Halloween on Dixon Road, Toronto, part 1

Halloween in Dixon Road, Toronto part 2

Vignettes of All Souls day in Asingan

All Souls Day is one of the best holidays in Asingan in the 50s. Ben-Hur Soloria says:

 I miss the tupig, the baduya, maruya, bilo-bilo and all the starchy, greasy delicacies on All Souls' Day.  As a young boy, I always looked forward to this holiday.  The town comes to life, as if everybody is home to wake up the dead.  One of the things I loved doing was gathering sackfuls of rice husk from Henry Chua's family rice mill.  We would build a mound of husks and lit it up and cooked tupig in them.

To which I add:

I love listening to the pampantawag a sort of Christmas caroling during All Souls Day. A group of singers would visit selected houses to sing a ballad ( sometimes it take an hour or so ) of soldiers who died in battle or young kids who died in sickness, etc. The singers are the "souls" of the dead beings who come to visit the household once a year. Of course, you have to give them money so they can have a little party afterwards ( usually an arroz caldo party ) in one of the singers houses.

I also love collecting wax drippings from the candles, mold them into one ball and bringing the ball the next day to school to show it off in class.

Jehan Manuel Valin adds

"I remember those years I was in high school when I would meet up with my classmates in the cemetery.  After lighting up candles and saying prayers to our dead relatives we would stay for a while then round up the whole cemetery looking for more classmates and hang out somewhere (usually on top of one of those tomb unknown to us).  I have not done that for more than 12 years now and so many things and people have come and gone.......their memories I'll remember.  .......Jehan Valin"

the UAP (United Architect of the Philippines) Toronto chapter

" Arch. Rommel Lumbao, an Asinganian (sitting 2nd to the right side )is recently elected as Board of Directors of UAP-TorontoUnited Architect of the Philippines. Rommel is also a graphic artist of Filipino Bulliten, a Toronto newspaper.   Agbiag daguiti Asinganian! Galing ng Pinoy!"

The second photo features a group picture with the Philippine  Consul General and Arch. Roldan, a VP of the UAP-TorontoUnited Architect of the Philippines.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

I dislike blowing my trumpet but when there is something exciting to tell about, I do not see anything wrong about it!

Last Friday, I discovered that Emma Forbes my 6 year old grandaughter is really a child prodigy in singing...It is her debut on stage. She was the youngest singer in a Talent Show sponsored by the Toronto Public Library to raise funds for the United Way..and it took place in the North York Library Auditorium.. Her piece was THINK OF ME from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA; the very first song sang in the opera/movie. Mind you, she is still in Grade 1, but while in Senior Kindergarten, she started reading. She must have heard the song hundred of times already so was able to memorize the lyrics and tune. She was able to sing the highest note ( High G ) of the song which is the 2nd to the last note of the cadenza...Did she feel nervous?..No..I was the one who felt nervous because I had to accompany her on the piano. But she did well and the audience clapped and called out "bravo" several times...

Surely for her ( and for me who accompanied her on the piano ) it was a night to remember!

Bravo, Emma!

And Bravo too, Mia for your song from JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR COAT!

She sang CLOSE EVERY DOOR from the play JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAM COAT. Incidentally she appeared in the stage presentation of the above play in Brampton last June. She was part of the Children's Chorus and it was her first "professional" performance. The play run for 3 days( Friday thru Sunday ) and even if it is not Broadway, the play was so enjoyable, the songs were well done and the audience applauded after the last song .Mia had fun singing and dancing in 5 ( or was it 6?) performances. The Brampton Joseph was just as good as Donny Osmond who did it in Broadway and in the Elgin Theatre, Toronto  a couple of years back. Mia has an extensive singing and dancing work ever since she was 7 years old. She has also seen ( and enjoyed of course ) plays like CATS, MAMMA MIA, NUTCRACKER SUITE, THE MIKADO which of course, contributes to her musical knowledge and skills.

I am very proud of you two!!

MOVIE TALK

One of my hobbies is collecting Hollywood movies made in or about the Philippines. Examples are: Back to Bataan, Too Late the Hero (Filmed in Laguna) No Man is an Island ( Jeffrey Hunter starred with a few excellent Filipino thespians like Bert Avellana, Ronald Remy and a very young Barbara Perez one time dubbed as the Audrey Hepburn of the Philippines )..My recent purchase is a John Wayne DVD called THEY WERE EXPENDABLE..The action took place in the Philippines during the war and the movie ended with the fall of Bataan. Although it was not mentioned in the final credits, I have a feeling the movie was shot in Guam in 1945.

The movie started a few days before the bombing of Pearl Harbour. The opening scene showed a dance attended by Navy officers. The band was playing a good rendition of the Filipino song called ZAMBOANGA, one of the songs taught to us during our elementary years.

The next scene however shocked me..There was this sing-along by some drunken sailors. It's the same song Zamboanga, but the opening words were "Oh the monkeys have no tails down in Zamboanga.." I read that the song is a deregatory tribute to the Filipinos during those days.True or not, there is nothing we can do about it now.

The film has its merits, in fact Leonard Maltin a noted movie critic gave it an excellent rating. The movie among other things, showed the excellence of the PT-Boats ( very fast, very hard to shoot and it can carry the lethal torpedo which could sink bigger and slower ships ). John F. Kennedy was one of the PT Boats skippers during his wartime service in the Pacific. The movie, as it went on to a stirring climax showed the group of Americans hiding from the ever nearing Japanese hordes in some of the Visayan Islands. Although the movie was filmed in black-and-white one would appreciate the scenery of coconut groves, nipa hut villages reminiscent of our country. Another Hollywood movie along this line is AN AMERICAN GUERILLA IN THE PHILIPPINES which unfortunately is not available in VHS or DVD presently. But this one is in color and it featured cameo roles of famous long gone movie stars like Cris de Vera playing a Japanese commander, Rosa del Rosario ( the original DARNA star ) plus several citizens of Leyte where the shoot took place. Its main star is that well known handsome movie idol Tyrone Power.

They don't make movies like theseabout the Philippines anymore. Sad!

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

by Ben Soloria

One of the lessons from The Navy Hospital Corps School that I attended was, to always check post op patients' dressings for integrity and evidence of abnormal drainage or bleeding.  So, after recording the vital signs of the first post-op patient I had on my first day of ward orientation at a female multi-service unit at the Naval Regional Medical Center, Guam, I cautiously informed my patient that I would be checking her dressing.  I was amazed how rapidly she came out of sedation upon hearing me.  "What dressing?", the now wide-awake  and shocked-looking brunnette asked me.  Again, with the most reassuring tone of voice I could muster, I told her, " You just got out of surgery.  I need to check your dressing to make sure its intact and check if I need to reinforce it."

"But I don't have any dressing,"  the bewildered patient protested.  I felt
challenged but determined to do what I believe was the right thing to do for the patient.  Not to antagonize her further, I modified my lingo and said to her, "Okay, let me just check the surgical site then to make sure everything's fine.  Could you
help me?"  I asked with humility.  "It's between my legs, " she directed me as she parted her long shapely lower extremities to reveal a very private part of her anatomy that I least expected to be the surgical site.  To my disbelief, she was right.  She had no dressing. I wondered.  Gently, I pulled her hospital gown to cover her up and  calmly,  I told her, "Okay, it looks fine."  Just like that.  I thanked her and
rushed out of her room. 

I grabbed her chart to find out more of her medical history.  She was in for  removal of Bartholin's Cyst!

P.S.  Bartholin's Cyst is an abnormality of the bartholin glands of the
vaginal wall.  Therefore, because of its location, a dressing is not
indicated.  ( I could only imagine that if that orifice was packed with
gauze, it would have looked like a mouth stuffed with gauze.)

A LESSON IN STRESS MANAGEMENT

from Edith Manzano

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked,
"How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.
It depends on how long you try to hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy,
we won't be able to carry on. "As with the glass of water,
you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.
When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."
"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.
Don't carry it home.
You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

So, my friend, why not take a while to just simply RELAX.  
Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now.  
Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.  
Life is short.
Enjoy it!
 
Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
 
* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
 
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
 
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
 
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it
 
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

* Never buy a car you can't push.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because, then you won't have a leg to stand on.
 
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
 
* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
* The second mouse gets the cheese.
* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
* We could learn a lot from crayons...
Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today....

END OF SUMMER PARTY

I hosted an END OF SUMMER PARTY  last Oct. 1, a Saturday. My parties are usually attended by my sister and my brother's family, Louena and Rick Untinen's ( parents of Caitlin ). During this party Rudy Manuel, a close friend during my high school days came over. With him was Remy, his spouse, his 2 children Jehan and Albert ( with their respective families of course ).Marivic(Albert's wife )  came with a friend Perlita from Candon, Ilocos Norte. They came earlier so we had some moments of casual chats re: common interests before the bulk of our guests arrived earlier..I treated them to some apples from our backyard ( they had to pick their own )...The weather was cooperative and everyone seemed to enjoy the affair which lasted well into the night. Estela Bruan Agawin was able to make it with her party ( her niece Joy and husband Walter plus Estela's sisterAlma  who came all the way from Australia to visit Estela in Seattle. Estela is now stationed in Seattle. She went back home from Toronto last Monday, Oct. 3 and she said shes going to visit the Philippines at the end of October with her sister Alma..