To my Only Son

Dear Kuya,

When you were born, I could not explain the joy I felt. You have made me and Dad the happiest people in the world that time. It was your first cry that led me to the realization that life is beautiful and I must live it to the fullest. it was your first smile that gave us utmost happiness, and it was your first pain that gave us the worst fear.

Now that you're 9, I have never felt so proud of myself for rearing you to be a good, industrious and handsome boy. Although there are times you disobey me, and you fail to make your assignments on time, I know those were times you test my patience. And it is but normal that kids like you give their moms some slight headache.

Now that you're 9, and some girls now call you on the phone, I just pray that the Lord make you a channel of His blessings to others. I just want you to shine to the best of your ability, not to make me and Dad happy but to make life easy for you when you grow up.

There's nothing more I can ask from you, but to continue to be good, and be responsible to your little sister. You both are the only jewels we have in our lives, and we can only live happily because God gave you to us.

Thank you for being such a good kid. I may be a mean mom at times, but I hope that soon, you will learn the lessons that come with my being one mean mom. They say moms shape their children to what they want them to be, but I just want you to know that when I give you some spanking, it's for shaping you and soon refining you in preparation for the future.

We may not have everything in life, but we have each other, and that's what matters most. I love you Kuya, Happy happy birthday!

Love,

Mom

PS. Continue collecting those ribbons, sweetheart, they make us proud stage parents.

Think Peace, Think Mindanao

I was in sixth grade when we came here in Mindanao, Dad worked as a medical representative in a big pharmaceutical company and was assigned in Cagayan de Oro, he has relatives in Koronadal City, that's why we soon followed him, and finally lived the rest of our lives in Mindanao.

War, chaos and bombings are usually the first impressions you may think of Mindanao, as the island is known for this. Even I myself, thought that Mindanao is a land of those who can only understand Islam, but surely I was dead wrong. And even wrong that I thought of Mindanao as a place of complexities.

Just this morning, we passed along a large banner that said: Think Mindanao, Mind Mindanao, Feel Mindanao.

We here in General Santos City, are lucky because we do not experience very harsh cruelty among our people, we have lived with the Muslims, lumads and foreigners without heavy hearts towards each other. In fact, only a few places in Mindanao are issues of concern because of peace, or the lack of it. In our city, although there are some disturbances caused by our misunderstood brothers and sisters, yet, they have respected us and gave us the chance to live well among ourselves.

There may have been bombings here and there, but thankfully, our police officers give their best efforts in order to keep us safe.

What you may think about Mindanao is probably because of the issues and news you hear from the media, but those who have been terribly disturbed are those remote areas in the island.

However, I say, wherever in Mindanao we may be then, must be respected by our brothers and sisters. We must remember that we are human and as children of our fathers, and will be parents of our children, we must take care of each other. It does not matter where we are located, the point is, we must give peace a chance in Mindanao.

A week ago, Fr. Sinnot, an Irish priest was abducted in Pagadian City, a clear act of savagery which is opposed by Islam and Christians alike. What I don' t understand is why these evildoers need to make a life suffer in order for their demands to be heard, and why there be a need to harm people when they can freely talk and agree, or disagree and compromise.

Mindanao Week Of Peace will be celebrated this November, but I am posting this call in advance, let us listen to the hearts of every individual, let us be sensitive to the needs of the people, and let us be considerate to each others' cry. Think of our children, and our children's children. We all must experience PEACE!

Think Mindanao, Mind Mindanao
Bring Peace to Mindanao!

Do Your Part! It's NOT Too Late

I did what I could to help save HER, but many people ignored HER plea to be heard. Now, it's her wrath slashing the people, and they thought it's HER evil deeds.

I find it crazy that people think when Ondoy and Pepeng slashed out their fury over Luzon, it was acts of God. Because definitely it is not! It is our own doing.

You ask me what I have contributed to help save Mother Nature. I did many. I planted trees, reused plastics, reduced my paper consumption as I am prone to be using more of that, but I considered using the blank reverses of the manuscripts in order to keep me from using new sheets. We have a number of 1.5 litres Coke plastic bottles which I have converted as a hanging pot for my orchids, and I did more than that.

But what made me make this post is the urge to keep reminding you of the other tips that could help save Mother Earth.

These tips are but simple, but you can help save our one and only Earth by following these:

Turn off your light: When you don’t need it, it only makes sense to turn off your light bulb. If you have a regular incandescent bulb at your house, you should change it to a compact fluorescent bulb. Believe it or not, it is good to the environment, and it can also save you a lot of money. Although a fluorescent bulb may seem expensive, energy experts confirm that you will save more money with a fluorescent bulb long term. Even though incandescent bulb may be cheaper, it will burn out often. Furthermore, fluorescent bulb will only use a quarter of energy to generate the same amount of light.

Turn off the running faucet when you brush your teeth. Believe it or not, if you leave the water running for two minutes, you waste up to ten gallons of water.

Turn down the heat: If you must turn on the heater in the winter, you should set it at 135 degrees. Try to put on thicker blanket or jacket when you go to bed. You may not even need your heater.

Carry cloth shopping bags: Cloth shopping bags are better than plastic shopping bags for the environment.

Recycle: Recycle newspapers, plastic, cans, or glass. Learn about your local recycling facilities. Recycle whenever you can.

Alert your family about the environment: If you have children, you should teach them about recycling. Teach them to love the environment.

Segregate your wastes. This is the most ignored part in throwing our wastes. There are biodegradable, non-biodegradable, and toxic wastes. Learn how to segregate them as this will be the most helpful of all the tips. All biodegradables: fruit peels, kitchen refuse, waste paper, kitchen wastes except plastic, must be placed in the biodegradable trash, they can be placed in a compost for fertilizer use. Non-biodegradables: plastic, cans, bottles can be recycled in order to be converted into another thing. Toxic wastes, broken thermometers, old batteries, chemical cans must be placed in another trash in order for the waste management group in your area to know where to place them and what they can do to them.

Let us not be weary in following these simple tips as these will surely help save us from the damage the global warming can bring us. it's not too late. We can still do something. But I urge you to pray and admit the fact that it is not acts of God, rather acts of men, that made these damages more evident to us now.

Sa Pi-yes-ta!

Pi-yes-ta!

n. isang handaan; bangkete, piging, malaking salu-salo; masarap na kainan; anumang bagay na nagbibigay ng kasiyahan;

v.- magpahain (sa handaan); magpasasa, pasasain; kumain sa handaan; ipaghanda, ipagpista.

We, Filipinos are known to be food lovers and with such admirable gastronomic appetites. And this is the reason why Piyesta owners Donna Mae Congson and her family have in mind when they conceptualized Piyesta KTV and resto bar.


Located on the very facade of Robinsons Place here in Gensan, this place caters Filipino native dishes which are usually seen and enjoyed especially during fiestas. name it, and you'll have it. From platters to single servings, some dishes priced at only P99, good for 2. Isn't that cool?

The place welcomes you with a modern but native look with its bamboo trails and a large wall with images taken from the festival activities in Gensan.

Piyesta is now open. We were lucky guests to witness the joy and pride that Miss Donna and Emman and the whole Congson family have been busying over in the past two months. The guests were made welcome with a red carpet. Blessing the place opened the start of Piyesta.

Piyesta Grand Opening at Robinson's Place

me and hubby at the Piyesta wall

Piyesta has 4 rooms to cater your singing voice. With good sound, you can enjoy singing your hearts out for only P500 per hour on bigger KTV rooms that can accommodate 8 to 10 individuals, or P300 for smaller KTV rooms that can cater 4-6 people. They give out 50% discount on the mornings that you're there.

Good food, good songs, good place, good service,
good company, what more can you ask for?

Gensan bloggers with Sarangani Gov. Migs Dominguez

with the Congson Family - proud owners of Piyesta
and Gov. Migs Dominguez

late night party with the Gensan bloggers and Donna Mae

No Charge

Snagged this from Sir Gilbert's facebook post, and i thought it was well worth sharing with you guys. Tears swelled in my eyes as I read it, enjoy!

No Charge

Our little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and he handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

# For cutting the grass $5.00
# For cleaning up my room this week $1.00
# For going to the store for you $.50
# Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping $.25
# Taking out the garbage $1.00
# For getting a good report card $5.00
# For cleaning up and raking the yard $2.00
# Total owed: $14.75

Well, I'll tell you, his mother looked at him standing there expectantly, and boy, could I see the memories flashing through her mind. So she picked up the pen, turned over the paper he'd written on, and this is what she wrote:

# For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me, No Charge.
# For all the nights that I've sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you, No Charge.
# For all the trying times, and all the tears that you've caused through the years, there's No Charge.
# When you add it all up, the cost of my love is No Charge.
# For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead, No Charge.
# For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose, there's No Charge, Son.
# And when you add it all up, the full cost of real love is No Charge.

Well, friends, when our son finished reading what his mother had written, there were great big old tears in his eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, "Mom, I sure do love you." And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: "PAID IN FULL."

M. Adams

Air Supply - Even that Night is Better!

Even the nights are better! Yes, way way better.

I ended my 1 week holiday with a bang!

Since Monday, I decided not to show up in the office as I felt so burnt out, I had to accompany my boy to school activities and I had to finish pending tasks, I lack sleep because of the too many OT works I bring home, so I decided to give myself a rest! A much needed rest.

And so, when Friday came, I ended it while unwinding with hubby and friends to the tune of - watching the Air Supply concert.

Air Supply Live in Gensan

Air Supply invaded General Santos City, and the whol gymnasium was full, uber full. I remember those other concerts I have been to, the David Pomeranz and the Side A, theywere really not that crowded, David Pomeranz was also full but not so0 jam-packed as this one.

I am so glad to have been a part of this historical event, Air Supply has been in the lips of everyone and all their songs have been in my playlist since last week. The duo may be already old, but their voices and the band is just so cool, that they just bring out voices loudly singing to the beat of their songs.

Russel Hitchcock! I heart you!

Graham Russel and Russel Hitchcock, alive and kicking on the stage.

They were very nice to go down the stage and reach out to the crowd, many people trying to grasp a handshake and have their pics taken with the duo. It was uber crowded that we decided to stay put and content ourselves with getting up close pics.

I love the band, even if Air Supply is considered a band of the 70's and 80's, their hits are still hits! The band is so cool, and one of them is very handsome.

Frank Moreno, on the keyboards

Is that James Dean?

the way too cool drummer!

Age is not a hindrance in giving total entertainment, haha!

And look at us!

with Yeng and Mario
enjoying the band and watching them using our free VIP tickets.

Thank you Air Supply for giving me a better night! Because since that night, all my nights have been better!