A purr-y visitor

I have a visitor in the office today.

A purring visitor.

I am not entirely sure if the purr-y one is a boy or a girl cat.

Maybe it is a boy.

Let's meet Tiger Lily!

Moods #15

 

Moods #13

An invitation

This is to invite you dear readers to check out my blog From the teacher's table.

It is where I am writing my ideas and insights about education its trends and theories.

Thanks and good night

^^

Moods #6

 

Moods #3

 

Online class pa more!

 

 

Isang araw, habang nag-oonline class...

...wala lang, selfie mode lang ^^

Moods #2

 

Moods #1: typing on the keyboard, until after midnight

Hello Blogging, I missed you

Why have I been absent for the longest time?

Life had been really busy for the past few months and I think this trend is going to continue for quite a while. Tight daily schedules are getting tighter, responsibilities are getting deeper and heavier, and if I am fortunate enough to have a few minutes gap or break, I try to utilize it to update my different life lists (really I have a lot) ~ more and more I realise that time is really unforgiving, it will never wait for anyone, even for just one second! Hence, writing was pushed to the back seat, until finally (thank goodness) I had the time to pull it out from the pile of stuff that covered it for months!

Lately, most of my students are complaining about being so tired. I suspect it has something to do with the weather, it was reported that March 2015 was the hottest March since record keeping began in 1880. Ugh, I really hate to think that it will get hotter but common sense suggests that it will be the trend as it is just the beginning of summer season, so I have to bring more water every single day to rehydrate! Most importantly I have to recycle and conserve water and be more active in doing recycling.

Busy April

Right after Holy Week my brother and my sister-in-law had a thanksgiving buffet for their coming baby! So here are some pictures from the event.

My big family

Dad, me, mom, Tita Beth and Tito Ding

Mom, kuya, me and dad

Mom, me, dad, kuya and Ashley

As for volunteering ~

I have been spending my Sundays in Helping Land Tondo, Manila to teach kids in Project Pearls' summer program. I have cute kids here and they are very sweet.

Meet my students:

Kids at work

John-John, Dannyboy and Angelica

Lovely

Creating characters with clay

Kids and teachers

I am planning to spend my Sundays with them until the end of May :)

And yes, we were warned that life changes every single moment and nothing is permanent. But sometimes these warnings were just a bunch of words until we stop and really think about the changes we've been going through in our journey in life. Personally, I never know that teaching will really make a big impact in my life. And a very positive impact. I used to think that I will spend my life video editing and writing articles or making digital presentations but now I believe I found another trail that opens to more possibilities of serving and helping people. Must love teaching!

Preparing for (breathing deeply) SpEd. 

Sound bites 101

Sound bites
Situation: We had a discussion about the word 'belong'

Me: (Introducing an example sentence using the word belong) "This eraser belongs to me."
Student: Mmm, I belong to (the) eraser.
Me: No, the eraser belongs to you not the other way around.
Student: But why?
Me: Because you bought the eraser, you have power over the eraser. You own the eraser. The eraser has no power to own, it has no power over you. Is it clear?
Student: Yes, clear.
Me: Ok, please use belong in a sentence.
Student: I belong to the eraser.

Thought bubble: Is it another one of those existential statements? Why do I have a feeling that it is beginning to be a Philosophy class.

Para kay Ekay

Ang post na ito ay para sa 'yo Ekay ^^

At ang link na ito ay para rin sa iyo Ekay ^^

Sana magustuhan mo.

ParakayE

The full weekend and my newly acquired books

Been away from digital life for a while because I was (1) busy finishing my work deliverables (2) traveling over the weekend (3) too cash strapped to buy smart load for my internet stick.

Add to that, I am closely managing my domestic chores now because of my impending relocation to Manila by early February. Yeah, my Cebu adventure is coming to a close I need to plan ahead about shipping, packing and all the nitty-gritty business involve in moving out. My Cebu farewell write-up will be up soon, hopefully by next week.

So last weekend, I made a major decision. Instead of celebrating Sinulog with the jolly people of Cebu, I was convinced to fly to Kalibo and celebrate Ati-Atihan. Well, actually Kalibo was planned months before I got the Cebu contract so yeah, it will be best to honor that decision.

Ati-Atihan is a crowd celebration. Every minute, a marching band, consisting of mainly of drums plus lires, some have trumpets, will push you to dance to their beat. Add to that the colorful costumes of children and adults participating in the parade. They all painted their body and face with coals. Nice. In Ati-Atihan nobody is a stranger, because when you dance to the beat, you are dancing with the whole community. You are one with the rhythm of the tribes, of the streets and of the city.

It is my first time to celebrate it. And it was amazing. Full of colors and drum beats. You cannot block the marching of the people, one must either seek the safety of sidewalk or you dance with them. Participants have bottles of beer in their pockets to quench their thirst when they finish drumming to a song. These people are impossible. They start playing and marching as early as 5am up until 12 midnight for 5 days with small periods of rest.

I remember in my Anthro class, my professor said the first to enter the state of trance are the drummers. They get lost to the beating of drums, they repeat the rhythm until they reach the building climax, release. Tapos meron pang alcohol, wow, todo-trance!

Aside from trance, dancing and costumes, my stay in Kalibo was made worthwhile by their yummy pizza places: Zabroso and Jads. Although exploring these places during Ati-Atihan is not so comfortable because volumes of people who flock the city to celebrate end up ordering their lunch/dinner in these pizza parlors too. So you have to count extra minutes before you get your hands to a pizza slice.

My flight back to Cebu was also tense. I was beating the check-in deadline when I arrived at the airport 30 minutes before my boarding time. The long lines of people waiting to enter the airport was enough to make me lose my faith in catching my flight. But luckily, I was permitted by the guard to enter right away (since I made an online check-in) only to find out that my flight is one and half hour late. Big relief.

Whew.

So am happy that although the plane arrived 2 hours later, at least I am inside the airport, writing my weekend adventures.

Now back in office in Cebu City, I am very intrigued by my new book acquisition:
A history of mourning by Richard Devey
Ruins of Ancient Cities vols I and II
A journal from Japan
Brave New World
Study in Emerald

Excited to read.

But I will work first. So Dr Who season 2 has to wait because I have to read my books first before watching the doctor.

Deep breath, here comes final stretch

Ok, here goes the video editing phase

 

Some selfie moment

Hello ^^ during an ocular in Quest Hotel