Search This Blog

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Miss Philippines Crowned the New Miss World

           Amid the crisis that Philippines is facing now a days Megan Young put a smile in every Filipinos faces and hearts when she was crowned as the first winner of the title “Miss World”. 


            The pageant was held on Saturday night; September 28 in Bali Indonesia hosted by English singer Myleene Klass and Mister World 2010 Kamal Ibrahim. The coronation night was featured cultural numbers and performances from British Boy band Blue. Large number of Filipino fans that traveled with Megan Young celebrated by jumping and waving the country’s flag as she said, ”I promise to be the best Miss World ever”.

              With Megan's Miss World win, the Philippines is now the undisputed grand slam winner with wins in every international beauty pageant in history.





Saturday, September 28, 2013

Smiley Saturday: Famous Chinese Detective

              It's time to share one of the most important things in a person.. - Laughter. As what Charles Dickens quoted in his Christmas Carol book " There is nothing in this world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor."
              So, for my Smiley Saturday, I want to share a funny story of a famous Chinese detective. I got this hilarious and cute story from one of my friends in Facebook.


             A man suspected his wife of seeing another man. So, he hired a famous Chinese detective. Mee Lookee You, to watch and report any activities that might develop. A few days later, the man received this report:

                     Most honorable sir:

                               You leave house.

                               I come house.

                               I watch.

                               He and she leave house.

                               I follow.

                               He and she get on train.

                               I follow.

                               He and she go in hotel.

                               I climb tree - look in window.

                               He kiss she.

                               She kiss he.

                               He strip she.

                              He play with she.

                               She play with he.

                               I play with me.

                               Fall out of tree, not see.
                   
                               NO SEE.



                 Have a joyful Saturday, friends.

        
                           

                       

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Throwback Thursday:EmPKBelle






Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Beverly Lewis’ The Redemption of Sarah Cain - Book Report - ANALYSIS & PERSONAL REACTION

               
    “The Redemption of Sarah Cain” was my first Amish book to read.
 I admire the author, Beverly Lewis on the way she associated her heritage into her writing. 
  I should say this is one of the best books I’ve read so far on this school year. 
                 The story line is simple, yet portrayed in such a way that I felt the book holds a much deeper meaning: loss of faith, finding faith, growth, and learning from others. The story showed that aside from individual differences and cultural issues, each person can still learn from each other if each one of them is willing to actually listen.  The novel is rich in spiritual understanding, gives depth to commitment, not to compromise in temptation, and shows balance and belief in life.   
            The story had an element of suspense but overall it was a bit predictable.  From the title itself “The Redemption of Sara Cain”, the reader can tell what would likely to happen to the main character.    Although the ending is good but it was so quickly wrapped up. The entire book has a good pace but the story ended in so little pages left. As the story evolves, I could tell that Sarah may have had a change of heart at the end, when she said “No Josiah. Finding her voice, your mamma was a very nice woman, She did not make mistake...”. but all of a sudden it’s the epilogue. Although the author made everything falls into proper place, the
 revelation is so sudden. Yet, I still liked how the end of story went on how Lydia narrates the events in the epilogue.
                  After reading the story, I learned a little about Amish culture and their life. They are the people who could live a simple and uncluttered life.  I can’t believe that there are still people who live that way of life in this cyber age. I think I would like to read more on Amish community. Overall, the book has a good life lesson. It made me think about family, faith, culture, choices, and self-discovery.
          

 * This is my daugthers'  book report in English 101
Molly Mae N. Martinez
Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management
Far East Asia Institute of Tourism Science and Technology












           





Sunday, September 22, 2013

Beverly Lewis’ The Redemption of Sarah Cain - Book Report - SUMMARY



       
   The novel The Redemption of Sarah Cain” is primarily told from the perspective of Sarah’s niece, Lydia Cottrell who is the eldest of the five Amish children. 
            Sarah and Ivy were never close as they grew up. Ivy was the popular during their high school days. She has been voted “Ms. Congeniality”. Sarah was the nervous type and it was until college when she broke out of her shell.  Their lifestyle is way too different from each other.  For some reason, Ivy settled with her husband, they decided to join the Amish. Ivy with her husband preferred living a simple and plain life. Sarah could not understand what caused this change in her sister.  
         When Ivy Cottrell died, Sarah found out that she has been named guardian of Ivy’s five orphaned Amish children.  She hates that she is forced to go to Pennsylvania to deal with the situation. Although, she did not understand Ivy’s choice, she flew out to Lancaster County to see if she can find Amish foster parents for her nieces and nephews. 
             When Ivy Cottrell died, Sarah found out that she has been named guardian of Ivy’s five orphaned Amish children.  She hates that she is forced to go to Pennsylvania to deal with the situation. Although, she did not understand Ivy’s choice, she flew out to Lancaster County to see if she can find Amish foster parents for her nieces and nephews.
            While at the Amish community, Sarah had difficulty adjusting on their way of life. She disliked their early morning rising. She can’t understand how one can live with such a plain household, and how the same day-to-day pattern of life doesn’t get boring. Lydia, the oldest of the Cottrell children did her best to keep the household busy daily tending to their farms. Sarah stayed a little longer than she intended, she began to learn and understand what life is like for her nieces and nephews, and through them to better understand the sister whom she was never close. But Sarah remained aloof while trying to make decisions about their future, especially since the eldest looks and acts so muck like Ivy.
            Lydia feels much the same about Sarah. She cannot understand her odd focus on material possessions. She struggled keeping her promise to her dying mom because it will cost her of losing “ the sweetest, kindest, and most handsome Plain boy in all of Lancaster  County”, Levi King. Although, Lydia didn’t like the decision of leaving the Amish community, she had to be strong for her younger siblings. Lydia and her siblings were forced to leave the Amish community and went with Sara back to Oregon. Sara believed she could make a new life for them in Oregon. However, the situations were not easy for the Amish siblings. The modern world is forcing them to compromise who they are. The Amish siblings had to deal with a lifestyle that is so foreign and opposite to the way they were raised. The situations made Sara decide to bring the Amish siblings back to Lancaster County.
From the start, Sarah is only determined to help find   foster parents for the Amish siblings, but as she does so, she learned through their simple sweetness, to open her heart to love again. At the time that Sarah is deciding to leave her nieces and nephews, Anna Mae grabbed her arm, squeezed, and begged Sarah not to leave them.  All the siblings were crying and Josiah out of sadness blurted out that “Seems to me, Mamma made a mighty big mistake asking you to come here.”  Hearing those words, Sarah flashback on why her mom gave her the name “Sarah” and this served as her moving force to stay with the children. Sarah changed her mind and decided to stay at the community with her nieces and nephews. That night ended Sarah’s loneliness and searching. She started to get connected with her family, her sister’s beautiful children, her own flesh and blood.
After a couple of months, Sara and Bryan got married. Lydia started working as a schoolteacher and later on married Levi.

************NEXT POST WILL BE THE ANALYSIS & PERSONAL REACTION**************
 * This is my daugthers'  book report in English 101
Molly Mae N. Martinez
Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management
Far East Asia Institute of Tourism Science and Technology



d7b0fc2d5f3ea0c09671b8a2381552de12526b32c3d746ea04

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Beverly Lewis’ The Redemption of Sarah Cain - Book Report - INTRODUCTION

      

  The author, Beverly Lewis was born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Her mother’s plain family heritage inspired her to write many of her popular stories in Amish country. One of her novels is “The Redemption of Sarah Cain” which is set in an unconventional and plain Amish community – Lancaster County, where the very few Amish lived.
            The story is all about a successful and very busy woman, Sarah, who found that her Amish sister passed away and left her the legal guardian of her five Amish children. The novel deals with real feelings and expectations encountered after the death of a loved one.
            The book is labeled Historical Fiction and Christian Fiction. There’s more of emphasis on the characters spiritual journey. This book makes the readers’ think about faith, culture and choices.
            The characters are as follows:
Sarah Cain – a former school teacher but for some reasons, she had to stop teaching and became a real state agent She clings to her career, in search of happiness and success, and by no choice she has to adopt her nieces and nephew.

Lydia Cottrel – Sarah’s niece and the eldest of five Amish orphans, made a promise to her dying mother to “keep the family together”. She stands up for her belief in the Amish Community. She is almost seventeen years old.

Caleb -             tall and blonde, had accepted the substitute headship of the house when their dad passed away three years ago.


Anna Mae – Eleven years old, redheaded and chubby a soft–spoke, sweet, shy sister who is fighting the world’s temptations.


Josiah       –          a stocky eight-year-old, who loves nature and exudes his love in specific scenes. Has come to realize and has deep understanding on what separation from the world means. He remains a faithful follower of God.


Han               Hanah – petite six year old, adorable, angelic sister who continues to help everyone and has an astonishing amount of child-like faith.


 * This is my daugthers'  book report in English 101
Molly Mae N. Martinez
Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management
Far East Asia Institute of Tourism Science and Technology





















Monday, September 16, 2013

Stem Cells Offer Great Promise for Medical Treatment

We all start out as one cell called “zygote”. The zygote or fertilized egg divides into two cells, four cells, and so on. In process, these cells are formed and take function in every part of our body that is called differentiation. Stem cells are cells that have not yet differentiated. Under the right conditions, stem cells are capable to generate and renew themselves through cell division, which no other cells in the body can do this. Stem cells are often called “progenitor” cells because they can produce copies of themselves. These cells are significantly known to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. Likewise, they serve as internal repair system in many tissues. Blood cells, nerve cells, muscle cells, and all other cells arise from the stem cells. Stem cells are the body’s master cells.
                 
      
There are four sources of stem cells: Embryonic stem cells, Adult stem cells, Adult cells, and perinatal stem cells. The first one, as the name suggests, are derived from embryos. These are 3-5 days old embryos called blastocysts and have about 150 cells. These cells are said to be versatile due to its capability of dividing into more stem cells or can become more any type of cell in the body. The Adult stem cells are found in bone marrow or fat in most adult tissues. Unlike embryonic stem cells, the adult stem cells have limited ability to generate or renew cells in the body. Through genetic reprogramming, scientists were able to use Adult cells to act like embryonic stem cells, but haven’t find out yet if altering adult cells will cause adverse effects in human. Another cells that have the ability to change into specialized cells are the perinatal stem cells, which are found in amniotic fluid in addition to umbilical cord blood stem cells. Of all the four sources embryonic stem cells serve to be more of interesting that would make a breakthrough in the field of medicine.


However, there has been controversy on how embryonic stem cells can be obtained. Opponents do now want the fertilized egg to use for research. The studies were limited. But, when President Barack Obama signed the approval funding on the Embryonic Stem Cells research, it posed a huge hope for medical treatment that would help treating serious diseases and injuries.  The studies in stem cell give hopes to researchers and doctors to better understand how diseases and conditions develop. Since stem cells can generate healthy cells people who suffer from spinal cord injuries, type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, stroke, burns, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and osteoarthritis will benefit from the outcome of the research.




Sunday, September 1, 2013

Music Monday: El Shaddai Cover

**This post is supposed to be published on Monday, Sept 2. **feeling excited**

Through all life's ups and downs, the Lord God unfailingly sustains me. For this post,  I made a cover of the song El Shaddai by Amy Grant, giving all the praises and thanks to our Creator. I know I don't have the singing voice but that will not stop me to praise and worship the Lord through singing.

  (el shad-di’) - All-Sufficient One, Lord God Almighty

El is another name that is translated as “God” and can be used in conjunction with other words to designate various aspects of God’s character.

Another word much like Shaddai, and from which many believe it derived, is shad meaning “breast” in Hebrew (some other scholars believe that the name is derived from an Akkadian word Å adu, meaning “mountain,” suggesting strength and power).
This refers to God completely nourishing, satisfying, and supplying His people with all their needs as a mother would her child. Connected with the word for God—El—this denotes a God who freely gives nourishment and blessing, He sustains us and supply all our needs.