Bell Church: Baguio's Hidden Temples

The Bell Church in Baguio City is located near the border of La Trinidad. In fact, if you are coming from the city center, either by a car, cab or jeepney bound to La Trinidad, the Bell Church is right before the arch that says Welcome to La Trinidad.

There is no entrance fee to the Bell Church, but the compound is open from 7 AM to 5 PM only. Within its walls are several Taoist temples intricately adorned with bells and dragons. These pagoda structures line-up the slopes of a mountain side.

Here are few of the pictures I took from the Bell Church.

Proclamation No. 655: 2014 Philippine Holidays

Here is one proclamation that we all look forward to: Proclamation No. 655.
Under this proclamation, the regular and special non-working holidays for 2014 include:

Ayala Bridge

This picture of Ayala bridge was taken during the Million People March last August 26, 2013.
This bridge is a witness to countless political marches and rallies.

Here are some of the facts about Ayala bridge.

Musings on the Million People March at Luneta

Today is National Heroes Day, a national public holiday to commemorate the national heroes who fought valiantly for the country. Any remembrance of this sort is eclipsed this year by the Million People March which calls for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the pork barrel.

I joined the march to be counted as one of those who support the pork barrel abolition. Needless to say, I am among the millions of Filipino workers who feel betrayed, cheated and victimized by our corrupt and greedy public officials who allegedly pocketed millions of pesos through funding of bogus NGOs from their PDAFs.

Yapos ng Ulan (a repost)

I used poetry to express myself to those dearest to my heart when I was in high school. I gave about six different poems to six different classmates. I know they were not much to brag about, but coming from someone like me who feels like moving mountains each time I have to make an essay or a report, six different poems were an achievement. I'm quite sure too those poems were not Palanca materials, but they were poems nonetheless that were crafted from the depths of my innocent soul.

Last year when Habagat flooded the Metro, I posted Yapos ng Ulan, which I eventually took down this year when I decided to make this blog less personal, and more educational. Now, I am reposting the poem in the aftermath of TS Maring.

KISP Grade 4 class

All teachers want their students to understand their lessons, but not everyone can make their students learn to understand.

This is something we miss out when we want to be popular. We tend to compromise what is essential, and give importance to what is superficial. In my seven years of teaching, I have noticed that the more popular teachers are those who are easily persuaded, and those who give free time and easy tests. But the ones who are most treasured by their students are those who have touched their lives and instilled values and discipline in them. I would like to belong to the latter group.

I am used to being referred to as a very strict teacher; even scary to some. So it is quite a joy in my heart each time I receive a letter from a student for it could only mean one thing for me: the child sees and feels my heart beyond my strict disposition in class.

Imagine my disbelief when I received a compiled letter from Grade 4 (thanks too to teacher Kim Nan Young, their homeroom adviser). I was overflowing with positive feelings.

I am sharing the pictures of their letters. You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

KISP Grade 9 class

The last semester of KISP gave me the chance to be a sub-adviser of Grade 9. I found it as an opportunity to connect more with my Korean students, as that’s what homeroom periods are supposed to be, and it was a chance for my students to get to know me better as my brave students in the past would attest that I am a lot kinder most times than during Math class.  J 

However, the directive was clear: all sub-homeroom advisers are to monitor the students for the first ten minutes while the class is doing independent study. So, being a sub-homeroom adviser gave not much opportunity for us to interact. I came to class to enforce the directive while I made additional teaching materials for my grade school classes. A few times, I had asked help from students who did not seem to be in the mood for independent study. We, teachers catch these moments and take it as a chance to connect with the student.

And so I was quite surprised that during my last day with the Grade 9 class, they gave me letters and so much more. Thanks too to Ms. Han Haejin, the Grade 9 homeroom adviser.

I am sharing the letter they gave me: