Cebu Stamp Club's Jerald Kervin Uy Tops Again

Jerald Kervin Uy, Cebu Stamp Club's youngest stamp collector once again tops in academics as First Honor for Grade 3 at Benedicto College. He also grabbed the Best in English, Best in Math and Best in Science titles.

He has been a consistent first honor in grade one and two at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion - Mandaue.

Thank you Heavenly Father and Senyor Santo Nino and also to Mama Mary, San Pedro Calungsod, Saint John Paul II and Saint John XXIII.

Congratulations Jerald Kervin for being the best and making us proud. To God be the glory!

Jerald Kervin Turns 10 Today!

Today you will be having two digits for your birthday! It's a perfect ten and it also coincides with your Walt Disney Treasures stage play in school as you do the role of Dopey. 

You have consistently made me and your mom proud. In academics you are always the first honor in school whether it's at Little Angel's Montessori School, Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion Mandaue and now at Benedicto College. 

You also showed your charm in modeling for SM Kids Fashion in different occasions and appearances in TV through ABS-CBN's Ina Kapatid Anak, Mag-TV and the Kapamilya Run 17th Anniversary. Now let your star shine more as you play the lead role in Ang Higala. 

You never cease to amaze us and we love you very much.. 

Happy birthday dear Kervin!

A Treasure Find: Obsessed With Star Wars (Book)

Me and my sons Julian Kael and Jerald Kervin went to a mall last night for dinner at a famous fast food restaurant to celebrate Kervin's latest achievement as one of the top honor students in his class at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion Mandaue.

It is always our habit to make it a point to drop by at the various book shops in a mall to check out their books. After Kervin found what he liked, a book on "How to Draw The Best of Nickelodeon" from Walter Foster Publishing Inc. and me carting my favorite hobby magazine the "Model Railroader", I decided to search for more specifically Star Wars books to add to my SW collection. I wasted no time in buying some older issues such as the "Star Wars Episode 1: Watch Out, Jar Jar! from Random House", "Star Wars: The Story of Darth Vader" from DK Readers, "Star Wars Jedi Apprentice: The Mark of the Crown" and Star Wars: Last of the Jedi" both from Scholastic Inc.

As I pursued further among the shelves, what caught my fancy was this hardbound book "Obsessed with Star Wars" by Benjamin Harper from Chronicle Books. Immediately I fell in love with it and bought it to add to my Star Wars Collection. I only knew later that what I just bought was a treasure!

What's so special about this book is that it is a must have for all serious Star Wars collectors. I checked out the different reviews online and indeed, it got a perfect 5-star rating from everyone.

To quote Google books "..even the most die-hard Star Wars fans will find themselves challenged by this entertaining new approach to the details of the saga. This fourth volume in the popular, addictive Obsessed With series again includes an innovative scoring module right in the book, so a player can select questions by number or at random and keep score. With 2,500 original questions covering little known facts, entertaining quotes, and tough trivia from all six episodes, Obsessed With Star Wars will have readers dominating the galaxy in no time".

Cebu Stamp Club December 2009 Stamp Meetup

The Cebu Stamp Club regular stamp meetup is one activity I always look forward to attending every month. It is a meeting where we get to bond and interact with each other through our stamps.

The December meetup was held a week earlier taking into consideration the Christmas season. It's really great to see fellow members taking their time out just to be with the group.

Earlier today, my son Jerald Kervin's school Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion-Mandaue celebrated their Famvin Day. It's an annual school affair where families, students, teachers and friends come together so we had to be at the school since 8 a.m. till 1:30 p.m.

Good thing I arrived on time for the stamp meetup at 2 p.m. David Taylor and wife Marichu, Kenneth and Gina Turner, Eyan Yu, Dinah Potolin, Sharee Ann Trapa and Richard Guimbarda were all at the 2nd floor of McDonalds Jones, Cebu City.

I have to personally acknowledge the effort of Ken and Gina Turner who both have to take a 2 hour ride from their place in Catmon just to attend the meetup in Cebu City. I take my hats off to you guys!

David Taylor, our official representative to the United Kingdom brought a lot of stamps. He packed them by countries and topics and gave it all to everyone who were there. Thanks David for the freebies!

Aside from the upcoming stamp competition, we all agreed to have fun by holding a Christmas party this Sunday, December 20, 2009.

Our next stamp meetup will be on the second Sunday of January instead of the third owing to the annual celebration of the Sinulog festival of the City of Cebu. All roads in the parade area will be closed to traffic and incidentally, our meetup place is located right at the heart of the parade route.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

My son, Jerald Kervin who is in kindergarten at the Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion-Mandaue excitedly told me last night that they won't have classes today.

Today is a big celebration for the Roman Catholic Church being the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The Church Dogma of the Immaculate Conception is the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmas in Roman Catholic Mariology.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception that is celebrated every December 8 was established as a universal feast by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.

Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Immaculate Conception as a dogma on December 8, 1854 in his constitution "Ineffabilis Deus".

The dogma is supported by Holy Scripture when the Virgin Mother was greeted by Angel Gabriel "Hail Mary, full of grace.."

To highlight the closing of the Marian Year in 1954, a Philippine stamp was released on December 30, 1954 featuring Murillo's painting of the Immaculate Conception.

The Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels

Today is the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels and my son's school, the Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion Mandaue is celebrating it with a memorable program.

My son has always done things that made me very proud of him. At an early age he has shown to us his different talents in arts, drawing, writing, reading, dancing, singing and the use of the computer. The latest is public speaking. Hmmm, like father like son!

Inside the school's AVR, 5-year old Jerald Kervin garbed in an angel costume went up the stage and delivered a short but meaningful welcome address. I could clearly hear his voice as he opened the program... "To our dear sisters, parents, teachers and friends. Good afternoon! We are happy to present to you our simple yet meaningful presentation as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Guardian Angel. So just relax and have fun. Thank you very much!"

Parents, teachers, nuns and children applauded him. Today is the very first time that people clapped for him.

The Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels began in many local calendars centuries ago and became widely known during the 16th century. On September 27, 1608, the feast to venerate the angels was declared by Pope Paul V. Pope Clement X elevated it to October 2 and made it an obligatory double for the whole church. It was later raised as a double major rank by Pope Leo XIII on April 5, 1883.