twas some night!

Last night, my wife and I had a blast with our friends who we consider our extended family. We have been with this group of friends for what it seems to be an eternity and we don't mind. How could we when we are having so much fun with them around. Most importantly, our children get well together with theirs and theirs with ours. We spend all occasions with them. Well, we hang out with them for no reason at all. Last night was a special night though. We celebrated Joven's nth birthday party and party we did! But before that, allow me to give you a glimpse of how big a family we are. The shy (daw) birthday celebrant is at the end to your right. (Not in the picture are Ricky who took it, Redjie and Rolly V. Inside the car was our sleeping beauty, Tetay, who just can't get enough sleep. This was taken during our trip to Subic)


My friends...my family From l-r Vivian,Dante,Agnes,Jenny,Kathy, Ollie,Brad Pitt, Jenhifer Aniston,Edgar and Joven

The party was hosted by his lovely wife, Jenny. We started out with an eating frenzy at the Emerald at Roxas Boulevard. After pigging out on all those food, we decided that the night was still too young (as it always is with this group) and proceeded to Malate to listen to some music and drink some booze. The band's (Acoustic Vibes) crooner, Romy Jorolan, turned out to be Edgar and Vivian's neighbor and we all had a ball with him. The music was so great we stayed until the bar closed at around three a.m. Still spirited, we went for coffee at nearby Cafe Adriatico and finally headed home at 4:00 a.m.

And to think that we have just had a party last February 14 to celebrate Jenny's and Agnes' birthday. The two girls got a suite at Bayview Hotel where we all stayed until check out time. There we hanged out, sang songs, ate and really bombed out in a clean, fun way.


jenny



jenny and agnes 

AS a group, we have gone as far north as Pagudpud and as far south as MArinduque. We make it a point that we have a trust fund just so we can have an assured traveling tour of the country every summer. Last summer, for instance, we went to Isabela, Banawe and toured Tuguegarao. This lent, we are bound for Bicol.

Last week, I read an article that said Filipinos are by far the happiest people on earth. I don't know what the gauge was or if the article was supported by empirical data but I tend to agree with it. The Filipinos' characteristic of having an extended family probably plays a big role in this aspect of life. With this extended family comes a ready made support system and a feeling of acceptance which make us feel secured and eventually, happy. I don't know if I am right but to me, it seems that other races tend to be more individualistic rather than community centered. Whatever the case may be, what I am sure about is that I am glad this is my support group, my extended family.

first there were seven...

The latest addition in cyberlandia is a blog written by a zany group of Filipino bloggers from around the world. Having started out from the exchange of funny emails between Doc Emer, Sassy, Batjay,The Cat, Jet, me and the witty computer manipulations of computer wizard, Polo, Doc Emer got the idea of forming an email group called Bloggingberks on December 7, 2004.

From the initial seven members, the berks grew to its present number of thirty three who constantly exchange notes on various topics under the sun. As to be expected, what would come out from a group of bloggers but a concerted effort to create another blog that would showcase each and everyone's prowess at the written word. The fact that the members of the group are as diverse as anything that is from east to west and everything in between in terms of interests, the blog called blogkadahan: Rebels without because, is written by Filipinos of different ages(hence the diversity in time references), places (with members coming from Manila, US, Singapore, Belgium, Germany, England, New Zealand and Japan) and professions (a lawyer, engineer, housewife, teacher, etc...) making the blog interesting to all sex, age, shape and color.

Come and visit us by clicking the button below.

17 years and going strong!

mickey 

When I got married, I told my wife Nitz, (haha as if there's somebody else) that I am going to have a child who plays the violin. I did! When my eldest boy, Mickey, was in Grade three, he came up to me and told me that he wanted to learn how to play the violin. I quickly signed the form and talked to the teacher if there's a violin that Mickey can use. After a month of palying, here comes my son again asking if he can have his own violin. I told him to go slow as i wanted to know if he really wanted to play the instrument or it was just a passing interest.

So, when Kraiganne would come down the stairs at ten pm complaining about Mickey still playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and MAy Song, starting pieces for the Sukiyaki method, and finding Mickey by listening closely where those squeaky sounds are coming from in every corner of the school, I knew Mickey was dead serious in learning how to play the violin. It was then that we decided to buy him a 1/2 size violin. He was getting good at it from then on. That made my wife write my niece who lives in the States to ask her to buy my son a full size violin. You can just imagine how happy Mickey was upon receiving the "pasalubong" when my niece, Romella, flew in from the States. He's now enrolled at St. Scholastica for advanced studies in violin. He just finished playing in the school's performing arts concert last Thursday. He's got several groups he plays with. He's a member of the school's orchestra, string ensemble and the only junior in the school's string quartet (the rest are Seniors). Much to my surprise, he also played solo during the concert. Dang! Had he told me about it, I would have brought my handycam.

Mickey is very passionate with everything that he finds interesting. He has this deviant art account where he publishes his art, and he's theme and style is fast becoming mature. You'll find it here He also is the one who would call his sister's attention if she raises her foot on the table while eating or anytime she would be doing something he finds improper for a young girl to do. I saw how he can be a real kuya to his younger brother during that Father and Son Camp, how he takes charge in listing all the things they brought, which bag contained what, etc... Man, if only he had the same passion for studying, he would have ended up to be the class valedictorian, ahahaha.

Anyway, he just turned 17 today. My son is now 17 years old. One more year and he won't come to school with me anymore. I just hope I've taught him to be independent well. Happy birthday my son!