Tuloy na Tuloy pa rin ang Pasko...

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and be courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

-Joshua 1:9

After the magnitude 7.2 earthquake happened in Bohol, historical churches in the province became ruins. But despite what happened, a group of children sung The Prayer in front of national television (see video) to encourage everyone to help not just those people who were affected by the disaster but also for the restoration of the destroyed churches.

Several emotions came rushing me while watching them. It broke my heart watching them sing the song while their faces shows more than just hope. I felt proud being a Filipino as these children became evidences of our race's resiliency. I was also even thankful that I am one of those people who are capable of helping them and not the one of those who needed help.

By the way, I am talking about the Loboc Children's Choir. I never thought that I will be able to see the faces of those children in person until last Friday when they personally invited everyone in our office to watch their benefit concert that day. I was having a goosebumps while watching them. But I started fighting my tears when they are already singing this line of Tuloy na Tuloy pa rin ang Pasko,

Mabuti pa nga ang Pasko noong isang taon

sa ating hapag mayroong keso de bola't hamon

baka sa gipit, Happy New Year mapo-postpone

at ang hamon ay mauuwi sa bagoong.

Now, please allow me to share with you my video as they sing their own version of Tuloy na Tuloy pa rin ang Pasko. (Sorry for the unnecessary noise.>.<)

On the other hand, I would like to take this opportunity to ask everyone to donate for the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan (Bagyong Yolanda). For international donors, your may extend your help through globalgiving.com. For those who are in the Philippines, you may choose from various channel summarized by sunstar.com.ph.

Mapapa-WOW sa Pinas. It's More Fun in the Philippines.: A Campaign

Am I insane? Two Philippine tourism slogans in one? Yes, why not coconut? The former WOW Philippines tourism campaign is a hit to the point that a videoke microphone was named after it. And though "It's More Fun in the Philippines" campaign gained controversies at first, it is now gaining popularity. This new tourism's campaign to promote the ecotourism of the Philippines also shows the creativity of Filipino minds. How? Let the photos below show you how.

To promote the Banaue Rice Terraces.

Source:  outoftownblog.com

To promote the Filipino Bayanihan.

Source:  rv-orchidworks.com

And my most favorite is this photo that celebrates Philippine Independence,

Source:  ilovecdo.info

But what really made me join this campaign? It was the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Bohol. This calamity made me depressed. What on earth have I done? I've been working for 2 years and yet I haven't been to this part of my country. I actually have all the means that I need and yet I did not choose to allocate some money to visit this place. And now, all historical churches will be ruins. Yeah, since it will take lots of time to restore them. The sad truth is that even though the greatest architects and engineers will put all their greatest efforts to restore these churches, it will never be the same.

Aside from joining this campaign, the calamity made me want to write a bucket list which includes visiting a province or two in each of the Philippines' 16 regions. Not just that, some regions even includes a specific activity and province like snorkling in Palawan, hydro jet surfing in Zambales, as well as buying an item in Honesty Shop in Batanes.

Just like what my mother told, "...mas magandang mag-ikot dito. Pupunta kang Singapore, anong titignan mo dun, building?" Yeah, she's right. But out of the country trips is still on my list but as of this writing, I only have 5 places outside Philippines that I want to visit. That's less than one half of the 16 regions of the Philippines.

For now, I will give you this cute Halloween greeting. Yeah, even Halloween is more fun in the Philippines.:)

Source:  http://dailyhappymeal.tumblr.com/

Magic Works! The Magic thought by JK Rowling

Hogwarts Philippines did another Magic Work entitled Christmas in November with the kids of Hospicio de San Jose. I guess this is one of the great things J.K. Rowling was able to convey from her Harry Potter books. Magic through Charity!

Though it is late, I would like to share with you the info graph made for this event courtesy of Prefect Abby of Slytherin.

 

Here’s a brief information about Hospicio de San Jose, it is a home for homeless babies, kids, adults, and elder people. Everyone in this institution do live a normal life, they go to school, they are fed, they are treated when wounded, just like how you are being treated in your own home. People who want to adopt may go here. Swear! All kids in here are cute.

For more info about Hospicio de San Jose, you may visit their website.

Okay, to share with you my experience in doing magic at Hospicio, I’ll give you the most detailed idea I could write of what happened as we do the magic.

We arrived at Hospicio before 9AM to start decorating the room (btw, you can see the invitation we had to gather volunteers for this reason). We put up a Christmas tree, set garlands on windows, wrap more gifts, set-up a play area, and warm ourselves up to prepare for those energetic kiddos.

Volunteers are either taking care of a baby or assisting those who are taking care of a baby either of those are tiring yet fun. We feed them, play with them, and of course, had a picture taking with them. The fun didn’t stop with those babies.

After those babies, we took care of kids. There were the ones who played in the play area we set-up. By the way, thank you to our generous sponsors. Without them, this won’t be made possible. These kids are sort of everything, they have this cute little drummer boy who cried after his sticks where grabbed by other kids, a reader who reads in the corner, a kid who does not accept gift, a kid who peeks under the skirt of the girl, and a lot more kids you could think of.

Since we were only given up to 12noon, we send them already to their rooms. It’s nap time! Nap time means lunch for us. It’s fun to see everyone looks tired with a smile on their faces. Fun… Fulfilling… Thankful… You could really have a bag of emotions after that.

For those who wants to join us as we celebrate our fandom through magic and other great wizard activities, you may visit our Facebook Page or join our Facebook Group or directly join at pinoyharrypotter.org and get sorted.

Before I end this, I would like to share with you a video of another Magic made by wizards in Brazil.

San Antonio De Padua Chamber Choir

It was last September 18 when I saw the San Antonio De Padua Chamber Choir performed in St. Anthony Shrine in Sampaloc, Manila. They were invited to sing to encourage people or the church goer to donate for the building of the Retreat Center of the St. Anthony Shrine. They performed three songs were showcasing the African culture such as the Circle of Life, known to be the theme song of the movie The Lion King (they've captured my attention very much that I forgot to record their performance).

(Sorry I forgot the 2nd song) As a finale, they dance as they sing Waka-Waka, another song featuring African talents and known to be the 2010 FIFA World Cup theme song, as the said world cup was held in Africa during that year.

To know more about the San Antonio De Padua Chamber Choir, you can visit their website at http://sadpcc.webs.com/.

For Donations to St. Anthony of Padua Shrine

254 Manrique St., Sampaloc, Manila

Tel: 734-6527

Priest-in-charge: Fr. Cielito Almazan, OFM