House of Stone

Hidden Paradise: Mag-Aso Falls

We were supposed to leave early in the morning to go to Mag-Aso Falls. But due to the heavy rainfall the previous night until early this morning, we were having second thoughts if we will still be going or not. Also, we still have some problem on who will be driving the second vehicle. Because Manang Sha was not feeling well at that time so it will be Manong Eman who will drive the Revo. If this will be the case, not everyone will be able come. Then we were told that Manang Ome will be driving the Revo, so Manong Eman can drive his Carry. At least with this arrangement, more people could come.

The drive to our destination was a bit scary. The road is slippery, and we thought that the Carry couldn’t ‘”carry” us through the steep roads up the mountains. But thank God, we arrived there safely.

Below are some of the pictures we have taken from that place. We could have taken more if time permits us. But we stayed there for just 2 hours because we have to go leave early for our flight back to Manila.
Read more »

Sabbath at Himamaylan

We arrived a little after 9am at the church. For the second time now, we were not able to hear Gabi and Bambam sing the Victory in Jesus (the first time was during AY program and we have to be in Cuneta Astrodome for Jimer’s singing group will sing in the SAM Anniversary). So I am expecting for some serious talks from the two girls for this.

When I went inside the church, I thought that it becomes smaller. Because I have the impression that it was bigger since the last time I went there which was around more than 12 years ago. One by one familiar faces approached us, but besides the relatives and the Jucal’s, I do not remember the others.
Read more »

Hello from the City of Smiles!

Our plane landed at around 10:08am in Silay City airport.  At last! After 12 years, I stepped again on the land where I was born.

This family trip is not planned.  Well you couldn’t say technically a family trip since the girls with Rabin and nanay were already in Himamaylan since Wednesday, Jimer is in Iloilo finishing some work and I was in Manila.  Due to the demands of living a normal life, we have to give up the opportunity of traveling together and spending more vacation time.  I was able to get permission for leave of absence for today only, that’s why I was the last to leave Manila.

Uncle Asher, Auntie Diding and Manong Alpha with Brix met me at the airport.  Since I will be meeting Jimer in Bacolod, I waited for him at SM Bacolod but the problem is, we do not know when he will be finished.  So from  12 noon I wandered inside the mall, and was surprised that I’ve been familiar with its every nook and corner.  Well who wouldn’t be if you have nothing to do for almost 8 hours! Read more »

It should have been a good morning

I woke before my alarm rings and rose up immediately, skipping my habit of lying-in for a few more minutes.  I readied myself  to go to work, and thought of having my breakfast at the office instead of in the house.  We were out of the house by 6:45am and was lucky enough to catch a jeepney ride going to LRT the soonest.  Just in time, I thought because when we boarded the train, my clock says its just 7:15am, so this means that we’ll arrive early eventhough there’s a heavy traffic in Pasong Tamo.  I was thinking of having a very heavy breakfast, maybe in Jollibee, McDo or in our canteen.  Anyways, the point is, I will have my breakfast no matter where. Read more »

He Will Strengthen Me

We all have our ups and downs, trials in our life that sometimes we almost want to give in. But I myself treat this as a source of my spiritual power to strengthen my faith to Him and always hold on to His promises. Eversince, every time  I come to Him, He never fails me. Tried and tested my friends so don’t forget Him.

I want to share this words to you from Haven Today:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Scripture Focus: Isaiah 41:1-14

Who of us doesn’t need strength in this life? Many are the days in the day care center that I have in my home when I just pray I can make it to nap time and rest.

Life gets so busy for most of us. Our jobs and hectic schedules keep us on the go long before sun up and beyond sun down. We are in daily need of strength.

There are things which test us and try us, and we find that in our own strength we are unable to go on. God promises to give us that strength and to help us.

Is God challenging you with a difficult job or task? He will strengthen you for it.

Do you have ongoing health problems? His promise is for you, too.

Are you a caregiver for an elderly family member? Special strength is yours. No matter what God calls us to do, He gives strength for the task.

I worried about keeping up with the college kids on a tour to Israel, but God saw me through the long journey and carried me on His blessings each day.

Insight: God never gives us a task but that He gives us the strength to get it done.

Gone Too Soon

I had a very busy day last Friday, Jan. 30, and practically out of the house the whole day.  When I arrived in the afternoon and checked my YM, there are several offline buzzes from Len-Len Libante, one of my barkadas.  As I was replying to her, I’ve received a call from Samuel.  He told me to check if the text message he received is confirmed re another barkada, Jeannette, that something bad happened to her.  I was really shocked and could not think of anyone to confirm the message since Pot is out of the country at that time.  As I was saying my silent prayer for Jeannette, I tried to contact Mhelo,  and she confirmed that our friend passed away but the reason is still not clear since they haven’t talked with any of her (Jennette’s) family members yet.  With this, I couldn’t hold my emotions any longer and Mhelo and I were both crying over the phone remembering our friend.  We decided to meet at the church before we go to Jennette’s house for the wake.  Read more »

Happy Reunion 2008

The wedding of my cousin Alex with Ascel last December 30 has been the reason why loved ones from everywhere were able to get-together and have a what can be considered as a reunion. Highlights of the event, in my POV including pre and post wedding activities are as follows:

Dec 26 – We visited Inday Phebe and Tito Roming at the Union’s guesthouse where they arrived earlier from Seattle.

Dec 28 – Around 10am, Jimer and I went to Pier 15 to meet with Tiyo’y Jesher and Manang Fe. In the afternoon, Samuel went to the airport to meet Manong Eman and his family. They all stayed for the night at our humble house and we were able to fit a total of 12 people inside!

Dec 29 – After last minute change of arrangement, it was agreed that we will meet with Manong Jun at NPUM around 9AM. So we all get ready early in the morning and took 3 cabs to fit us all, going to NPUM. When Manong Jun arrived, it was clear that we cannot fit in his Starex if we include our baggages. It was decided that Manong Eman and his family with Jeremy will stay and wait for Manong Leslie while the rest of us went ahead, destination SSD. Here are our pictures at NPUM.

NPUM

Some pictures taken at the NPUM while waiting for Manong Jun.

21 Photos

 

Read more »

Exchange Gifts

Christmas is just around the corner and almost everyone has a reason to hold a Christmas party, may it be at school, office, church, neighborhood, etc.  Just to have an excuse to have a celebration.

One of the most important thing for this celebration is exchanging gifts, or the monita-monito.  This tradition has been around since time immemorial and in this modern technology era, it still being practiced.  However, I noticed that although the thought is still there, variations have been applied maybe due to necessity or for practical reasons.  Given the present worldwide economic crisis, you couldn’t just let go that easily of your P500 worth of gift.  So to make sure that you will be getting what you really want, most people will openly tell to everyone what he wishes to have as a gift.  In this scenario, the giver wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of looking for the “perfect gift” which we all know will mostly be not, but will come up with the gift that his monito will surely appreciate. Read more »

Spinner

Two weeks ago, when I was trying to use our washing machine’s spinner in the middle of washing our clothes, I found out that it is not working.  Since I really need to finish what I’ve started, I’ve continued with my wash using the old fashion way, wringing the water out manually.

I was able to finish my task, but later I realized that the drying part takes longer as compared to using the spinner.  The usual 1-2 hours drying took almost the whole day.  And since the weather is not that good, I have to watch out for the rain or I’ll end up redoing my wash again because it will leave a rather not nice smell on our clothes.

We discussed about replacing the washing machine since it already marked its 10th birthday this month.  But when we checked on the price of new machines, it’s too pricey.  So we thought of having the spinner repaired which costs us around P800 as compared to 4K-5K of new machine, giving us a huge savings .

Visiting Tiaong

Yesterday, Nanay, the girls and Samuel, my brother, went to Tiaong, Quezon to visit my brother’s family.  This trip has been long overdue because the girls been asking us to permit them to go to Tiaong for quite sometime now.  So after many justifications and promises, we relented.  Anyways, this tops the field trip they supposedly had last week but were not again allowed to go to because there’s not much to see on the itinerary.  At least the girls would never nag us about the field trip thing for a long, long time hopefully.