Bagong Gising

Umagang kayganda.

Wala, naaaliw pa lng ako dito sa mobile blogging. Teka, magkano kaya singil nito? Hehe. Sana cost lang talaga ng mms message. Malalalaman natin pagdating ng bill! :-)

Mom's Gift Giving

St. Joseph Church
Bigaa, Cabuyao, Laguna
December 22, 2007

My mom amazes me sometimes. Especially these days, she seems to be devoting a lot of time to charity and social work. For three years now, she's been going to this church in Cabuyao, Laguna, to feed and give gifts to the catechism students that she sponsors in that parish. And to think...I didn't even notice that she was doing this before! Wow, galing talaga ng nanay. :)

This year, naghanda sila ng spaghetti + fried chicken + embutido, lahat lutong bahay, enough to feed 86 kids. Except, around 126 yung dumating, so kulang pa rin, hehe. Amazing talaga, may dance number pa yung mga kids! And lahat yun to give thanks to my mother? I'm really thankful to have been blessed with such good parents. Thanks thanks! Sana, maging mabuting ina rin ako kay Zoe, kahit kalahati lang ng kabaitan ng aking ina. :)

Merry Christmas!

The Rest of the Grand Tour

The rest of the Grand Tour temples - East Mebon with its elephants and pointy-butt guard lions, Ta Som with its big-rooted-tree-trunks, Neak Pean which is basically a dried out man-made lake to honor sacred elephants, and Preah Khan, which I remember to be a bit creepy.

It was almost dusk when we were at Preah Khan, and out of the blue a policeman became our impromptu tour guide. Well, without him we wouldn't know that there used to be a grand dance hall for Cambodian/Khmer royalty, that Shiva's linga was the largest, and that the walls were studded with gems back then. Ang gara diba? Pero nung nabigyan na namin sya ng tip, pag lingon namin, bigla na lang nawala! Nuninuninoo......

...up next: the famous Angkor Wat plus sunrise and sunset photos....

Zoe's crib

Shot using SE K610i

Bantay Srei

It was my first day at Siem Reap, and Jao's 3rd day. Best friends na nga sila ng tuktuk driver, si Ozone. :) After a refreshing shower, sabak agad ako sa Grand Tour...Bantay Srei, East Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean and Preah Khan.

If you don't remember all the names, don't worry. I didn't either -- especially since I stayed only two days. Consequently, at the end of the day, it was a blur of temples -- everything awesome, but still, I couldn't quite connect the names to the places. Hehe.

And because medyo busy ngayong Christmas season, hindi ko pa masyadong na-edit/nabawasan itong mga pictures....so I'll just do the albums by temples.

...up next...Jao and her umbrella...ella...ella...

PYROS Medical Mission

December 15, 2007
Celodonio Salvador School, Paco Manila

It was PYROS's 3rd Annual Medical & Dental Mission. This year, we moved away from the families at the Bay, and with the help of the Office of the Manila Vice Mayor (may SWAT team pang kasama!), held the Med & Dental Mission at Celodonio Salvador School, Merced Street/Quirino Ave. Extension, Paco, Manila.

Thanks to Borgz, Micky, Kap Roel, Perl, the rest of the PYROS family, and all the doctors, dentists and nurses who helped out that day. =)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

December 7 - 8, 2007

Sometimes it's better to start the story at the end.

So we'll start with Phnom Penh -- famous for the Killing Fields and Pol Pot's brutal revolution. That part of Cambodia's history is still fresh, but the Cambodians (Khmers) are seemingly making sure that their historic Khmer heritage is also acknowledged.

So we spent 2 days in Phnom Penh -- actually more like one afternoon, one night, and one morning. We spent some time visiting the Killing Fields and the S-21 Genocide museum. But we did take some time to enjoy a nice dinner at Sissowath Quay, their by-the-river area filled with restos. The next day, we visited the National Museum, and we trotted over to the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Palace -- except we weren't able to catch it open, because the Royal Palace closes at 11AM!

***Phnom Penh is accessible by plane, bus or ferry. We took the 6-hour bus ride from Siem Reap.***

ATG QA Cutover

Start:	Dec 16, '07 11:00a
End:	Dec 16, '07 5:00p

TODA Christmas Party!

Start:	Dec 15, '07 5:00p
End:	Dec 16, '07
Location:	Zoe's Crib

Pyros Medical Mission

Start:	Dec 15, '07 06:00a
End:	Dec 15, '07 12:00p
Location:	Quirino Ave. Extension, Manila

Annual Medical Mission conducted by PYROS

Siem Reap, Cambodia