"Let's Talk Business" in Sinulog

The Sinulog Festival is over for us Cebuanos and we're just so thankful that we've been blessed with a perfect weather that day even if there were threats that it might rain but it never came.  In sync with the drum beats and cheery spirit of the celebration, entrepreneurs share the same joy and excitement of the festival with market opportunities that overwhelm them once in a year, including me and my family.  Oh, there's definitely one hundred and one ways to make money at this time of year for us Cebuanos.  

A couple of years ago, we rented a Coke stand just for the day to sell barbecues, soft drinks and even ice water. The latter was selling like hotcake even if we priced it at two pesos a tube.  This year, we did something different and very unique too.  We body painted my two sisters as Avatars and had them parade in the street.  How we made money from it?  Every time someone asks to take a picture of/with them will be charged 20 pesos for unlimited shots.  Cool huh?  Indeed it was, specially for my two sisters who just had the fun of it.  My dad, who was the main artist, painted their faces and I painted their body with the same washable paint.  Next year, we'll be doing face and body painting again and hair braiding. With a number of younger and more talented competitors, we will think of better concepts and ideas to step up to the plate to generate better income in the next Sinulog event. 

The fiesta of Cebu can proudly claim that the millions that come to Cebu for this event has helped our economy tremendously, including the poorest of the poor.  You can see this with young kids as watch-your-car boys, people selling food and water along the streets, peanut vendors, thousands of barbecue stands along the parade route, henna and tattoo for tattoo artists, t-shirt printing for many and some even sell straw hats and fans which are remarkably profitable.   

It is what the Sinulog Festival does for us Cebuanos.  The rich with their hotels and the restaurant owners make great money with the thousands that come and witness this grand event while the poor too gets their rightful share.  All the entrepreneurs and small scale businessmen take advantage of the busy crowd and higher foot traffic and anticipate to sell more and better of their wares and talents. 

Can you suggest who or what character we can conceptualize for body painting for next year's Sinulog?  I'd like to hear from you. :-)

Sinulog'13 Colorful Than Ever

I know I promised that I'll post pictures from the Sinulog celebration.  Sadly for me, it's not from my own camera since I was fully loaded with activities that day.  I had to attend to my dancesport kids who had their number along with Team Cebu City during the Grand Finale.  I wasn't even able to take good pictures of them because they're too far from range shot.  My camera can only handle short distance range and that gives me more reason to save up and buy myself a new DSLR that can shoot far distance subject and fast speed shutter (any suggestions please?).  One thing that got us occupied, well my whole family actually, was our body painting business.  It's one good way to make money specially on occasions like this where everyone is not afraid to get dirty.  But I'll still fulfill my promise of sharing you some moments in Sinulog that will definitley show that it's more fun in Cebu.

I borrowed these shots from the Facebook page of Sinulog.  I hope they don't mind.  Anyway, they took a picture of my dancesport kids and that's the one on the last part and definitely my favorite.  It's them in the middle of the group and they never fail to make me proud. :-)

Did you enjoy the pictures?  I'm sure you will enjoy it more in person if you were here.  Tell me, what's the most recent festivity or celebration you've been to.  Feel free to share it. :-)

Praising On Sundays: The Wedding in Cana

Gospel: John 2:1-12

¹ On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there,

² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited.

³ And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother ofJesus said to him, 'They have no wine.'

⁴ Jesus said, 'Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.'

⁵ His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'

⁶ There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water,' and they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.'

⁹ They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from -- though the servants who had drawn the water knew -- the president of the feast called the bridegroom

¹⁰ and said, 'Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.'

¹¹ This was the first of Jesus' signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days.

Reflection:

This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.

Sinulog Shots from Last Year

The famous Sinulog here in Cebu is now in full swing.  But the most awaited grand parade or the street dancing will be this coming Sunday yet.  Me and Hubs are very much excited to take pictures once again and so ready to party under the hot, scorching sun and jam packed streets on that day.  But I know everything will be worth the sweat because the up beat music of the drums could really hype up your senses and will make your feet move together with the street dancers.  Let me share some of the photos that we took last year just to show you, my dear readers, how exciting and fun it is to experience Sinulog here in the Queen City of the South.

Radiant queens from each tribe holding the image of the child Jesus..

More radiant queens..

A queen in waiting..err..resting. :-)

Grandiose floats...

Actresses. There were Angelica Panganiban, Iza Calzado, and Venus Raj on that float.

Amazing giants...  

Yours truly surrounded with humongous flowers and its bearers..

I couldn't stay away from these brightly colored tribe..

More street dancing from a provincial tribe..

Hennas on the sidewalk for 100 pesos.  Cheap huh? 

And oh! snakes too and big ones I'm telling you. :-)

It would be more exciting for us this year since my dancesport kids along with their team will be dancing at the Pasigarbo sa Cebu as Cebu's Best and during the closing of the program.  I hope I can take more and good pictures this year and I promise to post it at the soonest time. :-)

Praising On Sundays: Feast Of The Baptism Of The Lord

Gospel from Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

source

A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to wonder whether Johnmight be the Christ,

 so John declared before them all, 'I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

 Now it happened that when all the people had been baptised and while Jesus after his own baptismwas at prayer, heaven opened

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical form, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son; today have I fathered you.'

Reflections:

Most of us take our baptism for granted.  How much do you value your baptism?  We are joined together not only with the Holy Trinity but to each other as bothers and sisters in Christ.

Sinulog 2013 Kicks Off

Today begins the most anticipated fiesta celebration in the Queen City of the South, Cebu. - the Sinulog.  It is when Cebuanos from all over the world try to come home to celebrate this most coveted event and be with the Senor Sto. Nino who has played a vital role in changing the religion of Cebuano residents sometime in the year 1521.

The event kicks off with the Opening Salvo or Walk With Jesus at 4:30 in the morning from Fuente Osmena to Basilica of Sto. Nino.

source

Devotees all over Cebu parade with the Sto. Nino bringing with them their own replicas of the child Jesus, saying their heart felt prayers and pleas.  We Cebuanos are known to be steadfast believers in our faith and it is in our Christianity that we hold on even in our most darkest hours. 

Viva Senyor Sto. Nino! 

Getting Kids To Wake Up In the Morning For School

After  three weeks of Christmas vacation, it’s back to school again for my two teenage kids which also means giving way to packed schedules, homework, after-school activities and toughest of all – waking them up early.  And that is not one easy problem in our household.  I looked around in the net for some easy but effective solutions that wouldn’t necessarily instruct me to pour cold water on them (which I’m nearly about to at some point).  Fortunately, I found these helpful tips that could help me and you to get our kids out of bed without creating household chaos early in the morning.

1.     Set a schedule. It is important that your child has a schedule for going to bed that is consistent. This means it should be the same on the weekends as it is during the school week. Doing so helps your child’s body regulate its internal clock. This makes them more likely to be able to naturally get up at the same time each day.

2.     Have the same morning routine. Just as it is important that your child has a consistent schedule for going to bed and getting up, you should also follow the same morning routing. Creating a routine that is the same each day helps to automate the process, which allows your child to automatically know what to do and what comes next.

3.     Get organized the night before. Taking the time in the evening before your child goes to bed to get fully organized can be another way to make the morning go smoother. Setting out your child’s clothes, packing what they need in their backpack and doing other things can cut down on the time it takes to get out the door in the morning.

4.     Give them incentives. One of the reasons children often don’t want to get out of bed on a school day is because they don’t want to go to school. You can give them incentives to get out of bed and distract them from the thought of having to go to school. For example, you can tell them they get to choose what they wear if they get out of bed in the next two minutes, whereas if they fail, you then get to choose. These incentives often provide enough motivation to get them moving.

5.     Hug, kiss and tickle them. If children are still sleepy after you wake them up, you may need to get their heart pumping and blood flowing. This can be done by hugging them or tickling them, since this often wakes them up in a hurry. You can even crank up the radio and encourage them to dance. Once they are moving, it is much easier to get them focused on getting ready for school. :-)