St. Lorenzo Ruiz

THe only Filipino saint, St. Lorenzo Ruiz, born in Binondo, Manila, a layman and father of three, accused of murder, exiled to Japan where he was tortured to denounce Christianity, that he never did, "That I shall never do, because I am a Christian and I shall die for God, and for Him I will give many thousands of lives if I had them. And so do with me as you will please." With his strong Christian faith led him to martyrdom. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and canonized into sainthood in 1987 by Pope John Paul II in Vatican City. His feastday is today, September 28.





St. Lorenzo Ruiz is the patron saint of the high school sophomores in my son's school. I do not regularly attend Sunday mass, so I make it a point to attend special Feast days. There was a recollection for students and parents, afterwhich, mass followed.

summer

You are not a Filipino if you have not been to Baguio. As a child, the mere mention of Baguio always excites me. Back to the days when Baguio was still clean and under populated. Last summer, my travelmate and I went to Sagada instead of Baguio. Why Sagada? Well, it's not that  i don't know how to swim but honestly i'm not a beach bum.....

From Manila, we took the bus (Florida) to Banaue. The 8-hour trip went on smoothly and we reached Banaue exactly for breakfast. 

 As seen on our one thousend peso bill:

 We took a van that charge 300php per head for a 3-hour ride to Sagada:

Sagada is famous for its hanging coffins. Climbed up the echo valley to where these coffins hanged on a big solid rock

 Basketball court at the foot of Echo Valley:

 Betel nut or simply called mamma by the locals. Seems everybody in Banaue chew this even the kids and the teens:

 Stop over in Atok on the way to Baguio

He makes good kimchi:

F4ever

A proposed concert reunion is being planned for the 10th year anniversary of F4, the taiwanese boyband. Hope this will push through as Jerry Yan is now uner treatment for a minor ailment. Ken expressed his willingness to attend, same thing with Vic and Vanness who is currently filming a drama Material Queen. If things goes well and plans materialize, so good to see the 4 of them in one stage again....F4ever!!!!!!

honesty is the best policy.......

One Christian values we inculcate our children is about honesty. We tell them, HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY.....We teach them to have fear in God and honest in everything. Be it on money, food, and even school grades. We tell them not to cheat during exams. We ask them to return found items, etc. And even gluttony is a mortal sin!!!

My issue here is not about the children. It's all about us adults. Children look up on us and all dependent on us. We should set as models for them to follow as they grow up.

We attend masses and go to church, alright. Have we examined ourselves if we are fit to the kingdom of God? Personally, I have nothing against masses, i see it as a celebration and praising for God. My point is, there is no use in celebrating and praising if we do not practice these values.

Now, how can we teach our children good values if we, ourselves do not know the ABCs of these? .... Well, I strongly believe in the law of KARMA!!!!!