South Feast First Anniversary

Has it really been a year?

It seems like it was only yesterday when I wondered what "South Feast" (then) handwritten in white placards placed near the escalators meant.

After a year, "South Feast" has become crystal clear to me.

South Feast is my family and my home. It is my source of encouragement, my teacher, and my personal cheerleader.

How about you? What has the South Feast been to you for the past year?

Join us on August 8, 2010 (11am and 3pm) at the newly built SOUTH FEAST CENTER at the 2nd floor (beside Tony and Jackey Salon), Festival Mall, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, as the South Feast celebrates its first year of awakening the healer in us, making us believe in our dreams, helping our relationships get stronger, and encouraging us to live a life of no regrets.

Happy 1st anniversary, South Feast!

I Eat Plants

Okay, okay. I admit it. Of the nearly 365 South Feast talks that I have heard, last Sunday's talk on eating right was the most difficult to digest (pun intended).

I absolutely love food. Isn't it obvious? :D I'm not really a meat lover, but I'm not into vegetables and fruits either. I love love love crab (I know this restaurant in McKinley Hills that serve terrific crabs. The price is terrific too. LOL.), and I used to think shrimp is a gift from heaven (Hello Bubba Gump Greenbelt!). But after hearing Bro. Jon Escoto speak on better food choices, I think I just might say goodbye to a few of the best gastronomic things I love. *insert sad face here*

The main message last Sunday at the South Feast* was proper nourishment. By properly nourishing our body, we reduce our chances of acquiring diseases. But how do we go about this? God has three prescriptions.

1) Eat plants. Did you know that our digestive makeup is more similar to that of herbivores than that of carnivores? This supports the fact that we are designed to eat more plants, i.e., fruits and vegetables. Thus, it is recommended that we make fruits and vegetables our main food. So go right ahead, and dig in to as much salad as you can. Don't forget the vinaigrette!

2) Eat clean. The Bible has long discussed the difference between clean and unclean animals. But science also supports this teaching: that poultry and beef are better choices than pork because pigs eat absolutely anything (including nasty stuff), that shellfish are the scavengers of the seas and are thus infested with toxin, and that fish is the cleaner choice among seafood since it releases its toxin through its scales. For the non-scientists in us, it's just saying avoid pork and shellfish as much as possible. *insert sad face here AGAIN*

3) Eat "other" food, with other meaning oxygen, movement, sunlight, and sleep. Yes, the stuff that we almost always neglect.

The recommendations:

• Inhale more oxygen. Take deep breaths (and always thank God after, because you're still breathing).
• Move. Move. Move. Play sports. Jog. Swim. Run. Do anything to keep your body going.
  
• Expose yourself to sunlight. Vitamin D is always best taken naturally.
• Get adequate rest. The body actually replenishes and heals itself during sleep.

Okay. That's it. Notice anything?

These are actually old stuff. We knew these from Health 101. We heard these from our moms. We learned these from our doctors and nutritionists.

But do we follow?

As for me, that's a big NO. But learning that both science and religion agree that this is the way to go, that NO may somehow inch its way to being a YES.

*This is Talk 4 (Nourishment) of the Awaken the Healer in You Series held at the SOUTH FEAST. The SOUTH FEAST, a weekly gathering of the Light of Jesus Community (LOJ), happens every Sunday at Festival Mall Cinema 10, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, at 11am and at 3pm. It is led by Feast Builder/Main Preacher Arun Gogna. LOJ is a Catholic charismatic community led by Bo Sanchez.

Photo source: www.you-stylish-barcelona-apartments.com

UAAP Season 73

It's the time of the year when eight of the top universities in the country battle it out to be the toughest, the brighest, and, simply, the BEST name in collegiate sports. It's Season 73 of the UAAP!

This year's much-awaited event will officially kick off tomorrow, July 10, with host school De La Salle University (DLSU) showcasing the theme "Heroes" during the opening ceremonies. Animo La Salle!

The battle for basketball supremacy will start right after with the first game between DLSU and the University of the Philippines, and the second game between the Univesity of Sto. Tomas and the University of the East.

To catch all the action live, be at the Araneta Coliseum at 1pm tomorrow. Or if you can't take the massive crowds and the extreme show of school spirit, just tune in to Studio 23.

As for me, Araneta or no Araneta, school spirit pa rin! Animo La Salle!

(Photo source: www.uaapsports.com)

Bingo 101

Where was I? Gone on a vacation? Well... kinda. Out of the country? Nope. Out of town perhaps? Well, yep.

Had gone to the province last Monday afternoon and just got back at about lunchtime today. The drive was ok, except for the TERRIBLE EDSA traffic (read: 2.5 hours from Balintawak to MOA). That wouldn't have been a problem had my car been an A/T. So now, my fresh-from-PT knees are about to give in.

But despite the ultraheavy traffic and the aching knees, I so enjoyed the past two days I had spent in Bulacan (tumpak, taal po akong Bulakenya). Monday afternoon was spent buying pasalubong for my cousins and Inang (grandmother that is); visiting my aunt's tomb (the primary reason I went home as it was her birthday that day); receiving hugs and kisses with my just-turned-three cousin John; eating cake with my favorite cousin Maraj; and exchanging so many stories with my inang, uncle, and aunts. I also rediscovered TV that day. Oh how I missed watching primetime soap operas! :D

Much later in the evening, in the midst of stories, gossip, and whatnots, Inang asked me if I could probably stay longer and not go to work the following day (as I had initially planned). That was a very tough decision to make. My heart was absolutely torn. I didn't know what to do: should I take a leave of absence or should I take a leave of absence? It was just difficult to decide. LOL.

Kidding aside, the decision to stay for another day was as easy as 1-2-3. I wanted to stay longer as well. It had been a while since I was there, and I felt that I also needed a break from all the stress here in Manila.

The next day, Tuesday, was spent exchanging even more stories with them, receiving even more hugs and kisses from John, digging into a big gallon of chocolate ice cream with all of my cousins, and playing bingo in the nearby SM mall with Inang.

If there was one thing Inang would probably thank Henry Sy for, it would be the in-house bingo. Yes. Bingo. Think cards, the numbers 1 through 75, bingo callers, and the infamous reminder "just shout Bingo!" Inang loved the game, but she would only have the chance to play whenever I took her to the mall. Whenever she's here in Manila for a vacation, I would take her to the nearest mall and play bingo with her. My primary task was to double check that she had marked the correct number what with her slowly blurring vision. In the midst of the game, we would chat even more (there is just no stopping us). Then, after the game, win or lose, we would grab a quick bite in our fave fastfood chain. That had become our bonding tradition.

Yesterday's bonding was extra special. I won twice in a single Bingo session! For those who do not know, there are about three to four sessions in a day. A bingo session is composed of three main games and about three or four special games. Okay. That's Bingo 101 for you. :D

As I said, I won twice. The winnings weren't really lotto material, but it was more than what I paid the cards for. And a little extra money isn't really bad, is it?

But more than the money won, it was a fun afternoon because of the time we had spent together. If asked if I would take another day off from work just to accompany Inang, I would absolutely say yes. She will always be the best lola for me, and I will always try to be there for her if she needs me.

Okay. Enough. My eyes are already welling up. Just wanted to share that I had a great two-day mini-vacation. Thank God for the stories, the hugs, the kisses, the laughter, the food shared, and the time well spent. I look forward to my next vacation at home.

(Photo source: virtualbingo.org)