I enjoy have coffee with my father in law and his friends in Philippines,Coffee The Old Fashioned Way. Brew the Perfect Baraco Batangas Coffee in your own home!
Kapeng Baraco, or Kapeng Batangas has become synonymous with Batangas, the province girding Taal Lake. In fact, Batangas was once on of the world's coffee capital, thanks to Baraco. Baraco's mouth feel is as "memorable as its strong body and arome." Today, you can enjoy this refined version of Baraco harvested by Batanguenos as their forefathers did. Enjoy the virility of flavor without sweeteners or tame with a bit of coarse brown sugar.
Enjoy the taste and smell of the perfect Kape Baraco Gourmet Coffee in your own home! Kape Barako, also spelled Baraco (English: Barako coffee) is a coffee variety grown in the Philippines, particularly in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite. It belongs to the species Coffea liberica. The term is also used to refer to all coffee coming from those provinces. Barako is the Filipino term for a tough man.
Kape Barako is prepared using a drip brewing device, French press, or by simply pouring hot water unto the grounds and filtering the mixture using a piece of cloth. Barako is best sweetened with honey or brown sugar. Barako can be used to make espresso and other espresso-based drinks.
Barako is not a common coffee variety, although it is abundant in Southeast Asia especially in the Philippines. It has the largest beans of all the coffee varieties.[citation needed] Its taste is said to be superior to Robusta, and most Filipino coffee drinkers prefer Barako to Arabica. The Arabica-Barako blend is a popular gourmet coffee. Barako is considered to be the best among Liberica species.

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My wife is the best wife ever! Not so long ago, I said to my wife, you should be blogging. "Honey, you feel good to knowing that people want to hear what you have to say. So start blogging and find your voice...." Well now she has started to write her own Blog. It will be great because she has a lot experienc in her field and another can benefit from it. She will love getting emails thanking her for a particular post, especially when someone tells her how she has helped them. This is going to be an amazing feeling for her I'm sure.

So please read my wife’s blog:
Philippines Travel and Life style


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New Year's Eve is another one of thous big event. Filipino families believe in welcoming the New Year by preparing a sumptuous feast. They believe that a big feast will bring good luck and prosperity to the family. This gathering is called Medya Noche, where families share the feast on midnight after hearing mass. At midnight, there is a lavish display of fireworks. Firecrackers are believed to help remove badluck and evil spirits.

This custom of making noise and merrymaking is not only meant to have all the fun on New Year but also to drive away evil spirits. The people in Philippines believe banging on pots and pans and blowing on car horns to be the safer methods of merrymaking on New Year.

Another custom is opening the doors during the first day of the New Year is a custom that is followed to bring good luck for the New Year.


Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas) and Have a Happy New Year!

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Philippines has earned the distinction of celebrating the world's longest Christmas season. Christmas celebrations start on the month of Septmeber. Parols or Christmas Stars are everywhere. Caroling would also be heard during the Christmas season in the Philippines. You'll get to see a gang of little kids walking from house to house singing the old time favorite Filipino Christmas carols. Even the older generation may go about caroling as well. Simbang Gabi or Missa de Gallo a nine-day dawn masses that start on December 16 is a novena Masses that is very important part of Filipino Christmas tradition.
Christmas Eve is often celebrated by families at home enjoying a Christmas dinner at midnight. This tradition is called Noche Buena. It is a time for thanksgiving and a time for families and friendsto be together. For Filipinos, Christmas Eve ("Bisperas ng Pasko") on December 24th has the much-anticipated Noche Buena - the traditional Christmas Eve feast after the midnight mass. Family members dine together around 12 midnight on traditional Noche Buena fare, which includes: queso de bola (Spanish: "ball of cheese"; this is actually edam cheese), "Tsokolate" (a hot chocolate drink) and jamon (Christmas ham), and some would open presents at this time.

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)
God Bless you and your family.


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Noche Buena, The traditional Filipino Christmas dinner!

The Christmas eve dinner or commonly called Noche Buena in the Philippines is one of the highlights of the Filipino Christmas celebration.

If you are a lucky foreigners, who will be dining with Filipino families or are hosted in a Filipino home will surely be treated to a sumptuous fare of Filipino cuisine.
A traditionally, Christmas dinner is usually done in buffet style which could offers 15 to 20 food items in a table beautifully decorated with Christmas wreath or flowers and dining wares used only during special occasions such as this. The Noche Buena is eaten around midnight, after the Christmas eve Mass.

Among the typical dishes served during the Christmas dinner are lechon (roasted pig), kare-kare (oxtail stew in peanut butter sauce), rellenong manok (baked stuff chicken), noodle and pasta dishes like pancit or spaghetti, barbecue, adobo, native rice cakes, lumpia (spring rolls) and Queso de Bola (cheese that is shaped like a ball). In most Filipino tables, the queen of the dinner table is the Chinese ham made from cured and sweetened pork meat....

Other traditional Christmas liquids to try are the hot "tsokolate," a native chocolate drink and the "salabat" or ginger tea which are great for cold early mornings. You may also try the internationally renowned San Miguel beer made in the Philippines.

The Filipino Noche Buena is like an open house celebration. Family, friends, relatives, and neighbors drop in to wish family members a "Maligayang Pasko" or Merry Christmas.

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)
God Bless you and your family.




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Christmas Philippines begins formally on December 16 on the first light of Dawn, locally termed as Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo and continues until the first Sunday of January, which is the known as Feast of the Three Kings.

Simbang Gabi will lasts for nine consecutive days beginning December 16 and is traditionally, it is held at dawn, but in recent years some churches started offering anticipated masses one night in advance. Well some thing do change diba! (right!)

What I like the best about Simbang Gabi is the abundance of native delicacies, like bibingka (rice cake) and puto bumbong (purple colored glutinous rice steamed in small bamboo tubes) sold outside most churches. Filipinos love sharing these delicious delicacies after the mass. Filipinos believe that after completing the nine Dawn Masses, their wishes will come true. The a wish they make at the start of the Simbang Gabi.

The last day of Simbang Gabi falls on December 24, a time when Filipinos are busy in the preparation of Noche Buena, a family feast that takes place when the clock strikes 12 a.m. The noche buena is highlighted by the bountiful feast prepared by the family. Family members exchange gifts and greet each other "Maligayang Pasko!" (Merry Christmas).

Christmas Day is a gathering of family and friends. Children visit their ninongs and ninangs (godparents) to receive aginaldo or Christmas gifts and blessings.

Christmas officially ends on the Feast of the Three Kings which falls on the first Sunday after the New Year.

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)



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Philippines is the only country in Asia where Christians are the majority. Catholicism came from Spain in the late 1500s and while many Filipino Christmas traditions come directly from the religious calendar and would be recognizable to all Catholics, others are home-grown.

The one thing about the Philippines is that religious holidays are taken very seriously, Christmas is one they celebrate with a lot gusto. Has well attended fiestas where family and extended family and friends tend to feast of some the best foods.


Now for decorations. One of the most common is a parol, a five-pointed star, commemorating the Star of Bethlehem which the Wise Men followed to Christ's manger, as for the influence of the United States introduced the idea of Christmas trees, but the Philippines does not have a ready supply of evergreen trees, so people who want to imitate the US tradition buy artificial trees. Just like being at home in the United States.



Being here in Philippines with my wife and her family has made me understand Filipinos and their way of life. I have been touched by the generosity of the very poor, having visited many ordinary, spartan homes of the desperately poor.

Despite all Christmas advertising, and music, Filipinos do not seem to succumb to any pressure to spend too much money over Christmas time . There is no expectation of any gift giving for the most part, and I am sure many children never get an Christmas gift at all in there lives. Yet, people make the most of Christmas in their own way, and it is an important family time. The Christianity of the Philippines is probably far stronger than any United States or other western country, so the religious significance of Christmas is still paramount to the Filipinos and their family's.

They say every thing's is late in Philippines, oh, but never Christmas!

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)


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Here in Philippines we don’t have Thanksgiving, but I’m thankful for three things:
- My Family;

- My Friends;

- My Life;

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Don’t eat too much turkey!

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A new 44th president of the United States, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama wins the White House! Mr. Barack Hussein Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and in orderly fashion, and to expand health care! So Mr. Barack Hussein Obama as the president also has democrats in control of both the House and the Senate in overwhelming numbers. This election ended by any and all definition was one of the most remarkable contests in American history. I do not care who the president of the United States is or will be tomorrow.

What I do care about is the United States.
God Bless USA.

Lyrics for: God Bless The USA
By: Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life, And I had to start again With just my children and my wife, I'd thank my lucky stars To be living here today. 'Cause the flag still stands for freedom And they can't take that away. And I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free, And I won't forget the men who died Who gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up next to you And defend her still today, 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A. From the lakes of Minnesota To the hills of Tennessee, Across the plains of Texas From sea to shining sea, From Detroit down to Houston And New York to L.A., Where there's pride in every American heart And it's time we stand and say: That I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free, And I won't forget the men who died Who gave that right to me, And I gladly stand up next to you And defend her still today, 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A. And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me And I'd gladly stand up next to you And defend her still today Cause there aint' no doubt I love this land (love this land) God Bless the U.S.A.

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The news here is all buzz with U.S. election. Both Radio and TV news in the Philippines are taking about our election that is news Why because the Philippines has close political, economic and cultural ties with the U.S ever since it was a U.S. colony from 1898 to 1946. The United States continues to be the Philippines' largest trading partner and its major source of foreign investment.

Now this is news people lined up at the early-voting center as early as 6:30 a.m. in Ohio, a poll worker said"I think it is fair to say that we had a four-hour line before we opened the doors," In California, San Diego voters were waiting up to three hours to vote at the county registrar office, according to CNN affiliate XETV. These politicians all have their finger up to see where the breeze is blowing. I'm so happy to see this turnout for US presidential election.

Bill Mitchell
Mitchell's cartoons used to appear in print. Then during a National Arts Journalism Fellowship, he was given a T-1 connection, a Mac and shown the Web. He's been AWOL from newspapers, living in the Northern Rockies and publishing online since '95. Comments? Yell at Mitchell

Well it's coming into the home stretch, will it be Barack Obama or John McCain.

This election I'm proud to be an American., God Bless the U.S.A.

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Hello All,

Well today Nov 1, 2008 has been a day of reflection into my passed and random thoughts of my loved ones, lost loved ones and friends. I got started going down this road doing the family genealogy, in my copious free time for passed nine years. But this last year I sit out to renews ties with my sibling two bother and one sister, the oldest John next Charles and then my sister Dinnie. I'm the youngster at almost 50. Now I'm almost 50 years old, looking back at my passed as been a ruff road. But the future is bright! I just found out my oldest bother has been working our family genealogy for several years also and has our Mothers side as far back as the 1500's

I hope you take some time to remember other lost loved ones.

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