Subject: Talakag Fiesta 2008
Time: 22:25:33 o'clock BST
Author: jcjimc
During our recent holiday in Talakag it was the first time since the 1980's that we had managed to be there when the Fiesta was taking place.
How this event has changed over the years when I first visited Talakag the Fiesta was always held exclusively in the Plaza when the Fair and Circus came to town. I can remember the De Guzman family owned and operated the fairground and the circus and the children queued up to see attractiond like the Turtle Lady and the Magician and many more. In this day and age the fairground is now located in the land behind the Central Elementary School and alas the circus is no more. The basket ball tournament is still a big attraction but also there is a Night Cafe where you can eat and drink and listen to live music from local bands playing on the big stage in the Plaza.
There was also a boxing tournament with a boxing ring errected specially for the occassion and any budding "Pacman" could show his worth to the crowed. Also a Motocross tournament was held during the Fiesta which attracted riders from all over the country.
Also a bikers rally attracted some of the biggest and best motor bikes in the country to Talakg during early April.
The Fiesta may have changed but the excitement still remains.
Al Bicas Talakags Premier Biker in action.
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Subject: More Books For Bukidnon State College. Talakag
Time: 21:24:53 o'clock BST
Author: jcjimc
During our recent visit to Talakag my wife Marilou handed over more text books for use at BSC Talakag. The college has now received three consignments of text books from Marilou to help build up their library.
The college is always grateful for the help it receives in this way.
Mr Tampo College Administrator along with some of the students and Staff Member receieves the text books from Marilou.
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Subject: Progress in Talakag.
Time: 15:12:43 o'clock BST
Author: jcjimc
During our recent visit to Talakag it is obvious to all that the town is changing very fast with the new Municipal Hall nearing completion. The building is imposing and looks very good in its plaza location.
The new Municipal Building nears completion.
During our visit to Talakag we dropped in to say hello to the Municipal Mayor the Hon Nestor Macapayag. Whilst there I asked him what his main priority was during his tenure and he told me, it was to ensure a continuous supply of water to the town and its community. This may not seem like a big deal to those in the west who take the supply of water and electricity for granted however for the people of Talakag it is something that would be greatly appreciated by all and a commendable priority for the Mayor.
Marilou with the Hon Nestor Macapayag Municipal Mayor of Talakag.
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Subject: My Mother-in-Law's Birthday.
Time: 14:28:05 o'clock BST
Author: jcjimc
The other very good reason for visiting Talakag recently was to attend my mother-in-laws 80th birthday celebration. It was as good reason as any for all the family to get together and catch up with all the news and gossip (tsismis). The only members of the family unable to attend were our own son Michael who had work commitments and our daughter Mariel who is still studying at university additionally my brother-in-law Louis from Bulacan could also not be there again due to being overseas with his work.
Mrs Gloria F Santiago (Mama Glo) at her birthday party, looking well for 80 years of age.
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Subject: Recent Visit To Talakag
Time: 13:56:08 o'clock BST
Author: jcjimc
Marilou hands over our donation to Rose Longcob with members of staff in attendance.
Now that our visit to Talakag is over and we are back in the UK I can start to blog about our holiday.
Our stay in Talakag seemed to pass very quickly as they say when you are enjoying yourself time goes very fast. Our two priorities during our recent visit was to attend my mother-in-laws 80th birthday party and to visit Bethany and hand over the donations raised from friends and colleagues here in the UK. All other activities were a bonus for Marilou and I during our holiday I the Philippines.
Our visit to Bethany coincided with their school graduation ceremonies and being in attendance made me very proud to be part of its activities especially since one of my nephews graduated high school and will now proceed to Xavier University to study Civil Engineering good luck to all the graduates.
After the graduation ceremony Marilou and I attended lunch with Greg and Rose Longcob and members of the Bethany staff in order to hand over our donation cheque for 86,165.00 pesos which was gratefully received. It’s painfully obvious that Bethany is struggling financially and requires more benefactors in order to survive, people like Mr Keith Hooper (H.E.L.P Foundation) and Mr Michael Read from Australia who recently visited Bethany and made a substantial and well received donation as well as all the other benefactors I say a very big thank you for your much needed help and kindness.
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Subject: VISIT TO TALAKAG
Time: 09:15:01 o'clock GMT
Author: jcjimc
Hi Folks,
This Friday 21st will see me and my wife Marilou travel to Talakag.
I'm so looking forward to my holiday as it seems as if I have not stopped working this year so far. Last month I spent 18 days out of 29 days on three seperate occassions in Germany. I managed to catch a bad dose of flu or some kind of virus which laid me low for a week in bed Marilou also caught the virus so at one stage we were both in bed ill.
Thank god the virus has cleared although it left me just over half a stone lighter but that was not such a bad thing as I was a bit over weight anyway lol.
I will certainly make my annual visit to Bethany as I have managed to collect some donations for them and I will hand over the funds to Rose Longcob. So many people have written to me this year from wishing to help Bethany with funding and personal help by visiting as well as enquiring about sponsorship of the children and also enquires about adoption. So I am pleased that my blog is working and getting the Bethany message heard.
When I return I will post an update on Bethany as well as take some photographs so you can all see what is happening out there.
God bless to you all who care about the home and please keep in contact with each other.
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Subject: The Year To Date
Time: 13:34:59 o'clock GMT
Author: jcjimc
Hi everyone it's hard to believe but now that January has gone and 1/3rd of February has passed this year is for sure going to be the quickest of our lives. On Tuesday the 5th February Marilou celebrated her 50th birthday and to mark the occassion we went with a group of friends to a castle near our house called Lumley Castle to enjoy an Elizabethian theme night. We had never been to a theme night before and it was very good so was the food. We all enjoyed the evening as it was diffirent to anything we had been to before. All the friends that Marilou had invited were Filipinas married to British husbands, so it was a mixing of cultures.
On her real birthday I was in Germany on business so I was glad we had gone out to celebrate the previous Friday. Our son Michael and daughter Mariel however came to my rescue and treated their mum to dinner on her birthday at a local restuarant close to our house. They all enjoyed themselves and spent the remainder of the evening together reminiscing and planning the future.
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Subject: New Years Resolution
Time: 12:21:39 o'clock GMT
Author: jcjimc
Marilou and myself along with Michael and Mariel would like to wish everyone connected with Bethany as well as all our family and friends in Talakag a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Be a Friend
Be a friend. You don't need money:
Just a disposition sunny;
Just the wish to help another
Get along some way or other;
Just a kindly hand extended
Out to one who's unbefriended;
Just the will to give or lend,
This will make you someone's friend.
Be a friend. You don't need glory.
Friendship is a simple story.
Pass by trifling errors blindly,
Gaze on honest effort kindly,
Cheer the youth who's bravely trying,
Pity him who's sadly sighing;
Just a little labor spend
On the duties of a friend.
Be a friend. The pay is bigger
(Though not written by a figure)
Than is earned by people clever
In what's merely self-endeavor.
You'Il have friends instead of neighbors
For the profits of your labors;
You'Il be richer in the end
Than a prince, if you're a friend.
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jcjimc
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Subject: Too Busy For A Friend
Time: 13:38:26 o'clock GMT
Author: jcjimc
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Viet Nam and his teacher attended thefuneral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin. As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "yes."
Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists."
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
Remember, you reap what you sow and what you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You Are
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jcjimc
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Subject: Festive Season
Time: 18:46:04 o'clock GMT
Author: jcjimc
As the year grows steadily to a close our thoughts are with those who are no longer with us as well as those who are far away. Its strange how this time of the year focus’s our minds on the past rather than the present. We all have our own way of celebrating Christmas as well as the end of the calendar year. For example we will have our son Michael and daughter Mariel joins us for dinner on Christmas day. My wife Marilou will prepare the various ingredients for the Christmas dinner in advance so as to reduce the stress and hassle of doing everything at once. Our dinner consists of three courses. We will have a starter of either soup or various cold cuts of meat with a salad. This will be followed by roast turkey, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, peas with stuffing and cranberry jelly and of course gravy. The third course is our traditional Christmas pudding consisting of a mixed fruit dumpling laced with brandy smeared in fresh double cream. During the meal we usually consume a bottle of red and white wine. Dinner is normally preceded with the pulling of Christmas crackers containing jokes, gifts and paper hats to wear and precluded with two hours sleep on the sofa whilst pretending to watching television. If I may take you back to earlier in the morning when we arise we as a family normally gather round the Christmas tree in our living room and open our gifts with ooh’s and aah’s a plenty as well as lots of laughter. Breakfast is usually a light affair not to spoil our appetite for the dinner ahead. What I have described will be mirror imaged in millions of households all over the world at different times on the 25th December due to the time zones we live in. The traditional fare will also vary depending on the part of the world we live and the culture we belong to and of course what we can afford. Let us not forget those both young and old who will have nothing special to eat at this very special time of the year. If we can help someone by giving a little of what we have lets do so I’m sure it’s what our Lord would want in remembrance of this very important time in the year. Let’s all look forward to a better and more prosperous 2008 and not forget that however bad at times during the year we may feel, there is someone somewhere worse of than us.
To one and all who may read this blog I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. God bless you whoever you are and wherever you may be.
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jcjimc
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