Christmas Nostalgic

It's a little past two a.m. on the morning of December 25 and the house is already quiet.  I've finished washing the dis after the Noche Buena and I'm also ready to catch my sleep.

I remember when I was a kid, the revelry would be reaching its peak just about this time. Back then, the midnight mass began (not ended) at midnight.  We would be coming back home a little after one.

It was the job of the youngest member of the family to call out the recipients and hand out the gifts.  That was my brother's job for several years.  Our cousins who lived in the city would be spending the night at our house.  So there was definitely a crowd in the house.

Things do change.  My cousins have gone on with their own lives.  They have started their own families and their own traditions.  So too have we.  People leave this life and so we make adjustments.

And life goes on

A Visit to Our Lady

An interesting thing happened to me yesterday.

I had long wanted to organize a pilgrimage trip to the town of Manaoag in Pangasinan.  In the last quarter of the 20th century, it had become a popular pilgrimage town thanks to the frequent visits of the likes of the late President Cory Aquino.  My reasons include the fact that it is my family's hometown and I wanted to contribute to the local economy.

Finally I got the right mix I think.  The last element was the transportation and I met somebody who fitted my price nicely.  So, yesterday morning I created an event in fb and issued the invite.  i was hoping people would see it and respond positively.

Then I got ready for a meeting.  I got to the office early and found a stack of newspapers.  The other attendees of the meeting were not yet there so I began to go through the papers.  On one page, there was an article on a new ad campaign to promote Pangasinan.  It was entitled "I LOVE PANGASINAN"

What do you know?  Perfect.

The Little "Angel" Resort (continuation of last post)

It turns out the resort's name was Little Bridge.  Or should I say current name because we learned from the staff that they were in the process of renaming the resort to Aplaya de Butong since it was under new management.

Anyway, we found ourselves staying at a quaint resort out of the usual transport path (jeeps don't pass this road).  There was a hotel with its own pool and a balcony for each room.  The room assigned to us just happened to be beside the chapel.

After settling in, we went down to do some exploring.  We noticed that on the walls between rooms, peices of cloth were hung, probably local designs.  Going down the stairs, the first thing you notice is the painting on the opposite wall in the lobby.  It was a huge portrait of Mother Theresa meeting with Pope John Paul II, made more vibrant with a red background and their smiling faces.  

There were several sets of furniture in the lobby, all made of hardwood.  One set had wheels for armrests.  Another seemed to be carved from large logs.

We made arrangements for dinner.  It turns out that the food was all a la carte so it was a good thing we ordered early.  We asked for a dish of mixed vegetables and a possible choice of simple meat dishes (breakfast fare actually which were easy to prepare) to be decided when we got to dinner.

It was drizzling softly so we thought we might be able to explore the resort.  We walked down a path leading to the beach from the hotel.  We found ourselves under a covered pavilion.  We guessed it was an activity area.  Beside it was a set of doors that led to a large hall, probably the function room.

The waves were fierce.  It was after all a rainy afternoon.

(another continuation)