After a meeting yesterday with a client at Makati, we had dinner and some drinks with our  friends, again, at Tiendesitas at Libis. It was another great evening with the group, and Myra was with us this time around. 

Here are the pics that we took last night…
 

Marisse, Myra & Noemi

Abet, David & Me

Myra & Noemi

Marisse, Myra, Noemi & Abet

Edwin’s brother(sorry I didnt get ur name!), Edwin & David

Solo pic especially for our muse,

Marissa Yuzon

I have always had great admiration for girls, women with beautiful and powerful singing voices.  One of my good friends, Roda, sings very beautifully.  Whenever we had the opportunity, I would always request her to sing some songs, and I would just sit at one corner and simply admire her beautiful and powerful voice. 

A Filipina singer whose voice I have always loved is Lea Salonga.  Lea Salonga began her career at 7, and has gone a long way since then.   She became a singer,  an actress, and became known internationally when she played Kim in the musical Ms. Saigon.

               

                                           4th Grade Lea      Lea at Carnegie Hall Nov.7/2005

                                           photos taken from Lea’s photo gallery & Broadway World

 Here are a couple of Lea’s songs that I love, Rainbow Connection she sang when she was a little girl, and Colors of the Wind for the Pocahontas movie

Just recently, while browsing on the internet, I discovered another budding diva by the name Charice Pempengco.  She’s like fourteen or fifteen years old and her voice, OMG her voice is so amazing!  I listened and watched her videos again and again on YouTube and each time found myself so awed by her powerful voice and amazing stage performance!  Her recent guest appearance at the Ellen Degeneres Show just made me feel so proud of being a Filipina!   I really believe this girl, just like Lea Salonga, will go a long, long way.  Let’s all hope that more Filipino children would come out of their shells and show the world how talented the Filipinos are!

What is stress? Meriam-webster dictionary defines stress as a physical,  chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation. Meaning, stress is anything that causes physical or mental tension that may also be the cause of diseases.

Stress in itself isn’t really harmful. Stress has physical and emotional effects that can create positive or negative emotions. On the positive level, stress can help compel us to action. Everyone needs challenges in life and things that motivate them to do something better. However, too much of stress can become harmful. It can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which may cause certain health problems like headaches, upset stomach , rashes, insomnia, ulcers, etc. At times, it can even lead to depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, which are more serious physical conditions.

Stressful experiences are usually those when someone close or important passes away , heartbreaks , separation, family problems, work problems, financial problems, and so forth and so on. Long-term illnesses and diseases may also be causes of stress. Preparation for events such as weddings and parties, work deadlines, moving house also cause stress. 

So how can one determine his/her stress condition? There’s a little stress test which I took myself to determine my condition of stress. You can take this test from Stress Test to determine your own condition of stress.

Stress Management , on the other hand, teaches us the following tips that may help us to manage our stress better:

1. Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physical reactions - Determine what events distress you, and how your body responds to stress.

2. Recognize what you can change - change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely, reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis), shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises), devote the time and energy necessary to making a change (goal setting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful here)

3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress - the stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger…physical danger and/or emotional danger. Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you.

4. Learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress - Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal, relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension, medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical reactions. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term solution.

5. Build your physical reserves - Exercise, eat well-balanced, nutritious meals and maintain your ideal weight. Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants. Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when you can. Get enough sleep and be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.

6. Maintain your emotional reserves - Develop some mutually supportive friendships/relationships. Expect some frustrations, failures, and sorrows. Always be kind and gentle with yourself — be a friend to yourself.

We all go through stress at a certain point in our lives. This is the reason why we all need to learn how to cope with stress. With proper stress management, we learn to balance various aspects in our life, our work, our relationships and our day-to-day activities. If we are all able to effectively manage our stress, life would probably be more of a challenge rather than a series of irritation, health problems, and misery. There’s nothing better than having control of our own lives, even in the face of setbacks!

Our life is like a rollercoaster. So many things happen every moment of our lives. Things and events that keep our minds busy all day long. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad. Sometimes they make us happy and other times they are things that make us upset. Little do we realize that we rarely get the chance to stop and think about the people who are always there for us throughout all these events… people who truly care for us. People who seem to become invisible to us… to become just a part of everything around us, and almost always would walk in and out of our daily lives unnoticed.

Today, I am taking this opportunity to thank these special people who truly care about us, about how we are, how we’re doing, how things are coming along in our lives. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to them who are always around, near or far, even when we don’t notice, they are always there for us. This thread is just for you. I would like you all to know that even when we are busy with all the activities each day of our lives, we never forget all that you do for us. We are truly grateful and we want you to know that we truly care for you, too. We wish for the best for all of you… and pray for you everyday of our lives!

 Gayle & David Sr.

Thank You for always listening, always hearing my prayers…

Thank You for always giving me the answers…

Thank You for always being around!

Thank You for being in our lives!

 Prayer to the Holy Spirit

“You who made me see everything and showed me the way to reach my ideals. You who gave me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me, and You who are in all instances of my life with me, I thank You for everything and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from You, no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with You and my loved ones in Your perpetual glory. Thank You for Your love towards me and my loved ones. Amen.”

Ever heard of websnapr.com?  It lets you get a screenshot of a webpage of any website you’d like to view even before you actually visit or view the website.  Websnapr also HIDES your own IP address from the owner of the website that you view.  So if you find Websnapr’s IP address constantly on your website, it actually means someone is constantly viewing, getting contents from, or probably enjoying your website without even actually visiting your site.  Amazing huh!

Congratulations on your achievement at school.  We know that you did your best to achieve what you have achieved this quarter, and we want you to know that we are very, very proud of you!  Remember that we will always be here to guide and support you for as long as we live.. and we will be proud of every accomplishment you make every step of the way!  Keep up this good work! love, Daddy & Mama

Tristan Angelo’s 2nd quarter report card

NOTE DAME OF GREATER MANILA