34th International Bamboo Organ Festival

The Las Piñas Boys Choir graced the Gala and Opening Nights of the 34th International Bamboo Organ Festival. They performed "Opus number 39" by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, in celebration of his 200th birthday celebrated this year. They also performed the "Three Eucharistic Prayers of St. Thomas Aquinas" by Mr. Alejandro Consolacion II, with the composer himself playing the organ; the contest pieces "Ambo Hato", "Mamayog Akun", and an additional ethnic music, "Cordillera Sounscape". They closed the night with the performance of the "Great Organ Mass" by Joseph Haydn, in celebration of his 250th death anniversary, with the Festival Orchestra, and Mr. Christian Iwan on organ

It's Christmas

Christmas started early this year. As early as September, we performed Christmas carols at our victory concert. By then, we can feel that Christmas is fast approaching.

Our first Christmas event was the lighting of the giant Christmas tree at SM Mall of Asia, last November 8. Ballet Manila, under the leadership of the prima ballerina, Ms. Liza Macuja- Elizalde, danced to the tunes of “Hallelujah” and “Pasko Na Naman”. Mr. Hans Sy led the lighting of the giant tree.

The next day, we sang at the mass for our Sunday Mass service. This is held every 9AM first Sunday of the month, at the church. This is to give glory to God and to promote church music. After the mass, we practiced for the Christmas tree lighting again, this time at Market! Market! in Taguig City.

The next performance was at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall, for some Christmas carols last November 15. After these performances, we relaxed a little bit, because the next performance was to be on the 28^th.

We had a practice for Nickelodeon on the morning of the 28^th. After the practice, we rested a little, and we had a shooting for “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” in the church and the surrounding areas. The shoot lasted for hours, even though the segment was very short. It was shown last Saturday, December 13.

The Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards Philippines was the next. We were disappointed to know that we won’t sing because of the very animated choreography. We were disappointed that our purpose there was to dance, not to sing, although the producer announced that we will sing also.

The first day of December was very nice. We sang for “Umagang Kay Ganda” as a part of their month-long Christmas celebration. The cast and crew were in Enchanted Kingdom, Laguna, so we went there. The best part was we have all the rides for free. Some of the cast thanked us for coming there, and some appreciated the way we sang. The best thing was the director who praised us for the first ever choir to perform there- with choreography!

Six days later, on December 7, we sang again for the Sunday Mass. We just had a rehearsal on December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception, since we were preparing for our Gala Concert at the Manila Cathedral. We had our general rehearsal at the Cathedral itself the next day.

The concert last December 10 went really well. It was a festival of church music at its finest. We were also delighted to meet Dr. Johann Trummer again, our friend who let us stay in Priesterseminar, Graz, Austria. After the concert, the audience congratulated us for a nice performance. We thanked them and we all went home with happy hearts, knowing that we made people happy and filled with joy for the coming of Christ this Christmas.

Watch us on our performances! On December 20, at 8 PM, we will sing at the Christmas Fusion of Bonifacio Global City with Ms. Isay Alvarez and the Metro Manila Community Orchestra. Prof. Chino Toledo will be conducting. On December 22, we will sing for our friends in Calamba, Laguna for "Pasko sa Calamba".

If you do like us to see at the Misa de Gallo, then do attend the last mass on December 24, here in St. Joseph's Parish. We will be singing there. The mass will start at 4:30 in the morning, but the road will close as early as 4:00 AM to accomodate the people who will attend the mass.

In the evening will be the Midnight Mass, alos here in the church. The mass will start at 8 PM, but go as early as 7:30 PM if you want a seat. Many people will attend, because it is the mass before Noche Buena.

The last performance of the year will be on December 28, in SM Manila. We will sing for "Magical Voices of Christmas."

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!

September 26, 2008- Day Three: Adieu, Boracay!

September 26, 2008- Day Three: Adieu, Boracay!

With sad hearts, our last day came. We quickly packed our things and proceeded to the restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, we took pictures again. We went to the beach for a last dip on our feet. We said goodbyes and thanked our friends there for making this trip an unforgettable trip.

We left Casa Pilar after breakfast. The tricycles took us to the port, where we rode the ferry. The trip was shorter, only ten minutes. One of us became dizzy, because the ferry ran too fast. After the very fast (and short) trip, we disembarked the ferry. We rode again to the van for the very long trip back to Kalibo. Most of us slept, because many of us were tired the night before. We awoke exactly as our vans entered Kalibo town proper. Upon arriving, we ate a quick lunch, and proceeded to the airport for the check-in of luggages. Thirty minutes later, we left the province of Aklan.

We arrived in Manila after an hour. The airport routine was short, unlike that of the departure. The school vehicles were there to fetch us. We finally got back to Las Piñas after three days of “vacation”.

And so,‘tis the end of the story.

THE END

Day Two- September 25, 2008: Enjoying Boracay

September 25, 2008- Day Two: Enjoying Boracay

It was finally morning. Many of us woke up early, some, as early as 5:30 in the morning. Most of us either went to the beach to enjoy the waves, or walked to different places we haven’t been the night before. At 8 am, breakfast was served. Plans were being discussed as we were eating breakfast. Some of us planned of course planned to swim, others intend to go and ride a banana boat. When we finished our breakfast, most of us went swimming in the “big, blue sea” as some call it. The waves were large, but they were safe to swim on. We started a trend called “wave jumping”, where in you will jump when a wave comes. After so much wave jumping, a little of us walked to go shopping for souvenirs and other stuff. We greatly appreciate the way the natives treat us there. They were very warm, friendly and cordial. We quickly befriended them, that at times we were given discounts by them. This memory will remain with us, for we owe gratitude to them.

Only one thing spoiled the day. At lunchtime, while we were eating, a strong gust of wind came, and it rained very hard. Thankfully, the rain lasted for twenty minutes only, with some mild rain showers. But, unfortunately, we didn’t see the famous sunset of Boracay due to the aforementioned rain. As we surrendered ourselves to the merciless weather, we just contented ourselves by playing games, swimming, shopping, and watching the Ateneo vs. La Salle championship game of the UAAP which was live on television.

As night came, we enjoyed the night scene of the island. You can see the lights going on one by one. We ate dinner, and off we go again, this time, just to walk. We really enjoyed that night. Some played (again), others went for a last-minute shopping, and others just had coffee. We hesitated to sleep, because we know this would be our last full day in Boracay.

Day One: Hello, Boracay!

September 24, 2008- Day One: Hello, Boracay!

It was a dark and rainy day here in Las Piñas. It was raining the day before, September 23, and winds were quite strong. We were afraid that our flight will be cancelled due to the winds. Thankfully, it wasn’t. Our call time was scheduled at 7 am, and some of us came as early as 6:15 in the morning. We were so excited that day. We left the school at 9:45 am, and we arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 at 10:30 in the morning. The flight was scheduled at 11:30 am. After the usual inspection and routine in the airport, we boarded the Cebu Pacific plane. The flight was not that long; it took us only an hour to reach Kalibo, Aklan.

As soon as we arrived there, we took our bags and jumped to the van to go to the picturesque town of New Washington. For those who do not know, New Washington is the birthplace of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila. Msgr. Albert Venus is also a native of New Washington; in fact, the Venus and Sin family are neighbors. We ate our lunch, courtesy of the Venus family. After eating, we changed our clothes and we sang one song in their living room. We then got back to our van and went to the Pink Sisters’ Convent, also in the same town. These contemplative sisters, also known as the Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, spend their time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to pray for the missions and the people’s intentions. They are called “Pink Sisters” because of the color of their habit. We went to their gift shop and cloister grille to ask permission to celebrate the Holy Mass. Thankfully, the sister agreed, and we went to Mass with the whole community of sisters. In the Mass, we sang the Musica Sacra competition pieces. The Mass was celebrated with great dignity and solemnity, adding to the beauty and sacredness of their convent chapel. After the Mass, we sang some songs for the sisters, and they applauded us. We went back to the gift shop and cloister grille. We were greeted by the sisters, and thanked us for coming. They gave us envelopes with a prayer book and a rosary as a thank-you gift. We then went to our vans and proceeded to the town proper again, where we took pictures before the bronze monument of Cardinal Sin, in front of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. After taking pictures, we left New Washington and went directly to the port in Caticlan, where in there are direct ferries to Boracay Island.

The trip lasted two hours, because Caticlan was 66 miles away from Kalibo. The view from our windows was fantastic. We passed through mountains, rivers, and even a forest in the heart of the mountains. After the long trip, we finally arrived in Caticlan. Surprisingly, the ferry trip was only fifteen minutes! We were very enthusiastic to arrive in that paradise island. Some tricycles were waiting for us. We rode on them, and thus, we began another long trip to our lodging. It was dinnertime when we arrived in Casa Pilar. We checked-in our rooms, and then proceeded to the restaurant for dinner. Our sumptuous dinner filled us until were full. After eating, we went to our own places, and went around. Some just walked around near the beach, others went shopping, and others went to have some henna tattoo. Some of us event got to bed at almost 3 am! We were so excited for the next day, which will be our free day. And yes, we all finally went to sleep.

Trip to Boracay Island (September 24-26, 2008)

The following posts are our experiences in our trip to Boracay. Enjoy!

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