When First Cousins Connect for the First Time

Ditas ( my youngest daughter) and Erico, Jr (Rick)- my nephew connecting in London, UK for the first time the other day. 

Ditas my youngest daughter and her first cousin, Erico, Jr (Rick) connected for the first time in London the other day. Rick is the only son of my younger brother Erico (RIP) from Jaro, Iloilo.  Rich has resided in London for several years and of course Ditas is here in US. However, she was in London this week on her way back to US after a 10-day visit to Carenna her daughter studying at UWC in Maastrich, Netherlands. Here are some of the photos, Rick sent me of their first reunion in London, the other day. They look so happy!!

 

  

I am so happy that my daughter and nephew have reconnected for the first time in their adulthood. As they say, Blood is thicker than Water. Hugs to you both.

This connection reminded me of our( Macrine(RIP) and I) vacation and trip to London several years ago today. See Link below:

 https://marinduqueawaitsyou.blogspot.com/2021/09/getting-lost-in-londons-underground.html

 

Studying Away from Home-Feeling Homesick? Here's what to Do!

 

This article is inspired by youngest grand daughter feeling of homesickness while studying abroad in Europe for the last 2 years. Hang on there, my Pangga. The time is near for success ( less than 60 days)!

The feeling of homesickness is very common especially for students studying abroad or away from home. I have experienced homesickness during my first year of graduate school in Chicago, Illinois in the 1960's. The feelings of homesickness is accelerated during holidays and before examinations.  I described this feeling of being alone (in my autobiography). It was an experienced I will never forget. 

https://planningtovisitthephilippines.blogspot.com/2014/06/autobiography-update-chapter-6.html

My homesickness almost tempted to stop graduate school, but my ambition to obtain a doctorate degree helped me conquered homesickness and attained my goal to have a Ph.D degree here in the US in 1964.

Here's an excellent article on what to do when you feel homesick applied specifically for students studying away from home.  

Homesickness can lead to more serious mental health issues such as depression, so it's important that you confront it. However, always remember that it's perfectly normal to miss familiar surroundings and struggle to adapt to new ones - feeling homesick isn't a weakness or something to be embarrassed about.

The most reliable way to beat homesickness is to immerse yourself in university life, even though this can be daunting at first.

A great way to meet like-minded people is to join clubs and societies. It's also a good idea to visit places of interest in your new town or city and get involved in local events.

Even when you need to do something on your own, such as a piece of coursework, try to get out of your room. For example, study in the library or take your laptop to a coffee shop. Being among other people will help you feel less isolated.

Exercising, eating well and regulating your sleeping pattern are also essential.

In addition, it's important that you manage your relationship with home. Regular contact with friends and family is important, but at the same time you need to give yourself space to focus on your new life. Constant phone calls or social media messaging will exacerbate your negative feelings.

Here are 2 informative videos:

 

 For complete details visit:

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/applying-for-university/university-life/what-to-do-when-you-feel-homesick

Feeling Nostalgia Again for Chateau Du Mer

 

The Entrance to the Main House-Guarded by a Male and female Lion Heads

The other day, I saw a picture of Macrine's nieces enjoying buko ( young coconuts) in Amoingon, Boac.   It reminded me of Chateau Du Mer- our second home in the Philippines. I am attaching photos here of the main house as well as the beach house and conference hall taken a few years ago as well as some photos during the recent visit of Macrine's nieces from the US.

Chateau Du Mer Sign
 

Newly Painted Front Gate

The Long Driveway

The Bridge of the Beach House at Twilight

The Beach House

The Conference Hall

For more photos and a video of Chateau Du Mer visit:

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2021/08/photo-memories-of-chateau-du-mer-and.html

Here are the latest photos of the main house taken 2-22-22 in the afternoon time of 2:22 PM after almost three years of pandemic neglect and vacancy. The photos are courtesy of Ella Lazarte-Macrine's niece from the US. The bushes need trimming, lawn needs mowing, roofs of the main house and beach house needs repainting and the orchids are gone in the driveway.

I hope that sometime in the mid or late 2022, I maybe able to visit again and restore the landscaping of Chateau Du Mer. Seeing these photos makes me cry that I am not there in person to care and maintain the beauty of the landscaping of Chateau Du Mer.

Some of these photos were taken before the regular mowing and clean-up

The Beach House-Front and Side Views

The sea view from the balcony of the Beach House

The Bridge of Love-the Focal Point of the Beach House Landscaping

 

How Many of These TV Shows Have You Watch?

I just finished binging on the 7 Seasons of the TV Series-The 100 on Netflix. I am enjoying the Series so much, that in case you have not seen it, here's a summary from Wikipedia.

The 100 (pronounced The Hundred ) is an American post-apocalyptic science fiction drama television series that premiered on March 19, 2014, on The CW and ended on September 30, 2020. The series, developed by Jason Rothenberg, is loosely based on the novel series of the same name by Kass Morgan.

The series follows a group of post-apocalyptic survivors, chiefly a group of criminal adolescents, including Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor), Finn Collins (Thomas McDonell), Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley), Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos), Jasper Jordan (Devon Bostick), Monty Green (Christopher Larkin), Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan), and John Murphy (Richard Harmon). They are among the first people from a space habitat, the Ark, to return to Earth after a devastating nuclear apocalypse. Other lead characters include Dr. Abby Griffin (Paige Turco), Clarke's mother; Marcus Kane (Henry Ian Cusick), a council member on the Ark; and Thelonious Jaha (Isaiah Washington), the Chancellor of the Ark and Wells' father. 

Here's a summary of Season 1: Enjoy!!!! 

The series is set 97 years after a devastating nuclear war wiped out almost all life on Earth. The only known survivors are the residents of twelve space stations in Earth's orbit prior to the war. The space stations banded together to form a single massive station named "The Ark", where about 2,400 people live. Resources are scarce and all crimes no matter their nature or severity are punishable by death ("floating") unless the perpetrator is under 18 years of age. After the Ark's life support systems are found to be critically failing, one hundred juvenile prisoners are declared "expendable" and sent to the surface in a last ditch attempt to determine if Earth is habitable again.

The teens arrive on a beautiful planet they have only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. However they discover that not all humanity was wiped out. There are people on Earth who survived the war, called "grounders" by the 100. The Ark consists of the space stations previously representing the nations of the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, India, Russia, Venezuela, France, Brazil, and Uganda. —Thomas O'Darren

Here's the list of the most popular TV shows across a number of categories for your information as published in the latest edition(2021) of Guinness World of Records.  

The latest edition of Guinness’ world records covers the TV landscape from 2019, identifying the most-in demand TV series across a number of categories. The results are as follows:

• Book Adaptation: “Game of Thrones” (HBO) 
• Legal Drama: “Suits” (USA Network) 
• Teen Drama: “Riverdale” (The CW) 
• Comedy: “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS) 
• Digital Original: “Stranger Things” (Netflix) 
• Animated: “Rick and Morty” (Adult Swim) 
• TV Series: “Game of Thrones” (HBO) 
• Reality: “The Voice” (NBC) 
• Children’s Show: “SpongeBob Squarepants” (Nickelodeon) 
• Horror: “American Horror Story” (FX) 
• Medical Drama: “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) 
• Romantic Drama: “Outlander” (The CW) 
• Series Debut: “Chernobyl” (HBO) 
• Film Adaptation: “Westworld” (HBO)
  

I have watched and enjoyed with gusto Games of Thrones twice. I have also watched Outlander, American Horror Story, and have enjoyed the Voice on NBC. I have watched Chernobyl and part of Stranger Things. The other shows I have heard but have not watched. How about You? How many of these shows have you watch or currently following?. I love to hear from You. 

Meanwhile enjoy this photo from my collection:

 

 

The Award-Winning Movie-Lady Bird was Filmed in Sacramento

I was finally was able to watch the Award-Winning Movie- Lady Bird filmed in Sacramento. Most of the scenes are in the neighborhood ( Fabulous 40) where my closed relatives also resides.

I have been planning to watch the movie Lady Bird filmed in the neighborhood where I have closed relatives residing nearby known as the Fabulous 40 neighborhood of Sacramento. It was only this week, I was able to watch it uninterrupted.

The movie resonates to me personally because I have a teenage grand daughter residing in the same neighborhood when the movie was released in 2017. The heroine ( Lady Bird) of the movie thinks Sacramento is dull and wants to go College in the East Coast or somewhere else away from Sacramento reminds me of her. Today, she is no longer a teenager and away from Sacramento( Europe), finishing her high school year.

The following are the awards and nominations of Lady Bird-one of the top ten films of 2017. 

Lady Bird garnered a variety of awards and nominations. The film was chosen by the National Board of Review, the American Film Institute, and Time magazine as one of the top 10 films of 2017. In 2018, Lady Bird was awarded The ReFrame Stamp in the 2017 Narrative & Animated Feature category.

At the 90th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Gerwig, Best Actress for Ronan, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Metcalf. It did not win in any of the five categories in which it was nominated.

The film also received eight nominations at the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Acting Ensemble.  At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, it was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (won), Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Ronan (won), Best Supporting Actress for Metcalf, and Best Screenplay.  At the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards, it was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Ronan, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Metcalf, and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

In a series of articles regarding the best of the 2010s in film, IndieWire ranked Lady Bird as the 10th best film of the decade. Rolling Stone ranked it 23rd, The A.V. Club ranked it 10th, Business Insider ranked it 5th, and Consequence of Sound ranked it 90th. It was the 13th most overall mentioned on best of decade lists tying with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse according to Metacritic. In 2018, IndieWire writers ranked the script the eighth best American screenplay of the 21st century. ^{( Source Wikipedia)}

^{Here are five reasons why you have to watch the movie from indianaexpress.com}

^{https://indianexpress.com/photos/entertainment-gallery/five-reasons-why-you-should-watch-lady-bird-5080302/2/} 

 

Its Valentine Day-Love Letters to California from the NY Times Today

Love Letters to California from the NY Times-Its Valentine Day

Happy Valentine Day to All. I also love California in spite of the housing costs, taxes and sometimes traffic. Here's a reprint of love letters from the NY Times today about the Golden State.  I also considered California my first home. 

My second home is Boac, Marinduque, Philippines, Chateau Du Mer. 

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2022/02/home-is-not-place-but-in-heart.html

Here's the reprint from todays NY Times for your reading pleasure. 

"It’s Monday. On this Valentine’s Day, we’re celebrating a special kind of love.

The Great Highway in San Francisco.Beth Coller for The New York Times

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re talking about love.

Not romantic love, but an equally real, possibly just-as-corny type of affection — for the state of California.

Dozens of you wrote to me about why you love Carmel-by-the-Sea, Atascadero, Napa, Laguna Beach or the Golden State as a whole. As is appropriate for this holiday, your proclamations were sweet, passionate and largely unconcerned with our state’s shortcomings.

You told me: California might be burning, drying up, wildly expensive and slipping into the sea, but you adore it all the same.

Honestly, me too. Enjoy.

“I tried to move away from San Francisco during the pandemic, back to my hometown Baltimore. I made it one year and three months before the City by the Bay called me back.

Every block of San Francisco holds some sort of beauty. Magical succulents, gorgeous hilltop views, colorful Victorians, and people, being themselves in whatever way they want to be. I have felt the most intense sense of belonging since I have returned. My heart will always be in San Francisco. I am in love with this city.” — Ali Moss, San Francisco

“Having grown up in Minnesota where winters are quite cold, I especially love winters here in Escondido. The clear blue sky, ridges of hills surrounding you and the warmth of the sun on your skin even with a cool 60 degree breeze. Add to that the sounds of all the birds and it is a magical morning. After 2 years of Covid, taking a deep breath is truly a pleasure I enjoy every day.” — Mark Vaughan, Escondido

the main story

In 1964, my family moved to Hacienda Heights, and for the most part, I have been a Cali Girl ever since. Hacienda Heights is almost the perfect place to live. We’re close to the beach and the mountains. On clear days, from the roof, we can see the snow-topped Big Bear. The freeway access is wonderful, although rush hour traffic has radically changed.

I took my first freeway drive on the 57 freeway the day it opened to the public. There were no cars, so our drivers ed teacher let us go 65 m.p.h. What a thrill!” — Mari Turner, Hacienda Heights

“The Golden State nourishes my soul/Her bounties both tactile and visual/

A state so bounteous with culture and spirit/ More than enough for just the residents in it/

Patchwork quilts of flax and pine/ Deserts, mountains, shimmering coastline/

California, mi amor, will you be mine?” — Masahana Kato, Los Angeles

“Though I am grateful to be studying in Europe this semester, I dread spending Valentine’s Day without you, my dearest Berkeley.

Continue reading the main story

If there is one thing that this distance has made me realize, it is that nowhere in the world can outshine your indisputable strangeness. From the dinosaur man of Sproul Plaza, to the street artists on Durant, to the contrast between the $8 lattes and $1 tacos, no two days in Berkeley can be the same.” — Jessica Blelloch, Madrid

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Big Sur.Jason Henry for The New York Times

“My Dearest California,

I tried to leave you once. It was decades ago, and you’d put me in a funk for the same reasons you drive others away — the traffic, the cost of housing, and, for me, missing my family and a hometown I still adore.

Continue reading the main story

So I got into my car and headed for the coast. But before I reached Big Sur I realized why I had to stay. Where else in the world could I get in the car and, in hours, arrive at the white beaches of Carmel? The cobalt blue waters of Lake Tahoe? The neon mustard on the Kelly green hills of Napa? Even though your scope and intensity can drive me completely mad, you’re the most gorgeous, complex state I know. I love your geography, your ambition and your open-minded, forward-thinking people, which I shall never take for granted.

California, we have been through much together these past few years — fires, drought, Covid. And yet, those unfortunate developments have only made me fear losing you and intensified my appreciation. As I gaze out my window at the beauty of bare oaks against a cornflower winter sky, you, my dear, are my home. Even when you break my heart, I will always love you.” — Lisa Wrenn, Walnut Creek

Note: The David B Katague clan have resided in the San Francisco Bay Area( Pinole) for more than 12 years, 5 years in the Central Valley (Modesto) and currently enjoying the beauty of the Sacramento Area since 2002.  I agree 100% of the sentiments listed above. Again Happy Valentine to All.

Meanwhile enjoy this photo of my orchids: