scenes from PSU-ASINGAN CAMPUS

FLOWERING PLANTS AT THE LOBBY

School Seal at the Basketball court

The glorious Red, White and Blue

Road to Domanpot ( from Urdaneta )

Road to Carusucan connected to the Ketegan ( Domanpot )

A MUSICAL SUPPER

"SHE LOVES YOU, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!"

Now for something sweet, sentimental and nostalgic...

"Clap your hands and shake it, baby!!"


The lovely hostess giving us a song...

Here's to Marcie. Bottoms up!

In the middle of my holiday, I was invited by Marcie L. Tesoro to join her in an afternoon party at the Cajalne-Basa residence located at the border of Bantog-Ariston. Not wanting to arrive empty handed, I bought a couple of wine bottles from Magic Mall Urdaneta ( one white, one red ) . I discovered from reading the label that the contents came from California, but bottled in the Philippines. And the prices are much lower than what I would pay for the same kind in Toronto stores.

Anyway, I got there on a tricycle ( the everyman's taxi in Asingan ), at 5:00 pm sharp. Have to observe punctuality even if you are in Asingan. I could smell the menus being prepared from the back porch. Boy, o boy, weren't they good!

The fun started when a Karaoke jukebox was brought into the house and positioned in the front porch. The dinner table was there. So it was a Dinner-with-Karaoke affair. The food was sumptous, the singing was excellent, the guests were very pleasant!

And yes, the contents of the wine bottles I got from Urdaneta tasted like California wine, indeed!

Cheers!!!

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

airport stories: fact or fiction?

"....just read your posting at the Asingan Message Board... Are you serious about those "extra fees" at the airport? Is it necessary to give them or is it even legal for them to ask? Just curious. .... Are you done packing yet? " written by a friend from the Asingan Message Board


........ Those are not legal, but you know how it is in the Philippines..Some people there want to ask ( more like begging ) just to augment their income...You do not really have to give anything..My elder sister hates doing that because it seems you are spoiling those customs inspectors...she said.If your luggage is light, then you do not have to...But some balikbayans bring home everyything or anything but the kitchen sink. Sometimes a custom officer would threaten to open the luggage if you do not give them something...

I usually fold the fiver inside the passport. When the employee opens it up, ( boy, she must have a good sleight of the hand ) the $ just dissapears..Heard from sources there is a box under the counter where the bill is dropped. At the end of the shift, they said, the damned box is full of green bills and thus, there is a sort of "partihan" sharing of the spoils among many of the customs ( cus-tong ) people working in that shift.

I have started my packing, but won't be able to finish it today.....First are my "tools of the trade" or my toys..The digicam is most important. I wanna get as many photos as possible. (good artistic ones. Like the ones I see printed in glossy magazines). I like to go to a farm and take some nature photos there..Especially in the early morning. The creative eye is still working well at that time. I would like to shoot some flowers or knotted tree branches, etc. when the temperature is still comfortable. And the lighting from the sun is just right...

But when the sun is already high and I start sweating like a pig ( pardon the colloquial ) then the creative urge vaporizes too. Thats the time I prefer to keep the camera away, search for company and start drinking, eating and swapping tall tales. That's what writers are noted for: drinking, chewing the fat, and spinning ridiculous yarns....!!


Vic

A SHORT POETRY

GOING HOME

Some say that when you go back home,
It's like returning to the womb,
Which anyone could readily see,
Is just an impossibility

For home is now an empty building
Where once there was a lot of singing
An eeire silence now took its place
And I there! I think I saw a face..

"Welcome back, son" I seem to hear
"Tis good that now you're finally here,
"Pull up a chair, and have a seat
"And on the table. there is something to eat.."

I see their images inside a frame
Their smile is sweet, its always the same
I move about; their eyes would follow
Even when I sit beside the window

The view of Asingan meets my eye
The verdant trees, the azure sky
Behind that tree line lies a road
Which in the past, I always trod

Then barked the dogs, while voices screamed
As if to wake me from my dream
I heaved a sigh, the guys are here
I hope the heat will be easy to bear!


VIC COSTES -O4/24/2009

a Valentine's Day Sonnet

To all Lovers and Loved Ones this Valentine's Day....

If thou must love me, let it be for nought..

Sonnet 14 from the Portuguese

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

If thou must love me, let it be for nought

Except for love's sake only.

Do not say'I love her for her smile---her look---her way

Of speaking gently,---for a trick of thought

That falls in well with mine, and certes brought

A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'---

For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may

Be changed, or change for thee,---and love, so wrought,

May be unwrought so. Neither love me for

Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry,---

A creature might forget to weep, who bore

Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!

But love me for love's sake, that evermore

Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

At Hong Kong's Disneyland

All Aboard!! Its like going to Pleasure Island where Pinnochio changed into a donkey..

Inside the Small World Pavilion..Cute dancers..

same place..Almost the same sights as the one in California..

Disney's Magic at work...

HONGKONG DISNEYLAND

January 16, 2009 with Joy and Mia

Pagka check in sa hotel kumain lang ng natira naming baon sa Manila. Mamon sa goldilocks at fudgee bar. Yun lang ang lunch namin. hahaha.... Dala ang aming MTR map, pmunta na kami agad ng Dineyland. Buti na lang tinuruan kami ng boss namin sa pagsakay ng MTR. Magulo kase ang MTR nila kapag dimo kabisado.

HKD295 ang entrance tkt o kulang kulang na PHP2000 sa atin. Pag pasok sa Theme Park kanya kanyang picturan na. weheheh..... Naabutan pa namin yung Disney parade kaya nakakatuwa. Mga 4pm na din kame kumain. Mahal din yung food nila pero gusto ko ung barbeque chicken wings nila dun. Inabot kame ng 7pm dun pero alam ko hndi pa nmin nalibot lahat. Wala man lang kami nabili dun kahit remembrance lang kase sobrang mahal. Akala din namin may tinda sa labas.

Kahit wala pang tulog dumerecho kame sa Mongkok sa Ladies or Night market. Parang Divisoria lang. Hindi ka tatawad sa kanila. Pag tinanong mo kung magkano tinda nila tapos hindi ka bibili bababaan nila yung presyo. Pag ayaw mo pa din triple yung baba ng presyo. Nakakatuwa kase kahit malayo kna hahabulin kapa nila.

Then, bumalik na kami ng hotel. Umalis kami sa night market ng 12am. Bukas pa din ang MTR. Mejo malapit lang ang McDo sa hotel namin kaya lang hindi na namin inabot sarado na.Bumili na lang kame sa 7eleven ng makakain. Kaso ayun hindi naman masarap.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

photo captions by Vic

story by Eliza

more HK Disneyland photos

Seems Disneyland clones are springing up everywhere.

My HERO, Buzz! Did not figure that I will meet you here!

A familiar face, Mickey's i. e.

Must be that bad boy Pinnochio atop Monstro's spout...

Nothing like being with friends in a strange place, however beautiful it is.....