SPOTTED: COCOY AND FAMILY IN TAGAYTAY



Found on facebook!

A nice weekend lunch with the family in one of the famous tourist destinations in the southern part of Luzon... Tagaytay! The photo deserves to be published here!

LEO AND GIGIE'S RETURN

The fun couple of Leo and Gigie Ibayan, together with their kids are here now in the Philippines to get some much deserved R&R!

These are some of the photos of our recent get together... Taken at Hilario's Sizzlers Restaurant.

FEAST VALENZUELA'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY

On July 24, THE FEAST Community celebrated the birthday of its newest "baby" chapter at SM Hypermarket, Valenzuela City.

The Valiantz, named after the Valenzueleños (residents of Valenzuela City), attended with full enthusiasm and zeal! My MSC was also present to support! Apparently, we weren't assigned to sing for the Holy Mass that time but nonetheless, they were still there to witness this victorious event! 

  

It is always fun to serve the Lord in whatever means it may be. I happened to belong to the Music Ministry of the Feast for some time now and some of its other members are from MSC as well. It takes a lot of time to practice and perfect the songs and sometimes we wrap up very late during rehearsal nights! But in spite of the hard work and the conflicts during the rehearsals, there is always an air of excitement whenever we are there together to sing!

One of the highlights of the July 24th Anniversary event was the special message of guest speaker and over-all Leader of THE FEAST community, Bro. Bo Sanchez. Sources say that he was very much enthused by the turn out of the crowd! He was very pleased to see that faithfuls from the youth sector dominated the place! I even saw him smiling at us when we were singing as he was being cued to come up on stage.

Overall, the event was a success! The airconditioning system of SM Cinema 1 even failed to suffice! A scenario that I only witness whenever I watch pay-per-view Pacquiao Fights or really much anticipated movie sequels! But now, people really came out to support THE FEAST. Whether they were there out of curiosity, or it was a geniune display of faith is totally beyond me. All I'm certain of is that they were there because God ALLOWED them to be there.  

  

I wish to say that being at THE FEAST every Sunday is NOT an obligation. Not an extra-chore that we all have to be burdened of. It is a chance for us Christians to learn more about Jesus Christ. A chance to realize that there are a lot more things beyond what we know about being Christians! And most especially, realize Jesus' ULTIMATE plan for us...

SALVATION.

MSC'S LATEST FEAST

On July 10, we were once again invited to sing at THE FEAST at SM Hypermarket, Valenzuela.

It is always a pleasure serving at the mighty kitchen of God at THE FEAST!

LIM'S RESORT

It was the birthday of my dear friend and sister Soc Garcia. She happens to be a friend and believer of MSC as well. For her birthday gift this year, we decided to rent this resort located just across the street from where I live. That place has been there for such a long time already. Although it wasn't really open to the public.

The Lim's resort was once owned by the Olivarez Family, part-owners of Our Lady of Fatima University. MSC was no stranger to this place even before. When the property was still with the Olivarezes, the pioneer members of the choir used to hold summer activities here. When the Olivarezes migrated to the U.S., they decided to sell it.

 Bass Alum, Larry de Guzman

 Alto Alum, Che de Jesus 

I was really stoked to see the place once again after a very long time! The resort had a major makeover! It was barely the way it looked as I remembered it to be. It has indeed improved by leaps and bounds.

 Soprano Alum, Pam Antonio (my sister, in red)

The Birthday Girl, Soc Garcia  

Soprano Alum, Len de Leon (farthest right, in gray) 

The frigid water in the pool didn't stop any of us from diving in! The warmth of the love of family and friends celebrating life together had a much bigger effect on me than that of the cold water from that enormous swimming pool!

ATE BHING'S YAKIMIX EXPERIENCE

What is with YAKIMIX that it is constantly gaining a growing number of patrons nowadays?

Photos taken at YAKIMIX Greenbelt 3 branch. 

As part of Ate Bhing's very complex homecoming itinerary, my sister (Pamela, Soprano Alum) managed to squeeze in her tight schedule a simple buffet dinner for our loving cousin from Australia at Yakimix restaurant in Makati. The wide array of Korean, Japanese and other Asian cuisines that are highlighted in their well organized buffet are simply heavenly!

Her Smile really shows how much fun she is having that night!

The smokeless grill is one of the main features of the resto apart from the delicious food they serve here. 

It was raining non-stop outside while our digestive system work non-stop as well that night.

MSC TIES UP WITH THE FEAST

Because of the recent events regarding MSC's deprivation to serve at our home church for the next three months, my choir decided to collaborate with THE FEAST Valenzuela Chapter. In the coming months, we will be serving as alternate choir during the Mass Part of the Feast every Sunday at Cinema 1, SM Hypermarket, Valenzuela.   

This is not the first time for MSC to do this. The group has been invited to sing at THE FEAST several times before. This will also serve as a sanctuary for the group where we will be free from any persecution, reprimands, degradations and punishments! A place of worship where everybody is welcomed and encouraged to serve the "Mighty Kitchen" of THE FEAST Community. 

I am very certain that this will be a fruitful experience once again for MSC. 

GOD BLESS THE FEAST!  

Photos of MSC officers taken at SM Valenzuela while having a food-trip session  before heading to THE FEAST venue. 

  

NO SHOW, NO SERVICE

I can't believe my eyes as I read a text message I received from a co-member and officer of MSC saying that my choir won't be having any scheduled service at our church for three whole months! Apparently, the choir's officers failed to attend the latest of the monthly meetings so the higher ups decided to suspend us from service as punishment.

The feeling was overwhelmingly disappointing for me! Has the OLHRP leaders lost their wits? How can they give good governance to the people who unselfishly give their time to serve while they bask on implementing punishments rather than encouragement?? And how where they able to put up people to govern the Church with crappy mindsets??

All the while, I thought that my choir's long standing reputation of being the most rebellious amongst all the other choirs in this parish has long been forgotten. But somehow, after hearing this news, it tells me that it has never been erased after all.  It's just waiting to emerge once again. It's like having a curse of constant persecution.

Honestly, my patience is already wearing thin. And my bitterness towards these people who constantly bring us down is growing at a rate unimaginable. I may not be able to withstand persecution anymore. Can anybody help?  

Oh and yes, the notice of the alleged meeting where we failed to send representatives to, also FAILED to get to us.