Tito Lits High School Yearbook Photo

Thanks to my former classmate and batchmate Robert Pucio who now lives in Texas for this scanned likeness of Tito Lits.

Don Bosco Tech. Inst. (Mandaluyong, Rizal Philippines)High School Class of 71.

It's good to have reconnected with old school buddies - from elementary through high scool.

Let me quote a portion of one of my email posting to our Yahoo!Groups site:

For a long time I've searched for familiar names of former classmates on the Net, hoping to connect with anyone, but to no avail. Many of us have spent many of our formative years in Don Bosco, that in many ways, it was like a second home, a part of my extended family. It feels good to know that I've somehow reconnected with many of you guys who I've shared many wonderful times and experiences.

As we get older (and wiser) we realize that relationships are more important than many of things we used to chase after.

I look forward to someday, Lord willing, be able to fly back home and attend a homecoming and meet many of you former batch mates, classmates, face to face, look you in the eyes, and say "it nice to see you once again".

Yeah baby- cheers!!!

BIKE NEW YORK The Great Five Boro Bike Tour

BIKE NEW YORK The Great Five Boro Bike Tour

Five Boro Bike Tour - Presented by Bike New York Sunday, May 1, 2005

Yahoo! News - Shroud of Turin Could Date to Jesus' Time

By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer

ROME - A chemist who worked on testing of the Shroud of Turin says new analysis of the fiber indicates the cloth that some say was the burial linen of Jesus could be up to 3,000 years old.

The analysis, by a scientist who was on the original 1978 team that was allowed to study tiny pieces of the cloth, indicates the shroud is far older than the initial findings suggesting it was probably from medieval times, and will likely be seized on by those who believe it wrapped the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.

"I cannot disprove that this cloth was the burial shroud that was used on Jesus," Raymond N. Rogers, a retired chemist from the University of California-operated Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, said in a telephone interview Friday from his home.

Rest of story >>>>

Don Bosco Mandaluyong, HS 71

Don Bosco Mandaluyong High School Batch of 1971

Was lost and now am found

I feel so blessed to run into Jojo Vicencio at the Don Bosco Forum web site -
http://www.donboscoforum.com/

I started this thread at http://users.boardnation.com/~don_bosco_forum/index.php?board=12;action=display;threadid=673;start=0

with this post:
"Boys and Girls, I am bery prowd to annoise that I just celebrated my 50th birdday
Meron bang mas matanda sa akin dito sa forum?
How old are you?
How do you feel about getting older? "

I got a post reply back from Jojo- turns out he is 51, older than me. :-)

I browsed his photos web site and found familiar faces. How many times have I searched the Internet for names of former classmates, hoping to find one listed, indexed, but to no avail. I'm glad I boasted about my age :-)

Yahoo! Groups - dbmhs_71 · Don Bosco Mandaluyong 1971

Found out later that our batch has a Forum / Message board at Yahoo!Groups. Isn't that great?!

Here are some photos from Jojo Vicencio's photo album site.

Tour De L'Ile of Montreal Moments

Yeah, I know, I should be posting the photos from the 50th Birthday Celebration at Bill Wong's as well as those from Freddie and Chanty's place. But, the thing is, I haven't uploaded them on to Webshots.

Meanwhile, here I am feeling kind of hoping and wishing it was biking season again, you know, summer like temperatures, although I'm ready to take a mountain bike back on to the bike path. The other day while driving along the Lachine canal, along the Lakeshore, I noticed that snow plows do clean the bike path. I mean, you don't see the ground, but, it should be good enough for a mountain bike, no need, I think, for studded tires. Well, I know that Uncle Phillip's got one of our older mountain bikes, don't know what state it's in, but I will surely check.

OK, here are some photos from the 2003 Tour De L'Ile Montreal. This was when I was still using the good old Kodak DC215 one mega pixel camera.

So, have you ridden your bike lately?

50th Birthday Celebration at Bill Wong's Restaurant

photo, l-r: brother Freddie aka Fidong, Tito Lits, to the right of the picture- daughter Pam and fiance Allen

Words are not enough to describe the emotions I felt that night we celebrated my 50th birthday anniversary. Even though I knew about the party ahead of time (hard to keep a secret from Tito Lits) I was overwhelmed by the preparation everyone involved put into this memorable evening. The decorations were awesome, the food was superb (as always with Bill Wong’s), and the company was just great. I will be posting the other photos on our Webshots photo album. Thank you to my brothers and sisters, my brother and sister-in-laws, cousins, church family, business associates, friends of the family, and most specially my wife Tita Nil and our three lovely children.

The instrumentation panel shows -18C and that does not take the windchill factor into account. We've had some very cold days lately here in Montreal. Thank God our car is equipped with heated front seats. The following picture shows that I've got the temperature inside the car set at 23C. What a big difference between the outside and inside temperature. It'll be milder to stay inside a freezer compared to the outside temperature :-)

23C in the shade (well, inside the car anyway) while it is -18C+ outside. This was also during the day of my 50th birthday party. How many times have I said this- you never get used to the cold here :-)

Overlooking the gorge in the Grand Canyon at Mont St-Anne, Quebec. Beautiful scenery. Just looking around I am reminded by this line from a song we sing in church. "How could I say there is no God, when all around creations calls". L-R: Lenny, Nil and Trish.

Grand Canyon, Mont St-Anne, Quebec. We did a lot of walking that day. Pilo had his water pack on. L-R: Pilo, Bebot, Marv, Trish, Timmy, Pauly

Close up shot of the rainbow that forms as the sun's rays passes through the mist of the waterfall. (Mont St-Anne, Quebec- Grand Canyon)

Grand Canyon of Mont St-Anne, Quebec, taken sometime August of 2004. Can you spot the walkway bridge on the top right hand side of the photo? Awesome sight to see.

Mom and Dad posing with Ambassador and Mrs. Benedicto. The Ambassador was presented with a limited edition sculpture of the Canadian Loon in recognition of his support to the association, over and above his regular call of duty. He has been generous, donating to the Kahirup's scholarship fund for the last couple of years, out of his own personal pocket expense. During this occasion he presented Kahirup with a check in the amount of $500.00.

Dad and Mom at the Kahirup - Hiligaynon Association of Quebec Anniversary Ball. Dad is the incumbent president of the socio-cultural association based here in Montreal. Sometimes we kid around, asking dad who really is the president of the association, him or mom? :-)

Bike ride while at Calabogie, Ontario. Behind me is the Calabogie Lodge Resort. Len and Marv have a time share accomodation there; it's their "home" resort. Thanks for having us there this past year guys!

[Fwd: Birthday Party Celebrations for January 2005]

Message from Fidong

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Birthday Party Celebrations for January 2005
Date:	Wed, 19 Jan 2005 04:34:35 +0000

Hello everyone.. A big weekend coming up..
After Uncle Lito's 50Th Birthday celebration on Friday, we will be celebrating Johnny's, Timmy's and Nicknick's birthdays on Saturday January 22/05 at our house, gametime is 6:00 p.m.. But but but..before that, we have reserve for bowling lanes at Salon Quilles 440 on Cure Labelle Boulevard at 2:00 p.m.. We hope that everyone can come bowling. We can meet at our house at between 1:00-1:30 p.m. and we can all go at the same time. If you wish to go there directly, please call us for directions. Since we will be feasting on the lavish Bill Wong's dindin the night before, I suggest we go with the following menu for Saturday night: papa's macaroni and cheese special papa's spagetti special For the rice eaters, mom will make kari-kari. We'll also get some barbecue chicken. If any of you wish to bring something, you are most welcome to do so. Please email me back on your choices. We need volunteers for the beer and wine for those lasengos wanna be.. Hope everyone is having a great week leading to this great milestone tatanda ka rin weekend.. Bye for now.. this is uncle feeds saying goodnight campers.. Freddie, Chanty, Joe and Johnny

Can't keep a surprise from Tito Lits. But, what really would be a surprise is the program you guys, you know who you are, conspirators all of you, you have prepared this coming Friday. Yup, we're going to celebrate, God willing, my 50th birthday anniversary at Bill Wong's Restaurant. There have been murmurings and whispers, even at the church- don't know how many people were invited or will show up. One thing for sure, this will be a memorable event.

Cathartic Musings: Tsunami

Cathartic Musings: Tsunami

Tsunami Video Clips

TheIowaChannel.com - Entertainment - Man Auctions Forehead Space On eBay

TheIowaChannel.com - Entertainment - Man Auctions Forehead Space On eBay

Enterpreneurial juice going? Check out the story :-)

Man Auctions Forehead Space On eBay - Andrew Fischer Will Shave Head For Right Price

Action photo with Tito Lits front center, three piece suit pa man din.

There's Pito to my left and brother Nick-Nick to my right. This must have been taken during the wedding reception of Grace and Philip's.

Also courtesy of Pito.

Looks like we were celebrating sister Rosie's 18th birthday.

L-R: Tito Lits holding Pauly, Freddie and Chanty, Tita Nil, Wena beside Rosie who is getting ready to cut her cake, Dad is to the right of Nil, brother Michael, Mom, Pammy, Grace holding Monalee, Lenny, Philip (Grace's hubby) and Pito.

Thanks Pito for sharing this copy with me , circa early 1980s.

The kids in the front row are, L-R: Jeff (Queens, NY), Mitz (Columbus, OH), Pam (Montreal, QC), Paul (Montreal, QC), and my youngest sister Wena (now married, Lasalle, QC).

Front row, holding the kids, L-R: Sally (sister-in-law, holding Jeff, Columbus, OH), Chanty (holding Mitzi, married to brother Freddie, Terrebone, QC), sister Rosie (holding Pam, Lasalle, QC), Tita Nil (holding Pauly, Montreal, QC). That's Tito Lits beside Tita Nil.

The rest of the cast and crew, panning from L-R: Marvin (now married to sister Len, Manotick, ON), nephew Ricky (Toronto, ON), Dick (Sally's hubby, Columbus, OH), sister Len aka Lenny (Manotick, ON), cousin Pito (Scarborough, ON), nephew Tanny aka Kuya aka Nathaniel (son of Dick and Sally, Ottawa, ON), Tita Emilia (mother of Pito and Pilo, Lasalle, QC), brother Freddie (Terrebone, QC), Mom (Lasalle, QC), Vince (brother of Marvin, Kanata, ON), and cousin Pilo (Lasalle, QC).

Whewww! :-) Memories, light the corner of my mind......and so the song goes.

Welcome to backtochurch.ca

Welcome to backtochurch.ca

Top 10 Reasons to Go Back to Church

10. You were created a spiritual being.
9. Worship is transforming.
8. Life is not about you.
7. You need feeding.
6. Your soul is tired.
5. You need a spiritual family.
4. You need healing.
3. You will find your destiny.
2. You want to find how to get eternal life.
1. You need to know you are loved by God.

How to find a church

1. Look in the yellow pages.
2. Look in the white pages.
3. Ask a Christian you know.
4. Visit the church you've always wanted to try.
5. Call up a pastor for advice.
6. Go visit the corner church near you.
7. Follow up on an ad / flier / promo you saw.
8. Do a search on the internet.
9. Try FindaChurch.com.
10. Repeat steps 1-10 until you find a great church!

Be adventurous. Don't give up. Believe us, there are lot of awesome churches in the Greater Montreal Area.

Out with the old while making room for the new

Last week we got hold of a letter from the City, Fire Dept., regarding certain things we need to do to comply with the fire and safety regulation. They paid the church a visit a few months ago and the result of their visit was this letter, dated December 22,2004, spelling out what needs to be done, and that this things that needs to be done, be done by the 22 of January 2005 :)

Bob S. (not good to put down just the initials B.S.- hehehe) our elder in charge of building administration brought this matter to the attention of the Board of Elders last week, called a special meeting where we huddled to discuss what and how and how much and all that jazz :) Being the treasurer and financial officer I took a couple of minutes and finally said "let's do it". We have to install smoke alarms, smoke detectors, pull down fire alarms, etc. No choice anyway. Do it or face the steep fine. We also have to clean up the furnace room, the water tank, water heater room, which by now have become a secondary storage space for junk. We thank the Lord our God Who is always Faithful that we have the funds to finance the installation (approx. $5,000.00 CAD).

Well today was the clean up day. I gave Linda S., one of our deaconess, $50.00 to purchase the supplies needed to prepare breakfast for the volunteers who were going to show up and help out with the clean up. Linda, Bob, and Ashley did a great job in preparing breakfast for about 15 of us this morning.

After breakfast we went ahead with the business of chucking out stuff that's been there for many years, mostly junk that no one had the "courage" to throw away. We rented a large size dumpster and when we first came in and saw it this morning we all wondered how we were going to fill it up because it was just huge. You know what, we filled that dumspter to over flowing :-) I even forgot to take a picture of that thing.

Gerry G., one of our deacons, was going through a box, sorting what stays and what goes, when he found five (5) $20.00 bills wrapped in a piece of paper. We used that blessing to order out Chinese food to serve lunch for the rest of the volunteers that stayed until almost 2:00pm this afternoon.

It was a blessing in disguise that we were asked by the city to make the necessary changes. We have freed up a lot of space to put useful and needed stuff, the building is safer and cleaner. We also had a great time of fellowship while working together and breaking bread or sharing breakfast and lunch together.

God is good!! and the rest of you say "All the time!!" :-)

a m p h i b i o u s - r i s k s

a m p h i b i o u s- r i s k s

Amphibious bike - to see is to believe :-)

v i d e o g a l l e r y - extreme cycling streaming video

v i d e o g a l l e r y

You gotta check this out bikers.

50 MB File (High Speed Internet connection recommended)

50 MB File (High Speed Internet connection recommended)

Thousands crowd Manila's religious feast amid high security after police say they foiled attempt to bomb the gathering

Thousands crowd Manila's religious feast amid high security after police say they foiled attempt to bomb the gathering

Tens of thousands of barefoot devotees gathered Sunday at a Manila square for an annual procession honoring a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ after what police said was a foiled attempt by Islamic militants to bomb the feast.

More than 2,000 police and 12 ambulances were deployed along the route of the often tumultuous procession around Manila's Quiapo district to honor the Black Nazarene, a wooden life-size statue brought from Mexico by Spaniards in 1606.

Rest of the story >>>>

Yahoo! Weather

Yahoo! Weather

Don't you just love Manila weather :-)
High 29°C
Low 23°C

Mild Winter Day

It's a welcome relief. I am hoping, praying, the patch up work (for the meantime) done on the roof will hold and prevent water leaking down.

The forecast says wintry mix. I think the weather person is just mixed up, does not know what exactly it will be, so he / she calls it a "wintry mix" snow and ice pellets, mix with freezing drizzle. It was a good workout scraping all that sheet of ice that covered the windshield and windows.

Earlier the car was nice and clean even in the midst of the snow and ice. Just had a car wash (inside and outside- they call it the VIP treatment). Later this evening I was scraping 1/8" thick sheet of ice off the car windshield and the windows. Freezing rain is back in town.
Check this video clip from this link to see what we have to go through during the winter months. Hit this one now :)

As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, summer will be back soon, and we will be able to wash our car by ourselves, and give it our tender loving wax rub and polish :) I still need your power washer Uncle Philip.

Wow, the car still clean and shiny and Tita Nil still beaming even though she may be hungry for dinner :) . Karen and Dave invited as for dinner tonight. We went to Pavillon Wong Restaurant, one of our favorite Chinese Buffets, our favorite in the West Island of Montreal. Thank God Who is always faithful, Dave is getting better everyday. I look forward to the day when you (Dave) will be back with us in the Praise & Worship Band / Team. Let's jam brother!