Maasin City at its 10th

When Maasin officially became a City last August 10, 2000, it celebrated its Charter Day annually. And as of this year, whole Maasin City celebrates its 10th anniversary of becoming a city. Maasinhons really await this kind of event that Maasin has because there are lots of entertaining activities. It is when almost all the Maasinhons from different Barangays, even kilometers away, went to the city just to join and witness the anniversary celebration.

The event was started with a Holy Mass at 6:00 AM followed by a long parade. Students from different schools, such as Saint Joseph College (high school and college), College of Maasin (high school and college), Maasin Vocational Highschool, STI and Maasin City College, all Barangay Chairman and their Kagawads (Council) together with the Brgy. SK Chairmans and their Sk Kagawads, teachers and government employees and officials joined the parade. Wearing their uniforms made the parade colorful and amazing to watch for. People at the side watching the parade took some pictures of the smiling faces. After a long walk during the parade, people were still energetic as they gathered at the Maasin City Gym. There, a short program was held with a cheerdance and Drum and Bugle competition of the previously mentioned schools. During the program, barangay winners were also announced after days of evaluation to each barangays. And I'm so proud with my place, Barangay Malapoc Norte for winning as the Cleanest and Greenest Barangay in Maasin. Next year, our Barangay will be excempted in the contest for winning it in three consecutive years. But the most awaited moment in the program was the speech of the guest speaker who also has a high position in Government in other cities or in our country.

Outside the City Gym, various booths were installed. Each booth represented three barangays that displayed their barangay's products and some decoration and design to present their barangay. It was a contest. Furthermore, many other activities were held like carabao racing, catching pig with oil on its body (whoever gets it will own it) and also normal bike racing.

This whole day event brought fun and smiles on Maasinhons' faces. This was an unforgettable and memorable event for us. This is the proof how jolly and enthusiastic Maasinhons are. I will certainly not miss the next year's Charter Day celebration and you all can come and join us witnessing the big event!

Know My Place: Maasin City

I told you already a little bit about me, hence it's time for you to learn a bit about my place: Maasin City. This city is probably less known to you than other cities such as Davao City, Manila, Cebu City, Batangas etc. Therefore, let me take this opportunity to tell you something about Maasin City.

Compared to Manila, Cebu or Davao, my city Maasin is just a small place. It is one of the oldest towns in Southern Leyte and became its capital. Nowadays, it is called Maasin City since August 10, 2000. Maasin City is characterized by relatively flat lands along the coastal areas and rugged and mountainous towards the interior. It has seventy barangays, that is, administrative units. You can find the list of barangays in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasin_City). I live in barangay Malapoc Norte.

We, people living in Maasin City, are called Maasinhons. We speak Bisaya, in a kind of Cebuano or Boholano dialect (says Wikipedia), but I think it is also a little bit different, so it is our own dialect. Most people here are farmers and fishermen. Maasinhons really possess the characteristics of true Filipinos. They are hospitable and they know how to entertain people especially the tourists. They are hard working and will always find a way, difficult or not, just to earn money. They are loving and caring as evidenced by their families. Some other characteristics of a Maasinhon are respectful, kind, responsible and helpful. Whenever their neighbors have a problem, a Maasinhon is willingly and ready to help. And the most important thing that I can proudly say about Maasinhons is that they are religious. Approximately 90% of us are Roman Catholic. In fact, most of the Maasinhon couples are members of either Couples for Christ or BEC. The youth also are active in many religious encounters.

Maasin City is accessible by land and sea. Regular boat trips from Manila to Maasin takes 27 hours while watercraft services from Cebu bring travelers to Maasin in almost 4 hours (via Bato or Hilongos, or 6h overnight via Maasin directly). There are also buses running the line Maasin-Tacloban (ca 5h) or Maasin-Manila (I think that takes nearly 24h). You can find more information on this website: http://www.maasincity.com/gen-info.htm

There are also few tourist spots that make Maasinhons so proud of. One of these is Danao Tree Park, also known as Maasin City Forest Park. Many tourists visit and love its beauty. Some Maasinhons spend their family day here instead of going to the beach. In fact, Regional Jamboree was held here and there are some rumors that National Jamboree will be held in Danao. Maasin has nice and wonderful waterfalls such as in Cagnituan. Its water is cold and refreshing. Maasin has also places that tourists will really like to go especially for religious people. The Mother Mary Shrine, a big statue of Our Lady Of The Assumption, located at the top of a hill, can be accessed by a long stairway. The Shrine is visible for many miles. There is also the Diocesan Shrine, located at Montecueva, Basak, Rizal, Maasin City. It is officially called the Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption and the Precious Blood of Jesus. Masses are held here sometimes, in a cave. There is also Hanginan where people go to pray for St. Francis of Assissi. You have to walk for more or less two hours before you will reach to the top of the hill. And most of all, an important edifice that brings pride to the Maasinhon is the notable old Maasin City Cathedral, our church from the Spanish era. Masses are held here daily.

 

When you got hungry while roaming around Maasin, that is not a problem. Maasin has a Jollibee and restaurants such as Kinamot sa Abgao, Kinamot sa Pugaling, Supercha and Ati-Atihan. You sleep best in one of the pensione houses or hotels, such as Ampil, Villa Romana (see the picture above) and GV Pensione house.

When it comes to education, Maasin City has lots of schools, both public and private. Almost all of the Barangays have elementary schools. For highschools, there are few public schools in rural part. There are also private highschool institutions such as Saint Joseph College, College of Maasin and Maasin City Academy. We have only four colleges, namely Saint Joseph College, College of Maasin, STI and Maasin City College which was just established four years ago.

For you to know more about why Maasin is one of the good places to live,I interviewed some persons who are close to my heart:

"I like here in Maasin because Maasinhons are religious and the place itself is peaceful." - Fe Alico (My Mother)

"Maasin is one of the places that I loved since people here are so kind and friendly that's why I chose to study here." - Margarita Almeda (Bontoc, So. Leyte)

"Maasin is so good to live in because it is a peaceful place and the people are jolly, easy to go with." - Jeralden Bolo (Tagnipa, Maasin City)

In my own opinion, Maasin is worth and good to live in not because it is peaceful but it is where my loved ones are. Since they loved it here, I also do. Another thing is people are so disciplined; they followed rules and regulations. I'm so proud to be one of the Maasinhons. So, what are you waiting for? Come and visit Maasin City!

Food trip...

Since we graduated from our two-year course, not all of us could proceed to Cebu to continue the third and fourth year Nursing course. Most of us stopped our studies for some reasons. Some went to other places to work while others just stayed at their house doing nothing but the household chores. Well, one of us started even blogging as you can read here. 
 Even if we, my former classmates and myself, haven't seen each other regularly anymore, we never missed to text to each other by phone. Sometimes when texting we decided to meet again for a food trip. Food trip is the activity that we always did everytime we met. We just love to eat. Don't get me wrong, no one is fat or chubby among us. We are all perfectly slim. Five of us are always participating in that activity, namely Donna, Yhing, 'Mommy' Ritchiele, Rozel and Yours truly.

August 8, 2010 was the day when we agreed to have a food trip. But suddenly, it seemed that the chance played and tested us. A problem came to us! The problem was the loss of Rozel's cellphone. The time we planed to use for the food trip was used to look for her lost cellphone. We went to places where we strolled but we could never find it. Rozel was quite sad, she cried and us, as a friend, we comforted her telling her to stop crying as we will find that lost cellphone of her. The evening came and to our dismay, we never saw the cellphone. We were so worried that her family would be angry about the loss.

My foreign readers might think this is no big deal. But you have to understand that we are from the Philippines, and cellphones are among the dearest treasures that we have. Not only are cellphones very expensive for us (compared to other things we need to buy, such as food, clothes, and so on), but they are also the most important tool to keep contact with our friends and to socialize. Yes, we love to socialize more than anything else, therefore our cellphones are important.

But let's come back to my food trip story: With these worries about the lost phone inside us, we still continued our food trip. We cooked three packs of Lucky Me Pancit Canton and six dried fishes with drinks of Nestea Iced Tea. While Donna, Yhing and Mommy Ritch prepared the food, me and Rozel prepared the table and chairs. We had our dinner outside Yhing's house. As we pensively nourished ourselves on our dinner, we never missed to talk about the lost cellphone. We also talk about activities while we are at home or the love lives of our friends. We gulped down our food and it satisfied us after fancying it before. We were so full. After the dinner, we continue talking about sensible and nonsense things.

We still did enjoy even if the worries were still in us. It was just simple foods but it's not important. What matters most are our moments together. The loss of the phone should be bearable as eventually Rozel can buy a new one, but the memories of being together is something that money cannot buy. Circumstances or people can take away our material possessions, they can take away our money, they can take away our health. But no one can ever take away our precious memories. So let us not forget to make time and take opportunities to make memories everyday!

Biking ...

Have you experienced smiling alone whenever you think about one thing that already happened? Just like me, I did it many times! Let me share to you one of the reasons of my smiles. Hmmmp... I know what you are thinking but sorry, you're wrong ... it's not about love. For you to know it, let's start...

July 31, 2010, Saturday at 4:51 in the afternoon, I considered this day as one of those unforgettable and memorable days I've ever had for my entire life. I won't ever forget this because it is the day that the thing I dreamed to learned since my childhood, at the same time afraid to try, came true. Wanna know what it is?

Since my childhood, I dreamed to have a bicycle and to learn how to ride it but the chance never let me. Just a normal bike! I am not talking about motorbikes; sure, riding a motorbike would be even better, but I am talking here just about those bikes where you really have to move your feet to get it going. Seeing others on bike made me envious. Sometimes, I just imagined myself doing such a thing. Actually, there were times when my friends offered to teach me how to ride it but I refused since I was afraid. It's not the injury that I was afraid of. There was something worrying on my mind if I try it. I can't point what it was but maybe it was my mother who might be mad at me if I did it, or I was just afraid of other's tease.

Until the time came, that I had the will and determination to practice it. Maybe, I was just encouraged by my cousin seeing him riding it and doing some basic exhibitions. So, I borrowed his bike. And you know what, I was sick that time suffering from fever and LBM but still I practiced biking. At first, I found it difficult. My cousin assisted me but he suddenly stopped. He was irritated about my complaints for him pushing me too fast. With this, I tried on my own and to my own surprise, I suddenly knew it, I know how to handle it even if there's still rough moves but at least I can drive it without any assistance. Yahooooooo!

I was so very happy that time. I can't really believe it. Before, I thought I need weeks or months to master it but now it took only less than an hour for me to learn. On the next day, I was suffering from muscle ache for three days but it was fine with me because the payment for that pain is my achievement; an achievement that will last. Pains are worth it. It's silly to say this but it's true. Now, thinking about it, smile never fades from my face. I just laugh at myself thinking of those years I've wasted, because in just a day or an hour, to be exact, my dream came true. Now, I always go to my aunt's house every Saturday just to borrow their bicycle.

I know you will just laugh at it but what can I do, it's the truth. And I'm proud to say that I made it after a long time of waiting. I'm so proud of myself!

My first posting ...

Liza, Azil, Baby Fe, Fe, Very Good and Pagod; these are the names my neighbors, friends and family, respectively, preferred to call me instead of calling me through my real name Fe Analiza. I'm already 19 years old living at Brgy. Malapoc Norte, Maasin City, Southern Leyte. I'm just an ordinary girl coming from an ordinary family and I'm proud to say that I belong to this kind of family.
As everybody, I have many ambitions, goals to reach and dreams to actualize for they say "No human being alive has no ambition. Even the laziest among us who has 'no ambition' has the ambition to have no ambition." My ambitions focus on giving good life to my family. I don't dream to become one of the richest people in the country or world. Not having financial problems and can buy anything what we need is enough for me.

I also want to help people who are in need especially those people with illness. I want to touch people's lives through caring for them. That is why I studied Nursing in college. As of this year, I graduated from the two year Practical Nursing course. I was supposed to be 3rd year nursing student in UC (University of Cebu) but I stop. Why did I stop? Let's talk about it a little bit later. During my school days, I made my parents so proud of me for I'm always one of the top in our class. In my elementary years, I was a consistent first honor from grade I to VI. It became a way for me to become a full scholar when I was first year in high school and half-scholar for the remaining three years. During college, I was a full scholar and proud to say that I graduated with special award during our clinical graduation.

"We can never tell what would tomorrow bring us". I love this line for I can compare it to my current situation. Maybe most of you wonder why I stop my studies. Financials could be mentioned as reason, but the main reason is that I stopped to give way to my elder sister so she can finish a college course, even just a two-year course. This maybe the biggest sacrifice I ever made in my entire life. My life could be boring now but I never regret even once. Thinking of my sister marching towards the stage to get her diploma makes me inspired to be more happy and satisfied with the decisions I have made for her. I never thought that I could experience this kind of situation. I'll be doing this blog until I can go back to school or get a job. This could be my pastime. Hope you will like my blog......