Of serpents thy lie.

 By Gener.

Of serpents and scorpions lay

Thy soul thee trade for fear,

In his carnal the belly bloomed

The sweat could rise and fall.

In time thy face shall fail the test

Of grace and youth and fun,

And in thy lone and self abide

A yen for a forgot'en will arrive.

Thou child,  a wife, a devil's snare

Shall look thyself in eye,

And what thee see could crush thy smile

For nowhere thou now belong.

In death thou never will be mourned

In life thou been forgotten all,

In birth thou had been blessed by God

Yet thou slapped the hands that cared.

The full force of life beckons thy kind

There'd be ups and downs to sail,

The wind can wipe thy ilk and tribe

The sun can sear thy ugly throat.

Beware the wrath of yin and yang

The tide of near and far,

The fire will gulp thy pride and sloth

And leave thy ashes as thou been found.

Twinkies.

When I was new to New Jersey and living on my own, I dreaded cooking for myself.  I'd arrive past six in the evening to an empty apartment and preferred to buy take out food.

If I worked late in the office, we were assured of a free dinner and a free limo ride back home.

When I lived near Journal Square in Jersey City, I'd walk to a nearby Filipino fast food restaurant and indulged myself on kare kare and sinigang na baboy. But when I moved to Clark at WestSide, I had to learn how to cook. Luckily, the big supermarket was across the highway.

Twinkies and those boxed Entemman cakes became part of my grocery list.  I had no fear of sugar back then.  Coke Zero was not part of the language those days, and I never heard of the words "low glycemic index."

When I hit the grocery aisles, I was also thinking Lay's potato chips, Budweiser, Snickers, Oreo, Chocolate chip cookies, and later on, Reese's Peanut Buter, Pepperidge Farm cookies, and Molson Blue.

Those were the sugar-filled days, ooh la la.

The Joy of Jazz.

CNE - a yearly event glossed over by Torontonians

Morning lite and morning fog-ged by local blahs,

I miss the morning calm and summer blues in a city called Toronto,

Dundas Square must be open now for free concerts

while grills are out still for barbeques

and chips and beer flow,

And St. Clair buzzes with store sales and the salsa dance night,

The subway line at Danforth moves to a standstill as the Greek food festival brings flavour to the west end,

It's August and summer still rules

'Tho the cool breeze can be felt by now,

Car windows are drawn open and kids flood the neighbourhood parks and alleys,

The oldies are off to their morning runs

while bikes rule the busy avenues,

And pools splash and backyard decks glow with sounds and smell of rap, jazz and hotdogs and burgers,

I miss the summers in Toronto and my jazz in the morn and in the eve,

I miss the moon and the stars and the twink of the sun.

Up-shore and Impersonal

People like me who live in catch basin towns suffer the brunt of typhoons.  The past "habagat" which dumped more rains than the 2009 killer-typhoon Ondoy flooded most of Metro Manila, and the provinces of Rizal, Bulacan, Bataan and Pampanga.

Listening to the vision of Architect Palafox who glossed over the flood-control master plans of countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and the Netherlands makes one wonder why the Philippines, a perennial disaster prone nation, has not yet implemented similar designs and infrastructures.

The recent pronouncements by President Aquino and DPWH of major flood control undertakings with some being completed in three years and others going into year 2035, provide a glimmer of hope. With the administration's success in keeping PAGASA at its toes in projecting weather disturbances and advising people of forthcoming calamities and its early and massive evacuation efforts, coupled with the quick and coordinated response of delivering food and supplies, the public somehow senses sincerity in Aquino's flood control plans.

Moving to higher grounds temporarily before the recent flood wrecked havoc in our neighbourhood was the best thing we did in this "habagat" phenomenon.  It was up shore and impersonal, yes, but we kept safe and dry. Thanks to relatives and friends.

Our Philippine churches are a gem.

Church of Sta. Teresa de Avila

Yes, it's great to see the Shrine of the Fatima, the Sistine Chapel, the old churches of Spain and Europe, but if you can't, don't lose heart. Our own Philippine churches are a gem themselves.

Santiago de Compostela

Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France

St. Francis of Assissi Shrine in Sariaya, Quezon

We went on a healing pilgrimage last Saturday, organized by GLAD, God's Love and Delight.  To Sariaya in Quezon to see the Shrine of St. Francis of Assissi, then to Lucban to the Kamay ni Hesus Shrine, and finally to Pila, Laguna for its Shrine of San Antonio de Padua.

Except for the Kamay ni Hesus Shrine, both the St. Francis and St. Anthony Padua Shrines were built during the Spanish rule.

St. Francis of Assissi (right image) was originally built in 1599, then transferred and rebuilt in 1703, and after an earthquake in 1743, rebuilt in 1748 in its present location in Sariaya.

Kamay ni Hesus Shrine in Lucban, Quezon sits atop a hill reachable by 300 stone steps

The Shrine of Saint Anthony was erected by the Franciscans from 1599 - 1617 originally in Pagalangan and in the late 18th century, due to perennial flooding, the old church along with the town center, was transferred stone by stone to its current site in Sta. Clara.

Shrine of St. Antonio de Padua in Pila, Laguna.

Interior of St. Anthony church

There are about 600, 000 churches and 20 million chapels all over the Philippines while there are only 80 provinces, 143 cities and 1,491 municipalities in the country.  This means that there are multiple churches within cities and municipalities, and even within housing projects or subdivisions.

The more popular and widely known churches and cathedrals in the Philippines are the Manila Cathedral, the San Agustin Church, Sanctuario de san Antonio, Malate Church, Barasaoin Church in Malolos, the Baguio Cathedral, Antipolo Chruch's Nuestra Senora de Buenviaje, Quiapo Church of the Black Nazarene, Church of Obando or the San Pascual de Baylon Church,  Our Lady of Manaog Church, the Vigan Church, Church of St. Joseph in Las Pinas,  and the Basilica Minore de San Martin de Tours in Taal, Batangas, among many others.

I've been to some of these great churches myself. but have yet to see more.

Antipolo Church inscription.

Nuestra Senor de la Paz y Buen Viaje of Antipolo (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage)

Basilica de San Martin de Tours in Taal, Batangas is considered the largest church in the Philippines and in Asia