My Cup of Tea

We had a very fruitful recollection last January 5 at Eden Nature Park, Toril, Davao City. It was facilitated by Rev.Fr. Russell Bantilles. In his lecture, he emphasized the true essence of Catholic faith and how everyone must understand the depth and value of being Catholics, of being faithful to the religion and to God. Well, I grew up in the province, in an environment where Catholic faith is the center of our daily lives. My father had been serving the Catholic parish as a lay minister for more than 50 years now. I was taught basic catechism early on and had followed religiously all those teachings. The words of father Russell rung true, it was genuine, I admired his effort to drill to everyone's head the true value of being Catholics, of being Christians. I agree with what he had said, that a genuine religion cannot be measured with the speaking charisma of a pastor or a speaker, it's on how he speaks for the truth and on how his preaching manifested the true val

FYI : Christmas season starts on the 25th of December (and not September) on the birth of Jesus and ends on the Feast Sunday of His baptism (after the Epiphany). In the Catholic calendar, Feast Sunday of the Epiphany, better known as the Three Kings, falls on the first Sunday after New Year ( regardless of date). Advent season starts on the first Sunday of December and ends on the 24th day (Advent means preparation on the birth/coming of Jesus Christ). We had our annual recollection last January 5, 2013 at Eden. It's called "Christmas Recollection" because Christmas season has not yet ended. This was the second time that our recollection was held at Eden, the first time was in November 2008. With Juvy I'd come to visit Eden three times already. The first time was in 2001 with some colleagues. I noticed nothing much has changed with the place's structure and amenities. No amusing facilities, the old cable swing (I could not understand why they called it

Despite sad events, unfulfilled dreams and frustrations, still, I believed I had lived my life happily last year, and looking back, I should say, 2012 ha d been a very good year for me. I have so many reasons to thank God for performing big miracles in my life never mind if some of my wishes did not come true (maybe it's not for me).  I encountered so many good people, generous friends and nice colleagues, my parents and siblings are in excellent conditions, we are mentally and emotionally healthy, our place was spared from the deadly typhoon, Pablo. I finished my academic subjects in the graduate school with excellent marks, I am safe and healthy and I did not encounter trouble in the workplace. These are great miracles that happened in my life in 2012 to which I am very grateful. Last Christmas, I wasn't able to return home and had to spend it with my friends. We'd a pre-Christmas lunch at Grub Resto Cafe along Illustre street, it was a Christmas treat by Kathy

When you are down and disappointed it is easy to believe that you've had months of bad days, that it rained every minute of the day and that people in the surroundings look like hammers ready to nail you down in despair.  Few days ago when I realized I could not watch "The Hobbit" in cinema because there's no one to go with, I became sulky and very sad. I've been waiting for this movie to come out in the big screen for years, just imagined the amount of exasperation and resentment I felt at that moment. I stayed in my room all through out Sunday, rolling my eyeballs to the four corners, wondering why my destiny seemed like a huge curse. But I tried to appear cheerful and happy when I reported to work the next day and discarded those bad notions about loneliness. Life is wonderful to be wasted on things that could never be realized. it's totally pointless and I am tired begging for something that could never be given to me. I am very exhausted analyzin

We rarely have a Christmas party   (non-teaching personnel of UIC)   because we could not agree to almost everything. The last time we agreed to have one was in 2008. Most of us felt it’s a way too much since some offices already organized their own party then we have an institutional Christmas party to look forward to. But this year, well, most of our colleagues argued, that we should have our own Christmas party. We don't have institutional Christmas party this year because the RVM sisters decided to donate the money to the Pablo typhoon victims in Davao Oriental. For individuals who struggled everyday just to meet daily needs, this kind of social activity is simply inconceivable. But despite some objections, the plan pushed through and the venue (and date) was chosen – Grand Menseng Hotel, December 11, 2012. One thing I detested about this formal gathering is the anxiety of thinking what to wear. It’s simply too much to my mentally exhausted brain to contemplate on c

Felt extremely bad. I wasn't able to watch " The Hobbit" in cinema, I've been waiting this film for years to get its way to the theater but when it finally arrived there's no one to go with. None of my friends showed interest on it. Their movie type is that damn shit cheap mistress concept film I find cranky and dull-witted. I prefer historical and adult fantasy films so we are not on the same league. I never dreamed to go to cinema alone, so I ended up fretting in my room cursing my destiny why I could not be with somebody. But when I got back to myself, I thought, it was not because of my failure to watch The Hobbit in cinema that caused my distress. There’s more into it. There's this old...really, really old unresolved issue that kept thudding inside my brain and still hanging in my horizon. You know the feeling when you keep on promising yourself to stay calm and relax and thoroughly forget the unreachable things that could never be realized a

I rarely go out. I hate being in the crowd, ever since I was a teenager, I don’t like hanging around with friends, I fretted their noise, their nonsense talks. Back then, I would hide in my parents’ room every time they would come to our house. When I attended college and lived in the city for good, my attitude towards “hanging-out” did not change. I would still prefer to stay at home rather than go out. I considered disco and bar houses as nastiest places on earth. I detested girls who are loud, who compulsively drink and smoke, who enjoyed night life, who had an unthinkable lifestyle, I often think they are bad influence and hanging around with them would not get me anywhere. Going elsewhere with people I am not comfortable with, bores me to death and wandering around is not my idea of living life to the fullest. Oh well, maybe I was not born with itchy feet. Even today, except for making grocery and other errands, I seldom go to the malls. It's maddening