Meet Valerie, Arsenia's daughter

Just Like Mom

This is my daughter Valerie. These photos were taken when she visited me in my office.  She doesn't wear any make up. She was picked amongst more than 2,000 aspirants. She went tthrough the elemination process and she said she anwered all their questions with a smile, eye contact and with poise. According to her, she is the only Filipina in the pageant representing all the teenagers in Houston. Wish her luck. I told her she is already a winner to me.

Photo no. 5 belongs to Arsenia.

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- photos and captions submitted by Arsenia

adventures in shopping at GW..:)

So I saw this Nikon camera on a shelf at Goodwill ( not the book store in Avenida )..It is one of those point and shoot cameras popluar some decades ago..

It was compact, lightweight with a 29 mm lens. Model number EF300. It accepts a 35 mm film used in ordinary SLRs, It has a built in flash that lights up if the camera deems more illumination  is needed to make up a good photo. ..No zoom. You have to use your feet for this purpose..step forward, or step backward. Nothing could be simpler. Oh yes, 2 AA batteries are required for the flash and for the film to advance. When I first saw it, I was wondering. To buy or not to buy. There is a warning sticker ( present in all the electronic equipments ) CAN NOT BE RETURNED. The total cost is 3.99 plus tax. It comes with a nice leatherette case which would house my Sony digicam.

"Chuck it," I finally said and I put it into my Goodwill shopping cart which was labeled LOBLAWS supermart. I wonder if Loblaws donated the cart to them..

 

When I got home, I removed the 2 AA batteries from one of the  remote controls scattered around the living room. I placed it into the Nikon camera. Then I popped in a 20 shot 35 mm camera. The film wound itself automatically, .."So far, so good.." I said, feeling proud of myself..

Then I wanted to make some test shots..Went outside and shoot some views in the backyard. When Miguelita arrived from work, I took a few shots of her..

"Where did you get that camera?" she asked. Each time she asks these questions, I start feeling fidgety..

Honestly speaking,  it is the simplest kind of camera for anyone  who does not like to be bothered with technical BS when it comes to picture taking.KISS should be the rule. Keep It Simple Stupid....

Even the simplest and cheapest Digicam in the market is still crammed with many technicalities..Some people just do not want to be bothered with these machines' language..

Anyway, I continued shooting her ( with the Nikon ) until the last frame wasused up. Then a simple flick of a switch made  the film rewind, ready to be submitted to a film lab which arealready few and far between. But not to worry, film is not totally dead yet...

The cashier told me to come back after a week. With a digicam there is no need to wait that long.

A week after, I went to the film lab. My mind was filled with what-ifs..Oh well, the case looks lovely and it would cost more than 3.99 to buy it new, I tried to console myself...

I went to the cashier and she handed me the bag of photos..She charged me 9$

"Did the photos came out well?'I eagerly asked.. It seems all of them came out all right..

I opened the envelope. Lo and behold. The Nikon shots were better than some of the didgicam shots I made!

What's amazing is that the lab which is operated by the Canadian franchise Shopper's drug Mart gave me a CD-R..For free, they digitized ALL my shots..It seems I used a digicam after all!

AWRIGHT!! I said when I saw the stuff inside..Yessss...!!

Film technology is not dead yet.. It is alive and well and your SLR might still outlive those current crop of Digicam which are quite expensive and sometimes unpredictable...

Check the photos I made with the $3.99 camera....I downloaded directly the Nikon images from the free disk Shoppers gave me...

The backyard, in the light of a September afternoon sun...

 

Miguelita, that afternoon of September 28. That was her birthday..Do not ask how many years has passed by..:)

 

A longer shot...The white plastic bag contained some Chinese food which we celebrated September 28..."Remember, remember, the 28th of September..."...:)

 

 

a letter from Stauro

the first box arrived!

 

After such a long, long day at the polls ( Ontario Provincial Elections ) where I worked as a DRO ( Direct Return Officer ) , I found this e-mail from Stauro and it indeed made me happy!

 

A big thank you to Miguelita Costes, Marcie Uson-Wise, Ben Soloria, Arsenia, Annie, Nelson,  ( Did I miss anybody?)..I hope all Asinganians will support this worthwhile project...

 

 

**********************

 

Uncle Vic,

 

Hi uncle vic, the box has arrived already and we are sorting them out right now. The books are great! also the comics... the paintings i plan to frame them for display in the center if thats ok with you? Thank you so much for the books, they will surely go a long long way to making our project a reality.

 

Arsenia de gracia emailed me yesterday and sent us 100 us dollars which i already have. im planning to use the money to buy some more books here and part will go to the prize money for the halloween costume cook out which i hope will serve as the soft opening for the center. I have in mind the usual cookout you have in the states and canada. with all the grilling and cola... but this one will have a twist, everyone should be in their creepiest costume. Im hoping that this will become a yearly activity.

 

Im quite positive of the outcome of this project. and somewhere down the road i can see the leaders of the future will emenate from Asingan thru the help of this project.

 

We are now busy in sorting out the books and having them stamped with the aces logo. I suppose more boxes will arrive in the coming weeks. just in time for the holloween cookout. This november we will be hosting a tournament here in asingan where teams from around region 1, CAR, and nearby regions will be on hand to participate. I'm heading the organizing committee in setting up the table. this will also be a chance for the ACES Program to be introduced. Right now I am looking for sponsors to help in the budget needs for the tournament. 

 

This is what the town needs, a chance to be noticed and november will be a great chance for us to show how great this town is. the budget needsas of now is around90,000, which includes the purchase of rubber mats, equipment, and supplies. hopefully this will become a yearly activity also for the town to look forward to.

 

On December, we will be having a Lantern Parade same as how we do it in UP Diliman, i hope that the agencies and schools will participate. Now that would really make this town a destination during the Christmas season. Imagine having a lantern parade here then a december flea market at the town plaza. I bet that would make the christmas of every family here in town for the business it would generate. I am sure the town has plenty to offer.

 

Hope to hear from you soon Uncle, thanks for everything. God bless

 

 

Stau

 

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on funerals

 

Sammy's Comments...

What a vivid recollection of your grandma's last days on this earth. It perfectly describes our old traditions and customs  on how we treat our dead during their wake. As time passed by,  some changes came but some old ways were retained. Portable coin-operated karaoke machines are now being used by local enterpreneurs to boost their income. If you feel like singing, you have to insert  5 pesos worth of coins in order for you to show your talent in singing. Some just do it for fun. That's how our local folks now, compared before when they were still timid and shy. I am not so sure, but my understanding is that, they ( the machine owner and the dead's family) split whatever  the gross income is.

During the last night (big night), aside from many card tables playing tong-its, pusoy, lucky nine etc. , local band or  singers from neighboring towns are hired for a  "mini concert". Intermission numbers are reindered by local folks. As usual there is always the "pakape" or free coffee. only this time it is served  with  " sopas" (macaroni soup). One thing remained constant and unchanged is our strong and family solidarity during this times of sorrow.

---Sammy

 

My, my..times are a changin'..My buddy Ben Soloria also mentioned to me in  an old e-mail ( which I was not able to retrieve from the AOL archives ) that some funeral coaches now are Mercedes, BMWs etc..Well, some Filipinos are affluent and if they can afford it, why not? I think not every one can afford this kind of funeral though...

--vic

Once Upon a Time, part 6

THE DAY MY GRANDMOTHER DIED

There came the time eventually when my Grandma became bedridden. Everybody knew the end is nigh, they just do not know when. More people came to visit her everybody. To a 6-year old like me, they were just big people coming and going to our house and I did not let them disturb my routine of playing with my friends or going about in the neighborhood until it was time to eat.

But I remember one morning a priest came to the house and I saw him gave my grandma Holy Communion. She had on this white veil ( most women in Asingan at that time wore veils when they went to Mass ).

One afternoon, I was in the living room doing some sketching my favorite hobby even then. I had this tin cracker box which was big enough to store  8.5 by 11 paper, pencils and eraser. I was doing my own comic strips at that time, having been inspired by the countless Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel etc. comic books owned by my brother. Then, I heard this wailing and pounding of feet coming from my Grandma's bedroom.

The room was packed with big people. I sat down and looked through several feet. The room was already filled with crying women, like everybody was doing it all at the same time. But there on the floor, I saw a sight which I still carry with me up to now.

I saw Grandma, lying down on the floor ( I do not know why ) . She was about to give up her spirit. Her eyes were wide open as if she was looking at something ( or some unseen spirits ). There was no sign of fear in her face, just a big surprise. Then a few seconds later, I saw her eyes closing, never to open again.

The wailing inside the room was too much for me. Somehow I had to go out into the living room, then down the yard to catch some fresh air.

There were more people coming to the house than ever before. The agent of a local funeral parlor came and afterwards, I saw them set up black curtains in the living room. Soon, my grandma's coffin was set out in the middle section.

Dr. Regalado Tendero ( my Aunt Filomena's husband ) who was there all the time before and after Grandma died was quite busy cleaning up grandma's room. He used lye solution and most of her personal stuff were burned.

 

That night, Mr. Sampaga's generator started giving electric power to the house and it was to run the whole night. Asingan had no electric power yet at that time. A Bingo paraphernalia arrived too. The whole house took on such a gay and festive atmosphere. I was so happy to see my cousins coming over to the house so we had all the time to play.  

For several nights, there were the sounds of Bingo, mahjong, etc. There were also bottomless cups of coffee, food and dessert. The kitchen of the house had never been that busy. As a kid I learned that dying in Asingan could be such a happy ocassion.

During my Grandmother's funeral, I was told to stay at home together with some younger cousins like Cora, Zorayda, Evelina, Armando and Arnulfo. We stayed out of harm's way when the coffin was brought down from the house and was brought to the church for the Mass of the dead. When the funeral procession passed by,  we were at the big stairway of the house with an adult. The house was empty and desolate once more.

I remember that night, everyone in our house ( except some other relatives ) slept together in one part of the living room. We waited for the third night after the burial because some Filipinos believe that the soul of the deceased comes back to visit her old abode on earth  three days after  the burial.

That night, when the clock chimed 12 times , I woke up. I heard coughing inside grandma's room. I heard it legibly. I pulled up my bedsheet over my head ( like it would help protect me ) and nestled close to my Mom's body. There was no more sound after that and I slept like a baby until the next morning.

I asked my sister Aurora the next morning at the breakfast table.

"Did you hear the coughing in grandma's room last night?"

"Yeah.." she answered.

"So she came back, she came back!" I affirmed.

"Oh, eat your breakfast," my Mom interrupted. " We have lots of things to do this morning.."

I continued eating. At least my sister heard it too. The rest of the family did not want to talk about it.---#

family lore

Once Upon a Time in ASINGAN, part 5

After my grandfather died, my grandmother carried on the work of maintaining the business establishments which they founded. There were quite a few of them.. They had this KONO/KISKISAN, a machine which converted palay into rice. The workhorse was a heavy duty diesel machine called BLACKSTONE and it could run 24 hours a day, with minimun maintenance. It has two driving wheels and it could run two rice kiskisan at the same time ( there were 2 driving wheels on opposite sides of a big axle ), but usually there was only one kiskisan being driven at a time.

But the work was hard and one has contend with the "palay dust," a very fine dust that floats around inside the place. It is borne by the air and it is an aftermath of the process of unhusking the palay. My Mom said there were times when customers would be stuck there even at noon time, so my Grandma would give them lunch while they waited for their turn. My Grandma was a good hearted woman; a church goer and she prayed regularly as the church bells tolled the Angelus at 6:00 pm.

When I was already about 5 or 6 years old, I became aware of my world: the big Spanish type house where I grow up in Asingan. In 1948, I went to the Asingan Elementary School situated just beside the Public Market. In my Grade 1 class, I met friends like Rudy Dumapias ( now a retired Consul living in Texas ), Juan ( Johnny ) Pascua, a retiree who spent much of his life in Asingan as a teacher before he came to the US. Johnny must be a retiree by now and I met him recently during my last visit to California. Then there is Nueva Domaoan Elma who is now in New Jersey having also attained a high position in the government. There were several others: Jose Montoya, Amelia Eleazar, etc...My Grade 1 teacher was Mrs. Valentina Lising. She lived in Calaoagan, Poblacion.

Anyway, let us go back to my grandmother..

My Grandmother was already sick when I first saw her during my early childhood years.. She refused to see any doctor or to take any medicine. She had a caregiver, an old woman named Maria who attended to her every need because my Grandmother was constantly holed up inside her room. At that time, she could not walk any more. She CRAWLED when she went out ofher room to the BANGSAL just to have some fresh air. There I saw her sitting down quietly, looking at the trees and the sky and sometimes looking at her palms just wondering maybe how much life she had left. Maria was at her beck and call, 24 hours a day. She did not want to bother much my dad about her care. But we all know she was very rich and she must have paid her very well. But maria had to do everything related to the nursing of my grandma. The Kiskisan was still operating under the management of my Dad.

Sometimes, as I passed by her room, she would call out my name. Her room was half shut. Slowly I would step in. The room was so dark. But under the light of the shell covered windows I could see her smiling face.It was already emaciated.

"How do you like a can of powdered milk?" She would ask me.

It was a can of KLIM ( milk spelled backwards ) which was very popular in the Philippines at that time. It was still unopened. I would softly thank her, then I would step out quietly. The powdered milk is supposed to be mixed with water. But I just take a spoon and eat the powder with gusto. Sometimes my dad used it to whiten his coffee.

In her room, I saw lots of statues belonging to the Crucified Jesus, the Holy Family and there was one bearing semblance to San Vicente de Padua. I guess she must have named my dad after him.. All statues were about 2 or 3 feet tall and they were carved exquisitely out of wood. Very beautiful pieces.

next: THE DAY MY GRANDMOTHER DIED

 

 

 

a gem of posting from the DC

 

a short essay from WATCHER

Let me make a little point here, and since unavoidedly it comes to a question of qualification since I will be offering some facts which may be questioned I will offer my credentials.

I am a graduate of the University of the Philippines class 56, I am now semi retired with only teaching and research work, I have at one time served on two state boards of medicine, had been active in Filipino American professional organizations, a tenured professor at an Ivy League school. Some Americans, including white, Filipinos, Indians, and all go abroad to study medicine because of standards, but also because of money, tution is high here. That is what they call the 5th Pathway.

Yes, standards may be high here, but not so in other colleges, not all, just the same back home,where 5 or 6 have also high standards, which I think makes it proportionate to US in terms of population and land area. The USMLE is a tough qualifying exam, but being an American graduate doesnt assure you of passing. It is not ONLY the standards/competence/intelligence that is involved here, but also political/economic reasons. thus even if you passed the USMLE, which most graduates of universities in Manila can pass and do pass, you cannot be assured of getting a slot in residency in the US for the reason that you have to score higher than the american graduate. the reason is why will they hire you if they can just hire one of their own?

Second is that, the slots for residency are way, way below the number of graduates even from US alone, thus what more for graduates from the Philippines, India, Russia, UK, Belarus, syria, and the caribbean. One cannot practice unless he has at least done a year of residency here. so by sheer number, not all can really go here as doctors, but since the need for nurses is higher, one can go here as nurse. if you talk about standards, I will agree that standards are higher here in the US as a whole, but with the exception of I think 3 universities in Manila.

I can say that those 3 schools are at par with about a third of top schools here in the US. to those of us who really look up to the US as the best,(UK and the Common wealth Japan, Switzerland will not be happy with this) you should know that the UP is american originated and patterned. much as the new england states Ivy league schools are patterned after their English counterparts. With regards to law, I can say that the Philippine bar is, oh yes, harder than the California and New York State bar!---#