New Year

Every December 31st all over the world people from all walks of life celebrate in their own way to usher in the New Year. It is a time to remember that we humans can renew our life and seek a new beginning. In places where there is no specific day for thanksgiving, It is a time to give thanks for all the blessings we have from the passing year. Some of us may not have a very good year but a year full of challenges and suffering but we can still think of something to give thanks for. It is a time to rekindle the simple warmth of family kinship and friendship. A time to bury the hatchet and old grudges and begin a new year with a lighter heart and new friendships (watch out the friendships it might be the beginning of something new). Most of all, it is a period to appreciate the virtue of humility for being one that lived to see the dawn of the New Day in another New Year.

To My Batchmates

HAPPY NEW YEAR

and may we all have prosperous fruitful year ahead of us.

alex pineda

Christmas Party sa Gapo 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL BATCH 80. Here are comments about the just concluded Christmas Party in Olongapo attended by 21 members of the batch with Anna, Sol, and Jong comming from out of town just to be with thier batchmates to celebrate the Christmas.

Oo nga Rica grabe talagang saya ng ating christmas party to the max, kahit napuyat ako at kinabukasan pasok sa trabaho okay lang sulit naman, I felt sorry sa ating mga kabatchmates na hindi umaatend sa ganitong gathering they always missed a big part of their lives. I hope everybody who are still in gapo or yung mga nagbabakasyon dito will join us next time para mas masaya wag po kayong mag alala dahil wala pong discrimination na nangayayari succesful ka man o hindi, mayaman o mahirap, from higher or lower section, kapamilya or kapuso lahat pantay pantay. Lahat po tayo ay anak ng Diyos. Masaya talaga promise. To our president slamat for posting our pics. Hey lola myrna nagwala ka na nanaman talaga itong aming friend hindi mapigilan but we truly enjoyed your ago go go dancing part. Salamat din kay grace sa kanyang masasayang palaro s uulitin ulit. Syempre kay Susan who keeps her house open sa lahat ,salamat mama susan and husband ronald for being hospitable wag kayong magsasawa. Rica salamat din pala dahil ikaw ang matiyagang nag organize kung anong food ang dadalhin namin. Salamat kay Lord at sa lahat for making the party possible. Cora

Weng, salamat sa comment. Sayang, wala ka sa gathering, miss na rin kita. Sa sobrang laki ko nga walang nakakilala sa akin except si Cliff. Super enjoy ang reunion, para bang ang feeling ko bumalik kami sa high school days kaya lang for adults only ang mga games. Sabi nga ni Mr. Prez, matatanda na tayo kaya puro green na ang theme ng games natin. Enjoy pati husband ko sa mga happenings. Kaya lang, next time I have to diet na kasi di na daw niya ako sasamahan pag ganito pa rin ako kahealthy! Susme! Di ako magkasya sa plastic rope. But I admire Myrna the most upon learning about her condition. Di pa rin nagbabago ang grace ni Dersie sa pagsasayaw, pati na iyong ibang dancing partners ni Raf. You have to see their entries sa YouTube. To all the beautiful and handsome batchmates I met again, thank you for making the occassion memorable for me. Anna Sumeracruz-Dimapilis

Hi Weng, Thanks for the comment. Sana your're here para enjoy ka rin. Ang gulo namin hehehe.... I really enjoyed a lot di nasayang ang pag-uwi ko. Thanks to everybody. Hoping to see you on our next reunion. Sol

Dear batchmates sa Gapo, ang saya naman ng party nyo.... happy to see you all enjoy..... good to see you anna, I didnt recognize you sa salamin mo, bagets ang dating, sana mapadalas ang pagsama mo sa gatherings ng grupo.... and to the boys, kahit konti lang kayo, kitang kita ang saya, all the girls..... walang kupas.... can't wait to see you all in you tube, don makikita ang gulo nyo..... kakamiss, .... Weng

We are 21 all in all. memory gap na yan kapatid. sign of old age nah. wag ka naman pahalata. hehehe.... nabubuking eh. sabi ko sau member pa tau ng "SK" (SOBRA KUARENTA). we had so much fun and enjoy talaga to the max. ANG SAYA NG MGA PALARO NI MAMA GRACE... sobrang saya!!! grabeeeeh!!! sa muli mga kabatchmate. .. kitakitz uli tau. Rica

Thank you sa lahat ng dumating, Rica, Susan , Nona, Myrna, Mercy, Bunny, Grace, Dersie, Cora, Thelma, Sol, Anna, Amy, Erlinda, Jean, Ed, Raf, Jong, Cliff, Arlie, at Francis at kung meron man po akong di nabangit, paki bangit nyo na lang po...pacensya na po at tumatanda na. Yung ibang pictures, paki post na lang nina rica , susan, sol, anna, nona, mercy at cora.yung pong video ni myna, paki abangan sa you tube. i po post ko po. kay rica naman po yung video ni raf at ni dersie, paki abangan din po yun. ( parental guidance recommended) marami pong salamat. Francis Rivero

Rizal Day

Dr. José P. Rizal (full name: José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda) (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered the Philippines' national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.

The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna (province), Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree sobresaliente. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages. He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries against 333 years of Spanish rule.

He was known as a hero, author, and an eye doctor. As a political figure, Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.

December 30 is also the day that Olongapo celebrates its Fiesta every year. It is held in december probably due to the fact that Olongapo was converted into a municipality on December 7, 1959. Olongapo was reconverted to a chartered city on June 1, 1966. Olongapo usually celebrates its fiesta by having the Miss Olongapo pageant, Olongapo sportsfest, several times with battle of the bands contest, and culminating to a parade on the 30th.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day in The Philippines is primarily a family affair. Prior to the stroke of 12 midnight on the morning of December 25, the Misa de Aguinaldo is being celebrated. It is usually attended by the whole family. Misa de Aguinaldo is the Holy Mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Roman Catholic Church and Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan) in the Philippines' main means of celebrating Jesus Christ's birth.
Misa de Aguinaldo is also celebrated at dawn or in the morning between immediately after sunrise and 10 a.m.; this schedule is preferred by Filipinos who choose to celebrate Christmas Eve with a night-long celebration of the Noche Buena.

Preferably in the morning, Filipino families visit members of the extended family, notably the elders in order to pay their respects. This custom of giving respect has been an age-old tradition in the Philippines called "Pagmamano"; this is done by touching one's forehead to the elder's hand saying Mano Po. The elder then blesses the person who has paid respect. "Aguinaldo", or money in the form of crisp, fresh-from-the-bank bills is given after the Pagmamano, mostly to younger children.

A Christmas Lunch usually follows after the "Pagmamano". The lunch is heavily dependent upon the finances of the family. Rich families tend to prepare grand and glorious feasts that consist of Jamon de Bola, Queso de Bola, Lechon and other Filipino delicacies. Some poor families choose to cook simple meals, nevertheless still special. When the family is settled after the lunch, the exchange of gifts is usually done. Godparents are expected to give gifts or Aguinaldo to their godchildren.

When nighttime falls, members of the family usually take part in family talks while listening to favorite Christmas carols. Some may opt to have a glorious Christmas feast for dinner.

St Joseph's, alumni usually see each other during the mass at St Joseph's church on 11pm of the 24th. The mass often becomes a mini reunion of sort.

Oceanside Reunion

The day begins like any other day, except that for a Batch 80 like me it is special. Today is the day that we've agreed to have a small reunion at Butch Paz house at Oceanside in honor of a visiting classmate, Jen Velarmino. The batch has been silent for a while, but the arrival of Jen triggered a flurry of activity. It started when Butch sent email to everyone asking who is interested in having a reunion to welcome her in his house. The batch responded by agreeing to have a potluck December 6 at 1 pm.

I was very excited to go because the last time I met my batch mates was in 2003. At that time I only got a few pictures coming from Butch camera, and this time I promised myself I will take all the pictures I could get and document the event. It also falls on the day of Pacquiao's fight and I can't wait to watch it there live (i do not have cable subscription), with my batch mates (how nice that could be), and that makes it even more exciting.

I arrived at 1:30 with my share of the potluck and a couple of camera's to record the event and then one at a time my batch mates came. So I met Bennette and Ces for the first time since high school graduation, not knowing that the 3 of us where in Los Angeles. Then Abdon came, since it is past 2 pm we agreed to start lunch (me and Butch started eating at 1:30). Then Elmer came followed by Susan and Jun bringing in the fresh lumpia together with Shirley. Again we started eating the lumpia and here comes Ron and Irma bringing in the wines and beer (we are improving, I don't even know what a wine look like back in high school).

The stories begun with Susan leading the pack. Then Noel showed up ridding his magnificent bike (i wish i know how to ride one). The fun and stories continued, we where just wondering where our guest of horor was. We called Jen and she said that she was on her way, they just passed Los Angeles (Jen came straight from San Jose up north, near San Francisco that day, a travel of almost 8 to 10 hrs) and that she will be arriving within the next 2 hours.

The batch continued with our stories. I was so excited to meet my classmates from 1R,2O and 3U days (Susan, Bennette and Shirley) talking about the old days. Jen finally showed up together with her fraternal brods at 5 pm. She looked very exhausted from the trip, but that did not stopped the excitement of meeting her classmates, "barkadas", and neighbors in highschool and gradeschool. Amber and Ofie showed up at 6:30 pm, (he came straight from work in Los Angles) bringing a whole new set of food, good for 50 people and a pail of "gulaman at sago" (and they were soooo good, i decided to eat again). So the stories and wine continued until it is time to watch the fight. Amber collected 5$ to start a pool, and guess who won? The guest of horor Jen in her striking red outfit! After the fight the Karaoke begins with Butch and Ron trading songs and the laughter and stories go on. At 8 pm Mike showed up also straight from work but refused to missed being with his classmates.

The feeling was so nice to see your old classmates again, and the stories never end. Stories of challenges that our batch mates overcame with flying colors (that as a member of the batch, it make you feel proud that you were given a chance to know them). Stories of success that I think should served as inspiration to a lot of people (only thing is, that it is our story and need not be published). Each one has a story to tell and before you know it, It is midnight. A few people started to leave but we still continued with our life's stories and singing our hearts' out (we were actually thankful that it is cold and all the doors and windows were closed or there might be cops knocking on the door). Ron invited everyone for a breakfast at his house if it reached 6 am and we're still there. We decided to call it quits at 2:30 am as each one was beginning to wear their eye bags (lower than necessary), although you would not noticed any tiredness as the stories continued.

We left with heavy hearts but planned to meet again once time permits. We also talked of plans for the future as batch 80 would be part of the organizers for 2010 reunion of SJS. At this time, Jen is still here and our batch mates in San Diego is planning another get together. I think we just do not want to let go of a good thing.

agpineda

Christmas Eve

For Filipinos, Christmas Eve ("Bisperas ng Pasko") on December 24th has the much-anticipated Noche Buena – the traditional Christmas Eve feast after the midnight mass. Family members dine together around 12 midnight on traditional Noche Buena fare, which includes: queso de bola (Spanish: "ball of cheese"; this is actually edam cheese), "Tsokolate" (a hot chocolate drink) and jamon (Christmas ham), and some would open presents at this time.

In different provinces and schools throughout the Philippines, Catholic devotees also reenact the journey of Joseph and the pregnant Blessed Virgin Mary in search of lodging for the soon-to-be born Jesus Christ. This is the traditional "Panunuluyan'", also called "Pananawagan" and "Pananapatan".

This street pageant is performed after dark on Christmas Eve, with the actors portraying Joseph and Mary going to pre-designated houses. They chant wika wika bang bang, a traditional folksong that is meant to wake up the owner of the house as the actors ask for lodging. But the couple (actors) are turned away by the owners, also through a song. Finally, Joseph and Mary make their way to the parish church where a simulated manger has been set up. The birth of Jesus is celebrated at midnight with the Misa de Gallo, together with hallelujahs and Christmas carols. Everybody celebrates this tradition happily yet solemnly.

Naalala ko pa ang simbang gabi sa St Joseph, madalas ay na uuwi sa daldalan dahil nagki-kita kita ang mga mag ka-kaklase. Kasabay ng misa ang kamustahan at chikahan. Pagkatapos ay uuwi at kainan na.

Oceanside Reunion 2008: Chairmans' Note

Dear Batchmates,

Everyone is quiet, trying to recover from Saturday's get together..Maraming salamat sa mga umattend ng potluck, it was a pleasurable evening and it's really good to see everyone again, it's been a while since our last gathering.

I especially want to thank Jen for spending time with us, hindi ka pa rin nagbabago, mabeauty pa rin and still kalog just like I remember you way back when..

Alex thank you for bringing your high tech gadgets to capture the moments, your officially the Director of video and photography, thanks again.

Also, besides a lot of catching up, eating, singing and watching the fight, we talked about the upcoming SJS (U.S.) annual reunion in 2010, batch 80 is going to be one of the sponsors for that year. We elected a group of people that will lead us for that event,
namely:

For President - Abdon Pugal + Co Chair
We have 3 Vice Presidents
For San Diego - Susan Caluza
For L.A. - Alex Pineda
For the North - Vic Tisuela
For Secretary - Cecilyn
For Treasurer - Shirley
Ambassador to Batch 80 PI - Jen

Also in attendance:
Elmer
Noel
Michael
Bennette
Amber with wife Ofie
Jun Caluza and Susan, Ron with Irma and Jaron
Butch with Rose, Sean and Stephanie

Each region has a point of contact, for better communication.
Kung meron kayong question, please e-mail and stay tune.

Happy Holidays!

Butch

Misa de Gallo

Traditionally, Christmas Day in the Philippines is ushered in by the nine-day dawn masses that start on December 16. Known as the Misa de Gallo (Rooster's Mass) in the traditional Spanish and in Filipino as Simbang Gabi, or "Night Mass", this novena of Masses is the most important Filipino Christmas tradition.
These nine dawn Masses are also considered as a Novena by the Catholic and Aglipayan faithfuls. This refers to the Roman Catholic and Aglipayan practice of performing nine days of private or public devotion to obtain special graces.
In some parishes, the Simbang Gabi begins as early as four o'clock in the morning. Going to mass this early for nine consecutive days is meant to show the churchgoer's devotion and faith as well as to heighten anticipation for the Nativity of Jesus. In traditional Filipino belief, however, completing the novena is also supposed to mean that God would grant the devotee's special wish or favour.
After hearing Mass, Filipino families partake of traditional Philippine Christmastime delicacies, either during breakfast at home or immediately outside the church, where they are sold. Vendors offer a wealth of native delicacies, including bibingka (rice flour and egg based cake, cooked using coals on top of and under the pastry), puto bumbong (a purple sticky rice delicacy which is steamed in bamboo tubes, with brown sugar and shredded dried coconut meat served as condiments), salabat (hot ginger tea) and tsokolate (thick Spanish cocoa).

Christmas

Christmas, also referred to as Christmas Day or Christmastide, is an annual holiday, celebrated on December 25 that marks and honors the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. His birth, which is the basis for the anno Domini system of dating, has been determined by modern historians as having occurred between 7 and 2 BC. The date of celebration is not thought to be Jesus' actual date of birth. It may have been chosen to coincide with the winter solstice, which the ancient Romans,celebrated on December 25.

For many centuries, Christian writers accepted that Christmas was the actual date on which Jesus was born. In the early eighteenth century, scholars began proposing alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas was selected to correspond with the winter solstice, which in ancient times was marked on December 25. In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church. In 1889, Louis Duchesne suggested that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after March 25, the traditional date of the conception of Jesus. On the Roman calendar, March 25 was the date of the spring equinox. In modern times, it is celebrated as Annunciation.


Christmas in the Philippines, is one of the biggest holidays on the calendar. The country has earned the distinction of celebrating the world's longest Christmas season, with Christmas carols are heard as early as September and the season lasting up until Epiphany.