A Garden is a place where one can be close again to Nature.
It is a small piece of Eden where we can refresh ourselves and attenuate our minds once more to the Creator of the Universe..
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
holiday photos from Annie
A view from 33,000 feet..Getting almost there..
That's a mushroom cloud?? Heaven forbid!
Ahhh..the sand, the sun, the sky!
Beachcombers of the feathered kind...
Such a nice view, indeed!!
Look what we got, tourists!!!
and YIKES!! Iguanas!
This must be the other lizard's girl ( boy ) friend!
more photos nex time
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
tracing some family roots....
Hi Manong Vic,
Siak ni Danny, that was my dad Herminigildo (Indong) Malalang, who was one of those four musicians. Thanks for remembering him. He really loved playing his instruments. He did the Diana and the funerals until he came to the US in 1975. He passed away four yrs ago at age 94.
The Malalangs and Tabions by the munisipyo are my cousins.
Please say hi to Madam Ester we use to be boardmates in Bagiuo at Mrs Elay Agne ( my mother in law) when she was taking her Masters at SLU.
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Hi Danny,
Thank you for the response..!
The members of the Malalang family I know are: Manang Bitang ( the retired school teacher Miss Malalang ), then Juan Malalang who was a constant friend of Herminio Tabion during our Elementary and High School days..They come and leave the school together, and they were a very quiet pair..Our classmates knew they were cousins...
I was breaking my head trying to remember the names of the four Asingan musicians..then I finally remember the 4th one who is Valeriano Badua, a cantor who teams up with the other musician Antonio Sison and they are invited by many households in Asingan to sing some religious songs ( I think the hymn is the Litany of the Holy Rosary sang in Latin ) ..Even if the hour is late on the eve of All Saints Day, they would still come to do their prayers in song..They sing in perfect harmony, by the way because they are gifted with fine voices.. They were paid for their time. Of course, there was also the PAMPANTAWAG group who made rounds during the same night. They sang dirges of the poor souls who died and are still in purgatory...
Your dad must have played the slide trombone. I confess I forgot already his countenance..
Mr. Badua the clarinet, Mr. Sison the snare drum and Mr. Guillermo was the sax player. They could play a wide range of music, ala Dixieland style. But they have their own way and for many years, they were music icons in Asingan until age caught up with them.
Mr. Guillermo would assist also in the church choir at the St. Louis Bertrand church for his daughter Flora is a member of the choir then. He would sometimes join the caroling that takes place from the start of the Christmas misa de Gallo up to January 6, the feast of three Kings..It was a tiring but happy activity and whatever funds we raised went to the church needs..
The choir then was most active during the administration of Fr. Lazaro de Guzman, with his assistants Fr. Aurelio Ruiz and Fr. Geronimo Marcelino.---#
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Gemma's photos...
Gemma's Garden
Hi Manong Vic,
I love Manang Nitz garden, I wish I have time to do all of that in my backyard too. But I want to share you our pond garden that my hubby and I built.
Best Regards,
Gemma
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Gemma Fonbuena Agius' parents Mr. & Mrs. Fred Fonbuena were good friend of ours when we were still in Asingan. Before we left for Canada, we practically spent most of our remaining days in Asingan visiting Fred's shop ( KING'S CROWN ) near the northern gate of the Asingan Market.
Good photos, Gemma!..These were made more beautiful by the way you shot them. There are ways of shooting photographs which by the way is also a very fine art. You can make or unmake beautiful scenes from Nature by the way you handle and aim the camera...
Enjoy the photos!!
more to follow----
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Miggie's Victory Party
The Sept. 15th LAWN PARTY
Mig's Victory Party for winning the first prize garden in Ward 2 was originally set for Sept. 7, but there was a conflict with another family shindig, which was our daughter's baby shower. Yes folks, my 7th grandchild is on the way and if she arrives ahead of her ETA ( estimated time of arrival ) she might become a third September 28th b-day celebrant. with Miggie being the first, and Emma being the second...
So we diligently planned the Victory Party inviting just a few people, mainly neighbours and friends along Dixon Road, the street where we live since 1983.
It was only then that we invited to our home the residents of certain Dixon Road houses. Such is the situation in some neighbourhoods here in America ( yes, Canada is part of the North American continent ), some people wants to be CLOSED to their neighbours instead of being friendly with them. In fact, we never talked with our neighbour in 15 Dixon Road for years already and I do not think we will ever talk again. Why? It's a long story so we will just go back to the original topic.
Thus we had that friendly meeting with some people from our street. We invited occupants of houses number 5, 9, 13, 20, 23, .
I was the babysitter for an Indian family in no. 5. They are from India. They are such good people. I brought their young girl to the school bus pick up point everyday for the past 4 years. I did that routine for the last time on the final school day of this school year. This year she can already go to school by herself.
The occupants of no. 9 are Caucasians. The lady is a very friendly character who loves gardening too. Her husband is a quiet bearded man who looks like Richard Attenborough.Their two kids are almost my children's age. They stayed in Dixon Road much longer than us. I have been wanting to invite them to our house for the past 20 years because the couple very friendly and we just talk on the street or in public events ( Farmer's market in Weston, etc. ).
My daughter and their daughter were members of the same Brownie team decades ago. It was only yesterday that I learned the man ( his name is Wilf ) is working for a big digital laboratory processing company here in Toronto. The company ( to use exactly his technical jargon) converts "daily film rushes from film to digital format " Unlike the old days, film editing now a days are done digitally. He helps convert the original shots are still in celluloid form into digital format. Very technical and exacting job. The monitor they use for viewing the finished digital format of film shots to go back to the editing consoles in the US is around 80, 000 $.. Of course, we did some shop talk on the state of the movie industry here in Toronto which in his words is suffering financially for the past 2 years..
He said Toronto used to be called Hollywood of the North because US companies used to shoot their movies here. Cheaper production costs. Then US started wooing back their own film makers with almost 50% tax rebates. Thus there are no more major film shoots in our city. The last one was CINDERELLA MAN directed by Ron Howard.
Occupants of No. 13 are just recent arrivals to our block. They are from Viet Nam. The lady works seven times a week. The husband has just lost his job. I befriended them one Saturday when I dropped by their yard to check out their garage sale. The couple have a 10 year old daughter who befriended Emma only this week end. The two kids from number 9 and 15 lingered in the house playing in the basement with my old PC until the party broke up at 8:00 pm. This was long after their parents left for home. The kids did not like to go home, which is not surprising.
The occupants of no. 23 are from Shri Lanka. My wife always see the Shri Lankan lady at the bus stop and as such they became good friends. Again we got more acquainted with them through their garage sales.
The occupant of no. 20 is a Korean guy and he runs the Convenience store across the street. That is the store which Emma frequents each time she visits us. I accompany her in crossing the street ( Dixon Road goes to the Airport so it gets busy all the time ) and to pay for her snacks when we check them out.
When the Korean guy arrived, his first remark to my guests was: "Hey, I know all of you!" All the guests have visited his store at one time or another to buy something.
The weather man predicted rain for Toronto yesterday Sept. 14. The party was supposed to start at 12:30 pm. Rain clouds were arriving and leaving the whole morning threatening a downpour any minute.But nothing happened.
At 12:00 noon, the rain clouds dissapeared and the blessed sun came out in full regalia. I almost broke into the song:
"Never saw the sun, shining so bright, never saw things going so right" (Blue Skies, Cole Porter )
It stayed with us until 6:00 pm. By that time, all guests left the house after enjoying Mig's egg rolls, half of a roasted pig and some pleasant chats. Men on one side of our deck, the women on the other. I did not invite any Filipino guests this time.
At about 6:30 pm, rain started to pour and it never let up until early morning.
Coincidence? I call it providence. God still answers prayers even just a small one like a few hours of good weather on what is predicted to be a blustery day.---#
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE GARDEN
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Thursday, September 11, 2008
Presenting Miss Teen Asingan 2008..
For a complete coverage of the Coronation, click the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9678518@N03/
Photo Album courtesy of FRED PALMA...
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