The HeART of Yolanda de Castro-Cabuco

"Dream Art", watercolor

"Ballade to Mature Beauty", acrylic

"Sharpening One Another", acrylic

"Colour My Life", watercolor

"Oh the Night is Blue", acrylic

"Wild Blooms", watercolor

"Enlightened", acrylic

Yolanda de Castro-Cabuco's art is her personal journey towards her inner self. It is art on introspection and is manifest of her very existence that is anchored on her faith in God. She is a naive artist, a painter of butterflies, mountains, and all other elements of nature in their purest forms. In exuberant strokes and colors of the rainbow, her vision of the world expressed in her works remains untainted.

Yolanda started her painting career rather late in life. Her entry into the Philippine art scene was brought about by a personal crisis. Having undergone brain surgery and having been blessed with a second life, she found her calling in showing God's greatness and love through art. She paints God's creations in various hues to show their magnificence.

There are many artists who produce more outstanding works of art in terms of techniques and composition. But why did I choose to write about the art of Yolanda ? It is because I see her heart in each of her work and that is truly important. For every twist and turn in her life, she paints her unwavering faith on canvas. Painting is her catharsis, painting is her way of exulting the Creator." I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart." That is the voice of Vincent Van Gogh's heart and that is what I also hear from the heart of Yolanda de Castro-Cabuco's art.

Yolanda de Castro-Cabuco

A FLIGHT ATTENDANT: TO BE, OR NOT TO BE?

Being a flight attendant is not for all the tall and tan and young and lovely. Being a flight attendant is being more than beautiful. Above all things, someone who aspires to be a flight attendant must basically possess wit, grit, and humor. The magic word here is chutzpah; she should have this in the right amount. Contrary to what we often see on television and magazines, the job is not all about inflight food service with a smile and providing total comfort to passengers. These are only secondary to ensuring the safety of the passengers until they arrive to their destinations. A flight attendant is tasked with multiple responsibilities inside the plane that she must be the sum total of a lot of qualities so as to function effectively.To be quite specific, she has to be street smart, cheerful, must have a natural inclination towards people, patient, courageous to either jump out of the plane or remain inside as the situation warrants it and as per captain's order, and adept in multitasking especially when the flight experiences full load situations.

Talking with a seasoned flight attendant is like talking with a professional boxer. Ask her about her inflight experiences and you will be amazed on how she handles situations involving unruly passengers, emergency childbirths and attempted hijackings to name a few. She certainly knows how to give the best jabs and avoid the fatal blows. In other words, she knows how to assess situations and act accordingly. Take for instance the experience of my friend, a senior flight attendant, during her last flight prior to her retirement. She had a "turbulent" flight for having a female passenger who started gulping alcoholic drinks prior to take off. This passenger certainly gave her hell 30,000 feet above sea level that lasted for the entire flight. Obviously tipsy, the woman unfastened her seatbelt during take off and landing, intermittently walked up and down the aisle, hollered and complained. Her behavior finally peeved a male passenger who stood up and said, " Hey lady, what's wrong with you? Have you not had sex for a long time?" A fistfight or hair pulling between the two passengers could have been the final scene, but my friend used her human relations skill, discretionary judgement, and toughness to prevent this. The feisty flight attendant certainly didn't buckle under pressure only to find out at the end that the woman was a mystery guest out to observe that flight but did an overkill by being too hyper and meddlesome.


So what makes flying so attractive? At first glance, everything seems to be about glamor with the uniform and the countries a flight attendant travels to. Indeed, it is. A flight attendant receives a big salary and allowance, gets to travel around the world for free, stays in deluxe hotels, shops in different key cities of the world; most often, marries a businessman or a high profile man. Long years of training and flying have kept her abreast with the do's and don'ts in social events and has learned to have impeccable manners. Yet, that's only a part of being a flight attendant. Flying is also about hard work during inflight service, having grit during emergency situations, and putting one's life on the line in every flight she takes. Flying is not just a job, it is a lifestyle. It is a combo of glamor, hard work, and heroism.


So, are you thinking of becoming a flight attendant? Think hard and ask yourself if you have what it takes to be one. If you feel half-hearted to be a flight attendant but you want to travel while working and don a stewardess' uniform, you still have another option. You can always work as a stewardess for deluxe buses like Victory Liner's until you are ready for take off.

My very first Cathay Pacific Flight Attendant Uniform still fits!

As a flight attendant of Cathay Pacific Airways

CX Induction l: before and after

ANYONE CAN COOK !

When God gave his gift for cooking, I guess my brother was one lucky recipient. He can just cook anything as in anything. He is a natural in the kitchen and the dining area; as if he was born there. He is just an expert on difficult and easy dishes, the right way of using the appropriate utensils, plates, goblets for fine dining, proper way of dissecting the food and chewing it, and laughing with elan even when his mouth is full.

Whenever my brother cooks, it is always a glorious occasion with us expecting to be served food for the gods. Whenever it is my turn to cook, there will always be a question of , "Is it for the gods or the dogs?" You see, if Dennis is Ratatouile, I have to be a magician in the kitchen and come up with something up my sleeve.

So what are my brother's words of wisdom on cooking? Cooking is like traveling on a train. As one journeys, he slowly imbibes everything that he sees. Similarly, in cooking, one must go slow and not overwhelm or choke his dish with so many ingredients; everything has to be in moderation. Meat and fish must be cooked gradually and in low fire to cook them evenly; veggies with bigger fire and shorter period of time to retain their crispness and freshness. Cooking is an art and a process that has to be enjoyed like a journey.

For me, cooking is tango, rumba, chacha or a fast beat depending on what I'm cooking. For instance, if it is pinakbet that I am cooking, then it is chacha with me playfully tossing the veggies in the pot. If it is spaghetti, then it is rumba with my hips gyrating as I grate the cheese. Cooking is happiness. Cooking is being in love. It is absolutely romancing my ingredients and being surprised at the end. I never follow any recipe, always put a twist like adding something unusual in my dish and most often do not have any idea of how my dish would eventually turn out. I am just surprised when the people around me nod with approval, say bravissima and ask for more after tasting my dish. Indeed, anyone can cook! ^_^

Ratatouile

Cooking is tango, rumba, chacha or a fast beat depending on what I am cooking.

"Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with complete abandon or not at all."
-Harriet Van Home

"A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe."
-Thomas Keller

Gray Wall Art Studio- Jude and Naila Puruganan's romance with art

Art makes the heart grow fonder for another. Exactly! For Jude and Naila Puruganan, it is art that brought them together, binds them together and helps keep the ball rolling in their relationship not just as husband and wife but also as comrades in art.

This energetic tandem are the brains behind Gray Wall Art Studio that boasts of a collection of works by various artists such as Victor Puruganan, Jun Martinez, Angel Cacnio, Romulo Olazo, Ramon Orlina, Napoleon Abueva, Vicente Manansala, Rodolfo Samonte, Greg Bolanos, Menchu Arandilla, and me to name a few. Jude and Naila conceptualized the creation of the studio and formally started its operations in 2013. It was primarily envisioned to bring art closer to the people. As such, the duo came up with the idea of having a traveling art; they bring the art pieces to various events and venues such as galleries, parks and bazaars. This proactive couple eventually plans to expand and come up with other art venues in Ilocos, the province of Jude, and Aklan, the province of Naila.

Jude's exposure to art dates back to 1983. His father, master artist Ricarte Puruganan, used to take him along with him to various events, instilling in him the love for the arts, and making him learn the ropes of the trade. It was on one occasion that he met Naila who was then connected with an established art gallery. It was definitely love at first sight for them. As time goes by, their love for each other definitely keeps their romance with art passionate.

Jude and Naila Puruganan with my art work

The legacy of art from Ricarte Puruganan lives in the hearts of Jude and Naila

The studio boasts of art works by known artists

Gray Wall Art Studio
11 Don Narciso St., Don Enrique Heights
Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City
Landline: 7856984
graywall 14@yahoo.com/GrayWallArtStudio
Instagram: graywallartstudio

VICTOR S. PURUGANAN- ART IS IN HIS BLOOD

It was one afternoon when my siblings and I decided to stop by at the Gray Wall Art Studio before going out for dinner. We were driven more by curiosity rather than by anything else. Lo and behold! We found out to our surprise that the resident artist in this studio is no other than the son of Ricarte M. Puruganan, a multi awarded artist, one of the Thirteen Moderns who ushered in a new era in Philippine art in the 1930's, and was a contemporary of Fernando Amorsolo, HR Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, Botong Francisco and Anita Magsaysay-Ho.

So what is my impression of Victor Puruganan? He is one artist who can talk about his life with candor and enthusiastically discuss his art at great length. He definitely lives and breathes his art. He is the only one among all the children of Ricarte Puruganan who followed the footsteps of his father. Victor can best be described with one word, versatile. He has the ability to shift from one medium to another and from one genre of art to another. He is not only a painter but also a sculptor who is very much passionate about art and life.

Victor finished a two year course in fine arts at the City College of San Francisco in the United States, resided and held one man exhibits there for quite sometime before coming back to the Philippines to stay for good. His enterprising brother and sister-in-law, Jude and Naila Puruganan, put up Gray Wall Art Studio to showcase his paintings and sculptures as well as those of other well known artists. Having strong connections in the Philippine art scene, Jude acts as the art consultant for the studio.

We had an engrossing discussion with Victor. We didn't even notice that the sun had already set down and yet we were still inside his studio. It was indeed wonderful to exchange views with an artist who is self-assured and passionate about his art. Definitely, art is in his blood.

With the artist in his studio

Interviewing the artist (in orange shirt), Victor Puruganan

The art of Victor Puruganan

The art of Victor Puruganan

Admiring the different art works at the Gray Wall Art Studio

With two of his pieces of sculptures, "Cycle of the Sun" and "Pole Dancing" (red one), made from automobile parts

His "Cycle of the Sun", a finalist in the GSIS Sculpture Competition 2014

A book authored by his renowned artist father, Ricarte M. Puruganan

A painting by Spanish artist, Cesar Caballero

This is Victor Puruganan's abstract work

AT THE LOUVRE FOR THE MONA LISA SMILE

So you want to visit the Louvre but it is not physically possible because you are miles and miles away. You belong to the old school so you don't want to use the internet and just check the place instead. Fine. You can still live the experience of being at the Louvre without being there. Go for the old fashion way, and have it from someone who has been to the place, for events and things can be experienced through other people. That is what we call vicariously living someone else's experiences.

It was one fine evening when Xavier, my nephew, described his very recent travel to Paris, France. As he was giving a descriptive account of his visit, I was totally immersed in his stories that it was like actually being there, experiencing what he was feeling then.

Paris is a city of contrast. It is both the old and the new. The city has retained the quality of the old world, rich in its artistic heritage, while its people are ultra modern, fashionably dressed as they walk the streets of Paris. There are not many French nationals who speak English and so just like in the movie, "Lost in Translation", Xavier had to find ways of communicating with them, relying mostly on his mobile phone to translate English words to French and vice versa.

Xavier's visit to the Louvre Museum was one of the highlights of his trip. It is one of the world's largest museums and is a historic monument. It is a central landmark in Paris that showcases the different art works of the masters. He paid an entrance fee of about thirteen US dollars or six hundred Php.

In a nutshell, this is how Xavier sums up his total experience at the Louvre Museum:

"The art works at the Louvre isn't really my cup of tea, but visiting this museum is one of those things you've got to do while in Paris. The space is amazing with the size and scale of it all, impressive. There are just so many people that everything becomes pretty challenging that you just have to deal with it the best way possible so you can see the art works.

We made our way into the vast interior of the museum within an hour after it opened its doors to the public that day and still we were swallowed up by the great number of visitors. The famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci was strategically placed deep into the maze of corridors. By the time we reached this painting, the room was already thick with visitors.

In the next ten minutes, though, I was struck with a sad realization. I left the room, feeling that although Mona Lisa is the most visited piece of art at the Louvre, it is the least seen and felt. Clearly, no one was attempting to take in the piece with his eyes or his heart. The people only wanted to snap pictures or take videos of it. As if the pictures and videos were some sort of little trophies with everyone running about trying to collect as many of these as possible. The more they collected, the more of a winner they were. And it is sad because it prevented them from actually experiencing the moment and relating to this beautiful work of art."

Well Xavier, you are still one lucky guy not only for having seen the Mona Lisa smile but also for having a Mona Lisa smile.  ^-^

Adecsky Explorer about to interview Xavier Bernal

The Louvre Museum in Paris, France

Some of the works by the masters

Xavier shares his insight about his visit to Paris and the Louvre Museum

The Head of John the Baptist

The most sought after by viewers, "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo Da Vinci

"The Triumph of Neptune"

The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery- A journey underneath the earth

I am one person who enters a place or a situation without hesitation and fear. Fortunately, I always get out unscathed from dangerous places or sticky situations. If curiosity can kill a cat, curiosity can whet my appetite for adventure. Call it having chutzpah, the quality of being curious and bold which I have in abundance. With my chutzpah, I entered the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery with only a skinny driver in tow as the sun was setting down. Nevermind that I might encounter the ghost of a headless Spanish friar, I was determined to explore every nook and cranny of this cemetery underneath the ground.

The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery in Laguna is the only one of its kind in the Philippines. It is a burial site 15 feet beneath a church that was designed and built for funeral masses in 1845 by a Franciscan priest named Father Vicente Velloc. The privileged ones who came from the elite Catholic families were buried here.

This cemetery was declared a national landmark as the underground crypt was used as a secret meeting place by the revolutionary group, KKK in 1896. During the Philippine-American War, the Filipino patriots also used the place to formulate their battle plans and seek shelter. It further served as  a safe house for the Filipino guerrillas during World War ll.

As I lingered in the cemetery, I felt that the atmosphere was becoming eerie. I saw the silhouette of a man in a brown robe passed by then quickly disappeared. With goose bumps all over me, I ran up the flight of stairs leading back to the church leaving behind my chutzpah in the cemetery. :P  It was indeed a one-of-a-kind adventure.

Adecsky Explorer is ready to discover anything in the underground cemetery.

The San Bartolome Apostol Parish Church also known as the Church of Nagcarlang

Going down for an adventure ^_^

The ceiling has a mural

This is where light passes through to illuminate the cemetery. There are no light fixtures inside.

This is another entrance for the light.

Only the privileged ones from the elite Catholic families were buried here

The facade of the church