October's Top Four

October was a great month for me.  Here are my top four reasons in no particular order. 

1. We had our school field trip.  The itinerary for the Grade 4 pupils included two old churches.  As you already know, I'm a sucker for everything old.

with fellow teachers in front of the church in Lumban

The church belfry in Lumban

     This was the side of the church in Paete, a town that's known for their wood carvings.  The church 

                                                         was built from 1646-1770.

Below is one of the paintings inside the church.  It was painted around 1770 using cat's tail as a brush, animal blood and natural paint from plants.

2.  I decided to explore whatever hidden talents I had in painting.  I'm taking it slowly though by    doing some sketches first.

3. I fell in love with the Taal Basilica.  I made a separate post about that here.

4. I was finally able to go back to my hometown in Sta. Cruz, Zambales. You can visit the post about it here.

I hope November is going to be even more fantastic for me and my family and for all of my readers.

What great things happened to you in October?

Back in my hometown

I spent a lovely time going back to my hometown in Sta. Cruz, Zambales last weekend.

Ruel, Toots and I took the six-hour drive from Manila to Sta. Cruz at dawn last Saturday.  I had forgotten how lovely the countryside was.

It was a trip of endless "oohs and aahs".

We left early so we could visit the graves of my grandparents.  If we left two hours later, we would have met heavy traffic.

I just love pretty skies!

On All Saints Day and All Souls Day, people in our town still follow the old tradition of visiting the graves.

There is always enough people at the cemeteries to cause traffic and they usually stay at the grave sites for hours.   Some even spend the entire day there. 

You're probably wondering how anyone can spend such a long time at a cemetery.  There's actually plenty of things to do, aside from lighting candles and praying.  This is the time when families and relatives would usually get together as they visit the graves of their ancestors and dead relatives and when you haven't seen your cousins for a long time, well, a day at the cemetery is not enough.  And since the cemetery is in a small town, almost all the folks are related by blood and it is but natural to go from one grave to another to pray for the souls of the dead and to engage in short conversations with those who are still alive.  Some people even bring food if they plan on spending the whole day there.  It actually looks like a fiesta and I am so sorry I was not able to take pictures around the cemetery.  I realize I should have so you could have a better idea of how the town cemetery looks like during this time of the year.

Going back to my hometown, seeing the graves of my grandparents, seeing the ruins of my grandparents' home brought back so many happy memories.  I miss my doting grandparents, I miss the innocence of my childhood, I miss the simple life in a sleepy town.  I miss everything about it that I already want to go back.

This used to be the stairs going up to the second floor of my grandparents' house.

Hopefully, with God's grace, we will again be able to visit our hometown next year in time for the harvest of our mangoes.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The Past Revisted

A lot of my friends say that I am an old soul.  I guess that's the best explanation they have for my fascination for the past and everything that's old.

I love antique stores.  I love antique things, though I don't particularly like buying antiques as I am quite scared of bringing something else home with me... if you know what I mean.

I love old songs, old dances and the fashion of the past.  

And I cannot say no to a chance to visit an old town, an old ancestral house or an old church.

Yesterday, I saw an opportunity to visit a church I had always wanted to visit but never had the chance to until yesterday.

Hunny Bed and I went to Batangas to visit his aunt and the tomb of his grandparents.  Since the church I wanted to go to was just an hour away from there, I requested Ruel to drive us to Taal where the church was.  Being the perfect gentleman that he always is, and being the husband who always wants to please his wife, he agreed to take that side trip to the "Heritage Town" of Taal.  

After asking around three people for directions, we finally entered the town and I immediately regretted not making that side trip a main trip long ago.  There were still a lot of ancestral houses in town, and many of them were turned into museums which I thought would have fascinated my son as well, had he been with us and had we had enough time to go around the town.  My son and I share the same passion for history and this was something we could have enjoyed together.  

The church was easy to find, as the massive structure stands on top of a hill.   It stands 95 meters long and 45 meters wide.  This majestic church looks out to the rest of the town below it.

And yes, it was love at first sight!!! A big thank you and a big kiss to Ruel for bringing me there!

Walking up and and down these stairs made me wonder how many women like me had climbed the same steps to the church.  What kind of life did they live during the Spanish colonial time?  What town gossips did the women talk about while climbing up the stairs to the church?  What were their pains? What did they pray for?

                                                            I just loved these columns!!!

                    and of course, the man in green!

                                                                        That's me with the church's old bell.

An image of the Sacred Heart stands in front of the basilica.

                         

How the church looks inside 

The interior of the church had undergone restorations and renovations over time but the exterior has weathered the test of time. The old San Martin de Tours church was built during the late 1500s in another site near the shore but the church was terribly damaged by the Taal Volcano erruption in 1754 and it was rebuilt in the present site in 1755 with the help of men, women and children who carried the adobe slabs that were dug up from the original site to the new church site on top of the hill.  The structure was badly damaged during the 1849 earthquake and was rebuilt from 1856-1865.

Love, love the imprints of time!

That's my Ruel beside the old bell.  I forgot to ask if it was from the original structure.

The Taal Church or San Martin De Tours Basilica is baroque in style and is considered to be the largest Catholic Church in Asia.

I found my new favorite church, a real historic treasure in a town rich with culture and heritage.  I wish to get another glimpse of it soon, and explore the rest of the town with Ruel and my son.

Until then, I'll continue to search for other windows to the past. 

Currently...

I have tried writing a post, uploaded some pictures, but to my dismay and frustration I just couldn't finish it because my laptop was responding so slowly! It was supposedly a review of the month of August which has already gotten stale since we are alrealdy at the end of September.  So, instead of finishing that post, I'm doing a currently post here on my phone to avoid the frustration that comes from using my laptop.

Currently, I am....

THINKING of a menu for Christmas and New Year's Eve. I'm always excited about Christmas and this year isn't any different.

MAKING a Christmas list in my mind. (Unlike most people who write down their lists, I only usually make a mental list of things I want to remember. ) Last year I promised myself I wouldn't overspend this year. But I am afraid that I wouldn't be able to do so.  There's no harm in trying though.

WANTING to get pregnant. I was supposed to have my period three days ago but until now it hasn't arrived. I'm starting to worry that I'm not ovulating. I hope I'm wrong. We can start trying again this October so I hope I have a normal cycle. I haven't been to my acupuncturist for three weeks now because of my busy schedule. Hopefully, I can go next Saturday.

CRAVING for milk tea, ice cream, cakes and pastries and everything that's bad for me. Why does the bad feel/taste so good??? I guess that is an age-old question.

WISHING I had more time for my family and for myself. For the past two months, I've been going to work on Saturdays, leaving only Sundays to attend to family duties (my side and hubby's side) and nothing is left for some "me" time which I define as a time for reading or just staying in bed doing nothing but enjoying the sheets. How I miss that!

Well, that's the end of my currently post.

Let's all hope I can write a new post using my laptop soon. I guess I have to have it reformatted and I don't know when I can have time for that.