My Brother's Birthday

Recently was my brother's birthday. He just turned 21, that means he was a debutant. The Philippines debut ceremony indicates when a young person reached maturity, which is age 18 for girls and age 21 for boys. Unfortunately, there was no ceremony for my brother on his special day. But at least he experienced being inside the cinema and got to watch the X-Men Apocalypse movie. I think he liked it, and it was the first time that he enjoyed a real movie theater. I treat him for lunch after the movie. Then I showed him the Robinson Mall since it's his first time to be there. Being a province person, he usually didn't care much about the city life, but I always wanted my brothers to experience something that does not exist in our hometown, to let them feel what it is like being in the city.

After I showed him around the mall, I decided to take him to the terminal so that he can go back home to the province. When we reached the terminal and I was ready to leave, he said: "Big sister, thank you for everything you did for me" and then he smiled. I told him not to worry about anything and that I did it because he is my brother and I smiled at him. Then I left and he went back home. It feels good being able to spend times with family in the city once in a while.

Basketball

I'm not into basketball yet I got a crush on Stephen Curry. Well I'm not saying I know nothing about basketball, since we learn it in school, and basketball has been known one of the world best sports since it started. But I only know few famous player from the basketball world. Those I know are: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. Those are some of the world's best basketball players. There are some more but I couldn't name them as I don't really watch basketball. About Stephen Curry: he is just too good at basketball. I admire his style of playing. I even watch his basketball videos. I think he will become legendary like Michael Jordan. I believe in his ability. Go, Stephen, we are here for you!

Life in Cacatmonan

I want to tell you a little bit about Cacatmonan. It is a small barangay located in the middle of the mountains. Most of the people that live in that place are down to earth people, contented with their quiet and simple life. I have many relatives there. They have a little bit land with pineapple plants and some other plants that they can harvest during the year. They use the fruits for their own food and even sometimes sell it to the market in order to make money. Hence there is only one sari-sari store in the barangay which is owned by my uncle, the barangay captain of Cacatmonan. If you need special things, it gets difficult to buy since the sari-sari store has only a limited selection of goods. The houses are tiny yet clean and organized. They have electricity and TVs, and of course the young people have cellphones. Young filipinas are so addicted to cellphones. They have a sports court and a small barangay hall that is used for community events. Still, compared to other barangays, lots of facilities are missing, such as a hospital or a school.

The major problem living in Cacatmonan is the school for the children, because there is no school building. Most Cacatmonans sent their children to their relatives to larger towns so that they can attend school. Some people moved from barangay Garawon to Cacatmonan after the typhoon Yolanda because Cacatmonan is at higher location and not so close to the sea. The sea can be dangerous when there is a typhoon, and it can wipe out houses that are too close too the coast. That's how it is living in Cacatmonan.

Fiesta in Cacatmonan

Yesterday afternoon I visited Cacatmonan to see how their fiesta looks like. It was quite far. I had no idea I'd be walking through these high mountains for about an hour. The way was always going upwards, and at the middle of the mountain my knees were shaking from exhaustment and I couldn't move anymore and had to take a rest before going up again. When we reached the very end I was breathless I rested a bit to catch some air and so to get my enerygy back because I was very tired. Luckily going up to Cacatmonan is hard but going down is not really so tiring.

The fiesta went well. We ate at some house of our relatives there. When the night came, me and my brother had nowhere to sleep because too many people came and most of my relatives' houses that we hoped to sleep was crowded already. Lucky one of our cousins still had a space left for us to sleep. When the night came we went to the court and watched the people dancing. We did enjoy our visit but I don't think I'd be going up there again by foot, as it was very tiring.

Long hair

They say girls with long black hair are the attractive ones, but why I'm seeing girls with long black hair yet I don't find them attractive even with pretty faces. ☺ Well some guys like girls with long black hair even if the girl is not pretty. As long as she has that shinny long and black hair then the guy is fine with it. But some guys are way too picky: they want their girls to be perfect but it's not easy to find a perfect partner. A good relation comes always with compromises. Sometimes a pretty girl has a bad attitude, and in the long term that is worse than the looks. Well most guys nowadays don't seems to care about attitude, they prefer the outside looks. But girls are the same, they prefer the handsome guys even when the guys are bad.

Fiesta in Hernani

It's 7 days before the fiesta here in our baragay. This is the third year that the fiesta is different than the previous fiestas. After typhoon Yolanda, the fiesta changed and became less glamorous compared to the years before. The court is not renovated since the typhoon happened and the houses are not as huge and as many as it was 3 years ago. Therefore, the people that live in the  barangay are not even excited about the fiesta anymore. Still they decorate their homes and cook food as it is the yearly tradition. Relatives, and even people you barely know, will come by and visit your house and eat and that's ok. That's how it is.

June 2nd and 3rd are the fiesta dates and June 3rd is also my father's birthday. Anybody can come, I'm inviting you all, but don't expect me to cook for you :-)

Jollibee

It is just crazy how people love Jollibee here in Borongan City. Whenever I come to this place, it is always crowded. A lot of people and family go to the city just to eat at Jollibee. I don't think this branch here will ever be going bankrupt at all. Too many people come, too many money flows over the counter. I have been here few times, but often I did not dare to order as I hate waiting. But now I ordered something and it took me so long to finally get my orders. I waited for about half an hour and spend that time to write this blog post. I was so hungry! Finally the wait was worth it, since the Jollibee food is good. I just hope they would not think of opening a McDonalds or Mang Inasal at this town so that Jollibee won't get bankrupt. So I am sitting here in the restaurant and write this blog to let everyone know that Borangan City has a Jollibee branch. Come here and taste it!