Blessing

After teaching for almost 25 years, the Lord blessed me with an award in my profession. When I submitted the supporting documents relative to my nomination, I thought that my humble accomplishments were not outstanding enough to merit national recognition. I was wrong.

I traveled all by myself to Puerto Princesa City not to explore its God-given beauty (it was my fifth time) but to attend the national convention of my profession. It was during the closing ceremony that I received the award along with award recipients in other fields of agricultural engineering and the most coveted Maramba Award.

As I shared in my testimony in church, with this award I hope to be more inspired to do what I've been doing. And hopefully, make a difference to those around me.

Thank you, Lord. To God be the glory!

Boracay Twists

I thought we would get a late afternoon glimpse of the beach after a 4-hour sailing from Roxas, Oriental Mindoro but we were almost near the port of Caticlan when the captain announced that the boat could not dock because there was no available space. We had to wait for the departure of another ferry boat and that took one and a half hours of waiting. It was past 8 p.m. when we checked into the resort. All of us were too hungry and we ended up eating in a fast food restaurant noted for its eat-all-you-can rice. Going back to the resort much as I wanted to stroll and check what was new in the place, I finally called it a day.

The following day after breakfast, we immediately hurried to the beach for the early morning swim. It was low tide but I was disappointed to see the shore lined with algae. Algal bloom? Nutrient enrichment of a water body? Where did the nutrients come from? Uh oh. We walked several meters to select a spot to dip and that was a quick one because the algae remained even as the tide began to rise. Enough for that.

Good thing we decided to hire a multi-cab to check out two of the most expensive resorts on the island as recently featured in "Ang Pinaka". I liked the contemporary structure of "DSB" and the serenity of the "Shang". And these are the places that I could not afford to stay in. At least, I was able to take a peek.



The last stop was at Mt. Luho which is the highest point on the island. The view deck is made of bamboo poles that could accommodate 20 pax at a time but it was so windy that time and our fear of height was truly aggravated. The sisters were "pegged" on the platform tightly holding to the railing and the youngest of us just kept on screaming every time the wind blew. Despite the fear, we truly admired the bird's eye view of the beautiful island of Boracay.

The Long Way to Boracay

10:40 a.m. @ Roxas Port

This will be my fourth time traveling to Boracay. No more excitement? Maybe, but this time I'm traveling with my two sisters and two brothers together with their families. All in all, we're 13 adults and four children aged 2 to 10 years old. I'm with my son.

We're not in Boracay yet. Just stuck here in one small restaurant waiting for the 2 p.m. trip of the ferry boat to Caticlan. We left Calapan City at half past 5 a.m. expecting to take the 10 a.m. trip. But the ferry boat left at 8 a.m. just 10 minutes before we arrived at Roxas Port. So here I am killing the time to write about this trip.

Hopefully, the sailing this afternoon would be smooth and everybody would have a great time bonding with one another and appreciating the beauty of one of the world's finest beaches.

By the way, happy Resurrection Sunday! I missed the joint sunrise worship service today and will surely miss the church outing in Calatagan, Batangas this afternoon until tomorrow.

Hil-Flor Matibag Family Reunion

Reunions. It's more fun in the Philippines... For the first time, the clan from my maternal side had its reunion in Pansol, Calamba, Laguna on April 1-2, 2012. If I remember it right, the last big family event was the 50th wedding anniversary of our grandparents way back in the 80s.

My maternal grandparents (+) had 10 children, 6 girls, and 4 boys. Our mother is the third child and the eldest among the girls. The first three are already gone and the remaining ones are scattered in Lucena City, Calapan City, Balayan, Batangas, and the rest in New York, USA. With 10 children, 21 grandchildren, and 37 great-grandchildren, that's a lot! Yes, it was the first time and it was pure fun and excitement to see and bond with each other again. 

Though we were not complete, the turnout was good enough. I'll treasure the memories (no matter how strong the senior moments are) and look forward to the next gathering. Isn't it more fun to see them this way than meeting them at a funeral as usually happens? Thank God!

Paraw Regatta in Iloilo City

Our group took the early morning flight to Iloilo for our four-day writeshop. From the airport, we dropped by the hotel to store our luggage since check-in time is at 2 p.m. We unanimously agreed to have our "second" breakfast in a restaurant offering the authentic La Paz batchoy. Nowhere to go? Our taxi just followed the first group and we were surprised to realize that we were going to the paraw regatta at the Villa area.

It was low tide and we just waited for the program to end so the contest could begin. There were colorful sailboats and the beach was full of spectators. Once the contest started, we found ourselves sitting in the nearby restaurant for a very early seafood lunch. Super loaded!