Anjun's 1st Holy Communion

03 December 2009. "I will always keep your name in my heart as I receive Jesus, the Living Bread." It is Anjun's First Holy Communion at the Presentation of the Child Jesus Parish at BF Homes, Paranaque City.
Both Pia and me took a leave from our office work to witness said momentous event for Anjun. Jun2 who had his First Holy Communion at the same church in December 2008 was also there as a member of the school’s choir.
We took turns in pinning the crucifix to Anjun.
After the mass, all the First Communicants gathered at the altar for a chorus song.
The next stop was Zong, a Chinese restaurant at Filinvest Alabang.

A Night of Glamour & Fame

18 Oct 2009 @ Makati. It was a night of glamour and fame as we joined the celebration of the 18th birthday of Lorie De Leon, the favorite and the only daughter of very good friends Wig & Rose. The party used Hollywood as the theme complete with red carpet at the entrance. Jun came in as the debonaire New Yorker Richard Gere in the film Runaway Bride; Pia as Zsazsa Gabor; Anjun as Macaulay Culkin of Home Alone; and Patrese as the sweet Jessica Alba.

Blessing of Our Place @ Highlands

We took advantage of the long weekend last week (August 29-31, 2009) to have our place at Tagaytay Highlands blessed. Pia woke up early to prepare some food and the house for the blessing.
The Priest arrived past 12 noon for the blessing. In his homily, he emphasized the significance of a house blessing -- which is, the welcoming of Jesus Christ as part and center of our home and of our family life rather than casting out evil spirits.
We were joined by Jem and Madz and their partners, my officemates; DJ, Mary, Vangie and Jo Altura, my friends from my previous employer; Maxime, classmate of Patrese; and Brother Wig and Sister Rose, and shared lechon kawali, shrimps, fried chicken, beef kaldereta, pansit, grilled talakitok, vegetable laing, macaroni salad, and leche plan.

Sabang Trip na Trip!!!

I’m Jun2 . . . and I’m Anjun.We are the twins. Most people would always mistake us as twin brothers -- but not really, we are 11 months apart. Please join us as we travel to our farmhouse at Sabang, Sta. Cruz, Zambales.

During long weekends, school break, Holy Week and/or summer vacations – our biyaheng trip na trip is our Sabang farmhouse. But Daddy would always call it as “Sabang Bahay Ang Aming Bati”.

Our Sabang farmhouse was built in April 2007. According to Dad, it is a replica of their old house – a wooden house with a balcony and big windows adored with capiz shells. It is a studio type house without any room except for a bathroom which also serves as our dressing room. Since it is located in the middle of a farmland, we can sleep sans any aircon or electric fan – we simply open the capiz windows. Adjacent to the farmhouse is a dining room and kitchen. Daddy bought a swimming pool where we refresh the usual summer heat. Our humble abode withstood the wrath of typhoon Cosme in May 2008 – our grateful thanks to the Almighty God!

When Daddy is at Sabang, his former classmates and friends would visit him.It served as the headquarters of SCABEST when they conducted relief operations to help the victims of typhoon Cosme. When Lolo Pitong & Lola Pining arrived from the US, they fell in love with the farmhouse and stayed there everyday. In fact Lolo Pitong, a farmer at heart, planted several vegetables around the farmhouse such as pechay, okra, ampalaya, camote, eggplant including patola. Also, Tito Bingboy, Tita Ely and Mariel stayed at the farmhouse when they had a short vacation last March. Our cousins from Naga City, Ate Owz and Ate Geelyn together with Tito Boyet and Tita Lynette stayed at the farmhouse when they spent their Holy Week at Sta Cruz.
At Sabang farmhouse, we get to harness our baseball skills. Daddy bought us baseball gloves, bat and balls. From 4 PM until sundown, Tito Henry would serve as our pitcher while Daddy as the outfielder to catch our flying balls or watch helplessly our homerun hits.

After baseball, Daddy brought out his old “tirador”. He taught us how to “aim-and-shot” milk cans using tirador. As an expert during his boyhood years, Daddy would teach us the right positioning of our feet and hands and his secret “tirador” techniques for a better aim.
We do not run out of activities at the farmhouse. There are times when we go to the seashore early morning to savor sea breeze, and then play catch ball with our Wilson football ball. We also have our bikes and play in the dirt road; or catch “tutubing kalabaw” and “tutubing karayom” which Daddy termed as “mangalintuturay”. Tito Henry would walk us inside his piggery and tell us some fascinating and interesting stuff about pigs – and it feels like we are inside the Discovery Channel. We also go to the Guinipang Park at the town and have merienda at Welieden’s Bakery with its Spanish bread, famous pan de coco and ice cold Coke.
Nothing beats the real thing!