Life, Day by Day

Chinese New Year will be on February 8, 2016, the start of the Year of the Fire (Red) Monkey.  I am not superstitious and don't really believe in fortune-telling, but I am open to all suggestions since I was born in a monkey year .  Not many people or places celebrate Chinese New Year but in the Philippines, it is a public holiday.  Most Chinese-Filipino communities in other parts of the country have some sort of celebration, whether big or small.  Here are some ways to welcome the Year of the Fire Monkey in Bacolod City and the Province of Negros Occidental:

The 2013 Masskara Festival is under new management!  This is the 33rd year of the festival and the new organizer is the Kasadya Bacolod Foundation, Inc . led by its chairman and MassKara Festival Director Mr. Rhoderick Samonte, who according to news feeds, has said that they are working with a minimum budget but, they will try their best to make this year’s festival distinct from past festivals.  For one, they are returning the Trini Lopez Medley , which was used first in 1988. Admittedly the latino medley is very upbeat and rhythmic, but the original music created for last year's Masskara had a distinct local beat and is Bacolod's own. And so, I think the 2012 music should have been retained, given some improvement and remixed.  Listen to both versions which I uploaded below and let me know what you think.

For people looking out for great food this holiday season, watch out for COMER.CIO , a 3-day food market slated to open on December 16 to 18, 2011 at the Central District right besides Robinson's Mall. The team behind the bazaar is a group of young entrepreneurs with a vision of promoting and showcasing Bacolod's finest food products that gives a young, fun and fresh appeal. The name COMER.CIO is an interplay of words, inspired by the Spanish word comer, meaning "to eat" yet when taken as a whole word, it translates to "commerce" which means intellectual exchange or social interaction. This is one of the aims of the bazaar-to establish social dealings between and among lovers of food. Interested parties who would like to showcase their products may email comercio.bacolod@yahoo.com for inquiries.  Deadline for submission of application is on December 8, 2011. 

After years of indifference, I decided to attend the 2011 Masskara Festival.  I have experienced only 2 Masskara festivities since this started in the 80's...the first time in the mid-80's when I was taking my MBA and classmates convinced me to join the fun in the Bacolod Plaza (at that time, that was the only venue) and last year, when my son dragged me for help with a project to Lacson St.  where it was raining on and off the whole evening. This year, I joined my fellow Negros Bloggers in attending some of the events we were invited to. First stop was the Electric Masskara which is now on it's 5th year.  My friends, and I braved the crowd and pushed our way in to get a good look at the floats. I have no idea which barangay is which but it was great to see the dancers and their beautiful costumes up close. There were still several floats to see but as the crowd was moving, we had no choice but to move along and eventually found ourselves in front of the