December 2008

Peace, Love and Prosperity for 2009


Photo Credit to my daughter Lauren.
Taken at Fisherman’s Wharf, October 2008

I find the photo of the cat, dog and white rat (tucked closely beside the dog’s belly) really cute and inspiring. All three of them sleeping in peace. It reminds me that maybe people of various race, religion and opinions can co-exist in harmony. The stereotype that of a cat-dog fight comes to mind. Wouldn’t it be great if we all can respect each other and try to live in peace? And that good things will be coming forth in 2009? I know peace, love and harmony may not be possible around the world but it starts with me.

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Clearing the Clutter for Good Feng Shui

Most Filipinos are quite superstitious as the New Year approaches. One of the prevalent practice to ensure the New Year will be met with wonderful blessings is to de-clutter our home or clean up the mess. I think I have a more or less clutter-free home. Call me a Neat Freak but did you know that You are Your Clutter? In the book “Clearing the Clutter for Good Feng Shui by Mary Lambert, that my sister gave me last month, it says that

Your home is supposed to mirror your inner self, so mess and inactivity reflect something that is going inside you.

The chaos will also make you feel lethargic, stultified and confused about what you want in your life. Once you have emptied your junk hoard, you will feel physically, emotionally, and spiritually liberated and you will have opened the door to wonderful new opportunities.

The superstition of “cleaning up” does indeed bring some logic there. Imagine the wonderful opportunities that await you in 2009.

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Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr. (DAR chief’s son) Mauled A Father & Son at Valley Golf and Country Club

News Flash Media IN Focus hosted by Cheche Lazaro will discuss “Dela Paz and Blogging” on January 15, 2009, Thursday live at 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at ANC Channel 27. T

For our episode on January 15, 2009, Thursday, our topic is about “Dela Paz and Blogging.”

This blog post will be updated regularly for links to interesting blog posts and news

January 5– News update Pangandaman kin face child abuse, injury raps over golf ‘brawl’ and Pangandamans file countersuit over golf brawl.

Check out the Online Petition for Pangandamans’ Resignation

(Update December 29- View the news video from GMA News as Bino, the 14 year-old cries on TV )

As soon as Caffeine Sparks plurked the GMAnews.tv report of DAR chief, mayor son accused of mauling golfers in Antipolo ( ABS-CBN has this news report), I read it immediately together with the blog post of Bambee de la Paz where she relates that

The world has gone crazy. Two politicians beat up a defenseless 56-year-old father and his 14-year-old son. At a golf course. I swear to God, I thought golfers were decent people. You would think politicians were decent people. I guess not. I guess they gang up on 56-year-old men and beat up pleading 14-year-old kids.

I don’t have a father anymore and my son would have been around the age of the 14 year old boy so my heart just went out to both father and son as Bambee describes how they were beaten up. I mean, wouldn’t you feel the same way if that was your father and brother or son? Yes, it could happen to you too.


(Photo credit to abs-cbnnews.com video)

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Holiday Greetings from My Family


The season flows. Magic is in the air. Christmas memories for the children evokes the fragrant aroma of Gingerbread Men Cookies. I love the Christmas spirit but for some, the holidays can be difficult and lonely. My husband is not spared from Christmas blues. It is a struggle he faces every holiday because our Luijoe is not around. He says, I wish the Holidays are over. Different circumstances for different folks. Maybe one of your loved ones is in the hospital, maybe one is leaving the country or is not present at your household.

You are not in the minority if you find yourself in a less-than-ideal holiday. How easy, but untrue, to tell ourselves the rest of the world is experiencing the perfect holiday, and we’re alone in the conflict. A holiday is one day out of 365 days. We can get through any 24-hour period.
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Holiday Parties and Family Reunions


Holiday parties are everywhere the past few days. I was supposed to attend a Blog and Soul party yesterday but I felt stressed out at the last minute. I just decided to stick it out with the the ManBlog party held at our home last night. More of Lauren’s friends, of course. Our home is always open to parties and Lauren surely knows how to take advantage of this opportunity.

Parties are so much fun. Even if I am not actively involved in their party, I enjoy hearing Lauren and her friends laugh and cheer which is so reminiscent of my teenage parties at our home in Cebu. Have some fun, right?

This year, I limited the parties that I attend, not because I am anti-social. Driving to and fro the venue can be a pain in the neck. A party is supposed to be fun so I make sure I am in tip-top shape to celebrate. I allow my thoughts to think “Have some fun”.

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Photo Hunt: Wide

Photo Hunt theme is Wide and my photo today is the wide backyard of my brother’s home in Missouri. When I left his home in mid-October, the weather was just cool and lovely. The Autumn colors were so pretty to look at too. It was my first Autumn experience.

But look at it now, two days after Thanksgiving. Everything is covered in snow. I can’t imagine living under those weather conditions. I don’t like the cold climate.

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UP Lantern Parade

Hi everyone! This is Lauren ghost writi- I mean, guest blogging for my mom today. I wasn’t actually planning on attending the UP Lantern Parade yesterday but since I had activist things to attend to at Vinzon’s Hall, I figured I’d stick around and take a couple of photos. Plus, I’ve never been able to catch the lantern parade; I tried to when I was in college, but my classes would end too late and I’d get there only to reach the tail end of the parade. This year, as you all know, is UP’s Centennial anniversary and the 2008 lantern parade is supposed to be a bigger spectacle than the previous ones. I’m not sure what time it ended, but the parade was still far from over when I left at around 7.

My first mistake was bringing a point and shoot camera instead of my mom’s DSLR. Despite the crowd, I was able to take fairly decent pictures of the first few lanterns but my photos started getting progressively crappier as the sky got darker.

Palma Hall was too crowded for me to get a decent view of anything, so I walked over to the front of the Faculty Center where I could still worm my way up to the front.

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Department of Tourism with Happy Slip, Partners with MTV for 2009 Global Campaign


Happy Slip (Christine Gambito) is in town since December 9 and I only found out today. Yehey invited a few bloggers for dinner at Alchemy for a sneak peak of Department of Tourism (DOT) and MTV plans for 2009. The intimate dinner gave us lots of time to chit-chat in a very informal setting. I am once again reunited with Happy Slip and this time we had more time to talk about Filipina dating online ads appearing in her myspace account which is now deleted.

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