Happy birthday, Bentot!

July 18 marked the (32nd) birthday of my brother Ruben. (32 daw siya sabi niya, eh di pagbigyan!). We celebrated his birthday (and mine, which is this coming Sunday) at Mann Hann in Megamall with our eldest sister Ruth, my sister Rose ans of course my pamangkins Miel, Lee, Dan and Carla. Picture to follow. Miel, pls pass naman the pics via email. thanks!

DRA. EMILIA OSUNA DAVID

Our tita Emmie, the mother of our brother-in-law Kuya Vic David, passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon (July 18 at 1:00 pm). Her remains are currently at the Loyola Guadalupe Memorial Chapels. Her remains will be taken to her hometown of Nagcarlan, Laguna where she will be burried on Saturday. Friends and Family request the pious blogger to pray for her eternal repose.

CONGRATULATIONS, JUSTINE!

The sister of our very good (and equally beautiful) friend Jackie G., Justine Gabionza, recently won the Ms. Tourism International Queen Title in China. Justine bested 80 beauties from around the globe. From all of us, CONGRATULATIONS!

Politically speaking

I usually save my political jabbering for my other blog, www.pinoys4pgma.blogspot.com. Many friends ask me why I even botehr to come up with such a blog page supporting the president. Well, my objective is not to pick up a fight with the anti-Arroyos but to make them see at least some of the good works she has done for the country. This, of course, is a tad bit futile since the anti-GMAs and the Pro-GMAs have already made up their minds about their sides. Take this impeachment thing. Many would assume that we from the pro-GMA camp are against the impeachment. We are for the process. What we dont agree on is the case itself. Rehashing old complaints for lack of a strong case is not something we take lightly especially since it is our money, the people's money that is going to be used for te impeachment. Yes, let the prcoess go on, but let justice and the law prevail as well. Technicalities are as part of the law and the legal process and should be accepted as such. Congressmen in the opposition who are lawyers know about technicalities since they themselves must have used them at one point in their careers as lawyers. Why object to technicalities now? I will tell you why! Because it is not in their favor. And that, my friends, is politics in this country, politically speaking.

HIGH SCHOOL GET-TOGETHER

My high school classmate Tina Viola arrived from Los Agneles last week and she scheduled a small get-together for our batch at Aruba in Ortigas. Although we expected a small number of people to come, we didn't expect it to be THAT small. Tehre were four of us all in all. Tina, Nette Vaca, Ramona Marquez and myself. Don't get me wrong. It was a fun get-together filled with alcohol and stories from our high school years. All in all, I can say that it was a fun-filled evening. Tonight there will be another gathering, this time in Greenbelt and I hope many of our batchmates can come.

ABOUT MY DIGITAL ART

Guys, i'm so happy you liked my art. I have new ones but since my PC is out of order (again!) i wont be able to upload it anytime soon. But i promise that as soon as my PC is up and running again, i'm gonna post my latest artworks for you guys! thanks for your patronage.

WE'VE MOVED!

Friends of Mapangurirat, my sister andi i have moved to our new home in MArikina City. We will be updating you with pics of our new residence as well as interesting places to visit in Marikina!

DIGITAL ART

I have recently begun experimenting on a new art medium... powerpoint art, to be exact. Yep, its digital art. Honestly, Im not sure what to make of my art, so i thought i'd ask for your help. Give me your feedbacks, please. thanks!

NIPA HUT AT SUNSET -- powerpoint art renderred in adobe photoshop

SHALLOW FISHING AT DAYBREAK -- POWERPOINT RENDERRED IN PHOTOSHOP

OLD HOUSE WITH TREE -- POWERPOINT ONLY

ONL HOUSE -- POWERPOINT ONLY

THE FISHERMAN --- POWERPOINT ONLY

ABSTRACT NIPA HUT --- POWERPOINT ONLY

BUKID SA NAYON -- POWERPOINT

MAYON SCENE -- POWERPOINT

OLD MAN -- POWERPOINT

DAYDREAMS

We are never too old to daydream. A few days ago i was in that daydream mode. I dreamt i was the chairman of the board of a giant conglomerate (naks! when you dream, dream big!) i said to myself, wouldn't it be something if i could make it into the overs of the big manila magazines? So i did just that. And ehre's how that daydream appears in full color:

AS FAR AS MY DAYDREAM GOES, I AM THE C.O.B. OF CAPITAL ASSURANCE

( I HOPE THERE REALLY ISNT ANY CAPITAL ASSURANCE CO. KUNG MERON, SORRY PO)

IN THIS DAYDREAM, I GET TO BECOME ASIA'S FOOD MOGUL

CREEPY BA?

HEHEHEH WHAT CAN I SAY? TODO NA ANG DAYDREAM NA TO!

NASA STAR DIN AKO!

ETO IMBENTO NA TALAGA! HAHAHAHAHA

MY APOLOGIES FOR USING THE NAMES OF THERESE HONASAN AND ROBERT DULCE :)

Marikina, here we come!

When I was born, our family lived in Project 4 where my father built a two-storey house. That was in 1975. In 1983, We transferred to Cubao. The location was very good. We were within wlaking distance (as in one to three blocks away) from Manila COD, Ali Mall, Shoemart, Fiesta CArnival, Aurora Boulevard etc. Then, 4 years later, we transferred to San Andres in Manila where we would be staying fro twenty years. We will be moving next month (again!) and this time it will be at Provident subdivision in Marikina City. We are looking forward to our transfer. Updates to come soon!

BAGUIO VACATION

This summer, my siblings invited me, my sister and friends to spend summer vacation in Baguio. My friends, sister and I converged at Jacky G.'s place in Sanville QC and from there Poppo, Jacky, Zach, Ater Rosae, Aubrey and Noel proceeded to the Summer Homes of Meralco. We stopped to have breakfast at May Farms in Tarlac. We arrived in Baguio around lunch time via Marcos Highway. The guys (Poppo, Noel and I) immediately went to Baguio City Market to buy food which we will cook for our group. We whipped up a sumptuous dinner of barbequed chicken, sinigang na kambing and tuna pasta in tomato sauce with capers. After dinner, we played several rounds of Texas Holdem poker, after which the

others went on to play "in between". The next day, we prepared a breakfast of daing na bangus and longgansiang baguio. The guys spent the morning searching for fresh veggies which took us to La Trinidad Valley as the girls repared for our afternoon "pasyalan". For luncht hat day Poppo made a delicious Nilagang Baka and (again) chicken barbeque (what can we say, we had lots of charcoal and chicken!!!). That night, we had dinner witht eh family of Ate Ruth and Kuya Vic at Atenara Restaurant, a cozy, out-of-the-way eat all you can pasta and steak buffet). The next day, before heading tback to the hustle and bustle of Manila, Ate Ruth and Kuya Vic invited us to have breakfast with their family at the Baguio Country Club. From Baguio, we proceeded to my mother's hometown of Aringay, La Union where we had a filling lunch of inihaw na tilapia, inihaw na baboy, talaba, dinardaraan, fresh shrimps and veggies! Truly, trhat trip will be etched in our barkada's memories!

The group infront of the Merlaco Summer House

GALIT-GALIT MUNA: Seriously enjoying the food at Atenara's.

L-R: Jackie G., Ate Rose and Lee

L-R: My sister Ruth, Aubrey, Noel, Yours truly, Zach, Poppo and Jhackie.

im back..... again

friends and readers, i apologize for not being able to update my blog for the past few weeks. The fact is that we, my siblings and I, will be transferring homes soon. We will be transferring from San Andres, Manila to our new residence at Provident Village in Marikina City. We hope to finsih with our transfer before the 15th of June and as soon as we get settled, I will resume my regular updates of Mapanagurirat. Thanks!

Condolences

I heard from Tita Norma Pimentel that Gil Consunji's father passed away. My condolences to the family of Mr. Consunji. Gil is the husband of my cousin KAren Pimentel.

WELCOME HOME, MACKAY AND MATET!

My cousins Mackay and Matet are back! Mackay arrived from Dubai a few days after her sister Matet arrived from Canada. They went to Baguio a day after Mackay arrived and i heard that they're back in Cogeo... Welcome back!

Time to move on

As painful as the past few weeks have been, it is high time for all of us, orphans of the late Atty. Onesimo S. Banares and Edita Hidalgo Cacanindin to move on. They have done their part in rearing us, molding us into mature adults. It is time, not just for us, but for them to move on. These photos were taken after the cremation of my mother at the Heritage Park Crematorium near the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Me with my mother's cremated remains. Beside me is my uncle Jose Banares and my niece Carla Alexis Banares.

Tio Joventino, Tio Jose (Peping), Me (with mama's ashes), Tia Lilia and Carla Alexis.

My nephews Daniel, Jeremiah, Mario Jr., Gerona and Leandro

The Heritage Park Crematorium Chapel hallway

THANK YOU

The family of the late Editha Hidalgo Cacanindin Banares wishes to thank everyone who were there for us in our moment of sorrow. We would like to personally thank the Meralco family who showed their full support for our family, including their CEO and Chairman Mr. Manolo Lopez. Also, thank you the Cacanindin and Banares Clans who were also there for us. And to the countless others who were there, our profound appreciation to all of you. MARAMING SALAMAT PO SA INYONG PAKIKIRAMAY.

EDITA HIDALGO CACANINDIN BANARES (1932-2006)

At 5:00 o'clock this afternoon, my mother EDITHA HIDALGO CACANINDIN BANARES passed away. My mother had a stroke last Friday and was confined for 4 days at the Makati Medical center Acute Stroke Unit before being moved to a private room so that her children and relatives can spend time with her. Her pulse rate deteriorated around 4:30 pm today and doctors tried to revive her to no avail. Her remains will be laid in state at the Nacional Funeral Homes along Araneta Avenue, Quezon City. Cremation will follow at the Heritage Park in For Bonifacio near Libingan ng mga Bayani on Sunday, MArch 19, 2006 at 9:00 am.

MASSIVE STROKE

My mother was hit by a massive stroke and is now in the Acute Stroke Unit of the Makati Medical Center. Doctors at the hospital say that she may not recover, after discovering that her brain has been damaged "globally" and that we should be prepared for whatever happens. For our friends and relatives who wish to visit my mother should do so starting today. If anyone wishes to offer their assistance, financially or otherwise, please get in touch with us through my cell number 0917-2468-514 or call our home landline at 589-41-95. Thank You.

I'M SORRY

I know i said i would be posting pictures of our recent Bataan trip, but up to today i haven't been able to upload the pics from the camera to my PC. My apologies. I will do my best to post the pictures before the end of the week. The pictures we got from Bataan are cool! Thanks for understanding!

TAGAYTAY PICTURES

Yahoo! I finally got the copies of our trip to Tagaytay, thanks to my niece Katrine (www.katkatkatkat.blogspot.com). Hope you guys like the pictures!!!

Taken at the terrace of the Belle View unit in Tagytay Highlands.

It was a very foggy Sunday!

Inside the Highlands Sports Center

The Tagytay Higlands Garden (taken right after the mass)

A foggy view of Taal Volcano from our terrace

The brindge that crosses the clubhouse pool. In the background you can see the

huge cables of the cable car.

At the bridgway from the Sports Center to the Clubhouse with a

magnificent view of the Pagoda-style building.

A view of the Clubhouse pool area.

A very tranquil pond.

One of the many bridges you'll pass when you use the bridgeway.

Hehehehe. Napagod sa kakalakad. Nagpapahinga!

Tagaytay Hgihlands Greenhouse where you can buy fresh vegetables

and home-made salad dressings.

Ate Rose, Katrine, Bentot and Karla at the Greenhouse.

Clsoer view of the Greenhouse Bistro.

A cool resting area at the greenhouse bistro

At Gerladine's, a 50's style Diner. Yup, they have a working 50's jukebox!

NO COINS NEEDED! HEHEHEHEHE!

A very big tree in the heart of the Highlands.

Just to let you know how foggy it was that night...

and windy, too!!