The English Language

Have you ever wondered why foreigners have trouble with the English Language?
Let's face it
English is a stupid language.
There is no egg in the eggplant
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England
French fries were not invented in France.
We sometimes take English for granted
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
If writers write, how come fingers don't fing.
If the plural of tooth is teeth
Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth
If the teacher taught,
Why didn't the preacher praught.
If a vegetarian eats vegetables
What the heck does a humanitarian eat!?
Why do people recite at a play
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
Of a language where a house can burn up as
It burns down
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!
English was invented by people, not computers
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn't a race at all)
That is why
When the stars are out they are visible
But when the lights are out they are invisible
And why it is that when I wind up my watch
It starts
But when I wind up this observation,
It ends.

- adapted (author unknown)

Travel to DepEd RELC-Tuguegarao City

July 27, 2009
Rode in a Victory Liner and had a 12-hour trip from Manila to Tuguegarao City to conduct a Regional Screening of Potential Textbook Evaluator

July 28, 2009
Had an orientation, examination, and interview sessions with the participants.

July 29, 2009
Continuation of interview and examination sessions

July 30, 2009
Finalization of output

July 31, 2009
Arrived from Tuguegarao City from a 10-hour trip through Florida Transport, Inc.

Press this to see pictures

DVD Marathon

I don't have office work today so I watched various DVD tapes. I almost had an eyesore. I watched the following movies: Mr. Bean series, The Grinch, and Diamonds are Forever (James Bond)

Stranded in Navotas

It was 4:30 a.m. when I heard Sec. Jesli Lapus announced on a radio station that there will be no classes for pre-school and elementary pupils today. That means I won't accompany my daughter to her school. I immediately rushed to do my usual morning routine before going to my place of work. Conspicuous was the high water level in the streets before I rode a tricycle. After reaching Hulong Duhat, I transferred to a jeepney only to be stalled to a nearby street due to flash flood. I alighted the vehicle and went back home the hard way (walking through deep water).

I again took a bath and after that made a short nap. After gaining some strength I opened my PC and played some chess games online then I searched for some DVD tapes and watched movies like "Sinjuku Incident," "Bente," and "Fast and the Furious 4."

Sad Fate

Whew...

I just came from witnessing the funeral of my new born niece Ayessa at Ibaan, Batangas. I felt the pain being experienced by my twin brother Noel and his wife Amor. During the first wake, tears were unassumingly longer than usual, sadness were all over the place, and everybody felt wasted. It was good that during the next day everyone recovered on time.

Best regards to both of you Bro. Noel and Amor. Take care always.

English Language Review

I spent the last four days of the week reviewing IELTS with my favorite mentors at Quezon City. I learned a lot from this semi-workshop and mind you our mentors were so generous for providing us with kits and food as well. Our group from IMCS asked our instructors regarding the fees we would pay, however, we were told that everything would be gratis. Instead, we bought a presenter and audio system for them. I was so grateful to see their Mom too who cooked sumptuous dinner and lunch for us. Thank you so much.

Paper Clay Art

This weekend I spent my time doing my new found enjoyable activity. Though it was time consuming I felt the satisfaction after seeing the output. Why didn't I learn it long time ago?

Father's Day Celebration

I was a bit surprised or should I say deeply touched to receive a very appealing drawing from my six year old daughter Helena Beatrice on this very day. Thank you Helena.

We spent the day with activities such hearing a mass, dining at our favorite food chain, and watching the movie "8-legged animal."

Craving for More

Years ago, while I was still at DepEd-Manila, I discussed to my friends and classmates at PLM that once I get my position at DepEd-CO it would be enough and I wouldn't seek for any promotion. My friend and now my kumpadre told me, with total disagreement, that it wouldn't stop there and I would still look for more. True enough, after I got the position that I desired, I searched for more. In fact, I enrolled on various technical courses, plunged into different trainings/activities just to fill the missing information on my CVs. I wanted to learn more and to gain more experiences to satisfy my need for self-actualization. That was the reason why I tried to improve on my craft but no matter how hard I tried, somewhere along the way, stumbling blocks were there to frustrate me--but these challenges add to my enthusiasm to grow and to be better.

Movie watched: Ekis

CFC-SOLD Sportsfest

Hi everyone. I am so happy to tell you that I participated in the 2009 CFC-SOLD Sportsfest held at the Department of Agrarian Reform (Gymnasium) at Quezon City. Guess what? Our tandem, I and Bro. Melvin, captured the badminton team championship award. I also joined the table tennis - singles category but I lost to a better man on the very first round. I was expecting a chess tournament (which is my forte) but it did not push through.

A brief salo-salo ensued after the table tennis event and a simple awarding ceremony was conducted after the event.

Congratulations to the winners and see you next year.

For the pictures please click this CFC-SOLD photos

Oath Taking Ceremony at Cuneta Astrodome

I attended the oath taking ceremony for teachers at Cuneta Astrodome this morning. I felt very happy to meet former colleagues and friends. The top places were dominated by University of the Philippines students both in elementary and secondary levels as usual.

I had the chance to meet the former Undersecretary of the Department of Education and now Commissioner of Philippine Regulation Commission Dr. Nilo L. Rosas.

An abrupt brown-out halted the exciting ceremony.

Here are the pictures on the said event.


entrance of colors

ceremony proper
oath taking
tribute to PRC officers
exit of colors
Photo shoot >>>>>>>>>






To view more pictures please click this >>>

Magazine from JICA

I got an unexpected package from JICA. I immediately opened it and was surprised to see 2 issues of "The Japan Journal". Thank you very much JICA.

P.S.
Just finished watching the movie Blood Diamond and Arachnid

Last Month's Activities

Last month, I was able to finish reading two books--"DepEd Personnel Handbook" and "Handbook for General Orientation - Okinawa International Centre."

Watched three movies--Apocalypto, Babel, and Slumdog Millionaire.

Most of the time were spent on Photoshop review and playing chess online. My chess rating tremendously improved and had broken 2100 barrier.