lunch with the vera perezes

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but prior to coming to Dubai, I had worked as a Personal Assistant/Secretary for (now) Congresswoman Gina de Venecia for more than 3 years. Back then she was simply called Manay Gina, wife of Speaker JDV.

Anyway, we were fortunate to spend a Sunday lunch with her and her family during our vacation. The last time Hubby and I had seen her was at our wedding where she was one of our godparents, so I thought it would be nice to see her and for her to meet our daughter. So I sent her an SMS, to which she replied with an invitation to their ancestral home in Quezon City the following Sunday to meet up with her and the rest of her family and attend the mass before having lunch.

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.

fluffy mashed potatoes

I cannot believe it! My colleague who is a really great cook asked me for the recipe of my mashed potatoes! Wow!

You see, last Friday we prepared dinner for our German family at our place. Hubby prepared the main courses (chop suey, kilawin, pork kaldereta) while I prepared the mashed potatoes and gulaman. And since there were a few leftovers, I brought the mashed potato and kaldereta for my baon yesterday at work. Like what we do during lunch, my (female) colleagues and I taste and share each other’s food. Anyway, they all tasted my potatoes and said it was ok. And then this morning, my colleague asked me for the recipe!!! She said it’s masarap and she’s planning to cook it for her daughter. Yaaaaaaaaayyy!!!

breastfeeding, button pins and n@w

I know Breastfeeding Month is already over, but please understand that the delay of this post is because of my brother. Actually, it’s not really his fault; I just wanted to blame him. You’ll find out why soon (Hehehe. I love you, Kuya!).

darn you, caffeine!

Unless I have to stay up late, I avoid consuming anything with caffeine during the later part of the day as much as possible. This includes drinks, candy or food that are made up of colas (Pepsi, Coke), coffee, and tea. Thing is, if I have something with caffeine in it in the afternoon or evening, I guarantee you that I’ll be awake until the wee hours of the next morning. That’s how sensitive my body is to caffeine. I don’t mind, though. Except for iced tea, I never cared for the others anyway. And during the rare times that I crave for Pepsi or Coke, I make sure that the following day is a weekend or holiday so that I wouldn’t have to wake up early.

the line between your nose and mouth

image taken from Wikipedia

Do you know what the narrow line between the bottom of your nose and the tip of your lip is called? I bet if you ask an average human being, he wouldn’t know. Yes, it’s part of the face, but usually when we teach our kids the parts of the body, we usually just skip it and go from “nose” to “lips” or “mouth.”

i'm back (for now)

Despite being on a break for almost a month (as you can probably guess, we were vacationing in the Philippines), I’m in awe at the number of people who have dropped by this blog to check on any updates. It may not have fallen in the thousands like the super famous blogs out there, but I’m just happily surprised that this blog of mine is being visited by people around the world, majority of whom I probably don’t even personally know. So, THANK YOU to everyone who checked this blog out. It really means a lot to me.