English Roman Catholic Church in Den Haag

For those who are new or even old to Netherlands and has been looking for an english church particularyly in Den Haag area, the Church of Our Saviour is the English Speaking International Roman Catholic Church of Den Haag. It is located in Bezuidenhoutseweg 157 nearby central station so its not really a problem for those who are taking public transpostation. It's a very nice community/parish which you can also observe many Filipino attending the mass which gives me warm feelings seeing my "kababayan".  So I hope this information will help you...See you then.

http://www.parish.nl/

A man who's dear to me..........

My father, a man whom I loved and missed so much. He was someone who, along with my mother, had made enormous sacrifices in his life for a better living and so I could also go to college and was overjoyed that I was able to finished a degree though it wasn't really with flying colors. Who I am now is because of him who molded me with strength to stand on my own and taught me to strive hard for success in whatever I aim for.

It has been four years since he died but until now, I still grief of lossing a father like him and feel guilty that I was not on his side when he died knowing he waited me on the time we agreed the last night I was talking to him. Hard to understand but then I can never turn back the time. Only acceptance can help me changed this sadness because I know that lossing a father can happen to anyone,expected or unexpected. Either way it hurts. I know he's watching over me. Only i hope that he is happy and proud of who I am now. Papa, I missed you so much and forever you are in my heart....and no one can ever take that away.

Cagayan de Oro, the City of Golden Friendship

By the name itself "Oro" meaning gold, sounds intriguing for some who are new in this City. Im not so familiar of the history of Cagayan de Oro or CDO, but spending almost 10 years of my life in CDO is one of the best times of my life having all the bad and good times in my teenager life. I went to college in one of the best univerisity and worked from one company to another, also in this place. I like so much of the place(aside from my hometown Oroquieta City) because of the environment that is peaceful and almost all that you want is in this city like malls, universities,big hospitals, airport(only domestic but soon to open international airport), some pubs, and now declared as one of the tourist spots in the Philippines. Though my last year in CDO wasn't that good, but still I love to go back and settle in this city. Everytime I go home in the Philippines, I always make sure to visit CDO before going back to Netherlands. That shows how much I love CDO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagayan_de_Oro_City

http://www.cagayandeoro.gov.ph/index.php?page=services

New Hobby

I'm a boring person who does nothing in life except work and stay at home either to watch television, listen to music or spending my time in front of the computer. I never go out with friends for disco or a drink in a pub. But just lately, I always get bored doing this kind of routine. So i decided to try new things and painting came out in my mind. Maybe this way I can express what I feel, as what they always say that painters mostly express their feelings by doing so. Anyway, here's a photo of my first painting. Excuse me if it's not really perfect. I mean, it's my first try. Hope I can get more ideas to make it good.

Being Influencial

Influencing other people can be both in good or in bad ways which you can evaluate the impact to the person you influenced through the after result. It somehow works the same in advertising, if you are good on it then you are halfway in hitting your goal. Just this week, I was able to influenced 2 friends not to a negative way but i hope in a good way. I'm refering to blogging. It truly gives me a good feeling knowing that a good friend named Geert or Kurt as I call him sometimes is finally accepting this idea to get involved also in blogging. I've been telling him since the time I started to blog showing him the benefits of it(as well said also from my friend Phebie)but he keeps on saying "next time". Maybe he was too pre-occupied that time...ahhhmmm???im not so sure of that. As far as knowing Geert, his interest in writing, his imaginations, and his time then i'm sure i hitted the right person being influenced. I wish him goodluck and hoping he can influence more to visit his site.

A successful FOOD FAIR 2009

Each year, the Church of Our Saviour in Den Haag have this special event wherein parish members and visitors will come together to have fun for a  good cause - the FOOD FAIR. By the title itself, lots of food in every corner from different country. This year,we had it yesterday at Francois Vatel School in Mariahoeve(also in Den Haag). I was quiet late for some important reasons but being there despite my lateness was really awesome seeing people sharing their talent during the program and spending their time helping to sell diffferent goods,pastries,clothes,jewelries, and even books which all proceeds will go to a special cause helping people from third world countries . And I was delighted to see and even was really touched the fact that Philippines is also one of the countries to receive this benefit. That's one of the reason I was there, in a way I can help through supporting this event. It ended with a raffle draw with major prices like a trip to Scotland and Portugal. Will congrats to those who won. I hope im the luckiest person next year. hehehe..

By the way, the church announced this morning knowing last night was really a successful event and was able to raised--to be exact 47,000.65 euros. Again, congratulation's specially to all who volunteered for this event.

Technology is very important to me

I am just a simple person being contended of having one mobile phone even with just the simpliest model as long as it works good for calls and sms purposes. But now, I feel the need that one is not enough since i have a roaming number(which means i'm activitating my number from the Philippines) so my family and friends can send always sms for a cheaper cost than to send straight to my Netherland number. Aside from mobile phone, computer is very important. I mean, I have a computer already but i'm searching now for a good one with reasonable price and friendly user for a mom who have no knowledge in computer like my mom. I guess people who are far from their family will surely agree on me the importance of technology. It helps us fight against loneliness being far from them and at the same time being updated of news back in my country. So this is not becoming in of the society but responding the need of technology on my part.

Let us Learn Tagalog

Im glad to know that some friends have the time to visit my site even more often than i can and are always waiting for me to write something. And since some of them suggested me to write more about my country, then I will start it by posting below some important Tagalog words and phrases you can use as you are in the Philippines. Though there are over 170 languages in the country, I will prefer to write English to Tagalog translation since Tagalog is mostly understood and is the basis for the national and official language of the Philippines, Filipino. So I tried to research to help me formulate the following words and phrases since my Tagalog is not that good. I came from the Northern part of the country that speak Cebuano or Bisaya.

So goodluck to my readers and no doubt if one day you speak Tagalog to me..Hehehe....

              English Phrases                                      Tagalog Phrases
English Greetings                                 Tagalog Greetings:


Hi!
Good morning!                                     Magandang Umaga!

Good evening!                                      Magandang Gabi!

Welcome! (to greet someone)
How are you?                                        Kumusta?

I'm fine, thanks!                                   Mabuti naman,Salamat!

And you?                                               At ikaw?

Good/ So-So.
Thank you (very much)!                         Maraming Salamat!
You're welcome! (for "thank you")
Hey! Friend!                                          Kaibigan!

I missed you so much!
What's new?                                          Anong bago?

Nothing much                                        Wala naman

Good night!
See you later!                                        Sa muling pagkikita!

Good bye!
Asking for Help and Directions
I'm lost                                                  Ako’y nawawala

Can I help you?                                      Pwede ba kitang tulungan?
Where is the (bathroom/ pharmacy)?    Nasaan ang (palikuran/botika)?

Go straight! then turn left/right!           Diretso lang, tapos kaliwa/kanan!
I'm looking for john.                              Hinahanap ko si John.

One moment please!                              Isang Saglit lang po.

Hold on please! (phone)                         Sandali lamang po.

How much is this?                                  Magkano ito?

Excuse me ...! (to ask for something)   Makisuyo po…!

Excuse me! ( to pass by)                        Makikiraan po!

Come with me!                                      Sumama ka sa akin!

How to Introduce Yourself

Do you speak (English/ Tagalog)?
Just a little.                                             Kaunti lang.

What's your name?                                Ano ang pangalan mo?

My name is ..                                          Ako ay si….

Mr.../ Mrs.…/ Miss…                            Ginoo../Ginang../Binibining…

Nice to meet you!
You're very kind!                                   Ang bait-bait mo

Where are you from?                            Taga-saan ka ba?
I'm from (the U.S/ the Philippines)      Taga Pilipinas ako.

I'm (American)                                       Ako ay Amerikano.

Where do you live?                                Saan ka nakatira?

I live in (the U.S/ the Philippines)          Nakatira ako sa Pilipinas.

Did you like it here?                               Gusto mo ba dito?

the Philippines is a wonderful country  Ang Pilipinas ay
                                                             magandang bansa.

What do you do for a living?                  Ano ang ikinabubuhay mo?

I work as a (translator/ businessman)    Nagtatrabaho ako bilang
                                                             (Translator/Negosyante)

I like Tagalog                                         Gusto ko ang Tagalog.

I've been learning Tagalog for1month    Pinag-aralan ko ang tagalog
                                                               ng isang buwan.

Oh! That's good!                                  Mabuti iyan!

How old are you?                                 ilang taon ka na?

I'm (twenty, thirty...) years old.           Ako’y (Dalawampung, tatlumpung..)
                                                              taon gulang na.

I have to go                                        Kailangan ko ng umalis.

I will be right back!                             Babalik ako.

Wish Someone Something
Good luck! 
Happy birthday!                                 Maligayang Kaarawan!

Happy new year!                                Maligayang Bagong Taon!
Merry Christmas!                               Maligayang Pasko!

Congratulations!
Enjoy! (for meals...)
I'd like to visit the Philippines          Gusto kong bisitahin ang Pilipinas
     one day                                                 isang araw.

Say hi to John for me                           Ikumusta mo na lang ako kay John.

Bless you (when sneezing)
Good night and sweet dreams!              Gandang Gabi!

Solving a Misunderstanding
I'm Sorry! (if you don't hear something)  Pakiulit nga po..

Sorry (for a mistake)                                 Pasensya na..

No Problem!                                            Walang Problema..

Can You Say It Again?                             Pakisabi nga ulit?

Can You Speak Slowly?                           Pwedeng pakihinaan ang
                                                                  iyong pagsasalita?

Write It Down Please!                            Pakisulat nga po!

I Don't Understand!                                  Hindi ko maintindihan.

I Don't Know!                                         Hindi ko alam.

I Have No Idea.                                       Wala akong ideya.

What's That Called In Tagalog?
What Does "gato" Mean In English?
How Do You Say "Please" In Tagalog?    Paano mo sabihin ang “Please”
                                                                sa tagalog
What Is This?                                          Ano ito?

My Tagalog is bad.                                 Ang tagalog ko ay mali.

I need to practice my Tagalog              Kailangan ko pang pag-aralan
                                                             ang tagalog.

Don't worry!                                             Huwag kang mag-alala.

Tagalog Expressions and Words
Good/ Bad/ So-So.                                Maganda/Masama

Big/ Small                                               Malaki/Maliit

Today/ Now                                          Ngayon

Tomorrow/ Yesterday                            Bukas/Kahapon

Yes/ No                                                  Oo/Hindi

Here you go! (when giving something)    Para sa iyo!

Do you like it?                                       Nagustuhan mo ba?
I really like it!                                        Nagustuhan ko talaga!

I'm hungry/ thirsty.                                Ako’y nagugutom/nauuhaw.

In The Morning/ Evening/ At Night.      Sa umaga/hapon/gabi.

This/ That. Here/There                         Ito/Iyan. Dito/Dyan

Me/ You. Him/ Her.                             Ako/Ikaw. Siya

Really!                                                    Talaga!

Look!                                                     Tingnan mo!

Hurry up!                                                  Bilisan mo!

What? Where?                                        Ano? Saan?
What time is it?                                       Anong oras na?

It's 10 o'clock. 07:30pm.                         Alas diyes na. Alas syete
                                                              y medya na ng gabi.

Give me this!                                       Ibigay mo sa akin ito!
I love you!                                            Mahal kita!

I feel sick.
I need a doctor                                     Kailangan ko ng doktor.

One, Two, Three                                  Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo

Four, Five, Six                                     Apat, Lima, Anim

Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten                        Pito, Walo, Siyam, Sampu.






   

Dancing ballet or belly dancing?

I am invited to watch a dance show particularly ballet and belly dancing next week with my boss. She is one of the performers and she is small like me but a very good dancer at her age about 50. But the shocking invitation is not only to watch her show but also an invitation to dance with her group soon. I cannot remember in my life saying that dancing is my passion. Ohh I remember now.That was 20 years ago (i guess),when my friends asked me to write something on their autograph. Hobby/ies---dancing,eating,singing,swimming(which i don't even know how to swim)...are among those i wrote and it's funny to recall it again.Well that's normal to kids. They write something even if they don't know what it means.Though my parents sent me to a ballet school every summer in my elementary years, but I never learned to love it. So im in doubt now if I have to accept her offer but only im after of the belly dancing just to have some exercise to have a perfect body. Wow!!! I'm too ambitious now. So I have to think it again if I still have the time for the belly dancing.

Here is an "ugly-duckling" photo before going to my ballet class when I was 6 years old.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO RELEASE STRESS

I got this article from a friend(thanks to Ms. Weng) which I will post it also here for some friends specially those who are not Filipinos whom they love to visit my site to know about Philippines and the Filipinos. So enjoy reading. Yes it's hilarious but it's true.

The following is from a British journalist stationed in the
Philippines .

His observations are so hilarious!!!! This was written
in 1999.


I have now been in this country for over six years, and consider
myself in most respects well assimilated. However, there is one key
step on the road to full assimilation, which I have yet to take,
and that's to eat BALUT.

The day any of you sees me eating balut, please call immigration and ask them to issue me a Filipino passport. Because at that point
there will be no turning back.
BALUT, for those still blissfully ignorant non-Pinoys out there,
is a fertilized duck egg.



It is commonly sold with salt in a piece of newspaper, much like
English fish and chips, by street vendors usually after dark,
presumably so you can't see how gross it is.

It's meant to be an aphrodisiac, although I can't imagine anything
more likely to dispel sexual desire than crunching on a partially
formed baby duck swimming
in noxious fluid. The embryo in the egg comes in varying stages of
development, but basically it is not considered macho to eat one
without fully discernable feathers,
beak, and claws. Some say these crunchy bits are the best. Others
prefer just to drink the so-called 'soup', the vile, pungent liquid
that surrounds the aforementioned feathery fetus...excuse me; I
have to go and throw up now. I'll be back in a minute.

Food dominates the life of the Filipino. People here just love to eat.
They eat at least eight times a day. These eight official meals are
called, in order: breakfast, snacks, lunch, merienda, merienda
ceyna, dinner, bedtime snacks and
no-one-saw-me-take-that-cookie-from-the-fridge-so-it-doesn't-count.

The short gaps in between these mealtimes are spent eating Sky Flakes
from the open packet that sits on every desktop. You're never far
from fo od in the Philippines . If you doubt this, next time you're
driving home from work, try this game. See how long you can drive
without seeing food and I don't mean a distant restaurant, or a
picture of food. I mean a man on the sidewalk frying fish balls,
or a man walking through the traffic selling nuts or candy. I bet it's less
than one minute.

Here are some other things I've noticed about food in the
Philippines :

Firstly, a meal is not a meal without rice - even breakfast. In the
UK , I could go a whole year without eating rice. Second, it's
impossible to drink without eating. A bottle of San Miguel just
isn't the same without gambas or beef tapa. Third, no one ventures more than two paces from their house without baon (food in small
container) and a container of something cold to drink. You might
as well ask a Filipino to leave home without his pants on. And
lastly, where I come from, you eat with a knife and fork. Here, you eat
with a spoon and fork. You try eating rice swimming in fish sauce with
a knife.

One really nice thing about Filipino food culture is that people
always ask you to SHARE their food. In my office, if you catch
anyone attacking their baon, they will always go, "Sir! KAIN TAYO!"
("Let's eat!").
This confused me, until
I realized that they didn't actually expect me to sit down and start
munching on their boneless bangus. In fact, the polite response is
something like, "No thanks, I just ate." But the principle is
sound - if you have food on your plate, you are expected to share it,
however hungry you are, with those who may be even hungrier. I think
that's great!

In fact, this is frequently even taken one step further.
Many Filipinos use "Have you eaten yet?" ("KUMAIN KA NA?") as a general greeting, irrespective of time of day or location.

Some foreigners think Filipino food is fairly dull compared to
other Asian cuisines.
Actually lots of it is very good: Spicy dishes like Bicol Express
(strange, a dish named after a train); anything cooked with coconut
milk; anything KINILAW; and anything ADOBO. And it's hard to beat the sheer wanton, cholesterolic frenzy of a good old-fashioned
LECHON de leche (roast pig) feast. Dig a pit, light a fire, add 50
pounds of animal fat on a stick, and cook until crisp. Mmm, mmm...
you can actually feel your arteries constricting with each
successive mouthful.


I also share one key Pinoy trait --- a sweet tooth. I am thus the only
foreigner I know who does not comp lain about sweet bread, sweet
burgers, sweet spaghetti, sweet banana ketchup, and so on. I am a
man who likes to put jam on his pizza. Try it!
It's the weird food you want to avoid. In addition to duck fetus in
the half-shell, items to avoid in the Philippines include pig's blood
soup (DINUGUAN); bull's testicle soup, the strang ely-named "SOUP NUMBER FIVE"
(I dread to think what numbers one through four are);
and the ubiquitous, stinky shrimp paste, BAGOONG, and it's equally stinky sister, PATIS.

Filipinos are so addicted to these latter items that they will even
risk arrest or deportation try ing to smuggle them into countries
like Australia and the USA , which wisely ban the importation of items
you can smell from more than 100 paces.


Then there's the small matter of the purple ice cream. I have
never been able to get my brain around eating purple food; the
ubiquitous UBE leaves me cold.

And lastly on the sub ject of weird food, beware: that KALDERETANG KAMBING (goat)
could well be KALDERETANG ASO (dog)...

The Filipino, of course, has a well-developed sense of food.
Here's a typical Pinoy food joke: "I'm on a seafood diet.
"What's a seafood diet?" "When I see food, I eat it!"

Filipinos also eat strange bits of animals --- the feet, the head,
the guts, etc., usually barbecued on a stick. These have been
given witty names, like "ADIDAS" (chicken's feet); "KURBATA" (either just chicken's neck, or
"neck and thigh" as in "neck-tie"); "WALKMAN" (pigs ears); "PAL" (chicken wings); "HELMET" (chicken head); "IUD" (chicken
intestines), and BETAMAX" (video-cassette-like blocks of animal blood). Yum,yum. Bon appetit.


WHEN I arrived in the Philippines from the UK six years ago, one of the first cultural differences to strike me was names. The subject
has provided a continuing source of amazement and amusement ever since.
The first unusual thing, from an English perspective, is that
everyone here has a nickname. In the staid and boring United
Kingdom, we have
nicknames in kindergarten, but when we move into adulthood we
tend, I am glad to say, to lose them.

&nb sp; The second thing that struck me is that Philippine names for both
girls and boys tend to be what we in the UK would regard as
overbearingly cutesy for anyone over about five.
Fifty-five-year-olds colleague put it.

Where I come from, a boy with a nickname like Boy Blue or Honey
Boy would be beaten to death at school by pre-adolescent bullies, and
never make it to adulthood. So, probably, would girls with names
like Babes, Lovely, Precious, Peachy or Apples. Yuk, ech ech. Here,
however, no one bats an eyelid.

Then I noticed how many people have what I have come to call
"door-bell names". These are nicknames that sound like -well, doorbells. There are millions of them.

Bing, Bong, Ding, and Dong are some of the more common. They can be, and frequently are, used in even more door-bell-like
combinations such as Bing-Bong, Ding-Dong, Ting-Ting, and so on. Even our newly appointed chief of police has a doorbell name Ping . None of these doorbell names
exist where I come from, and hence sound unusually amusing to my untutored foreign ear.

Someone once told me that one of the Bings, when asked why he
was called Bing, replied, "because my brother is called Bong".
Faultless logic.

Dong, of course, is a particularly funny one for me, as where
come from "dong" is a slang word for well; perhaps "talong" is the
best Tagalog equivalent!!!

Repeating names was another novelty to me, having never before
encountered people with names like Len-Len, Let-Let, Mai-Mai, or
Ning-Ning.
The secretary I inherited on my arrival had an unusual one:
Leck-Leck. Such names are then frequently further refined by
using the "squared" symbol, as in Len2 or Mai2. This had me very
confused for a while.

Then there is the trend for parents to stick to a theme when naming
their children. This can be as simple as making them all begin with
the same letter, as in Jun, Jimmy, Janice, and Joy.

More imaginative parents shoot for more sophisticated forms of
&n bsp; assonance or rhyme, as in Biboy, Boboy, Buboy, Baboy (notice the
names get worse the more kids there are-best to be born early or you could end up being a Baboy).


Even better, parents can create whole families of, say, desserts
(Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Honey Pie) or flowers (Rose, Daffodil,
Tulip). The main advantage of such combinations is that they
look great painted across your trunk if you're a cab driver.

That's another thing I'd never seen before coming to Manila --
taxis with the driver's kids' names on the trunk.

Another whole eye-opening field for the foreign visitor is the
phenomenon of the "composite" name. This includes
names like Jejomar
(for Jesus, Joseph and Mary), and the remarkable Luzviminda (for
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, believe it or not).
That's a bit like me being called something like "Engscowani"
(for England , Scotland , Wales and
Northern Ireland ). Between you and me, I'm glad I'm not.

&n bsp; And how could I forget to mention the fabulous concept of the
randomly inserted letter 'h'. Quite what this device is supposed
to achieve, I have not yet figured out, but I
think it is designed to give a touch of class to an otherwise only averagely weird name.

It results in creations like Jhun, Lhenn, Ghemma, and Jhimmy. Or
how about Jhun-Jhun (Jhun2)?

How boring to come from a country like the UK full of people
with names like John Smith.
How wonderful to come from a country where imagination and
exoticism rule the world of names.

Even the towns here have weird names; my favorite is the
unbelievably named town of Sexmoan
(ironically close to Olongapo and Angeles). Where else in the
world could that really be true?

Where else in the world could the head of the Church really be
called Cardinal Sin?

Where else but the Philippines !

Note: Philippines has a senator named Joker, and it is his legal
name

Im drunk!

Wednesday is a whole day worked for me as my extra earning and after a busy day, I planned to sleep earlier for another day extra work tomorrow but then I remembered I still have a bottle of wine given from a neighbor months ago. Instead of grabbing a pistache ice cream as my favorite, i took a full glass of wine that made me drunk with just that 1 glass of wine. Oh my,oh my...I'm drunk with that single glass??I remember I can even survived with few bottles of beer. Well, that was college days and now I realised my alcohol level goes back to its normal level. But anyway, its a good feeling now to relax and sleep. Im sure it's a noisy night for me(because I snore as Im tired..hehehe)

How important is Dutch language to me?

It's more than 2 years now since I first came here in The Netherlands but until now, my dutch has never been improving though I can't deny there was a time that I lost my interest in learning this language. Perhaps because I never followed a course. But since I decided to migrate here, I feel pressured now that I must learn the language. It is very important not only as I go shopping or as I ask direction specially to old people (whom most of them never speak english)for certain directions but also for me to get a real job. As of now, I only have temporary job since most companies prefer someone who can speak fluently in dutch. So I have to motivate myself to learn fast so I can get very soon the job that I want. Wish me luck in my study...and of course in getting a job.

A time for the souls

Its holiday in the Philippines for November 1 & 2 to celebrate All Saints Day and All Soul's Day respectively. During this time, families are busy going home to their provinces to visit their beloved ones in the cementery giving some respect by bringing some flowers, candles, and most important to offer some prayers. Usually this is the time that i spend 2 whole days in the cementary at my fathers grave. But so sad to say that i cant visit him this time or maybe for years to come since it is not that easy for me to go home to the Philippines. Though people here in Netherlands dont practice this kind of holiday but good thing to know that my church where i usually attend mass will have a special mass tomorrow(November 2) intended for this. So i will be there tomorrow night to attend the mass.