Feast day of Sto. Nino

The Feast day of Sto. Nino was celebrated every 3rd week of January. Nuestra Senora Cebu, Sto. Nino parishes from Tondo or Pandacan but almost all over the Philippines and some parts of the world. According to Fr. Ike Veloso, as he gives his homily at the Feast- it’s a sign of our devotion to Sto. Nino or a child Jesus.

The Little Children and Jesus (Mark 10: 13-16)

 ¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

He added that there are 2 contradictory things in Sto. Nino, because he’s a child yet he wears a crown. First it shows the mystery of weakness and strength. It tells about the lesson of humility- the little child is the greatest in heaven. A child is great because he/she has a mother and father. It only means that we’re great because we have our Father in Heaven and we became His children through Christ. The reason why each of us is great.

More stories about Sto. Nino here 

Comic Jewel

 Sometimes, we wonder if she's really thinking deep and wanting to become a human.

When Jewel started to show off her silliness, riot surrounds our house.

When she's happy, she'll jump and stomp her feet on our thighs;

her golden brown hair will start to fly in the air.

She'll play around our house, like a kid

freely plays in a playground. But when we're fondling her, let her lie on the floor, as we

sing a song- it seems like a lullaby on her ears, and she'll be half-asleep.

She creates an unending burst of laughter 

and uncomparable happiness on our home.

The Vision

Photo taken here

Am I watching too much movies about travelling?

Take it from Julia Robert’s character as Elizabeth Gilbert in an interesting movie, “Eat, pray and Love” wherein she travelled across the countries that start with “I” like Italy to eat the best pizza, Indonesia to take yoga classes to find her spirituality and finally in India, to find her true love. How about the controversial film, The curious case of Benjamin Button which we can anticipate a short and quick preview when he spend his latter middle life (in accordance to his reverse time and life cycle) in travelling to different countries? And some films that alike.

Those are two of the movies that prompt me to dream about travelling plus watching travel local or international travel shows. Yes, even sleeping late at night in watching, Borntobewild with my sister, who’s an avid viewer of that show. Never to mention, my adventurous friends, who are fond of mountaineering, trekking, rock climbing, etc.

Last Monday, I watched I-witness which is hosted by Sandra Aguinaldo and she documented her first time backpacking know-how across the Indo-China. I realized that travelling is a privilege for some, but for me, not yet. It’ll take time; but I won’t stop dreaming about the temples in Thailand, cheerful portraits of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and the alluring Angkor Wat from Cambodia. Yes, these 3 developing countries are inviting a lot of tourists to sweetly savor their cuisines, genuine people and rich culture. Like Philippines, they also deserved to be explored. These 3 countries’ boundaries meant a great photo op and a prevailing experience with an affordablebudget ! :)

I assure myself now to visit them someday. And I’ll go back happily to this post via linking this and as I publish “Mission accomplished!”

Binondo, rejuvenates emotions

Binondo is a Chinatown here in the Philippines. Remember the song from Hotdog, "Manila" and its line: hinahanap hanap kita Manila, mga ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga, mga jeepney mong nagliliparan, mga babae mong nag-gagandahan (particularly in Tondo)? That place can send you into a trance of nostalgia. Wow, how stunning Manila is. Ok, reality bites, in some parts and that includes Binondo, of course.


Another thing, I remember being there 2 years ago to experience the Chinese New year festivity, it was unforgettable, nevertheless rambling there without any purpose can be thrilling too. My officemate, who's Half-Filipino and Chinese (she's the one who kept on sending these photos) told us that we need to have at least 1,000p-1,500p to have a tour around Binondo. Maybe, it's time to do so- ok, this will be part of my 2012 plan, either travelling there alone or with my buddies. Let's see. :)

Kiampong and fishball soup

Dumplings in dong bei dumpling house

The woman makes a dumpling dough

Café mezzanine

Gecko heals ones asthma

Binondo church

Tableau factory

*Google photos

The scent

Color of scent*google photo

I was going home last night--when abruptly I smelled a perfume scent. That scent  reminds me of few people or a random person whom I met before. I indefinitely point out from where. That occasion rarely happen to me but I'm sure it has a significance. I make do an agile research about it and I'm definitely right- sense of smell is related with past's essential experiences. This is the scientific inquiry about it:

Smell and memory are closely linked. Smell evokes memories. Damage to the temporal cortical region of the brain - the site of memory - does not affect the ability to detect smell, but, rather, prevents the identification of the odour. We must first remember a smell before identifying it. We smell (or taste something) before a negative experience, that smell (or taste) is linked to that experience. The memory is very robust.

What we know about smell and memory:

• Memory - odour memory falls off less rapidly that other sensory memory (Miles & Jenkins, 2000)
• Odour memory lasts a long time.
• The "Proust effect" - Marcel Proust has lent his name to the phenomenon of memory recall in response to a specific smell (after his descrition of such an event in "Swan's Way") - the "Proust Effect". Whole memories, complete with all associated emotions, can be prompted by smell. This is entirely unconscious and cannot necessarily be prompted voluntarily although countless studies have shown that recall can be enhanced if learning was done in the presence of an odour and that same odour is presented at the time of recall.

Does it mean a person who suffered from Amnesia can regain his memory best through his/her sense of smell?

How about a girl who can't take off the hospital utensils's smell after a long time of staying beside her sick dad?

A girl who once again smelled her ex-boyfriend's scent from someone else?

A man who wants to go home immediately after his wife would tell him their food for dinner?

How Jewel's (our dog) not-so-good odor alarmed me and my family.

There are many questions that popped up from my mind, because sometimes among the senses--this is the least given of importance.

So the next time, you're reminded of something else, maybe sense of smell can lead you into that valued memories.

The Hunger games' excerpt



I'm reading once more this epic book, The hunger games by Suzanne Collins after seeing its trailer before watching 2 MMFF's (Metro Manila Film Festival's) entries. I'm excited to watch this as it hits the local cinemas. I'm just keeping my finger cross that the adaptation and execution will be alike to the book- not all but in most part. Here's an excerpt from the movie's heroine:

Jennifer Lawrence plays
 the role of Katniss Everdeen

"Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one

another while we watch — this is the Capitol’s way of reminding

us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we

would stand of surviving another rebellion.

Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s

nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every

last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.”

- Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger games

Celebrations

I've realized that there are so many celebrations today like it's my highschool bestfriend's birthday, she's turning 25; Meanne's 5th anniversarry with Ant; and my other closest friend will tie a knot- civil wedding with her fiance.

I'm happy for them. May the abundance of rain pour upon them. :)