Memories

Getting a little nostalgic seeing the pics I took of UST  a few years ago. I spent my high school and college life here. And this central lane leads to the lovely main building of the university.

Bringing back the clock – remembering old friends who were part of  my growing-up years, the heartaches of first love, cramming for exams, early morning student mass at the UST Chapel, the daily walks inside the campus, banana que at P. Noval, cornik laced with chili oil at Dapitan.

I just love taking photos of every corner of UST. This Arch of the Centuries is the “ruin” of the original structure of UST founded more than 400 years ago.

Well…I am just proud to be a Thomasian!

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Campus Life (Remembering the Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas)

Do you remember your own high school and college days? Those days of new discoveries – having your first crush, falling in love (or you thought you did), meeting lots of friends, having a crush on one of your professors, aspiring to be a poet (because you want to remember everything  about your first love)  – you name it, perhaps those days are a little obscured now but they are not forgotten.  They simply fade in one’s memory and when you think of them, you smile and reminisce.

I remember the days when my classmates and I used to squat on these  same fields  while eating mani and kornik  laced with chili oil. Back in our time, this  cobbled walk way was simply cemented  and the century old trees had concrete benches underneath.

Ah, the familiar landmark and statue of Fr. Miguel de Benavidez,  OP the founder of the University. It’s the first thing that will greet you on your way to the UST Main building.  This bronze statue “rises on top of a granite pedestal flanked by four lions each bearing the coats-of-arms of the Philippines, Spain, Holy See, and the Dominican Order. He dons the rugged habit of the pioneer Dominican missionaries. His right hand is elevated in the preaching fashion, his index finger pointing to heavens. His left hand rests on his chest holding a book bearing the words Santo Evangélico on its cover. A skull-cap covers his head, and a pectoral cross hangs from his neck, the symbols of Episcopal dignity.”

I miss this place. I spent nine years of my life here, from the tender young age of 12 to a young lady of 21 when I left its doors.

And every chance I get, I take pictures of the place,  remembering those days – campus life – it seems so long ago but it is still achingly familiar.

The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, in short, we, alumni and students alike, fondly call it it USTe.

Today, we are celebrating the Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Patron Saint of UST. The university was named after him. And it’s the beginning of the neo-centennial year of UST.

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Walking Through History (Revisiting the University of Santo Tomas Museum)

It’s been years, close to four decades in fact since I last visited the UST Museum. There was a time , when I was still a student, when I used to spend hours just looking at the  vast collections of the museum but there were a lot more added through the years and the place has been renovated. I could spend a whole day just looking at everything here but since I was meeting a friend at the  UST Priory, I just took a few shots of the place. Imagine yourself visiting the oldest existing museum in the Philippines and all you could utter are oohs and aahs just absorbing and thinking how UST has collected and saved all these and we’re talking of more than 300 years.

This is the grand staircase of  the UST Main building where the museum is housed. Notice the murals hanging on the walls, they are creations of Filipino masters Galo Ocampo and Carlos “Botong” Francisco.

The Natural History Collection

Shelter Collection – Ethnography

Clothing Collection – Ethnography

Hunting, Fishing Collection – Ethnography

Metal Craft

The Papal chair used by Blessed  JP II during the 1995 World Youth Day in Manila.

Coins, Medals and Memorabilia – Natural History Collection

This year UST will have its Neo Centennial Celebration and the UST Museum will open its doors to an exhibit dubbed as ” 400 Shots To Immortality” which will run from January 20 to February 10, 2012.

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Santo Tomas Ice Cream, Anyone?

A few months ago, I blogged about a favorite comfort food – ice cream!  I was on  my way to meet a friend at the University of Santo Tomas this morning when I chanced upon Mang Fidel, UST’s   ice cream vendor since I can remember. Some students were lining up to buy, what else, ice cream in cone. I signalled  one shot and he graciously took a pose. The students clapped and I was rewarded with a smile. Mang Fidel is definitely growing old with the university. And I say, student days would not be complete somehow without Mang Fidel with his ice cream cart.

And eating ice cream is more fun in the Philippines, right?

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Between Night And Morn (My Year-End Blog)

This year may not be as hectic as the previous year for me but there were big events that made it a good year – our year.  There were no road trips to speak of either. January started with a bang, with the quadricentennial celebration of my alma mater, University of Santo Tomas, visiting Lovell at the seminary and seeing old friends, colleagues from the UST Main Library where I used to  work during my college days.

Sometimes, a trip to UST would not be complete without dropping by Sto. Domingo Convent to have a little sharing with Lovell.  It’s something to look forward to when his schedule permits.

College life made a difference because of friends who have become close over the years  and I have adopted them as my older sisters.

Sr. Thea, FMM is a Franciscan nun based in Mindoro and Grace is now a permanent resident in Canada. We make it a point to see each other every year if time permits. Growing up with them, sharing heartaches during our college days made us soul sisters.

At Sweet Inspiration, our favorite hangout every time we see each other. Except for Grace (in yellow striped t-shirt), the three of us, Sr. Thea, Precy and I are cancer survivors. Precy says, even in friendship, we battled the same ailment.

January 29 found me attending another high school reunion (our fourth one, actually). This time though, it was just a casual affair at the  house of one of our batchmates in Quezon City.

Two of our classmates came home last February so we had another get-together at Shakey’s Espana then paid a visit to UST for some photo-op. It was fun reminiscing the good old days. It brings back memories.

Every time I visit this place, I could not leave it without taking a shot or two of the UST Main Bldg. This was  where some of the programs were held  the previous month, hence the stage in front of it.

At Shakey’s Espana, having fun with lots of pizza, pasta and fried chicken.  I had this crazy idea of taking shots of our arms wearing the bracelets which one of our classmates made for us and it came out good.

April was a busy month. For several years now, we’ve visited several churches at our annual Visita Iglesia, this time though we confined ourselves to seven churches in San Juan city and Quezon City. We also met Fr. Louie Coronel, OP , my co-admin at Apostles Filipino Catholic Community and he toured us at Bahay Dominiko at Sto. Domingo Convent in Quezon City. Earlier on, we also discovered a bird’s nest in our garden, for a while there we thought we could watch the hatchlings grow into little yellow-vented Bulbul but they died after a few days. I also met an online friend from Cebu. It was another lovely meeting with her grand kids in tow.

Hubby, Nissa and I visited Pan de Amerikana last July since Nissa was eyeing it for their pre-nuptial shoot. It was a trip down memory lane with all those old-old frames and paraphernalia that adorns the place.  Nissa was so happy to receive their Papal Blessing from Rome. And for the first time, Fr. Louie and I were able to plan our first AFCC gathering at Bahay Dominiko in Sto. Domingo Church. Meeting some of the members of our  Catholic community was such a joy and a blessing. It was definitely a day worth-remembering. And we couldn’t get enough so we planned another one last August 27 at the same place. There were new members from as far as Nueva Vizcaya and Pangasinan who attended.

I can’t forget my birthday last October since Nissa’s gift, The Best Of  Me, a book by Nicholas Sparks paved the way for  me to meet Nicholas in person at the momentous  book signing at The Podium.  That was the first time I ever attended a book signing and just like the rest of the crowd, I shouted and laughed with them. Got a big smile on my face when I saw him face to face. The highlight of the year of course was my daughter’s wedding last November 13 at the Paco Park Chapel followed by a lovely reception at Ibarra’s Garden in Malate, Manila.  We called it Purple Day. Except for the two solo pictures of Nissa that I included here, these are not the official photos of the wedding, they were  just culled from friends’ tags at Facebook.  They still have to choose the photos which will be included in their wedding album.

The year was capped by Lovell’s Diaconate Ordination last November 30 at Sto. Domingo Church. Looking back, it was  definitely a year full of blessings – meeting friends, sharing with the family,  having another son in the family,  having my adopted son ordained as a deacon, what more can one ask?

Thank You Lord!

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Congratulations University of Santo Tomas (We Did It)

Back in March, I blogged about  The UST Dominican Cross, a part of University of Santo Tomas’ celebration of its 400th year and an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record.  Here is an official announcement from the university and a link from the Guinness  site.

The largest human cross was achieved by 13,266 participants at an event organised by the University of Santo Tomas (Philippines) in Manila, Philippines, on 9 March 2011.

Go USTe! Proud to be a Thomasian!

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THe UST Dominican Cross

The Thomasians did it again. It was an estimated gathering of 24,000 students, faculty members and UST staff at the UST  Field to form the black and white Dominican Cross. It symbolizes the Catholic and Dominican identity of the University of Santo Tomas. the even was meant to highlight

penance in the season of Lent and as part of the 400 years celebration of the university. Fr. Winston Cabading, OP said that this is also UST’s attempt to rewrite the Guiness Book of World Records by forming a Dominican Cross.

Proud to be a Thomasian!

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After Almost 38 Years

Time flies, certainly!  We had our informal high school reunion yesterday at one of our batchmates’ s house in Quezon City.  Though it was  not the  first time we had it, it was the first time since our high school graduation that I met some of our classmates.   It was almost 38 years and we were just in our teens when we graduated from high school. Most of them are now proud grandparents!   One of the regular attendees is a four-year old grandson of one of our batch mates.  He practically grew up with the batch and is familiar with almost every one.  I call him our “reunion baby”.

Our reunions always start with a Thanksgiving Mass and end with so much laughter, reminiscing the good old days and sometimes remembering events  and our beloved teachers.  It’s about cherishing getting older and humming songs of yesteryears,  updating each other on the latest happenings in our lives, hours of bantering, exchanging jokes and laughter.  Not to be left of course is the scrumptious  lunch or dinner for the batch.   UST Education High School – part of history, part of a Pontifical, Royal Catholic University in the Philippines.

It may take years before we see some of our classmates again but the friendship, camaraderie and sense of belonging  are what we will always cherish in our hearts.

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Wow, Just Wow

And I thought the fireworks the other night are lovely but this is even more beautiful –  the culmination of the week-long celebration of the 400th year of University of Santo Tomas – UST Quadricentennial Alumni Night Pyromusical!

Go USTe, Viva Santo Tomas, Proud to be a Thomasian!

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High School Reunions

It will be our fourth high school reunion  this coming Saturday, January 29, 2011  which will be held at 11am at one of our high school batchmate’s house in Tandang Sora (still in connection with the 400th celebration of our beloved university).  Since we found each other again in 2003 (our first reunion),  we’ve been in touch via an e-group at Yahoo and we were able to find those whom we haven’t seen since our high school graduation back in 1973.  I think more than half of our batch are now living abroad so it’s kind of  hard to see each other unless they go home and spend a few hours with the remaining members of our batch.   Though sometimes, some of our classmates hold instant get-together, we  are never in complete attendance. It would be nice to be able to  see them again after  two years.  Most of us are now on Facebook, but there is something more inviting and pleasant than just having those chats once in a while or sending those private message now and then, it’s called high school reunion.  Seeing them face to face is  of course a welcome bonus. High school reunions are more fun than probably attending college get-together. Come to think of it, I have only two close college classmates, the rest I have yet to meet again since our college graduation back in 1978.

This week marks a series of events to commemorate our 400th anniversary celebration of the university.  When I think of the days and years that I was  in UST, I can’t help but feel nostalgic and  happy to share these events with everyone.  My Christian values were enhanced further when I was studying there.  There is a certain kind of pride and gratitude that I was given the chance to study in a Pontifical, Royal and Catholic institution that speaks so much of  history and tradition and as they say, “400 years of unending grace.”

Revisiting the place, walking its halls once more, and appreciating the years of stay here and just plain reminiscing – I guess that’s what reunion is all about.

Our high school class picture during our senior year!

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