Brieffreund gebraucht

German is quite difficult now because it's actually the
application of what we've already learned and a preparation for the
Deutsch Zertifikat exam. Believe me, I seem to have forgotten a lot
of what I've learned in the past two years.

Our teacher is suggesting that we find German penpals to
practice the language with. She doesn't recommend chat as it's
time-consuming and does not suit busy people.

Sie sagte, ob das Deutsch uns mit ein Brieffreund zu
praktizieren, wir mehr lernen werden.

Ich hoffe, dass diese Übung helfen mir Zertifikat Deutsch durchkommen.

sayong
02-24-07 11:55pm

Solothurn

The Cité Médiévale in our French book reminds me of a place I've once been, Solothurn.

My Bolivian co-intern at the World Alliance of YMCA, Patricia, met a compatriot living there. We spent Saturday night and Sunday at Solothurn, but we saw very little. We spent the night and half the day at her friend's house, just chatting. When we got to the city of Solothurn, many of the notable places were closed, including the Information Office. We just walked around the city, entered the Cathedral St. Ursus and took some pictures. By 6pm, we were on our way back to Geneva.

Then and even now, I still feel awed by Solothurn's oldness, manifested by its cobbled walks, ancient walls and general architecture. It's the same feeling I get whenever I see places like Manila's University of Sto. Tomas (17th century). Enduring is the only word I can use to describe these places. How would it feel to be part of this type of institution or to have such a heritage?

sayong
02-21-07 11:20pm

Turon for P3,500

How I wish I didn't eat those "turon" (Deep-Fried Banana
Roll with jackfruit) this noon. The price is too high: 3,500 pesos.

When I brushed my teeth after eating "turon," I found out
that one of my teeth lost its filling. I went to my dentist tonight
to have it filled again but she told me that the victim was the tooth
that had a root canal ten years ago. Instead, she advised me to have
it crowned to avoid further damage to the original tooth (like
cracking).

sayong
02-22-07 11:55pm

Thrills of Spring

My mother and I watched the Thrills of Spring at the PICC
tonight. It presented the Guangxi Acrobat Troupe of China.

All that I can say, wonderful :)

There's another show at the Araneta Center tomorrow, in
celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Kung Hei Fat Choi. Xin Nian Kuai Le!

sayong
02-17-07 11:55pm

VALENTINE Greeting...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY  !!

 

 For God so lo V ed the world,
         That He gA ve
                 His onL y
                 BegottE n
                          So N
                                T hat whosoever
                  Believeth I n Him
                        Should N ot perish,
                         But have E verlasting life."
                                                           John 3:16 
  There is no better Valentine than Jesus.

GSIS e-card plus

Today is the first day of our agency's special 2-day
in-house enrolment for the new GSIS card called "e-CARD PLUS".

When I went up to the venue, there was already a long queue
and I was supposed to be customer 229. I went back to our office and
when I went up again to check if the people from GSIS would break for
lunch or continue with the enrolment, an admin officer told me to
already fall in line as there were only a few employees left to be
served (they probably went to lunch already and thought they'd just go
back after). I fetched my officemate Em and we were through in less
than 15 minutes.

This is so different from the enrolment of my first e-card
in December 2004. My boss and I went to the fifth floor of SM City
Manila to be scheduled for the following week's enrolment. But when
we got there, we were told to fall in line and enroll because though
GSIS already reached its quota for the day, they still had a few hours
left. We lined up for about an hour. And after having our
information encoded and pictures taken, we lined up to get our e-card.
I told my boss that I had to get back to the office. I just got back
in the office when my boss texted me that my name had already been
called. I went back to SM Manila to get my e-card after work.

sayong
02-08-07

Pasinaya 2007

I attended the Pasinaya 2007 of the Cultural Center of the
Philippines with my mother and niece Patricia Joy today and was able
to see excerpts of incoming shows there. For sure, I would love to
see "Espana Extension" of Ballet Philippines on March.

We hurried to CCP to catch Philippine Ballet Theater perform
excerpts from Don Quixote. I don't really know what happened. We
were told that due to some technical problems, we couldn't watch PBT.
Ballet Philippines performed instead and I was pleased with what I
saw. I was able to catch some of their actions on my KodakC310. Some
were blurred though because of the fast movements. But some are
really good and I am sorry that I wasn't able to enter these pictures
into the Opencam competition because I ran out of battery and I didn't
have my spare batteries with me.

After this, we had a quick lunch at Mang Inasal at Harbor
Square. The Chicken Inasal was very tasty and quite cheap considering
the location. But its service was quite slow for us who were counting
every minute because the Philippine Madrigal Singers was to start in
less than an hour (1pm) at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino. They
sang Angela Dei, Heal the World, Bubuka ang Bulaklak, Man in the
Mirror and Paraiso (in this order).

Tanghalang Pilipino performed next at the Tanghalang Aurelio
Tolentino with "Ang mga Huwad" (The Pretenders). The full show was at
3-pm. My mother became attentive only when she saw Romnick Sarmenta
playing the young male lead, Tony.

After some picture-taking, we proceeded back to Bulwagang
Francisca Reyes Aquino (BFRA) to see the Philippine Ballet Theater.
Unfortunately, it was already fully-booked 30 minutes before the
performance. It's really popular. Ah well, there's always another
time to see it.

I checked my program and I decided to see the ventriloquism
show that was also scheduled at 3 pm (same as PBT). This was another
decision that paid off. My niece was really amazed and we all had fun
watching Ony Carcamo in "Mga Solong Diyalogo". I've already heard
some of the jokes he shared with his "monkey" Dingdong. A new one was
when the "monkey" said that there was already telephone in the time of
Jesus because the Bible mentioned Peter's denial. Dinayal in Tagalog
is dialed in English. Anyway, many didn't get the joke :) Carcamo
said that he liked being a ventriloquist for where else could one talk
with himself and be paid for it.

After this, we went to BFRA again to watch WI_FI Body
Independent Contemporary Dance. Then, we went to Tanghalang Huseng
Batute and caught some of Hail Mary the Queen Children's Choir' songs.
The last we saw was the Lights and Sound Show by the Sinag Arts
Foundation.

sayong
02-04-07 11:50pm

Dampa sa Farmers Market uzw.

Nothing lasts forever as a cliché goes. But I really hope
that this climate does :) This was my thought when I was in a Cubao
jeepney going to Stop & Shop. And it is still my sentiment.

It has been a very cool week; not chilly nor freezingly
cold. It is just cool enough that one will not sweat in a 10-minute
exercise or a 10-minute brisk walk. I know as I've been doing these
:)

Perhaps, this is one reason that I didn't lose weight this
week. I need to step-up my exercises so that I could sweat in this
cold weather. And I also gained a few ounces perhaps because I've
been binging on food at the Dampa sa Farmers Market :)

After a very satisfactory (burp!) dinner there last night, I
recommended the place to my classmates/friends in German class as the
venue for celebrating our teacher's birthday. So there we went and
they loved the place, too. Simply delicious and yet cheap :)

sayong
02-03-07

rendezvous at Dampa

I just got home from a "rendezvous" with my friends from way
back Technology Management Center days – Hazel, Wev and Ari.

Once again, we took until the wee hours. I thought that I
could get home by 9 pm this Friday and that I could then do my
assignment in German. But here I am, sleepy and no assignment yet for
this Saturday's German class.

We went to a place called Dampa sa Farmers Market and then
Starbucks in Araneta Center, Cubao. As usual, I enjoyed meeting them
again after some time (one month ago with Hazel and Ari but almost a
year with Wev). And I am grateful to have them for friends.

sayong
02-03-07 2:15am