Winter And Christmas

Today is again cloudy and very cold. The sun has already risen, but it is still dark and gloomy outside. The first winter storm of this winter is approaching and Friday night there might be a mix of snow and rain and sleet which will make travel on the roads quite difficult and dangerous on Saturday. I used to hope for days like that because the girls and I were excited to see snow...But I don't want to go through winter again because in bad weather I usually end up being stuck in the house and most of the time I just sleep and eat. Last year I gained 10 lbs in just 3 months...huh!!!!

Yes, it is now so winter...here in the east coast it gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon and the sun doesn't come up until 7:30 in the morning. Holiday cheer is beginning to fill the air and soon there will be rounds of Christmas parties to attend. I miss Christmas in the Philippines. My mind conjures up images of how we celebrate Christmas. It starts with me and my daughters attending Simbang Gabi. Back home in Gensan starting December 15 we would go to bed early so that we could wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning of December 16 and won't be late for the 1st Misa de Gallo Mass (usually starts at 4:00AM). I imagine the huge chandeliers ( 6 of them if my memory serves me right ) of the OLPGV Parish that are only all lighted up during this season. After the Mass, the parish serves coffee, pandesal or bibingka. Outside the church street food peddlers will be selling freshly cooked goodies of kutsinta, puto bumbong, arroz caldo, etc.These are delicacies specially prepared during the Christmas season.

This year I will miss spending Christmas in the Philippines but there is consolation in the feeling that this time at least I will not spend it alone, and I still have my girls to share that special feeling of being with family. And in spirit, I know my family and friends back home will be spending it with me. I can only imagine this coming  Christmas as filled with love and celebration for the many blessings but also an opportunity to share the joy and happiness this season brings.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

A Day in The Tropical Paradise

When I was still living in the Philippines full time, my favorite getaway when I get tired of the noise and traffic of the city is to go play golf or go somewhere quiet and peaceful to go swimming, walk in the beach, and watch the day pass me by. Gumasa, Glan, Sarangani Province is famous for its beach white sand. It is about an hour and a half drive from my hometown General Santos City. The last time I was there was in May 2007.

But in my visit to the Philippines last month, my brother told me about this new resort being developed by one of the business magnate in Gensan. The owner told my brother that it is not yet finished but there is one cottage that we could already use, anyway we were just going to stay for a day.

Just driving along the coastline going there is already a great experience.  As soon as you enter the Gensan-Sarangani boundary, you will be cruising along a highway that was built thru USAID. It is a world class highway devoid of the bumps & humps with fresh country air and beautiful scenery-- rice fields, coconut, banana and corn plantations, hills and mountains on the left and seashore on the right. The quaint little towns along the way amazed me and made me pensive. Time seems to have passed on them. They were not as much different from what I remember them 20 years ago. I still see carabao as a means of plowing the field and horse to carry the produce to the market. Life seems very simple still.

When we got to the place, I was mesmerized by the tranquility of the area. The beach sand is white and clean and the water is so clear.There I envisioned a world-class resort in that part of Sarangani. Listening to the owner talked about his plans for the place, I know on my return to the Philippines next time, I will be going  there  many times.

I know big name resort towns have spoiled our society and taken away the simple pleasures from the traditional summer family vacation. But as what I heard from Mr. Tan's vision of the place. I imagined nightlife there will be best experienced by an evening walk along the beach. The moonlight and stars that reflect off the ocean’s surface act as bright lights. For music, the soothing sounds of the gentle waves with a gentle breeze coming off of the ocean. All these and the luxury of a world class resort, what more can you ask for?
My family was so grateful to Mr. Tan for that wonderful time we had in El Jardin del Mar. Thank you very much!!!

50 Years After

My parents are in their early 70's and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary last Sept. 29, 2009.
For months, my siblings and I had planned a grand event: video interviews, powerPoint presentations, buffet galore, and hundreds of friends and relatives sharing the joyous occasion with us – the works! We thought our parents deserved nothing less than a fantastic fete with high (not to mention, tacky) production values. However, my parents had a different idea about how they wanted to celebrate their anniversary. Their wish was to have a much more simple celebration at the kiosk of the Parish Church of Alabel, Sarangani province following the renewal of their vows at the church. Aside from the family they wanted their guest to be just people they work with in the parish. Fortunately, they made this clear to us before we made the reservations and the invitations were mailed. So, as much as we had been looking forward to hosting a big party, we accepted the fact that it was their anniversary and they should celebrate according to their own plans! They wanted it simple and low-key, yet genuine and meaningful-like their love and marriage we were celebrating.

After the ceremony, papa gave a 5-minute talk on how they have stayed together all these years and touched the hearts of those present when he said that if ever they have a chance to go back and be young again, he said that he had no doubt he would want to marry my mother again. Sounds like a cliche but we, their children are living witnesses to their love and commitment.

With their daughters, (not in the photo is our sister who is a nun)

With their only son and grandson

Some of the guests (colorful!)

Our parents look like they're always serious but they both have a good sense of humor. Laughter and a bit of cheesy kissing. Add constant conversation (after half a century together, they haven’t run out of things to talkabout!) and the grace of God – that’s how they got their Golden Bond.

Where Is Home?

I had been living in the States for a while so going back to take care of a very important business with only one week planning didn't sound that bad. We came to love the way of life and the convenience of doing things in the States and so we decided to stay for good. And now that my daughters have come to love the life in the US, I think the possibility of them going back to the Philippines is now very slim. I used to say that this is my home and it is here where I'm going to get old and die, but now I am not sure anymore. My three weeks of being here made me realize that things have changed a lot. People change and so do I, that I'm sure! It's weird being home and yet feels like you're missing a lot of things in your life. And to think that less than two years ago in my first post, I talked about how I missed home.

 

My flight from Dulles Int'l Airport to Manila via Incheon, Korea was long and exhausting beyond description. While on the plane, I had mixed feelings. There's an immeasurable difference in the way of life in the US and in the Philippines. I wondered what it would be like. Would I feel like stranger in my home? Would things still be the same? Would I want to come back to the US? With all of these thoughts rumbling around in my head, I began to think that maybe going home at this time wasn’t such a good idea. I am adapted to American life already….better not to mess up the cycle. But I also missed home, my families and friends...

I got here in Gen. Santos last Sept. 16 after a 23-hour flight, and 36 hours without sleep. I spent my first 5 days sleeping during the day and staying awake at night. It was on my second week here that I started meeting and going out with friends to parties and other gatherings like concert, birthdays, anniversaries, fiesta, etc. It's just about a week ago that my body clock got adjusted to the new time.  

So going back to the whole experience… in less than a month I was exposed to different faces of my country. Just as soon as I got here in Gensan, the devastating trpoical storm Ondoy hit Manila and other provinces in Luzon that took many lives and left hundreds of family homeless and hungry.  In my hometown specifically, I noticed so many changes in less than 2 years that I was away. What used to be a dusty big track of vacant land where that used to be parking places for many churhgoers (including me ) is now a very nice park, the Plaza Heneral Santos. A new huge mall just opened last October 5. There are 3 big malls  in Gensan  just a block or two away from each other that traffic in that part of the city  became so bad especially during rush hours, it is so frustrating that driving is becoming an ordeal.  also I noticed that city population  have increased dramatically. Cost of everything have also gone high so fast and yet salaries and wages didn't increase that much. Price of gas is surprisingly almost the same as in the US which left some questions in my mind that I'd rather not talk about here. 

Since I got home, I played golf as much as I can because I know when I go back to the US, it would be winter and I won't be able to play until second week of April next year. I had been to white beaches in Gumasa, Glan Sarangani a couple of times. It's really beautiful there with it's white sand and gorgeous sunset. If you are looking for peace and quiet while enjoying the beach, the sun and white sand, this is the place to be...All these ALMOST COST NOTHING!!!

Just to conclude, the experience so far has been  challenging, exciting, and self realizing experience, with all the needed ingredients to call it “vacation”, where for me many things are new and different, making me feel like a foreigner or stranger in my own hometown and all these changes just taking place in less than two years.