IN FRONT OF THE MEMORIAL STELE AND TOMB OF MATTEO RICCI IN BEIJING, CHINA

in my free time, i went around beijing and visited the various catholic churches and sites in beijing.

by accident together with two friends, susan pineda(philippines) and Kartina kusnadi lim(indonesia), we saw dongtang(east cathedral, st. josephs) right in the middle of wangfujing dajie. wangfujing dajie is the premiere shopping area in beijing catering to the more expensive foreign and chinese brands in china. since it was late evening the picture that we took were night scenes highlighted by spotlights giving a beautiful sight to the church.

the next church that we visited was xitang (west cathedral) along xizhimennei dajie. although the church was in a state of disrepair, the posted mass schedule meant that it is currently in use. it would only be a matter of time that this church will be renovated back to its original beauty.

on april 22, 2007, we visited nantang(south cathedral, cathedral of the immaculate conception)where i attended the mandarin mass. i met a lot of filipinos and indonesian catholics waiting for the next english mass.

in the afternoon of the same day, i went on my own to no. 6 chegongzhuang dajie to visit the grave of matthew ricci and other jesuits buried in a cemetary right in the middle of the courtyard of, ironically, a communist party school(beijing administrative college formerly the major seminary of the archdiocese of beijing wen sheng college). although not open to the public, i was fortunate that a group of italian tourists where being shown the area and i took that advantage and went with them around the area. i was able to pray right at the tomb of matteo ricci, Ferdinand Verbiest and Adam Schall. the school used to be the jesuit theological seminary before it was confiscated by the government.

i then proceeded by taxi to beitang(north cathedral, church of the holy saviour also known as xishiku). i was only able to take two pictures. first, at the main gate and second, the facade of the church.

my camera then went dead. a fitting end to my journey to catholic beijing.

to my friend fred,

as you end your term as board of director of koronadal water district, let us reminisce the good times we had at osaka, japan.

the trips that we made after each session day ended, was a journey of discovery as we took in the many sights and sounds of japan. not only did we visit osaka but also kyoto, tokyo and nagoya as well. japan was a wonderful experience to both of us and we did a lot of crazy things. i will not forget nagai and of course mary jane. she was so much fun and was such a delight. hope that you will cherish that special moment you had together.

let me also take this opportunity to announce the new set of board of directors of koronadal water district.

engr. joselito t. reyes, professional sector from 01 jan. 2007 to 31 dec. 2012

mr.carlito y. uy, civic sector from 01 jan. 2007 to 31 dec. 2012

mr. andres o. magallanes, jr., education from 01 jan. 2005 to 31 dec. 2010

ms. evangeline a. ang, women from 15 july 2005 to 31 dec. 2010

engr. allan d. yaphockun, business from 01 jan. 2003 to 31 dec. 2008

let me give you this warm felicitation as you finish your term of office as my vice-chairman.

as the chairman of the board of koronadal water district. goodbye.