VIVA REVIVA! (salubong sa bagong taon) ONLY IN NATIVIDAD

Viva! Viva! Reviva

An kaudgananan nira 

Nira Mr and Mrs ________

Nga nagpapasalamat

Nga hin-abutan pa

han tuig dos mil katorse

VIVA!!!!

Eto na naman ang aalingawngaw sa tahimik na baryo ng Natividad sa bayan ng San Policarpo, lalawigan ng Silangang Samar.

Eksaktong alas-dose ng hatinggabi, sa pagpapaalam ng kasalukuyang taon at pagdating ng panibago, ang katahimikan ng gabi ay pinupunit ng sigaw at ingay ng mga bata at matatandang lalaki na nagpapanatili ng tradisyon ng VIVA REVIVA na nakagisnan na maging ng mga kanunu-nunuan ng Natividad.

Dala-dala ang mga kaldero, hila-hila ang mga pinagtali-taling lata ng sardinas, ihip ang mga torotot, bitbit ang mga niyupi-yuping yero, mga boteng may lamang bato at iba pang bagay na maingay, nililibot ng grupo ang buong baryo simula sa bahay kung saan naninirahan ang pinakamatanda sa lugar at nagtatapos sa tahanan ng pinakamusmos sa barangay.

Ang aking tiyuhing si Kuya Andres ang nakagisnan ko nang pasimuno ng VIVA REVIVA. Kasama ang iba pang mga taga baryo na hanggang ngayon ay patuloy na bumubuhay sa tradisyon na tanging ang Natividad lang ang mayroon. Sama-sama, sabay-sabay na bigkas. Ito ang bersyon ng pamamaskong pagsalubong sa bagong taon. 

Tuloy-tuloy, walang pahinga, walang humpay ang VIVA REVIVA hangga't maubos nang 'pag-ingayan' ang lahat ng bahay, maliit man o malaki, nasa may dagat man, sa maybukid o sa sentro. Kaya naman ang bawat tahanan ay naghahanda ng kahit anong makayanan gaya ng kakanin, inumin, pulutan o pera  para maibigay sa grupo nina Kuya Andres na halos mawalan na ng boses sa unang araw ng bawat bagong taon.

At dahil bawat taon ay nadadagdagan ang kabahayan, halos pasikat na ang araw kung magtapos ang VIVA at saka paghahati-hatian ng mga sumama sa pag-iingay ang saku-sakong napag-vivahan sa buong barangay.

Walang makapagsabi sa aking mga ninuno kung kailan eksaktong nag-umpisa ang tradisyon ng VIVA. Mula sa aking pagkabata, namulat na ako sa kakaibang ingay ng pagsalubong sa bagong taon. Sa ngayon, may manaka-naka nang putukan ng kwitis at makukulay na pailaw dahil sa epekto na dala ng modernong panahon, ngunit tumitigil ang mundo ng mga residente kapag sasapit na ang bagong taon. Ang lahat ay nagbibigay-pugay sa kulturang hindi mamatay-matay hanggang sa ngayon.

Simple lang ang mensahe ng VIVA REVIVA. ito ay pagpapasalamat sa Diyos sa lahat ng mga biyayang  natamo sa paalis na taon. Ito din ay pagpapasalamat sa pagkakataong muling masalubong  ang pagdating ng bagong taon na may galak sa puso at walang hanggang pag-asa.

Ngayon higit kailanman, mas magiging makahulugan ang VIVA REVIVA dahil nalagpasan at napagtagumpayan ng mga taga Natividad ang bangis at dilubyo na hatid ng bagyong Yolanda. 

Ayon sa diksyunaryo ang ibig sabihin ng VIVA na salitang kastila at Italyano ay 'pagsaludo' at 'masigabong palakpak'. Ang REVIVA naman ay salitang Hebrew na ang ibig sabihin ay 'dew', 'mist' o 'hamog' sa wikang Pilipino.

Akmang-akma. Saktong-sakto. Ang VIVA REVIVA ay pagsaludo at pagbibigay ng masigabong palakpak sa pagdating ng hamog ng bukang-liwayway ng isang masaganang bagong taon. 

The best is yet to be

- Robert Browning

Photo credits: 

Top picks & Best bargains/ viewsfromaseafrontbeachhut/ 1234newyear.com/hhdwallpapers.com

WATERFRONT (lahug) INDULGENCE

 WATERFRONT Hotel and Casino (Lahug, Cebu)

It is expensive, and I don't want to know. It could make me penniless in no time. I am just lucky enough that all my stays here are FREE. Comes with the job.

The rooms are superbly appointed. The service, impeccable. And there's UNO, the ultimate buffet dining experience. The food, oh the food...it is what the likes of Chef Extraordinaire, food critic and internationally known author Anthony Bourdain could die for. 

It is luxury at its best. Just lounging in one of the lobby tables sipping a cup of coffee or Waterfront's bestseller watermelon smoothie will give you the feeling of being 'in' it.

And if you want to indulge and throw in some money, you can head to the casino or have your cash stripped at the duty free shop. Just remember to present your passport before paying for the Lacoste purses and shirts, Marc Jacobs perfumes and luxuriously sinful wide array of dark chocolates the hotel has to offer.

So, indulge while you still can.
 

'I always thought I could be treated like a star'

-Madonna

Photo credits: flickr.com

christmasing in DAGUPAN

Dagupan's Star Plaza Hotel @ Christmas time. 

Be a child once more.

He who has not Christmas in his heart 

will never find it under a tree. 

 ~Roy L. Smith

 

AHEAD OF TIME

I am not an urban rat. Never have been. Never will be. I’m a country girl at heart. To survive the city life and the dog-eat-dog world that comes with it for so long now is still a mystery, until now. I don't know how I did it and why.

It could be that I have to make a living so I have to sacrifice the very soul of me- my peace and quiet, my own paradise.

Few years ago, in a quaint countryside, I found my home and  found serenity in a place stripped with the comfort and glaring lights of city life. In a place where I wake up every morning to the chirping of the birds and the beauty of sunrise peeking through the imperfection of my window sill.

There, where the way of living is unhurried, laidback, calm, and free of the alarmist nature of mankind. For a moment, the world shuts down on me and my work and whatever I do that stresses me out take a backseat. My angry nerves surrender to the world around me. The place does me real good. Always.

There, in a house we lovingly built. All seven hundred bamboo poles of it, surrounded by 'kalipayan plants', fire trees and a century old Narra tree. 

I am not an urban rat. I am an artist. A lover of nature and the beauty that this world has yet to offer. I am a realist, but I find time to satisfy the yearning of my heart for poetry, inspiration and life.

I  am living a LIFE, but I can live without it. What I cannot do is live without my HEART.

I’m older, tired and sometimes, wasted. I’m tired biting other dogs’ tail but I could still be some local politicians feline. I’m ready to retire and be tucked away in that place i dreamed to be.

ANYTIME…

 'Home is the place you grow up wanting to leave 
and grow old wanting to go back to'

-John Ed Pearce

 

RAINISISYM

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‘ikaw ay may pakpak, lumipad ka. ikaw ay may paa, tumakbo ka. ikaw ay may isip, mamili ka. ikaw ay buhay pa, umasa ka. ikaw ay may puso, magmahal ka. kung ika'y nasaktan na, magpatawad ka. kung pagngiti ay kaya pa, magpasalamat ka. ngunit kung damdamin ay nagdurugo na, mag-isip ka’ - (copyright) april rain

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'life is not at all about getting where you want to be. it is taking in with wonder every zig and zag, every hill and valley, every twist and turn, every bend and curve and every rainy and sunshiny day. most of all, it is smiling back to a stranger that you meet along the way. seize each moment. enjoy the journey -' (copyright) april rain

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‘when others overestimate themselves to underestimate you as if there's no tomorrow, cry if you will. be hurt if you must. but after all the drama, you should embrace your truth and realize that it is at this certain lows in your life that you can redefine yourself, turn everything around and easily, without sweat, prove them wrong’ - (copyright) april rain

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'if you are itching to scratch somebody's character to prove you're better, be very sure that you know what you're doing. chances are, you'll find what you're looking for...and more. you might just end up wobbling in regrets and wished you never tried doing what you did' - (copyright) april rain

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'don't let your world stop turning if you find out that something inside you could start to fail. never halt waking to each sunrise while you still can. go on with the usual. go to work, ride a bus, get rained on, feel the pain, sing, laugh, eat your greens, sweat it out. there's more to life than life itself. it's just a phase. that too, shall pass...whether in this lifetime or beyond'- (copyright) april rain

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‘joy, pain, longing, bouncing back. it is life's never-ending cycle. it runs in circles. sometimes fleeting, but oftentimes staying in your core over time. every emotion is essential. joy brings you smile even for no reason at all. pain makes you stronger after all the tears have fallen. longing sets you hoping for another chance. and bouncing back...that's when you know that you're ready to laugh, get hurt, dream and live again’ - (copyright) april rain

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‘you don't need the approval of some bigshot and random people in your life for as long as you know yourself and your worth. you were born alone, you'd die alone. the friendships and broken bonds that you make along the way are just incidental and temporary. at the end of the day, no one would ever dare say, i'd be with you in your grave' - (copyright) april rain

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byahera's note:

i am april rain, so the RAINISISYM. although the pictures used are from different image sites. thank you for lending me all of the above. 


 

MADIBA (journey to freedom)

1918 - 2013 

The crowd gathered in multitude, dancing, chanting in circles and not minding the long hours they’ve spent rejoicing outside a modest home in Johannesburg. They did not mourn and cry for their beloved leader. They were celebrating the life and legacy of Nobel Prize winner Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa.

Tributes, kind words of remembrances and fond memories of long-spent friendships and chance meetings and encounters with the democratic icon this lifetime had ever seen, poured in from around the world. Once again, world leaders, celebrities and ordinary people sang in unison to praise and remember Mandela’s legacy as an incomparable world leader, father of his nation, and universal symbol of freedom and democracy.

The United Nations spent a minute of silence to honor him shortly after his death from a long battle of illness was announced to the world. 

A staunch anti-apartheid hero, he spent 27 years in prison after being convicted for sabotage and trying to overthrow the government. An international ‘Free Mandela Campaign’ was launched. He was freed in 1990 bringing along with him the commercialization and eventual branding  of his prison number 46664 to help his people rise from the greed of politics and poverty.   

During his presidency (1994-1999) He steered South Africa to heights never known to his race and made it more palatable to the world.

Those who knew him by virtue of chance and longtime friendship describe Mandela as compassionate, as someone with a deep sense of forgiveness, and overly kind and mindful to the plight of others. He never took credit for himself for all that has been done to South Africa and its people.

He stood tall by himself, even taller among his peers. He's got the groove and he loved to strut to the rhythm and the beat making his moves famous and what is now called the 'Mandela Jive'.

People knew him as sometimes mischievously  inappropriate. Scooping women on their wastes and giving them a hug as if taking in the life he sorely missed while in incarceration. He always gets away with every mischief, with a smile. 

The world is at the same time sad and happy on his passing. In sadness, today’s generation realizes that there is nobody else living right now that is (even) comparable to Mandela. In rejoicing, Mandela is now resting in the company of angels that  lulled him in deep peace and tranquility while fighting for his life. Finally, mankind can now focus on his legacy and extraordinary deeds that inspired and greatly impacted the world and the rulers of men.

In his tribute to Mandela, US President Barack Obama, a self-confessed Mandela follower and supporter perfectly summed up the late leader’s life in a phrase. ‘He no longer belongs to us. He belongs to the ages’.

Indeed, ‘Madiba’ is no longer with us, but he will live forever in every peace-loving heart’s memory in this lifetime and beyond.

 

'Sometimes, I feel like one on the sidelines, and who has missed life itself'

- Nelson Mandela