Bisita Iglesia, Bataan, Being sensitive 101

Notice how they all start with a B? :))

I really say 'Visita Iglesia', but for this blog's creativity's sake, it's 'Bisita', aryt? Cool.

14 stations, 12 churches

How did that happen, you ask? The original plan was one station per church, but almost everyone was tired by the end that we decided to do two stations each for the last two churches. Makes sense now? :))

We haven't done Visita in I think 3 years so it felt good to finally do it again. It's like a family tradition because I've been doing it ever since I can remember. It was our whole family plus our 2 maids, my tito, tita, and 2 cousins. We met up and started in Merville, then went to Moonwalk, then (not in order because I forgot which went first) other parts of Paranaque, then Baclaran, then Quezon City (UST!),then Las Pinas, then the university belt area, then Intramuros, then the Manila Bay area. It was weird because there were A LOT of people in Manila than we expected, coz usually everyone would already be in the provinces or abroad and only a few would be left in the city. The churches were all packed and it was mostly traffic! I guess a lot changed in those 3 years. :P

After around 7 hours of travelling, walking, sweating, praying, sight-seeing, etc., we finally finished all the stations. As a reward/our lunch at 3:30 PM, we ate in Aristocrat! Everyone was galit-galit (meaning not talking to/minding each other) as we ate our plates of barbecue chicken with java sauce and java rice. We started being friendly again by the time the banana splits came. It's really a faith-strengthening roadtrip that's a lotta fun. For me, it's the best activity during Holy Week. :D

Now playing: Pokerface :>

So yeah, Visita was during Thursday and we were tired and sore and aching after the whole thing. But that didn't stop us from waking at 4 AM in the bloody morning the day after and go to Bataan for the weekend. Again with the people during Visita, we stopped by Andok's in Total NLEX to eat breakfast. We used the new SCTEX highway, which had awesome sights of fields and mountains and just wow... you feel like you're in some other country. It's so clean and simple and beautiful.

We arrived in my lolo's place a few hours before lunch. We went to my lola's grave to burn some time and to also see the mausoleum (is that how you spell it? :)) ) that was being built. We were supposed to join the procession at 5 like we always do but my sibling and cousins won't get out of the pool and everyone got lazy, so we just stayed in the house and sang karaoke. Well, only my tita and Kuya Bart did, me and my mom just watched. :P It being holy week, there was nothing on the tv so we had to make do with watching Judas (which was a really good religious movie. Go watch it) and The Ten Commandments, both on Studio 23. I really liked the movie Judas because it made you think twice about how people perceive Judas and his role in Jesus' life and death. He's not really that bad a guy if you think about it. And did you know he's Jesus' best friend? It's true!

We're supposed to only stay overnight there but something happened: WE PLAYED POKER. And then that was it. End of story. It was my first time to play and I got addicted instantly. I got to win a few times pa nga, and they were really good wins! We played later and later into the day until my dad gave in and said we'll just leave early the next day. Woo!

I love ginataang alimasag! I swear it's the best! :-P~

Being sensitive 101

I swear I need to get in touch with my feelings. And being careful with my words and reactions. Being apathetic isn't doing me much good anymore. @-) It's hurting the people I love. Gahhh.

I'm happy you're the one helping me with this. :)

book review: The Hunger Games

It has been a while since I read a book that wasn't a school requirement. Oh wait, I did read 1 and a third of the Twilight books. Let me rephrase that sentence (ehem).

It has been a while since I read a book that I actually really liked and finished. That's better. I don't want people getting ideas. Haha. Anyway, the book I'm talking about is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Can I just say that I LOVED this book? I seriously wasn't able to put it down until my eyelids were falling like they were made of lead. Unlike Twilight which took me months to finish (which is so unlike me), I finished this baby in more or less two days. It was so beautiful and exciting and vivid it felt like a movie was playing in your head while you read. The narrative is pretty straightforward yet you can picture the fictional world accurately. It has everything: action, adventure, romance, that a lot of people will like it. It's a young adult novel, yet it tackles subject like politics, poverty, opression, etc. that it's actually a deep read that makes you think.

Here's a blurb of what the book is basically about for those interested:

"Twenty- four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love."

I got that from the official website of the book. The Hunger Games is really addictive and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. I loved it til the end and I can't wait for the second book (yes, this is part of a planned trilogy - the next book's coming out on September 2009)!!!

THIS IS SERIOUSLY A MUST READ!! SO GO READ IT!