Earthquake in the Philippines and the Balearic Islands

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I saw while checking my FaceBook page was a short message from a friend asking me if my family is ok. I told him my family is still in US and my relatives in the Philippines are in another island not directly affected by the earthquake.

In case you have not heard , a 7.6 to 7.9 intensity quake hit the Eastern part of Mindanao yesterday. Several homes were destroyed and one child was killed as of this writing date. I am sure more damage will be be reported in the next couple of days.

So what is the connection of this earthquake in Eastern Mindanao to Balearic Islands in Spain? :Let me explain. My Facebook friend who inquired about my family is from Menorca in the Balearic Island, Spain. Evidently, he was also reading the news at the same time I was surfing my FaceBook page. We were able to chat for about 10 minutes. I learned he owns two hotels in Menorca with 100 beds. I also learned that the tourism business in Menorca has not been affected by the poor economic conditions in Europe. As a matter of fact tourism is up 15% this year. Most of the tourist comes from Northern Europe. Menorca is only about 40 minutes plane ride from Barcelona and one hour from Madrid.

This conversation aroused my interest about the Balearic Island and specifically Menorca,(also spelled as Minorca) where the two hotels of my friend are located. He has two websites, Calabona.net and Marblava.com in case you are interested in vacationing to Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. Here's a short summary in the net about the Balearic Islands for your information.

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, with Palma as the capital city. The co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Castilian Spanish. The current Statute of Autonomy declares the Balearic Islands as one nationality of Spain.

The island of Minorca was a British dependency for most of the 18th century as a result of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. This treaty—signed by the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Portugal as well as the Kingdom of Spain, to end the conflict caused by the War of the Spanish Succession--gave Gibraltar and Minorca to the Kingdom of Great Britain, Sardinia to Austria (both territories had been part of the Crown of Aragon for more than four centuries), and Sicily to the House of Savoy. In addition, Flanders and other European territories of the Spanish Crown were given to Austria. The island fell to French forces, under Armand de Vignerot du Plessis in June 1756 and was occupied by them for the duration of the Seven Years' War. The British re-occupied the island after the war but, with their military forces diverted away by the American War of Independence, it fell to a Franco-Spanish force after a seven-month siege (1781/2). Spain retained it under the Treaty of Paris in 1783. However during the French Revolutionary Wars, when Spain became an ally of France, it came under French rule.

Minorca was finally returned to Spain by the Treaty of Amiens during the French Revolutionary Wars, following the last British occupation, which lasted from 1798 to 1802. The continued presence of British naval forces, however, meant that the Balaerics were never occupied by the French during the Napoleonic Wars. The main islands of the autonomous are Majorca (Mallorca), Minorca (Menorca), Ibiza (Eivissa) and Formentera, all of which are popular tourist destinations. Among the minor islands is Cabrera, which is the location of the Parc Nacional de l'Arxipèlag de Cabrera.

The history of these islands is indeed very fascinating. Today, I am glad my Facebook friend chatted with me this morning. It gave me an inspiration to read more information about this tourist spots in Europe. Please note that my family and I had spent one week of vacation in Southern Spain ( Costa del Sol, Marbella, Malaga and the Rock of Gibraltar) about 10 years ago. Please visit my friend's websites at calabona.net or at marblava.com if you get a chance.

I hope yesterday's earthquake in the Philippines did not cause a lot of damage and loss of lives.



My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian and American romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos (Nia Vardalos), a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant" Ian Miller (John Corbett). At the 75th Academy Awards, it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. A sleeper hit, the film grossed $241.4 million in North America, despite never reaching number one at the box office during its release (the highest-grossing film to accomplish this feat).

Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) is going through an early midlife crisis. At thirty, she is the only woman in her family who has "failed". Her family expects her to "marry a Greek boy, make Greek babies, and feed everyone until the day she dies. Instead, Toula is stuck working in the family business, a restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's". In contrast to her "perfect" sister, Athena (Stavroula Logothetis), Toula is frumpy and cynical. She fears she's doomed to be stuck with her life as it is.

At the restaurant, she briefly sees Ian Miller, a handsome school teacher. This event, combined with an argument with her overly-patriotic father, Gus - who merely wants his daughter to marry and settle down rather than pursue a career - motivates her to begin taking computer classes at a local college. She also gets contact lenses, wears her hair curly, and begins to use makeup. Maria, her mother, and her aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) then contrive a way to get Gus to allow her to work at Voula's travel agency.

Toula feels much better in her new job, especially when she notices Ian hanging around looking at her through the window. They finally introduce themselves and begin dating. Toula keeps the relationship secret from her family until some weeks later when Gus finds out. He throws a fit because Ian is not Greek and orders Toula to end the relationship, but Ian and Toula continue to see each other against Gus's wishes. Ian proposes marriage to her, she accepts. Gus is hurt and infuriated, feeling his daughter has betrayed him, and Ian agrees to be baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church and speak fluent Greek to be worthy of her family.


The wedding day dawns with liveliness and hysteria, but the traditional wedding itself goes without a hitch. Gus gives a speech accepting Ian and the Millers as family and buys the newlyweds a house right next door to him. An epilogue shows the new couple's life six years later in which they have a daughter, Paris, whom they raise in the Greek style, but Toula tells her she can marry anyone she wants when she grows up after she says she wants to go to Brownies instead of Greek school.







I hope this video will gave you a big smile. Enjoy!

The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philippines. The festival commemorates the Cebuano people's pagan origin, and their acceptance of Roman Catholicism.

The features a street parade with participants in bright coloured costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets and native gongs. Smaller versions of the festival are held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a "Sinulog sa Kabataan" performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the parade. Recently, the festival has been promoted as a tourist attraction, with a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is usually held in the Cebu City Sports Complex.

The Sinulog celebration lasts for nine days, culminating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession is held at dawn with a statue of the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat from Mandaue City to Cebu City, decked with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing (that is, the acceptance of Roman Catholicism) of Cebu is performed. In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the event.



Here's a Filipino Movie if you speak or understand Tagalog-Philippines National language. The unusual love story unfolds in Lumban, Laguna ---a town famous for cottage cheese from carabao milk--- where lives Ramon who stands to inherit the vast wealth of his mother but only if he can have a child within two years.

If not, the inheritance will be turned over to charity.

But Ramon's discovery of his infertility will turn his life and the lives of three more persons into one roller coaster ride of emotional conflicts.



The English Patient is a 1996 romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Sri Lankan-Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. The film, written for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella, won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Ondaatje worked closely with the filmmakers.

Set before and during World War II, The English Patient is a story of love, fate, misunderstanding and healing. Told in a series of flashbacks, the film can best be explained by unwinding it into its two chronological phases.

Awards and honors

1996 Academy Awards: Won, Best Picture; Won, Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Juliette Binoche; Won, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan; Won, Best Cinematography (John Seale); Won, Best Costume Design (Ann Roth); Won, Best Director (Anthony Minghella);Won, Best Film Editing (Walter Murch); Won, Best Original Score (Gabriel Yared); Won, Best Sound (Walter Murch, Mark Berger, David Parker, and Christopher Newman);

br />


In early 1923, two young boys from Tennessee, Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker, pretending to fight the Germans, climb into Rafe's father's biplane crop duster and accidentally start it, giving them their first taste of flying. Soon after, Danny's father (William Fichtner) comes to drag him home, berating him for playing with Rafe and beating him. Rafe attacks Danny's father calling him a "dirty German"; Danny's father counters by explaining that he fought the Germans in World War I and wishes that they never witness the horrors of war.

In the summer of 1940, as grown men, Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Hartnett) are First Lieutenants in the United States Army Air Corps under the command of Major Jimmy Doolittle (Alec Baldwin). Rafe meets Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale), a Navy nurse who passes him for his physical examination even though he has dyslexia, and is instantly smitten. The two soon begin dating and fall in love. However, Rafe has volunteered to serve with the Royal Air Force's Eagle Squadrons. Before Rafe leaves for England, he makes a promise to Evelyn that he will come back for her. Evelyn and Danny are transferred with their respective squadrons to Pearl Harbor. Rafe is shot down over the English Channel and presumed to have been killed in action.

Three months later, Evelyn and Danny bond over their mourning of Rafe and unexpectedly develop feelings for each other. They soon begin developing their friendship and in the end they end up in a passionate relationship, stranded in Pearl Harbor for next year.

On the night of December 6, 1941, Rafe unexpectedly returns to Pearl Harbor, having survived the crash and being stranded in occupied France in the interval. He quickly realizes that Evelyn and Danny are now together, and feeling hurt and betrayed, the two friends soon get into a fight at the local hula bar. The next morning, on December 7, they are interrupted by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by Zero fighters, Val dive bombers and Kate torpedo bombers.

The surprise Japanese air raid sinks the battleships USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma and many other ships. Back at the hospital, Evelyn helps tend to the dozens of wounded who come in and must help decide who can and cannot be saved. Meanwhile, Rafe and Danny are the only two who manage to get airborne and shoot down seven Japanese aircraft with P-40s using their reckless tactics, including an old game of theirs called chicken. The two men then go to the hospital, where Evelyn takes blood from them for the hundreds of injured soldiers, and later aid in trying to rescue the many men still in the harbor. In the aftermath, the survivors attend a memorial service for the fallen victims after the U.S. declaration of war on Japan.

Rafe and Danny are both promoted to Captain, awarded the Silver Star and assigned to now-Colonel Doolittle for a dangerous and top-secret mission. Before their departure, Evelyn meets Rafe and reveals that she is pregnant with Danny's child, although she doesn't want Danny to know so he can focus on the upcoming mission. She says that she is going to remain with Danny, though deep down she will always love Rafe just as much. Rafe accepts this.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Jon Voight) wants to send a message that the Japanese homeland is not immune from bombing. Danny, Rafe and others are to fly B-25 Mitchell medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, bomb Tokyo and then land in friendly Chinese territory. The two men succeed in their bombing but crash-land into a rice field in a Japanese-held area when their bombers run out fuel. Just as Rafe is about to be shot, Danny flies over head and shoots the attacking Japanese soldiers. Danny's plane then crashes and he is wounded. Japanese come in and attack Rafe and start to hold the others captive. They tie Danny to a cattle holder. Rafe picks up a gun and kills several Japanese. Danny acts as human shield for Rafe and is fatally wounded. Rafe holds a dying Danny in his arms, telling him he can't die because he's going to be a father. With his dying words, Danny tells Rafe to raise his child for him. The crew arrives back in Hawaii and a hopeful Evelyn awaits. She sees Rafe and is excited, but then sees him carrying Danny's coffin.

At the end of the war, Dorie Miller becomes the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross and Rafe is discharged from the Army. He and Evelyn, who are together again, and Danny's son, also called Danny, who Rafe is bringing up as his own, are back at the farm in Tennessee visiting Danny's grave. Rafe then takes his son flying, and the two fly off into the sunset in the old biplane.



So You Think You Can Dance is an American televised dance competition show that airs on Fox in the United States and is the flagship series of the international So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) television franchise. It is one of my favorite TV shows. This year it is its 9th season in the US. In case you do not watch the show, here is a short history for your information. br />
The series first premiered on July 20, 2005, was created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions. The first season was hosted by current American news personality, Lauren Sánchez; since the second season it has been hosted by former British children's television personality and one-time game show emcee, Cat Deeley. The show features a tiered format wherein dancers from a variety of styles enter open auditions held in a number of major U.S. cities to showcase their unique style and talents and, if allowed to move forward, then are put through additional rounds of auditions to test their ability to adapt to different styles. At the end of this process, a small number of dancers are chosen as finalists. These dancers move on to the competition's main phase, where they perform solo, duet, and group dance numbers in a variety of styles. They compete for the votes of the broadcast viewing audience which, combined with the input of a panel of judges, determines which dancers advance to the next stage from week to week. The number of finalists has varied as determined by a season's format, but has typically been 20 contestants.

The show features a broad variety of American and international dance styles ranging across a broad spectrum of classical, contemporary, ballroom, hip-hop, street, club, jazz, and musical theatre styles, amongst others, with many sub-genres within these categories represented. Competitors attempt to master these styles—which are generally, but not always, assigned by a luck-of-the-draw system—in an attempt to survive successive weeks of elimination and win a cash prize (typically $250,000) and often other awards, as well as the title of "America's Favorite Dancer". In eight seasons, the winners have been Nick Lazzarini, Benjamin Schwimmer, Sabra Johnson, Joshua Allen, Jeanine Mason, Russell Ferguson, Lauren Froderman, and Melanie Moore. The show has won seven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography and a total of nine Emmys altogether.