Valentine's Day (02/14/14)

Romantic messages on air, flowers and chocolates everywhere, hue of red all over, and the spread out sweet lovers are just some of the signs that Valentine’s Day is on the scene. As what they say, love is indeed in the air during February 14. It is a special day among other 364 days to mark in our calendar that are celebrated particularly by couples all over the world.

For this year’s Valentine’s Day, we went to places that are most visited by couples to take some footages on how they celebrate this special day. I, together with my friends made interviews with different people who came from all walks of life. There are students, employees, parents, oldies and bisexuals who shared their sentiments for this day. And to evaluate all the people we met, they all just fall under two categories: those who are in a relationship and those who are single.

Certainly, love surrounds in all the couples that we have interviewed. We’ve witnessed how love binds their relationship as couples. We have interviewed couples who said that trust is the primary ingredient to make the relationship lasts. However, some also said that it’s the effort to show their affection that counts the most. But no matter what their love story is, how they show their love, or how they shared each day of their lives, there’s only one thing that I’m sure about, and that is they are all happy being with someone they love.

We also met people who were single at the moment. And they voiced out, “Who says that Valentine’s Day is only for lovers?” According to them, even they are not committed to someone, they are happy with their friends to celebrate the day. But at some point, we also noticed that some of our interviewees are looking forward for having a partner for the next Valentine’s Day. And they also admit that at times, they feel envious for seeing sweet couples together.

My friend once joked that Valentine’s Day is said to be Friday the 13^th for singles. It is the time when we heard some bitter lines from them. On the contrary, it is a romantic time for lovers for gift giving and dating.

Now, I won’t go too far. After hearing different Valentine story from other people, it’s time to share how my Valentine’s Day this year is. Well, nothing’s special for my February 14, 2014 because proudly, I belong to the category of singles. . It’s my 18^th year of welcoming the day as single so there’s nothing new about this one. I just go out with my friends and like what I said, we just made some interviews for school purposes. I will be pathetic if I say that I am not envy to those happy lovers that we saw. Indeed, at times, I also came to think when I will meet my partner too. But when and where, only God knows.

Valentine’s Day truly plays an important part in our hearts. Most people are so excited for this to come though there are also not. But at the end of the day, we should keep in ourselves that love shouldn't only be expressed during Valentine’s Day, Christmas Day or any holidays in our calendar. It has to be shown every day, every minute, and every second to all people.

Filipino-Chinese community welcomes Lunar New Year

Kimberly Jane L. Manlapaz

01/31/14

 Manila,Philippines---Thousands gathered today in Binondo, Manila to celebrate the Chinese New Year and welcome the Year of the Wooden Horse.
           Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and other local leaders together with the Filipino-Chinese community lead in mounting the event.

As a traditional practice, the Chinatown welcomed the Lunar New Year with the dragon dance parade and a 30-minute fireworks display which is known to take away bad spirits.

Officials also gave out free tikoy to the attendees which is believed to keep the family ties closer.

And on the first day of the New Year, Filipino- Chinese families went together to Chinese Temple to give thanks for the blessings.

They also came to buy lucky charms and house ornaments which are believed to usher in good lucks and fortune. 
(Photo credits:philstar.com)

How do you celebrate Chinese NewYear?

In line with the celebration of Chinese New Year, I conducted an interview for our subject Online Writing. I asked my Chinese-blooded friends about how they celebrate and welcome the New Year. I also asked them about the rites and practices that they do as part of their celebration.

My first respondent is Curbick Tan Camelo who works as a trainer in a call center firm.  Here’s what he shared:

   “My family just prepares a feast and we eat. That's it. We also give out tikoy. The Chinese community would also go to the temple to pray, put ornaments in their houses, and give red envelopes with money”

                  -Curbick

Another friend of mine who shared their way of celebrating Chinese New Year is Clarizza Merz Chu, a student from Polytechnic University of the Philippines.  Here’s what she said:

“Simpleng celebration lang naman ginagawa namin. Naghahanda ng mga foods, tikoy syempre, fruits.. ahmm..nagdadasal saka nagsusuot ng red na damit. We also offered prayer para sa daddy ko na namatay kasi siya naman talaga ang Chinese-blooded, kami                                                          bale ¼ na lang”    

                                                                        -Clarizza

Lastly, I interviewed Eunice Mariel Chua, a student from Lyceum of the Philippines University.

   “Naghahada lang kami foods tapos kumakain kami ng family ko. Wala naman kami gaanung rituals. Nilagyan pala namin ng fruits yung harap ng pics ng namatay naming lola”

                      -Eunice

  

Chua' Family celebrating the Chinese New Year

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai

New Year is one of China's oldest and prominent festivals throughout the world. It marks the beginning of a new year and a new agricultural season, and is considered a time for loved ones to reunite and take part in traditions designed to bring good fortune and prosperity for the next year.

Chinese New Year is held each year between 21 January and 20 February. And this year, the main celebration was held on January 31. The Chinese calendar's origins can be traced back as far as the 14th century BC. This year's celebrations marked the beginning of the year 4712 on the Chinese calendar.

The Chinese calendar is patterned basically from the lunisolar cycle, meaning to say, their calendar is based on exact astronomical observations of the sun's longitude and moon phases.

The celebration largely takes place in China, naturally, but there are also other countries with a large Chinese population that also mark the day and welcomed the Year of the Wooden Horse. The biggest celebrations outside of mainland China are in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Chinese New Year is one of the most anticipated celebrations here in the Philippines. Even we are Filipinos, we thoroughly embraced the Chinese way of welcoming New Year. Well, it’s not a surprise anymore because of the fact that Manila Chinatown is actually the oldest Chinatown in the world. It’s been here since the 1590’s and so Chinese people have lived here for at least five centuries.

It only proves that there has been a significant Chinese presence in the Philippines even before the Spaniards arrived in the 15th century. In fact, Chinese Filipinos currently number four million, making up five percent of the Philippine population.

Hence, there has been harmonious relationship built among Filipinos and Chinese, way back then. More so, there is a great deal of mutual respect between the local Chinese and Filipinos and because of that, Chinese New Year is actually an official non-working holiday here.

During the Chinese Lunar New Year, Filipino-Chinese communities rejoice the event with festive parades of dancing lions and dragons in Binondo and other part of the country with sizable Chinese presence. This practice is said to attract prosperity, health and wisdom. They also clean the house thoroughly to fend off evil spirits.

A prominent feature of the Chinese New Year festivities in the Philippines is the Chinese sticky sweet treat known as tikoy or Chinese New Year pudding. It is sold in the months of January and February especially for the occasion. Made up of glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, salt, sugar and water, it symbolizes the unity and harmony among friends and family members.

Red envelopes known as “ang pao” are prepared with money inside for wealth. And the same with our tradition, they also prepare various fruits and foods are set out on a table which is believed to bring in good fortune, but the difference is they only provide eight fruits unlike us with twelve. This is because number eight signifies good luck in Chinese.

The traditional lucky charms are also bought and displayed in the home in order to usher in abundance and good energy and to sweep away the bad lucks.

Feng shui is one of the famous customs during Chinese New Year. Feng shui experts are very famous in foretelling the year ahead as well as in providing lucky charms and advices on how to keep the good fortune.

These are just some of the famous practices and beliefs that prevail during this season of Chinese New Year. Filipinos actually adapt most of the Chinese belief most specially the concept of luck and fortune. But at the end of the day, no one can predict the future ahead of us, only God. And most importantly, hard work, perseverance and faith will be the best lucky charm in the world to pursue our dreams.

You are a Certified Pinoy if:

Philippines is indeed one of a kind among other countries in the world. Aside from its wealth in cultural diversity, natural resources and beautiful spots, the people themselves are truly remarkable and amazing in terms of their personality, values and even their common quirky actions make them astounding.

Hence, you are a certified Pinoy if:

·         You can eat meals with your bare hands.

·         You look around when you heard “Pssssst…”

·         You can teach direction using your lips.

·         You use dipper in taking a bath.

·         You are into buying sale items even you don’t need it.

·         You love “Buy one, take one items”

·         You dip bread in your coffee or milk.

·         You are ashamed to get the remaining last piece of food.

·         You always sing in the bathroom as if there’s a concert.

·         You ask for a number instead of water when you get choked.

·         You eat “balut”.

10 Famous Clichés in Philippine Television

1. Poor and Rich Love Story

First on the list is the very popular love constraint which is the economic status differences between the lead characters. It’s either the boy is rich and the girl is poor or the girl is rich and the guy is poor. But after all, of course, they will fight against all odds for a happy ending of the story.

2.  Baby Switching

Baby switching, intentional or not is another cliches that exist in Philippine television. Commonly, the reasons are: (a) the first baby is rich and the antagonist wanted to other baby to get the wealth (b) the first baby is dead and to conceal the his/her death, the other one will be replaced (c)nurses and all other person in charge are just too busy with their stuff that they don’t manage to oversee the babies.

3. Where are the Police?

Policemen in telenovelas seem to be late every time their service is needed or sometimes when they will be present on the scene when the commotion is already ended.

4. Missing Link

Commonly, the mother is searching for her long lost child and the child is also looking for her mother. But in fact, the two have already met but not aware that they are family.

5. Battle of Siblings

There’s always a “tournament” between siblings in the family. The reasons? (a) for their parent’s attention(b) for their heirlooms (c) because of one person who was their both love interest.

6. Amnesia: A Common Ailment

Any character who can either be the lead or any important person in the teleserye suffers from amnesia and he/she forgets anything. Then gradually they will remember portions of the past when they feel headaches or when their head hits somewhere.

7. Wedding Ending

Usually, when the bride walks happily down the aisle towards her groom is a sign that the story is about to end. It means to say that all the hardships and challenges that hindered their love story were eliminated.

8.  Serendipity

Lovers in romantic teleserye commonly have a past during their childhood and bid a promise for each other to be forever and ever. But they will be separated by certain circumstances and then meet again by fate after so many years with a cliché line, “Ikaw??”

9. Evil politician and mother-in-law

In most telenovelas, politician are perceived to be the antagonist in the story, A politician who acts like a good Samaritan in front of the public but do illegal actions behind their back. This notion is same with the mother-in-law characters, who also take a role as the foe of her daughter in law.

10. Airport rush

We have always seen a character rushing to the airport to stop someone’s departure. Usually, they’re stopped by the security guards but they insist to go inside the airport and then later, they will think that their loved one has already left but footsteps will come towards, and it is the one he/she’s looking for. Then they will hug and kiss and the people in the airport are cheering for them.

Mass Media and the Early Onset of Sex among Youth

Now that our society is in the momentum of modernity, different innovations has been done to various types of media. As these media are continuously earning the fame most especially from youth, many researchers have also raised the increasingly bad effects of those media to adolescents.

            Media is the easiest, most accessible and the most comfortable ways to answer their questions and will quench their curiosity. As what several studies suggest, media has become the sex educators of the new generation as they portrayed sexually explicit materials and fed the adolescent’s mind with the sexually related information which is not accurate and unhealthy. And as a result, media became the catalyst for early sexual initiations.

“Sexual content in mass media has been around as long as mass media itself,” Arizona State professor Mary-Lou Galician, a researcher, author and media literacy advocate says.

The mass media are an increasingly accessible way for young people to learn about and see sexual behavior. Mass media refers to the channels of communication that is designed to reach the mass of the people. Psychologists suggests that the media provide role models whose behaviors are imitated by members of the audience. Rebecca Collins stated in her study that this imitation is a component of social learning of adolescents: "monkey see, monkey do".

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, teen sex is a “major public health problem”. The physical, emotional, and social consequences of teen sexual activity include higher rate of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS.

Many have argued that mass media are particularly important resources for sexual information because parents provide little information and schools tend to emphasize a biological approach with little attention to romance and interpersonal relationships. Researchers believed that there are many factors that might contribute to a relationship between media content and behavior like parent communication, sexual education and others.

Media consumption and message absorption by the youth will vary and will be modified by the aid of different factors such as the proper guidance provided by parents and the presence of grounds which will supply the right information about sex to the youth.

Taken together, it is strongly recommended for parental guidance and the visibility of sex education in an objective manner to lessen the exposure of the youth to sexually explicit material which drive them to try premarital sex. Parents should allot more time in keeping an eye on their child during accessing various types of media. They should limit the time given to their child in utilizing these media and they should not place the television, computers and the like in their child’s bedroom where they can privately use it.

Apparently, media can be our society’s friend but it can also be our enemy. What will it be? It depends upon us.

My Messy Utopia

Messy living area, cluttered bedroom, untidy bathroom, grimy kitchen --- that’s how I described the usual scenario inside our small house. It’s like there’s always a storm that slammed inside our dwelling place. Commonly, stuff scattered around, clothes are not organized and the sink is filled with used kitchen utensils. That’s the usual picture of our house and seeing it clean at its best is a once in a blue moon opportunity.

            My mother is not that into the habit of cleaning our house because she’s always busy with our small business and she’s not the type of mother who is keen when it comes to the house cleanliness. More so, my three younger sisters are all lazy and are not that diligent in doing household chores. Of course, I wouldn’t expect my father to do the thing because he is working.

            Since I lived in Manila to study, I didn’t do the task of cleaning the entire house anymore that’s why every time I went home every two weeks, its messy surrounding is not a surprise anymore. Actually, to see it clean will be very surprising instead.

            Despite the situation inside our home, I would consider it as my favorite place among others. This is the place where I am raised as well as my sisters, the place where I first learned all the virtues in life and the avenue where I feel the love. This is a home that unified our family wherein we have shared memories, laughter and even problems. This is the only place that I feel really comfortable and I can show my true self.

            As what the saying goes, “there’s no place like home”. And indeed, nothing can compare to our home despite the fact that it is often messy, I still love the four corners of it and the overall structure of it even it’s not fully furnished yet. I am fond of every part of our home because each of these witnessed the bonding moments I have created with my family. ­

            Certainly, I consider my home as a utopia wherein everything is in harmony except for the mess and dirt that cluttered around.

            

Positivity Mode

There’s no such thing as perfect life. Though we celebrate our blissful and victorious moments, let’s admit it that life is still a constant battle against different uncertainties and the things that hinder us on our quest for happiness.

In chasing our dreams, failures and mistakes might get along our way. There are also people that might bring us down and there are various constraints that keep us from holding back. But for all these things that seem to be the antagonist in my life story, all I can say is that I won’t let them beat me, I won’t let them defeat my faith and I won’t let them take away my dreams. I will stand on my own facing this challenging world. I will keep strongly standing no matter what storms come along my journey.

When I fall, I will rise again and keep moving. I believe that failures are just my ticket in entering to the world of sweet success. Because life is like a staircase, you have to go up each stair to reach the top.

In this battle, I am armed with faith, fortified with good heart, and upheld with virtues and morals, that’s why I am confident that I will be unbeatable by all these life traps. I always keep in mind that God doesn’t give his toughest battles to his strongest soldier.

 Though I can’t change the direction of the wind nor the stroke of the sea waves, but I can just my sails to reach my destination because I am the master of my ship, the captain of my soul.

Past is past: Moving On 101

A wise man once sat in the audience and cracked a joke. All laughed like crazy. After a moment he cracked the same joke again and a little less people laughed this time. He cracked the same joke again and again, and there’s no laughter in the crowd at all. He smiled and said, “When you can’t laugh on the same joke again and again, then why you keep crying over the same thing over and over again.”

          Past is a nice place to visit but certainly not the good place to stay. Memories from the past are not all blissful. Some of them have remnants of pain, angst and grievances that made up the dark shadows of the past that make us feel nostalgic most of the time. Many people are still living with these shadows overhead and cannot bury all those negative memoirs and burdens they had before.

          Well, it’s really not that easy to vanish instantly all the pain and sorrow. The ghost of the past seems to follow all the time and there’s a feeling that you want to escape from this nostalgia but you can’t.

But of course, we cannot live forever with those heavy baggage from the past because it will definitely affect our life in the present as well as the future. So the best approach --- moving on.

Moving on is such a heavy word, indeed it’s so easy to advise someone to do the thing but doing this in action is far tougher than as you think. But at the end of the day, no one can help you to erase these shadows, only yourself.

 Speak to yourself and ask if it is worth the effort to be sentimental over the things from the past? Is it worth the tears? Do I deserve all of these agonies and emotional tortures? Definitely, all the answers should be a big “NO!”

So stand and put into trash all the bitterness and pain from the past. Treat all of these as lessons and face the present with courage and faith.

Life is not about looking back and wishing that today is the same with the past. Life is about moving on, accepting changes and looking forward to what makes you stronger & more complete. Because it's never too late to have a life and never too late to change one.

Just like the old sayings goes, “past is past” and “let bygones be bygones”.  More so, as what the song tells, “So let’s not bring the past back anymore.” Because all you have to do is let go of the past and the past will let go of you.

  

When Internet was not yet born..

Undeniably, now that we are in the modern era --- the stage with so many technological advancements, life of the people is seemingly more progressive and easy. With just one click, we can reach the world and connect with other people even from miles away. Through Internet, everything is now accessible such as all the information, communication, products, services, entertainment, learning and many more. Indeed, it’s too far from the life of our grandparents and ancestors way back then.

Many years ago, life is too simple. “Apple” and “Blackberry” were just simply known as fruits. The term “Yahoo” was just a joyful expression and there’s no such thing as “Facebook” only people facing books. There’s no Twitter at all, just tweeting birds. And “virus” was just a cause of common colds.

Long ago, the term “friend” is actually denoted as someone who personally knows you and someone who is always your buddy but now, your friend list might include people whom you really don’t know, more so, gaining of friends is so instant and to remove friends can be done in just a snap. In fact, Brene Brown said that social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky.

During the old times, encyclopedias, books, libraries are very in-demand for people seeking for information but nowadays, the answers are right in the tip of your hand through Google and other search engines.

Before, our ancestors and grandparents were just happy and contented sharing their life experiences and stories with their family and their neighbors but now “everything” is being shared online. From the food they eat, their drinks, the restaurant that they are in at the moment, their outfit of the day, to what they are doing, their mood at that time, their feelings, their wrath, agony, secret affections, gifts they received, and so many more, and commonly their posts are associated with pictures.

And speaking of pictures, before, photo albums were just the book or binder with blank pockets for printed pictures but now these photo albums are not that too significant because there are online albums which are available in different social networking sites that doesn’t required printed photos.

Indeed, different concepts of life were changed as we welcomed and embraced these social networking sites. It’s true that it has positive and negative impacts, but at the end of the day, the effects of these sites will definitely depend upon the user. And it is important to take note that before bursting out to the netizens all your aspirations, gratitude and repent through your statuses and tweet, how about trying to tell it first to God? And remember no matter how the world has changed, let us stick to the simplest and most effective mode of communication, the prayer.

Philippine Literature

No question, Philippines is a country rich in diversity and language heritage. That’s why there is no wonder why our country is also well-off when it comes to literature. And eventually, our literature was more enhanced through the influence of different invaders and their cultures as well.

During pre-colonial times, there has been widespread evidence that the ancient Filipinos display a culture rich with traditions. Folk speeches, folk songs and indigenous rituals are part of their daily lives. The blend of such elements represents a lifestyle deeply embedded in the locals. I find this particular idea exciting. Of course, I would really want to get a glimpse of what they call “indigenous Philippine literature” during the pre-colonial period. An understanding on the history of Philippine literature will allow us to appreciate the literary riches of this nation. Taken as a whole, these literature are truly a source of Filipino pride because these interesting stories provide us an overview of the rich literature, folklore and culture of pre-Hispanic Filipinos.

16th Century was the start of the deprivation of the indigenous Philippine literature. Spanish colonial government finally got in the scene. They were able to manipulate literature by monopolizing it under the religious orders.  Literature evolves mainly on the themes of Spanish/ European culture and of course, the Roman Catholic religion. The colonization by Spain did not subject literature development to a halt. Rather, it breathed a different kind of life into the local literary works.

Much later, Spain brought about liberal ideas and a sense of internationalism to the people of Philippines. Similar to the period of renaissance, it has substantial influence on local intellectuals. They start to question and portray the meanings of "liberty and freedom" in their works. I think this stage is a notable era in the history of Philippines literature because it is the awakening stage of the Filipino writers to fight for the freedom through literature. Thus, literature became the catalyst for the achievement of the aspired freedom. This realization brought about a reformation movement which eventually led to the downfall of the Spanish colonial.

The history of Philippine literature was once again marked by a change when English was introduced. The introduction of English language led to the slow demise of Spanish, and subsequently literature written in Spanish. The sustaining use of English language birthed some of the well known English poems, short stories and once again enriched the local literature in a unique way.

Philippine literature is a uniting element among its people, and will continue to evolve as enriched by modern changes. And now, we are in the modern time, and I believe that Philippine literature is also in the stage of modernity whereas the themes and topics are centered to timely and contemporary issues nowadays. The advancement of technology today also gives way to the innovations in our literature. The Internet also became an avenue among writers to spread their works. The homogenization effect that globalization poses is the biggest challenge not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well: the preservation of literature which is the precursor of culture, making it relevant and significant in our present age of postmodernism.

The literature of the Philippines is just one of the many aspects that will prove how rich our country is.  Indeed, this beautiful country unified by more than 7000 islands is a home of many intellectual people. I may not be one of those writers creating names through their writings, but I believe that I can show my support on our own literature by reading their works as well as sharing these to other people.

“Literature, is definitely, much more than its literary meaning, which defines it as 'an acquaintance to letters'. It, in fact, lays the foundation of an enriched life; it adds 'life' to 'living'… “                                  

-Anonymous

Judge Me Not…

We live in an imperfect world and apparently, we are not perfect either. But most people keep on judging anyone else and looking for their flaws. It seems like it’s a traditional notion among people to judge someone and seek for their negativities. They tend to be self-centered and forget the flaws within themselves.

As what the old saying wanted to imply, we should eye upon ourselves first before looking to someone else because we also have imperfections and most importantly, we don’t know what their situations are and what are the real stories behind other people.

Let me share you a story that I read. A story of two fathers which might enlighten us to be open minded and care about others’ position.

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call as soon as possible, changed his clothes & went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy’s father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor.

On seeing him, the dad yelled, “Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have any sense of responsibility? ”

The doctor smiled &and said, “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital & I came as fast as I could after receiving the call…… And now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work.”

“Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies now what will you do??” said the father angrily.

The doctor smiled again and replied:, “I will say what Job said in the Holy Book,  ‘From dust we came & to dust we return, blessed be the name of God’. Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go and intercede for your son, we will do our best by God’s grace.”

“Giving advises when we’re not concerned is so easy,” murmured the father. The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy.

“Thank goodness!, Your son is saved!” and without waiting for the father’s reply, he carried on his way running. “If you have any questions, ask the nurse!!”

“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son’s state,” commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

The nurse answered, tears coming down her face: “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was at the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery. And now that he saved your son’s life, he left running to finish his son’s burial.”

            Never judge anyone….. Because you never know how their life is and what they’re going through. And we should keep in mind that no one else except the God has the right to have judgments.

“Switch”

            All couples in the world have their own stories on how their love rekindled. Some stories are worth sharing for but there are also some that are better kept untold because it doesn’t make sense at all.

            Fortunately, my parent’s story is indeed, “a love story made in heaven”, a story that is worth sharing for. They proved that when two people are destined, fate will bring you to each other’s heart. This is a story of two hearts from north and south of the Philippines who found their way to become one.

My father named Joel lived in Nueva Ecija while my mother, Ma. Elena who is a native Bisaya came from General Santos. When he was 18, my father went to Manila along with his friend, Noel to work as construction worker. In nearby place, my mother came all the way from Mindanao with her best friend named Rowena. When they all four met, my mother became close to Noel and my father became close to Rowena. Days passed, their relationships became even closer with the company of each other partner and soon go out for a double date. Everyone and even people around them assumed that Rowena will be my father’s girlfriend and Noel will be my mother’s boyfriend.

But world turns upside down as they found out in the long run that they are in love and more interested with the partners of their friend. It seems like there’s a switch of partners, Rowena becomes Noel’s girlfriend while my Mom becomes my Dad’s girlfriend. Sooner, Rowena and Noel had their marriage, the same with my parents who decided to live in Nueva Ecija.

And now, Rowena and Noel are happily living with their three children. My mother and father are also happy with their marriage life with us, their four daughters.

            Apparently, it is still a question to me if destiny is true but my parents’ sentiments about their love story lean me towards believing in destiny.