Holy Week/Semana Santa

Holy Week is the last week of the Lent before Easter Sunday. Catholics are celebrating this years Holy Week from March 28 - April 3 .For Christians, this is a celebration in commemoration for Christ Death through praying , penance and fasting.

Some establishment were closed until Black Saturday in observance of this solemn occasion.Good Friday is definitely a national holiday and the road is free from traffic congestion which is rarely seen in Philippines road.An ideal day to practice your driving but rarely happens because of the belief that these days should be spend peacefully in the house or doing the Visita Iglesia. TV shows and radios nationwide either stay off the air or shows only religious theme like the 'seven Last Words and other solemn shows.

On Maundy Thursday, "Church Visit" or "Visita Iglesia" is a very popular a tradition among the devotees where in they visit seven different churches as part of their"Panata". There is also the last Mass called the Mass of the Institution of the Lord's Supper.

On Good Friday there is a solemn street processions called the Way of the Cross, the commemoration of Jesus' Seven last words and a Passion play called the "Senakulo".

Black Saturday is the day when Christ's body lay in His Tomb. This is last day of Holy week is traditionally observed with silence and solemnity in preparations for the Easter Vigil to be celebrated later at night time.


I am away from the Philippines for more almost 10 years now and never had the chance to celebrate it with my family. As Christian, I pray that people reflect on their sins not only during Holy Week but in everyday of our life.

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Bad School Day

This story happened more than a week ago .I just thought of sharing it with you for no reason at all. I am calm now and me and hubby decided not to file a complaint against the School's Discipline Coordinator ,anymore .Any way, I already confronted her and gave her a doze of her own medicine.She ran away and hid  from me after I confronted and yelled at her infront of the students and other teachers.I was just returning what she did to my son.And probably she now know how it feels to be being embarrassed in front of others.What she did was unacceptable and was consider as harassment.

The incident happened on March 17, 2010 after their computer subject inside the school campus.According to my son, it all started inside his computer class .R (my son) and his classmates were busy doing their homework when a classmate named Sarah, grabbed his Nintendo DS inside his pocket. My son was trying to get it back but she did not return it .So he started to cry and when Sarah saw him crying, she said, "Don't cry, you look ugly". My son answered back "You look like a rat". After class, Sarah ran to the office of Scool Discilpine Coordinator, Miss Farah's  to report that Rashid called her a rat. Then Miss Farah waited for Ryan outside the classroom and shouted at him "GIVE ME, GIVE ME!" My son who was so scared and traumatized by her behavior took his Nintendo Ds inside his pocket and gave it to her.

My son did nothing but cry even until he gets home .We asked him what happened but he refused to talk about it.The following morning, at around 8 am, my friend came to tell me my sons problem.According to her R called her over the photo to help him  get back his  DS to the school cooordinator but she refused to give it and was actually waiting for me to get it persoanlly.That was were I found out that the discipline  coordinator did something wrong to him.Upon hearing it, my blood rushed into my head .I waited for my husband to go with me at school to confront the School Coordiantor.Since it was my sons last period I decided to see his classmates first specially Sarah to ask what really happened .Thye all said that my son did nothing wrong and it was Sarah who started it.Then the Coordinator showed up and I asked to set an appointment but she refused to see us for a school meeting.Then it happened so fast,I just saw myself making a scene tthus making her scared and run away.

The following day I asked my son how was his school  day and how was he treated by the School Coordianator.He said ,she was nice to him. And that's it .I think I made myself clear that Filipino's do fight when it comes to our kids.

QL-Filex 3rd year Anniversary

Going to the beach occasionally is fun to do especially with group of friends. On March 12, 2010, our group Qatar Living, Filipino Expatriates, celebrated the 3rd year anniversary by the beach. We have been planning this outing for over a month for a successful get together just like the first two anniversaries. There were volunteers assigned for each group (logistic, programmes/games, food and attendance) to make sure that everything is in proper order .Everybody did their part to make this event a successful one.All the members were divided into group to compete with each.If I am not mistaken ,group 5 or red team won the game. Food was overflowing from breakfast up to snack time .I cooked spaghetti but never had the chance to take a picture of it .They said it taste good and even my son enjoyed eating it.

Here are some pictures to share with you.

Photographs courtesy of Miss celia j. Thanks for sharing with us all the wonderful pictures from your picasa web.

my hubby and son enjoying the sand.

Devilled Eggs

I had a first taste of the appetizer back in 1999 while I was working in Saudi Arabia. A friend of mine has a birthday party and we were served with devilled eggs first while waiting for the main dish. Then I tried it on using the recipe in one of my cookbook with some variations according to my taste.

 

Devilled Eggs

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs

2 teaspoons Dijon or yellow mustard

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp minced onion

Salt to taste

Paprika for garnishing

Directions:

Boil the eggs for 12 to 15 minutes. Let the eggs cool .Peel and Cut into half-lengthwise. Scoop the egg yolks and set aside the egg whites .Mashed the egg yolks add the minced onions, mustard, mayonnaise and salt. Spoon the egg yolk mixture into the egg white halves. Sprinkle with paprika. Chill before serving.

Ginisang Amplaya/sautéed bitter gourd

Amplaya is one of my favorite fruit/vegetable or whatever they call it is the bitter taste of it makes people not like it but for me this is just one of any other vegetables in the market with good taste.

Happy Mothers day

Happy Mothers day to all mothers out there!

I almost forgot the day until my son gave me a homemade card when I picked him up at school. As usual, my son never fails to give me card with his own dedications. What a sweet loving son he is.

Thank God it's Friday

It is Friday, another weekend in Qatar. The sun is clear; the sky is blue and my husband's day off.

Another day but same old stuff to do. My daily routine is to prepare milk for my bunso (youngest) and breakfast for everybody. We had pancakes this morning.
Friday is also our church day, time to worship the Lord from 10 am to 12 noon. Then go back home to prepare lunch and at the same time do the laundry .Separate the colored from white clothes and just throw everything in the washing machine then to the dryer.
Then we spent the rest of the day inside the house playing with the kids and watching our favorite movies.

Happy Birthday to me

I turned a year older this month. How time flies, seven more birthdays and I will turn 50 years old.

I got a bouquet of flowers, a lollipop and a Nemo stuffed toy from my hubby.My son made me a personalized birthday card and I think I lost it,hope not. Then we had a wonderful lunch at Chilis.

I never had a happy birthday experienced in my life before until I met my husband .Even when I turned 18 years old ,the only thing I did to at least celebrate my adulthood was to treat myself alone at Mc Donald ,Glorietta then a gallon do Magnolia ice cream bought by my father when I got home. My mother did not even bother to cook at east 1 kilo of pancit (noodles). I always think that she is so unfair to me for ignoring some of the important occasions of my life like graduation days and birthdays. I still remember when I graduated from elementary. I was with her three friends and on high school graduation, my sister accompanied me to school and left before the graduation was over .I went home alone while the other graduates were happy with their family.
Those were the days. And I am  so grateful to God for having a loving husband and children who gives color to my then lonely life.

One of my Favorite movie

Have you see the old movie" A walk to Remember" by Mandy Moore and Shane West? The story is a romantic love story of a dying preacher's daughter who fell in love with a popular arrogant person. An old movie but I still do not mind seeing it repeatedly. In addition, this movie still makes me cry especially at the part when the girl was dying...
This movie showed what true love really is.

Hello summer, Goodbye winter

It rained in Doha today at around 5 pm with thunder and lightning, it rarely happens here but once it does, everybody seems to be excited .Usually rain does not stay long but if you caught driving, expect that you will end up stock at the middle of the road like forever.You will see flooded streets and driver's gone crazy and forgets how to drive.

Rain means the weather is going to change from winter to summer and vice versa.

God,I hate summer! Nobody can stand staying outside anytime of the day.It is humid and heat penetrates into your skin at once.

Anyway, I was in the kitchen washing the dishes when I heard raindrops at the backyard .So I opened the door and called my children to watch the rain. Then they moved out at the front door for a better view .My little boy was so amazed and wanted to jump out of the rain and play.






The rain did not last that long but I can see the happiness in my children's eyes as they watched the rains slowly stopped.








And where was my husband? Well, he is in the bedroom sleeping. He loves rain and when he woke up and told him about it, he's only answer was." Yes, I know it rained and I missed it, guess I was too tired to get up and watched it with the boys".