Simbang Gabi – Day 2

Forgive me for not providing any details about the first mass that I’ve attended yesterday, but I was just a bit too busy with  a lot of other things in order to get a noteworthy post out.

We write the 17th of December, 2009. It is 2 in the morning as I called up my girlfriend to come over and join me in attending the Simbang Gabi Mass for the second time around. I know it sounds a bit too early for most of you, but if you could have only seen what we saw the other day, you’d cometo understand wy we needed to make it to Saint Francis this early.

No mistake this time around, the Church looked half empty, half full the moment we took our seat at the left flank of the Saint Francis in Maa (Davao City). But just about ten minutes later, the whole church was filled from the front to the back and from left to right.

I had the chance to sneak a few pictures prior the mass started from outside and the beautiful Christmas lightings that they had to display. I’ve attached them to this post, although I have to admit that they pretty much suck (I’m referring to my pictures with the ugly camera that I used.

I can’t deny the fact that I barely understood the gospel from yesterdays mass, but this time, there’s been no chance that I could miss a thing about what was told to us by the Priest.

The Gospel was notably boring, even the Priest said so and cracked a joke in that way. But that was exactly what it made it so special. A gospel to make us realize that even the boring things, or let’s say the  unimportant things are vital to know about. Aside from this observation that I made, the gospel also tried to let us understand three other points of which the following I look upon as the most vital.

• Bro is just as human as we all are. His family tree showed dozen of criminals, unrighteous people, etc.

It’s very interesting to note that this is my first article in relation to my experience with Church/Religious activities. Rest assure that this won’t be the last as there are going to be seven more masses to be offered in succession during the coming days. So please don’t bash me for this bad one! :p

P.S: I will try to get in touch with the local church of my barangay here to have them know about Teens.Com.Ph and find ways how we can contribute to our local community with it. We always need to start with something small don’t we?

Where To Shop This Christmas?

Hey guys! I know it’s Holiday madness for all of us right now!  Especially for college students who are just about to start their Christmas break.  Let me not forget that it was pay day yesterday so most of us are probably fixing our budgets and thinking of what to give our loved ones this year in Christmas.  Not only for our loved ones but for ourselves too!

I have been shopping for myself and a few for my loved ones since November.  I have basically went around Metro Manila and listed down places where it will be good to shop.  I am sorry for readers who aren’t from Metro Manila though, because this entry shall be Metro Manila-centric since I have no access to places like Davao and Cagayan De Oro.

TriNoma - I used to hate TriNoma–and it was not even simple hatred.  It was ULTIMATE HATRED for the mall that I felt years ago when it opened.  It opened when I was in my last year in high school.  I remember that the reason for my hating of the mall was it was cramped by Science High School geniuses whose noses looked down on kids who are from exclusive high schools.  Another thing that I hated before was its poor airconditioning.  TriNoma used to be warm and its flooring wasn’t that good–the tiles look like tiles you will see in your average bathroom.  I am very O.C. when it comes to a place’s architecture and it affects my mood about the place.

My love for TriNoma just started during the last quarters of 2009.  I used to always go to its neighbor–The Block SM North but I developed a hatred for the place since I always rub elbows with random people in that mall and they do not even say sorry when they hit you, etc.  I crossed the pedestrian and tried TriNoma for a better shopping experience. And boy, I was not disappointed.

If you are a shoe addict like me, you would love TriNoma.  Almost all shoe stores in SM North are in TriNoma actually–but the beauty of this is, STORES ARE LARGER IN TriNoma!!! Weeee. Let us take CMG for an instance.  CMG is a shoe store which is known for their badass girly and sophisticated shoes and bags.  They also have a clothing sister company too which is bYSI.  The CMG store in The Block SM North is just an average-sized store.  CMG (during this season) has a lot of sales and marked down products.  I felt cheated when I had a shoe shopping spree in CMG The Block when I went to their TriNoma store.  This is because the choices of designs in TriNoma were much prettier than that of the ones in The Block.  And hell, they have a bigger store in TriNoma which also includes bags and clothes–so you don’t just get to splurge on shoes but also in other pretty stuff too! Another thing is, TriNoma’s size does not kill me.  SM North’s just too big that it will REALLY wear you out WHILE shopping!

Aside from better shops, I think TriNoma is a one-stop spot for people who want to expand options when it comes to the stuff they will buy.  The lower levels of TriNoma have the mainstream shops such as Bench, Penshoppe and Bayo whilst its upper levels have the “high-end” shops such as Aldo, Debenhams and Zara.  For my general gifts to classmates and chums, I went to the Marks And Spencer store in TriNoma and bought them the 150-worth shower gels in Citrus and Aloe Vera scents (I HOPE THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO READ THIS).

I am pretty happy and satisfied with what my money was able to buy because toiletries are very useful nowadays and people usually become happy when they see that they’ve been gifted with a branded merchandise.  I believe Marks And Spencer has very affordable yet nice gift items in their shop.  They also have other items like hand washes, lip balms, lotions, deodorants and moisturizers that are set in very affordable prices and favorable quantities.  The beauty of shopping in M&S is that for each item you buy, they will give you a corresponding paper bag of their store which you can use for wrapping the gift.  Convenient and fabulous!

TriNoma also has Landmark and Crossings which offer a lot of affordable and useful gift items.  :)

But let me not give you the impression that I am a total hater of SM North now.  It’s just that I’ve found better options these days.  SM North is still the number once source of gadgets and techy stuff.  They have a newly renovated Cyberzone now and it has been renovated to give consumers a better shopping experience when it comes to gadgets and tech stuff.  My Dad is a tech geek and he has always brought me to the Cyberzone of SM North ever since I was a kid and I remember hating every feel in that old place.  For one, it was too narrow and number two, it was damn hot!  I just went to the new Cyberzone of SM North in July and the experience was no longer the same.  I think this is the great advantage of SM North over TriNoma–the place for tech geeks.  Sure, TriNoma has its own section for gadgets and techy stuff in one of their top floors but its options aren’t wide enough for individuals who wish to explore options first before purchasing.  So when it comes to tech stuff, I’d go for SM North.  In my last visits of other SM malls, I saw that they already have their own Cyberzones too–but I still think that the one in SM North is the most badass of them all. READ: I am totally excluding SM Mall of Asia because I have been there only twice and it is damn too far for me to reach.  I live in Quezon City, hello.

Gateway is also one of the nicest malls around Quezon City.  Aside from its cool interiors and flawless architecture, it also showcases great accessibility for it is directly connected to the MRT and LRT2 stations.  For the year 2009, it is the mall that took the bulk of my bank account’s contents.  It is the mall that my friends and I immediately go to for meals before and after watching UAAP games that were mostly held at the Araneta Coliseum.  It is also one of the nearest malls to Katipunan college students for the existence of the LRT2 station in Katipunan.  

Gateway has a lot of nice shops.  However, the downside of the shops in Gateway is that they particularly cater to the high-end market.  Sure, there are moderate shops like People Are People and Marks And Spencer.  However, the rest of the shops won’t be a good spot for people who are doing their standard Christmas shopping.  When I say standard, I am only including people who are on the standard budget–people who won’t be able to afford a whole Christmas shopping of items from Rustan’s and other high-end shops.  Gateway has a nice food court though–it is not your typical food court which contains places that sell native food and the like.  Its food court has Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Auntie Anne’s and other food stores that are not so mainstream.  Thus presenting a refreshing vibe when it comes to crowded food courts.  Despite these nice places in Gateway, I’d still say that walang mabiling reasonably-priced in this place.  So I put the red mark here.

This may sound weird but I won’t recommend GREENHILLS SHOPPING CENTER this year! This is for the reason that the stalls MARKED UP prices way too high just because of the Christmas season!  When I went there last week, there was this store selling Guess REPLICA bags for 7000 PhP when the REAL PRICE of the ORIGINAL bag in Guess stores is just ranging from 6000-8000.  Why would you still buy there?!  Shoes have also marked-up eh puro fake naman karamihan. Let us not be blinded by these shopping centers’ images.  Be careful with what you buy still.

So to all Pinoy Teens readers… I wish that we may all have a very meaningful and happy Christmas this year and a prosperous New Year! I know this year has been very hard and bumpy for all of us in almost all aspects so this is our time to celebrate the gift of life that we still all have.  Let us not forget to pray for our beloved who already went to a better place this year.  It is okay to be sad but to be totally sad is something they themselves won’t like us to experience this yuletide seasons.  I hope this article will help all of you shoppers there in choosing shopping places and visit the revitalized site next year pa rin ah!   And thanks for supporting my first year here in PTO. To my haters, sana masaya Pasko nyo kasi sa akin, masaya eh!

My 500 Pesos Christmas Wish for the Poor

Few days ago, I had this dream about the Christmas gift that I’d wish to have this Holiday Season.  It was just a simple gift that did not result any harm to anyone or had anyone taken advantage of.

I tried to put myself into the shoes of the millions of Filipinos who are living on or beyond the poverty line.  Imagine how much 500 pesos could mean to them–think how much you could touch their lives with that little offering. Of course, we cannot dole out 500 pesos every time for our less privileged brothers of sisters. However, I have this Christmas wish for a significant number of Filipino families which is no less or more than the worth 500 pesos.

I dreamed of myself roaming around my community in Davao City giving away 500 peso bills. But before that happened, I wished that I’d receive a sufficient number of 500 peso bills that I could pass on to the others. It wasn’t really a nice encounter that I had with the President when I tried to extract help from her but the fact that I tried made it all worthy, anyway. I know I sound extremely unfathomable and unclear–but please, keep on reading as the juicy deets are still yet to come.

I knew at some point that the Big Man up there heard my prayers and was willing to help me. He paid heed to my call that I may bless my fellow countrymen who are needy; but it really seemed to good to be true.

While dreaming, I saw my body laying on the bed, dreaming this dream I was in that very moment. I didn’t knew where to go, so I decided to just stay put to not get lost. I heard some noisy sounds which reminded me of money. As if enormous amounts of money have been showered from God-knows-where. I moved on and then proceeded to finding the origins of those money-like sounds.  Lo and behold, I saw money!  Extremely LOTS of money–where denominations weren’t exclusive to the usual 5-peso or 10-peso coins.  In fact, I even saw purple, green and blue bills all over the place!  I didn’t see anyone operated on it but there was a huge screaming banner above all of it which read “President’s Tax Collecting Machine.

Yes, that is how it read. I didn’t know she took OR takes that much money from the people.  Well, nobody was supervising that extraordinary machine so I did not have any questions anymore as to why nobody was aware of that endeavor.   But finally, I became one of the very first few whose eyes were opened.   So that was how the state gives its people a taste of its transparency.

I saw a bucket which had a label that read “Kevin Paquet’s Wish This Christmas”. I picked it up to take a look of what was inside. I understood that it wasn’t a whole package of 500-peso bills anymore like what the Big Man has promised me.  Hence, it were filled with a few 100-peso bills and Philippine Peso coins. It seemed like the toll from the very far place that gift was sent from was extremely expensive–aided by the fact that what I was holding in my hands were from the heavens!  Ah, no wonder imported goods are very costly–such a nice and hot avenue for her to embezzle money from!

But still, I do not understand it.  Why toll fees skyrocket so much and what it has to do with taxes.  Hey, was there a complete tax deduction from my presents?

I then heard my Mom screaming for my name.  And so I thought that I had to be back to my room before she gets in there.  But a few moments before I stepped back, an undefinable presence went close to me and robbed me off my presents!  It slid its hand into my bucket and took a fraction of it.  Upon examination, I realized that what used to be 300 Philippine Pesos became 200 Philippine Pesos in just a blink of an eye.  So maybe I can now infer that it was the tax deduction that took place!

Another presence came so close to me once more. It put its hand inside my bucket and took another fraction of my presents!  This time, I was so flabbergasted and could never fathom any valid justification as to why these presences kept on stealing from me!   I could have accepted it if I could still think of another reason as an average reasonable person.  But I was in such reaction because I believed that there is no more further reason for that to happen!  I bravely set my eyes inside my bucket to see if there was something still left for me–and thankfully, I saw a lone 100-peso bill trying its best to stay for me.  And to my dismay, that last 100-peso bill did not last long enough as it was taken away by another unknown presence that interfered in my way.

It looked like numerous hands are involved in taking away people’s money nowadays.  Well, it was hard to tell which was true and which was not since there were so many characters in my dream which represented the so many delegates of our greedy head that cooperate with each other in stealing people’s money!

I finally reached my room with the only 1-peso coin left in my hand that I even had to hold onto as tight as possible. I was appalled to see that Kevin was no longer laying on the bed.  My human body was gone.  It vanished!

My body’s disappearance, I believe, symbolized what happens in status quo where the very few people who come to witness these mischievous acts by the state lose their lives in an instant–especially if you do not join their VERY NICE deeds.

It pains me so much that I couldn’t manage to get enough money for my Christmas Gift for Others Project. I can’t go on wishing for 500 pesos and end up with a single peso after each time I wish. We should start to open our eyes, look around and observe keenly everything that is going around us. Who knows, you might just be another victim, or maybe a friend of you is a victim.

After a contemplation about this very peculiar dream I had, I then realize that we are all victims. If it hurts me so badly and makes me feel hopeless and left with no room for options, imagine how severe the effects are to those who are really way beyond our tolerance level when it comes to poverty.  Probably even unimaginable.

Until now I still wonder why I died in my dream.  The situation suggests that they hate witnesses who will spill the beans and thwart all of their plans.  However, my faith tells me that heaven looks to be a much better place where no issues like these exist.  Heaven is a place or a state of being where humanity is victorious in its battle against the power and money-hungry people!

ABC CBN Christmas Station ID 2009

ABS CBN Christmas Station ID 200 premiered last night with the theme and title Star ng Pasko performed by the biggest singers of the station. View the Christmas Station ID.

ABS CBN is about to pull an ace out from their arm with this year’s Christmas Station ID 2009 which is argued to be a piece very dearly executed by the brightest ABS CBN talents like: Angel Locsin, John Lloyd Cruz, Charo Santos Concio, Zaijan Jaranilla, Toni Gonzaga, Ai Ai delas Alas, Coco Martin, Vhong Navarro, Helen Gamboa, Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson, Aga Muhlach, Judy Ann Santos, Dolphy, Jake Cuenca, Gina Pareño, Ruffa Gutierrez, Sam Milby and Gloria Romero among others.

Their Christmas Station ID song was sung by: Sarah Geronimo, Piolo Pascual, KC Concepcion, Billy Crawford, Erik Santos, Mark Bautista, Rachelle Ann Go, Yeng Constantino, Jed Madela, Nina, Sitti, Aiza Seguerra, Richard Poon, Duncan Ramos and the Pinoy Dream Academy kids; and was written by ABS-CBN Creative Communication Management Head, Robert Labayen with music composed by Marcus and Amber Davis.

The Christmas Station ID premiered last night with the theme and title “Star ng Pasko”

Check the video of their performance now:

Mindanao Bloggers Christmas Party 2008

It’s 1:33 in the afternoon on my Neo Vivid 2121 Laptop’s System Clock, and I just woke up and headed directly to my WordPress’ Dashboard to write a totally new post from the experience that I had the other day during the said post Mindanao Bloggers Christmas Party. A lot of people who have confirmed to attend the event on Facebook, were not around, I was pretty much excited to see some of those bloggers.

But anyways, the attendance was decent and the fun we’ve had? Awesome. I was unable to take any picture from the party because first of all, my camera sucks and secondly my camera was battery empty that very moment, so I’ll wait for someone else to upload the pictures that I’d then share to you via my new/old photo blog. I feel asleep and continued this post 5:13.  [Read more]

Ten Wishes This Christmas

I still crave for a lot of things even if I have received a lot already this Christmas, let me list down ten things that I want the most for this Holiday Season. To make it sound more credible and realistic, I’ll keep my hands of from those enormouswishes like “having a own house” etc, etc. But rather keep it to the small and simple ones that are still very important to me.

• See My Mother in Cebu – It has been a very long time since I last saw my mother from Cebu, and I have to admit that I really miss her through all this years of being apart.
• See Kirae – I had the chance to meet my “younger sister” Kirae in Manila, when I attended the WordCamp Philippines 2008, but unfortunately, our communication was gone during my two day stay in the metro.

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Good Deeds this Christmas

I can say that I am pretty much proud of myself and the good things that I have done until this very Christmas season, and so far, all my effort has paid of very great, and I’ve received more than I have expected to receive. Although, not really the things that I want to receive. But still, let me share you some of these.

• My Tita has paid me three hundred pesos for fixing her computer, I feel like I could open up a business for Computer repairs if I could earn money this easily. The problem that my Tita experienced was actually just a click away to get fixed.
• I was able to help out a blogging friend to get fix  few issues that he had with his theme.
• I was able to install a blog for a girl-friend (a friend who is a girl, not the other meaning of girl friend), who had quiet some difficulties getting started, and hey, was she happy when she noticed that I installed the latest version of WordPress which is WordPress 2.7
• I was able to help out a couple of people at both the WordPress.Com and WordPress.Org Support Forums.
• I fixed the CHMOD issue with Aika’s Server so that she can edit her theme templates per request

There are still a lot of other things that I have done for other people that are not in relation to computer and the world wide web, which Iwon’t list down here, since most of them are a few minor things, and I guess you don’t really want to get bored about that stuff? Hmm, now let’s see it from an other perspective, the fruits that I unexpectedly came to harvest from the good attitude that I have showed lately.

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In Christmas Mood

The best gift that I was able to give to my co-administrator and to my dearest co-writer was the assurance to a hundred percent server uptime, meaning to say that from now on, you won’t see our web blog getting stuck somewhere on the World Wide Web, and that thanks to the new WordPress Theme that we are using, which shows pretty much on how excited we are about the upcoming Holday Season!

[polldaddy poll=1132511]

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