Good Friday Procession

Months before the Holy Week, I was planning to spend the long break in Bicol and enjoy the sands of CamSur and Caramoan. I don't know what exactly happened, I was told some people backed out from the said trip. So it was canceled.

Weeks before the Holy Week, Mels sent me an SMS asking if I want to go with her in Manaoag then go to a beach in Bolinao, Pangasinan afterwards for a little R&R. She even emailed me pictures of the resort where we're gonna stay. I said yes. But that too was canceled.

Rellie was asking, "Bakit aalis ka pa? Bakit hindi ka na lang umuwi sa Cabiao?" And he started telling me stories about how they spend the Cuaresma in Nueva Ecija. The Visita Iglesia, the procession, the bukid lunch, his "panata", and the Php120 special halo-halo that he said he'd buy me one if I go with him. That did the trick.

We joined the solemn Good Friday procession which made it's way around the streets around 5PM. It was my first time to see the parade of antique images of saints bigger than me. This is something which tourists should see as well. Imagine how many people carried the whole set of "The Last Supper". There were a lot of people watching so it's hard to get a good angle for photo taking.

CREDIT:
PAPER from The Colurs of Tuscany by Chaos Lounge
FLOWERS from Brise Marine Kit by Petit Moineaux

I uploaded more photos in my facebook account. It was a long procession. Sabi nga ni Rellie, "Magdasal ka ha... 'wag ka puro picture jan!" Here's the list of what we saw:

1. San Pedro
2. Ang Mabuting Samaritana
3. Nasalubong ni Jesus si Magdalena
4. Pagpasok sa Jerusalem
5. Pagpapahid ng Pabango ni Magdalena sa Paa ni Jesus
6. Huling Hapunan
7. Pananalangin sa Getsemane
8. Apong Nakagapos
9. Si Jesus sa Harap ni Pilato
10. Senor dela Pacencia
11. Nazareno
12. Tres Caida
13. La Pieta
14. Virgen dela Soledad
15. Santa Marta
16. Santa Veronica
17. Maria Jacobe
18. Maria Salome
19. Maria Magdalena
20. Santo Entierro
21. La Dolorosa
22. San Juan Evangelista

The center of attention is the "Santo Entierro" (Holy Internment). Right after the procession, the locals will then get all the flower decors of the Santo Entierro as they believe these are miraculous or blessed. Nanay was able to give me some and she told me to keep it in my wallet. I also learned that Rellie's family mixes the dried flowers and leaves from the Santo Entierro with the fertilizers for their farm. Everything for good harvest.

Another interesting thing is that part of Rellie and his Nanay's Good Friday "panata" is to help carry the Santo Entierro as it is being brought back inside the Cabiao Church.

CREDIT:
PAPER from Purple Addict by Kawouette
RIBBON by Anja Jahn

Once laid in the altar, people then line up and they are given a few minutes to say their prayers. Some even wipe their handkerchief in the Santo Entierro.

After prayers have been said, they carry back the Santo Entierro to its glass cabinet.

CREDIT:
PAPER from Fall Fever

Despite the heat of the sun, the fact that it's hard to move around, and the long walk... I'd say that this is quite an interesting experience for me. I was amazed by the sheer volume of people who join the Good Friday procession. Add to that the many grand heirloom carrozas and santos. This really is a nice sight to behold. You should try this sometime.

Maundy Thursday Visita Iglesia

Part of the Filipino tradition during Holy Thursday is to visit seven (7) churches some even fourteen and this is called "Visita Iglesia". I remember experiencing this with the Tabaquero's a long... long... long time ago. As in ages ago! You see, my family is not your typical "Catholic family" who prays together. And we don't have our own car to begin with (Oh yeah, that's a super lame excuse!). Anyway, I am lucky that I am spending the Holy Week break with Rellie's family. I had the chance to enrich my faith. By 8PM we're off to do the Visita Iglesia with Pampanga churches on our list. You see, Cabiao is next to Arayat, Pampanga so it's easier to do the Pampanga route than to go up north Cabanatuan. I was with, Rellie, Nanay, Tito Greg, Erwin (Rellie's cousin whom they call Japok or Hapon), Inang and Chin (Inang's household help).

I don't have photos to share, that's the only one I took. I thought everyone will be so serious with their prayers and reflections and the camera flash might disturb them. But on the third church that we visited... camera phones, digital camera, videos are all over the place. Rellie was a bit puzzled, "Hindi ka magpi-picture Chenelyn!?!"

Pampanga Churches are indeed beautiful. And I heard they are hot on the Visita Iglesia map. Here's the list of the churches we visited. I hope I got the church names right.

• St. Catherine Parish, Camba, Arayat Pampanga
• Arayat Church, Arayat Pampanga
• St. Anne Parish Church, Sta. Ana, Pampanga
• Sto. Domingo Parish Church, Santo Domingo, Mexico Pampanga
• Sta. Monica Parish Church, Mexico, Pampanga
• Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, San Fernando Pampanga
• Cabiao Church, Cabiao, Nueva Ecija

So what's on your list? I hope it's not seven beaches There's a time for everything.

Home for the Holy Week

Rellie is already in Cabiao since Holy Tuesday. I left Manila alone on a Sierra Madre bus. Would you believe I almost canceled this trip for business reasons. I was having second thoughts on leaving my DL for a long time. But I know Rellie will really mind if I don't go. He was starting to toy with the idea that I have other plans that's why I did not immediately said yes to his invitation. He's been teasing me for days with this, "Siguro magswi-swimming ka kaya ayaw mo umuwi". And so... I have to head "home".

CREDIT:
PAPER from Grungy Bug Kit by Christina Brown Designs
FRAME by Manu70
ROAD TRACK from Road Trip Kit by Tracy Drane
ROAD SIGN from Road Trip Kit by Tracy Drane
FONT Arial Black

It's been two months since my last stay in Cabiao. Nothing much changed, except that their garden and backyard are now full of fighting cocks. That afternoon when I arrived, Rellie was busy injecting Vit B for his pets

CREDIT:
STICKER from Sweet Easter Kit by Rgi Musa


CREDIT:
ROOSTER STAMP from Farm House Collection Kit by Raspberry Road Designs


CREDIT:
STICKER from Sweet Easter Kit by Rgi Musa

I'll share a short funny kwento. Jan-Jan climbed the guava tree to get the ripe guavas. But some are already eaten by worms while some are already over ripe, so Rellie told Jan, "Itabi mo na lang. Panuka na lang yan". I didn't understand what he said so I asked...

ME: "Ano yung "panuka"?"
RELLIE: "Pangluto... ung pang-sigang."
ME: "Yaiks... ang baho kaya nun."
RELLIE: "Ano ka!?! Paborito kaya namin yun dito. Ang dalas kaya namin kumain nun."
ME: "Weeeeee????? Hindi nga!?!"

Rellie then shouted out, "Tay, 'di ba paborito natin yung Sinigang sa Bayabas?" And Tay nodded to agree. Rellie looked at me with a smirk on his face. Toink! But the story doesn't end there... no not yet.

During dinner, Tay was talking to Nanay...

TAY: "Nay, mag-sigang ka nga sa bayabas para makahigop tayo ng sabaw."
NAY: "O sige, sa Sabado ng umaga bibili ako ng buto-buto."

I looked at Rellie while I was forcing myself to put up a poker face. Then I caught Tay looking at me before saying, "Kaya lang mukhang hindi kumakain yung isang bata d'yan nun eh", and he laughed. My face went red . Hahaha! Perhaps Tatay was able to hear my conversation with Rellie earlier.

And yes, when Saturday came, we had Sinigang sa Bayabas for lunch. No joke!

Into the Sun

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine -

and shadows will fall behind you.”

~ * ~ Walt Whitman ~ * ~

CREDIT:
PAPER from Twinkle Toes by Miss Mint
TEMPLATE by Anita Designs
FONT Mistral

Back to reality. Sigh.

My itchy feet is back in Manila. So far it's the longest break that I had for the year. But I'm starting to feel the post-holiday blues. Oh well... good thing I have another trip to look forward to in the next few weeks.

I hope you enjoyed your Holy Week break as much as I enjoyed mine! I'll be uploading more photos soon so visit me again.

EGGciting day

I prepared Easter Eggs for my Gamers today. They get to pick an egg for every 1 hour game/surf time availed. Each egg contain 1 egg shaped chocolate and a coupon. Lucky eggs have 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 1 hour game/surf time Free Coupon as my EASTER treat, while the rest have a THANK YOU note =) While I was preparing the plastic eggs last night, I placed the lucky coupons in the PINK eggs thinking that most of the Gamers are boys and would probably ignore the pink eggs. To my surprise, 2 out of 6 Gamers who played on the first hour picked the pink eggs and both won free minutes. I can't help but smile when I heard Badong say, "Ay, gusto ko yung pink!" =) Oopppss... wrong strategy, hehe =) The young ones and not so young ones eagerly joined my Easter Activity. But only five people cracked open the lucky eggs. Some are even asking if the game will continue for the rest of the week. "Uhm... pang-Easter Sunday lang po ang Egg Hunt." *wink*

CREDIT
FRAME from Ellie Lash
EGGS from Ellie Lash

STEP 1: Choose one egg

CREDIT
FRAME from MGL Scraps
EGG w/ RIBBON from MGL Scraps

STEP 2: Check out the goodies inside =)

CREDIT
FRAME from Moon Scraps Designs
EGGS from Julie Billingsley

STEP 3: Read the coupon and munch the chocolate.

CREDIT
FRAME from Franziska Altmann
BUNNY & EGG from Franziska Altmann

STEP 4: Enjoy your EASTER SUNDAY

CREDIT
WORD ART from Megan Farrow (Flergs)

I have a few photos of my Gamers which I would like to share with you.

CREDIT
FRAME from Tracy King
BUNNY from Mandy Rae Designs
EGGS Mandy Rae Designs
BUTTERFLY Mandy Rae Designs

May the new life that Easter brings be your inspiration to make each moment count and live life to it's fullest. Wishing you every beauty, every blessing and every enriching revelation and wisdom this day can bring. Happy Easter everyone! =)

ikstik

on a good friday

I spent my Good Friday off from work (as normal people do, hehe) to visit my sister Jackee. She invited me to have a DVD marathon with her at her place like we used to do. So we spent the whole day lying in bed, our eyes glued on the TV.

We watched a Koreanovela which I think was already shown in ABS-CBN, Spring Waltz. It draws the passion, love, reconciliation, and understanding between Jae Ha and Eun-Yeong who have shared the memories of their childhood together after they meet again as adults. Secrets of the past are revealed one by one as the story reaches its climax. I am drawn to the spring scenes at Cheongsan-do, Eun-Yeong's hometown, in which green barley fields spread widely and canola flowers are in full bloom. Maybe it would be really fun to stay in that field, inhaling all the fresh air in.

I also love the heart-shaped beach featured in one of the scenes. Who wouldn't!?! I found this photo in the net. Look. Amazing isn't it? =)

We haven't finished our marathon yet but we already hate Song I-na, the feeling girlfriend kontrabida, hahaha! =) I'll go back to Jackee's place tonight so we can finish the series =)

Here's a photo of our Good Friday lunch date (a break from the marathon). Thank God for the food from the neighborhood karinderya =)

CREDIT
QUICKPAGE from Ana Mara Designs
FONT Prime Minister of Canada

Look at her Summer themed plate =) And our Chicharon peeking, hehe!

* I just wanna go to the BEACH...
ikstik