is it just me, my addiction to kim sam soon that i've attracted the same fate to my life? ;)

i don't know... kim sam soon... 30 years old... cyrus... 27 years old... buti pa si samsoon, 3 years lang. :)

hay, the waiting... so hard. but looking forward to tomorrow. no expectations, just the promise of tomorrow.

aja aja!

Nice read :)

Father Cantalamessa: On Faith as a Gift
Pontifical Household Preacher on the Doubting Thomas

ROME , APRIL 24, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of a commentary by Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the Pontifical Household preacher, on the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter.

* * *

(John 20:19-31)

"Unless I Place My Hand in His Side, I Will Not Believe"

"Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said: 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.'"

With the emphasis on the incident of Thomas and his initial incredulity ("Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, I will not believe"), the Gospel addresses the man of the technological age who believes only what he can verify. Among the apostles, we can call Thomas our contemporary.

St. Gregory the Great says that, with his incredulity, Thomas was more useful to us than all the other apostles who believed right away. Acting in this way, so to speak, he obliged Jesus to give us a "tangible proof of the truth of his resurrection." Faith in the resurrection benefited by his doubts. This is true, at least in part, when applied to the numerous "Thomases" of today who are the nonbelievers.

The criticism of nonbelievers and dialogue with them, when carried out in respect and reciprocal loyalty, are very useful to us. Above all they make us humble. They oblige us to take note that faith is not a privilege or an advantage for anyone. We cannot impose it or demonstrate it, but only propose it and show it with our life. "What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?" says St. Paul (1 Corinthians 4:7). In the end, faith is a gift, not a merit, and as all gifts it can only be lived in gratitude and humility.

The relationship with nonbelievers also helps us to purify our faith of clumsy representations. Very often what nonbelievers reject is not the true God, the living God of the Bible, but his double, a distorted image of God that believers themselves have contributed to create. Rejecting this God, nonbelievers oblige us to go back to the truth of the living and true God, who is beyond all our representations and explanations, and not to fossilize or trivialize him.

But there is also a wish to be expressed: that St. Thomas might find today many imitators not only in the first part of his story -- when he states he does not believe -- but also at the end, in that magnificent act of faith that leads him to exclaim: "My Lord and my God!"

Thomas is also imitable because of another fact. He does not close the door; he does not remain in his position, considering the problem resolved once and for all. In fact, we find him eight days later with the other apostles in the Cenacle. If he had not wished to believe, or to "change his opinion," he would not have been there. He wants to see, to touch: Therefore, he is searching. And at the end, after he has seen and touched with his hand, he exclaims to Jesus, not as someone defeated but as victorious: "My Lord and my God!" No other apostle had yet gone out to proclaim Christ's divinity with so much clarity.

[Translation by ZENIT]

easter marks a new beginning... because Jesus is risen, he is alive!


and so, my blog gets a new skin... but most important to note, i'm beginning to feel better... about the world, about people, about my life. and i owe it all to God.

in no way false humility, i really was not born a soloist. i excel at my best as a choir singer. i know i was made and cut out for that. never a soloist. so when my first psalm happened in st peter, i was so much in a wreck. i know i did well, as a lot of people said i did, but still, it just never came naturally to me. having sung the "create in me" psalm for a number of easter vigils already, i was quite content singing the psalm. however, this year, i was made an understudy for ate rose. each year, she would sing "in my heart" in her operatic, classical voice which always inspire me. so when she made me her understudy, i was actually faced with a lot of pressure. i was having a hard time with the song as well because of its irregularity of high notes. the day before the easter vigil, ate asked me to sing the song at practice. i didn't do well, but she patiently taught me how to sing. i recorded her rendition and jeff even patiently sent me the Bukas Palad Mp3 so i can compare the two renditions. i practiced a lot. but still, i somehow feel i can't sing do justice to the song.

i actually had a great and meaningful holy week. i had a good confession, and felt so much blessed in his grace. so i really prayed while practicing the song. when we were practicing saturday night before the vigil, i was holding on to my faithful wooden rosary. practice went well naman for the psalm but needs a lot of work for "in my heart" which will be sung at communion. But when it was near my psalm part, i had butterflies in my stomach. i suddenly had an inspiration and wrote the words "LET GO and LET GOD". i asked God to used me as an instrument, a vessel and not let me sing, but let Him sing for me. and so with the holy spirit, i sang the psalm and did justice to the song.

when it was communion time, i took a deep breath and asked God to let myself go and let Him sing for me. i was feeling so uncomfortable. but i prayed and sang the song. For the first time in my life, i really felt Him using me as a vessel. It wasn't really me singing the song. It was really Him. Ate rose was also in front of me and she helped me express the song. After singing the song, Ate gestured a "kiss" for me, a gesture which for the longest time I haven't seen her give. Then I knew, in my heart, I was able to glorify God wholeheartedly.

Four Jobs I've Had In My Life

1. Area Sales Supervisor - first job, had a great exposure handling people
2. Marketing - my current field and still learning a LOT
3. Wedding Coordinator/ Planner - part-time thing
4. Florist - i had fun discovering this talent, but i don't do this much

(other notable jobs... English tutor, PA ni jeff ^.^...which reminds me, hindi mo pa ako nababayaran ah!!!)

Four Films I Can (maybe) Watch Over and Over
1. You've Got Mail
2. Sound of Music
3. Audrey Hepburn films... Roman Holiday, Sabrina
4. My Korean and CHinese series (Pwede ba sya i-classify as films???) ... FUll House, Kim Sam Soon, and Meteor Garden 1 and Dolphin Bay

Four Places I Would Have Visited, Had I Had The Money
1. Holy Land
2. Europe
3. China
4. Amanpulo

Four Websites I Visit Daily
1. Yahoo Mail
2. My Blog
3. Other People's Blog
4. Hancinema.Net (of late) ;)

Four Of My Favorite Foods
1. Pasta - Oil and Garlic and Pesto... yum!
2. Japanese cuisine
3. Dimsum
4. Savory pastries

Four Places I Would Rather Be
1. Hong Kong
2. China
3. US
4. Singapore

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging
1. Theyie
2. Jeff
3. Jaja
4. Bebs

finally, a bit of time to pour down a bit of my thoughts... and what has happened so far.

i recently went to HK for the leather fair. was such a surprising and pleasant trip. even saw cheryl lynn and anthony how in gateway marco polo at city super! ;) this trip, we ate at the best places... my boss has the gift of ordering the best dishes! but it was great not adding weight... maybe it was the exercise, walking around HK, sometimes in heels... arrgh, every woman's agony. anyway, i also got to meet up with apple twice! ;) first it was thursday night we had dinner with apple's dad at a chinese restaurant. friday night, we went out with allen and susan, elle principal people and since allen knows apple, we all went out for dinner and coffee. first time i've been to central and lan kwai fong. nice place. i love hk! ;) i said to myself, if there's one place i would easily like to move in to try independency, it would be hk! everything's so convenient and i have a handful of friends already ;) after our coffee, apple and i met with jerwynn for some fruits and ice cream. it was great to see them in HK... it was a full 5 days... but i really enjoyed every minute of it. ;) got an ELLE wallet naman this time sa trip and some miss sixty perfume! ;)

anyway, i can't wait to go back... sana it would be sooner than i plan! ;) but this year there's tons of traveling i'm doing! in june, will be going to malaysia with vange; in august puerto princesa with my sis and cousins; in october with the girls in the office in cebu. i'm running out of resources!!! ;) but i do get really excited when i'm traveling. it's a different kind of rush! ;) and best of all, this year, except for malaysia trip, it was all a bargain!

just a few things i've realized this trip... time really flies so fast! and you really get to enjoy things in life when you expect little and you count your blessings. i thank God for this experiences. i really am grateful to be so blessed. ;)

okay, that's it's for now. (btw, i just downloaded kim sam soon songs! hahah, i'm such an addict. i even watch the GMA version every night cause the DVDs still with elma!... have a feeling i'll watch it all over again!)

Na-tag pala ako ni jeff... so here goes...

7 Songs

1.Bad Day - Daniel Pewter
2.Shy That Way - Tristan Prettyman
3.Someone like you - Sissel
4.Shoop Shoop Song - Cher
5.Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
6.More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Staircase
7.Mercies New - Nicole Nordeman

Now... the lucky 7
... yaiks... pwede bang wala na? ;) anyone na lang! ;)

i just finished another korean series titled "My name is Kim Sam Soon".

i bought it at Quiapo. (Segue: You know how funny the English summary of the back is? Jaja and I had a roll laughing because of the summary of the back of the DVD box!) It's about a 29 year old baker who just had her heart broken and this 27 year old rich guy who's so rich and carefree. I was actually introduced to this series by Serene, Jerwynn's fiancee while we were in HK. Just some pictures to share:

Kim sam soon and her leading guy.

kim sun ah before the weight. she's like the bridget jones version of renee zellwegger.

the cast



the leading guy... hyun bin. i miss those dimples! ;)


i've always love watching these series, especially if they are funny like full house. i hate sad endings. How I think about it is this: Why bother watching soemthing sad when life is already so serious, right? ;)


Anyway, still more to blog... wish I had the time. this is it for now!