Diario de Mascarenhas

This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is Paul E Mareck, a well known and well respected educational consultant in Canada. History Lessons are Often Incredibly Simple I used to know a man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, and owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many Germans were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. 'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. ...

Just a few pics of my trip home so far...

5 more days to go and I am off to the Philippines...I'm so excited!!! It has been very busy at work as well. Our Christmas party is on Friday, so I am also looking forward to that too. We will be dining at The Grange, Ponsonby. Steve will come for drinks later in the evening.

Yeay, I feel so excited, I'm going home for Christmas. I missed Christmas in the Philippines so much and finally after 3 years I will experience it again....And of course there is Zamel's wedding, I am also looking forward to that too....So just counting the days now, and then I'm flying home...Looking forward to shopping; to eating bangus, ginamus, manggang Cebu, and a lot more; most especially to spend time with my family.

We went to Taupo for our Labour weekend holiday. It was a wonderful place to relax and have fun. Here are some pictures of our trip.

We had a great time at the Waiwera pools today. It was raining and cold, but was a very good day to soak in the hot pools. The Waiwera pool had about 10 pools and each pool's temperature vary. The best pools were the Sapphire pool which was a covered pool, with 40 degrees Celsius; and the outside pool with the water spout massaging you. We spent around 2 hours in the Waiwera pools and then explored the Waiwera beach.

It has been cold and rainy these couple of days. Yesterday a storm passed our way and we had to stay at home. Today, the weather was still bleak but Steve and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Langham Hotel. So much sumptuous food on display and Steve definitely did justice to the spread...

Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or hump it, Pee on it and walk away

We are delighted that our photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released second edition of the Schmap New Zealand Guide. Click on the title to view the guide and pictures. Njoy !!

To Suzie: Whatever with the past has gone, The best is always yet to come. We love you and wish all ALL the best!!! Love, Steve, Zai, Mum, Dad and all the family

Ate Shelyn sent me the following message: Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason.. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Mama had a trip of a lifetime along with Zharina, Uncle Willie and Shobe. They went to Negros to visit the Bermejo and Yap clans. It has been years since mama had been to Negros and the trip gave her the opportunity to meet her relatives, the ones she already knew and the others whom she had just met for the first time. The picture above was taken during the Bermejo impromptu reunion.

In life never ASSUME anything... for if u do it makes an ASS of U and ME !!

We were invited for a birthday party with a 70's theme and here is a picture of Steve with his afro.

Steve celebrated his bday on the 19th of April. We went to a North African restaurant called Sahaa . The place was nice and the food was not bad. We had chicken tagine and touareg (which was like barbecue chicken). It was a quiet and simple celebration.

We had a wonderful holiday in Christchurch, courtesy of Larry. It was a couple of days of work and pleasure. Work because Steve had a work related meeting, then afterwards fun time for the both of us. Christchurch is both a dangerous and beautiful place. There was a mugging incident with tourists and locals where Steve and I saw the cordoned off incident area. Beautiful because everywhere we go, the beautiful Avon River is there, providing a picturesque scenery. Love it, love it, love it!!!

Jake and Kiray Ate Zaida and Kiray, pinning of ribbons Homecoming, dinner at Mandarin

Originally uploaded by kiwiboyz Easter in Matamata

Hoping you all are having a great holiday. Zai & me are off to Matamata.As promised these are the sordid details (u wish!!) On Sat we awoke late & headed to The Bog , Irish pub 4 brekkie. As we did not go out on 19th i shouted brekkie.We njoyed it heaps....$7.50 for 2 toast ,2 eggs & 2 slices of bacon....the girls had this while i had the dawnbreaker 2 eggs , 2 bacon , mushrooms , baked beans , 2 hash browns , sausage & 2 toast washed down with a guiness beer.Was good to have a beer after 40 days.At 3.50 pm Zai & me headed on our trip to Matamata. The bus was on time & we reached Matamata by 8 pm.The Motel was close to where the bus dropped us & it was a nice self contained room with fridge , microwave , cutlery , tv , iron etc. We got a pork roast with veges & green thai cken curry from the takeaway and bourbon coke / ginger beer & ate in our room.Watched tv in our room & had a good sleep. Easter Sunday we awoke at 7.30 am , had a shower then w...

My nephew, Zoren Jake, had his Recognition Day last week and these are some pictures of him with his sister and my mama. He got a ribbon for "Most Cooperative".

Ummmm....Ahhh...Ummm..La La!!

The sun was shining above, and the air was slightly cool. It was a nice day to celebrate the Pasifika Festival at Western spring this year. We reached there at around 12 and spent almost an hour looking for Billy TK Junior, a rock player whose music Steve enjoys. He was supposed to be playing at the Push to Play stage. In the process of looking for the musician, I injured my foot. After scouring the park for more than an hour, we gave up and decided to just watch other shows instead. It was a good thing we did, as we were able to watch this fantastic show of the Tahiti dancer and musicians. These girls can really shake their bonbons. It was not to be missed. Afterwards, we went to the other side of the park. We had icecream sundae which was great value for money, and then headed out to look for the corned beef which we promised to get for Suzie. On our way out of Western Springs, we saw where the "Push to Play" stage was located, it was an area we never thought of going to i...

Every day should be a good day and you should live it like it's your last. Some people live a life of anger, frustration, pain, jealousy, and/or dishonesty, but all of these things will come to pass when your time here is over. Just take a moment to think . We will not be on this earth forever. One day, we will not have to worry about going to work or how we will make payment to our loan. We will not have to worry where our next meal will come from, or how we can buy a house or a car. At anytime, God could take us off of this earth, so you should appreciate today and not worry about tomorrow, for nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. When you wake up each morning, thank the Lord for waking you up. When you lie down to sleep at night, thank the Lord for another day. If you have a job, thank the Lord for your place of employment. Ask that he may bless you in everything that you do.. Ask him to give you the knowledge and the wisdom to do your job. If you don't have a job, t...

Congratulations to Ate Zaida, graduating from her Teacher Training in Osaka, Japan. We are very proud of you!

The 22nd celebration of the EDSA People Power Revolution was celebrated recently, and it is very sad that after 22 years of the second great revolution in the Philippines, the county seems to be going back to its pre Edsa years. The leaders of the country are caught up in their own agenda, and instead of focusing on the WELFARE of the country, they are either too busy putting money in their pockets and robbing the people, or others try to destabilize the government. As a result, instead of moving forward, we are returning to a past that still haunts us. I am one of those who are tired of the promises and just wants our country to really recover. We have so much to offer the world, but look at where we are now, left behind...still a developing country. It is such a shame.

You are what you eat, so eat well. A stupendous insight of civilizations past has now been confirmed by today's investigative, nutritional sciences. They have shown that what was once called 'The Doctrine of Signatures' was astoundingly correct. It now contends that every whole food has a pattern that resembles a body organ or physiological function and that this pattern acts as a signal or sign as to the benefit the food provides the eater. Here is just a short list of examples of Whole Food Signatures. A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes. A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food. Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a bloo...

February2008 006 Originally uploaded by zsarillana Courtesy of "Memoirs of a Geisha", here are our hero and heroine, The Chairman and Sayuri. Ang cute nyo talaga!!!

We have just moved to a new office last Thursday, 14th Feb. '08. The new office is more spacious, and hopefully we will be staying here for good. Here's a pic of me in my work area:

I would like to share a beautiful passage from a book that Zharina gave us for Christmas. This is for the married couples, lovers and sweethearts... " MARRIAGE is patience and forgiveness. It's being open and honest, thoughtful and kind. Marriage means talking things out, making necessary changes, and forgiving each other. It's unconditional love at its most understanding and vulnerable- love that supports, comforts , and is determined to triumph over every challenge and adversity. Marriage is a partnership of two unique people who bring out the best in each other and who know that even though they are wonderful as individuals....they are even better together. " Barbara Page

He's cute isn't he? We'll he is rude too. He shat while we were saying Hi to him. Bad COW!

We had a nice walk at One Tree Hill last Sunday. Its one of those scenic walks near the city. It took us 30 minutes and we reached the restaurant where they serve the best iced coffee.It takes another 20 minutes from One Tree Hill to go the the mall. We went and searched for lunch and as usual it took us forever to decide what to eat. Eventually, we had Kebabs which Steve said was not cooked properly (but he ate it anyway).