She is more of an artist or a composer. Melody and lyrics abound inside her head at any given time. She probably has penned over 100 songs to date. But I would like to see her get a nice stable job after college and pursue music on the side, sort of a respite when things at work get dull and boring.

Anyway, just for the curiosity, she auditioned for American Idol along with her friend, Linds. She had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning so she could be at the Cow Palace in San Francisco at a decent time to beat the line. In other words, she didn’t get any sleep at all and when that happens, her voice is very much affected. If I remember it correctly when she mentioned in one of her interviews that her voice is dependent on the amount of sleep she gets.

Not only that, she was starved during the audition because they took away her food. Over fatigue, hunger, and sleeplessness took a toll on them and to make the story short, American Idol is pretty much out of her system.

Here is a photo essay of their whole ordeal.

Linds, her friend, with her beautiful smile at 5 AM.

The Cow Palace where the American Idol audition was held. Apparently, it used to be the arena for rodeos.

The line at 5 AM is longer than what her camera could capture…crazy!!

The camera crew was already on the scene before most of the auditioners.

they were not looking forward to staying in that crazy line, so they approached it cautiously and slowly.

This was taken after 3 hours standing in line.

they felt more like a herd of cattle in line.

and who is that??

is it Justin Guarini, apparently doing some kind of show for American Idol audition.

cheering and singing for the cameras in the stadium.

“cheer as a team, not as individuals,” the producer says.

they still look happy despite the annoying girl next to them that kept singing at the top of her lungs!

12 judging stations were lined up on the stadium main floor. this is pretty much where everybody’s journey ended.

Ahh, my darling Melanie. She is the daughter of my caretaker. I brought her two pink dresses and some bows which she wears every single day. Coincidentally, pink dress is her favorite. In the evening, she would ask her mom to wash the dress that she dirtied so she can wear it the following day.

One day, my husband, Melanie, and I went for a little walk on the beach. My husband was ahead of us and so I asked Melanie who was that guy in front of us. She blurted out, “si kano mo baga” (your amerikano). I thought it was funny.

When I took this picture, she wasn’t too happy because we were leaving and she was not coming. I learned from her mother that she cried hard all day. Poor girl.

She is a hardworking and fun lady. She works every single day. I tried doing her job for a day and it made me so darn tired all for a handful of fish…hehehe. My share was good enough for a meal though, which if translated to pesos, it amounted to php30. But, I developed blisters on my hands and sustained some sunburn. My husband warned me not to ever do again because he was afraid that it might injure my working arm and shoulder. So, I watched them from the sideline from then on.

The boy holding the little girl doesn’t go to school because he has to take care of his siblings while his mother is working for a living. His mom does all kinds of odd job in order to survive. When I took this picture, these three kids were sitting on the beach watching their mom work. Sadly, their mother barely earns anything- sometimes only php30 a day and a handful of little fish.

I thought this boy is smart. He invented a fishing device that brings in result. It is called “Tora-Tora.” This “Tora-Tora” has plenty of fishing lines with hooks on it. He uses artificial bait made out of cloth. He walks up and down trolling his “Tora-Tora,” which floats in the water like little boat. Very clever invention, I thought. I would watch him intently from the water where I was swimming. When he passed by me, he would pull the lines closer to the shore so it would not tangle with me.

Sometimes, he brought in three medium-sized fish at a time. I was so fascinated at what he was doing that me approach him and ask question. “How many fishing lines do you have in your Tora-Tora,” I asked. He said, he purposely didn’t count them for good luck reason. It makes sense.

That same day, I asked my nephew if he would be interested in catching fish using Tora-Tora and I would have someone make one for him. He said he would. The first day he went out fishing, he caught about nine little fish. I was so excited that I even volunteered to clean the fish for dinner. We fried those little fish and they were so delicious. Even my husband preferred them over the bigger fish.

So, if they don’t have anything for dinner, all my nephew has to do is go out and troll up and down the beach.

Benyl was recently crowned the Queen of our town, Bato, during the town fiesta 2008. Her very first project that she joined in was the Tree Planting Expedition. We planted about 100 mahogany trees in the mountains to help retain the water from running off fast. You see, our barrio, neighboring barrios, and sometimes the town of Bato have relied on this spring water for drinking for so many years -even before I was born. This spring water is the best water I have ever tasted-so pure and refreshing. The past years though, people have noticed that our source of water has diminished significantly during hot summer months and we are afraid that it would dry up eventually if we don’t do something. Thus, the Tree Planting was organized for this reason.

Anyway, the view you are seeing is a rare site from Batalay beach. Usually, thick clouds loom over the horizon and hide this magnificent view. But, it was quite a bit noticeable on a clear day like when I took these pictures. It was such a beautiful site that I kept staring at it while it lasted. To take these pictures, I had to use the long lens.

Mayon is famous among locals and foreign tourists for its near perfect cone-shaped despite the many eruptions that have happened in the past. It has a base 80 miles in circumference and is about 8,000 feet tall.

the daughter of our caretaker. i gave that bag to her mother but she immediately claimed it as hers and carried it all over the beach.

my two favorite people

I just found out that someone took these pictures from my friendster’s account and named them incorrectly right infront of me. It is like stealing money in my purse.  It is infuriating!  The least she could have done is ask permission or site the sources where she lifted them from.  Hope she gets the message.

my boat taken at dawn.

can you see the Mayon volcano on the horizon?

my unfinished nipa hut

Bahay kubo

Steve’s catch

the fisherman

taken at twilight

Dear Lexi and Tepsi,

So sorry to break bad news with you about Mango. He died this morning about 11 AM. After we had our breakfast, he looked perfectly fine, attempting to come out of his cage. I removed his cover and gave him slices of apples. He attacked them like he normally would. Then, an hour later, I removed the bar off his cage so he could freely get out. I was sitting in front of the computer composing an entry for my blog. Then 15 minutes later, I heard him fly to my room, chirping. I expected him to land on my black chair but head to daddy’s space instead. Daddy wasn’t home. He was at the bank doing some business. I got engrossed in what I was doing, I didn’t look for him. I thought I would just wait until he found his way to me which he normally did. I didn’t hear any unusual noises to cause panic. I was assuming he was perching on the bed’s frame and doing his poop and play routine.

Then half an hour later, daddy arrived and sat on his chair. Daddy made this weird and unusual look and yelled frantically. I couldn’t exactly tell why he had that look. I said, “why, what?” In between his computer desk, at the corner, laid an upside down creature, lifeless. He said, “Mango is dead!” At first daddy thought, it was one of those small beannie babies.

Mango was like a family to us, you know. I didn’t mind him pooping all over the house because I wanted him to have the freedom to fly instead of being cooped in his cage. He had been with us for about 14 or 15 years. This last year, I had seen some signs of deteriorations from him. He wasn’t as agile as he was. When he followed me in the bathroom, one time, he bumped himself against the wall. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt and survived. He chirped a lot when he got stuck somewhere in the house like a plea for help. I would always get him and take him to his cage.

What may have happened was when he flew to our room, he bumped himself somewhere along the way. Maybe, he hadn’t been flying for 3 weeks and lost its strength to fly and hurt himself. It didn’t look like he suffered any. All I heard was a couple of chirps, and that was it. Or maybe, he died of old age?

He lived a long life with us. He was loved, cared for well. Even daddy stepped up and fed him good everyday. Though lately, he seemed to prefer rice and sphagetti as opposed to his food. Daddy gave him rice this morning, and he was very hungry for it. He ate the whole pile.

We put him in a small box of perfume and burried him in between the plum and persimmon tree. Daddy put three rocks on top so he is protected from any animals. This summer, when you guys go home, we will build a shrine for him.

I am sure Mango doesn’t want us cry or to look sad for him. He wants to see us happy just like the way he was.

Love,
Mommy

She was not expected to win. She is the “hampas lupa” as what the parents of the affluent and the highly favored contestant described her. They were right! An hour before the competition, 19 year-old Benil wasn’t quite ready. She hadn’t found the accessories that would embellish her outfit. They were searching hard here and there and suddenly they spotted me in the crowd. Good thing, my sister-in-law reminded me to take my jewelry to the event just in case she needed them. Fortunately, the necklace and the bracelet went well with her evening gown, and her costume respectively. I brought those jewelry actually as pasalubong or give aways but I had no particular persons in mind to give them to. God surely does have a way of putting things together at the right time, doesn’t He?

I came just for the fun of it with my camera in tow. Once again, it was yet another blessing for her because there was hardly anyone taking pictures of her. She is the “hampas lupa” or the destitute, you know. Her family can’t afford a camera or anything of that sort. To make up for her deprivation, I took tons of pictures of her from a distance because I only bought the cheapest ticket thinking that I may not like the show and head home early. No problem with the distance because I had the long lens with me.

But, as the night progressed, the pageant became interesting and stimulating. Our own Benil ramped off the platform with ease and confidence. Not only that, she seemed to be the only one who answered every question intelligently in perfect English. She eventually enamored the audience- with increasing applause each time she nailed the question. The “hampas lupa” had what it took to win and she did it! She won!

To add drama to this story, our baranggay captain visited me early in the morning after the pageant in my hut soliciting money for the queen’s gown to be worn at the parade. I said, ” she is now the queen of Bato, the town of Bato should provide for it.” I am sure they made quite a bit of money from the pageant’s paid admission. The entrance fee ranged from 20 pesos to 300 pesos and the house was packed. There should be enough money to rent a gown for the queen of Bato, right? Where else would they allocate the proceeds of the event????

Anyway, after I made my point, I relented and handed the captain php1,000 so, at least, the queen would look decent at the parade. To rent a white gown, they needed to come up with php800, so there was enough money even to cover for the transportation.

This costume made out of abaca paper was sewn together by the queen’s mother including the necklace and earrings. The bracelet was the one I lent her.

Didn’t the necklace fit perfectly with her gown? How did I know she would be wearing navy blue gown?

First runner up went to the Jenelyn Bonao of Bato ilawod, on the far left. Second runner up went to Christina Montano of Bato libod, 3rd runner up went to Jenelyn Temena of Sibacungan, and 4th runner up went to Marivic Tubalinal of San Roque.

Not bad for a picture taken from inside the plane through a window pane.

Hello everyone, I am back acclimatizing from a trip to the Philippines. Had a great time despite of the typhoon that hit the Philippines while vacationing. Earlier forecast said that it would hit Catanduanes by early morning of June 21st and we were staying in a hut just 15 meters away from the water. For some reasons, even if it was signal #3 already, I wasn’t scared and didn’t even think of leaving the area. People were typhoon proofing their houses already while I didn’t seem to feel the urgency to vacate the area. Fortunately, the typhoon suddenly changed its path and spared our place once again - hallelujah! Thanks Elaine, Pat, and Patty (my SIL) for the thought and concern. I appreciate it so much.

Anyway, the pictures above are of the boat named after me. My husband wanted the other end of the boat squared off so he could utilize his outboard motor that he shipped from the US two years ago so he doesn’t have to inhale the fumes if a regular diesel-in-board motor is used. Big mistake! When he tested the boat for a ride, water started splashing up from the stern and eventually got inside the boat. Which means the boat is not safe to take to the rough water but perfectly fine for a pleasure ride in a steady water around the bay. That is how good Bella is for now- just for rowing in the shallow water of the lagoon. That proves that I am indeed chicken in the water.

This dish may look unappetizing for most of you but for me it is heavenly even though I overcooked the squash. I didn’t realize squash cooks faster but it somehow enhanced the sauce, making the dish taste even better. Believe it or not, I had it 4 days in a row

In my recipe of Dinendeng, I used spinach, opo, slices of ginger, tomatoes, yellow orange squash, and bitter melon (ampalaya). My friend Au doesn’t recommend adding ampalaya to the recipe but I thought I would try it anyway because I love it so much. To cut down the bitterness, I soaked the sliced ampalaya first in salty water for some time and it did the trick.

I ate this much four days in a row with only half a cup of rice. Who says half a cup of rice is not enough?

The dish below prepared by Au was the one I was trying to achieve. But for some reasons, mine came out quite a bit darker, probably due to the type of bagoong I used. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with its taste. I mainly gorged on the veggies.

Those who are interested, here is the recipe my friend sent me: