A Glimpse of San Pedro y San Pablo Parish, Loboc, Bohol - before the earthquake :(

One of the churches that was declared National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum is the San Pedro y San Pablo Parish Church located at Loboc, Bohol. We were lucky that we were able to visit this church April of 2013 before the disastrous earthquake destroyed the church on the 15th of October, 2013.

Photo courtesy: http://photobento.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/churches-of-bohol/ But after the earthquake, this remains of the said church.

Photo Courtesy: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/510381/pedrito-dolls-relaunched-to-help-rebuild-bohol-churches

 This was supposed to be the oldest church in Bohol. It was built originally in the year 1602, but for some reason I actually don't know, it was reduced into ashes. Then again they built a stronger one on the year 1638.

 Here are some of the pictures we've taken last year;

This is a photo of me with my father, having the church's belfry on the background.

Inside the church we saw old paintings on the ceiling dating way many years back.

There is even this painting on the ceiling with the date Nov. 26, 1876 written on it. It dates back to a century ago.

This is the altar during the day;

Then, here's a photo of me showing the entrance of the church,

As you can see on the upper right portion of the picture, there is what we call as a pipe organ. This instrument also dates back to many years from now, and guess what, it is still capable of playing! :) from before the earthquake of course. I don't know what has become of it after the earthquake. :/

Here's a picture showing a pulpit, which for me is something new. I mean, I haven't seen any of these in any of the churches in Davao City. :3

For those who, like me, are still not familiar with the pulpit, Dictionary.com defines a pulpit as a platform or raised structure in a church, from which the sermon is delivered or the service is conducted. So basically, from what I was told, years ago, the priest goes to the pulpit when he says the homily.

It was used in the Holy Bible only once;

Nehemiah 8:4 "And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattihiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zecharariah, and Meshullam."

In my opinion, it is used so that the people would find it easier to listen to the priest. In Mt. 5:1, even though Jesus did not use a pulpit, He went up on a mountain to deliver his sermon.

Anyway, that is just for additional information. Personally, I still need more research on the use of pulpits to understand it fully.

On the other hand, it really broke my heart when I heard of the earthquake. Other religion or maybe even some of my fellow Catholics may call this as a punishment from God, but no. I strongly, firmly and absolutely believe with all my faith that this is not a punishment from God. I don't know about you, but I could not worship a God who punishes millions of innocent people for the sins of a few. Rather, I worship a God who wills fullness for the life of all. I worship a God full of love and mercy. How about you? Do you worship a punishing God?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKING KAPWA TAMAD :*

TADAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BERDEY XAAAAAIIIII! ♥

So uhm, di lang ako nag sabay sa kanila greet para special ba. Para mapansin mo talaga greet ko. too mainstream kasi ang collage sa insta ba. HAHAHAHAHA. hi xaaaaai! happy birthday! haha alam ko korni pero thank you msyado sa friendship. isa ka sa mga naging pinakaclose ko sa college kahit di man tayo naging classmates jud na classmates. i mean, lahat kasi ng ating klase na classmate tayo ba kay gisabutan natin na classmate tayo. noaimsain? haha ay basta. yun na yun. sana mas maging matagal pa ating friendship. kung pwede pang sabihin ang i cant live without you, sabihin ko na yun sayo ba. pero baka pagkamalan tayong tomboy so wag nlang. HAHAHA. pero btaw, anjan ka man gud kahit san ba, so kung wala ka di na ako sanay. ACHECHE! HAHAHAHHAA uyyyyyyyy natouch sya oy <333 hahahahahhaha pero dba, aminin mo na gud. miss mo rin ako no? HAHA kay since frst year magkasama na man tayo forever. practices pag intrams, tas sa summer classmates tayo. tas pagkasecond year practices parin sa intrams tas sabay pa talaga tayo nag enter varsity. tas pagkasembreak, practices nnmn varsity, tas classmates na tayo every sem. tas pag summer, classmates napud, etc etc etc. NGAYON LANG TALAGA TAYO PINAGHIWALAY NG TADHANA. hahahahaha tas ikaw lang sguro ang tao sa world na makaunderstand  saking pagiging tamad ba. kay duh. tamad ka man rin. hahaha tama na oy korni na msyado. di bya tayo ganito. chuy bya tayo. hahahaha happy birthday oy! love you! :* :* :*

P.S. I MISS YOU TOO :> AYEEEEE HAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Man-made Forest

Before we reached the Chocolate Hills, we passed through Bohol's man-made forest.

These are mahogany trees stretched in over a 2-kilometer area in the border of Loboc and Bilar towns. What actually makes this attractive is the trees' uniformity in height of the big trees. As we entered this part of Bohol, I noticed the change of temperature. It's probably because of the prescence of the dense trees. You can see from the pictures that the trees block a lot of the sun's rays. I don't know if it's true, but I heard that it rains more often than not here in the man-made forest. It's a wonderful experience having the chance to walk here. There's fresh air and a really peaceful feeling reigns in me.

me and my cousins playing with the fallen leaves :D

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

(Genesis 1:27)

The man-made forest reminded me that we are created in God's own image and likeness. Not that we are like Him in every aspect, but that we can also create things if we really like it, and also if it is according to His plan. Men are not made to be little gods. Rather, men have limited abilities almost similar to God's unlimited abilities. :D

I hope you could also get the chance to walk under the leaves in this beautiful man-made forest.

Ciao! :)

Something Beautiful :)

I experienced something beautiful just this morning. I was on my way to Paradise Island's boat dock in Sasa, and the jeepney driver who drove me there was already a very old man who seemed like he already forgot how to smile. I have this thing involving the elderly, my heart softens immensely when I see old people still working so hard. It so happened that I brought with me Otap,so I got two pieces from the pack and gave it to the jeepney driver.

Me: Nong, gusto mo otap?

Jeepney Driver: ah dili, okay lang.

Me: okay lang rin po, sa inyo na yan, pangmerienda.

Without waiting for his reply, I put the otap above the dashboard and I saw him smile as he said "salamat ha". The smile he gave me was the kind of smile which breaks my heart. Its the kind of smile that old people give whenever they're touched. I don't know if you get my point, but its just the kind of smile that I would like to receive from old people.

When I reached the entrance of the boat dock, I said,

Me: Dyan na po ako sa may paradise.

Driver: ay paradise ka? hatod na taka sa sulod. salamat ha.

and so he drove me inside, still having that smile on his face. That was a very big help for me too, cause I was going to walk I think a long way til I reach the boat dock location itself. Just because of the otap, I avoided the long walk and at the same time, I contributed a part of my happiness to the old man.

Sometimes we tend to forget that the elderly are still trying hard to be happy. We tend to forget that theyr'e still there, and we sometimes forget that we need to make them feel special. I don't know if you feel the same way about me, but an old man's/woman's smile, that's something beautiful. :)

Cause of Death

Cause of Death is a game by EA games (Electronic Arts) that deals with crimes and serial killers. Ive downloaded this game last year and I just remembered to play it awhile ago. So Ive finished the first volume in less than 7 hours. That was still the volume one and if vol. 2 is available for download, I'd try to download it now.

It's a game that lets you decide on what to do on certain circumstances. Its really an awesome game and contains some twist. I didn't even expect that "he" was the killer! I got 505 out of 600 detective points for volume one so I was able to watch the bonus scenes. (You could get to see the bonus if you score at least 500 detective points by the way) Two thumbs up for this game!

For all who have ios devices and loves to play games, you should try this now.

ciao! :)

Chocolate Hills

On April 3, 2013, we went to one of Bohol's most famous tourist attraction - the Chocolate Hills. :D

          Before seeing this view though, we had to climb up 214 steps. But it's not really that tiring cause you can rest once in a while and enjoy the view.

          I've read of two legends on how the Chocolate Hills were formed. One is about two giants throwing stones and sand at each other. When they became friends, they left the island, not cleaning up the mess they made. Another legend is about a young giant who fell in love with a mortal girl. When the girl died, the giant cried bitterly and his tears turned into hills as a proof of his grief.

          These are just legends though. In reality, the geologists still don't know how they were formed although they formed theories regarding its formation.

with my brothers cousins :D

jumpshot with my brother

This is one of Philippines' must see tourist spot. Find time to visit it yourself! :D

ciao! :)

Im Baaaaaack! :))

Hiii guyyyyst! :)) how are yoooooooooooooou?! im baaack and I brought you Chocolate Hills from Bohol. hihi. I've just arrived in Davao awhile ago at about 11:30AM. I'll be sharing my vacation with you on the next days. I'm really tired.

ciao! :)