Sinulog Celebration by Pin@ys Abroad

(Photo taken from Sinulog

Walang katapusan pagdiriwang. Katatapon pa lang ng mga Christmas
trees ay kasunod na ang mga masasayang araw ng Karnival dito sa
Alemanya. Hindi di naman nahuhuli ang ating mga communities.
Bukod sa walang hupay na mga pribadong sayawan, fund-raising
galas, birthday brunches ay abala din ang mga maraming kababayan
sa paghahanda ng isang unang malaking pagdiriwang sa buwan ng
Enero - ang Sinulog na kung saan ay ipinagdiriwang din ang Mahal
na Santo Nino.
Nagtanong ako sa mga ilang kababayan kung ano ang tingin nila
sa mga nangyayaring pagdiriwang ng Sinulog dito sa Europa ng
mga kababayan.
Here are two views on the celebration of Sinulog in Europe:

Sinulog "Festival" in Europe is just one of the many Filipino celebrations/festivities celebrated by Filipinos in Europe and
around the world just like Santacruzan etc. This Festival honors
the child Jesus (Santo Ninyo), patron of Cebu. It is a ritual
(dance)commemorating Cebuanos pagan origin and their acceptance
of christianity.
I am not really a fan of this celebration but most of us consider
this as an important spiritual event.
Your question boils down to the necessity of creative litury.
Is creative liturgy really necessary? Does it work? Does it connect?
Creative liturgy is, of course for me as an Asian, a great development
in our church...some don't like it because it creates chaotic ambience
and lacks the order that it deserves. But then again, it is always
a question against good taste and "perhaps" doctrine...how is
creative litury being done? Does it rhyme to the normal flow of
the liturgy? Does it integrate well?
Sinulog dance can be integrated to the liturgical flow during
entrance, offertory, and recessional, thus making the liturgy
creative.It also corresponds to the celebration of the day. But if
the dancing is nonstop from, i.e., entrance to recessional, then
that's too much craze.
Otherwise it is OK and sinulog only happens once a year (3rd sunday
of January)I hope thats Ok, im not a liturgist though.
Shared by one Jan de Lina.

Another view by one Jun delos Santos

Actually Sinulog dance is a pagan ritual dance and I still remember
that most of the church authorities in the Basilica del Sto.Nino
even banned it during the feast of Sto.Nino. It was not observed
until Cardinal Rosales tolerated it to be danced only after the mass!!
In 1984, Cebu Tourism Director Boy Odilao created the Sinulog
Festivities outside the Basilica to lure more tourists to Cebu which
the church autorities at that time criticised due to the secular
character of the festival;(sometimes dancers were dressed like
GO-GO dancers and tourists joined the festivities as if they were
attending carnival in RIO.)
The fact that Sinulog doesnt really reflect the real prehistoric
essence of the whole ritual(prehispanic Sugbu was a matriarchal in
religious aspects) made some critics more skeptical about the festival.
Nowadays the Provincial Government of Cebu even hold Beauty
Pageant to culminate the event. Many Filipinos still do a pilgrimage
to Sto.Nino and at the same time enjoy the Sinulog festivities.
Now regarding our diaspora Pinoy communities celebrating Sinulog
here, most of them really does not know the real meaning of the
feast.
Kaya nga halo-halo na lang ang mga sayaw!

Pit Senyor!

The Martin Nievera Show in Phantasialand, Bruehl

We learned about the concert as early as February and we reserved
tickets so we could all be seated in one table for the concert.
Ticket costs 50Euro with buffet without drinks.
In one recent brunch with women friends, Bettie gave us info
leaflet about the concert and we found out it was not
Matin Nievera's show only but it was a search for Queen of Globe Asiatique...whatever.
Too late to return the tickets? Sige na nga, ituloy na rin,
pakikisama. At may live disco music pa with the local talent
Ms. Pearl McRay plus chances to win fabulous prizes and if you
buy many tombola tickets,you might be the lucky winner of
one unit house in St. Monique Valais...kung saan man eto.
So nagsimula ang struggle sa entrance pa lang ng Phantasialand.
In the meantime, my eyes were feasting on the attractive
semi-formal attire of many Pinays.
Siguro nahirapan din silang magbihis kanina tulad ko na walang
magkasya ng damit kaya "kahit paano look ang fashion...basta
may glitter dyan, cowboy boots to go with crocheted dress and
lots of flesh to show.

Vicky commented that I was wearing my red shirt to match my
intention...mamula...pulaera. No, I think I am not. Curious lang
ako kung saan nanggaling ang mga idea ng mga ilang kababaihang
magbihis para mapansin sila. Interesting observation.
As usual, puro kababaihan at ilang ilang mga puting lalakeng
kasama.
May advantage yun kakilala mo yun nasa takilya kasi hindi
na pumila si Victoria para kuhanin yun mga reserved tickets
for us. Kailangan mo lang ng guts to overtake the long waiting
lines. Mabait naman ang mga Pinays kasi walang nagreklamo na
una sila sa linya.
Eto na ang eksena sa loob ng Phantasialand Wuze Town...
Impressive naman ang table arrangement pati na ang
buffet stands scattered all over the Wuze hall...but where
are the people? Lo...may isang separate dark hall naman
with rows of seats now almost all occupied. Maingay, mabango.
Duon sa dapat na upuan daw namin ay may mga nakapwestong
mga magagandang Pinays all in black cocktail dresses na ayaw
umalis duon sa mga reserved seats namin kasi daw walang reservation.
Okey lang. We went out of the "Buchi Hall" to look for free
table together with other Pinays who could not get their
supposed reserved at row P. Swerte naman namin kasi may
free seats pa at malapit din sa buffet table. Habang sa
loob ng Buchi Hall ay tuloy tuloy ang ingay, musika,
announcements, sales campaign yata on buying real property
sa Pilipinas, may nagsabi sa amin na open na daw ang buffet.
How to get the food without losing our place? So we took
turns in fetching our booty and ordered our drinks. Ayan na.
Lumabas na ang mga crowd sa "Buchi" Hall and you could imagine
the atmosphere. I ended up getting first my dessert as ther
was no chance in getting the Veal Ramp with celery mashed
potatoes, Zander fillet in wine sauce, Fried chicken, Sherrsauce
Bisi, and Vegetable selection.

Yvonne got us rice noodle with Pok Choi, baby corn, ginger and
pork, carrots, leeks. ..and we began to enjoy our dinner,
eating out the frustration of not getting the front row of seats
for the concert. Then suddenly, we heard screaming in the hall
and saw a swirling object running on the decorative tracks
on the ceiling of the hall, just above our table.
Ay sos...rollercoaster hall pala tong Wuze Hall. Talking about
enjoying Wed pasta, white wine and in between anxiously looking
up that none of this rolling coaster fall on our table.
Stress with enjoyment. At least we had a table. I saw one Pinay
in black cocktail dress eating her noodle with chopsticks
while walking. Mga champion talaga tayo sa adaptation sa
situation.
Well, the show? Sa tingi ko naman, enjoy to the limit ang
mga kababayans to the boredom of some of their companions
who could not understand the reason for the laughters and
screamings. Eto yun kulturang Pinoy na katatawanang mula sa
salitang baklese, sa public pagtatawanan o insulto na hindi
natin masabi kung hindi tayo mga gay moderators. Parang okey lang]
manginsulto kasi enjoy na enjoy naman ang crowd.
Sabihin niyang parang curtina yun gown ng isang contestant
or para siyang sagala siya sa Santacruzan, tawanan...o yun isang
Pinay na nagumpisa sa Of course...at duon natapos yun salitang
English kasi hindi na nadagdagan yun sagot sa salitang English,
o yun isang contestant na sumagot na may Kondomeneyom...tawanan
uli. Sigawan, tawanan, di bale enjoy naman tayong lahat.
Kulturang Pinoy talaga.
Finally, in the midst of the screaming and publc mobbing
of the beauty contestants, the star of the show came out.
Martin as a professionaol concert singer knew this kind of crowd
pero at one point sinabi yata niya na ang ingay dito! Pity hindi
niya kinanta yun theme song ng isang tv drama na pinapanood ko
habang ako ay nasa Italia nuon isang taon.
Ikaw ang aking Pangarap.
Well, the noisy beauty contest was still in progress when Martin
started signing his sold cds at the side of the stage where
we found empty seats intended for the beaty contestants.
And so I was able to observe this boyish looking concert star
in his element. Smiling all time, exchanging hellos,
posing, asking the names of the Pinays who bought
his cds, writing, smiling and letting be hugged and kissed by
fans who could not contain the joy of seeing this Nirvana, rather
Nievera in person in Germany. May isa pa ngang Pinay na after
getting her digitalized photo with Martin gave him a folded
Euro bill (ten Euro yata)and Martin caught surprised, I'm sure
embarassed at the situation, asked her, Ano to? No, No, NO,quickly
returned the folded bill to the Pinay. He friendly hugged her back
and I thought..hmmmm, a nice gesture from the star of the concert.
At this point, I asked him as challenged by another FB friend to ask
him why he does not run for the Senate. He acknowledged the joke
with his charming boyish smile.
Ano kaya ang sinasabi niya pagbalik niya sa kaniyang hotel?
Anyway, I was not able to ask him if his grand grand mother
the sister of my grand-grand mother. Maybe there would be another
chance to meet him without the noise and the antics of this insulting
enteraining gay moderator. Pero that's kulturang Pinoy, too.
How far do we go in accepting that's part of our culture we
could be proud of?
Kanya kanyang pagtingin yan.

Exporting the Image...Typical ba tong ganito?

Sa wakas nakabisita uli sa Keukenhof! Natiyempo naman maganda din
ang panahon ng weekend nato sa NL, kaya sabi ko, sige na nga will
visit the place kahit solo flight na lang...no friends...hubby ay out
of question na sumama kasi sa tingin ko lang ay aabutin to ng inis
kung ang daming tao at puro tulips lang ang habol ko para, of course,
mapost sa bagong hobby na social working sa Face Book.
Ticket per person is 14Euro. More info, please click on this
Keukenhof

If you could avoid it, don't visit on weekends as the place could really
get so crowded you would hardly have time to meditate on the beauty
of each tulip and there are thousands and thousands of them in
this haven of spring flowers.

Well, kasi nga visiting Holland lang for a few days kaya napilitan
din pumunta ng weekend at sa tutuo lang, akala ko hindi na puedeng
makapasok ang bus na sinasakyan ko sa traffic at sa daming bus
na nakaparada sa parking space.
Tong taon na to, ang thema ay "From Russia with Love" at ang pinaka-
malaking attraction ay yun mosaic of colorful flowers of Saint Basil's
Cathedral. And of course, sang katutak din na mga Russian speaking
visitors ang nakasama ko sa walang katapusang paggala sa Keukenhof.
Pero walang sinabi ang mga to sa saya at ingay ng isang wika na
malayo pa ay alam ko nang taga atin. Malayo pa rin ay alam ko nang
galing sa bansa ko...isang grupo ng mga mahihilig sa boots na nga
Asian women at nagsasabing "o picture, picture tayo" masaya,
maingay pero duon pa nagpakuha ng mga group photos na kung saan
nakalagay "Please don't step on the grass". Nang makita sila ng
garden guard at sinabihan na umalis sila...lalo nang nagingay.
Minsa parang mga bata sa saya pero sobrang ingay hindi na yata
nakakatuwang tignan. Gusto mo agad lumayo pang ganitong tipo ng
mga visitors ang makakasama mo.
Nang mapaalis ang grupo ng mga maiingay na pinay, may sumunod
naman uli para magphoto session duon sa bawal na lugar. Napansin
sila din ng isang babaeng "garden guard" at sinabihan "please don't
step on the grass."
Sa inis ko tuloy, nasabihan ko ang grupong to...ano ba naman kayo,
nakasulat dyan na don't walk on the grass, tuloy pa din kayo...
nakakahiya kayo! Sagot agad nuong isang Pinay na nahuli...hindi
daw sila yung grupong yun! Ang ibig siguro niyang sabihin, hindi
sila yun isang grupong napasin at pinaalis. Bagong dating lang
sila, bagong di pagsunod sa park regulation. Saan ba kayo galing
sa atin mga Ineng?
Aywan ko ba mukhang tong Linggo to ay araw ng bi-national
relationships at maraming mga Asian women ay kasamang
namamasyal ang kanilang mga European partners. May isang Asian
na babae na kasama yata yun kaniyang puting photographer at siya
ay laging nakapose kadikit ang mga tulips.
Tiyak ipakikita sa kanila ang ganda ng Europa at tiyak na
may magsasabing "Ay ang sarap naman niya...ang swerte naman"
at tiyak dadami uli ang mga bisitang Pinay sa Keukenhof...
siguro dapat sa susunod ang regulation ay sa wikang Pin@y na...
susunod kaya tayo?

A Forwarded Email/News: A World Without the Filipinos

Received this forwarded email early this morning.

Sana naman mas maraming balita ganito at hindi puro
nakakasakit na lang ng mga puso natin.

An Invitation to the International Festival in Bonn

Internationales Begegnungsfest
spielend verstehen
6.September 2008, 13-21 Uhr
Freizeitpark Rheinaue Bonn

For detailed information please click:
www.bonn.de

Dreaming about the Cup

Our first private viewing of the Euro Games. No restaurant,no public
viewing as I am on my 5th day of fasting. Portugal vs Turkey.
"Who is your team?" hubby asked.
"Turkey," I answered.
"Okey, I am for Portugal and wish 2:0 for the team."
"Well, let me see first which team has the most cute players," I added.
We were watching and hearing the moderators naming the players
when it came to my mind suddenly this thought:would it be
entertaining if one day a Philippine team could make it to the
World Cup one day?
Not to the European Cup unless we migrants in Europe could create
our own state someday and apply for EU membership.
My own dream Philippine team would be called Football Pinakbet and
the players would be the following:
1. Bago-Ong, Pete
2. Ampalaya, Renato
3. Talong, Andy
4. Okra, Adonis
5. Luya, Dong
6. Camatis, Angelo
7. Sibuyas, Antonio
8. Liempo, Lito
9. Asin, Jack
10.Bawang, Rey
11.Sitsaron, Danny
The reserved boys will be then called:
1. Picadillo, Mario
2. Laing, Michael
3. Cueta, Ryan
4. Callos, John Paul
5. Rebosado, Camaron, Jr.
6. Cubana, Aaron
7. Budbud, Ramon
8. Pata, Chris
9. Humba, Gary
10. Labahita, Orly
11. Biko, Vic
Extra Goal Keeper
Dinuguan, Embotido, Jr.

I would be very delighted if you know anyone
who has such a delicious name and let me touch
base with him.
Meanwhile, I am thinking of cutting short
my yearly Fasting to see the games in Italian
restaurants. Salvatore, here we come!

Tita Bee

Hip Hop de Mayo