My First Mass for '09

i had the time of my life when i wen to the Sto. Nino Basilica to hear mass. The novena is said each day until Sunday whne the big feast will happen and thousands upon thousans flock at the basilica to say their prayers and pay homage to the Sto Nino. It was a sight seeing all the devotees of all ages waving their hands to the Holy Child. It has been a long time since i have heard mass and I am glad I did. Somehow, my feet carried me to Colon and down the Basilica without any plans at all of going there.

And i took pics!

Sidetrip in Dumaguete

On my way back to Cebu, I had a little spare time to roam inside Silliman University, walk along Kagwasan Avenue, pray inside the Dumaguete's centuries-old stone church, and wander aimlessly around the city streets. Though I always pass by the city evrytime I go home, I never had the chance til last weekend to really immerse myself in the crowd (again)of the ever gentle Dumageuetenos. Indeed, the city has come along way since I last studied there - hmmm circa 2000, haha. more traffic, more stores, more bars, more booze lying around the boulevard, more foreigners and more people rushing to and fro. It wasn't as busy as it used to be and I love more the way it was before.Hmmm, but that didnt stop me from taking my precious time and enjoying it with the sights and sounds of the city.

I just love Dumaguete...except the weird NORECO posts that are literally on the street already. hahah...







ALIENS BAI
and then there came the omnipresent Koreans who are slowly invading the country - they're just everywhere. Next thing we'll hear they are also in Sulu studying at the Notre Dame of Jolo...LOL...well, this group of the arirang race does look somewhat lost..



I also was able to take, well, better photos than what i have above..LOL.. and of me at the Silliman University Library.












Meeting the Original Punk
....but nothing could prepare me to see Krissie's dad like this ----- which led me to ask, didn't the Dumaguete punks know that Ninoy was the original punk?...tsk tsk...

THE CROWN OF CEBU

Cebu's tallest building is also its tallest Christmas tree. The Crown Regency hotel and Suites boasts of its flickering neon lights that runs up and down and around its sides that anyone who'd manage to glance up would notice the towering edifice at night. It is flamboyant and ostentatious, as if telling anyone who glances the building in envy, 'Your month's electricity bill is worth our day's use for the lights alone". But yes, it is a sight at night and people waiting for jeepneys would strike a pose just about anywhere along Jones with the landmark as background.

I have also watched more than week ago in a local TV Show the Edge Coaster on the top of the skyscraper. The coaster ride goes around the edge of the topmost part of the building - probably the roofdeck. Surely, the view must be fantastic from there during sunset and at night - the whole of cebu in 360 degrees. Hmmmm, i saw the ad of the ride and it said it costs P800 per person which already includes a buffet dinner. I'm not sure however if the ride is the freebie or the food is...tsk tsk...

I have been telling friends about it and everyone is suddenly all interested. I told them how much it costs. They never spoke about the ride since.

BLUE CHRISTMAS

for the second year in a row, i will be celebrating christmas alone in cebu..

last year, i prepared food and had some friends come over to my place where we ate noche buena. it wasnt much and the party didnt really take long, hehehe. the food didn't require much preparation. just some items i had picked up earlier that day from monterey - embutido that didn't need cooking, bola-bola and lumpia ( i only know prito ...hahah). my friends came with some food too. the day wan't as merry but it was more than i could have hoped for...when they went home before midnight, i slept...

this year, it's worse i guess. the friends who came over last year are not around anymore. most have gone home to their places and some i barely bump into because we work for different companies already. I will be greeting Christmas alone in my room. :(

i was also used to receiving gifts back home before. not really the expensive ones. just the clutter-bound things that are wrapped neatly with Christmas wrappers. this year, i haven't received a single one just yet. the kris kringle we had at the office doesn't count since it is obligatory.

so to anyone out there, who reads this...can u spare me a nicely wrapped present?..please?...sob sob

( the photos are taken at twilight. looking at the lone star hanging on a tree, makes me miss home...i miss home terribly... tsk)

SAYONG BUNTAG

photos taken just before sunrise...

KRISMAS NA SA SUGBO...

well, we're down to the last 28 days of 2008 and its another year again. i am not that giddy of the whole new year thing, i noticed. i have become less hopeful about my future, not to mention the future of this country. i am still glad though that there is that part of me who tries to hang on to that little spark of hope. maybe because i still wanna live. Ergo, i struggle to survive. i'm still keeping that teeny weeny hope under my sleeves. life hasn't been all that bad to me and i have more than a handful of lessons that i learned this year. but yes, i am the most forgetful person so i surely couldn't remember all of them. and since this isn't really a blog about lessons, i will spare you from that harangue.

it's christmas...hmmm almost. i am sad that the only carols i hear in Cebu so far are those of the out-of-school youth that hijacks jeepneys and sing their piece of 'Pasko na Naman' which would put you in shame if you give just a peso. Their songs literally demands 5 pesos. It's funny that everytime they jump on a jeepney and sing their carol, everyone inside the vehicle has something very important to do - checking their phones,texting, fixing their hair, changing the songs on their ipods and some just pretend to doze off or just stare blankly out of the window. Dedma. Well, i am one of them when i don't have a penny to spare. hahaha...I miss the carols on the radio that wakes me up at dawn when Christmas day is fast approaching. Especially the Max Surban song about the Krismas Tree... I might just have to visit the mall to hear it if that's even played there...ts tsk...

and so the jeepney speeds through jones avenue and approaches Fuente Osmena...it's Max Surban's giant Xmas tree you'll see.

the giant Xmas tree was lighted on the first day of December. fireworks and all, the hoopla gathered people inside the Circle and caused a humongous traffic. I took a few photos. it's hard getting photos using the cam i'm using because it's nighttime and the tree is a bit far from where i was doing the clicking. While taking the photos, some professional photographers not so far away were flashing their Nikons and Canons - professional cameras with all the lengthy accessories. My camera paled in comparison and retreated back to my pocket. I swore I will have that cam one day. Hehehe....

PASSERBY - ala lang, labay lang

Passing by the Sto. Nino Basilica, the Magellan's Cross, the Cebu City Hall and Fort Santiago, I took some snapshots again. i liked most the photos of the two old ladies selling candles. i felt a tug in my heart seeing them there under the heat of the sun working to the bone when their bodies are too old for it. . But then again, i was glad they're not one you see begging for pennies. Oprah should give them a vacation in that Tucson, Arizona Spa featured in one her show episodes where she gave some 50 women a treat of a lifetime for being such formidable forces in another person's life. Well, she ain't seen our ladies at the Sto Nino church. Somebody should write Oprah real quick...








and yes, i was only passing by all of them...LOL...

TULAY ni KA MARCELO

(Sidenote: Remember how Cebuanos are so lazy to pronounce the letter L so that balay is pronounces as ba'ay, wala as wa, batikolon as batikon and so on? The list is endless but Cebuanos never fail to pronounce the word TULAY as it is...hmmmm? what possibly could it mean?)

In a truly unplanned trip, i and three other friends - Nanoi, Diane and Eric - went to the Marcelo Fernan Bridge. It was not some big trip idea but that which randomly pops up and beats your ass to keep that feet moving instantly.







It was my first time to be under such humongous bridge and be on top of it. There is a nice small park under the bridge which i noticed is pretty popular hangout of lovebirds. we did a little videoke in a small sari-sari store where diane belted almost all Regine songs effortlessly. when dark cam, it was time to go. But not until we have crossed the bridge from Mactan island to Cebu. Yes, we walked across the bridge and took pics along the way. It was a such an experience. i probably won't be able to do that again. the Cebu city nightscape is breathtaking.

i was tired. but it was worth each sweat.

As i learned, the bridge was named after former Senate President and Supreme Court Justice Marcelo Fernan - a true-blue Sugbuanon and the only Filipino to date who has the distinction of having occupied the highest positions of two separate branches in the government. the bridge was opened in August 1999 and is 1237 meters (4058.40 feet) in length and is 185 meters (606.96 feet) high at its center. Thanks go the bridge, traveling to Mactan is not so much a hassle.Well, the fare still is...tsk tsk..