Something Different

While doing a mid-week clearing of old files
(actually I am telling myself that I should keep
my new year resolution, at least one of the few
listings I did...that is to sort out papers
as soon as I am up, even before the morning coffee
and discard stuffs I don't need), I found an
old email from Bing dating a more than a decade
away. I did not find courage to tear it and my
instant resolution keeping day turned into
a photo shoot with copies of old emails, letters
and press cuttings as model. Data compressing
deleting and re-saving could be done later...
another set of resolutions to keep.
Here's a copy of that Something Different...
and perhaps you have received it, too from
precious friends...
remember, Keep your old love letters.
Throw away your old bank statements.

Winter Wonderland Germany

Posting some photos to share with my blog visitors how
beautiful some areas under zero degree. Brrrrrrrrrrrrh!

If it had been three wise women instead of three wise men...

(Photo: ML)

I found this email which was sent to me by another
dear friend exactly ten years ago entitled:
Three Wise Women
Do you know what would have happened if it had
been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?

They would have asked for direction,
arrived on time,
helped deliver the baby,
cleaned the stable,
made a casserole
and brought practical gifts!

Happy Three Queens!

A Prosperous, Lucky, Love-Filled 2009!

To my dear friends and readers,
Thanks for the forwarded wishes and greetings.
My best wishes for you in 2009.
Cheers!

Pinay von Alemanya

Oh Holy Night! Have a Wonderful Christmas!

(Photo: ML)

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
(source: www.carols.org)

Have a wonderful Christmas!
Easy now on the sweets and spirits!

On the Second Day Before Christmas...Stress, Stress, Stress

Cross Posting

Yes, I am feeling like a do all Goddess...computer man was here
yesterday (he dared to comment about my Christmas tree saying,
Obscene!)...when hubby was just about to enjoy his piece of
yummy chocolate cake...his computer did not work and so
back to his old Mother Board and to his blues!
Did not sleep the whole night...have to do last documentation
reporting for Finanzamt for the Verein and am I still on the
job of copying published activities. Called up Finanzamt
and no one was answering. Who is working anyway at this
time of the season...the news featured Germans on the buying
spree. Everyone wants to buy gifts, and I have not even
bought our supply of milk for the holidays.
Then our newly repaired Espresso machine (the repair costs
almost a new machine)is not really that functioning...
cold coffee, drops of brownish morsels are coming out
of the mini how do you call it....coffee-spout. Help! Mood of
hubby is now getting really all-time low. No computer,
no Espresso. Managgia! (is the spelling right?)
Even the chocolate cake does not seem to work magic anymore.

So, in between, have to unleash my frustrations and post
this blog I promised to complete before
the eve of Christmas...no, before Christmas Day.
Saw some emails...aha, some warring women are now sending
sweet Christmas wishes to each other. Must be in the air...
forgiving for the season and backbiting again next year?
Ah women!

The doorbell rings...post? I hope the parcel is for me
and I am not again a recipient of mailed gifts for my neighbors.

So back to sorting out paperwork and heating meals.
Domestic Goddess!

Tags: alltags, domestic, friendship, greetings, life, list, wish

Source:http://babaylanesworld.ning.com

December 18, International Migrants' Day Cross-posting Balikbayang Sinta

BALIKBAYANG SINTA

Iiwan mo lahat ng iyong minamahal; ito ang palaso na unang
Ipinawawalan ng busog ng pagkatapon…
…Dante Alighieri

Lumipad ka na patungong Roma at London
Balisang nakalingon sa ulap lulan ng naglaboy na panaginip
Lubog sa alaala ng kinabukasang unti-unting nalulunod

Lumipad ka na patungong Riyadh at Qatar
Sa pagkamulat kukurap-kurap sa pagtulog puso’y nagsisikip
Binabagabag ng sumpang naligaw sa salawahang paglalakbay

Lumipad ka na patungong Toronto at New York
Tinutugis ang biyayang mailap nabulusok sa patibong ng banyaga
Sa ulilang pugad anong maamong pag-asa ang nabulabog

Lumipad ka na patungong Chicago at San Francisco
Kumakaway ka pa tiwalang may katuparang babati ng “Mabuhay!”
Alinlangang luha’y naglambitin sa bahag-hari ng bawat yapos

Lumipad ka na patungong Hongkong at Tokyo
“Di kita malilimot” – pumaimbulog ang tukso ng nabitiwang paalam
Nabakling pakpak usok sa bagwis inalagwang talulot ng bituing nasunog

Lumipad ka na patungong Sydney at Taipeh
Ay naku, anong panganib ng gayumang sa pangarap nagkupkop
Ibon kang nagpumiglas alay mo’y talim ng paglayang nilalangit

Lumipad ka O sintang mahal, ngunit saang kandugan ka lalapag?

Bumabalik sa dalampasigang hulog ng iyong hinasang pagtitiis
Aking kaluluwang hiniwa`t ikinalat sa bawat sulok ng daigdig.

Piniling mga Tula ni
E. San Juan, Jr.

in BUKAS, MAY-NILAD!

10th Anniversary of Tatort-Straßen der Welt e.V.

Cologne based Tatort-Straßen der Welt e.V. celebrated its 10th
anniversary last November 23 at the Alten Wartesaal with about
300 invited guests and sponsors.

Dietmar Bär with ML


Fr. Shay Cullen with Lino

Guets of Honor included Fr. Shay Cullen, of PREDA
an organization which focusses primarily on children's rights and
rehabilitation of abused and traumatized children. He is a recipient
of many peace awards for his engagement for the cause of children.
His new book "Kein Kind ist Verloren" (No Child is Lost) was
launched in this celebratory evening.

Klaus J. Behrendt with ML

The 10th Year celebration program presented a short review of
the film Tatort Manila from the year 1998 which shows the story of
a young Filipino child victimized by a German paedophile.
Other documentation film included the visit of Tatort team
with Fr. Shay Cullen to children imprisoned in a Philippine
jail and a short visit to a mango farm interviewing farmers
whose produce are sold in Germany by Dwp Fairhandelshaus or
the so called Third-World shops.
Moderation of the evening program was done by Bettina Böttinger.


Ulrike Thoenniges, coordinator for the Verein.

Cross Posting:Time to Change i.e...sige tulog ka pa!

(Source of photo: upload.wikimedia.org)

Have you adjusted your watches before you went to bed last night?
I did and did not.

I did because hubby wanted to have a wake-up call early this
morning and so had to adjust one alarm clock one hour later for
the year's winter time which started this early morning at 3 am.

I did not because of my habit of not adjusting it for the simple
reason of wanting to have that feeling that I have one more hour
to go back to bed and snooze a bit more. Mag-inin pa...even hubby
knows this term and uses it when he is not in the mood
to get up despite the screaming alarm.

I don't know the term for adjustment of time to the normal
time...in summer we call it Day-light saving time, right? Or is
it only a term in Da Philippines? How about in winter? Do we call
it Night-light saving time or Night-Life Saving Time?

Minsan, naalala ko pa in my early years in Alemanya...we were told
by our language teachers to adjust our watches one hour ahead so
as not to miss our final language examination in German. I did not
only adjust my watch on Saturday night but also did not sleep at all
on Sunday night due to my anxiety of getting up late and not
making it to the final examination. Stressy time talaga sa Alemanya.
Despite the warnings, there were a couple of North African
students who came in panting for breath just in time to get the
exam papers. Stressy life for foreigners in Germany.

Minsan, naalala ko pa din that we (hubby and I) were running like
crazy couple to the train station and missed our connection. Aha,
sisihan walang katapusan. We were blaming each other no end like
thespians in an open air theater at the platform of this train station
until we saw that our watches were on summer time module. Aha...
we realized both our over reaction and moments later, our marital
inter-communication was smoothly repaired.

I still have three other watches to adjust...will do it one watch
everyday until my system gets adjusted to what it is called winter
time...time to hibernate, time to make In-in, Winterschlaf and get
ready for Spring and Summertime. Uhuummmm...idlip pa.

If you have some interesting anecdotes about time adjustment, do
share with us. Kung may naalala kayong karanasan tungkol sa
pagpapalit ng oras sa Europa, paki share lang.

Pinay von Alemania

Reunion in Frankfurt with Chocolates from the Big Apple

Her email surprised me one morning as I have not received anything
from her since decades so I did not even know who the sender was.
She got my email add through her brother who forwards me all
sorts of information from health tips to activities of his
fraternity brothers who have attended this state university
some light years away. How my email landed in his loop is another
matter but I am beginning to enjoy the exchange of the mails in
that particular men's Egroup.
Cora resides in New York since the late 70s and works as a medical
technologist. She wrote that she would be joining a tour group
which will visit Central Europe passing through Frankfurt,
Berlin, Weimar, Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Vienna and Munich
including the romantic area of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and
definitely a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian
Alps of Germany, a two-week tour with folklore shows and
cultural programs to be paid extra.
Oh a fine time to come to Europe, I teased her in my
email, when everyone seems to be getting scared of a looming
recession in America.
We had lunch in this German restaurant Sachsenhäuser Warte
which she saw when she arrived in Frankfurt a day before
but thought it was a church and did not dare to look for
food in there. So in between servings of
squash cream soup which my New Yorker friend found so
delicious and main dish of German meat with potatoes,
we exchanged stories and anecdotes from life in the
province to living abroad.
Asking her again on her travel plan despite the present
financial crisis, Cora answered that she had long planned
her second travel to Europe and that is she....well
happily divorced. Our next rounds of laughters followed
just before we ordered our dessert of Apfelstrudel mit
vanilla sauce.


The best part of this reunion with my friend from the
Big Apple is the Pasalubong she brought for me, all the
cherished chocolates of my childhood, and she
even paid for our lunch. Thank you Cora!



In return, I could only tell her that sorry, you could not
bring some foodstuffs from here to the Land of Milk and Honey
except goodies from the Duty Free Shop.

Golden Cologne Autumn 2008

Source: Photo: Schawaiger, Koeln express
Just updating but photos are not from my own camera but
chanced upon photos. Despite the depressing news on financial
melt-down coming from Wall Street and about a looming
possibility of world recession, nature has given us some
golden moments to reflect:
...on the status of our savings!
Gold or bust
property vs liquidity
friendship vs cash generating time
family vs personal need
work vs engagement
work vs voluntary activities
giving vs expecting
stocks vs savings
and so on.
Enjoy the photos:

(photo: Zik taken from koeln express)

News Sharing: "Tag der offenen Moschee"

(photo taken from internet: bacolod mosque, philippines)

Holiday today in Germany, celebrating Re-unification Day. When
East Germany merges with West Germany... no more walls.
Now we share many things in common...taxes to pay, for example.

Today is also the traditional day of Open House for mosques
in Germany. Information about Moslem religion and other
programs regarding beliefs of our Moslem sisters and brothers
are part of this yearly celebration in Germany in postering
religious tolerance and understanding.

See the posted info taken from another site regarding this
"Tag der offenen Moschee"

Islam-Verbände laden zum Tag der offenen Moschee am 3. Oktober

Evangelischer Pressedienst 26 September 2008

Köln. Die Moscheegemeinden in Deutschland öffnen am Tag der
deutschen Einheit wieder ihre Türen. Der diesjährige "Tag
der offenen Moschee" am 3. Oktober steht unter dem Motto
"Moscheen - Orte der Besinnung und des Feierns", wie der
Koordinationsrat der Muslime am Donnerstag in Köln ankündigte.
Islamische Gemeinden und Verbände laden seit 1997 zum Tag
der offenen Moschee ein.
Der Koordinationsrat mit seinen Mitgliedsverbänden DITIB,
Islamrat, Verband Islamischer Kulturzentren und Zentralrat
der Muslime ist zum zweiten Mal der Veranstalter.

Der Tag der Begegnung schaffe eine Plattform für den
interreligiösen Dialog und biete Moscheebesuchern die
Möglichkeit, den Islam und die Moscheen kennenzulernen, hieß es.
Zum Programm gehören Moscheeführungen, Podiumsdiskussionen
und Ausstellungen. Die Internetplattform "Moscheesuche.de"
listet rund 1.270 eingetragene Moscheen in Deutschland auf.

Bei einer Auftaktveranstaltung am Montag erhält der
Koordinationsrat auch einen neuen Sprecher. Der Vorsitz
wechselt alle sechs Monate.
Am Montag geht er turnusgemäß von Ali Kizilkaya vom Islamrat
auf den Verband der Islamischen Kulturzentren über (see
the article below.)

Posted September 26th, 2008 by hd
Source: http://europenews.dk/de


October 3, want to greet a very nice and beautiful friend of mine
who is celebrating her birthday today. Luzviminda, the reunification
of many beautiful things in that three islands...Have a wonderful
birthday and treat us next time to ice cream and your legendary
chocolate cake.
Cheers!

Photokina in Cologne World of Imaging 23-28.September 2008

Photo taken from:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2585850923_834a79ea59.jpg

German Information taken from photokina.de

Die Messe
photokina 2008

Weltweit einzigartig und erfolgreich!

Innovations- und Trendforum, globale Business- und
Kommunikationsplattform der gesamten Imaging-Branche,
das ist die photokina!

Als internationale Leitmesse der Branche stellt sie das Bild in
den Mittelpunkt und zeigt, wie grenzüberschreitende Vernetzung
verschiedener Produkte und Technologien die Dynamik und das
Wachstum dieses Marktes bestimmen. Bilder sowie
Bildtechnologien entscheiden heute über die Qualität der
modernen Kommunikation,ohne sie ist eine aktuelle und
zukünftige Technologie nicht vorstellbar.

Die photokina ist die weltweit einzige Veranstaltung, die alle
Bildmedien, Bildtechniken und Bildmärkte so umfassend und in
ihrer ganzen Vielfalt darstellt – für Professionals und Consumer.
Damit verfügt Sie über eine einmalige Kompetenz, die ihr den
Status als „Total Solution Provider“ für alle Bildanwender verleiht.

http://www.photokina.de/diemesse/

One day in a demo...

Verdamp lang her...it has been such a long long time sings BAP
in the local Kolsch dialect. The rock band from Cologne City
performed with other artists and musicians in this weekend
of opposition to the scheduled international conference of
Pro-Koeln. The conference was declared to be Verboten-illegal
due to the massive protests and blockades to the site
of the conference of the ultra-right groups. The weekend
protest was organized by several groups,labour unions,political
parties, religious groups and institutions with the theme
Arsch Huh 2008,
Koeln stellt sich quer.
(Rough translate: Ass up, Cologne opposes!)
A demo-concert by concerned rock bands, artists and
social activists accompanied the weekend protest movement while
other more daring oppositionists have been blockading
roads and routes of the ultra-right groupings.

Today, we remember the notorious day when Marcos
declared Martial Law in the Philippines....36 years ago.
As a small reminder of that notorious day, I am
posting here a short video of this concert demo of
Arsch Huh 2008, Cologne City Says No!
No to intolerance, no to racism!
Yes to a multi-cultural society!
Yes to freedom of religion!

To join a demo in Germany is really a treat, I should say.
But don't come in total black with sunglasses and hood...
you are making yourself a target for the secret cameras
of the staff of Germany is looking for the super stars of
demo...get it?

Here's the video with music from BAP, Verdamp Lang her.
Enjoy it and imagine yourself living in
a multi-cultural society...church here, temple,
mosque,synagogue, Wats, sanctuary and beer gardens.

"Arsch huh 2008 Köln stellt sich quer"

A gathering of anti-racism organizations and institutions
against Pro-Koeln conference in Cologne.
Konzert-Demo with BAP, Brings, Hoehnern u.a.

See:www.koeln.de

Mit BAP, Gentleman, Brings, Klee, Höhnern und allen anderen
Köln stellt sich quer: Das Programm "Arsch huh 2008"

Der sogenannte "Anti-Islamisierungs-Kongress" europäischer
Rechtspopulisten trifft in Köln auf breiten Widerstand.
40.000 Gegendemonstranten werden erwartet. Wie beim ersten
"Arsch-Huh-"Konzert mobilisieren
jetzt auch wieder Kölns Musiker gegen Rechts. Hier das Programm
für den kommenden Samstag.

09.00 Uhr Versammeln sich die Demonstranten auf dem Roncalli Platz

09:30 Uhr Auftritt Tommy Engel Band mit Lammers und Steffen
und als Zugabe Das Trio Otta, Schlimbach, Schiffer

10:05 Uhr Kundgebung mit politischen Redebeiträgen -
Zwischenmoderation Heinrich Pachl

11:00 Uhr Umzug der Demonstranten zum Bühnenstandort
Gürzenichstraße - Quatermarkt

11:30 Uhr Höhner
ökomenisches Friedensgebet
Redebeitrag
Zeltinger Band
Nikitakis
Redebeitrag
KLEE
Redebeitrag
Wilfried Schmickler
Redebeitrag
Köster, Hocker & Friends
Anke Schweitzer & Rolf Lammers
Redebeitrag
Brings
Gentleman
Redebeitrag
BAP
Arsch Huh - Alle zusammen

September 14 and the Mooncake

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival or Happy Mooncake Festival!
This is not a posting on how to make these calorie bombs or
mooncakes but the photographed pinyin or yue bing
(moon biscuit) cake is prepared to be eaten
during our brunch this Sunday morning.
Well, not really prepared but as our original plan
to eat out turned into eating in, I have to look for
something eatable to go with our Espresso Casa Gusto
Cremoso meaning, Espresso if I see spilled milk
inside the fridge (placing milk carton is always a tricky
business in my kitchen) or Cappuccino if we could
splurge on this breakfast item.
Meanwhile, the mooncake is waiting on the breakfast
table as hubby gets back to bed while I check
my emails and found greetings sent by Chinese women
in one of my egroups:

祝大家中秋節快樂!

Could you guess the meaning?

In case you wish to know more about this mooncake
eating festival and Mid-summer Festival...here's
a short info taken from chinesefood.about.com.

The Moon festival (also called the Mooncake or
Mid-Autumn festival)falls on September 14th in the year 2008.
What is the Moon festival?
Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar
calendar,when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the
entire year,the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children are told
the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes
out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend
surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient
times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky.
The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine
extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western
Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal.
However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished
to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest
on the day of the Moon festival.

Hey, I just want to eat a mooncake!

祝大家中秋節快樂!

Back to Alemania and Mamma Mia!

 
Ciao!
The week of returning to the nest and Mamma Mia!
What I did the first thing in the morning was to
check the weighing scale and NO, would not, couldn't
say how much I am weighing now. Bad news for those women
who have been impressed by how fast I have lost weight just
by one week of Heilfasten. No... in the land of first and second
plates every meal, Heilfasten is not working at all! But honestly
I have been enjoying every serving during and after our
camping, been noting all the recipes on how to do simple pastas
by just having simple olive oil to top pastas and green leaves,
Sapori as Glen said everytime we had our plates of Italian
pastas in all sizes and names.

Will make a flashback of my sinful days in Bella Italia but
first explanation on the photo above with Meryl Streep
and Pierce Brosnan. This is my first film
this month of August this year after more than two months
of sojourn in Italia teaching or rather trying to teach
Filipino kids the national language of their roots and some values
and traditions like they should obey me as their camping teacher
without questioning my declared authority. It did not work!

Back to the photo from this musical film Mamma Mia...well, hubby
was ready for anything that night so I dared him to join me in this
film, and what a delightful evening we had or at least I had while
humming the winner takes it all. Imagine the scene where the cool
Agent 007 hangs Chinese lanterns and feeling totally helpless in
the presence of a singing ex-girlfriend, Donna (Meryl Streep).
Hubby was enjoying a musical film for the first time!
Anyway, I told him that I would come back to see the film
with my what you called in German "Gleichgesinnten" meaning
like-minded,kindred spirit but not necessarily sharing my
post Bella Italia sojourn, Mamma Mia!...obesity, ugh!
Here's the Tartufo Queen after days of Italian pasti
and tiramisi...I don't know if there's such a word.

How to Grind without Getting Cramps

Here's a good piece of entertainment for you.
To get the most benefit from watching it, get
yourself ready for real moving. Enjoy it!

Hmmmmm! After one and half hour of waiting for youtube
to finish my download, the video is again choppy!
Are there millions of youtubers out there uploading
videos or my modem needs replacement.

Will have to re-upload the video.

In the meantime, I'm getting cramps waiting for signal
from youtube.

Updates No. 2

Hey! Have to do a redo of the video posting.
I have no idea why it gets so choppy.
Wait please for the next posting. Sorry
about this.

Updates, Ngayon at Kailan Man

Ciao!
I am back and ready to spend sleepless nights to do postings
after more than two months of summery hibernation in the
land of fattening pastas and deliriously delicious ice creams.
Meanwhile, let me share this impromptu rendition of
Ngayon at Kailanman from the winner of the Sobre
La Habanera y La Musica Tradicional competition held
in Spain, the University of the East Chorale Group.
Enjoy it!
This is the reloaded video. Hope it works now.