Last year, on David’s birthday, we went around the Timog area, looking for a place to celebrate the evening.  Since I wasn’t very familiar with the joints around Timog, my sister Rai suggested we go to the Off-the-grill bar, where there’s a live band that played every night.  When we got there,  the place was full.  We had to wait for a table to be vacated.  So we decided to look around for another bar in the area

The Xaymaca bar along Timog Ave. is almost right next to the Off-the-Grill bar.  We could hear a band playing, and we were wondering who the band was.  We happened to see a fellow who was locking the door of his car parked right in front of the Xymaca bar.  We asked him who was playing inside.  He said “It’s Bob Marley”.    Really!?!

We entered the bar, and the place was also jam-packed.  Everyone was standing and there were no vacant tables.  We were both eager to see “Bob Marley”

….Bob Marley?  hahaha…nope, it wasn’t.  The music was Bob Marley reggae, alright.  But guess who it was?   The Brownman Revival Band!  OMG!  I love their music!  Their songs Binibini, Ikaw lang ang aking Mahal, Lintik…. and more! 

Brownman Revival is a Filipino reggae band that started in late 1994.  It was founded by Dennis and Dino Concepcion. The group draws heavily from the music of UB40, Big Mountain, and of course, Bob Marley.

 Here are a few pictures we took last year…

David never forgot that band.  He loved their music too!  So last night, he wanted to see them again.  He checked out their schedules on their website and the show was to start at 10:30pm.  This time, we arrived early at the Xaymaca bar, about 10:20pm.   Not much customers around yet, but according to the waiters, all the tables in front of the stage had been reserved already.  We had no choice but to stay at the back side of the joint.  Fortunately for us, the Brownman Revival group’s table was right next to our table too.  David got the chance to talk to the lead singer, Dino, and some of the other band members, Dennis, the drummer and Ambet, the trumpet player.  They were all very nice and friendly.

So here are the pictures we took last night…

      David & Dino (Lead Vocals)

                                                                        David & Dennis (the drummer)
 
 

And their music… they were amazing!  David really appreciated and enjoyed their singing and we stayed on till the show was over.  And the 2 waiters who assisted us all night at the Xaymaca bar….  you were very very accomodating and very helpful…. Thank you! 

And here’s a little collection of some of my favorite reggae music by the Brownman Revival Band.  Hope you all enjoy listening!

(Just click the PLAY button & start the reggae music playing!)

David’s dad recently took a business trip to New Mexico.  New Mexico is a state in the southwestern region of the United States of America.   The climate of this state is highly arid and its territory is mostly covered by mountains and desert.

He sent me some interesting photos that I would also like to share to everyone…

These are called Mesas.  They are like flat-topped mountains.   I read that Mesas were formed by the process of erosion.  The top of the mesas used to be a large flat surface, with no valleys.   Valleys were created when the rivers continuously eroded the plateau. 

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This is a windmill.    According to David’s dad, the cattle ranchers, not having access to piped water, dig wells on their property.   The windwill has a pump, operated by wind that pumps water from the well to a cistern so the cattle will have something to drink.

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This is the Santa Ana Pueblo, a 60,000 acre tract of land owned by the Santa Ana Indians, just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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This is the Sandia Mountains, the tallest peak in New Mexico.    “Sandia” means watermelon in Spanish (”pakwan” in Filipino).   One of the most enjoyable features of the Sandias are the glowing watermelon colors these mountains display during sunset.

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….And this is the desert

I would like to thank David’s dad for these pictures… it’s really fascinating to have a peek of what’s there beyond the borders of the Philippine islands..

Everyone’s interested to read about the Pinay Scandal. What’s in it with this issue? Is this how the world wants to look at us Filipinas? It’s really disgusting. I mean, being a Pinay myself, I would rather that the world would search for us with keywords like “The beautiful Filipina”, or “the admirable qualities of the Filipina”, or just anything that would describe us Filipinas as the kind of women the whole world would emulate. Sana naman yung magagandang qualities about the Filipinas ang unang maiisip hanapin ng tao, diba?

I just read a blog that says “Pinay Scandal is one of the most searched keywords of web surfing Filipinos” So this means Pinoys mismo are the ones searching for these scandals in our country? Isn’t that so disappointing? Aren’t we the supposed to be first ones to look at ourselves as respectable people? How much more can we expect the world to see us if our own kababayans themselves view the Filipinas this way? Even worse, when I tried to google for the said keywords, number 1 on the list is a real pornographic Pinay scandal site! Kakapanghina ng loob, diba?

Hay nako! It’s just a bit frustrating. I have a daughter, who’s now a teenager. She’s actually growing up and turning into a responsible, very reserved and admirable young lady. I’m really proud of her. I’m hoping she will remain this way, or even become better as she matures. It would really be a wonderful thought that if ever she decided to travel abroad, she would be immediately, and, I mean instantly, given that respect a Filipina really deserves…because hey there, World, the real Filipina is definitely not all about that Pinay Scandal you’re searching for on the internet, ok!

Pinay ito noh!

God so loved us that He created us in His own image and likeness, superior above all His other creations!

Whenever I look at everything around me, I always think about how fortunate I am not to be created as an animal that can’t speak for himself, as an insect that’s easily stepped on and killed by the human beings, or as a plant that doesn’t have the liberty to move its arms and legs like we do. These are simple facts that make me realize how fortunate I am that God loved me enough to create me as a human being.

There are instances in my life when I question the things that happen around me. When problems arise, I begin to feel some anxiety within me. But then, when I go back to the basic reality that we are God’s creations, and that loves us too much that He even gave up His only Son for us, I have to ACCEPT that He will never allow anyone of us to go astray. If God provides for the birds and the bees, the trees and the wild animals to survive, how much more can He do for us, the human beings that he created in His own image and likeness? All we need to do is to TRUST in Him, SUBMIT ourselves to Him completely.

Yes, God gave us the power to think and to discern, and the power to decide. But whatever we cannot do beyond the things that He has already given to us, whatever is beyond our human control, those are the things we lift up to Him. Trust Him, let Him do the rest.

At this point of my life, I have placed my complete trust in God. Yes, I do get scared sometimes. There are even moments when I let my human emotions overpower me. I am only human. God gave me these feelings. But when I feel afraid, when I feel that no matter what I do, everything is beyond my control, when I am uncertain, I pray. I talk to Him. I may not be able to see Him, but I trust that He is listening to me all the time. He listens, no matter what an undeserving human being I am. I have proven this time and time again, over and over again in my life.

God listens. God hears us. He answers prayers, if they are good for us. If they are not for us, they just won’t happen. All we need to do is understand, and to accept. We are only His creations. We don’t dictate what we want and demand them to happen. We let God have the last word in our life, for He gave it to us.

This is a prayer I would like to share to all. It’s a prayer that I live everyday of my life with. It’s a prayer that calms my fears, comforts my pain and eases the burdens that come upon me every now and then. It’s a prayer that makes each moment of life worth living..

My daughters just got their hands on the camera and picture-taking was uncontrollable! I collected the silly candid pictures the two girls took of themselves just to show off to the whole wide world…

ANGELA & ANGELEE

Sunday was another busy, but very memorable day for us.  We woke up at 4am, packed our clothes and food and waited till Mom called us up to get ready to leave.  At exactly 6am, we were on our way. 

Our first destination was at the Mt. Samat Shrine at Bataan. 

This was the shrine built to honour the memory of the soldiers that fought for our freedom during the World War II. 

Bataan was the place where the fight between American-Filipino forces and the invading Japanese forces occurred.   It was on April 9, 1942 when the Bataan defenders surrendered to the Japanese. About 70,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers were captured.
The big cross, which is called the Dambana ng Kagitingan  atop Mt. Samat in Pilar, Bataan was built in 1966 in memory of the soldiers who died during the World War II.
Our next destination was at the Zoobic Safari, at Subic Bay.
This is one of the latest tourist attractions at Subic.  It’s a jungle located and built on the site of the former US Naval Magazine. 
Upon entering the Zoobic Safari, we were required to pay 395 pesos per head for admission.  We were assigned to a group, with a tour guide who took us through the entire place.

Zoobic Tour began at the Petting Zoo, which starts behind the Zoobic entrance. It is a path through the forest with different kinds of animals, a lot of which I’ve never seen before. There were pigs, birds, monkeys, deer, camels, miniature horses, sheep, porcupines, ostriches, white buffalos, and so many more!

Then it was the Tiger Safari time.  This is probably the highlight of the Zoobic Safari.

We boarded a jeep that had fences on both sides, in order to protect us from the tigers that moved around freely in the jungle.  We were offered to purchase some chickens to feed the tigers upon reaching the jungle.  
Inside the jeepney, we were with the driver, and another person who handed the chickens to the tigers.

As we drove around the jungle, there were tigers were lying under some trees.  The person who was in charge of the chickens, who happened to be sitting right beside Tahir and my Mom, then tied the chicken to a rope and tossed it onto the ground outside the jeepney.   One tiger ran for the chicken, and the man pulled the rope till the chicken was right at the window of the jeepney… I was so terrified!   Tahir took a few shots up close of the tiger while actually gnawing on the chicken right at the window of the jeepney.

We drove further around the jungle and other tigers were fed exactly the same way and each time, I worried that big cat would actually get through the fences of the jeepney we were in.   Boy, you’ll never know how relieved I was when all the chickens were finally eaten up!

After that thrilling adventure, it was time for an Ocean Adventure! 

Admission fee was 450 pesos per person.  It was way past noontime, we missed the dolphin show.  But there was another show to look forward to.  This was the Sea Lion show.

The sea lion show was a cute exhibition of 2 sea lions, who seemed to be so smart!  They were with two trainers who each had a sea lion they work with.  A girl was chosen out of the audience and was kissed by the sea lion. 

These sea lions are actually South American Sea Lions and they also perform in the Nautilus Theatre. The show was fun and enjoyable, and the trainers had some little lessons about how to take care of the environment.

Well, after that trip, we were all bushed.  It was time to get some rest. 

We proceeded to the Canoe Beach Resort at Pundakit, San Antonio, Zambales.  It was a beautiful, quiet and peaceful resort.  We rented 2 air conditioned rooms, at 1,300.00 pesos for each room.  There were little huts around the place were we could eat, relax and simply enjoy the place.  Food was affordable, and the staff of the Café Pundakit, who served our food were all nice and accommodating.  David and I intend to come back again sometime so the kids could experience the great time we had at the beach.

By 2pm Monday, we were on our way.  We passed by my mom’s hometown, Bacolor, Pampanga and stopped at the historic San Guillermo Church.
This is one of the one of the oldest, largest, and most beautiful churches in Pampanga.  More than half of the church was buried under tons of volcanic debris when Mt. Pinatubo volcano erupted in 1991.  What’s left of the church were the top portions of the windows which I was able to take some pictures of.  We walked around the church, and the museum at the left wing of the church.    
 
After that, we were finally on our way home.  We stopped by SM Pampanga for an early dinner, and of course, David had his ever favourite Triple cheese burger from Wendy’s restaurant.

It was a memorable experience.  A first for David outside Metro Manila, and I’m really glad he had a great time.

Here’s that little movie I made with all the pictures I took of this trip…

Just click the PLAY button to watch the slideshow!  ENJOY!

That’s all folks! See you tomorrow!