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The Meaning of Perception.

I call it a Frog and you call it a horse.

How to make the Olympic Games even more interesting in 2008? (Part 1)

Strawberries and Other Fruit Preserves
Favorite tourist buys, especially of local visitors coming from the warmer portions of the country.

Horseback Riding

Cool Climate
In the summer months of March, April, and May, Baguio lives up to its title as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines” when thousands of visitors from the lowlands and Manila take their annual exodus to the city to cool off. From November to May, Baguio becomes a tropical paradise, a refreshing break from the hot and humid Philippine climate. Christmas season is when Baguio glows with the nippy winter air.

Flowers
Baguio is the “Flower Garden City of the North”. One need only visit Burnham Park and admire its backdrop of beautiful and colorful flowers. Baguio Floral Festivals are held in February. The city is also famous for its towering pine trees.

Parks
Burnham Park is the city’s premier park and the oldest of all Baguio parks. Mines View Park is known for its gold, silver, and ore quarries while Wright Park is a pine tree park reserve.

Educational Center
Baguio is home to the Philippine Military Academy, top military school of the country; the University of the Philippines College Baguio; and the Easter School Weaving Room teaching cloth weaving as practiced by the natives of the Mountain Provinces for ages.

Spiritual Retreat
The Baguio Ecumenical Holy Week celebration focuses on Baguio as a spiritual center. Among the city’s religious edifices are the Baguio Cathedral with its 100 steps on top of a hill; Lourdes Grotto with its 252 steps; and Bell Temple which practices a mixt of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity.

Vegetables and Fruits
Gifted with a temperature that seldom exceeds 26° centigrade at its warmest, Baguio is the ideal setting for growing fresh and crisp temperate vegetables and fruits.

Trekking
Mt. Sto. Tomas, with a peak that is 7,500 feet high, is a hiker’s delight. It commands a majestic view of mountain, sea, and valley. The city itself is littered with great valleys and plateaus as well as sporadically scattered steep side hills and mountains.

Convention Center
The Baguio Convention Center is considered the most spacious edifice North of Manila. It initially gained prominence when it became the site of the 1978 internationally renowned chess championship series between Anatoly Karpov and Victor Korchnoi.

Silvercraft
A thriving industry in the city sustained by various handicraft shops specializing in silver jewelry and other filigree products, such as the Saint Louis Filigree Shop where some craftsmen are only high school students.

Woodcarving
Along the way to Asin, about 5 km. from Baguio City proper, is the Ifugao Woodcarvers Village which produces and sells beautiful hand-carved curio items at very low prices.

Baguio / Cordillera Mountainbiking
The rugged mountains of Northern Luzon offer fabulous scenery and give you a close look at some of the Philippines’ most fascinating tribal groups. Start in Baguio, where local bikers will be happy to guide you along routes ranging from a quick run up Mt. Sto. Tomas to a lung-busting full day down to Ambuklao Dam and back. If you want more mountain adventure, you’ll find plenty here. Try a two-day ride to Sagada, then base yourself there to explore the numerous local roads and trails. From Sagada, you can ride to Bontoc, then out through untouched mountain wilderness to the rice terraces of Banaue. From Banaue, you can make side trips to the equally spectacular terraces at Hungduan and Mayoyao, far off the usual tourist trail. Or wind your way from Baguio to Ambuklao and up to Abatan, then down to Cervantes and over historic Bessang Pass. Up here, the mountain air is cool, the people you meet are friendly, and the rugged roads will challenge even the most dedicated of upland bikers.

Baguio/ Cordillera Trekking
The Luzon Cordillera is the country’s largest mountain range and home to some of its most distinctive tribal groups. It is a trekker’s paradise. Start in Baguio, jumping-off point for the ascent of Mt. Pulog (2930m), the highest point in Luzon, and the second highest mountain in the country. There are routes for all fitness levels: the climb from Abangeg via Babbadak can be managed by any reasonably fit hiker; whereas the Tan-awan route, starting from Kabayan town will test the veteran. Both routes pass from forests of Benguet pine to stunted montane oaks wrapped in thick moss, then emerge onto a wide expanse of dwarf bamboo and grassland.

AUGUST 9
BLESSED JOHN OF RIETI

Blessed John lived in the first half of the fourteenth century. He has a sister who is also "blessed," Blessed Lucy of Amelia. They were members of the Bufalari family from the Umbria region of Italy. John felt a call to religious life. He was attracted to the order of St. Augustine and wanted to be a brother. John was accepted into the order and found himself immediately at home. He loved to pray and to meditate about Jesus, Mary and the saints. He learned how to talk to God, his Father, and he especially took the opportunities to serve at Mass. People from the neighboring towns came to Mass at the church of the Augustinians. They noticed the brother who was always there. He was so peaceful and kind. Brother John went out of his way to welcome them. He made them feel at home.

When people came to the monastery in need, Brother John was there to greet and welcome them. For those who were staying overnight, he would bring them to the guest rooms and wait on them. He would make sure they had food, medicine and whatever else the monastery could give.

The years passed. Brother John continued his religious life with the quiet rhythm of a clock. He was steady and stable. Blessed John remained joyful in his vocation until his death in 1350. It was no surprise to anybody who had come to the monastery when miracles started to be reported at his tomb. Brother John was not going to let his death stop him from performing his ministry for Jesus.

Daily Reading & Meditation

Wednesday (8/9): "Great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire"

Scripture: Matthew 15:21-28

21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon." 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.

Meditation: Do you ever feel "put-off" by the Lord? This passage describes the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish territory. (Tyre and Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist today in modern Lebanon.) A Gentile woman puts Jesus on the spot by pleading for his help. At first Jesus seemed to pay no attention to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus does this to test the woman to awaken faith in her. What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles were excluded from God's covenant and favor with Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. Matthew 7:6 records the expression: do not give dogs what is holy. Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith -- "even the dogs eat the crumbs". Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her faith and for her love. She made the misery of her child her own and she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with faith -- whether Jew or Gentile -- was refused his help.