Sayawit & Hernani Fiesta

Sayawit is a combination of the words Sayaw and Awit which means "Sing and Dance". Sayawit happens every year. This contest is just one of many shows that the municipality of Hernani has to offer during the upcoming Fiesta.

The Fiesta here in Hernani will be on September 14 to 15. I am excited for it to come. There will be a contest or show every night until then. On the 13th of September will be "Battle of Bands" contest at the big gymnasium of Hernani.

Since the 12th is Tuesday, I will be free on that day, but I don't think I can come home. I'll see by then. I still have 3 days to decide. A Fiesta is really fun, last but not least thanks to the guests and Balikbayans (people working abroad). They help their hometown by sponsoring all the contests and shows until the actual Fiesta comes. We must thank them for their generosity!

Work in Hernani

I'm always busy when I'm home. This morning I went to the field with my cousins and brother to cut logs for my uncle. We have enough logs to build a backyard fence. My uncle will fix the fence later.

We could have asked other people to collect logs from the mountain, but we didn't want to spend money just to pay for these people. So, I think what we did was right. We have saved some money that we can spend on food instead. Besides going to the mountain is good for us, it's a better exercise, and we got to eat buko. Climbing buko is not a problem when you are in the middle of a mountain. Coconut is everywhere, if you know how to climb then you'll not get thirsty.

We Harvested Cotton Fruit

Today, I went to the farm with my cousin and brothers. We harvested Santol or Cotton Fruit right from the tree. When I was younger, I was a good tree climber, but today I failed to climb the Santol tree, because it was kind of slippery and there were no holes where I could put my foot in. I ended up sitting at the ground, while waiting for the fruits to fall down.

It was my brother who climbed up the tree. He is now a better climber than myself, so it wasn't difficult for him going to the top. He is used to climb trees very often. I was the one who picked all the fruits that my brother's taking from its branch. My cousin didn't do anything but eat the fruit. We harvested all in one tree. We came home with a huge bag full of Santol in it.  Santol or Cotton Fruit is a very common fruit here in the Philippines. I think everyone eats it. It is kind of sour, but it is very good to pour into salt. That's what I did today.

Flirting boys

It's funny how a 17 years old boy tried to flirt with me. He chatted to me on messenger, and I was only trying to be polite to him because I know he was my cousin's classmates in grade 12. The boy is of the same age as my youngest brother. One day he contacted me on messenger and he told me that he had seen me with my cousin Marnel a few times, and that I am pretty. LOL!

I said,  I was probably that dark and ugly lady you've seen before, but he kept insisting that I am pretty. Oh boy! Later on he asked me how old I am. I said I'm already 24. Maybe he though I am younger, but it was funny because he tried to lie about his real age to me. But I know the truth that he is just 17 years turning 18 in few months. He even told me that age doesn't matter. Oh well! I know he was already trying to flirt with me. I told him that I am not into younger boys. I said in fact I already have husband and two kids. LOL, I know I was lying too!  He didn't believe me at first, but I convinced him at the end. Such a flirt!

Bird Flu

I'd like to eat chicken for dinner tonight but right now, chicken is not safe to eat. We have cases of bird flu in the village. My auntie's boss has a poultry, and according to her, at least 10 chickens died already because of bird flu. I think it's better if they stop selling the chicken meat. It might affect those who still buy chicken from their poultry.

Bird flu spreads quickly to the whole poultry. I know it's a big loss for the poultry business, but in business assume that there will always be ups and downs. You can't always rely on how good you manage your business. Bird flu can occur to chicken easily and you won't know about it, until some chicken are dying already. Beware with the disease, avoid eating chicken for now!

Lastnight

Around 7pm I and my cousins decided to watch the Tonight Show at General McArthur City. We stayed there for almost two hours. It was already 9pm when we came back. We used my cousin's motorbike and ate Dolly did drive us. While we were on our way home, we saw a huge snake on the road. Neither of us did know what kind of snake it was, so we were too scared to drive back to check the snake. I'm not sure if the snake was sleeping or dead or alive. For sure, if the creature stays long on the street, it will soon be dead, because there are plenty of huge trucks passing by. They will roll over the snake.

Venomous snakes on the road at night can be dangerous for bikers. Always drive with headlights switched on, to see what's ahead of you. Some people are too careless and drive without light in the dark. I find it very risky and it's also against the law!

At The Beach

If someone tries to look for me, tell them I'm here sitting at the beach. I just want to be alone at this hour so I came here to relax my mind. While looking at there tiny waves, how I wish I'd be swimming right now. It's already afternoon here though, not good for swimming as the water is cooler for sure. I prefer noontime swim with my godson. He loves the ocean very much. It's just me who doesn't!

Around 4pm is the best time to come to the beach. The sun is not so bright anymore. You can relax and calm your mind while sitting on this white sand. I never get disappointed coming here. This beach I am at right now is for everybody. The owner is not a relative even though he has the same surname as myself. In fact I don't know them at all. You won't see even one standing cottage here. So, if you plan to come here and swim, you better bring a towel or something so you could lay on it. The beach though is not as clean as it was before, so many seaweed everywhere. What people do for leisure here is to throw stones into the water or draw something on the sand.

Chilling with Relatives

Good evening to those having their evening at this time, like me! I am watching an old movie right now with my brother and my auntie. It's too early for me to sleep and I don't think I'd be able to sleep soon, because I slept for few hours this afternoon. Everytime I do that it is always hard for me to fall asleep at night. I didn't want to sleep though, but I felt so tired and sleepy I fall asleep pretty easily today. I was actually out last night with my cousins we went to watch vesper night in barangay Ularon. We were there until 1pm.

Now I know I will be up late. I'll probably watch movies until I fall asleep. Even I can't hear the movie due to none stopping thunderstorm I will not mind it at all, as long as I have something to do while I cannot sleep. My brother and my auntie are not going to stay awake until midnight. They don't have sleeping problem. Soon they would be knocked out. LOL!

I hope everyone is enjoying the night. :)

Home

It feels good to be back home. I wasn't able to come home for almost two weeks. Finally I'm back and I'll be staying here for four days in Eastern Samar. I'm not in a hurry to go back to the City as I don't have school until Wednesday morning. I'm glad that I can relax a bit from the school stress.

There is the school acquaintance party on Monday, but I made up my mind already and I will not be going to the party. It won't affect my grades if I don't attend since this party is optional. The reason why I'm not going to the party is because my close friends in the class aren't going anyway. I'd rather stay home than be around other people that I'm not so close with. That's why I have some time with my family here in Samar. I do not need to go back to the City tomorrow or on Monday.

Together with Family

I'm at my hometown right now, and being here is always great. I will never get tired of coming home whenever I can. I must grab this opportunity to be with my family, because later on I might not be able to stay as close as I am now to all of them. Once I'm done with my studies, I will need to leave for Manila. I have to find job somewhere in Manila with some good salary. Tacloban doesn't seem a very good place for me to work, because salary is not good unlike Manila where I could probably find a nice job with reasonable salary.

For many years I had been away from home. It was just last year when I moved to Tacloban which is not far from my hometown. Since then I get to be in Samar most days when I don't have school. Sometimes I get bored being here, but I never hate it here. So far I'm enjoying my stay in both places.

Electricity shortage

It's getting dark. No wonder why mosquitos are everywhere in my room. I wish the electricity will come back soon. The current situation in Tacloban is not good. In my case ,this is a very tough time for me as I needed my computer for school research, but I cannot charge it without electricity.

This semester is more on reporting, and the computer is very important to us. Without it, we are not able to present our report as we can't use our personal computer at this time. I heard different opinions about when the electricity might come back. It's confusing, because they said different dates. Well, I hope it wont take long time.

I don't really care much about having an empty phone battery. My point is, how will I be able to search for my tasks without using gadgets? These past few days have been the toughest days for me. I'm hoping for changes soon.

Power is still cut down

Since the earthquake happened, the electricity is not back yet. I'm now here in Samar, but Tacloban is also without electricity. The electric bill was distributed yesterday, and it's written on the bill that the electricity will take 15 days to finally come back. I'm planning to go back to the city tomorrow, but I don't know how I can cook there something to eat without electricity. No fan, no phone, but I hope the water supply is still working. I will know it once I get back.

My phone battery died yesterday, and it's already 8pm tonight when I have it fully charged. Glad my cousin is working at a bakeshop with power generator. They allowed me to charge my phone there. Thanks to my cousin for helping me charge my phone! I'm worried for tomorrow, as I don't know how to charge my phone tomorrow. No phone means no blog, and no blog means no salary. Therefore my phone is important.

Canhugas

It is Sunday evening, and as usual, Sunday was a free day for everyone. So, since we had nothing to do, I urged my cousins to go with me to Canhugas. Yesterday was the first time for me to see the place again since quite a while. It was quite different than it was last March, there were a few stores build up at the top Canhugas, and a few cottages were also finished, but I heard those were private property and not for rent.

A few things have improved in Canhugas. At the lower part of the beach, there were at least 3 unfinished cottages made by cement. It needs a few more month until everything is finished. By next year, the place will be as nice as ever. Glad that the mayor supported the Canhugas project. There are also other sponsors, otherwise they wouldn't have made it so far. I'm looking forward to see more improvements during my next visit. It will take me a while before I come to the place again. I am not as eager to see the place as I was before. Once in a while visit is good enough for me. I lost a bit of interest with Canhugas. But I'm not saying I won't visit Canhugas ever again.

Chores

Today I was very busy! I had so much work to do in Hernani. I helped my cousin and auntie to do our one week laundry. We started to wash all our dirty clothes this afternoon. I hope tomorrow when the sun rises we can hang it all outside for drying. I have the feeling tomorrow is going to be a good day. Sunday is church day actually. It's been 3 weeks since the last time I went to church, and tomorrow is Sunday, I doubt I can wake up early so that I can attend the early mass. I'm having hard time sleeping early in the evening, and waking up early in the morning these days. Mostly when I am back in my hometown. I think I can adjust when the school is back to normal. Wait until the Fiesta is over.

Family Drama

Someone from our barangay just got arrested for harassing his wife. Jealousy converted into hate and violence, as the husband hurts his wife in front of their 3 kids. He was drunk at that time and the wife was alone with their kids. It was a serious case of domestic violence. They are our neighbors, therefore I know their story.

The wife called the police to ask for help from her abusive husband. So the policemen came and locked the husband into the cell for the whole night. This morning, they invited the wife to the police station so that she and her husband could talk over their issue. According to the wife, her husband begged for her forgiveness, but she was so mad at him that the husband always hurt her physically whenever he wanted too. She decided to never go back to him. The husband now is still in the jail. I think her decision was right, but it is also hard for their kids to be raised in the broken family. I know how this is, as I grew up in a broken family as well.

Drivers licence

When you ride a motorbike in the Philippines, you need a drivers license. This is very important in the big cities, but in the rural province, people usually didn't care much about having a license. But recently, the police checks got more strict, and if they catch you in the province without license, you will be summoned for your action.

Few days ago, I thought my brother was one of those who got caught by the autorities for not having a driver license while driving a motor bike. I was worried of him. I tried to call him by phone but he was out of reach. I heard once the LTO catches you and you cannot pay the penalty, you might end up losing your motorbike.

I've been telling my brother to fix his license as soon as he can, so he can drive without worries. I hope he will listen to me, because when he gets in trouble with the police, I cannot help him. I love my brother, but I can't always be there to help him.

Radio Day

Sunday is good when the radio is on. No reason to leave the house once you hear the music from the radio. Even it is an oldie, it's not boring to listen. I was born in the 90's but when I hear my favorite Pilipino music from 70's, and 80's, I will stay near the radio.

There are so many new music, in particular Pilipino music, but I prefer to listen to old songs when it comes to Tagalog music. I don't know why, I just like the old songs.

It's perfect when you are lying in a cradle with the fan is on. You can fall asleep really quick. That's where I am now. We have cradle in our small kubo house. Not a baby cradle, but for adults. I don't feel the heat from the outside, it's just so refreshing while swinging.

I think I will fall asleep anytime soon. It's only 11am here. I ate lunch already, I'm full, and now I am sleepy. Kind of early for a nap, having no shower causing me to sleep. I think I'm going to shower first. Anyway I wish everyone a blessed Sunday! I hope you are all enjoying the weekend.

Doing Laundry is Always Difficult

Been stuck in the house the whole day. I was supposed to do my laundry this morning, but the weather didn't cooperate to my plan. It didn't rain for a while. The small river we used to do our laundry has no longer enough water. If this summer continue without days of raining, the river we call 'Salog ' will dry out.

So, without river, it is harder to do laundry. You need to fetch water and fill your tub for washing. Sometimes you need to keep in the line along with others, and wait for your turn to fill your tub with water. The best time to do laundry is early in the morning, before the sun rises. If the day stays sunny, you then have plenty of time to dry your clothes. I was used to hard work when I was really young, but since I live in Tacloban, I enjoyed the ease of the comfort of the city. I'm again adjusting myself. When school starts I will always be in the city, so I won't be doing the same thing I do here since it is a bit better there than her in the province.

Weather changes

People changes, and so does the weather. Earlier the sky was so bright, it was all sunny and hot so that you melt under the sun like ice. Now it isn't. The sky became darker, and the rain doesn't seems to stop for the rest of the day. The wind blows cold air to us. I wonder why this weather change. I hope there's nothing wrong, no typhoon coming. It is not yet typhoon season. Maybe a little bit rain once in a while is just part of summer.

If it had rained last nights while Brgy. Padang was celebrating their Fiesta, that would have been bad for the organizers of the special events. In rain, not many people go there. Lucky for them it didn't, as they had nice weather. Today it is still Fiesta, but it is all about eating and drinking. Soon the Fiesta is over, another year to wait before the next one comes.

What's for Dinner? I'm hungry!

It's getting dark, and I feel hungry already. My stomach is asking for dinner. It is kind of early for dinner, and my auntie is not home yet. We will probably wait for her to get home from picking up shells in the sea.

I feel tired, because I've been fetching water for an hour. I managed to fill the huge containers with water. The water is needed for bathing and for flushing the toilet. We fetch water twice a day, in the morning and afternoon. I and my cousin do it alternately.

Since we lost the faucet back in 2013 due to typhoon Yolanda, water is one of the main problem in my barangay. Guys probably have less problem carrying heavy buckets of water, but for me, it is tiring. But I'm not complaining, because if I quit fetching water, then I wouldn't be able to shower. Luckily, my boarding house in Tacloban has running water, hence it is easier there.

Enough with the water problem now. I must get something to eat.