Crossing Over to Next Year

If you think the way I do, then probably it has crossed your mind what the significance is of the journey from the end of the current year (which is usually referred to as “last” year) to the beginning of the new (or “next”) year.  To many, this has always been a mystery.  To me, it’s as mysterious as you want it to be.

For example, every year, toward year’s end, you make a list of what you’d want to do in the coming year, which you call your new year’s resolutions (frequently, very lengthy list) and you have high hopes that you would achieve them.  There are two ways of looking at this, though: one, you shall have changed everything the following morning (that’s New Year’s Day); or, two, you shall have to achieve the changes you have in mind the next 360 days.  Your performance on the first day of the New Year is usually a good indicator of your potential success in achieving your New Year’s Resolutions.  At the end of the year, for many of us, the rating would be “nil” and it would be time to make a new list of new year’s resolutions that will suffer the same fate next time around.  

Costume competition during the UPOU Annual General Assembly and Christmas Party on December 13th.  As usual, everybody won in that competition.

So why are we so gung-hoish about the cross over from the last day of the year to the first day of the next, as if everything would be completely different?  We have various phrases to describe such conditions: turning a new leaf or a reformed person, for instance.  In the last so many years of your existence in this world, has this ever happened?  Probably no, but it does give us another time (the next New Year) to talk about new year’s resolutions , turning new leaves, or achieving individual reformation overnight.                                               
                                                                                                            

Perhaps one of the most powerful concepts ever thought of by man is the concept of the New Year and the accompanying belief that change comes with the New Year … this really hasn’t and probably won’t ever work.  What has been a common yardstick against which the crossover from end of the year to start of the new year has been measured quite accurately?  The quick answer is: the medical yardstick.  Perhaps your cholesterol, blood sugar, sgpt, liver fat and salt levels have risen, and may be your over-all health has deteriorated mainly because of the food you’ve enjoyed and consumed over the last few days..  But, that’s being too negativistic.  Let’s think positive.

                                One of the lunch dishes Jegs and I enjoyed with my sis-in-law, Ruby, and her
                                       daughter, Nyelle, at their residence in Sta. Rosa on Christmas Day.  Ruby
                                       prepared Japanese Maki and Jegs brought this simply-cooked prawns.  We had
                                       a good lunch.
                      

Of all the concepts ever invented by man, perhaps this cross over from the “old” to the “new” year is the most powerful.  It gives the individual unlimited hope that things will change for the better, no matter that the boundary is just a split second, at midnight, while people are enjoying to the hilt and carrying over to the next year all their bad habits during the old year.   

But, hey, may be you look at it differently.  If that’s the case, then, have a Prosperous New Year!

Looking Back

It's really nice to look back in time through pictures, but this requires that the pictures themselves must have been properly categorized, captioned, and organized by date or by subject matter.  Well, that's not done here so I'll just go through some pictures completely at random and see if I could make sense of them.

Sometime back, I think that must have been 2004, I participated in a meeting organized by IDRC to look into the possibility of undertaking a project on distance learning in Asia.  I joined that meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  We spent a day at Anchor Watt.  In the background are the five towers of the Anchor.  This is the most popular angle for postcards from Anchor Watt.

Jeezz, I really can't recall her name but she's one of of two pretty tour guides assigned to the IDRC Group that visited Anchor Watt.  There's another photo of her at close up, but this should be enough for you.

Distance Learning Technology in Asia, this was the theme of the IDRC meeting.  When the project was completed after five years, the output were two books, titled Distance Education Technologies in Asia, which were both edited by +Jon Baggaley of Athabasca University (Canada), and +Tian Belawati, currently Rector of Universitas Terbuka (Indonesia).

Now, back home ...

This is no longer part of the Anchor Watt destination.  

From the Baywalk wharf at Bgy. Aplaya in Calamba City, Laguna de Bay looks like this at day break.  Take note of those bamboo poles which hold nets under water.  These are the cheaper kinds of fish pens on the lake.

At dawn, Mt. Makiling looks rather imposing and serene ... (This view is also from the Aplaya wharf in Calamba City.)

... and then the lake begins to show life when the sun peeps through the clouds.  Now, the day begins.

Every now and then, when time permits, Jegs and I do go fishing at the Caliraya HillTop Resort, where there's man-made fishing lake.  Never been lucky to catch a big one but even a small fish is also a fish, which one I have caught (once, mind you) although I had to release it back to the lake.

Yes, the experience does get you in some pensive mood when you don't catch a single fish, but it's great experience to be outdoors where you could also commune with nature ... frequently a more meaningful experience.

Here's where I do one of my functions ...

When I was Chancellor of UPOU, I always made it a point to attend the Graduation Exercises of UPLB on behalf of the UPOU.  Here, I'm preparing to go to the Umali Hall for the Graduation Ceremonies.  If I may say so, I had some fans in the audience not because I was Chancellor but because I had been sporting long hair (look at the long hair flowing down my nape).  I was the only Chancellor in UP who sported long hair then.

It was good getting two friends to visit Tagaytay.

When I invited Professor +Santosh Panda (left) of Indira Gandhi National Open University (India) and Professor Emeritus +Fred Lockwood (center) of the Manchester Metropolitan University (England), I also brought them to Taal Vista Lodge to view Taal Lake (above).  These two really liked one of the specialties of Taal Vista Lodge: deep-fried tawilis, the small fresh-waster fish available only from Taal Lake, the site of Taal Volcano (above).





When I got an Award from UPAA:

This picture was one of the pictures that I always brag about.  I was recipient of the UP Alumni Association Professional Award for Education in 2007.  I received the award from then UP President +Emer Roman and UPAA President and Alumni Regent +Chito Pineda (left), and Regent +Garry Tiongco (right). Below, all awardees sat through a photo-ops at the Balay ng Alumni in UP Diliman.

 

Can you believe this?  +Jegs looked like this when I first met her.

In the interim, she has gained a little weight, which she's trying to get rid of at the moment but which seems a bit difficult.

This is now closer to reality.












During the meeting of IDRC's DE Project in Pakistan ...

This beautiful mosque, somewhere in Pakistan (I really can't recall the name of the place) is really cool inside (you have to remove your shoes when you enter this sacred place).  Outside the mosque is an expansive open space where devotees pray.



DiRAP's Meeting in Brisbane ...

When I was involved as Chief Editor of the Digital Review of Asia Pacific and we had one meeting in Brisbane, Australia, I was greeted by this computer monitor in my hotel room.  Indeed, I was impressed.  But I didn't know how to operate it so I just let it be.  After all, I had meeting all day and when I got to my room in the evening I was too tired to bother.

In another meeting of the IDRC project, this time in Indonesia ...

When the Distance Education program held its meeting in Indonesia, we visited this village, clearly one that was well-planned.  It was really a demo village but we were told that it was working very well. 

After walking around the village most of the afternoon, I thought that a quick rest on the steps of one of the village houses would be OK (below).

... and then in Thailand ...

The Project meeting also brought us to Thailand.  Here, we're sharing a sumptuous dinner in Patthaya.  At the background of the picture are souvenir shops, while at the back of the camera were the large theatres, where most of the performers are transexuals.  They looked beautiful, though.





This time, we go to Batanes ...

I had an opportunity to bring Jegs to Batanes, the northern most province of the Philippines.  Here we visited one of the two Lighthouses on Batan Island.  There are two more Lighthouses, one in Sabtang and another in Itbayat.

It might interest you to know that when Batanes is mentioned almost always what is referred to are Basco on Batan Island and Sabtang Island.  The lartgest island, Itbayat, has never been mentioned mainly because visitors have never been able to visit the place.

Here, Jegs is appreciating the cottages built by the Philippine Tourism Authority.  She enjoyed shooting the waves, but took her time and just rested on the sand when she got tired (pictures below).

Below, Jegs and I had a chat with Sinio Malupa, my favorite cousin.

Now, back to Laguna...

Here we took a breather after walking around Villa Escudero with Prof. Fred Lockwood.  Fred used to be professor at the UK Open University, reason we know one another well.   From left: Jegs, Binay, Fred, myself and Nyelle on my lap, Mommy Lita, and Naldo, our driver.

At the Villa Escudero man-made lake, I tried bamboo rafting.  I believe I did a good job of raft rowing.  It was fun

With Nyelle and Jegs.  Well, that was the time when Nyelle was still very young and enjoyed our company.  Now she's a bit grown up, really a young lady and has her own things to attend to.  In a couple more years, she would most likely be as tall as or taller than her Tita Jegs.

Below, this was taken right in front of the water falls at the lunch area at Villa Escudero.

I wish all a very prosperous New Year.  Cheers.

From The Backfiles

Jegs Goes Back In Time

Many things did happen in 2012, and not all were appropriately recorded.  Hence, the option was to do some random picks from the Backfiles.  This proved much more laborious than should have been.  Let's find out why.

There was Nyele's birthday bash (must be way back considering Nyelle's size), and Jegs felt she was part of the parlor games for kids.  Makes one feel young, though.  But she wasn't the game host, and she was a little over-sized.

Either Nyelle was imitating her Tita, or her Tita was.

Then there was this trip to the HillTop in Caliraya to fish in the manmade fishing lake.  We enjoyed that one even if we caught nothing the whole morning.  Poor little earthworms, they just died on our hooks.  We had wished there were fish on sale that time.

Well, this one was taken at the Balay ng Alumni in UP Diliman, during the homecoming of UP Alumni and awarding of the UPAA Distinguished Professional Awards.  That time I was the recipient of the UPAA Distinguished Professional Award for Education.  It was nice to be recipient of such prestigious award.

Jegs' family at the Ocean Part in Manila.  Nice experience to be "underneath" the giant glass aquarium and see sharks and other large fishes swim overhead.   Here with siblings, Binay, Nonie, and Mommy Lita, with Nyelle.

Jegs and neice, Nyele.  Not sure where this was, though.

Somewhere in the Ocean Park rows of resto, Jegs said she needed some rest.  She was laughing or smiling all the time, trying to catch the attention of this photographer.  I knew she wanted her picture taken.

Still at the Ocean Park, enjoying the photo-ops going on.  I should really have been trigger happy that day.  Now I have nothing to choose from.  Lesson, folks.  Shoot and shoot until you fill your card.  And bring more blank cards along, and fully-charged batteries, too.

Jegs with her tourism students at La Salle Lipa, when she was teaching there a few years back.  In fact, that teaching experience probably convinced her to pursue a PhD in environmental science at UPLB.  Well, now she's almost done.  And she says she doesn't like teaching.  Well, she must have learned that from the PhD Program at UPLB.

Sleeping beauty on the San Juanico Bridge connecting the islands of Leyte and Samar.  This was taken during a trip to Tacloban, in one of the out-of-town meetings of the UP Board of Regents when I was Faculty Regent. See the island on the middle ground?  That's way down under the bridge.  Inter-island ships pass under this bridge.  One relic of the Marcos regime.

At the Baluarte, the private zoo of Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson, Jegs tried to coax an ostrich to pose for her.  The ostrich wasn't impressed a bit.

Neither were the love birds, who were more interested in other visitors ...

... nor the hornbill, who would have nothing of such frivolities as having its picture taken, no matter that she introduced herself as a pro.

Did you know that this was very,  very difficult to find?  Must be the reason for the name, or vice versa.  But once you get in there, it's a beautiful place where you can enjoy varied sizes and shapes of plants.  Well, find it, first ... before thinking of enjoying it.

Me telling you where it is?  Huh, not on your life ... not without a fee.  In any case, I don't remember where this is.

Jegs enjoyed that stroll on the walkway along the beach fronting the MMSU Beach House in Ilocos Norte.  The askal wasn't interested in having his picture taken. 

But Jegs managed to meet a new friend, who was more fascinated by her D-90.  He could have been a good model, really, except that Jegs forgot to get his name ... not even his telephone number???

This is part of the Fort Ilocandia Complex, where one can buy souvenirs and gift items.

Jegs here with friends from MMSU: Dr. Josie Domingo (Director of Research that time) and Prof. Tita (nee Quitoriano) of the devcom group there.

Jegs at the Malacanan Ti Amianan (Malacanang of the North), built during the days of Marcos.  He held office in this presidential residence every time he was in the Ilocos area.

This review of backfiles is really not complete, but it's such a huge labor to just go through the files, which suggests a good lesson: always organize well your picture files.  You'll never know when you need to see those pictures perhaps to compare what you've grown into or simply recall what happened in times past.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All.