CBS Christmas Party 2008

Mc Donald JY, Lahug - Obnoxious Queer's Photo

Mendoza's Residence - Clado's Photo

At the Pool - Clado's Photo

Awarding Ceremony - Vanjhnn's photo

CEBU BLOGGGERS SOCIETY, December 13, 2008 – The weather was fine. I grabbed my bag after work goin’ to the assembly area not minding the traffic that may hinder my minutes ride. That was my second meet up with the group since I joined CBS last October. It was past 3pm when CBS thronged inside McDonald located at JY Square, Lahug and later that time we collectively decided to proceed to the venue.

We took an enjoyable ride before reaching Mendoza’s Residence @ Jarden de Busay. Although the road of the village is steep and winding but the views of impressive and beautiful natural sceneries made us appreciate the place. It was so relaxing and you can feel freshness of the environment. Everyone got time to mingle, chat and others were busy taking some pictures. Am not that lucky because my camera was borrowed. I’m fond and taking pictures and love photography as one of my hobbies. Other members were busy sharing the work in preparing for food in the kitchen.

The party began by introducing every CBS member at the theater room. Ambiance inside the room was so joyous and euphoric especially when the creative slideshow of the Never Ending Story and the videos presented by Vanjhnn . The talents of our own CBS spokesman Kevin Ray Chua , his Inglisera lip-synching, and Obnoxious Queer's Take A Bow of Rihanna have been presented. I’ve seen Kevin's rendetion before in youtube but didn't actually knew him till I became a member of this society. Am a bisrock fanatic since the birth of the BUGS. Cheers bisrockers!

Dinner time – the food served was so delectable and mouthwatering especially the bok choy (pechay gud). I love that vegetable viand (sud’an ba). As the group having our good time for the midday meal, lights from the cities started to illuminate and brighten up the night sky contrasting the gloomy mountain on the other side. After we satiated our stomach, we proceeded to the living area for the awarding of certificates.

A recognition that was just for fun and was decided by the majority of votes (kabantay ko dihay flying voters ato…hahaha. juk). Bloggers who got most of the awards were Clado and X. If my memory serves me right, these are the awardees:

Most Promising Blogger - Beejing
Early Golden Dove Award - Kevin
Star of the Night - AJ
Couple of the Night – Jorich and Clado
Better Late Than Never - Clado
Best Food Blogger - X
Best Photo Blogger - Vanjhnn
Camwhore of the Night - X
Best Blog Layout or Design - Rodel
Controversial Entry Award - Beejing
Pose of the Year – X
Best Spammer - Jorich
Most Bisdakistic Blogger – Clado

That night, I felt the coolness of the breeze only to remind me that it’s yuletide season and the event I have attended was CEBU BLOGGERS SOCIETY Christmas Party 2008. All hail CBS!

Photos posted here were from Vanjhnn , Obnoxious Queer and Clado . Thank you guys!

Church of Hilongos, Leyte

The Facade - Hilongos Church

The Altar

Belltower

Right Side

Left Side (Old Entrance)

The Immaculate Concepcion Parish is located only across the Municipal Hall. The Church is a 17th century edifice as presented in the landmark put up by the National Historical Commission. The “cota” that encircles the church was constructed in that year to protect the church from the marauding “moros”.

Hilongos Church is a classic example of a well-preserved fort (cota) and church. Hilongos way back in 1700’s was already a parish with its neighboring towns included as its jurisdiction. In Palompon, early settlers sailed to Hilongos to attend masses every Sundays. The belfry of the 270-year old stone church in Hilongos, Leyte and the fortification of stone around the church was built to protect the early settlers from the onslaught of Moro raids. The frequent Moro raids made the Leyte churches unique, with fortification of massive coral stones.

The church in Hilongos was buit in 1737, but during the American occupation, a Katipunero, Francisco “Kikoy” Flordeliz, was forced to surrender by the US forces, but he refused. The whole town of Hilongos was burned including the church. But the ruin was masterfully renovated not to touch the original architectural make-up of the structure. The old church is still there, but an extension was built in 1960’s. The ruin of the altar was transformed into a devotional garden (dagkutanan) with statues of saints and decorated with ornamental plants and flowers.

It is quite clear that the church complex underwent major renovations over the centuries. The old entrance, formerly the main entrance to the fort, is now blocked. Area in this side now became a school (St. Therese School of Hilongos) and the old nave converted to the transept of a new church. A newer convent has been built inside the fortification that guards many of the church’s antiques including silver vessels from the 18th century. The church interior is completely new in contrast to the convent which may have been completed in the 19th century.

The bell tower build by Fr. Celis-Diaz is an independent multi-story structure, now plastered over with Portland cement. Examination of extant remains indicate that the church and the surrounding walls were built as one ensemble and is akin to 18th century construction. Some bastions and walls of the original church’s fortification still remain. A fortification surrounds the church to which an older church façade is attached suggesting that the fort was coeval to this old structure.

People of this generation treated these architectural heritage sites differently, people wanted to make the place integral to modern fortifications walls and some bastions remain. Now, effort to preserve and protect the Hilongos church is a joint undertaking of the parish and the local government unit. History-conscious Hilongosnons wanted these walls to remain untouched and preserved the church ruin. Today, only in Hilongos, where we can find a church with a fortification.

Here is my watercolor painting of our church (Immaculate Conception Parish Church, Hilongos Leyte) 22" x 17" framed.

Daplin sa Baybayon

Painting A Seascape...this is not Timoy - More free videos are here





Last week, I was searching for the printable t-shirts designs that were compiled in a box for quite sometime. As I scoured every page, my seascape painting that was done 4 years ago was unearthed. This was my first painting made since I was working in Mark David Export Services, Inc. (Hospitality Design Furniture company) and the first painting that was uploaded in my friendster and zorpia account as well.

Way back on college days, I have done a lot of paintings and lost due to negligence and misplacement. Every Architecture Week, for the sake of being different, my entries in the course of exhibit were watercolor paintings. Other paintings were gone. I just don’t know where did my brother have it after their school art display event(tsk tsk…sayang).

By now, am collecting and having my artwork framed as soon as Im done with it. This seascape painting measures 13”W x 9”H with frame.

Kalingawan

This blog was stagnant for almost a year and was activated just recently. My hobby suggested to me set my blog going. Since my artworks keep on coming and so do with my blogging. Every free time in my work, I do some sketching to pen and ink. My subjects are those I often see in my hangouts (websites, blogs, friendster, photobucket and picasa web albums). Be my friend and I’ll draw you (kidding).

Sketching sharpens an artist's ability to focus and has often been a prescribed part of artistic development for students like me. I’m still learning and eager to learn more from pro’s tips and advice. It is more artistic to see some artworks done by hand or manually than by a computer. Sketches are inexpensive and allow the artist to try out different ideas and establish a composition before committing to an expensive and time-consuming painting. Usually, I do some sketching as a guide before applying watercolor on my paper.

Common instruments in sketching and drawing include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, markers, stylus, or various metals like silverpoint. Each of these artworks only took less than an hour to finish. Am using faber- castell mechanical pencil 0.5, stabilo boss, mongol 1 and pilot G-TEC-C3 and C4 pens. Some of these can be seen in my friends’ blogs, monitor’s screensaver, friendster and other used their drawn face as an avatar or computer icon.

"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile, and it will do you a world of good." ~ Cennini, an Italian painter

Dump Truck

Watching art exhibits and reading books about paintings somehow gave me an idea in getting some subjects which are unusual in formal photography. Taking some pictures and uploading it a computer won’t bother my decision of cropping images in what subject I wanna get. Since I got my own digicam, my hand never ceases in clicking its button just to take some photos especially during weekend although some were blurry and unlikable. I’m not pro into it. Shots were taken in different angles not once nor twice but many times in different mode so that I can select the best of it – best for watercolor painting.

Tonal values in painting matters a lot. I didn’t have any formal education in this kind of messy work. We once took some basic application in color mixing during our college days but not that much since architecture cater mainly in designing. Some artists who are not used in watercolor may find it hard than painting in oil or pastel. Water is an active and complex partner in the watercolor painting process, changing both the absorbency and shape of the paper when it is wet and the outlines and appearance of the paint as it dries. The difficulty in watercolor painting is almost entirely in learning how to anticipate and leverage the behavior of water, rather than attempting to control or dominate it. Watercolor paints don’t have a high hiding power as oil and pastel, so the previous touch of the color can’t be painted over. Since paper is absorbent so the paints cannot simply be scraped off like oil paint from a canvas.

This painting which I entitled “Dump truck” 22”W x 18”H has been done and completed within 21 hours in 5 sessions since I can only paint after my days work. I used Prang watercolor and got only 3 brushes. Although nightime is not advisable because the illumination may affect the color I’ve applied, I finished it due to constraint of time . My subject, ruined by time, is still located beside the Hilongos Gymnasium and a few meters away from our Public Engineers Office (PEO). Some of the dump trucks or heavy equipments were purposely scrapped instead of keeping it rusted and only I can remember, those were my play structures during my childhood days.

Laughing Jesus

This was done in a single night after work. A friend of mine requested me to paint an image of a laughing Jesus. No verse in the bible which tells us that Jesus laughed. His laughter wasn't recorded in the Gospel but I guess Jesus Christ got some time to laugh for He was a real, flesh-and-blood human being. This image has another side to it. This may connotes a laughter of hope and joy in the face of despair in spite of poverty and injustice suffered by poor people around the world. This image of Jesus speaks of hope that the chains of oppression will be broken and we will be free to become all what we are meant to be in God's grace.

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh" (Luke 6:21).

Golden Boy vs Pacman

^^^ hindi pala natuloy ang laban na 'to? nyahahaha!



It hasn’t been an easy match to make. Both boxers must make physical sacrifices for the 66.5-kilogram (147-pound) bout, with De La Hoya dropping down to welterweight for the first time in seven years while Pacquiao bulks up to the heaviest weight of his career by far.

At any rate, observers believe the fight could easily rival the blockbuster encounter between De La Hoya and Mayweather last year which reportedly grossed $120 million, including the pay-per-view buys which generated a record $2.4 million.

If the fight earns $100 million, Pacquiao stands to get his biggest paycheck ever—estimated at $15 million.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach also said a victory would open the floodgates for even bigger fights for the Filipino icon.

The two boxers agreed to fight at a catch weight of 147 pounds and use eight-ounce gloves.

De La Hoya would be banking on his size but he will have to shed pounds and thus give up some strength to make the 147-pound weight. The 1992 Barcelona Olympic lightweight gold medalist fought heaviest at 160 lb against Felix Sturm for the WBO middleweight title.

The last time De La Hoya (39-5-0, 30 KOs) fought as a welterweight was in 2001. In his last fight, against Steve Forbes last May, he weighed in at 150 lb but entered the ring at 154 lb.

De La Hoya has won six titles in six different weight classes and has taken on practically every fighter who has donned the mythical best pound-for-pound crown.

However, he lost to the four biggest names he has encountered—Shane Mosley twice, Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins and Mayweather Jr.

Roach said speed and youth would be the weapons of Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs), who started his career at 106 lb. He has won four titles in four different categories, snatching the lightweight title from David Diaz last June.

Pacquiao will have to move up to welterweight to fight De La Hoya, a surprising weight surge for a fighter who began his career as a minimum weight boxer.

Roach has said his fighter won’t have trouble maintaining his peerless hand speed at that weight, since Pacquiao routinely puts on 4 kilos (10 pounds) or more in the 24 hours between weighing in for his bouts and actually stepping in the ring.

What is your stance on this circus?
Vote on my poll located at the left side just below the shoutbox.

HILONGOS sundown

City nightlife won’t really lure me but instead it gives me time to relax by painting some photos. Sometimes we hanged out just to break the monotony of our daily routine but not that often. After a long strenuous habit in my work, I often go home by weekend spending time with my family and recurrently visit my parents who are still residing near the sea. Albeit in just a matter of a day, my weeklong exhaustion has been soothed by the grin of my daughter (Alexandra) and a care from my loving wife (Mailyn) but it’s all worth it. Our life is not for complaint but for satisfaction. It was also relaxing taking some photos of the sunset in our place especially when the sun seemed like floating in the sea with a fire-like burning rays and reflection. Sitting in the sand, watching my daughter playing and running around and feel the placidity of the sea was so invigorating. Children playing in the shore, as the sun changed its color, somehow made me reminisced my past. I’ve been there and done that. During my elementary days, I used to draw in the shore after school till murkiness fall. Stick was my pen, the sand was my canvas and the shore was my playground. Nobody of any real culture, for instance, ever talks nowadays about the beauty of sunset. Sunsets are quite old fashioned. To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on. I used to love its beauty thus, whenever Im home, I used to stay in my parent’s house after noon waiting for the sun to sink below the horizon.

“When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator”… Mahatma Ghandi.

Nature's Fury

I have searched all my stored photos for the pictures taken late last year in front of my parents' house before it was hit by the unlikely waves just recently. I just want to compare it with the present situation. Actually, 18 years ago, fronting our house was the barangay road and the neighboring houses. And currently, my parents house is just a meters away from the shore (see picture of a window below). Although I got no pictures to show those existing residential houses before, I draw it for your visualization.




Since we’re located in a typhoon prone region, Eastern Visayas, just a low pressure that swirls off the area yields serious effects. In the early 80’s, LGU built a barrier to protect our coast from the force of waves which we locally called sea wall (breakwater).



Due to this occurrence, gradual changes are apparent along the shoreline in our place (Brgy. Pontod, Hilongos, Leyte). Houses in this area were slowly destroyed until fully eradicated by the mid 90’s.






Since nature’s wrath is irrepressible, our parents decided to relocate their house for a safer place though their source of living rely only in fishing. In point of fact, just a moderate waves during hide tide, living, dining and kitchen areas will be washed with water and sand.



Residents accused the reconstruction of our port as the main cause why our shoreline has been slowly swallowed. I won't totally agree BECAUSE in a broader sense, these changes are the result from GLOBAL WARMING due to humanity's negligence.

sakayan ni tatay

This picture was taken after a stormy weather in our place, specifically Hilongos, Leyte. Fishing boats usually conceal from the rough and wavy seas when low pressure hits the area. So I took a picture of my father’s boat that was anchored at the nearby creek just a few meters away from our house. As I uploaded all the pictures in my camera, this photo enticed me to paint it in watercolor. Thus, without hesitation, I just let my time after work to pass till I felt sleepy with this painting and made 5 sessions to complete. This artwork was added to the personal collection of my own paintings.





Medium: Watercolor
Size: 22” x 18”
Title: Sakayan

My Mother for 4 years

SR. ELIZABETH B. MERIÑo, SM

Born: March 4, 1959
Joined the Sisters of Mary: June 8, 1986
First religious Profession: May 26, 1989
Born into Eternal life: August 9, 2008

Sr. Elizabeth Meriño, SM was born on March 4, 1959 in Leyte, Philippines. On June 8, 1986, with her desire of helping the Lord in the person of the poor, she joined the Sisters of Mary which at that time was newly established by the Servant of God, Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz.
Throughout her religious life, she continuously took care of children at Boystown and Girlstown of the Sisters of Mary. She was always simple, cheerful, gentle and loving. She was always concerned with the children's welfare not just their material and physical needs but above all their spiritual improvement. Thus, she had a lot of zeal in teaching catechism even if at times, she had severe sore throat and even lost her voice. She loved teaching the last mysteries in order to prepare the children for eternal happiness. She taught not only in words but also through her hard work and her practice of virtues. Whenever she was offended, she was ready to forgive and forget the past. She also loved recruiting the children even how difficult the travel and circumstances were. She endured all with patience and joy in order to save souls. She had special concern for those who are orphans and abandoned children to the extent that sometimes she was misunderstood by others.
She always some little physical pains but it did not bother her nor complained. When she could no longer bear the pain, she informed the superior about it. Then she submitted herself to medical check-up and was found out that she needed surgery.
On October 8, 2007 she underwent operation at Doty Memorial Hospital in Seoul, Korea and was diagnosed that she had cancer and it was in an advanced stage. She accepted it with serenity and total resignation to God. Since May of 2008, she could not go out from her room anymore but she remained cheerful and even cracked jokes to those who visited her. According to her, she was like Jesus nailed to the cross. She continued praying the rosary and listening to Fr. Al's recorded religious tapes.
On June 13, 2008, on a wheelchair with dextrose, she managed to attend Mass and joined her sisters in renewing their religious vows. For the last time, she joined the sisters' breakfast and happily shared her laughter with them.
On August 8, 2008 at around 4:00 p.m., she felt difficulty in breathing. A priest administered the last sacraments and after communion, she smiled beautifully. She was looking for Mother Michaela, the superior of the Sisters of Mary, to ask permission to go to. The sisters asked where should she go. "To heaven!" she said loudly.
Finally, the following day at exactly 5:00 a.m., her breathing stopped. After a few minutes her face shone with much peace and serenity describing the joy of a faithful, a true disciple and a spouse of the Lord Jesus.
"I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. From now on, the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge will award me." (2Tim.4)