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~ Touringkitty
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categories: Uncategorized
Year: 2014
Everest Academy Manila: The first Catholic International School in the Philippines
categories: Press Releases
As a mom of a preschooler, my question these days is this: “Where do I send my daughter to school?”
Last month, I and another mom-blogger, Irene, through Mommy Bloggers Philippines were privileged to be invited to take a look at a Catholic International School at BGC. Two words struck me: Catholic and International. It was the first time I have heard of a school offering both criteria I was looking for, so it instantly piqued my curiosity.
I first heard of Everest Academy Manila from another Philippine Madrigal Singers alumna, who teaches in the school. During my visit to Everest, I even saw her in action, teaching a small class of all-boys who are in fourth grade.
You read it right, all boys. At Everest Academy, they separate genders starting fourth grade. From their website, “Research has proven that brain development differs between boys and girls which becomes significant when they are between 9 and 12 years old. Everest offers gender specific education in a co-ed campus starting in fourth grade.”
We were welcomed by their Communications and Administration Manager, Corinne Medrana. Her name rang a bell, and I later found out she was one of the founding members of LATCH.
Betty Rivera, the Executive Director of Everest Academy, explained to us how the school molds its students into becoming Christian leaders. She also elaborated on Integral Formation, the school’s most important “asset.” It is a registered trademark, which has four pillars — intellectual, human, spiritual, and apostolic development. Likewise, she stressed that the students’ parents and families are their “partners” in teaching, that’s why Everest encourages the active involvement of families in school activities and events.
Betty added that Everest has a sister school in Taguig, Mano Amiga, where Everest students interact with the less fortunate students of the school through outreach activities and regularly visiting and playing with them.
We also got to tour around Everest. Here are some snaps I got from the tour:
After the tour, their principal, Mr. Rosano Landar, talked about the school’s curriculum. Mr. Landar is my husband’s friend and kababayan from Iloilo, that’s why my husband was glad to know that I got a chance to tour Everest.
Parents nowadays are very much concerned about the teaching method the school is using. Mr. Landar mentioned that the main element of teaching in Everest is Integral Formation, which combines Progressive and Traditional methods. How progressive are they? I saw students in middle school history class holding iPads and laptops. Yes, they are allowed to use them for educational purposes. And with the very small class size that they maintain (maximum of 25 students per class), the teachers can focus both on individual and group instruction. Everest emphasizes this, because they want their students to get to know each other, not only classmates of one year level, but across all levels.
Indeed, it was a homey feel when we visited Everest. The administration knows their students by name, and converses with them like they were their own children. They invited one of their students, Santi Puno, who gave us a firsthand glimpse of how it is to be an Everest student. I found a Youtube video of Santi, also talking about his Everest experiences so far, which was taken last year. He was a well-mannered, eloquent young man, who we all think would have a good future in politics (his grandfather is former mediaman and lawyer, Dong Puno).
If you’re wondering how “International” the students are in Everest, the majority come from purely Filipino families. A small percentage are from foreign families. Also, since it is an international school Everest is using a curriculum designed and licensed by the National Consultants for Education which is based in Atlanta, Georgia. They have local DepEd accreditation for the elementary level and is accredited by AdvancEd.
Everest Academy belongs to a network of more than 200 international schools all over the world under the Regnum Christi Movement and the Legionaries of Christ. With their competent teachers and peaceful and happy learning environment, students nurture positive studying habits and create fun memories with their peers. Santi was asked to describe in one word how it feels to be in Everest, and he said with full smiles: it feels like “home.”
~ Touringkitty
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This school year 2014-2015, Everest is opening its doors to incoming Kindergarten and Grade 9 students. They shall expand up to twelfth grade as each school year passes. For more information, visit their website, follow them on Facebook and Youtube.
Stuck on Stories: Read these books over and over again
categories: Uncategorized
Stuck on telling stories to your little ones? Not anymore with these cool books!
We discovered the Stuck on Stories by accident at the Relay shop at Changi Airport on our way home. I was gathering all my loose change in order to dispose them (read: last minute “syeping!”).
It was literally last minute, as we were about to board when we got to the gate. I saw these board books and settled on the Dora the Explorer book.
Stuck on Stories have 10 suction cup characters and a story board book inside. What you do is stick the suction cup characters along the story. It’s as if you are telling the story yourself!
I am not quite familiar with the other characters. All I know is Dora, Boots, and Swiper. So, I interchanged Tico and Isa, hahaha! Good thing Aria was quick to correct me.
Back in Manila, Aria got interested in Disney Princesses. So, we scoured book stores to find one, and had it reserved even!
We got to meet the Princesses’ furry friends as we read along the story. Aria got to familiarise herself with the characters and their own stories.
And of course, the resident Kitty did not miss researching on this.
This is not yet available in the Philippines, but Toys R Us abroad has this already. Can’t wait for it to come here.
The suction cups we have used in other ways, like counting, as seen in my Instagram (follow me @touringkitty).
Phidal carries a wide variety of children’s books which aid them in learning and having fun at the same time. Since 1979, the company has been developing safe, innovative, and creative products that spark the imagination of children and children at heart.
For more information visit their website www.phidal.com.
~ Touringkitty
Disclaimer: all products are purchased by me. I am, in no way, connected to the company, and did my own research about the products cos they’re just so cute and collectible!
Run for Breastfeeding: Join the Nurture Run on May 18
categories: Breastfeeding, Press Releases
UPDATE: The event is rescheduled to May 18 from April 13. See details on their website.
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You would definitely join a fun run for any good cause, but would you run for Breastfeeding?
The recent calamities that struck our country underscored the importance of breastfeeding, especially in times of emergency. Lactation support groups made their way to far flung areas where breastfeeding and child feeding support are much needed. Milk donations poured out, even wet nurses came to aid.
Breastfeeding is best for babies. Even best for their parents and families. It’s most accessible, practical, economical, and greatly beneficial. Personally, I advocate extended breastfeeding, meaning beyond two years. I still breastfeed my 3 and a half year old daughter because we both know it is still best. We complement with nutritious food, of course. I cannot enumerate the many wonderful benefits breastfeeding has given my family.
Spring has sprung, but for us here in sunny Manila, summer is kicking in. Looking for something worthwhile to do?
Join the Nurture Run on April 13 May 18, 2014, Sunday, 5:30 AM to 10:00 AM at the Quezon Memorial Circle Cultural Center of the Philippines. This upcoming event is led by a Beauty, Brains, and Breastfeeding (BBB), a nonprofit and lactation consulting organization committed to promote, support and protect the rights of the breastfeeding mother and her child.*
BBB has the UNICEF, the International Labor Organization (ILO), as well as local government agencies, as its staunch partners in implementing its goals.
The event was introduced to online media through a press launch a couple of months ago at Recess by Chef Chris.
BBB’s partnership with international and local agencies strengthens them to fulfill their main mission, which is to uphold breastfeeding in emergencies and in the workplace. Still, new mothers are not aware that it is their right to breastfeed even when working.
Other speakers included Henry Mdebwe of the UNICEF and Kate Demetrio of the National Nutrition Council. Mr. Mdebwe discussed the benefits of and the global policy on breastfeeding. Kate, on the other hand, gave us a picture on how formula feeding is an added risk during emergencies.
Media partners and bloggers were invited to this event. I got invited through Mommy Bloggers Philippines, a very supportive online community of mom bloggers.
In attendance were: Glaiza Tomino of Mommy Musings, Lanie Lluch of Tweenselmom, Jen Bave of I Am Mommy Bave, Nadia De Leon of NanayStrip, Bedalyn Aguas of MamiAndFamily, and yours truly.
Watch out our blogs for more about breastfeeding! Check out my own posts here.
Act fast and join the Nurture Run! Race kits cost P450 which contains the race bib and a shirt. Get your race kits here. Not only will you run and be fit this summer, you will also help increase awareness in this really natural act of breastfeeding. This summer, #LetsBeReal.
~ Touringkitty
Lenten Reflections: First Sunday of Lent
categories: Uncategorized
Before the First Week of Lent ends, allow me to share a few words of reflections.
The Gospel passage last Sunday was about the Big T: Temptation.
When God created the world, he did not expect it to be flawless. Remember the Scripture only said that it was good, He did not mention that it had to be perfect. God wanted balance, that’s why He gave man freewill to do things. Exactly what Adam and Eve displayed with the forbidden fruit.
They were tempted. And they gave in.
Giving in. Yes, temptation is everywhere, BUT we can choose NOT to give in.
It is probably still the hardest thing yet to achieve, even ice creams are named Temptations!
Someone even argues why we should NOT resist temptation. E. H. Chapin says:
“The trouble with resisting temptation is that you may not get another chance.”
Cruel Life! Here’s something even more cruel.
Giving into temptation, I believe, is far off from taking chances. I think that if we pray for it, we would better discern the two, and we can make a really good choice between the two.
Clearly, the Big T for me is the cause of the Big C: Cancer. Cancer in society that is rooted by GIVING IN TO temptation.
What do we choose?
~ Touringkitty
Rasa Sayang Trip Day 4: MRT FTW!
categories: Uncategorized
Check out the collective of Singapore travel posts at this link.
Date: September 28
Location: Singapore
So, the night before we have sent off the family back to Manila. Now, we’re three!
We had our final breakfast for the trip at Kopitiam.
Then we hit the MRT, without stroller this time. I dared bear the little girl in the sling all day long! Love my Next9 sling!
First stop: Raffles Hotel!
We passed by the Civilian War Memorial Park and saw this! Yes, our favorite bread is originally from Singapore!
Then we went to Esplanade, the famed arts hub of Singapore.
We saw this exhibit inside.
We also saw a familiar word in a postcard.
We went back to Ion Orchard for lunch. We settled in this place.
Then we went back to the hotel to check out and pick up our luggage. Off we go the airport!
When we got home, Aria immediately unpacked her new kitchen set which was a gift from my cousin Mark. She did not wait for the next day to check out her new toy.
It was indeed a fun trip for all of us, especially that this was the first family trip out of the country. We learned so much about Singapore’s culture in those four days. Such a fast-paced country with super efficient public transport system, lots of buildings, lots of things to do and see, and lots of yummy food.
And we are all happy that Aria was really really happy during this trip. Even if we had crying bouts during sleeptime (homesickness, small room and bed), she had the best time cos she still remembers everything up to now, even if she doesn’t see photos and videos of it anymore (imagine she watched the videos for weeks after the trip, even several times a day until she got tired of it!). She calls each Ferris wheel here Singapore flyer, to the amazement of taxi drivers.
Huge thanks go to our cousin and his wife for taking time to meet us and tour us around! Lastly, we thank the Lord for covering us under His protection for the duration of the trip and always. That no one got sick or harmed. Thank You for the opportunity!
And that this happened during my 30th birthday, it was such an amazing experience. All praises for the gift of life, love, and happiness!
Will we go back? Definitely! We’d definitely plan another family trip in two years perhaps, something we’d all enjoy. Any suggestions where?
~ Touringkitty
PPO Out of the Box: Not your usual orchestra concerts
The country’s national orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, recently launched a new concert series apart from the regular season concerts at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
PPO’s Out of the Box features a thematic selection of orchestral music, veering away from the usual coat-and-tie repertoire they play at the CCP’s Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo. Not only that, each concert is a collaboration between the PPO and several university arts organizations. The venue for this absolutely FREE concerts is the Rizal Park Open Auditorium.
Their season concerts started last November, featuring Andres Bonifacio who celebrated his sesquicentennial birth anniversary. For December, they did a Christmas-themed program.
I took my mom and my daughter to their most recent offering, last January 18. We came in early, so we took her around first.
It’s showtime! Good thing the theme for the concert was about nature. Aria was familiar with most of the music there (which come from Grieg’s Peer Gynt, Tchaikowsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Saint-Saen’s Carnival of the Animals, among others).
What a wonderful show, especially that it was cause-oriented. The FEU, being the Tamaraw as their school mascot, supports the Tams 2 program of the WWF-Philippines, which aims to double the number of the wild tamaraws by 2020.
Congratulations to the PPO and the FEU for this wonderful collaboration!
Want to catch the next show? Then head to the Rizal Park Open Auditorium on FEBRUARY 27, Thursday, 6:00 PM. Check out their Facebook Page for more details.
~ Touringkitty
Rasa Sayang Trip Day 3: A Taste of the City
categories: Travel
Check out Day 1 and Day 2 posts.
Date: September 27
Location: Singapore (the city, and some of it)
So, we’re back to Singapore and had nothing exactly planned out for the day. Good thing our dear cousin lives there, so it was pretty much family day!
Unfortunately, our camera kinda conked out (battery is always kaputt, so not much photos). I will be using some photos from my mom and sister, with their permission.
Incidentally, my mom, sister, and her boyfriend are set to go back to Manila that same night, so we had to go around to as much places as we can. Goals for the day were:
1. Go to a church and give thanks – CHECK! At the nearby Cathedral of Good Shepherd.
2. Stroll in a mall – CHECK! Not only one, but several interconnected malls at Orchard. We took the MRT like crazy and we even had a stroller in tow!
3. Buy pasalubong (gifts to bring home) – CHECK! We went to Chinatown and got more than pasalubong.
4. Eat Chili Crab – CHECK! We saw it on Kris TV before the trip. It was a worthwhile try, but heck it was smoking hot in your mouth!
5. Take a picture with the Merlion – CHECK! Just before they took the trip back to the hotel then to airport.
We met with another friend for coffee then headed back to the hotel to send off my family. The enjoyed the trip, though there were inconveniences which were out of our hands. But we all definitely will go back to Singapore. I still plan to raid the Great Singapore Sale once in my life.
Watch our for our last day in Singapore here at the blog!
~ Touringkitty
Euro-Pinoy Jazz Concerts: Fusion of Music, Mind, and Culture
“I met my colleagues here [in the Philippines] and I told them how exciting it is to do this musical experiment,” Dr. Petra Raymund, director of Goethe-Institut Philippines said.
She was talking about a similar project she did back in 2012 at the Jazz Fest Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where jazz guitarist Nguyen Le of France and jazz singer Michael Schiefel of Germany performed with two Bosnian jazz artists, Edvin Hadžić on doublebass, and Dr. Amar Češljar on drums. And since the German and French players know the jazz scene both in Europe and globally, they suggested to collaborate with Italian double bassist Furio di Castri, Spanish percussionist Tino di Geraldo, and Filipino saxophonist Tots Tolentino, who they handpicked for this event.
Thus, the Euro-Pinoy Jazz Concerts came to be.
Five jazz masters are coming together for a week of music-making. Not only do they collaborate as musicians, but also as composers, as they are set to create new and original music. The culmination of which will be presented in a two-night concert on February 21 at the Arts in the City, Bonifacio Global City, and on February 22 at the historic Maestranza Plaza in Intramuros.
How will they do it? They have been communicating the past months online, and will gather together for a four-day collaborative workshop starting February 17, Monday, as they work toward a fresh repertoire for the concerts. Sounds interesting, especially that the five musicians are masters of their own instruments who will bring in a fusion of music, creative minds, and culture. Take, for instance, Nguyen Le, who will meld together traditional Vietnamese and Western music and, Tino di Geraldo, one of Spain’s leading percussionists, who will bring together classical, jazz, and flamenco styles.
The Euro-Pinoy Jazz Concerts is presented by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) Philippines together with the European Union Delegation to the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Intramuros Administration, and Arts in the City.
EUNIC Philippines is composed of the Alliance Française de Manille, the Goethe-Institut Philippinen, the Instituto Cervantes, the Philippine Italian Association. The event is their first collaborative project.
Julian Vasallo, Political Counsellor of the European Delegation, said that they aim to attract lovers of this kind of music, and that they look forward to expanding this event in the future. He invites us to witness this “Jazz blind date” with these outstanding musicians.
(Admission to the Euro-Pinoy Jazz Concerts is FREE but RSVP is required. For inquiries, call Sabrina Durand, Alliance Française Cultural Coordinator at (02) 895-7585, or visit the Euro-Pinoy Jazz Concerts Facebook page.)
Sumi Jo in Manila!
categories: Uncategorized
While picking up the customised shirts for my kids at Maestro Rio Shop before the holidays last year, I found my friend, Nadia, packing some custom-made mugs and saw a familiar face. A very familiar face, in fact.
“Sumi Jo? In Manila? No way!!!”
“Yes way,” she said, “and it’s on February 1st next year.”
I would not miss it for the world! I know I could save up some money by that date, and I am so happy I did, and chose orchestra seats.
Fast forward to that date, my husband and I had events around BGC as well before the concert, so it was indeed a day well spent. However, he went home to our daughter ahead and I watched alone. Good thing we had so many friends watching as well.
I have been a fan of Korean soprano Sumi Jo even before I entered the College of Music. She was my instant favourite because of the Queen of the Night aria, Der Holle Rache.
I was looking forward to it, but unfortunately, it was not part of her repertoire.
Her program was a variety of opera arias, art songs, even musicals. The program seemed simple, yet her interpretation of each song was fabulous, riveting, and brought tears to my eyes (and I am sure to most audiences, too).
Despite the early difficulty of having the noisy airconditioning turned on, Sumi Jo displayed her virtuosity and professionalism, really deserving to be called diva. She then asked to have it switched off, and so even the Samsung Hall got a little warm, the audience did not protest and just enjoyed the diva’s voice and quirkiness.
I almost cried after her first song, Lo, Hear the Gentle Lark. It was so beautiful, her notes precise. Her interpretation of Lascia Ch’io Pianga still rings in my ears. The modern arrangement of Ari Arirang, the signature Korean song was powerful. What impressed us the most was her beautiful dimunuendos. She does it naturally!
What’s even more laudable are the collaborating artists, Najib Ismail on piano and fellow collegemate, Raymond Sarreal on flute. The three made wonderful music together, and the instrumentalists were going beyond being mere assisting artists.
For the second part, Ms. Jo wore a white gown, but since it was unfitted, she threw in her funny side to still carry it well.
We found out she donated her honorarium for UNICEF Philippines, especially for the relief operations of the typhoon victims. She also visited the beneficiaries of the concert, Tanging Yaman Foundation, a few days before the concert. Such a great act of charity!
She did not end the concert with her program, but with three more songs — Verdi’s O mio Babbino Caro, a Korean popular song especially for the Korean community in attendance (she was even the one who played on piano), and Schubert’s Ave Maria.
But wait, there’s more! She also conducted a voice masterclass the following day. I really would have wanted to sing for it; unfortunately I found out slots were already filled.
It’s always a learning experience to attend masterclasses even if you’re just observing. This is a good venue to find out more about the singer’s performing and teaching styles.
To all who made it possible, thank you for bringing Sumi Jo here! Kamsahamnida!
~ Touringkitty