Yup, you are done with Christmas decór.
But you can still check out my article with tips if you’d like. 
Yey! Haha. You can also find the rest of my Christmas Photography in the article as well. For part one and two, click here and here consecutively. Fanks!
P.S. I know I’ve been talking about this a couple of times already but please do extend a helping hand for the Victims of Typhoon Sendong. I cannot stress this enough but they need all our help. It makes me teary thinking what they are going through, to have lost all that they worked for (some their whole lives) in just a flash (plus while they were sleeping) and having to stand up and start over again. Sometimes we can’t appreciate the food we have on our tables or the numerous clothes we have in our closets while they have trouble figuring out where to get their next meal and praying hard that it won’t rain because all the clothes they have left are the ones they are wearing. There are different drop centers in the metro and I heard that LBC offers free shipping for the goods (they need clean drinking water, blankets, clothes, etc.) you plan to donate (however, I still have to confirm this). You can also volunteer for Red Cross if you have time and the resources to spare, click here. Thank you!
As quoted from the CFIF (Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation, Inc.), “Responsible for over 60% of the Philippine exports, Cebu is recognized as the furniture capital of the Philippines. To date, the Philippine furniture export industry, with Cebu as its biggest contributor, ranks among the top ten import source countries of the USA. A big 70% of the total furniture products of the country are exported to the US, and the remaining 30% distributed to the European, Middle Eastern and Asian markets.”
I have always taken great pride in the amazing designers we have here in Cebu – I get inspired by how they have gravitated towards pushing the envelope in design limitations and the innovations they constantly come up with. Being in the interior design field, I had always been exposed to this even when I was still a student in university and my fascination hasn’t wavered even up to now.
Cebu designers and manufacturers make use of indigenous materials such as arorog and butay (coconut twig), rattan, bamboo, sea grass, abaca (manila hemp), tree bark and even termite mounds – I’m telling you, it’s amazing!
A good example of a furniture company – I was able to drop by for a visit to Murillo’s showroom (they have a really cool one) not too long ago. I have always found a liking to their pieces and I love (the opportunity of ) being able to drop by different Cebuano furniture showrooms – I could spend the entire day just ogling their pieces. (True story. Haha.)
Looks cool doesn’t it?
Quick Details about Murillo’s Export International -
1. They define their brand as – “Innovative ways of interpreting tradition”. This company is engaged in design and manufacture of high quality furniture and accessories.
2. Murillo furniture, accessories and art works are hand made inside their factory in Cebu, Philippines.
3. They utilize rattan, wicker, leather, iron, aluminum, wood, abaca, sea grass and other natural materials mixed with man-made ones. They like to play around with subtle contrasts on colors and textures and they lean on clean fluid lines and excellent details.
They were nice enough (and super cool!) to lend us some of their pieces and they have really good service. (Big thanks to Sir Allan Murillo and Lorelyn!)
I will definitely post more about other furniture designers here in Cebu in the future and a big kudos to the Cebu and Philippine Furniture Industry! Let us all show our support
Before I begin talking more about certain things for this post, I want to share something really important. My dad hasn’t been feeling well (he doesn’t show it) and this greatly concerns me (it makes me teary actually 
) – I hope that it’s nothing serious. I would really appreciate it if you can include him in your prayers. Thank you very much! *Hug*
Faith is indeed an amazing thing – it makes us go beyond what is mundane, it makes us go on believing. I have faith that my dad will be alright. I am juggling things at the moment and I am working on something for my future (it’s something big actually), I have no control over how it will turn out but I do have faith that it will be alright.
This thing called faith presents itself to anyone and everyone (whatever age, size, race), at any given time (tomorrow or even today) and in different forms (may it be while your on your way to lunch or while you are munching on your cereal). It is (also) indeed overwhelming (in a very good way) when I see it in other people or when I experience it with other people.
A few weeks ago, we celebrated Sinulog here in Cebu. For those who aren’t familiar with this event, it is a yearly mardi gras (usually the second sunday of January) in Cebu (it is one of the grandest festivals in the Philippines) greatly celebrated to honor Señor Sto. Niño, the child Jesus. People from all over the Philippines and a great deal of tourists make it a point to come here for this celebration (flights and accommodations are fully booked by december more or less). The streets are usually packed and people forego using their cars and basically just walk on the streets – dancing to the beat, watching the floats and various participants in brightly colored costumes dancing in the parade or simply enjoying some munchies being sold by vendors lined up on the street. I’ll stop explaining for now and show you some pictures instead.
If you think this is amazing (because it really is!), I just want you to know that this isn’t even the main Sinulog event yet. People go to mass as early as 4;30 in the morning for nine days leading up to the Sinulog proper.
Face Painting
We at PIID Cebu (the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers – Cebu) are starting to make it a yearly thing to hold a face painting booth during Sinulog as a fundraiser. I am still getting used to painting stuff on people (especially on their faces! haha) but it is indeed fun and it doesn’t hurt to get a hug from cute little kiddies who get their faces painted with pandas.
Here I am! (By the way, the butterfly Polaris’ painted above was super pretty.)
Sinulog Participants
More than 20 contingents (and their participants) from all over the Philippines (Lanao del Sur, Cagayan de Oro, etc.) join in this yearly celebration of devotion – rain or shine (it was raining a great deal this year and everyone got soaked), they continue on dancing and we continue on cheering for them and joining in. (Little trivia – I’ve been going to this since I was a kid.)
With regards to the third and fourth picture in this set, the Cebu Contingent (being the host) was paying tribute to how the Chinese have greatly influenced our culture (when they came to live here many years ago, prior to the colonization of countries such as Spain and the United States). The fireworks was amazing this year!
In general, I took a gazillion (gazillion pictures) during the Sinulog but limited the pictures to be displayed in this post. I look forward to many more Sinulog celebrations to come (this celebration never fails to overwhelm me)! Pit Señor!
Have faith everyone – may it be in the smallest things and more importantly in yourself (and all your endeavours – I have faith in mine, more specifically the academic one at present. Please pray for me on this as well. Thanks!).
“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” – Gail Devers
P.S. On a side note (since I was craving the night before and it was really late already), I made some mashed potatoes earlier today – I mashed away because I usually like this done smooth and a bit creamy. I added a couple of herbs, a hint of garlic and some beef broth in mine. Yummmm! I love black pepper too! I sprinkle in on most of the stuff I eat. Haha.
P.P.S. Here are a couple of links. If I have, by some way, made you more curious about Sinulog, you may get more information about it here. If you wish to experience Sinulog with us, do drop by! The website above contains details on how to go about it. If you wish to check out my very first post for this year, click here. If you wish to know about the color of the year for 2011, click here.
Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. Day
Today is declared as a non-working holiday in Cebu City since it commemorates the 132nd birthday anniversary of the late president Sergio Osmeña Sr.
A few tidbits as we remember him today -
1. Don Sergio Osmeña’s Sr. forty-two years in public service began in 1904. He also served as the youngest governor of Cebu at the mentioned year at the age of twenty-five.
2. He was the fourth president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1944-1946). He assumed presidency when President Manuel Quezon died.
P.S. The Sea Green Journal is already one month old! I can hardly believe it – it is Lé Cucumber and tres magnifique! (Haha). I am having a lot of fun and I hope you are too. Cheers! I can hardly wait until we turn another month old.
Yey! The Sea Green Journal is already one month old
Hopefully what transpired (and simply the fact that we are Filipinos and Human Beings) will remind us to focus on what is still important.
Dear Philippines, I believe in you still.
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
- Confucious -
To all the casualties of the unfortunate incident and to all your families and loved ones, my only hope was for it to have ended peacefully. I am very sorry for what you have gone through. Now, I pray for your recovery, for hope and for strength to be able to move forward after the devastation.
