Semana Santa

It was a busy holy week.

On Palm Sunday, we went to the church in EDSA Shrine to celebrate Palm Sunday and we bought plants for us to shake and wave after the mass.

On Holy Wednesday, I went to home to Malolos with my whole family.There was a procession and there were lots of “karosas”. In our family karosa, there is St Peter with the rooster and two angels decorated with lots of flowers. After the mass, I pulled and pushed the karosa with my cousin Bono. Our grandfather, papa Ben was leading the way. The procession went around Alido subdivision.  

On Maundy Thursday, we went back to the EDSA Shrine church. Our Kid’s Inn Choir sang religious songs at the roof of the church while the people pray the 14 Stations of the Cross. We sang at least 8 songs and we sang them every 30 minutes for 4 hours. And after our singing, I went inside the church for a confession.

On Good Friday, we went back again to Malolos for another procession and this time my other cousins were there to participate in the procession. There was no mass but the was longer because we went around the entire Alido.

On Easter Sunday, we celebrated the “Salubong” in EDSA Shrine. It was the day of Jesus resurrection. There was a procession for Mama Mary and for Jesus that finally met at the top side of EDSA Shrine. After the procession we get a balloon attached with a written a prayer-letter to God. Then, all the balloons were let go to fly up into the sky. After that there was a mass and we stayed there until 1:30 am in the morning.  

Hello Summer!

On March 16, 2016, we went to a resort named Sol y Viento where there are hot and warm swimming pools.

Before we went swimming, we first went to the reception area to inquire for a room. And as soon as we went to our room, we left our stuffs to swim.

There are four kinds of pools. Two are with warm water and the other two are hot (like boiling!) springs, One of this pools has water sprays around the sides of the pool while the other bigger one has a bridge in the middle.

After and before swimming we fed the koi fishes and saw the beauty of the mountains and trees.

We enjoyed the trip because of its fresh air out there and the fun relaxing swimming.

Rizal Shrine

Before we went home, we have a quick visit to Rizal’s home in Calamba. His house was so old but big, so I think that he was rich. 

As we entered, we saw very old items like bed, dining table, kitchen and the visitor’s table. There are two rooms upstairs. I was surprised about the toilet because it’s like a long chair with a hole on it and another room is where the buckets (aka tapayans) of water for the toilet are. Beside the toilet, there is a well. In the stone garage, there is a carriage. We saw Rizal’s spacious backyard with a bahay-kubo and a statue of the small Rizal.

Afterwards we went to the other museum halls full of old items like his hat, clothes, money during his time including the ones with his face, polo, coat socks and his pants. We also saw a statue of Rizal as an adult.

Did you know that:  

                                                                                               

 1.   There are three animals named after Rizal such as Apogonia Rizali, Draco Rizali and finally  Rachophorous Rizali.  These species of animals were the ones he collected while he was an exile in Dapitan

2. Contrary to popular belief, the Rizal monument in Luneta was not made by a Filipino artist. The design was the work of Swiss sculptor named Richard Kissling who won second prize in an art competition

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3. Rizal cured himself of tuberculosis.

(source: http://www.filipiknow.net/jose-rizal-facts/) 

Stargazing

It was a very early wake up call for me and Aim. We woke up at 3:00am so we were still sleepy to go there.

We were going to a place called University of the Philippines or UP to visit the PAGASA ( Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and  Astronomical Service Administration ) Astronomical Observatory for our stargazing. There were so many kids there and some are from my CFA school. There were even some camping tents there because there were people that went to the UP early and slept there to wait for the early morning stargazing.

There was a big telescope for us to see stars and planets like Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. As my father and I walked towards our car, I saw a giant telescope that looked like a turret. My father said that the telescope was inside the building and not going out there. We went inside the reception area where there were posters of the universe and parts of the telescope and how it works. We also learned about the time differences of the other countries.

We have so much fun there and we learned more about the stars and the planets after we left the UP site. 

CFA Recollection

On March 10, we, the Grade 6 students of CFA, participated in a year-end recollection where we learned new stuffs and played games. We talked about teenage life with our teacher Kuya Pao and Tita Mayette.

First, we played a game called “Do you love me?”. Next was, “Introducing yourself” and wrote something about ourselves and writing about the things we love and hate. Then Teacher Pao showed us some short videos for us to memorize and he also showed us a few pictures examples for seeming, seeking, identity, seeing, selfie  and sinning.

 After we read Psalm 136:14, I thought that what the Lord is telling me are not to be afraid and not to worry. He will always be helping me in times of trouble, and He will help me to find my passion.

Mandy and I went to the photo studio to take pictures of us wearing graduation clothes. Afterwards, went back to CFA to get our stuff and went to our parents so I could go home.

Shell Eco-Marathon

We went to the Shell Eco-Marathon last week and we saw so many stuffs there such as exhibit tents, promotion booths. And as we entered to the marathon there were so many things to do. 

We first went to the Fan Zone where there was a Shell booth that gives away mini toy cars that runs with salt water. Then we saw the part where the participants assemble their cars which is rare because they run with only a little fuel inside. But they are more small than the normal car because only one person can fit inside. We also tried the remote controlled toy cars to move around a mini city within 2 minutes. After the game we collected prize giveaways such as notebooks and key chains with LED light. 

After that we went to the picture booth with a mini gas station and two cars.We pretended we were a gasoline crew and a car owner who wants to gas up. Next, we watched the race track competition of the assembled mini salt cars. Later, Aim joined the drawing zone and put his drawing in the wall of pictures. Meanwhile I joined the Coke zone where I tried to make a puzzle in one minute. They gave me a red rubber bracelet.

Because it was only the first day and all competitors were still assembling their cars, we were only able to see 1 car go around the tracks for their test-run. 

Finally we went to the energy zone where we learned, using virtual 4D glasses, how Shell company explores gas under the sea and how the engine car works. We also received more giveaways inside the Energy zone.

Lots learned and lots of fun!

Celebrating EDSA 30

On February 24, 2016 we went to the EDSA Shrine church at 7:00 pm so we can join the procession. There were so many tents full of snack for us to eat after procession. My friends Bill and Cyrus also joined the procession. Cyrus joined the altar service so when the mass was done, he was on the front of the procession.

There was a Mama Mary float which is at the end of the procession and the priest was at the middle of the procession while he prayed the rosary. There was also a marching brass band at the front of the procession. We went to the EDSA road then got inside the Corinthians Garden.

 After that, we watched the cultural dance performance of the people. First, there was the candle dance. Next was the kiddie dance which was cute because it combine modern and traditional Filipino dances. Bill and I sat on the stairs and watched them.

Finally, Father prayed to Mama Mary’s help and intercession, for all of us there and for the food we will eat.

I ate with my friends and we all went home.