PCPGTVSFA's Glory

                All winners bring home the trophy, the pride and the recognition but sometimes the losers get to bring home those too. During the Drum and Bugle Competition in the Municipality of Bien Unido, the Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Technical Vocational School of Fisheries and Arts’ Drum and Lyre Corps wasn’t able to bring home the bacon but with us tonight are the trophy of grace, the pride of glory and the recognition of resiliency. In this sense, no one actually loses. (Feeling lang gyud nako, feeler baya ko)

                 I would like to dedicate this whole post to the glorious metamorphosis of the Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Technical Vocational School of Fisheries and Arts’ Drum and Lyre Corps Family. The hardwork, the seemingly endless whines, and the financial sighs finally paid off. Over the years, our family is branded as the underdogs who forced our way to the stage even with empty courage and pockets. Today, a whole new fighter face was unveiled.  Contrary to our former presentations, this year, we have shaken the enemy’s core and left our countless critics awed and dumbfounded. This year we placed the damn in  the phrase a DAMN GOOD FIGHT. Today, we are no longer the team mocked as “cheap” “palumag apil unya maot” and “taga CPG nanggi Tsinelas”. Today we are the “ AYAW’G KUMPYANSA MUBIHAG PA NI”. Today we walked away not with the trophy but with that sense of fulfilment that we are not just the words our critics clothe us. We are no longer at the mercy of any school. We are no longer the caterpillar sulking in the cocoon of inferiorities. We are now the threat, the bomb, the grenade--- the new face of competition. Our version 2.0 is already a rewarding phenomenon for us and all thanks to the people behind it.

The rivalry between the competing schools, HCA and PCPGTVSFA is as perennial as the grass. Notwithstanding the current work I am in, a part of me will always be an HCAnian. I would like to congratulate Holy Child Academy for winning the Drum and Bugle Corps  Competition. I, myself, is a true blue HCAnian and a part of my heart is cheering for the success of the family. Your achievement is also the achievement of our souls who once competed in this fast-paced and incredible competition. The honor and glory is always relative for us who are true born HCAnians. In short, my loyalist self is dancing with the rhythm of your momentous reign again. In the arena of drums, lyres, and dances, your flag waves for all of us, your children Mark Jory Paredes ( Flagbearer, 2007-2010), Mary Cecille Auxtero (Majorette) and Mary Cielo A. Padillo (Flagbearer, 2008-2009).

P.S. The updated version of our family is a dream realized with the help of the people who have supported us financially. I cannot name each and everyone but we are grateful for the aid that these people have showered to us. Aside from the sponsors, I would also like to mention and highlight the brilliance of my good friend, Mark Jory Paredes and the perseverance and dedication of my sister, Mary Cecille Auxtero. God knows how many squabbles and over-the-meal fights we had these past few weeks.

               

               

Unwrapping of Bohemian Rhapsody

Unwrapping Bohemian Rhapsody

  Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury. Freddie defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound. They reach unparalleled success, but in an unexpected turn Freddie, surrounded by darker influences, shuns Queen in pursuit of his solo career. Having suffered greatly without the collaboration of Queen, Freddie manages to reunite with his bandmates just in time for Live Aid. While bravely facing a recent AIDS diagnosis, Freddie leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music. Queen cements a legacy that continues to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day

-Fox Movies

             

  “Is this the real life? or Is this just fantasy?” It is a fitting question regarding the biographical film Bohemian Rhapsody. Are we going to get the facts? Or will it be heavily filtered? Behind all the dramas and replacements in the making of the film, amidst arguments as to what should be the focus of the film, the production have presented a safe and non-scandalous narration of Freddie Mercury’s life and the making of the legendary band, Queen. The film is an 8 out 10. Despite the spectacular performance of Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury), the weak points were in the montage of events and the angle of what story should be told. It seemed like a page of each chapter was taken, placed together and created a surface level of narration.

Casting is on point

                The casting director did a splendid job in choosing the actors to play the members of the Queen. Rami Malek who played Freddie has given his best shot in his portrayal. Ben Hardy who played Roger Taylor, Joseph Mazello who played John Deacon, and Gwilym Lee who played Brian May in the film were the spitting look-alikes of the original members. Their portrayals were so on point that during the Live Aid Concert in1985 I cannot see any hint of Malek and the rest of the cast. It was really mind-whacking! Aside from that, that acts, gestures, dance moves were copied exactly as to how it happened during that fateful LiveAid concert.

        

   The debaucheries of Freddie was subtly shown in the film as per request of May and Taylor. The progression of Queen’s success is very smooth, the band’s struggle to break free from conventions were given less attention. Less emphasis was also given to Jim Hutton whose order of appearance never really happened in real life. I find the scene of Freddie confessing to Mary Austin that he is bisexual as not impactful. In that momentum day of the Live Aid Concert, I think there is dumping of scenes because Freddie has to look for Jim Hutton, then introduced Jim to his family and proceeded to rock the Wimbley Stadium. He has to do lots of things in one day. According to the film crew and directors, it was hard to sum up the greatness of Freddie and the Band into a 2 hour movie.

          Freddie's disease which took his life was not also thoroughly shown. In real life, he was tested twice. On the second test, he had the disease. It was as if Freddie had faced AIDS alone when in real life, Jim never left his side.

Why you should watch it?

                As a 90’s kid, I have heard of the rock anthems like Bohemian Rhapsody, We are the Champions, We Will Rock You and others but never had I dug on the artists behind it. The film had opened a new door for me to appreciate the majesty of Queen. After watching the film, for sure you might want to go to Youtube and rape the replay button in some of Queen’s performances or go on a scavenger hunt for more videos of Freddie Mercury like I did. The film has this hooking phenomenon that will make you want more. In short, the film is addicting!

              My favorite part of the movie is when Freddie went to see the doctor. As he passed by a patient who also had the disease, the patient sang "Ayyoo". In response, Freddie sang "Ayyoo". It was as if they were confirming that no one is alone in fighting the disease.

  I am recommending you to watch this film because Malek is great in here. The film will not only captivate your ears but will also leave a scar in your heart because we lost a legend. It would even leave you to wondering why are we born in a generation without Freddie? To sum up, the film is real (despite the wrong timeline), it may seem like a fantasy but I guess that’s the art of Bohemian Rhapsody.Truth is in question but it’s always in tune.

Sources:

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Bohemian+Rhapsody+photos&rlz=1C1GCEA_enPH817PH817&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=EtDEPKnshib4JM%253A%252C6LRZfDtraUri6M%252C_&usg=AI4_-kQwkhZcAwckqBU1mS-9vzFPKbh8Zw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim85ThgP7eAhVUVH0KHWnDDcsQ9QEwBXoECAIQDg#imgrc=p0D1jluTG9ETjM:

https://www.foxmovies.com/movies/bohemian-rhapsody

911

If one day, you finally heed the call of your wrist and decided to make a heaven out of your slit.

If one day, you have neated all of your clothes and prepared all your notes.

If one day, you have drown yourself and made tiny bubbles of help

If one day, you have pulled the trigger and finally silenced the voices in your head

If that day comes, 

If it will come,

May your spirit stay and your violet-bruised body be the remnants of an unsaid story.

May you hear cries and laments that will hopefully quench the hunger of your soul.

May you go over the 2am conversations we had and let me know why wasn’t it enough?

May you read the words I have woven as your epitaph.

“To the weary soul I know, I love you. In that great space, may love find you too”

May you forgive me...

Forgive me for sending you gifts instead of asking how are you.

Forgive me for depriving you of the right to be depressed just because I think your problem is less.

Forgive me for trying to fix you when all you wanted was to shred a part of you.

Forgive me for injecting you positivity when all you needed was serenity...

to be calm amidst all qualms

to be at peace while everything else is in pieces

to be accepted while everything else is coated. 

And if one day, if it’s my turn to leave the earth and meet the Creator I have avoided

I’ll ask a favor before He sends me to a hell or a cave full of unsaved.

For the last time, I’d like Him to grant me the favor of meeting you.

so that I can finally ask what I have never ask,

How are you?

What are you feeling today?

I’m glad I met you!

I appreciate you!

We need you!

I Still Have Your Loveletters

I still have your love letters by the way.

Enveloped with the love I can still give until today.

I still read them as if we didn’t mutter our goobyes and curse each other every night.

I tucked them gently closer to my chest and try to reminsce all the memories we thought can outstand the rest.

 I still have your love letters by the way

though I have seen you across the street with somebody,

You changed your status to in a relationship today

You have never bothered greeting me on my birthday 

and have seenzoned all my messages on a Christmas Day.

But who cares?h

I have your love letters anyway. 

I still have your love letters by the way

though you never talked to me 

we never patched things like it should be

we let the wolves howl our longings to the moon

and you never move an inch in your hate throne.

Nevertheless, your loveletters are still at home.

Each night, I read them again and again

mouthing every word as if freshly spoken, 

remembering a shadow who once promised his love never be shaken

and shaming oneself for the desperate waiting.

Until that time when grief has spent itself,

regrets become jokes in private,

pains no longer hide in the closet,

I’ll keep the loveletters waiting for just one final visit.

Work of Love

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.
                                 -Christian, Moulin Rouge
  
   In our great search of love, we can meet different people. There are people who we vowed to marry someday but we didn't. There are people who promised us to be their bride but ended up keeping other women's girdle. And there are just people who appeared in the story and just made a chapter of you and me. That is Gly-Gly's story!


         I met Glendaleine Obena in Blessed Trinity College. We used to work together and we used to do stuffs together (Not allowed to mention). The chemistry is just so natural that we ended up calling each other "Babes". I have seen her blushed, get hurt and finally get married. Now, to celebrate friendship and also to update this blog, I'm giving you some of the shots during their Prenup Session.
                                                                                                                                                                 

          Our photo locations are mostly in Bien Unido. First location was in Swan Lake located at Liberty, Bien Unido, Bohol and second location was in Tikang-kang Beach Resort, still in Bien Unido. It was not a thoroughly planned Prenup session. On June 11,2016, she informed me that they have crossed off  Prenuptials from the list because there were no available photographers. I was alarmed. Since I'm a maniac when it comes to these stuffs. I volunteered to be their photographer (such confidence) and even told her that I'll look for the location, props and of course, wardrobes. Because of my confidence and undying love for Gly-Gly, I prepared the stuffs to be used.

        And on June 12, 2016, we made these shots....

A woman is like a flower. She will bloom when taken care of.

We are in our happiest state when we are with the person we love and respect
 Credits to Juvelyn Teves for the letters.

The secret of a happy marriage is finding the right person.
You know they're right if you love to be with them all the time. Julia Child

This is my favorite shot in the first location. 

Second Location shots.....

Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.
- Julia Child

Marriage is not about age; it's about finding the right person.
Sophia Bush

No caption Pure Beauty appreciation 

Finding the right person can be so hard that often, when a person finally finds someone she or he is comfortable with, she or he just makes it work.
Chirlane McCray

My favorite shot is......

          I would like to thank Gly-gly for the friendship. To Juvelyn Teves, Thank you for the props and help! To Christian Melencion, Thank you for gearing up for the photoshoot. To my sister, Michelle, Thank you for the wardrobe.

Love is not something we have to work for, search for and worry for. It'll come eventually and it will be the most magical thing in the world.

Love,
Cielo

Pen and Pain

For months, 

I have stopped writing because I don’t want your shadow to linger in my verses. 

I don’t want my pen to shout for your name in the middle of my pages. 

I don’t want your presence to be rejoiced in my lines.

I don’t want to hear your laughter in any of my rhymes

I don’t want my metaphor to be hugged by your assuring arms.

or be enchanted with your manly charms.

I don’t want my punctuations to mark your kisses and trace your edges.

I don’t want my letters to spell itself and reminisce how your eyes calm my senses.

I don’t want my persona to narrate how magical it felt when you kissed me under the stars, in between the walls. 

and

how lost I was when you left and   finally closed the door. 

I don’t know when will I scribble again, or love the smell of the ink in my pen.

But for now, 

Let me smell like beer and coil my self in the room with the silence of my healing and the echoes of your leaving.

Danao x Sea of Clouds x Kaukay Falls

                I thought that it was going to be a typical experience, a normal sight-seeing to this internet famous Sea of Clouds in Danao ,but I was wrong. We were taken to the depths of Danao and somehow found our heaven in there.

     

          5 educators who are undeniably thirsty for new things and new stories ventured to the heights of Danao, Bohol. This is the first time that the five of us decided to take a breather out of the suffocating environment we have ( students’ reckless behaviors and colleagues as well). Since we need a breather, we chose to vent out our angst and unheard arguments to Danao which happens to be the place for extreme adventures and death defying activities. With the wrong reason and the right place, we planned our itinerary.

Sea of Clouds

            

            For us to anticipate problems and prepare ourselves, we read some articles and blogs about the place. If you want to go to a foreign place, just like us , you need to read reviews and recommendations to contact the right people because sometimes a perfect getaway comes from the right tour guide. After reading, we contacted Ma’am Donnie Suter and Sir Ponciano Suter since they welcome travellers in their humble home. For Php 500.00, you can already have a room good for two to three people and its air-conditioned. Reminding everyone that their home is not a hotel so please be responsible! When we we’re there, we talked about the nature of our tour! After we explained to them what we want to see, they offered us to contact a habal-habal driver for Php 100.00 who can take us to the places we mentioned. Luckily we have Kuya Benoy and the gang to accompany us.

         The night before, we prayed so hard for the rain to abstain itself from pouring because you will not see any fogs if it will rain and aside from that, the footpath leading there would be muddy and will be prone to accidents. Fortunately, the universe conspired to our plan and the rain never came. At 4:30 am, we departed from the house and by 4:45 am we arrived at the site. I lost count of the time when we trekked but one thing for sure, the struggle was real. Since there were also other tourists who were checking out the place, Kuya Benoy made us walk to another “Moto”(hill) to separate us from them. It was still dark so, we just waited and did some crazy stuffs.Patience is a virtue and the wait was worth it. When we saw the fogs accumulating up as the sun overcame the darkness, we were in deep silence as we savored the moment and feasted our eyes to God’s majestic creation. I mumbled my first name and thought, Mary Cielo this is your place.

Kaukay Falls

            I will always recount our experience in trekking this falls as perilous since compared to Aguinid Falls, where we are surrounded with people who are very acquainted with the falls already, the Kaukay falls is an untouched paradise with very few people knew about its existence. Kuya Benoy, who guided us there, was very sure that he could take us there but not sure if we could make it unscathed.

            The Kaukay Falls is near to the site of the Sea of Clouds. It will only take about 5 minutes to get to the starting point but it will take you at least an hour to get there depending on the weather. When we were there, it was chilly and it was also drizzling a bit. So, the weather slowed us.

           

         From the starting point, we trailed a very forested footpath surrounded with Cogon grasses and other shrubs. Aside from the footpath was forested, the trail was very muddy as well so slipping and tumbling butt-first was inevitable that time. This kind of trekking was not new to us since we already conquered all 5 level challenges in Aguinid and it was easy for us since the tour guides who accompanied us knew already what to step, how to step and when to step. Now, compared to our Kaukay adventure, Kuya Benoy and the others will instruct you where were you heading but not what stones to step, how to climb up and down and where to hold. So, it was a trial and error for us. the last challenge that really shook us was the almost 13 feet high trail. We need to climb down holding only a root which was sturdy enough. At first Kuya Antonio scratched his head especially when it was Irene and I’s turn to climb down. Eventually with all courage,we were able to climb down. We rewarded ourselves with a good splash of the cold water from the falls. Though we survived the climb but we were not free from leaf cuts, bruises and stone cuts. For the first time in such a long time, I was proud of the scars I got from that trek.

EAT Danao

            “You don’t pay for the rides, you pay for the experience” this is the quote I remembered back to the very first time I went to EAT Danao. I’ve been there for four times already and tried the rides already so I wasn’t pretty excited about it. My coldness towards the activity was pretty much in contrast to my companions’ excitement because it was their first time to be there.  

         

  Circulating rumors like that the place is already not safe or is abandoned already are not true in fact, when we were there we have tried activities like the Zipline, Cable Car and somehow watched some tourists braved the Plunge. In my humble assessment, the rides, the place and the activities are all packed for a rough and tough experience.

Gypsy’s Tips

• ·         Always contact the right people. For example, make bookings ahead of time and contact tour guides to help you wander in there.

We stayed in Hon. Ponciano Suter's humble home. You can also make your reservation one day before the stay. You can contact him or his wife through this number #09995170510

For the ride, you can also contact Kuya Benoy, who can be your driver, photographer and tour guide, through this number #09487799629

• ·         Check the weather since the sea of clouds rely heavily on the temperature

• ·         Travel with people you like.

• ·         Know the itinerary like in our case we thought that we are just going to hike but turned out we had a river trekking in our list.

• ·          From Tagbilaran, you can ride a van to Danao or buses.

• If you also have your own car, you can visit there conveniently. There are signages that are going to guide you.

• There are so many things you can do in Danao and it is a wise decision to visit the place.

  Note:

  To Irene V. De Claro, Jasmine Torrejas, Juvelyn Teves and Anabilla Siason, thank you for the friendship, love, care, jokes and comfort. I will always cherish those. Now that we are going in different directions, I hope that we will always remember that there will be always an "US". Kudos!