Reunion - just the way you are - 1

People come in and out of our lives. Some leaving heavy footprint while others just a scent that soon dissipates in the atmosphere. Friends, acquaintances, business associates, competitors and foes alike in one way or another help weave the fabric of our lives.

I will confess with all honesty that the prettier the face, the longer the association and the more painful or romantic the experience are the factors to remembering the friends who came into my life. I will also admit that Facebook untangled the mess of my memory and paved the way for a reunion with the guys in this album.

The theme - "Just the way you are," was chosen after we noted that the body and memory changes in the past 38 years badly needed some surgical or therapeutic remedies, and yet this won't get in the way of our friendship.

This reunion may seem one-of-a-kind, but I am quite certain that this is just the first domino in the stack of reunions I am destined to have.

The photos in this album are contributions from many cameras and I organized them in a chronological order. 

Erbing met me at the airport... he and wife - Mary with daughter - Mayang got up early that day and drove for an hour and a half to get to the airport. I felt like I was the president of america. thanks Bing, Mary and Mayang. love you guys.

brunch at abreeza mall. sea food with pork and chicken bbq.

these guys started rubbing elbows in a time when watching the girls go by was considered a sport.

next stop: market. yellow fin tuna is soo rare in thailand and costs 2,000 pesos/kg.

fish so fresh... never in thailand

panga and tiyan. my digestive juices were starting to digest the lining of my stomach.

venue: Erbing and Mary's home in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. this couple took total control of the travel and food preparations and refused any monetary contribution. that is unfathomable love.

this patio was constructed a few weeks ago to accommodate the reunion.

ready for the grill

that's it

kinilaw... sushimi

a 30kg lechon with crispy skin.. yummy!

panga ready for eating

drinks and pig skin... we also had 2 big glass jugs of carlo rossi red wine which disappeared into thin air.

lilibeth arrives with a hat for me... no doubt she hates my shiny head. thanks bing!

a group pose minus ann... she was late because she had to fly in from an appointment at the u.s. embassy in manila.

finally a complete group pose

trying out my headgear... for another party

that's ann with her cute voice and much cuter dance.

inday's one and only song... if not for her constant texting on the fone she could have sang more songs and lulled us to sleep with the beautiful voice.

crying time with tune... i forgot the song but it was a tagalog song about breaking up, which appropriately described her present situation. this was done in fun though and like anytime in her life erbs and i were there to support her unconditionally.

this lady performed 32 songs in a row and most of the time we were spellbound short of knowing the songs she sang. what a talented bff!

the best photo in the world! what kind of song requires the mouth to assume such a grotesque shape? hahaha

erbing and his dancers

group sing and dance

the very talented erbing again!

dedicated to you bro...

dedicated to me?

"c'mon erbing do a jig for us!"

i supplied the "aaaaahhh" in the song... "loving you."

marching to the music sda style

fone in her hand is low batt... so is Inday.

party at Joy Bariquit's house. we used to visit this house when we were in high school.

papa-it ~ goat... i miss these dishes. don't see any resto in bangkok serving goat meat.

kilawin

kaldereta

humba

drinking with jay sonza and boy... joy's hubby.

RC.. yeah. the guy she loved 38 years ago.

breakfast fare at Erbing's dried danggit and squid... hmmmm.

beef steak, blue marlin steak... sweet and sour lapu-lapu for lunch at an open air resto in ecoland

last saw Zeny in 1972

halo-halo at chowking to celebrate our little reunion.

closeup photo of Zeny

Joana's debut party at DavCon... "arabian nights" was the theme.

the sheikh said the opening prayer

belly dancers showing off their bellies... what else?

they were good at it.

Tune and Joana with the shah

Erbing is conspicuously missing the other arm of the couch should have been occupied by him.

tune and her 4 gorgeous daughters

on the dance floor

checked in at the pinnacle hotel after the party. Tune had this suite ready for us.

"how do you operate a mac?"

breakfast with bogs, vida and edith

pan de sal... miss you much

seeing bing off at the airport

my companion at the pre-departure area. got this at the duty free shop in naia. I spent about 2 hours waiting for my flight to bangkok and it gave me enough time to meditate on God's goodness. Hallelujah!

Just the way you are

As we grow older we may morph into different images

Just like some guys I met whom I haven’t seen in ages.

My shrinking old brain may not quite correctly portray

Just bear with me guys coz this is as much as I can say.

Demure and silent but not too quickly to be outdone

With hand on the phone she may miss out on the fun.

Got a thriving business and tours about just anywhere

A true and loyal friend – Inday, no one can compare.

Wit, humor and waggishness she is much known to be

A majorette with pearly skin such a pretty sight to me.

The hairline on her forehead like the domes of the heart

Ann can make you cry and laugh or sometimes even fart.

She was a bit chubby lady - a succulent fruit on the tree

Multiplied on her four daughters a gorgeous sight to see.

A resolute, persevering spirit standing up for the right

Tune you’ve got my admiration don’t give up the fight.

My type of nose, oriental eyes, skin of mandarin descent

The Germans in Berlin exclaim “you sure are heaven-sent.”

Her audience sits enthralled she’s like a marching band

The Indians will give up their curry for Lilibeth’s sweet hand.

Oh no, I’m now here at the part that takes a lot of guts

My mentor in drinking and churning out cigarette butts

Forehead, dimple, double chin make up the handsome face

Erbing you are the perfect model of the human race.

The skin may age, sag, darken or wrinkle up some more

Hair fading, boobs drooping, tummy pushing up fore.

Alzhiemer’s may come quietly or knees may start to sway

I’ll love these guys just the way they are until my dying day.

The Sunday Law

Many Seventh-day Adventists, if not all, subconsciously have this prophecy as the foundation of their faith and hopes, and they know that its fulfillment will prove that the church is right, and that all detractors of the prophecy’s author - Ellen G. White, are wrong.

Every move of the Catholic Church and the United States government towards the enactment of this law is watched and hailed as a milestone to the truth. This fact is proven by the unceasing forwarding to co-members or to the unconvinced member of recent and updated events on this issue.

What many are uninformed of are the circumstances that will lead to its ratification and enforcement as outlined by the author of this prophecy. Here are the facts:

Calamities Blamed on "God’s People"

“Calamities will come—calamities most awful, most unexpected; and these destructions will follow one after another. If there will be a heeding of the warnings that God has given, and if churches will repent, returning to their allegiance, then other cities may be spared for a time. But if men who have been deceived continue in the same way in which they have been walking, disregarding the law of God and presenting falsehoods before the people, God allows them to suffer calamity, that their senses may be awakened. {Mar 176.2}
The judgments will be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had. If they have had the truth, according to that light will be the punishment. {Mar 176.3}
Satan puts his interpretation upon the events, and they [leaders] think, as he would have them that the calamities which fill the land are a result of Sunday-breaking. Thinking to appease the wrath of God these influential men make laws enforcing the Sunday observance. They think that by exalting this false rest-day higher and still higher, compelling obedience to the Sunday Law, the spurious Sabbath they are doing God service. Those who honor God by observing the true Sabbath are looked upon as disloyal to God, when it is really those who thus regard them who are themselves disloyal, because they are trampling underfoot the Sabbath originated in Eden.” {Mar 176.4}

As anyone can see it is clear that the conception of the Sunday law will be brought about by the increase in the calamities brought about by Mother Nature. Let’s take a good look at her activities in the last forty years.

A look at some of the deadliest natural disasters around the world since 1970:

· 2011: Tsunami hits eastern Japan - 15,842 deaths, 3,485 people missing
· 2005-08: Tornado death average [USA] – 62 deaths per year.
· May 2008: Earthquake (magnitude 7.9) hits Sichuan province in central China. 32,000 are killed.
· May 2008: Cyclone Nargis strikes Myanmar, killing more than 80,000 and leaving an additional 30,000 missing.
· October 2006: Southern Leyte mudslide kills 1,126.
· October 2005: Northern Pakistan earthquake (magnitude 7.6) kills about 80,000 people.
· August 2005: U.S. Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina kills at least 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi.
· December 2004: Indian Ocean tsunami (triggered by magnitude 9.0 earthquake) kills 230,000 in a dozen countries.
· December 2003: Southeastern Iran earthquake (magnitude 6.5) kills26,000.
· August 1999: Western Turkey earthquake (magnitude 7.4) kills 17,000.
· November 1998: Hurricane Mitch killed 11,000 in Honduras.
· October 1998: Central America Hurricane Mitch kills 9,000.
· November 1991: Ormoc city flashflood kills at least 8,000.
· April 1991: Bangladesh cyclone kills 140,000.
· June 1990: Northwestern Iran earthquake (magnitude 7.7) kills 50,000.
· November 1985: a volcano in Colombia kills 25,000.
· July 1976: Northeastern China earthquake (magnitude 8.2) kills 240,000, with some estimates at 655,000.
· August 1971: Storms in Vietnam kill 100,000.
· November 1970: Bangladesh cyclone kills 300,000. World's deadliest cyclone on record.
[Source: Yahoo]

With all these calamities taking place it is certain that it won’t be long before the leaders of this world [science and political] will meet to determine why the escalation of natural calamities. If the prophecy on the Sunday law is true the world leaders will make these following pronouncements soon:

1. God is very angry and he has to be appeased.
2. The reason he is angry is because there is a small group of people who are worshiping on Saturday and not on Sunday.
3. It is necessary to compel these people to worship on Sunday.
4. The passing of the Sunday law is the solution.
5. The calamities will cease if these people will start worshiping on Sunday.

With this declaration the world leaders would have to justify the following:
1. Why they picked out the Seventh-day Adventist of all the 6.6 billion people of the world. There are about 4 billion who do not believe in a Trinity God, neither do they worship on Sunday. So why single out the 14 million SDA?
2. Why the sudden theory shift from global warming [storms] and movement of tectonic plates [earthquakes] to a theory on the wrath of God on a Sabbath-keeping group that is not even .001 percent of the world population?
3. Why they would have to bind the billion Islam, Buddhists, Hindu, and the other non-Sunday worshipers under the Sunday law when it is only the SDA that is allegedly causing the calamities.

I will not venture to make a conclusion but leave this open-ended. I would rather encourage you to make your conclusion and may God guide your thoughts as you seriously ponder on these facts.

Your friend in Jesus,

Sunni

Sealed

The Bible teaches a thing such as “sealing” or a process wherein God stamps a seal on a person He considers the property of the Kingdom of God. This seal is a guarantee that the person will be taken up to heaven when he dies or when Jesus comes to finally put an end to sin. (“…who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession…” Eph1:14)

Furthermore, the Bible teaches that this sealing process is an ongoing thing and happens every time somebody professes faith or belief in the gospel. (“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed…” v.13)

This seal according to the Bible is not a visible stamp nor is it an act or a certain day of the week, but actually it is the third godhead – the Holy Spirit, that is stamped on the soul of the believer and establishes God’s ownership. (“… you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…” v.13). Evidence of the seal is seen as the bearing of fruit and not the observance of certain laws or traditions. (“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…” Gal5:22)

I was born and raised in a church that teaches that God’s seal is the seventh day in the weekly calendar – Saturday, and that the sealing will only start after Investigative Judgment in Heaven and the passing of a National Sunday Law in the United States of America. This church also claims that those who go to church on the first day of the week – Sunday, are sealed by the great deceiver – Satan.

One problem I have about their doctrine is that it is not at all supported by the Bible. There is not one single verse in God’s holy book that says that the believer – the saved, is sealed because of his allegiance to the seventh day of the week or that the person becomes Satan’s property when he goes to church on the first day of the week.

The Bible explicitly teaches that the Holy Spirit is God’s seal and this is acquired by the act of simple faith in the gospel while the Seventh-day Adventist Church declares the Bible a lie by teaching that Saturday is God’s seal – not the Holy Spirit. I don’t know why my friends in this church refuse to see this truth.

diving laem mae phim pinnacle

This dive site is located about an hour's boat ride from the coast of rayong province in thailand. it is not listed in the dive sites that dive shops in pattaya offer for fun dives and to get to laem mae phim one has to take a 4-hour car ride from bangkok. this site is a coveted dive site by local thai divers and our invitation to dive here couldn't be turned down. this one is near koh samet.

the dive coincided with king Bhumibol's birthday and my beloved wife's vacation to the philippines. this album will differ from my usual dive albums with more photos taken topside. the underwater photos were done by a guy who was not in the mood for taking photos hence the shots are mainly showing tanks, butts, fins, etc.

when the missus left for the philippines she took with her my dive cam - canon g12, and that's why i can't show any photos of the beauty that greeted my eyes on the 3 dives.

divers have sworn to be guardians of
marine life including the fish in
this bucket and yet one doesn't have
to fight off temptation always. lol