Friday, October 31, 2014

Who’s Calling Me?… At The Underground Cemetery

30th of October

I think I have mentioned several times that I am not a spooky or a skittish person. Prankster will just waste their time playing pranks on me because there would be no satisfying reaction that will come out of my annoying face.  To perfectly described it “Basag and trip mo pag ako ang tinakot mo”. ha ha.  Probably this is the reason why I came out with My 10 Halloween-Related Wish List post. I don’t easily get scared.

But this does not mean that I don’t have scary experiences.  I have a lot actually and most of them are strange and un-explainable. Most friends told me that those things usually happens to people that does not get scared easily.  Hmn.. if this is true it’s not quite fair!

Let me share to you one particular story that happened during one of my road trips in the area of Quezon and Laguna with my “adventurista” friends.  

This happened when we explored the Underground Cemetery in Nagcarlan, Laguna.  It was right after we visited three very old churches in the Laguna area also and we were trying to catch the opening of the “Anakalang Festival”.  It was already late in the afternoon and the sun is already setting when we arrived at the Underground Cemetery.

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An ambiance of serenity welcomed us when we reached the place.  The front façade is impressive by how it looks and how it is being maintained.

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I am amused that there is a registry at the entrance for visitors – reminds me of a visitor’s registry when you are visiting a wake (grinning).

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As the front park has a very welcoming ambiance, it is very much different when it comes to the underground part.  I must admit that it’s a bit creepy when you are taking the stairs down going to the under ground.  It gets more creepier around the altar.  I was (seeing) imagining lots of things while looking at it.

It was quite challenging taking the photos because we were prohibited using the camera flash.

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I find the stairs leading to the main exit as an interesting spot to have my solo photo taken so I asked my BFF to take my photo. The stone stairways is strangely cold which made me very uncomfortable sitting there.

As I my BFF is counting the 123 queue I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket – someone’s calling. 
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As soon as I heard the camera snapped, I quickly pulled up my phone from my pocket to check who’s calling.  At the same time, my phone also stopped ringing/vibrating.  When I saw the name on the missed call on my phone screen, I climbed out of the stairs leading to the exit running.  Everybody automatically followed me.  I’m not sure if they also ran because I was trying to catch my breath when I reached the open air again.

My BFF who knows every inch of my being “me” was eyeing me suspiciously. I can see on her face that she knew something’s strange is going on.  She automatically asked? Who was that? Who called you? I hesitated to answer for a while then I answered…

You!  You were calling me at the very same time that you were taking my picture. And I asked her where is her phone though I knew fully well that her phone is inside her bag. She gave me a confused look so I showed her my phone screen wherein her name is registered in the “missed call” 

My BFF  then quickly locate her phone from her bag and found that it was screen locked but there was indeed on the dialed number is my name. Yep. She was calling me at the very moment that she’s taking my picture… while I’m seeing with my two eyes that she is holding the camera right on my face and not a cell phone.

~***~
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The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery (Filipino: Libingan sa Ilalim ng Lupa ng Nagcarlan) is a national historical landmark and museum in Barangay Bambang, Nagcarlan, Laguna supervised by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.  It was built in 1845 under the supervision of Franciscan priest, Fr. Vicente Velloc as a public burial site and its underground crypt exclusively for Spanish friars, prominent town citizens and members of elite Catholic families.  It is dubbed as the only undergorund cemetery in the country. Source: Wikipedia

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Saturday, October 25, 2014

295/365: Sunday Lyrics and Photograph: I Won’t Give Up – A Song Dedicated To My Blog

26th of October

It’s 3AM on a Sunday and I am awake.  I am supposed to be sleeping tight by this time.  You know it’s Sunday and there’s no work, no pre-scheduled plans, no socialization commitments nor out of town or whatever.  A rare Sunday moment that I don’t need to be up so early but here I am up!

Can’t force myself to go back to sleep so up I go and made myself a mug of coffee.  My foot then automatically leads me to my home desk.  Hello my lappy!

Aaah I miss my blog so much!  By this time I already accepted that I failed my own “365 Blogging Challenge”. So far this is the longest time I did not post anything here since I started the challenge. But this doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on my blog or to blogging.

There are two major reasons why I started this challenge anyway.  One is that the idiot in me always love to take challenges which are mostly “Mission Impossible” to succeed. The second reason is that this is one way of me not to give up on my passion.  When I signed for a regular job after four years of being a freelancer, I knew that I will be eaten by the system of having a regular job.  I'd seen that happened to lots of my fellow bloggers which saddens me BIG TIME.  So this is just like the reason why I am not giving up on my running blog for the reason that it motivates me not to give up on my running – something like that.

Jeez I have so much of mixed thoughts that I’m not sure that you are understanding.  Anyway, what I just want to simply say is that I’m not giving up on my blog.  In fact I feel so romantically attached to it right now that I am listening and dedicating a song to it – “I Won’t Give Up”.

The original song is by Jason Mraz and I love all his renditions especially the live ones however, there is one video that I found in YouTube where I can totally relate every time I watch it.  It’s a video of a Scottish boy named Nicholas McDonald auditioning in X-Factor UK.  You may want to watch this video and I also want to share the song lyrics.

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
Well there's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find
'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up
I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make

Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use the tools and gifts

We got yeah we got a lot at stake
And in the end,
You're still my friend at least we didn't tend
For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn, how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I got, and what I'm not
And who I am

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The photograph is taken while I was shopping with my kids one time.  No the shirt brand is not mine nor I am commercially advertising for it  ha ha.  I was just totally in awe when I saw this hanging in one of the department stores.

You might be thinking that I bought myself one of these shirts but no. Because I am giving the chance to the sweet people around me to spot this and be reminded about me then buy me one ha ha.

Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

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