Those Days

This post was inspired by a fellow blogger and online friend Elizabeth in one of her posts.

Back in the early sixties, my parents bought a Sony transistor radio which was battery operated. I guess we were the first family to own one in our baranggay. It had lots of programs, news, variety shows, singing contests, dramas and soap operas. Those radio actors and actresses were really talented in projecting their voices – a child, parents and the voices of grannies and grandpas as the story demanded.

During Sundays, there was this radio program called Operetang Putol-putol and I never missed it. Always, there would be comedy skits and singing. I learned those 60s songs from foreign groups via our transistor radio.

In those days, two of dad’s siblings with their families would come by after sundown and spend the night with us. The old folks would listen to the drama on the radio while us kids would have the perfect opportunity to play outside especially when the moon was bright. Our house back then was quite large. Since dad was working here in Metro Manila, mom and my brothers would sleep in the bedroom, my aunt’s family at the sala and my uncle’s family at the dining room. Each would bring sleeping mats, pillows and their own blankets every night then bring them back home in the morning. They would listen to the night’s programs.

Since we didn’t have electricity yet, we used kerosene lamps at night and it was lit all night. We never used candles but kerosene were stocked in empty wine bottles for future use. The lamps looked like something like this. Ours were made from aluminum with wick and you can hang them to light up the room.

A few years later, we graduated to this. Kerosene was still used but there was a filament inside that lights up bright.

Those were the lovely days until our baranggay or barrio finally had electricity in the early 70’s I think. My older brother and I were already studying in Manila by then and enjoyed the advantage of having electricity.

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ASAP Is It

As I have mentioned here  before, I don’t normally watch television but I listen to  the radio when I am gardening. 

I stumbled upon this  online vlog by Zsa Zsa Padilla, one of those artists who is a talented singer as well.  She is a natural in front of the camera, no wonder, she already earned two million followers on YouTube.  She is a mainstay of ASAP (All-Star Sunday Afternoon Party) but then last August ABS-CBN, the largest communications network here in the country closed its doors because their franchise was not renewed by this government. Anything that opposes it is shut down.

Yesterday,  ASAP which used to be carried by ABS-CBN  reopened in collaboration with another TV channel. Some programs are also now being carried by Zoe Broadcasting  Network which was re-branded as A2Z  TV.

Back to Zsa Zsa, she  posted their opening numbers at ASAP with various  artists singing a medley of Tagalog  and English Christmas songs which I used to listen to every Christmas season. I was mesmerized. Nabuhayan ako ng loob.  There is still  Christmas 🙂 How lovely to listen and watch them render those lovely melodies.  We don’t have Zoe channel so I watched it on my cellphone. So nice to be carried away by those entertaining and lively music. There is something now that I could go back watching and be inspired.

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Hay Naku!!!

In my last post here two days ago, I told you that I am now focused on Christmas stories, those inspiring ones that bring about the beauty of celebrating Christmas. I’m  done with a story about  Alaska, spending Christmas in the wilderness and witnessing the northern lights.  I’ve always love novels that have Alaska as their setting.

This afternoon, I was looking for some movies to watch when I saw this free movies app on my phone. I watched two actually, The Unborn and  Love Alaska. What a lovely coincidence finding a still new TV movie (2019) featuring such a lovely place.  I am overjoyed.

What’s happening to the Philippines? Today is the last day of the approved franchise of the largest broadcasting network, ABS CBN  but  the National Telecom didn’t approve their renewal. What would happen to the more than 11,000 employees of the network? It has become a victim of this government’s whims.  They’d rather have the millions of viewers feel ignorant on what is happening around.  To think this is the time that we badly need those up-to-date reports brought by the network. This government is abnormal and it is obvious that the reason is political.

Hay naku! When will they stop harassing people? This is what I read from an irate netizen:  POGOS are allowed to operate even with unpaid 50 billion taxes. They stopped ABS CBN from operating with fully paid taxes. This is clearly anti-Filipino, anti-democracy,anti-freedom of speech.

If you must know those POGOs are illegal gambling operations run by the Chinese nationals and are protected by the government. The latter serves china more than it does the Filipino people.

POGOS allowed to operate with 50 billion taxes unpaid. ABS-CBN stopped from operating, with all taxes paid. This is anti-Filipino, anti-democracy, anti-freedom of speech.ech.id. ABS-CBN stopped from operating, with all taxes paid. This is anti-Filipino, anti-democracy, anti-freedom of speech.

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Music Is It

Goosebumps.

I am having the time of my life what music and songs to upload on my tab from various YouTube selections. Josef taught me how to download them earlier so I won’t have to go online to listen. Google Play is definitely it. Downloaded them as MP3.  I call it my music library.

Now I am listening to some classical music selections of various composers while I am updating our Catholic page on Facebook.  Talk of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, Vivaldi, Chopin and many others. I recently read a somewhat historical novel in the box set that I found featuring some music of the great masters. I wrote down some titles which I am trying to find on YouTube. So far, so good, they are all there. What a lovely change from  the noise I often hear being sung today. Perhaps not all of you would agree with me that today’s brand of songs and music are too noisy.

Music soothes the  heart and the soul. Am I right? They bring that inner joy much like finding a good book that you can relate to. Spring Waltz 2 by Chopin is the best and the Four Seasons by Vivaldi, Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune.  Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody always reminds me of the the movie Somewhere in Time which I watched three times I think. Love them all. I remember Nate’s CDs when he was small and Nissa bought them for him to admire. They have some of the best tunes and piano selections that could put a child to sleep.  Soft and gentle tunes so pleasant to listen to.

What kind of music do you go for? I still listen to the 60s and 70s  songs most of the time.

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I Want

I am finally done trimming the carabao grass early this morning. Hooray.

A few days ago, Jovy taught me how to download the I Want  app on my tab, tried it today  and I super enjoyed watching two movies, listening to Pilipino Christmas carols on YouTube and I also watched the final games of the UAAP Season 82  which ended a few minutes ago. I only watch basketball during the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) season. Ateneo won for the third straight year with UST coming in second in the basketball championship. It was a lovely game with both sides of players giving their best shots. I think I told you in my other posts that I seldom watch television much less a movie. Occasionally though, I catch some movie adaptations on YouTube. The I Want app is owned by one of the largest networks in the country, ABS CBN. It has news, entertainment, music, variety shows, drama series, sports and movies especially produced by ABS CBN. I had a grand time selecting two movies to watch, one is even dubbed in English which I think was for international release. I finally found it a joy to watch something while in bed 🙂 For a while checking my blog and reading other blog posts and reading  books were relegated to the back seat 🙂 Our local talents/artists are truly gifted.

Maybe I would watch one more tonight before going to sleep.Haha, it’s a marathon.

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Feeling Excited

A friend who is a producer  at  GMA Channel 7  is  coming over tomorrow.  They are doing a Christmas series and she will be interviewing me about being a cancer survivor and all. It will be an on-cam taped interview.  It’s my first foray into the limelight…haha!  I asked her what I need to do and she said  I don’t need to do anything except answer her questions.   I hope it goes well. Feeling excited. It is indeed a blessing to be in remission  this long. God is so good.

Finally I was able to submit my SSS requirements, done in thirty minutes but I have to wait for more than an hour earlier than the scheduled opening of their branch. It’s quite good to be  early.

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The Light Between Oceans

Beautiful. Magnificent story. One of the best reads for my 2016 challenge. It was Goodread’s Choice 2012 winner and I didn’t know it was recently adapted into film until I finished reading it a few minutes ago. Read some reviews, some are the same as I felt in the middle of reading the book….I cried at the last few pages. I watched the 3-minute trailer on YouTube..wow! The ocean lighted by that lone lighthouse was lovely. I have always admired seeing lighthouses from a distance but I have never seen one lighted at night.

This is my 96th book for this year, four more to go and I am done. I am thinking of rereading The Godfather by Mario Puzo, getting a start at Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (there is a full movie adaptation on YouTube) and maybe another inspiring book by Alicia Ruggerie, if I could find one.

“There are still more days to travel in this life. And he knows that the man who makes the journey has been shaped by every day and every person along the way. Scars are just another kind of memory….Soon enough the days will close over their lives, the grass will grow over their graves, until their story is just an unvisited headstone.”

“Sometimes life turns out hard. Sometimes it just bites right through you. And sometimes, just when you think it’s done its worst, it comes back and takes another chunk.”

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Crossing Borders

Original Pilipino Music.

There is this new show on ABS CBN channel called I Love OPM which started over the weekend.  It only airs during Saturdays and Sundays. As the airtime was a bit late, I  was not able to watch the initial showing but Josef did and he said it was  lovely, the concept is new and interesting. I don’t really watch television every day but sometimes there are programs worth waiting for.  They feature Pilipino music composed by talented Filipino musicians/artists and what  makes it all the more interesting is that all participants of the show are foreigners. They sure know how to speak Tagalog.

Last night, we watched the Sunday edition – it’s entertainment at its best.  There were three  featured individual contestants and a group from Korea – one is an Arab guy who is fluent in Tagalog, another one is a shy Indian who has a big crush on Anne Curtis. The third one is a Russian lady who is married to a Filipino guy and said that she loves the Philippines. The  group from Korea  sang and danced.  The Russian lady did a rap. They really went out of their way to learn the Pilipino language and speak it like a native.  It’s kind of amazing when you see a foreign face singing a Tagalog song.

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” – Aldous Huxley

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78 Days To Go…How Time Flies!

Yes, I know a lot of you would probably react and say “it’s too early yet”. I know, I know. Yesterday before my son left for work he asked me to listen to the new downloads on his tab saying that I would surely like it and adding that it’s my favorite album of all time. I was surprised. He downloaded the whole album of Gunter Kallmann’s  Christmas Sing In. Around this time every year, I would bring out the various CDs and play them randomly and one of them is the album Christmas Sing In. As if that was not enough, son said, “listen to this Ma”. We smiled, remembering those days when they were younger and we would listen to the Jackson Five belting out ♫♪Santa Claus Is Coming To Town♪♫.

Did you ever believe in Santa Claus? Did you let your kids believe that he comes on Christmas Eve bearing gifts that they asked and prayed for? I don’t remember my kids ever having asked Santa about what gifts to receive for Christmas although they each had a picture with Santa Claus, a perfect capture of smiling kids on Santa’s knee.  Those were the days when parents and their kids line up at one section of the mall  to wait for their turn to be pictured with Santa. I wonder if they still do that these days. Since I resigned from work more than fifteen years ago, my check list on buying Christmas gifts has dramatically narrowed down to just family and close friends. I do my Christmas shopping early depending of course on available budget and finding gifts for family and friends that they will truly appreciate. It’s not the cost that counts really, but the thoughtful gestures behind the gifts.

I remember our Christmas celebration last year with Nate’s infectious smiles while  embracing a Mickey Mouse toy which was larger than he was.  Back then, Mickey Mouse was his favorite. Now he is into Minions and large Lego blocks. I wonder what will be next when he celebrates his third birthday come November.

I bought a food magazine on home-cooked Pinoy classics. Chanced upon it when I went grocery-shopping. I would love to try those luscious local fruit pies (at least one on their list), recipes using coconut, and locally famous desserts. One can always buy them here (Cainta is famous for kakanin) but the challenge of course lies in learning how to cook them in one’s own kitchen. I would love to try the good old-fashioned Bibingka wrapped in banana leaves, topped with grated coconut, a little amount of sugar and butter and those cheesy Ube-Cassava cakes…heaven.

Oh, I am listening to the remastered Christmas album of Johnny Mathis. I think of Dad when I listen to this, he used to have an LP (a long-playing record) way back then.  It makes me smile and a little thoughtful listening to the catchy and lovely Christmas songs in the album.

I know, it’s that time of year again!

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Crazy Friday

It’s one of those  relaxed and lazy days of the week.  I asked Josef if he could accompany me to the newly opened library in our town and he readily agreed. I told him bringing the car was probably a mistake because of the horrendous traffic. Such common daily routine of  everyone ….traffic. He had all his IDs laminated while I waited at the library to talk to their assistants there. There is no licensed librarian yet and most of the volumes on the shelves were donations from the National Library.They have a sizable collection of National Geographic and several children’s story books, various local publications of food mag, travel and leisure. I had a good time chatting with the library assistants and I promised that I would donate some fiction/non-fiction books to add to their shelves. Finally, we have a modern and lovely town library with lots of computers and free wi-fi.Most shelves are still vacant though.

Nissa gifted me with a lovely Zen Mandalas coloring book complete with a  set of Faber-Castell  colored pencils, sharpener and eraser. The designs look so complicated and challenging.  I was happy before having an ordinary coloring book, this one needs a lot of time before you finish a page. Coloring is a stress-buster. Josef  told me early this morning that I could upload Mandala on my tab. Practice, practice, practice. It is so addicting.  The final picture depends on how creative you are in choosing a combination of colors. Here are some photos that I practiced on before we went to the library.

   I  set aside reading again. I can’t wait to start coloring on an actual page.

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