Gayle Forman Book Signing Tour in Cebu 2014

I made it to Cebu!

Honestly I am not here for the Sinulog...I am here for Gayle Forman.

I have not really read all her books...but I like her "If I Stay".

And I am trying to get myself some kick...to finally do something about my plan to publish a book.

Hmmm...ambitious I am! LOL

I am too early...but I am enjoying having coffee with Mom. :)

From A Distance

The IT Guuy took this photo few weeks ago. This is the Port of Toledo City, Cebu. If we take the land trip going to Bacolod from Cebu and vice versa, we passby here.

Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone!

Wish You All Wealth and Success!

We just celebrated the Chinese New Year and we will have different related activities for the next 2 weeks. A tradition that the family gets to keep for the most part is the giving of red envelopes. I, personally is fond of giving red envelopes may it be new year or any special occasions such as birthdays. I'm sharing you one here. I wish you all success and prosperity for 2010! May this be your best ever!

Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

This new year is all about BIG things happening, and this is quite true for Mariposa. As most of you know we always celebrate Chinese New Year, and I did share our moments for the past years now, remember 2008 and 2009? So the past days had me, the IT Guy and the entire family busy preparing for the big day. 

Last week I already did my advance visit to the Taoist Temple and we should go back there tomorrow. My decision to leave work earlier and stay at home first before starting the new job just made this new year the best so far. I'd say the best because for this particular one I'm able to spend more time at the kitchen and was able to plan everything out. Woot!

The house was more than ready for it as IT Guy did some of the decors...as you can see  here --

We also prepared some money in red envelopes for the traditional monetary gift. In Mandarin we call these red envelopes Hóng Bāo, and Lai See in Cantonese. We do this not only on new years by the way, but also on other special occasions such as birthdays and weddings.

Here we hanged some of in one of the small tree in the garden --

 

  

 

Here is a closer look!

We also prepared some food for dinner and of course the traditional new year delicacies --

 

I did my favorite beef caldereta. I made it a little more spicy than the usual to help welcome the year of the metal tiger. I also made sure there are enough veggies on it for health and longevity. The IT Guy did the spaghetti. As most of you know, noodles are for long life and the nephew love it! The rest are the usual, spring rolls, sweet and sour fish, lechon kawali and other desserts. One things unusual here as you may have noticed is the whole chicken, and it is really WHOLE, as you can see, it still have its feet  and head. Yes, we have this every new year too so symbolize completeness. Got this particular tradition years ago when I visited mainland China.

 

For the other usual delicacy, we have the traditional tikoy, macy, huatki, chibiko and of course, my favorite fortune cookies!

  

We also prepared some candies and chocolates!

 

And of course some dried sweet plum, jelly candies, dried pineapple and sweet potato candies! 

All those, and some other which I feel no need to be mentioned is more than enough to make the table so crowded! 

I also have to mention that IT Guy took care of the fireworks part (he always does anyway) and this year is just AMAZING! I did not take any video as I wanted to enjoy it and just really watch and enjoy. He told me he found a new supplier and we plan to have another firework display soon! Maybe on the nephew's birthday. 

So here are some snapshots of the celebration we had last night --

 

  

 

Once again, Gong Xi Fa Cai to all of you! That is how we greet in Mandarin, and while we say it differently in Cantonese, Gong Hey Fat Choy, just for everybody's info, they're both written the same. =)

 Congratulations and Be Prosperous!

The Port of Cebu

IT Guy took this shot inside the boat on our way to Bohol few week ago. This is a facet of the port of Cebu.

Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone!

Heritage of Cebu Monument

Heritage of Cebu Monument

The Heritage of Cebu monument is a tableau built by renowned artist Eduardo Castrillo featuring some of Cebu’s important heritage sites and events. This project was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Cebu, which was then turned over to the city government, was in turn recently turned over to the officials of Barangay Parian where this monument is located.

Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone!

Sinulog 2010

Today I will share to you some tales about the Sinulog which I promise to do last weekend.

Sinulog, perhaps one of the biggest and most famous festivals in the Philippines, is annually held every third Sunday of January in Cebu City. The festival honors the patron Saint of Cebu City, Santo Niño (Holy Child) or the child Jesus. Famous for its forward-background dance movement, Sinulog is a dance ritual that celebrates the natives’ acceptance of the Roman Catholic faith.

The Sinulog dance movement features its infamous two steps forward and one step backward together with the beat of the drums. It is said that the dance movement is just like the water current movement, or sulog, as Cebuanos call it in their dialect; thus where the Sinulog word originates from.

Since 1521 when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan baptized the Cebuano natives and converted them to the Roman Catholic faith, the Cebuanos have shown much devotion. But the first ever Sinulog parade started on 1980, organized by then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports, and Youth Development, David Odilao. He then turned over the event to the Cebu City Historical Committee who up to now is tasked to conceptualize the yearly Sinulog festival. Thus, Sinulog 2010 marks the 30th celebration of devotion to the Santo Niño.

The Sinulog festival usually lasts for nine days, concluding on the last day with the Sinulog Grand Parade. For nine days, a lot of activities are usually held, may they be religious-related or social-related activities. Religious-related activities include the nine-day novena and masses held at the Basilica del Sto. Niño church; the Fluvial Procession, which is traditionally held at dawn a day before the grand parade, starts from Mandaue City wherein a pump boat carries a statue of the Santo Niño to Cebu City wherein later that afternoon a street possession takes place; and a Pontifical Mass held on the feast day at the Basilica del Santo Niño church, which is led by the Cardinal and several other bishops of Cebu. On the other hand, social-related activities include Miss Cebu beauty pageant, one of the most prestigious beauty pageants in the country; a series of band concerts on famous hang-out places; fireworks competition at SM City – Cebu held one day before the feast day; a series of fireworks display at Club Ultima, Crown Regency, Cebu City Sports Complex; and the Grand Fireworks Finale Display, which is very popular and is now a tradition at Ayala Center Cebu.

The Sinulog Grand Parade features a street parade and participants from every sector of the Cebuano community dressed in very colorful and bright costumes dancing to the tune of the drums. Because of its popularity not just in the country but all over the globe as well, Sinulog is flocked by tourists from every where. Millions of Cebuanos, tourists, public figures flood the streets of Cebu City every year to watch the parade, dance on the streets, and merely enjoy the event. Every year, the Sinulog festival just gets getting bigger, better, brighter, and more fun.

This year marks Cebu's 30th year of Sinulog celebration.

The Fluvial Procession

The Sinulog Grand Parade

Fireworks Display

Things I Look Forward To in 2010

Hi folks! How did you find the new year so far? We're all moving great it seems, don't you think so? Well today's the first Monday of the year 2010 and it's going to be FUN and meaningful!

I'm your host for Fun Monday this week, the first for the year and I am just so excited to read what you have for this week.

I know most of you probably have their list of New Year's resolution, I'm not going to ask for those. What I'm interested to know are the things you are looking forward to this year. It could be an event, a date, or anything. You can add photos if you want!

The reason why I chose this topic is very simple. I am a person who is a sucker for looking forward to something. Huh! Is there such a thing? No, not so much on the planning part but really more on the looking forward to a lot of things and as time goes by I get to develop plans around it. That's how I am. And yes, I complain I have insomnia I guess that caused that, too much thought, too much imagination.

For this year, trust me there are so many things I look forward to. And I don't mean wish list. These are the things I know will happen regardless and I am so looking forward to them.

I am looking forward to --

- Cebu's biggest festival the Sinulog! We always have it every middle of January and it's always fun, as you can in my Sinulog post for 2008.

- Chinese New Year on Feb. 14. (The new year's eve will be on the 13th!) As some of you know, we always celebrate Chinese new year and it's always fun and we always do it with a bang. (You can check our past Chinese Year celebrations for years 2008 and 2009!) This is something I really look forward to. I love wearing red silk on this day. I love the food, the fruits and the visit to the temple. Call me crazy but I'm already starting to plan the menu, and the number of people to invite since it falls on a weekend. I guess it will be nice hosting a party at new year's eve!

- May 8! IT Guy and I will turn another year together. We plan to go out of country for a vacation and he is in charge of the planning. So I am so excited with what he has in mind. :)

- They say this year is a good year to make grand changes, be it a career move, moving to a new location, and even marital status. I am so looking forward to that too. (I refuse to share more details for now! LOL)

- I am also looking forward to a meeting that will take place middle this month. It will be with an old business associate. Nothing fix on this, but I am crossing my fingers hoping to get that good career move I just mentioned. (I promise to share more about it soon!)

- My birthday as I will turn 31 come August!

- The birthdays of my loved ones as I always do the preparation for them, be it small or grand. ;)

- Reading more books! (Some of the gifts we received last Christmas were books.)

- And believe it or not, I am so looking forward to next Christmas already. I just happen to have a new theme for your Christmas decor and I can't wait to try them already! Geez!

I guess those are the things I look forward to in 2010 at a glance. I'm sure there will be more as time goes by but it feels good to have something to look forward to as early as now. If there is one thing that helped me get by, they're the things I looked forward to. It made me conquered difficult times because I know there are good things waiting for me in the coming days. I hope we all have a good list of things to look forward to this year.

If you are joining Fun Monday please sign up below so others can visit you. For the others, I invite you to make your quick list. Trust me it feels good after. I wish you all a happy Monday and a wonderful week!

[ADD] Let me know if you want to host Fun Monday next week!

It Makes Him Tick

PhotoHunt: Every time I LICK!

Please excuse my photo, as this is what I found in my dig. So you can go ahead and tag this with PG rating. This was taken November last year. We went out with my staff, and after several shots of tequila, well I maybe thought the IT Guy as salt?! LOL

Anyway, this is nothing unusual for me and I don't mind showing it to the world. LOL

I wish you all a very happy weekend. And no other ordinary weekend, it's the first weekend of the year 2010. And I wish I have more meaningful tip for you to go, but well, what can I say? Stay safe, stay happy and just take life one lick at a time! ;)

 

Please visit PhotoHunt's HQ to see others' LICK!

Happy New Year from Cebu, Philippines!

From Cebu, Philippines, we wish you all a happy 2010! May the new year bring you joy, love, good health and success. Cheers!

Sending you all Hugs and Kisses,

Christmas at CCMC Pediatrics

I promise to make a post about it so here goes. Trust me I had to struggle with this post as I just can't seem to find any strength to type anything. I'm more than happy to have shared few moments with the children at Cebu City Medical Center's Pediatrics...plus the fact that I'm still not so over with one event I saw while I was there.

First off I don't have any better photos to show as I did not go there ready to document the said activity. As most of you noticed I have stopped writing posts about my outreach programs. I don't really have any reasons for that though. Anyway, when we got home the IT Guy told me that in between his breaks (since he was helping out most of the time!) he was able to take some photos in some areas of the Pedia Ward.

Cebu City Medical Center, also known as CCMC is a public hospital run by the Cebu City Goverment. And like most state-owned hospitals, it's not really the nicest place to go to or stay with. So this Christmas I told the IT Guy that I wanted to go there and be with the children. It was a last minute thing I wanted so we did whatever we can with whatever we have. I have to thank several people too who made this project successful. I'd like to thank the man in black, Rene S. for helping me facilitate this visit as well as Dr. M. Go, the Chief of the Hospital. So many thanks to Agnes who shared some candies, juices and biscuits to the children, my sister in law Sheila for all the particular help, and of course the IT Guy who cooked the spaghetti himself. Did I mention before that the IT Guy is very good with pasta? Well he is! And we just wanted his best spaghetti to the children. :)

So here we are in action!

The Pedia Ward is located at the ground floor of the hospital and there were about 60 children there, that includes the Pedia ICU and they have an extension at the third floor where there were about 12 children.

This is the one on the third floor. Here is my SIL giving candies and biscuits to the children.

I had just to ask how come this child is alone...I was glad to know she's to check out and the parent was just checking with the nurses downstairs.

 

Here is Mariposa putting all her trash in one bag. Cleanliness is next to godliness so they say!

 

I met this baby when I went back downstairs. He just spent his Christmas at the hospital and I do hope he will be out there by New Year. (I didn't even notice the IT Guy was able to take a photo!)

 

The scene I left downstairs wasn't quite the same when I got back. The four month old baby who was in manual respirator (they call it bagging) was being pumped by the nurse. I could tell it wasn't good and I was standing there helpless seeing the baby go. I couldn't understand why we had to end the day with that. When I first stepped into the Pedia Ward the first thing I asked was what happened to her. The one who was doing the bagging told me that she had a cough. I had to ask the IT Guy how come she wasn't in normal oxygen, he just looked at me and said because she may not be capable to do it on her own. I know deep inside that once a patient is in respirator it means that patient is in critical condition, it just didn't dawn to me that, that child was in critical condition. I went to her Mom before going upstairs and told them I pray they can go home soon. It never occurred to me that they will go home sad. While I stand there looking at the nurses and the doctor trying to revive the baby, I kept asking people and myself what can I do. What do they need. Nothing. They needed the baby to respond first. I was standing there wishing one could share their lifetime with someone in an instance. I would gladly give some of my years to that child. It's just awful. I couldn't believe a child could die because of a cough. I couldn't believe how could parents wait for a simple cough to complicate before rushing them to the hospital. That baby I learned was just brought there on that day. Early that day another baby died because of the same illness. What in the world is going on?

I want to stop this post as I am just too overwhelmed with a lot of things. I know I can only do so much, and I always wish I can do more but every time I struggle to do more for people I see how helpless I am and it hurts. 

I pray for God's hand to rest on the shoulder of the family of that baby who's with the angels now. I also pray that the children there get better soon so they can spend New Year's eve at home. May God bless all the little children in world.

The Little...

PhotoHunt: TWELVE

These are Sean's little twelve friends... Unfortunately the IT Guy can't make him join them in the line. LOL

Thanks to all who sent me eCards, eMails, and gifts. Also to those who gave me a ring, thanks so much! A bit late, but hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I had a big one with family and friends.  And this afternoon, I had the chance to spend Christmas with the children at Cebu City Medical Center Pediatrics Ward and I promise to write a post about it tomorrow. :)

Please visit PhotoHunt's HQ to see others' TWELVE !

I Have Been To The Edge

It's Tuesday's Tales time once again and yes I am here. I made it! WOOT!

One of the many reasons why I got so busy the past weeks was my friend's visit to Cebu. We did a joint training on Project Management and Total Quality Management. But the tales here will not be about that, but rather the fun we had!

The first day was rather manic thus we decided to end it with a bang! So we went to Crown Regency to have dinner. But then it was not just dinner. I guess we wanted to get so hungry that we had to scare ourselves and tried the Edge Coaster.

I never thought I'd tried it as I've been telling my friends before I will never try it. Ha, never say never so they say...and now I know what they mean.

So what is an Edge Coaster. Will it is that! A ride at the edge of the hotel at the 37th floor mind you! A sure ride of a life. A hell of a ride for me. My friend kept saying it's controlled fear, to me, it's many things...it's when you get excited hovering the city seeing all the buildings and lights and at the same time having that cliff hanger feeling because you are in a seating position, tilted up to 55 degrees and at the edge of the building.

So here is how I look in my first few minutes...

Cameras are not allowed so only them can take photos and you have to pay to get your hard copy. I have to thank Jherlie for sending me this soft copy to post here. I have something more fun, but I still have to ask the IT Guy to scan it. IT Guy missed it by the way because he had some business cocktail to attend to. (Well he told me he will not try it anyway. LOL)

We had to take some poses after that nerve-wrecking experience to settle our senses or we could have ended up eating horses for dinner! Hehehe

Behind us is Cebu!

This was just Day 1. Next week I will share more photos of our Cebu escapade!

Happy Tuesday people!

He Brings Out The Child In Me

Children's games are hardly games. 

Children are never more serious than when they play. 

~MONTAIGNE, Essays

Two weekends ago IT Guy visited our friend whose house happens to be near Family Park. The last time IT Guy and I went there was many years ago...so we opted to bring the nephew with us and check the park. He is really good with children...that we had to run around the field and end up bouncing here! LOL

Happy not so Wordless Wednesday!

I Feel So Like A Princess!

Surprise?!

Mariposa is back...and I'm back with shopping bags! LOL

The past days/weeks has just been quite busy for me...and so I've been anywhere but here. I miss you guys and I should be able to catch up with you all by end of the month.

So many things happened...and I mean not just my life but in general.

*The country still mourns the loss of one of our great leaders, Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco - Aquino. She's our first woman president and was instrumental to the success of our first people power revolution in 1986. (I will make a post about her and EDSA soon!)

* I'm reviving IEC Solutions, Inc., an old company I formed with IT Guy and some few friends years back. This is because a new friend inspires me to do so.

* We're also forming another company with this friend. (I will talk more about it once we've laid the groundwork.

* Work has been fine...very good but not very well. I'm loving it and I hope it stays that way.

And other things in between...not worthy to be mentioned here because they're either too monumental or too minute.

So yesterday, IT Guy and I went to the mall. We just wanted to have lunch. That's all.

But then, from the parking to the restaurant, we passed by Marithé et François Girbaud Shop. I glance...and wanted to look away...but the IT Guy (who's the real culprit for the overspending this weekend) said let's check. Who am I to refuse?! ;)

We left the shop with two bags!

I got him a nice wallet...and myself...a chic...lovely...red wallet! Yes...I just spent money for wallets! LOL

I was kidding the IT Guy that this is in preparation for more income! We need nice wallets to accommodate all the cash...LOL (Who am I kidding huh?!)

So we had lunch. It was nice...and I finished my food. Something most people would cheer to...but then, let me tell you folks...I've been eating a lot lately!

So we wanted to burn whatever we ate and so we strolled around the mall.

Then I have to rest...shopping can be stressful you know! LOL

Yep...I went shopping! And the IT Guy did not even frown a bit. He just let me.

I feel so like a princess!

Movie Theaters

PhotoHunt: ENTERTAINMENT

This is SM City Cebu's Theater...they are currently working on converting their 8 standard theaters into IMAX before end of this year.

I have not been there lately...and not a theater fan....but I'd love to try it soon!

Please visit PhotoHunt's HQ to see others' entertainment!

Happy weekend everyone...