letter from Van, plus other stuff

Mabait,

I enjoyed staying in your house ..You played the the song I'll be home for Christhmas".I was mesmerized by that classical inimitable voice of Pilita Corrales but most of all the warmth of your hospitality.I enjoyed looking at the Cymbidium orchid that I love so much and all the paintngs and the glass belen.I saw the picture of Jesus christ ---.our saviour.

I wanted to stay a little bit more but I have to be with my family.Thank you so much for the invitation.When I knocked on the door of 19 Dixon I saw your smile glowing. I felt so welcomed.

Now i am home with the fleeting mmemory with you & your precious family.Happy New
year.Till we meet again.,mabait

--Van

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2009 is a year of meeting new friends. This Yuletide season, I received so many mail and online greetings from all over..I wish I could print all their names, but I am afraid to do just that for fear I might omit some..

I treasure each thought, greeting and forwards I receive from friends I met thru the Board and in actual life when I visited the Philippines, Vancouver, California ( previous years ) and just recently, Maui.I remember the Asinganians I met there in a Farmer's market with Marcie. They belong to a small association of townmates. I sensed a common feeling with them, and that is a longing for the old hometown.

"Even if our number is very small compared to the other associations in our places, we love each other,"they told me. "When someone needs a helping hand, we pitch in to help.." It is the real Barangay spirit found only in Asingan...

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Well, we spent most of the last hours of 2009 in our house watching television and talking with friends over the phone. It was a cold, gloomy day yesterday. I went out to buy some rice to fill up our rice bin. An old Asingan belief..Superstition?..Maybe, maybe not. But I do not want to take the chance!!

One of movies we saw was a 3 hour epic which I first saw at the ARO theatre in Urdaneta when I was still teaching at the DWA. It was entitled HAWAII based on a long novel by James Michener. The main stars are Max Von Sydow ( a very fine Swedish actor ), Julie Andrews ( from Sound of Music ) Gene Hackman ( an Oscar awardee for his work in THE FRENCH CONNECTION ) and Richard Harris ( who was last seen in the Harry Potter series ).

What surprised me was the setting of the story. It took place in Lahaina, Maui during the early missionary days. But for some reasons, the set that was supposed to be Lahaina was constructed in Oahu, and there most of the filming was made.

The story is very touching. Some early Hawaiian mores and customs were depicted.For example incest was common among the natives during the pre Christian era. And they do not call it adultery.

It is a very long movie ( more than 3 hours ) but one is captivated by the story, settings, acting and yes, there is also nudity. But it is not so blatant because this was made during the early '70s.----#