music monday: we are the world for philippines

I was all set on blogging about a particular song for today’s Music Monday, but while looking for its music video on Youtube, I came across this one. And I knew it was meant to be shared.

I know so many artists have made so many versions of the song, but this one really struck me because it was sung by Filipinos for their kababayans who were affected by Typhoon Haiyan. What’s more, the singers aren’t famous (at least, not to me) but their voices are so powerful. But best of all, the video really showed how united and strong the Filipinos are, despite being faced with practically the worst and most difficult situations ever. Thanks of course to all those who helped and are helping the survivors get on their feet to move on with their lives.

 Ang galing talaga!  Nakakaiyak sa ganda.

victims of typhoon yolanda need your help

Who hasn’t heard about the devastation that one of the most powerful storms ever recorded brought to the Philippines over the weekend? It’s practically all over the news.

image from mb.com.ph

image from inquirer.net

image from ibtimes.com

These are just a few of the pictures, but you can see and imagine how much damage Typhoon Yolanda brought, and the lives it took and affected.  And as of the time that I'm writing this post, it has been declared in the news that the death toll may reach 10,000!  So much loss in just a couple of days!

From all around the world, all sorts of help are pouring out for the Philippines. To name a few, the UAE, Saudi Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the US, Canada, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) have donated and pledged support and assistance programs and projects for the victims of the super typhoon. Even Pope Francis has asked for everyone’s prayers through his Twitter account.

The victims need all the help they can get. So if you are one of the kind-hearted souls who would like to help but don’t know how, please click on this site and/or this site which have updated lists of official groups and centers which you can contact.

No matter how small or big your assistance is, it will definitely go a long way…and I’m sure my kababayans would be eternally grateful.

Maraming salamat po.

proud of the pinoy spirit

We all know Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda hit the Philippines early yesterday and is on its way out today. It was scary, I tell you. Ok, I might not have been at the Philippines when it lashed out at the country, but watching the videos on Youtube was enough to worry me and all my Filipino friends who have loved ones back home. Who wouldn’t get worried? It’s a super typhoon and one of the strongest ones ever recorded in modern history.

I immediately called Mama to ask where she was and how they were. Fortunately, she was at my brother’s house where they were all safe and away from the centre of the tropical cyclone’s direct strike. Whew!

Our country has been facing terrible disasters lately: the PDAF scam, the recent earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu, and now this. Haaaay! But in spite of all these negative things, I’m so proud of the Filipinos’ attitude: that we don’t dwell much on the problems, and just move on as much as we can.

Truly, nothing can beat the Filipino spirit!

pinas trip: visiting papa

After a week of homesickness and missing my family, the day of my flight back to Dubai finally arrived. There was still one important thing that I hadn’t done, and I knew that if I boarded the plane without doing it, I’d be disappointed with myself.   

So Friday morning, I settled myself behind my cousin on his motorcycle, wore the helmet, and we headed off to Papa’s grave at Manila Memorial Park. He had been using the bike for several years so he easily weaved in and out of the morning traffic. The last time I had ridden a motorbike was back when we were still in Papua New Guinea, so the experience was familiar and thrilling at the same time. I wish I had my picture taken; it would have been really cool.

pinas trip: the wedding of salme & gracie

The day of Salme and Gracie’s wedding finally arrived on the 23rd of May. Naturally, I was looking forward to this event the entire week because that was the sole reason of my quick vacation to the Philippines. The wedding ceremony was held at the St. Therese of the Child Jesus Shrine and the reception at L’Aquinum Garden in Antipolo. I had no idea where or how to get to those places, but fortunately, my uncle knew. Since I didn’t know anyone at the wedding (except for the bride-to-be), I asked my cousin to go with me. Unfortunately, he got held up with something and only told me 3 hours before we were supposed to leave that he couldn’t make it. Grrrr!!! So, I had no choice but to go alone. I told my uncle that he could join me, pero nahiya sya and opted to just wait, saying bahala na lang sya kung paano nya palilipasin ang oras. Haaay!

pinas trip: pinoy movies

As promised, I’m back! Ang bilis noh? Hahaha! Ok, honestly, as soon as I published my earlier post, my fingers were itching to blog. There’s a lot of things I want to share here kasi, and if I delay it more, I might forget about them or I wouldn’t be interested to blog about them anymore because my enthusiasm for them might die down or fade. Anyway, so, here I am.

what most people go through at naia terminal 1

We all know that NAIA Terminal 1 was declared as the world’s worst airport a few months ago, but I just wanted to share the experience we had there when we left the Philippines. We didn’t have any problems with the authorities or anything, but this just goes to show what a pretty lousy system they have.

mama's washing machine

One day during our vacation...
Me: Ma, alis muna kami. May kailangan lang asikasuhin sa labasan tapos may bibilhin sa SM. May ipapabili ka?
Mama: Meron, washing machine.
Take note, the way she said was as if she was asking me to buy some soap at the supermarket.
Me: Nyek! Kulang ang pera namin para dun! Atsaka di namin yun mabibitbit pauwi.
Mama: Kasya yun. Hindi naman kailangan yung may dryer; may nakita ako na washer lang na mura.
Me: Sige, Ma, magpapadala ako sa December para makabili ka. Christmas gift ko na yun sa yo. Pero sa ngayon, wala sa budget namin.
Mama: Yehey! Ok lang. At least may maeexpect ako. Thank you!

2011 vacation

I know, this is a late post. Our vacation was 2 months ago, but it took me this long to finish this (it had been saved and edited so many times in my draft folder). I had to refresh my memory and remember some details, but finally, I’m done. Most of it will be about our journey going to the Philippines . Let's see if I get to finish the posts about the other stuff during our vacation (which reminds me, I also need to prepare a post about our experience coming back...oops!). Anyway, enough of my explaining. Here’s what happened...

mary immaculate parish

On the first Sunday of our vacation in the Philippines, Hubby and I decided to attended the evening mass with our daughter at the new church near my family’s home. Since it would be my first time to enter the church (it opened its doors early this year I think), I was very excited. Unfortunately, none of the people at our house knew what the mass timings were and there was no billboard in sight at the church grounds which mentioned this information. So, we figured that since most churches have a 6pm mass, then we would go there by 5:50pm. And of course, we guessed wrong; apparently, the first evening mass was at 7:30pm. We didn’t want to go back home and then return, so we opted to enjoy the peace of the church until the mass started. To pass away the time and since there were just a few people there, I decided to walk around and take photos of the interiors (but of course, medyo nahiya ako so I didn’t take that many and I didn’t use the flash...which explains why the pictures aren’t as clear as I wanted).

one of the stoups (holy water bowl)

unlike most churces that had icons of apostles, this one had statues of saints

a view of the opposite wing from where we were sitting

Hubby and Caila standing in front of the icons of Jesus and Mary

the Baptistery

me and Caila and the image of John baptizing Jesus at the Baptism area

the choir

the wall being used as a projector screen

the Sanctuary

For a church that isn’t yet finished, it looks nice huh? It’s not air-conditioned, but the electric fans and the big doors at the sides that brought in the cool air were sufficient. Actually, my first thought when we entered was that it would be nice for a wedding. There was a choir loft above the main doors which would be a perfect place for the videographer/photographer to take a Princess Diana shot of the bride as she walks down the aisle. And unlike the churches here in Dubai that have a Babies Room, this one didn’t (is there any church in the Philippines that does?) so we were able to enjoy the mass in a pew inside a church with our daughter...something that we haven’t done in over a year. Anyway, the mass was officiated by an Italian priest (Fr. Pablo or Fr. Paolo…I can’t remember) who I guessed has lived in the Philippines for a long time already because he could speak the local language pretty fluently, allowing him to shift easily between English and Filipino. Unfortunately, the sound system either wasn’t working properly or just wasn’t good because several times the speakers sounded sabog.

While we were singing the hymns (especially the ones in Filipino), there were times when I could feel tears pricking my eyes. It’s a bit embarrassing, but this often happens to me when I attend mass in the Philippines. I become all sentimental because of the experience. I don’t know why. I think it’s probably because the churches here in Dubai are almost always overcrowded and the mass readings and responses seem rushed, making it difficult to believe and enjoy the fact that we’re in God’s house when we attend mass; so when I do attend a peaceful and solemn mass, I really take it to heart and appreciate it. I’m emotional that way, I guess.

Add this to the fact that the priest’s homily was enlightening as well. Weird as it may be, I wished that I had a pen and piece of paper then so that I could jot down what he was saying. The theme that day was correcting others’ faults, and he mentioned that despite Italy and Philippines having the most Catholics in Europe and Asia, these countries are the most corrupt in their continents...mainly because the people are afraid to correct each other. Faced with the fear of being persecuted or disowned or killed or rejected for standing up to what is right, we usually just act like The Three Monkeys. Because we want peace and order and we hate getting involved in any arguments, we Christians prefer to keep our eyes closed and act blind, cover our ears and pretend we didn’t hear anything, and/or keep our mouths shut and don’t tell the truth. But then, this is not the way we should do things. For serious matters, you should correct a person face to face, with 2 witnesses, and in the presence of a member of the Church or Law/Government. Easy to say, difficult to do. Oh well. At least I left the church learning something.