A Short Video for your Inspiration

I was searching for old videos in my blogs. I found this one dated September 14, 2010. I found it very timely after reading the other day in my FB page about a group that is raising money for pancreatic cancer research. I hope you find this article very inspiring. I will be happy to hear from you with your comments.



"Today's news featured the widow of Dr Randy Pausch who died of pancreatic cancer about two years ago. The news reminded me of his original video-The Last Lecture about three years ago. The whole video is available in the web but it is too long. So, I think this 10 minute video from the Oprah Wimprey show will also inspire you and reminds you of his memory and will be an easy read. Viewing this video will not take too much of your time. Enjoy and be inspired!

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

On September 18, 2007, Carnegie Mellon professor and alumnus Randy Pausch delivered a one-of-a-kind last lecture that made the world stop and pay attention. It became an Internet sensation viewed by millions, an international media story, and a best-selling book that has been published in 35 languages. To this day, people everywhere continue to talk about Randy, share his message and put his life lessons into action in their own lives.

Randy died July 25, 2008, at the age of 47. May He Rest in Peace, Amen"

Personal Note:In this video Randy said that after finishing his Ph.D.,his Mom introduced him to all their relatives and friends this way,"This is my son who is now a doctor, but he doesn't help people".

This reminded me of my wife's introduction to all our relatives and friends after I graduated with my Ph.D degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1964. You may call my husband a doctor now, the kind that does not have a stethoscope". My wife informed me this is an easier way of trying to explain what my Ph.D.in Pharmaceutical Chemistry means to all our relatives and friends.

Macrine's 80th Birthday Celebration

Macrine, Me and her birthday cake

The day started at 3AM when Macrine woke up with chest pain, headaches and gasping for air. I gave her an aspirin. I try to massage the area that is painful and she complained it hurts. I waited until 4AM and decided to bring her to the emergency room of the Mercy Hospital San Juan Branch. As soon as we arrived, an EKG was taken. It took about 15 minutes to learn that her EKG was normal. Then they took a chest Xray and Laboratory tests including urine. At 8:00 AM while waiting for the results, I was able to talk to the doctor. I informed him that today is Macrine's 80th Birthday and we are expecting about 25 guests at 2PM. The doctor answered that I am glad I told him otherwise he will order more tests and we may not be able to go home before 2PM. At exactly 9AM we were allowed to go home with suggestion that we follow Macrine's treatment with our primary care physician. All the tests were negative and Macrine did not suffer a heart attack.

At 11AM, my daughter Dinah ( she coordinated the party) arrived and started set-up. At 2:15PM most of the guests had arrived except for my nephew ( from Australia-My name sake)who is a professional videographer. There were lots of food-honey baked ham, chicken macaroni salad, potato souffle, variety of salads, sushi, green salads, Hawaiian rolls, sweet rice cake and drinks. I was planning to buy pancit from the Pinoy store in the morning- long life symbolism, but I was tired from our 5-hour experience at the emergency room. Ditas brought the delicious birthday cake from Safeway. So, this a Pinoy party with only one Pinoy dish. Very unusual indeed!

The surprise of the party was the arrival of Dan and Nilda(Valdez)Johnson from Modesto. Dan and Nilda were long time friends from Modesto since 1968. The Johnsons gave Macrine a dozen dark red roses. Dave Katague arrived at 3PM, time to serve the cake. More photo and video sessions. Carenna sang( with guitar) two songs for her Lola( thank you, little Pangga). Our Italian-American neighbor and Casino buddy, Lina Edison, sang O Solo Mio in Italian. Lanie and Alex Chalfin with their two kids( Wesley and Samantha) arrived with sushi and rice cake. The last guests to arrive were Yuka and Yuri Maeda( daughters of Jean) with Yuka's husband, Alex.

At about 5:30 PM Macrine was getting tired and took her medications then went to take a nap. By 6PM all the guests were gone with the exception of my oldest grandson Ian Katague King. Ian and Dave ( my nephew) spent almost 5 hours talking about videos and photography. Dave is scheduled to fly home to Sydney, Australia tonight.

Yesterday was indeed a day to remember. Again Happy Birthday-My Love. Macrine and I are now in our 59th year of marital bliss. Again thanks to all our relatives and friends who made Macrines' 80th birthday a success. In addition my special thanks to all who sent their birthday greetings to Macrine in my Face Book page.

Please read my FB page for videos and more photos during Macrine's 80th birtday celebration.

Some of My Favorite Sunset Photos

Taken from the Balcony of the Beach House

The following are some of the sunset photos I have in my collections taken in Western Marinduque. Most of the photos were taken very close to the Chateau Du Mer Beach House in Amoingon in Boac.





















Do you have a favorite photo? I really love sunsets! Sunset time is my favorite time of the day in Marinduque.

Things to Do While Visiting Marinduque

There are numerous things to do in Marinduque during your vacation. But the following nine items are my recommendations:

1.Beach combing, snorkeling, bathing , scuba diving and sunset watching
This photo was taken at the balcony of the Beach House. Note that low tide is starting and the corals are starting to stick out also.



2.Caves Exploration-Spelunking. There are two caves worthy of exploration-Bathala in Santa Cruz and Tarug in Mogpog. The Bathala Cave consist of eight other caves. One of the caves has a resident python. Photo by Flickr.com



Resident Python-photo by 4.bp.blogspot.com

3.Island Hopping- The Tres Reyes Islands Marine Sanctuary, Polo and Maniwaya Islands.
This is Maniwaya island being develop as an alternative to Boracay, photo by panoramnio.com



4.Shopping for Morion masks and native handicrafts- nito products, wood carvings and potteries. This is a nito handbag, a popular gift item. Photo by handicrafts.org



5.Trip Around the Island-Sulfur and Hot Springs, Poctoy White Beach and Mt Malindig
This is Poctoy White Beach with Mt Malindig in the background in Torrijos, the most popular beach in the province.



6.Partaking and Enjoying the island delicacies- Ginatan na Manok sa Gata, bibingka, kare-kare and ulang-ulang soup. Photo of bibingka by wikimedia.org, yum, yum, it is delicious.



7.Join or just watch the Moriones Festival during Holy Week. Women Moriones Participants-photo by etravelpilipinas.com



8.Visit 400 year-old churches, ( Boac, Gasan and Santa Cruz )and antique homes in downtown Boac. This is one of the many antique houses in downtown Boac. This one is owned by my sister-in-law, Mrs Siony Jambalos. It is located just across the Boac Hotel.

The Green Mansion photo by Dong Ho

9.Watch colorful butterflies (in the butterfly farms) or native birds ( bird watching) in the foothills of Mt. Malindig. This is a monarch butterfly. Photo by howdididoit.com

Four of My Favorite Classical Music-An Update

It has almost been a year when I posted four of my favorite classical pieces. Today it is high time to listen to classical music, just a break from reading my photo travels and war memories and about what is going on in Marinduque. Listening to classical music lowers my blood pressure and relaxes me and I forget all the problems of the world. How about you, do you have any favorite classical music? Does classical music relaxes you? Or are you bored and prefer rock and roll or Lady Gaga's music? I have Lady Gaga's music in my older post in this site also.

Tchaikovsky-None But the Lonely Heart
Do not forget to listen to other pieces in this set.


Shoztakovich-Romance (From the Gadfly)
There are other pieces in this set that is worth listening to.


Rachmaninov- Rhapsody from the Theme of Paganini

Chopin Waltz-Grand Valse Brillante

Another Excellent Video from TED Talks

The Five Nieva-Jambalos Sisters
I like to share this video about Happiness and Good Health. The subject of Relationship was just one of the topics, that my visiting nephew from Australia and I had discussed recently. If you are not happy with your life, perhaps watching this video is the best 12 minutes that you have spent watching videos in the web.


In case you are not familiar with TED Talks, visit this site: Browse TED Talks | TED.com
https://www.ted.com/talks

The Four Living David Katagues of the World

David Efren, David Balleza and David E III Katagues
Kirk David Katague

Just recently I had a surprise visit from my nephew from Australia. His name is Dave Katague, only son of my brother Efren Katague( Australia). His visit triggers memories of my father, David Jamili Katague, great, great grandson of Don Manuel Javellana and Dona Gertrudes Lopez. http://javellana.wordpress.com

When Dave Katague( nephew from Australia) posted our picture of the 3 David Katagues in the world, one of my other nephew named Kirk David Katague( son of my other brother, Ruben ( Bacolod City, Philippines) mentioned that he should be the number 4, since he was also named after his Lolo. Thus I am writing a short vignettes of the four still living David Katagues of the world. My spouse of 59 years told me that all the David Katagues are good looking men. Do you agree? If so let me know or just clicked the LIKE button.

1. David B. Katague (ME): Read the following site for my professional career: http://planningtovisitthephilippines.blogspot.com/2008/08/professional-career-of-david-b-katague.html

2. David Efren Katague( nephew from Australia) https://vimeo.com/davekatague and has a Face Book Page

3. My son the 3rd David Katague is a Transportation Security Officer, TSA in Sacramento, since 2005. His former employment were at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Senior Information Technology Consultant from Sep 1997 - Feb 2002. Before that he was a Policy Analyst at the Executive Office of the President from Aug 1992 to Sept 1995.

He has two degrees as follows: From Carnegie Mellon University with a Masters Degree in Public Policy & Public Management(1986 - 1988) and from University of California, Davis with a Bachelor Science degree in Agricultural & Managerial Economics(1982 - 1986). He does not have a Face Book page.

4. Kirk David Katague,( nephew from the Philippines) https://www.facebook.com/shevid.cerbokatague?fref=ts

Kirk David is 28 yrs old and will be turning 29 this November. He is five feet and eleven inches. He is not yet married but will be having a baby boy next month. He is naming him David Zion Katague.

He plans on settling down next year. He studied cookery in Cebu, because he wants to apply in a cruise ship. He said he is very proud to bear the name after his Lolo David.



Here is my response after receiving the above information: Wow, what a coincidence about what you are saying regarding naming your son David Zion. This will insure that the David Katague's name continues. I am 81 years old and pretty soon I will be gone. This indeed good news and you made me very happy. I like to meet you again someday. The last time, I remember meeting you was when you were just a kid in Jaro in Amor's home with your Dad and other members of your family. Say Hello to your DAD and Mom. I will be posting an article about The Four Living David Katagues of the World soon! ( Number 5 coming soon-Congratulations in advance, David Kirk)

For the David Katague genealogy and ancestry see the following article:
http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2015/11/my-great-great-grand-parents-from-my.html