OWM Entry!

It was my turn to post OWM entry at the main blog and my entry was entitled AN AFTERNOON OF SHARING.  You can find the photos here.  That was an unforgetable afternoon.  I hope that i can have another chance of going community outreach.  It was really a nice break from my usual Sabbath afternoon.

Now am off to the next post.

OWM – Christmas Day Thoughts

I was home hours before Christmas eve.  I thought i would not be home but thanks to the last student who went out last from the dorm – she decided to leave.

No one was home when i arrived.  The first thing i did was clean the kitchen and then my bedroom (my daughter is using it now).  My first reaction was to get mad or upset but i took a deep breath and think that i have to clean it up with a light heart because i want it to do it as a Christmas day treat for my mom (cleaning the kitchen) and for my daughter (cleaning the bedroom).  Since they were out, i had the place and 2 hours time just for myself alone.

After cleaning, i took my place in the living room and started watching  movies.  First is Boys Over Flowers (Korean’s F4) then when it get to the point where the CD got a scratch, i changed it to  The Post Grad.  I missed watching TV and movies because while staying in the dorm, i don’t have the luxury to to that.

We just cooked rice for dinner because my mom had a lot of Ginataan ng Gabi.  It’s like we have an overflowing supply of Gabi (red tubers) so she has to make something so that the tubers will be on use.  I did not eat dinner anymore i felt full of eating a bit of food here and there.  We even have a gallon full Binignit that we failed to eat that Christmas eve because all were full.  Dimple just got out of the house to see the fireworks.  Me? In the living room watching movies until i fall asleep.

Christmas morning arrived and I woke up to a call of help.  My mom got chest pains again! Again because the day before and the day before that, she woke up like that.  Thanks to Isordil 5, the pain subsides right away.  But on the Christmas morning, the supply of pill ran out so i woke up my neice to a pill at the hospital pharmacy.  They took a long time so i woke my daughter up and fetch her cousin.

There is a saying that  goes – “A misfortune to one can be a fortune for others.”  Dimple saw a crumpled 500 pesos bill on the streets while coming home.  She was the one who first saw it and show it to my Aunt (who was following her) and my aunt confirmed it is not a fake money.  So with that money, Dimple and I were able to buy Roasted Chicken. lol!  We had a hearty meal but they have to hurry because they were going to church.  I did not go because i was having headache to see and hear firecrackers while walking on the streets. When they got back from church, they ate again.

The thing with the Christmas day 2009 – my camera has not clicked a single for a single moment. hahaha.  I had it in my bag but was too lazy to do even one click.   But i kept all the memories in my head.

I had a weekend trip to my College Alma Mater (Mountain View College) to see Dimple who is one of the participants of the Northern Mindanao Conference Wide Pathfinder  Camporee.  It was a nice and memorable visit and here are some shots:

I got glimpse of the building (Ruby Hall) where i stayed at throughout all my College years.

FKA at twilight.

It was a very cold morning when we woke up to the “sunrise worship” call.  When i looked up Mt. Kitanglad beyond the roofs, i then understood why it’s so cold.

It was almost cloudless.  So it was freezing cold.

Even at 10 AM, when we went back to our cottage to ease ourselves, we saw the mountain and it is not yet very much covered with clouds.  No wonder i can’t remove my long sleeves yet.

That’s the magestic Mt. Kitanglad.

A view from under the pines drive (almost at the old guesthouse)

Here’s a shot of Joan and Boggs. Joan was my roommate since highschool until our college days.  So we had fun reminiscing our MVC days.  We were so noisy!  Bogss is her college sweetheart.  They are blessed with one kid – a daughter, Carla, who is in the 6th grade at Del Mar SDA Elementary School.

There was also a barangay contest on Christmas lights and decor at the campus. Am lucky enough to pass by the Barangay Uno entrance on a Saturday night.

Saturday night is a social night so every camper was at the Auditorium for socials.  If in the outside world got disco – we have vegetarian dance, too.  And this is what they do:

Here’s Shawn with a girl from another school.  His campmates were really teasing him.

They are the last group that left the auditorium after the socials.  So here are some of their shots (some are stolen) hehehe

Hmm a long post.  A very long one i guess.  Not really a single Christmas day photo here yet i had enough memories that filled my thoughts for me to enjoy in the coming years.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Am logging off now because we are off to the beach. I still have to make corn pop.

photo credits: sunshinelene

OWM – Visit to Maria Christina Falls

Last weekend was a busy one.  But on the last day i had the chance to go on city tour.  Two places were on the list.  The first one was Agus 4 and from there, we went to see Maria Christina Falls, the outlet of the water that runs the hydro power plant which supplies electricity throughout Mindanao and Siquijor island.

It was my fourth visit to Agus 4 in Balo-i but first for my daughter.  Though it was my fourth time yet, every visit is a wonderful visit because there’s something new to see.   It was my sixth visit to the falls and the last one was in October 2007 during the AHPA Convention also.  This time, so much has improved because they converted the entrance into a Nature Park so it means it made the Maria Cristina, the landmark of Iligan City, more accessible to the public.

There is no entrance fee to enter the park but the group must have a valid identification then all can go in.

-Dimple’s first visit there -

- the tourists –

- distant view of the falls -

- the viewing deck -

The convention including the tour officially ended after lunch.  Dimple and I went home to the dorm and i guess we slept 3 hours. We were so tired because of the late night before that Sunday.

Monday was still a holiday so it was our time to make a our Christmas tree and belen using materials found in the office.  So, we come up to this:

I am glad i made this shot because our tree does not look like this again.  My officemate made it into another form and it’s not yet done so i havent’ taken pictures yet.  Our belen is not yet done so maybe next OWM i will be sharing it here.

If you decide to visit Iligan City, drop me a line and let me know so that i can bring you to some beautiful spots in Iligan.

I hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend!

PH & OWM – All About Birds

PH theme this week is BIRD or BIRDS. I am posting late because i was not online yesterday enough to make a post.  I got a few photos of birds to share and since it was taken on a weekend, i also thought of sharing this post with my OWM friends.

All these birds were taken at Opol Aviary.

As i edited the size and enhanced the colors of the birds, i realized they are beautiful and they should not be in caged.  They should be flying free up in the sky to really enjoy life.

Happy weekend to all of you!

Dapitan Escapade

Philippines had a long weekend last week because of the All Saints Day and All Souls Day Holiday.  While people were busy visiting and paying respect to their departing loved ones, some 40 of us traveled in 7 vehicles off to Dapitan City to visit and have fun at the Gloria’s Fantasy Land.  A replica of Enchanted Kingdom in Laguna or let’s say it’s like a mini-Disneyland.

The weather was cooperative.   The sun was high and bright.  We perspired a lot when we have to wait for more than hour to get on the ferry going to Ozamis City.  Dapitan City is a 5 hour trip from Iligan City.  We left Iligan past 8 am and because of some mechanical problems in the vehicle where am on, we arrived Dapitan past 3 pm in the afternoon.

I will be sharing some random photos i took during the whole trip.

- After a long wait, at last we are up the barge!

i dunno how fast was the speed but we had lunch almost 1 pm in Oroqueta City’s boulevard.  It a fun experience.  All of us were carrying home-made foods so we only stopped there to eat.  There was so much food and we kept them for the dinner later on.

Ain’t that a grand view?

- inseparable buddies. That’s PJ in the middle (dimple’s classmate) and the other guy is Red Red, their schoolmate. -

- we stopped for 3 times and this was the third and the last.  it was then decided that the our vehicle will be towed from that spot to Dapitan City.  The passengers were evenly distributed to other vehicles.   I think there was still 30 kilometers to go from this spot.

Across the place where we checked in, there’s  the sea!
The sand was still warm and the sea was still a bit glistening with the sun’s rays when we arrived there at almost  4 pm.

This is what we really came for:

1. Entrance into the fantasy land. You can enter in after paying the entrance fee.
2.  Entrance Fee is 200 (one ride for all rides and no entry to horror house).   Entrance Fee 300 (ride all you can (unlimited times) and entry to horror house
3.  Fountain – i call them ladies.
4. Main photo – Entrance to the Gloria Arcade or Dapitan Arcade.

Some shots of the rides. I rode them all except the one in the big photo.  Dimple almost rode them all except for those rides that needs driving skills.

Dimple’s rides.  There were many more but it was like i was just following her to take her photos and i am not taking my rides. hahahaa So i have to leave her at times and also take my rides.  Mommies are not free you know.  We all paid 300 each.

D Track!  That’s their roller coaster ride!
Dimple made it there.  I did not.  My knees just turned jelly. I did not try to take a photo of her during her ride because a kid was left at my care.  But the management took photos and it cost P199.00 4 copies of the same shot.  199 was just too much. So i did not buy a copy.  I am just thinking that maybe in the future, Dimple can still big it to bigger and higher roller coaster rides.   And buy the photo herself.

Below is one of the the last shots i made of Dimple before we both exited the place.  It was past 12 am and i was already very tired and sleepy that i asked her we will go back to our room and sleep before everyone comes.

She said, this is her bestfriend. lol! It should look scary but i don’t think it looks scary now.

More weekend memoirs here.

A Blogger’s Event

If you read the post before this, it is entitled, I WAS THERE.  Yes, I was in Cagayan de Oro City to attend a very big blogger’s event.  I wish all of you were there with me because if you are here at OWM then it means you are also a blogger.  I want to dream big like there will be a WORLD BLOGGERS SUMMIT!  Where to be held? — cast lots!

Let me allow to share a few because next weekend it’s going to be my turn and i will also share MBS related photos.

The Venue – Pearlmont Inn

streamers/tarpulines hanging at the entrance way of the hotel of which i took time to shot during lunch break.

I made new friends.  But here are some of the new friends that i had pics with.

These guys are first timers to the summit.  The upper photos showed with me are bloggers from the Zamboanga Peninsula.  I think two of them are from Zamboanga City and the other one is Dapitan.

The lower to the left is shown Alvin Ronnie Caballero and Francis Javier.  We were on the same table.  Both are new bloggers and they belong to CDO Bloggers.

With me on the right photo is Alvin Tan of Manila.  First time to the summit and first time to Mindanao.  I am sure he really had a great time in this trip.  Such a friendly guy.

The 9 PBA awardees for 2009 in Mindanao.  Everyone was happy for them.
You may check out Avel’s post about his 3 wins.

I had many photos but this is one of my favorite ones: – the chandelier at the meeting hall.

I now decided that i should include in my collection shots of lamps and chandeliers. Oh a couple of shots has been added to my “shooting the photographer” collection. i just luvit!

OWM – Nannying the Day Away

I slept late Friday night because of the water supply so i woke up late in the morning. While getting ready for church, my new nephew was sort of cranky.   Always crying that we dunno how to still him. Maybe it was the humidity. So mom asked me to turn on the air conditioner and i ended up nannying while his mom went back to the kitchen cook.

The baby and I had a very very nice sleep and when he woke up i was still sleepy as in sleepy but i have to be up and hold him or play with him.  Here are some of our photos:

- My foot guards –

- The one am guarding trying to play and taste all my foot guards -

– opps got ya!  Eating away one of Mickey’s paws?

- Now he is tired again after tasting and licking all that he can get hold of.  After the cooing and the singing and the monkey tricks i did for him, he signaled for a hungry cry and so i gave him his milk and i sway (using my pillow) him to sleep. –

OWM – Surprise!

It’s another weekend and the past week was a usual week of work and after-work activities. My camera had a good rest except for some couple of shot i took last weekend at home. So am going to share with everyone today a glimpse of what surprise that made the dinner exciting during the wedding ceremony.

While the people were busy enjoying their food it was then announced that they lift their dinner plate to see what’s underneath. Some of them got lucky because on the paper is written the name of fruit that they can carry home. It may be one of the fruits above or this:

I dunno who are the other lucky winners but my friend, lelan got an apple.

OWM – Renewal of Marriage Vows

It’s another weekend and am excited because it is another OWM time. As promised last week, i will be sharing the photos of the marriage encounter culmination program – the renewal of marriage vow.

A week ago today, was a busy crazy day for me. (oppssss) this post as continued today. I started this post Saturday afternoon but was not able to finish this. Now it’s Tuesday over here and i really have to finish this.

I will be showing off the photos one by one and will have a small description in each of them. Enjoy!

_ the invitation. i got the red color ( i dunno why) but the couples invitation’s color will depend on their number of years married -

- the give aways.  the gold in hearts for the couples. the one tied in blue for sponsors. the silver  basket for secondary sponsors. -

- the final look of the principal sponsors giveaway.

- the candles for the candle bearers -

- the marriage vow certificates bundle -

- the vows -

- the red carpeted-aisle. -

- some of the flowers -

- one of the principal sponsor – Mr. & Mrs. Joel Dalaguan -

- the other sponsor – Honorable Mayor Lawrence Cruz.  Ushered to the stage by Ma’am  JD. -

- the minister, Pastor Lowell D. Teves -

- the Cake -

I got so much to share but i think this post is now too much loaded.  I wish i can share photos of the couples but they are too many.

This weekend was very unforgetable that even Pastor Teves himself was still having MSH/College hangover last week.

OWM # 6 – New Set of Family

We have 3 mother hens at home and they have never stopped supplying as eggs when in need and they never stopped giving us baby chicks when their old set grows up.  Last Saturday it was so hot, really hot at home.  Iligan seems experiencing a heat wave.  The weather forecast says it’s 38 but nah it it was not.  It was 45!  I slept the whole afternoon with the airconditioned on.  Everyone at home was uncomfortable with the heat that even mom herself took her nap inside the bedroom.  She did after playing with the new set of chicks family.

Dimple and mom took turns in taking photos with these cheeks. Hmmmm they are so cute i could kill them. lol! It’s a good thing i was already sleeping when they had this photo session.  See mom in next picture, i thought she would choke them all because they are so cute

Do you like to hold baby chicks?  Coz if you do i can send you one.  We have lots of them now at home and they eat a lot of rice.