EARTH HOUR

Earth hour, March 26, 2011
Sitio Tangke, Bo. Luz Limay, Bataan
Some of our pictures taken during the earth hour.

SIX MONTHS NA PALA

Agusto ng nakaraang taon ng ako ay nagsimulang mag-blog. Out of my curiosity, nag-research ako kung paano mag-blog. Idagdag pa dito yung sinabi ni mrs. ko na subukan kong mag-blog. Sabi ko noon, di ko yata magagawang mag-blog kasi hindi naman ako writer eh. 

Naalala ko tuloy yung time, na nag-attend din ako ng script writing seminar ng isang premyadong script writer sa Pilipinas na si Ricky Lee. Kasama ko sa seminar ang isang kaibigan. Actually, siya nga ang nagyaya sa akin para umatend sa seminar na iyon. Dahil sa seminar na  iyon ay nagkaroon kami ng pagkakataon na makilala ang ibang mga writer sa T.V. at sa komiks. Niyaya nila kami na subukan din ang pagsusulat sa T.V. at komiks. Dala ng matinding enthusiasm, sinubukan naming magsulat para sa komiks. Gumawa kami ng kaibigan ko ng tig-sampung maiiksing kuwento at sabay naming isinubmit iyon sa komiks. Pagkalipas ng isang lingo bumalik kami para sa panibagong submittal ng mga kuwento namin at para alamin na rin kung natanggap ang mga naunang kuwento na isinubmit namin. Walo sa sampung kuwento ng kaibigan ko ang natanggap at nabayaran samantalang ang sampung kuwento ko naman ay hindi nakapasa sa mga editor. Nakapagandang bwena mano iyon para sa aming dalawa, at dahil kuwento niya ang natanggap, siyempre siya ang taya sa meryenda namin.

Nagpatuloy kami sa pagsa-submit ng aming kuwento para sa komiks, dahil sa magandang resulta para sa aking kaibigan. Pero pagdating sa aking mga kuwento ay walang nakakapasa sa mga editor. Meron sanang isang kuwento ko ang nakapasa na sa isang editor, kaya lang kinakailangan pa ng final approval ng kanyang Chief Editor dahil baguhan pa ang editor na nakatuka sa aking kuwento. Sinabi ko sa sarili ko na pag matanggap ang kuwento kong iyon, magpapatuloy ako sa pagsusulat, pero pag nareject iyon, hihinto na ako.   At katulad ng mga nakaraang resulta, nareject na naman ang aking kuwento. Yun na ang huli kong submittal.

Nagpatuloy sa pagsulat ang aking kaibigan, hindi lang sa komiks, nakapagsulat na rin siya para sa mga programa sa T.V. hanggang sa kasalukuyan. Ako naman ay sumubok ng aking kapalaran sa ibang bansa.

Ngayon muli kong sasanayin ang aking sarili sa pagsusulat, pero hindi na sa komiks, dito nalang ako magsusulat sa blog. Hindi rin naging madali para sa akin ang pagsisimula na magsulat dito, alam ko na marami pa akong dapat malaman upang mas mapaganda ang aking blog site pati na rin ang aking mga blog post.

Pagkalipas ng dalawang buwang pagsusulat medyo namahinga ako, sabi ko nga naku baka wala akong marating dito sa blog. Wala akong mararating kung hihinto ako, pero kung magpapatuloy ako kahit papaano ay may mararating din ako. Hindi naman talaga ako nagpahinga sa blog, ipinagpatuloy ko pa rin yung isa kong blog na kung saan ay araw-araw akong nagpopost. Maaari mo ring bisitahin ang blog ko na ito.

At sa paglipas nga ng mga araw at buwan, nagulat na lang ako kasi six months na pala ako since nagsimula ako sa blog. Marami pa akong gustong ibahagi sa blog site ko na ito sa mga darating na araw. Pero bago ang mga iyon ay magpapasalamat muna ako, una sa Panginoon dahil sa mga inspirasyon at guidance Niya para sa akin. Pangalawa para sa aking pamilya at mga mahal ko sa buhay dahil sa kanilang moral support para sa akin. At pangatlo sa inyong lahat na patuloy na sumusubay sa aking mga panulat at sa walang sawang pagtangkilik at pagbabasa sa aking mga blog post. Nawa’y hindi po kayo magsasawa na bisitahin ang aking blog site sa mga panahon na kayo ay libre. Maaari din po ninyo itong ibahagi sa inyong mga kaibigan sa facebook. J

Maraming-maraming salamat po. Hanggang sa uulitin.

Happy Six Months to www.jongenese.blogspot.com

CAROLING, NOW AND THEN

December 16. This is one of the most important and wonderful times of the year for children most especially in the Philippines, because this is the official starting date of “Karoling”(Caroling). There are kids who would start to carol on the eve of December 01 onwards but most of what they can get is “Patawad”. They are being told to wait until the “Simbang Gabi” starts before they can carol. Now that Simbang Gabi is just a moment away, nobody can ban those kids from roaming around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols.


I myself have a lot of wonderful experiences of Karoling when I was a kid. We never get tired of visiting almost the same houses every night. We are lucky because during those times we rarely receive “Patawad” even though we had just caroled on them just the other night. And we will continue to visit them night after night until the 24th of December. And just like the previous night they will give us their coins. Maybe they just loved our golden voice as we sang to them “We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” (winked).

We don’t even have to practice different kinds of Christmas songs. Our specialty songs are “Jingle Bells” and “Ang Pasko ay Sumapit” accompanied by our improvised tambourine and drums, the merrier and the noisier the song, the better, because we can be easily heard. Those two songs were enough for us to earn a lot of coins every night. And you know our favorite houses to carol to? Those who own a sari-sari store. This is because the sari-sari store owners usually have lots of coins to spare for us.

Nowadays it is different, many, if not the entire neighborhood will allow you to carol on them only once. The kids have a high percentage of rejection nowadays. There are determined kids who will sing up to five different Christmas songs with a hope that they will be given a small amount of money in return. They will even sing up to the top of their voices just to be heard but the final confirmation of rejection is when the house owner turns off the light. It is also as if a requirement that they have to prepare different songs, because they don’t want to repeat the same song again and again or at least a block away from the house that they sang that song.

To avoid rejection the kids are regrouping themselves every night so that they will not be branded as a repeater. Once spotted, they can easily reason out that, the other night was a different group while tonight is a new one and tomorrow will be another one. The improvised tambourine and drums are still there though some innovations are added. Some are bringing lighted candles to add an effect to their song. The kids will do everything just to increase the night’s revenue. Who can blame them, it is their time of the year and they have to make the most of it.

Tonight when you hear that familiar song, “Sa may bahay ang aming bati, Merry Christmas na maluwalhati….” spare them your coins, and expect to hear that song again and again for the next nine evenings. You know for sure the joy that those children feel when you give them money. Those smile that flashes on their face as if they are telling you “see you again tomorrow evening”. Remember, you were also on that same situation not so many years ago.

It is normal to say “Patawad” these days, but please don’t turn off the light. After all this only happens for a short time, only nine evenings of the year. We should be thankful instead because we were given a chance to really experience the joy and the spirit of giving and sharing in the form of those simple children singing to us energetically “Ang sanhi po ng pagparito, hihingi po ng aginaldo, kung sakaling kami’y perwisyo, pasensiya na kayo, kami’y namamasko”.

Some Christmas Lights Tips

With the coming of the “ber” months everyone started to get the feel of Christmas. With the wind that started to blow cold nobody can deny that Christmas is just around the corner. And with the much awaited holiday fast approaching, majority of the household members are now excited in bringing out once again the different colorful decors that they used to hang around the house for everyone to see and adore.


Last years’ decors, lanterns, Christmas tree, and Christmas lights can still be used. They just need a little cleaning to wipe away the dust that accumulates due to a year of storage. That way we can save some money instead of buying new ones.

One thing to remember though is to check first the Christmas lights for safety purposes before re-using them. We have been a witness to the so many cases that a house was burned down due to the defective Christmas lights.

Here are some guidelines that you can do if you are re-using your Christmas lights.

1. Check the wirings of your Christmas lights most especially for exposed wirings. They are susceptible to fire most especially if they got in contact with each other and dangerous as well if someone gets in contact with it once it is lighted.

2. If molds have accumulated already in the housing of the light bulb you better discard it and buy now ones, if cleaning or replacing the housing is no longer applicable.

3. Check and replace the busted lights with new ones.


If you are buying new Christmas lights, it is advisable to have a thorough check using the following tips:

1. Check if the wirings are thick enough and cannot be easily broken once you pull them apart and it must conform in accordance to the implemented electrical standards.

2. Make sure that the product contains the “Import Commodity Clearance” (ICC) mark. That is a proof that is has been inspected and had passed the safety and quality testing of the Bureau of Product Standard of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

3. The plug must be hard and thick enough and cannot be easily bended.

4. You can save more on electricity by buying the Light Emitting Diode (LED) Christmas lights because of its low wattage.


Let us have a wonderful and safe holiday this Christmas season.

WHEN NOT ENOUGH IS GOOD ENOUGH, THE LESSONS LEARNED

Today I would like to share the latest article written by Bro. Bo Sanchez. It inspires me a lot, from the very title, to the content of the article, up to his ending story.

One may really wonder how to have not enough is good. How is it possible to say it is good when you feel you are lacking of something. From mans point of view it’s the other way around. Good is never enough for man, because we, humans, always want more. Agree or disagree? But for God if we don’t have enough, that’s the best. That’s good enough, because that is the time that we seek for more of His help and His guidance. If we have more than enough the tendency is we rely much on our own and we may forget God. “They might think that they had won by themselves...” (Judges 7:2) True enough, I have been a witness into such many occasions that an individual claims the victory for himself. And in those times of glory, God has been sidelined.

I would like to take Manny Pacquiao as an example. There are so many lessons that we can learn from him but I would like to focus on three lessons only.

The first lesson is found in his character. One of the best character that Manny Pacquiao has is he is not controlled by his fear. For sure Manny Pacquiao also must have felt fear. That is normal as a human being. But as we can see, he is not afraid to face his opponent in the ring no matter how big is that opponent is because he is in control of his fear.

The second lesson is whenever he wins his bout, he never forgot to give credit to God, almost immediately, right after the fight, while he is still catching his breath. Of course there are a lot of supporters that he needs to thank but he gives back the gratitude to God first.

The third lesson is he is confident that God is with him. Manny Pacquiao didn’t start his boxing career as a big time. We are familiar of that the humble training gym that has been featured many times to show where Manny trained as he is starting his career in boxing. Did it ever went into Manny’s mind whether he had a chance to get even a single championship belt at that time? For sure it went on his mind. And it didn’t stop him from training even with the knowledge that there are already big names in the boxing world. He knows he is not alone. He is confident that God is with him.

No wonder Manny Pacquiao is successful in his boxing career. Of course we can always say that Manny Pacquiao trains very hard that’s why he is successful. No need to contest on that aspect. But the thing is as I have stated above that being in control of his fear, giving credits to God for his achievements and being confident that God is with him really makes the difference.

Control your fear.

Being fearful is normal. All human being feels that way. If you don’t feel fear, I may say you are not human or something is wrong with you.

How many times that you had felt that fear inside of you? Are you in control of your fear or this fear is controlling you?

I, myself, experience fear in many aspect of my life and one of them is my fear in writing. I am afraid that I may not be able to write as good as the other bloggers. True enough there are a lot of bloggers who are far better than me. But if I will let my fear to overcome me then I won’t be able to contribute my idea in blogging. I can never succeed in blogging if I will let this fear controls me. I somehow need to control my fear.

There had been a lot of times that I had procrastinated on so many things that I wanted to do. But if I kept on holding back, I can’t accomplish anything at all.

How do then I overcome this fear inside of me?

I applied one of the idea of Robert Kiyosaki in his book the “Cashflow Quadrant.” Take baby steps. Sounds simple isn’t it? Yes very simple idea but the long term effect is enormous. By taking baby steps means that I am taking cautions. Once I master the baby steps then that is the time that I start learning how to walk but I don’t run yet. I need to be patient. Actually, I am tempted to try to run every time I had learned how to balance myself. The end result for that is I stumble and fall. Then I become fearful again. I have to remind myself again and again, not to take the short cuts. By taking the short cuts I am are just making failure a favor to materialize easier and earlier on me.

So remember, take baby steps, then after a while, walk and not long after that, you can run to your victory. And by the next time you feel fear about the big task ahead of you, just take baby steps first. It works on me, I’m sure it will work on you too.

Give credits to God.

We always say or heard that without God we are nothing. When I was in high school, a friend of mine ask me what does the word “CHRISTIAN” mean. I told him, Christian means the one who follows Christ. He then asked me another question. What if you remove the Christ from the word Christian, what would it mean by then? I was not able to answer him and he explained to me, “CHRISTIAN without Christ means I Am Nothing.” True enough, without God we are nothing. That is why it is very important that we give recognition to God in every accomplishment that we achieve. Whether it is a small achievement or big achievement don’t forget to give God His due credit. Everything that we own comes from Him. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that we can do without His intervention. If we can manage to completely do everything without God, then there is no need for us to pray to Him. The very reason that we kept on praying to God means we are asking for His support, it is therefore a rightful act to give Him back the credits. If someone had done you even a small favor you didn’t fail to say “thank you” to that person, how much more to God your creator.

Be confident, God is with you.

MIZPAH. I not only love this word, I usually use this word as my ending greeting when I write my love letter for my wife. But because of the advent of the internet I rarely write letters of love to my wife nowadays. My old email address has this word as my signature greeting as well. Mizpah means God watches between you and me whenever we are far from each other. With this word alone, I am confident that God is with us, wherever I, my wife and my family are.

The very reason why we feel fear is because we feel that we are alone and we feel that something is lacking. And that usually leads to a loss of our self-confidence. But actually we are not alone. We may not be aware of it. But during those times, God comes in and fill us up. That is called Heavenly intervention. For the not so religiously inclined I will call it adrenalin rush. That is the time that we had done what is seems to be impossible. And we are proud of that accomplishment but don’t forget there is Someone up there that we need to give thanks to. Have a wonderful day.

TWO MONTHS NA!

During the past week I am really disappointed. This is so because my application for adsense account is again denied for the nth times. So disappointed that I told myself, I won’t make it. But I am not willing to stop from what I am doing. I just lifted it to my Heavenly Father through prayer. I told Him that I won’t stop because I am only at the beginning stage of blogging.

By the way, it’s been two months now since I started my blogging activities.

Yehey! Happy two months www.jongenese.blogspot.com

“At dahil dyan, may nagtext!” – just borrowed the line from ”Vice Ganda”. Actually I am full of inspirations today and I want to share to you my inspirations.

My first inspiration for today is this prayer from Bro. Bo Sanchez.

Yeah, that’s the text from my Heavenly Father, through Bro. Bo Sanchez. Remember, I got disappointed and I lifted my disappointment to my Heavenly Father and He replied. To top it all He replied just in time for my second month in blogging. Thank you Heavenly Father.

During my first month I have learned the basics in blogging just as I have shared in my previous post. My mentor Jomar Hilario advised me to apply for adsense account sometime after five months. But because I am so “matigas ang ulo”, I didn’t follow his advice. The result, I got denied. The effect, I got disappointed not only once but since I tried five times, I got disappointed five times as well. But those setbacks only fueled my desire to do more and continue to learn my lessons.

What lesson I have learned from this. I learned that I don’t have to do the short cuts. I may be too eager in achieving my goals, but there is still a long way to go. Now I know that my Heavenly Father wants me to go not the long way or to take the short cut, but the normal way. Why? Because He doesn’t want me to miss the experience that I can gain should I do the short cuts. He also doesn’t want me to endure too much should I go the long way. Just the normal way, in order for me to feel and experience everything that He prepares for me along the road. Simply put, He doesn’t want me to miss a thing.


My second inspiration is Bro. Bo Sanchez will be conducting a How to Become Truly Rich Seminar on Nov. 13, 2010. I know I will not be able to attend to that seminar because I am out of the country. So why I am so inspired about that? I will let you discover the reason here.

My third inspiration is when I discovered the website of KaBlogs. They have a contest for OFW bloggers. My first impression is I will join the contest. I want to contribute to their theme: ”Strengthening OFW Families: Stronger Homes for a Stronger Nation”. After browsing through the website I found out that the contest has been going on since the second half of this year and they are about to announce the Top 10 finalist on October 31, 2010. I am already late for this years’ contest and there is one more reason why I cannot join. One of their criteria for joining is the contestant must be at least six month on the blogging world. He,he,he,he, I have to be patient and wait for the next year contest. Take the normal way Jon, no short cuts please. All I can do now is to give my support to the nominees by voting for their entry.

My fourth inspiration is the entry of Mga Kathang Isip ni Kiko. That’s why I voted for him, though you can vote for ten entries from among the nominees. But Kiko’s entry ranks number one from my personal opinion. I can relate to his experiences as an OFW. I should say I am the type of “homesikin”. I missed my famliy so much. I also experienced traveling on Christmas day. In one of my trip for a vacation in the Philippines was scheduled on Dec. 24 and I arrived home on early morning of Dec. 26.

Here are the other nine nominees that I voted. Batang Gala, B’log ang Mundo, Gumamela sa Paraiso, Jethro’s Hangout, Yellow Bells, The Journey of the Prodigal Daughter, Rainbow Box, Baul ni Noel, Stay at Home Blessings and Carnation, Life is Beautiful. To all the nominees I wish them good luck. Your contribution to the contest is more than enough to help in strengthening the OFW families. You are already a winner in the heart of every Filipino Overseas Workers around the world.

And last but not the least, my inspiration is you, my dear reader, thank you for bearing with me along the way. I am not a writer, nor a naturally born writer. But you are still with me and I thank you for that. I would like to share this quote with you.

“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.”

There’s so much to learn in this world of blogging, and I want you to walk beside me. Let’s learn the lessons together.

Have a nice day and God bless…

PERSONAL MASTERY

Personal mastery is about approaching life from a different perspective.  Sometimes people would refer to it as a journey towards continuous improvement.  Personal mastery is guided with key principles like vision, personal purpose, creative tension, commitment to truth and understanding the subconscious mind. 

One of the most important fundamental aspects of personal mastery is personal vision.  Personal mastery when combined personal vision can create a framework or guiding philosophy on how you can operate and live your life.  Some people would say that personal vision serves as a guide that would keep you on track.

Followers of personal mastery see that there are great opportunities to improve their growth.  Followers recognize that there are many avenues for growth and opportunities like books, tapes, lectures and school courses.  People also benefit from organizations in their quest for personal mastery.                

Personal mastery is about loving yourself and expressing your gifts to its fullest.  Some would think that personal mastery is controlling and limiting one self, but actually it is about understanding your personality.  To control or overcome some habits, it would be important to identify how and why those habits arise.  The more you suppress things, the more you would have difficulty in conquering and overcoming it.

Personal mastery is self-discipline.  It is about taking responsibility for the direction that your life is going to take.  You would slowly realize that you can do anything with the aid of your skills and talents.  Discipline would clarify and deepen your perspective in life.  Those who quest for personal mastery would develop patience and see life objectively. 

Personal mastery can actually help you become successful in life.  You can say that you have developed personal mastery if you are starting to fully understand your strengths, talents and your purpose in life.  Personal mastery enables you to be inspired, energized and happy with your life. You start to show a sense of commitment in changing on how people perceive life and the world.  The ultimate thing about personal mastery is that you would always feel that you are guided and supported by God.

It is also important for a person who is in quest for personal mastery to develop integrity, humility, justice and industry.  Actually, these are “rules” on how we could conduct ourselves professional, socially and spiritually.

Peter Senge said that attaining personal mastery has no shortcuts or no “quick fixes.”  Sometimes it would take a lifetime for personal mastery to be attained.  Personal mastery detaches a person from self-interest or selfishness and encourages people towards providing care and service to other people.  Also individuals who follow personal mastery see the connections in their surroundings and perceived everything as a whole. 

Proactive behavior is also something that personal mastery helps you to develop.  Reactive behavior like thinking beforehand that you cannot do things is dealt with when developing personal mastery.  Actions and service that you provide are based on how you can creatively maximize your skills.

To summarize it, personal mastery guides you to develop being aware with your beliefs, attitudes and behavior impacts.  It also enables you to accept yourself and be responsible with your own action, attitude, and thought. 

Experts would say that personal mastery could be truly gained by living purposefully and by living with integrity.  Living purposefully would include showing talents, gifts and strengths to achieve goals and be successful.  Living with integrity is by integrating your ideals, standards and behavior.