Month: June 2014

Update 3: Al S Swung by Singapore: 1/5 of My Prayer Just Got Answered! (2014)

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Who would have thought – same week I talked about hunting down my old bandmates, Al S flew to Singapore on a business trip!  On short notice, we had dinner and did that long-overdue catching up!

Didn’t let pass the opportunity to talk to him about the September charity event Pres+Ivy have been planning and that we really need all the help from our friends to pull this off and he said YES!  Thank you, Al S!  You have no idea how happy this made me and Pres! Woot Woot!

Al 1

Al S with Pres+Ivy at the Fullerton Hotel – looking good, Al S!  Hulog ka ng langit, Al S!

Al S even volunteered to be the Manila coordinator for our September charity event to help with the leg work and in getting in touch with our friends back home, and most importantly, the rest of our bandmates!  Yey!  Half our worries are solved already!

Paying it forward is such a kind gesture, but it’s much sweeter when you’re doing it with friends who share and support your cause.  Al S and I consider ourselves very blessed and he’s with me in saying it’s high time we share our blessings in ways we can.  Al S is one tough lawyer (we’ve heard of stories and I knew since day one in law school you’d make one one day!) but he has this soft spot in his heart for the less fortunate.

We can do this, Al S!  Very happy we’re in this together and for the nth time, let me thank you from the bottom of my heart!  I know you’re busy with work and weekends are reserved for the family – thank you for squeezing this in.

How time flies – it’s been 11 long years since we last saw each other – sweet reunion in Singapore indeed!  Am hoping this September charity event will strengthen the bond we have!  True friends are family you get to choose.  We’re truly lucky to have you in our lives.

Oh and BTW Al S, we meant to tell you, we’ve been sneaking around and Pres+Ivy love how much you adore your Mom!  Stay the son the rest of the mothers in the world pray to have!

 

“If you have much, give your wealth; if you have little, give your heart.”  – Arabic Proverb

 

 

 

Update 2: Band to Perform for the September Charity Event with our Acts29 Family (2014)

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Now that we’ve settled we are doing lunch with our Acts29 Family for our September charity event in Erap City Montalban Rizal, Philippines, who’s going to do the entertaining?  It got me thinking it would be nice if I can reconnect with my old bandmates back in Manila – we have not gotten together in a long time, over 10 years!

We formed ourselves some rock band in law school for bar exams-related events like the after-bar parties in school.  Here’s an old photo of us!  I don’t even remember how we called ourselves  but one law school professor gave us some name, I’d rather keep to myself hahaha!

band photo

L-R: Seated bottom -Frederick Barbadilio, Jonathan Berramo, and Mark Fabay.  On top, Al Soriano, Ivy, and Garry Villanueva.

We’ve lost contact with each other already after getting out of law school; but will try and see if I can tap a few friends back home and I hope they can all join us in September and we can do one or two numbers for our Acts29 Family over our lunch event.

It seems only natural for people to use their love of music to do a little good, right?  Let’s see what we can come up with.  If you have the will to make something good happen, it will happen!

 

“It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.” – Mother Teresa

 

Update 1: September Charity Lunch Event with our Acts29 Family (2014)

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So the plan is to treat our Acts29 Family (the scholars, their families, and Acts29 staff) to a Jollibee lunch one Saturday and Sherlyn K of Acts29 was suggesting that we hold the event at some venue in Erap City as their place in Payatas would be too small to accommodate all the guests.

Jollibee is a popular American-style fast-food restaurant with Filipino-influenced dishes based in the Philippines.   Kids love Jollibee so it’s perfect for our September event! 

Jollibee Manila Boystown

(Photo of Jollibee mascot grabbed from Modsters Ink site http://modstersink.wordpress.com)

Erap City is in Montalban, Rizal Philippines.  It’s a resettlement site for Manila slum dwellers and it was opened during the time of then-President Erap Estrada, hence the name.

Erap City 3

Erap City 2

(Photos grabbed from PCIJ site http://pcij.org)

Here’s what we have in mind so far (thanks, Sherlyn K for helping us put this together!):

  1. Jumble Sale of Used Clothes – Will have this in Payatas on a separate day.
  2. Jollibee Lunch with our Acts29 Family – Will hold in Erap City and Acts29 staff in Manila will help scout for a venue.  We’re lucky there’s one Jollibee outlet some 10 minutes away from Erap City!
  3. Mass Celebration Before Lunch – Will tap some friends if we can get hold of a priest to celebrate mass in Erap City.  If not, we can just do a short prayer.
  4. Sheltered Venue & Security – Acts29 Manila staff to scout so we won’t have to worry in case it starts to pour.  We don’t want our kids and their families getting unwell due to this!  Shelyn K is checking for some help for security from the barangay during the event.
  5. Transport for the Payatas families and staff to get to Erap City – We will rent some jeepneys to take our families to the venue.
  6. Names of all our Acts29 Family Members – Sherlyn K to share a list by end of June when Acts29 Manila staff are not too busy preparing our scholars for their June classes.  Plan is each will have a name tag; easier for everybody to get along, first-name basis.
  7. Buddy System – We’re checking the number of volunteer friends who can commit to this event – plan is to have one volunteer assigned to one Acts29 family (1:1 or 1:2 depending on the number) so we are sure each and everyone is well taken care off.
  8. School Supplies for our Acts29 Scholars –  Sherlyn K to share a list of our Acts29 scholars and what level they are in to check what school supplies they need.
  9. Band to Entertain our Acts29 Family – Will do a mini-concert during the event.  Hope to reunite with my bandmates; it’s been a while since we all got together!  Will talk about this in a separate post.
“Nothing carries more potential for change than individual acts of human kindness. ”  – Jamie Winship