because back in the province we had the holiest way of commemorating the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. When my grandmother was still alive, we had the most strict practice of the observance of the Holy Week. We never eat anything during Good Friday, even if we wish to eat, there's no food in the kitchen anyway, hehe! My Nanay (she died in 2005 at the of 98 with an intact memory who can recall even her first love haha!) never allowed...

Three days after returning home from our retreat, some discoveries lingered in my mind. The most impressive fact was that of Dom Martin Gomez, a Filipino renowned fashion designer who abandoned his life in the spotlight to join the Benedictine Monks. According to the official site of Senator Migz Zubiri, when Dom Martin attended the launching of the Senator's book about Bukidnon, he was asked why he entered the monastery, he answered  "In all of us, there is a thirst, a yearning for God. But oftentimes, we busy ourselves with so many things we never really go deep into our hearts to find what is missing. I knew there was so much more I wanted in life. My searching brought me to this monastery in Bukidnon. It is here where I finally found my 'home' with God," (source: www.migzzubiri.org). However, life in the monastery did not hamper his desire to show how talented and creative Filipinos are, he continued his passion in haute couture by creating exquisite d...

2011 April 17 Just got home from Malaybalay, Bukidnon. A tiring but fulfilling trip! Haaay finally I can stretch out my tired feet. This is one of my best retreat experiences so far. I just love the place, never mind if I have no picture :-( I will treasure the best moments I spent within the monastery. I have no plan to spend the rest of the Holy Week fretting why I didn't own a camera to take my personal shots, life is fabulous and great memories linger.  Anyway... We left Davao last April 14 for our four-day retreat at the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Benedictine Monks. The annual retreat of the non-teaching personnel of UIC is one of my favorite institutional activities because it feels like all my weariness in life disappear temporarily, it also provides a great chance to reconstruct my spiritual journey and offers an opportunity to go out from the workplace and unwind.   So what made this year’s retreat different? Aside from holding it on ...

Tomorrow, we'll be leaving for Bukidnon for our annual retreat. Retreat is my favorite institutional activity in the school I worked with, because it is the best time where I could spend enough time with myself, laughing and sharing good conversation with my colleagues and keep my mind away from the boring routine of paperworks. It also provides a good opportunity to take enough rest  from life's clutters. This spiritual rendezvous often bring us away from Davao allowing us to see the other side of life far from the workplace. In 2008, we went to Baguio City and alas! It was my first time to board a plane, waaaah! And what made it super special was that we left Davao exactly on my birthday, April 3. It was a fabulous experience in the country's summer capital. I got to find out also the chilling environment of Baguio and what it was like living in slopes and hills! We'd a wonderful retreat master, a Jesuit from Ateneo de Manila, who made us feel relax, unleashing hum...

Today is Araw ng Kagitingan, a national holiday in the Philippines, though I am slightly disappointed when the Philippine President did not move it on Monday, I am still relieve that it is a nonworking day. At 11:00 am, I and a friend went to Ate Pearl's house in Bangkal for their house blessing and got lost along the way! The grueling heat of the sun was so terrible. But it was a nice afternoon anyway, we had a wonderful lunch and had a good time with our friends. I went home past 2:00 o'clock. After resting for 30 minutes, I worked on my blogs, updating entries then searched for royal videos in youtube until I landed on the old videos of the royal family when Diana was still alive. The late Princess of Wales, Diana Diana and her two young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry I saw the video taken in 1985 when the Princess of Wales, Prince Charles and the two young boys, William and Harry, were enjoying the airy afternoon at Highgrove estate. While obse...

This marks my 60th post here in My Life's Journey blog. So what's the significance with 60th post?hmmm nothing, except that I am always fascinated with the number 60 because it is always the transition period of people's existence: neither young nor old .  It's been five days since I celebrated my birthday and I still can't believe I reached this stage without any accomplishment other than chasing the private lives of the European royals. So last night, after taking dinner, I went straight to my room, pulled my little mapping notebook and began flipping on the pages where I wrote the things I need to do. For a while, my eyes glared on each plan and lifted my head wondering if those stuff are realistic or if I am just being unfortunate and luckless. Then I began another entry, another list and the strategies I should be taking. Until my mind ached with frustrations and disappointment. I am just tired of doing this boring routine, so I pulled the book of Mat...

I am a voracious reader.. . If there's one thing that can make me wide awake at night until early dawn, aside from writing, is reading. If I start reading books or writing articles, no one can ever disturb me not even the "barking" of my cellular phone . Nothing can thwart my attention except the thought of becoming ugly because of lack of sleep.hehehe, but other than that, none! But since attending graduate school, reading is one habit I thoroughly neglected because I am super busy working on assignments and cases. Last night finally, I started keeping up with the lost time in reading. I first pulled the book " The Battle of Britain " and so engrossed with the story that I did not put down the book until my eyes blurred.  The book I diligently read recently giving me another round of sleepless night hehe .. .Then find time to read this book, "The White Queen" by Philippa Gregory, a book given to me by Sir Escalante as Christmas present. This story c...

After contemplating for three months whether to sell it or not, finally, I made a go to dispatch it and thank God there is an interested buyer even if my laptop is literally obsolete and part of the forgotten generation. But despite of its bad performance and my constant exasperation because of its primitive feature, I still feel a little bit sad of dispatching it, because it plays a big role in my writing life and my schooling and provided me comfort and sanctuary when I need to blob and release my emotional agony. It became the sole witness of my emotional turmoil and struggle to rebuild my shattered dreams. In the middle of the night, when the situation is unbearable and I just want to type words to release my bitterness, I just crawled in bed, pulled my laptop and composed journal entries. It pacified my spirit. Well, I am not fussy and fastidious when it comes to electronic gadgets, I never bothered myself  too much on what might people think on my shabby gadgets, I am not o...

" God is faithful even if we are not, He fulfills His promises. Everything that happens in-between---that’s grace” (Confessions of an Impatient Bride) Last year, after reading the book of Rissa Singson-Kawpeng, “ Confessions of an Impatient Bride ” my life’s principles had a massive make-over. All tensions and anxieties blew off like pieces of dust into the horizon…her sharing of the lessons of “Potters in Japan” made me realized that “waiting” is just a marvelous word personally designed by God. Afterall....age is an attitude of the mind . I f you don't mind, then it doesn't matter :-)  Okay, so today is another milestone of my existence. But no, not my birthday but my birthdate ^____^ I read once that some world's "Thinkers" disputed the terms “birthday” and “birthdate”, according to them we don’t have a birthday each year but just a birthdate. People have only their birthdays once every seven years, hmmm...sounds logical anyway.  Wel...