RIZAL DAY IN DAVAO CITY

It’s holiday in the Philippines. Today, December 30 marks the 113th death anniversary of Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal and Davao City also commemorated the event. We brought the children to Rizal Park this morning to at least inculcate in them some sense of nationalism. We were again late, the wreath laying was at 7:00 AM and we arrive an hour after. This is the statue of Jose P. Rizal here in Rizal Park in Davao City.

I OWN THE GROCERY STORE TODAY!

When I went to the grocery store today, I was really happy to see these parked carts, meaning the feeling would be like I own the whole grocery store today! No long lines, more time to spend reading on the labels and more space checking on some new stuff on the shelf.

AFTER CHRISTMAS COMFORT FOOD

After my holiday indulgence, after I devoured countless calories from partying here and there, this is where I find comfort – ‘Tinolong Isda.’

To have a more umami-sh ‘tinola’ try using 1 big red tomato, boil it together with ginger, onion and salt, just when the tomato begun to break up, put in the fish … I prefer ‘maya-maya’ fish every time I cook tinola, lower the fire to prevent the fish from breaking-up, simmer for at least five to seven minutes then turn off the fire, put in some leaves of your choice you can use Malungay (moringa olifera) or camote tops you can even use pechay, then sip the soup to your heart’s delight.

So, for tonight’s dinner tinolang ‘maya-maya’.

Thank you for dropping by, see you again for another experience in this side of town.

A BLESSED MERRY CHRISTMAS

TO ALL MY LOYAL READERS,
A PEACEFUL AND BLESSED MERRY CHRISTMAS FILLED WITH LOVE TO ALL.

With love from my family

ARE CUSTOMERS ALWAYS RIGHT?

In seasons like this where everybody is rushing to and fro, and that everyone is at its adrenalin peak one should expect
anything to happen.

Take this situation yesterday, I was at the 25th on the queue to pay my stuff at a convenience store when I heard a commotion at the cashier’s counter. The line has not been moving since the commotion so I ask the lady in front of me what happened.

Apparently, a customer wants to change the item she had bought and had done this so for three times already, so the saleslady refused to since it’s already the third time and it’s against the store’s policy. But the customer insisted on having her item changed and that started the commotion.

My heart also goes for the saleslady who got pestered by this lady, but in situations like this, are customers who changed her mind often really right?

I do not know what happened then after they went inside the store’s office, when I approach the counter I saw this framed subdued picture of Mahatma Gandhi at the back of the cashier with these writings;

A customer is the most important visitor in our premises;
He is not dependent on us; we are dependent on him/her;
He is not an interruption on our work,
He is the purpose of it,
He is not an outsider on our business,
He is a part of it.
We are not doing him/her a favor by serving him/her;
S/he is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.

I wonder what it feels like in a liminal position, to adhere to this Gandhi principle or to garrote this out if this world customer. You choose!

Thanks for reading and see you again for another experience in this side of town.

GOT A NEW SKIN!

After three winkless hours, finally I did it. Can you spot the difference? I change my blog skin. Heheheh!

I’ve been in a look-out lately for simple, very simple, elegant, professional looking yet very functional template and finally I found what I wanted. My earnest thanks to Blogger Templates Blog for this free template.

Please check again for new stuff it's coming right up, just too sleepy for now, I have to put some lubricant on my eyes it got sored.

See you again for another experience in this side of town.

HUNTING BARGAINS?

Paying respect to the efforts of these malls that stayed up late every weekend and doing eternally endless sale this Christmas season, I went out yesterday to this fave mall of mine to do also some bargain hunting.

On normal days from our house to Gaisano Mall it’s just a ten-minute ride, but yesterday it took me an hour to finally reach the last of the line at the mall’s entrance. The traffic was crazy. As I get inside the mall, the more I got dizzy people were like brood of chicken plying at different directions. My bargain hunting ended up sipping coffee, watching people at an in-house coffee shop.

Restless people

Oh! I just pity the saleslady

I have not done people watching for quite a while, uncomely as it may seem but this situation has brought me to another very fulfilling experience. I chronicled my people watching stint and will post it later.

Thanks for checking new stuff in this side of town.

EXCHANGING GIFTS

I have been involved with contests around this blogosphere lately and one of them is Travelin’ With Marie’s ‘The 25 Days of Christmas Holiday Contest’.



This is suppose to be the first task I should have done for this contest but I’ve been so full these past days that beating off the deadline to get 2 entries for this post is my first hour blogging job today. So here we go,

I grow up with Seventh Day Adventist people around me and Christmas is not a highlighted event in the lives of these people, but we have extremely fun celebrations during New Years.

But when I got married and have kids myself, it has already been a family tradition to have kris kringle, kids as they are, really love exchanging gifts and a must-awaited event during the holidays in our family, that eventually even the olds cannot resist the fun and join.

There are more practices other than this that a Filipino family is into during Christmas, but this is where I see the eyes of the children sparkle more.

This Christmas would be another expression of this family tradition of ours.

My heartfelt greetings of peace and prosperity this Christmas to Travelin’ With Marie and her family. Good luck to me, wishing to get the first prize.

Thank you for taking time to read and see you again for another experience in this side of town.

Wishing to get these stuff free? Join this contest.

Prizes and Sponsors.

PARIS BAGUETTE NOW IN DAVAO CITY?

I was waiting for something good to happen the other day along Monteverde St., here in Davao City when a delivery van passed by my face, the writings on the side caught me, see this photo;


I was euphoric inside me thinking … oh my god, another international food chain has come to Davao and this will be another indulging experience for sweet tooth like me.

But let me just give you some backgrounder why I was so elated seeing this van.

Paris Baguette has always been a topic when this Korea-based friend of mine will come over for a vacation. She’s also as sinful as me when it comes to food. Paris-Croissant Food Company (the company behind Paris Baguette) is a South Korean food company, headquartered in Seongnam and their specialty include french classic bread and confectionary products.

This is one of the outlets of Paris Baguette in Seoul, South Korea.
Photo courtesy of www.wikipedia.org

So there, that explains my excitement, but bewildered as I read more …. Meat da Best.

I’m no SOCO but just a curious human being wanted to solve this mystery why the writings on the van. So asking around was my next move, until yesterday we drove to Victoria Plaza passing by Obrero and this meat shop ended the mystery.

Meat da Best meat shop along Porras St., Obrero

So strapping things up showed that these vans were actually ‘chop-chop’ imports from SKorea, and the meat shop owner had acquired this van from an importer and apparently, it would be too expensive to repaint it, thus the add on … meat da best.

Paris Baguette is now in Davao City? Nah! Not the store just the van. So frustrating!

Thanks for reading see again for another experience in this side of town.

PAKSIW

MY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ...

Ang UTOT MO PINK!

I first encountered this blog while clicking things around, honestly I’m no fan of pink color but got attracted by this blog’s name so I mouse over her posts and found some interesting things about the blog owner.

I never had some second thoughts that the owner of this blog is a Filipina because of her ‘utotmopink’ catchy blog title. ‘Utot’, whilst a natural body activity, pinoys normally associate it with humurous connotation especially when it cast out off a sound, but guess what ‘Utot’ according to this lady is no ‘mabantot’ at all it actually stands for; U.ltimately, T.rendy, O.bviously, T.asty, and what is more interesting she is giving away some cool stuff. Want to look-like a celebrity in camisole? Then this is a contest you should not miss. Check out UTOTMOPINK.

Now, my task to qualify, answer these questions;

1. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? If yes, write about it.
Ans. Princess Aurora in classic pink gown, this is my daughter’s most adored Disney Princess, she has a collection of everything with this princess on it.

2. Who is your favorite Hollywood actress or supermodel younger than 30?
Ans.Hmmmm. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart)

3. Choose one. Shoes? Bags? Clothes? Or make-up? Ans. Shoes

4. What is your favorite sleepwear? Ans. Tee and shorts

5. I joined this contest because …….. I want to feel how Reese Witherspoon is feeling in pink camisole.

My next activity? Writing more entries for more of the contests around… been dazed with so many contests ……. Hahaha! But more entries more chances of winning, of course who doesn’t want to win.

WHILE DRIVING-THRU

My Mellow-Yellow Monday.

While queuing for our drive-thru order at McDonalds, Market Basket at Damosa gateway here in Davao City, my camera caught their minimalist sideyard landscape design. The plant color gives a contrast to the yellow sideroad color that made it out of the ordinary. So if you happen to drive-through here. Check it out.

See you again for another experience in this side of town.

I JUST JOINED A CONTEST

There’s this lady I just know in this blogosphere, she called her blog Bloguardian Hellsite: Overcashed from her posts I can tell she really is raking some overcash from around this sphere, and I suppose she is sharing it back to her loyal visitors by coming up with a contest.

As she said this is also in celebration of her 25th Birthday. She called her contest BHO’s First Contest, and guess what? You can win up to $100 dollars, thousands of EC credits and a lot more, who knows by just doing some simple steps you win.

Everyone is invited to join, I have joined too, check her site its BLOGUARDIAN HELLSITE: OVERCASHED, and may random.org bless me. Good luck to all of us.

A MOONLIT SUNSHINE in DAVAO CITY

It’s Friday in the Philippines and this is my entry for this week’s Skywatch Friday. I call this entry ‘A MOONLIT SUNSHINE’.

I made a poem along with this post.

I took this picture the other day at our school ground and this is a ‘Talisay’ Tree with a white daylight moon on the side.

A MOONLIT SUNSHINE
- By Verna Liza Y. Luga

One may live in sunshine;
One may have lived waiting for the sunshine;
Someone may have enjoyed the sunshine after the rain;
Someone may have braved the rain in sunshine;

One may never have seen sunshine at all;
One may have lived in sunshine and not minding at all;
Someone may have lived in sunshine, lose it, and hope to find it again;
Someone may have forlorn sunshine;

One may just be happy for someone enjoying sunshine;
One may have just lived in a moonlit sunshine;
Someone may yearn for sunshine and dream it will always be;
Someone is hopeful tomorrow will be another sunlit day;


Thank you for reading. You are most welcome to leave a comment, suggestions. See you again for another experience in this side of town.

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY in DAVAO CITY

(This is quite a lengthy post but I encourage you to read.)

Today, December 10 (Eastern hemisphere time) marks the celebration of the 61st United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

And Assumption College of Davao is one of the many that adheres to the principles of this declaration, thus a college wide cancellation of classes as students and faculty went out to the streets today to join many other advocates who cry for elusive justice not only for the 57 victims of Maguindanao massacre but also for those who have been callously victims of human rights violation.

Since its declaration back in 1940s ‘human rights’ has been a cliché that has been used over and over again that it has already been a part of human’s everydayness, an institutionalized agency, an advocacy, a next religion whatever, however you call it, yet violations are inevitable, from subtle to brutal ones.

In this part of Mindanao, the observance is more consequential because of the blatant manifestation of violation of this so-called human rights.

Let me share some of my insights here, as far as my sociological knowledge is concern, human rights are basic rights and freedoms to which all humans inhabiting this Earth are entitled to, that includes me of course.

These rights are so broad that it covers all aspects of human existence. Most commonly these rights include our;

1. Civil and political rights, such as our right to life in which this is again a relative concept when applied to areas like Maguindanao, where 57 lives were claimed on a broad daylight (This is just the reported one, and excludes the unreported ones) or in Davao City where DDS (the dreaded Davao Death Squad) exist, in which as of posting time not even one of the hundred lives that were ruthlessly/mistakenly killed, extra-judicial killings not even a drop of justice was dispensed. (Saan ba ang human rights dito?), another is;

2. Liberty (such an elusive, a mysterious word for me, but you can have your own definition of liberty);

3. Freedom of expression, which has been a subject of contestation not only here in Davao City but all over the world, I guess you know what I’m talking about;

4. Equality before the law in which whether you agree or not is another human miracle when fully realized;

5. Economic rights, well again I think only those who ‘have’ and not the ‘have nots’ possess this right in our society;

6. Social and Cultural rights; I was able to choose what life I wanted, so I guess this right serve me right; but what about those victims of social and cultural injustices, their right to food, their right to work, their right (not privilege) to education, their right to own their ancestral domain and many, many more…….. my heart aches enumerating all these things.

Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states … All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

A portion of the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 further states ….Whereas it is essential, if man (such a sexist term) is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.

A statement so beautiful, that it made me proud I’m a ‘homo sapiens’ but the way human species treat each other made me think one more time, I’d rather be the pinkest of the flamingos, the blackest of the ravens or the slowest of the turtles, the stoutest of the trees, if I survive with human specie that kill one another, bury one another alive, senselessly kill one another to gain, maintain power in this rotten society of ours.

I don’t mean to be preachy here, but just another human being hopelessly sick of human system that airs her disgust, and carrying out her right to freedom of expression in this virtual world.

Thank you for reading and you are free to leave a comment. See you again for another rambling in this side of town.

MY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

STUFFED ANIMAL TREE IN DAVAO CITY

For two years now, I have not spent a single centavo for our Christmas tree décor, frugality is this year’s theme for our tree. The children agreed to use their stuffed animals as decorations, after some pulling, stretching, lassoing finally we made it before the 25th.

Here’s our ruby red, stuffed animal tree. Thank you for reading see you again for another experience in this side of town.

A JOURNEY IN DAVAO CITY

This is my Mellow Yellow Monday entry and I call it ‘LIFE’S A JOURNEY’.

Let me share my thoughts today, I’m suppose to be posting some reckless ideas here but it just came out, I just feel like getting into some serious side of life today, so there!

Some of my life’s philosophies just came out …….. that to get through the hardest journey of our life, we need to take only one step at a time, but we must keep stepping on, because if all difficulties were known at the beginning of a long journey, we would never have started out at all. The road of life turns and twists, we may plan the route to take, but no two directions are ever the same, as an old proverb say, our life’s most valued lessons will come from the journey and not the destination.


I took this picture at the Ateneo de Davao University-Grade School Campus during my child’s family day activity. I took it out of boredom walking, but I never thought this would be a good analogy for this entry.

Thanks for reading and see again for another experience in this side of town.

THE MARVELS OF DAVAO SKY

This is my Skywatch Friday entry for this week.

I have towards the evening classes and if I may call it luck, I regularly see the sun sets from this side of town in unusual, awe-inspiring scenes everyday. I took these series of pictures from the stair balcony of the Assumption College of Davao.(Note the wire that crosses, a proof that it is taken on the same place.)

On a more personal note, let me share my thought (not reckless this time) that we may be feeling different emotions on seeing different sunsets we experience at different places, but there’s one thing that connects us to these differences, we’re seeing the same sun.

Thank you for the visit and see you again for another experience in this side of town. Leaving a comment is very much appreciated and you get a visit from me.

OUR FOOD KILLS US SOFTLY

I went a little short of a mad woman the other day when I cannot retrieve my ‘Super Size Me’ file which I schedule for a view this evening in my Food Anthropology class. Since I was technologically challenged and literally can do nothing about it since it was (I hate this word) deleted, I have to find an alternative film.

So surfing’ the information highway was the best thing I can do. As always this human marvel never cease to amaze me. I stumble on this documentary that confirmed my brewing idea of going back to eating greens. I’m talking about Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. This film examine large scale agricultural food production in the United States, with a bold conclusion that the meat and vegetables produced by this kind of economic venture leads to the decline of family farms, bury farmers in debt, nix ethics, whilst inexpensive it also purport unhealthiness and environmentally-harmful food.

The first half of the film tackles the industrial production of meat (chicken, beef & pork), corn and vegetable. The way people treat these animals that goes to [y]our mouth, is callously inhumane, one of the farmers even said, ‘this is not farming it is mass production, putting these animals in the assembly line.’ (which made me think one more time, stop being carnivore, Vernz!)

The last part tackles about the economic and legal power of the major food companies, which even influences policy of the State, whose livelihoods are based on supplying cheap but contaminated food, the heavy use of petroleum-based chemicals (largely pesticides and fertilizers), and the promotion of unhealthy food consumption habits by the American public.

You may ask me why this film when it only talks about the American food and economic system? Here’s what I have to say;

Number 1. Since I got married in 1999, I had been a weekly constant of this fave grocery store of mine I saw it happening under my nose, how these American products (not only US, but China, SKorea, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan etc.) had flocked this local grocery, and how it filled the shelves overpowering the local ones, well, this is what we call globalization or if some may say it Americanization.

Number 2. Our AVR only have films on eternally elusive peace, heroes and more American Films.

Number 3. Not even one in the Philippine Film Industry have tried to come up with some sort of investigatory films of this sort in relation to food, we only have sex, abortion, politics etc.

Number 4. People doesn’t care, we will all die anyway, so why the hell bother! Eat, live and die.

Let me tell you a short story (just keep reading) I grew up in farm where chicken, goats and cows feed on grass, we ate roasted chicken and not fried ones, (I only got an idea what fried chicken was when Mcdo opened its first store here in Davao back in 90’s, I mean the Mcdo-style), we ate organically grown corn and I truly admire my late grandfather for his indigenous knowledge about choosing which seed is best for the next planting season. No fertilizer, no chemicals. It’s only lately I realized I was lucky back then for not eating chemically-treated food.

Until one day, farm technicians of our good government, brought with them hybrid seeds and introduced fertilizers and pesticides, after some 20 years of farming using these implements, farmers only sigh in great desperation, their land became acidic, so dependent with hybrid seed that cost them more than what they harvest, farmers got nothing but debt.

This situation had brought me some reckless thinking, can we reverse society and culture and start all over again and get rid of these greedy people that runs economy? Maybe Yes! We can, (I just hope I can be one of those chosen passengers of the ark #3 back in China) cleanse the world with water. But Oh No! Those big rats are afraid to die they were even the first to arrive in that ark. Haay!

Seriously, this human system of ours was adaptive from the very start but eventually became mal-adaptive that it will bring humanity to its demise.

Thanks for reading, see you again for another experience in this side of town.

LAST OF THE FORESTS

MY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!

'THE FALLEN' IN DAVAO CITY

This is my Mellow Yellow, I call it ‘The Fallen’ the fallen yellow leaf and the fallen seat of our old swing.

Enjoy. See you again for another post in this side of town.