cop's academy

Gbex says: Do you want to join the military? Get enrolled in a military academy- In the Philippines, there is one very best school for military service... Wanna conquer PMA?...

The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) is the training school for future officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The school is established as an Officer's School of the Philippine Constabulary on February 17, 1905 at Intramuros, Manila, but was relocated on September 1, 1908 in Baguio City.... That's all what I can tell you right now my buddies! For more info, go to the nearest cop station commander!

Well, I do not want to just leave this post without letting a single stone unturned, so let me just expound a little bit of what a cop's academy is all about:
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the Army, the Navy or the Air Force or provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.

Three types of academy exists: High school-level institutions awarding academic qualifications, university-level institutions awarding Bachelor's degree level qualification, and those preparing officer cadets for commissioning into the armed services of the country. Need I say more?

for a whiter smile, for a fresher breath...

Dom says: Last week, I submitted myself to a dental prophylaxis procedure and my friend-dentist Dr Roxanne Collins, DMD did it perfectly!!!. After the dental cleaning, I felt so fresh and so light that I smiled to all the people I met at the crossroads.

remembering Gardo...

Dom says: I remember Gardo! This hardworking friend of mine and also the friend of my foster brother JOnathan, a white American guy from Texas, just sent me a text message on my chikkatext messenger sending me his greetings!

Gardo is now manager of a spa in Quezon City. I was so glad to know that he has indeed succeeded in his own calling!

resting place...

Dom says: The only dwelling place or housing structure that you can see in the whole of the 13 and a half mile dirt road is a resting area and a restroom located north of dirt road just a few miles away from the highway leading to the city!

During this season, guests and rafters would stay overnight in this area as rafters from Colorado end up here and dock their rafts and boats at the dock area of the river near the vicinity of the restroom.

an enchanting piece of landmark...

Dom says: Everytime I would go on a town trip, I could not help but to get enchanted and be highly mesmerized by the sight of this beautiful canyon along the 13 and one-half mile dirt road that connects my monastery to Chama Highway.

The traces of layers on the cliff showing different colors just show that such a piece of landmark has aged like a thousand years. Geologist should really be on the lookout for a possible research and paper on this landmark which has too much history to show!

flowers as best accents...

Gbex says: In most gardens of residential houses and even in commercial buildings and occupancies, flowers have always been used to accentuate an atmosphere of busy life.

The presence of flowers in occupancies that are in the midst of the day's toils and whatnot, gives a certain kind of soothing comfort for their occupants and residents.

Thus, it is always a must for dwellers and residents in any dwelling place to really provide flowers and accentuate their day with the sweet scent and flowers...

the best center table accents...

Gbex says: Houses with modern living rooms are best decorated with a contemporary kind of center table with matching flowers in a vase that harmonize little accents such as other vases that are complemented by the color and shape of the main accent on the center table....

fruit of the season...

Gbex says: fruits sustain vitality and vigor from our daily toils.... What is your kind of fruit that adds color to your healthy regimen?

a breakthrough...

A 'break through' is what one really needs in order to temporarily get away fleetingly from an ambience of great flowing habits, long thick chandeliers and candle stands and smell of incense all over the place.

The place that dictates a lifelong commitment in a condition of solitude, silence, obscurity and claustric atmosphere...

This is what life is treating someone who is in a lifelong commitment to serve God in the midst of silence and contemplation: monastic life!

Wanna join me in my solitude?

This picture shows me and my dearest loyal friends I've got in the city of Espanola, just an hour drive from the portals of my monastery! left to right: me, Dani(amy's hubby), Amy, and Mike-the latest capture of a US based recruitment agency that hires Filipino teachers directly to the USA.

a friend who never forgets...

His image sticked in my Nokia N70 jpegs and the year is August 2007, and although he does not linger in my memory, I knew that somewhere, sometime and somehow, he has been a part of my lost memory.

And this great guy is the best epitome of what friendship really means: he sent me a philippine postcard of Cavite which I just received today! Such an endearing gesture of someone who really value friendship...

an animated film that I will never forget...

This is one of the best animated movies EVER made! It sits on its own thrown, even though Finding Nemo blew past it at the box office.

However, this movie showed a different perspective, and what better way to show me through the eyes of the comical buddies: Timon and Pumba?! Its just funny. That's all the producers needed to accomplish.

This movie is highly acclaimed blockbuster animated film and thousands of movie enthusiasts will agree with me if I say that this movie The Lion King is a classic.

No, over-the-top score, or oscar-worthy story, just fun and laughs. Outstanding job to the actors and creators. This is how imagination works; you make one film and then you find out the best way to relieve that film one more time years later.

housing condition in the province...

Gbex says: Sometimes, when I look into the housing issues of a provincial city where my lending business is located, I cannot help but to sigh from a dream of a bigger business that will alleviate the housing conditions of residents here who, most of them, has no adequate housing.

May this dream be fulfilled soon so that the reality of these people suffering from lack of better housing may be soon be fully alleviated. So help me God!

silent river runs deep...

Dom says: The dirt road leading to the first signs of civilization is paralleled with a river that goes with it from the location where my monastery is located up a 6,800 feet valley in Chama district down to Abiquiu District.

During summer, Chama river, as what it is called by most of us since it is bounded by the Chama District in New Mexico, is the favorite place for boating and rafting spree of rafters and boatmen from up Colorado down to New Mexico...
I have not personally tried boating in the river but is thinking of trying the sports as soon as I get enough freetime from the routine of the monastery.

at the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold(?)

Gbex says: They say that "at the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold!" Is this statement a fact or myth? Well, in my capacity as science enthusiast, I think the statement is myth and is not a fact.
Rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenom that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the earth's atmosphere.

They take the form of a multi colored arc, with red on the outer part of the arch and violet on the inner section of the arch. Rarely, a secondary rainbow is seen, which is a second, fainter arc, outside the primary arc, with colors in the opposite order, that is, with violet on the outside and red on the inside.

Rainbows can be caused by other forms of water than rain, including mist, spray, dew, fog, and ice. Moreover, rainbows can have shapes other than a bow (arc), including stripes, circles, or even flames.

journey to the eerie mountain of Cristobal...

Gbex says: ey my friends, the reason why I was away for some days is because I went with a group of cliffhangers for an adventure in Quezon Province.
The conquest which we had recently was Cristobal Mountain in Dolores, Quezon, which is popularly knows as the 'spooky or evil mountain'.

Mt.Cristobal is found beside the Holy Mount Banahaw in Dolores Quezon. Cristobal mountain is said to be filled with evil spirits and the explanation for this is traced from the fact that if Mt. Banahaw is a mystical place which is good for healing and is the place for good spirits, then the flip side to it is Mt. Cristobal, which is the evil or spooky mountain.

Myth or rumors or what, please don't get scared because its trail leading to the mountain has a very good forest and vegetation. Its trail is moderately inclined with 4 - 5 hours of trekking.

Its campsite is at the crater and the peak is about 30 minutes away from the camp. During the rainy season, half of the crater can be filled with water and can turn into a stagnant lagoon of all sorts.
Try to trek the mountain at night to see for yourself if the legends were true or not!!! ( my hairs are rising just the thought of the night sight that I experienced at the campground waaahhhhhhhh).

safeguarding the future generation...

Dom says: Taking care of our future generation starts with taking care of the health and well-being of our babies especially the newly born ones.

These babies form the essential part of the future of the whole humankind of the future world.
So, if we want to gain a good breed of the future generation of the earth, then we need to start to take care, support, safeguard and love our babies as they are the new breed who will form the future of humanity.

a beautiful but dangerous Mayon volcano

Dom says: Mayon Volcano is an active volcano. A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface.

Mayon Volcano is an active stratovolcano in the Philippines on the island of Luzon, in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region. The near perfectly cone shaped volcano is situated 15 kilometres northwest of Legazpi City.

Mayon is classified by volcanologists as a stratovolcano, or composite volcano. Its symmetric cone was formed through alternate pyroclastic and lava flows.

Mayon is the most active volcano in the country, having erupted over 47 times in the past 400 years. It is located between the Eurasian and the Philippine Plate, at a convergent plate boundary: where a continental plate meets an oceanic plate, the lighter continental plate overrides the oceanic plate, forcing it down; magma is formed where the rock melts. Like other volcanoes located around the rim of the Pacific Ocean, Mayon is a part of the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

It is known and famous as a "Perfect Cone" volcano because of it's almost perfect shape.

getting rid of the scorching heat...

Dom says: the best way to get rid of the scorching heat of summer is to go boating in the sea and take a dip in its blue waters.
My relatives enjoyed the day in which I gave them my time went swimming and boating in Pasacao beach. The image below shows you how soothing it was to go dip in the waters with family members.

scoring the heights...

Dom says:The day I flew from Manila to Legaspi was a cloudy day, yet I had apprehensions and worries as well as fears that just would not go away. I just did not know why.

The flight was not turbulent but there were so much of turbulence that were in my mind which caused me to almost throw up while inside the air carrier. I knew it! I was so bugged down by so many things that went thru my week-long stay in Manila: my day-long encounters with Bernardo and Eileen may have caused all these thoughts and feelings.

a foster brother raises a monkbrother...

Dom says: I did not know what to feel when I found out that I have a foster family here in USA! (Thanks to my 'redbook'!) I guess, a mixed-up feeling of gladness and thankfulness!

And that the son of my foster parents emailed me last night to send me the greetings of his parents (my foster parents) and as well as his greetings of peace and love!...

He is JOnathan Hassell, a 29 yr old bachelor who works as Paramedic in one hospital in Fortworth, Texas and is pursuing his course in Anatomy as prelude to his taking Medicine next school year in one of the universities in Galveston Texas, USA.

He mentioned that he is going to spend his summer break in Peru to learn some Spanish the rest of the summer break. He also plans to join me in my 2010 home visit.

The images below show him with his cousin Grant during Grant's wedding ceremony in April (he was Grant's bestman).