#8 Effects of Media

Media can be expressed in a lot of ways may be it on television, radio, computer or even news articles.  Media plays a vital role in our lives. Everyday we gather information coming from media whether it may be true or not. With the absence of media, it would make our lives plain and dull.

To me media can be considered a trend setter, it is in the way of media where we can see the latest styles, latest songs, latest games and many more latest stuff. It is in media where we would know what is happening around us and also what is happening around the world. But the media is sometimes bias, they sometimes change on what really happened and add their comments towards a certain situation and thus results to a different outcome on what really happened. For example is the case of Juan Fransisco Larranaga, he was arrested without a warrant for the reason of kidnapping and murdering two girls. The media eager for a scapegoat dragged his name on the mud. News reports published the worst of his photos and painted him to be a monster. In this way media somewhat took away his humanity in order to feed the mass hungry with vengance. It is just in our hands on how to view media, it may be in a positive way or in a negative way.

Iligan City is the place to be

Iligan the city of waterfalls. Located at the Northern part of Mindanao, it covers an area of about 813.37 square kilometers and it consists of 44 different barangays. Due to Iligan's strategic location, different cultures has come to this place and harmoniously coexisted with one another. During the annual celebration of the city fiesta honouring the patron saint, Saint Michael the Archangel, people of different cultures and beliefs would be witnessed every year showcasing their own tribal dances during the famous street dancing called the Kasadya.

KASADYA the main event of the Iligan fiesta.
source:  http://exploreiligan.blogspot.com/2011/08/in-focus-diyandi-festival-sa-iligan.html 

There are about 23 waterfalls here in Iligan City the famous ones are namely Maria Cristina Falls, Tinago Falls and Mimbalot Falls.

Maria Cristina is located at the Agus River. This is the most popular falls here in Iligan not only of its jaw-dropping beauty but because it is also used as an hydroelectric powerplant. Maria Cristina is also called the twin falls because the water flow is split into two by a large rock.

Maria Cristina at its best.
source:  http://www.luzpalma.com/Falls%20of%20Iligan%20City.html

Also, we have the Tinago falls. From its name "tinago" which means hidden, the falls being hidden in a deep ravine. Trekking to the falls would require 500 descending steps called the winding staircase. The falls is high, its very cold waters cascading beautifully into a deep and calm basin like pool.

Tinago falls and its calm basin like pool that looks like a blue lagoon.
source:  http://www.pacific-cebu.com/tinago-falls-in-iligan-city-philippines/

Also, we have the Mimbalot falls as others would say the pocket paradise of Mindanao. Located at Brgy. Buru-un, Iligan City, the falls is about 90 feet tall and 18 feet wide. It is a breathtaking place where you can commune with nature and take a dip with the fresh pools beside.

The view of Mimbalot falls from a cable car.
source:  http://www.pinaytravels.com/2011/08/07/mimbalot-falls-a-view-from-the-cable-car/ 

Iligan is not all about waterfalls and stuff. We also have one of the best swimming pools here in Mindanao. The Timoga springs and swimming pools are well known because of its cool waters, People from Iligan and from other places tend to come back from time to time because of its accessibility and its affordability.

Timoga spring pools at its best.
source:  http://philippineplace.blogspot.com/2011/07/timoga-spring-pools-el-lauriento-resort.html 

Also the Iligan City Plaza which is located at the heart of the city. Many Iliganons and other people from other places goes to the Iligan City Plaza in order to hang-out, have dates or just stroll around. Every morning exercises are held in the City Plaza, every Friday and Saturday night, a night cafe would  be held and during weekends especially at night contests like amateur singing contests are held and the contestants are usually people from Iligan.

The Iligan City Plaza.
source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=701998&page=619&langid=5 

The Iligan City Hall, the place where the city mayor works. If you have questions or some inquiries this is where people would go. The Iligan City Hall is located at top of Buhanginan Hill. The most famous part of the Iligan City Hall is the Anahaw Amphitheater, and is also called the Jewel of Iligan and is the largest amphitheater here in Mindanao. The annual judging of the Iligan Street Dancing Competition is usually held here in the Anahaw Amphitheater. Also the City Hall has a reflexology that is good for people who have rheuma or have arthritis.

The Anahaw Amphitheater of the Iligan City Hall.
source: http://exploreiligan.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-focus-buhanginan-hill.html

This is not all, there are still a lot places needed to be seen and a lot things needed to be said. In order to experience this full package of nature, you must witness and experience this and come here. What are you waiting for? Come and experience Iligan at its finest.

"An official entry to the Iligan Bloggin Contest 2012"http://iliganbloggers.com/

#5 Ming-ming

The stage plays performed by IPAG is not new to me because when I was still in highschool we would watch plays of IPAG and it differs every year. Plays like Suhi, Ranaw and my personal favorite the play which consisted of the Pambambo Tusok-tusok. IPAG is a very famous group not only in the Philippines but aslo in some places around the globe.

This years play was entitled "Ming-ming" and was headed by their director Steven Patrick C. Fernandez. The play was shown in the Mini-Theater of MSU-IIT, from July 23, 2012 to July 28, 2012. There were four main characters in the story R the mother, I the grandmother, P the uncle and Ming-ming. From the name of the mother, grandmother and uncle it gives us an overview on what will happen in the story.

The play "Ming-ming" can be related to real life especially in the Maranao culture. It was about a wedding where the parents of two families would agree on a fixed marriage or "buya" in the Maranao culture. The story all started with two spirits wandering around and uncovered and eighteen-year-old girl named Ming-ming who returns from the spirit world to see the collage of her family's unfold before her. Ming-ming was able to know about her family's darkest secrets and the reason of her very own death. 

The play had many twist and turns and continues to interest the audiences. As on the audiences said, "This was the second time I had witnessed "Ming-ming" but it had never failed to amaze me". If given a chance to witness it again I would still watch it even for a couple more times.

#4 My highschool memories

I finished my secondary education at MSU-IIT IDS, and I could say it was one of the best experiences in my life. It all started at the first day of highschool, which others say the "first day high". My first day or week here in IDS was a bit discouraging it because my elementary friends ought to stay at La Salle Academy which where I finished my elementary. As days and weeks pass by I was able to adjust and find new friends and then from then on it was one hell of a ride. As the higher years said the first year was just only about having fun and meeting new people and the true obstacle is just waiting in the following years. Me and my friends in high school, especially in our first year were addicted to computer games specifically DOTA. Every lunch time we would sacrifice not eating our lunch just to play DOTA, we were always or sometimes late in our first subject in the afternoon which is Mathematics. After the afternoon classes we either play basketball of play DOTA but most of the time we always choose to play DOTA rather than play basketball. Simply said my first year in high school was just having fun and not have to worry about studying.

Summer has passed and classes are about to start. My second year is that, I can say was the most my craziest year in high school. Compared to my first year in high school, in my second year high school it not all about playing computer games and stuff, this time it was all about hanging out with friends and developing a special bond with our classmates. This as the higher years said will be the testing ground for  who are truly deserving to be called an IDS student, as second year students we already had difficult subjects like Statistics, Chemistry, Algebra and Biology. We were able to surpass this subjects by helping each other and thus a special bond with our classmates was formed. But school years always comes to a close, even though it was hard we had to say our goodbyes.

My third in year in high school was a bit disappointing because I didn't like my classmates. But I was able to adjust and it was not really that bad. On my third year I decided to join some extra-curricular activities and I chose basketball mainly because I love to play basketball and it was the sport that I grew up with. Our basketball team joined the Gas Petrones inter-high school basketball tournament. We garnered 3rd place out of eight teams who joined the tournament, thus we failed to obtain grand slam (on the previous two years we were back-to-back champions). On the last 3 or 4 months of our third year, we had our junior-senior promenade. It was a memorable one because our seniors had passed on their duties and responsibilities to the juniors as they leave the portals of IDS. Then again the school year came to a close.

My fourth in year in school was the year I cherished the most, simply because it was our last in year in high school. The only obstacle in our fourth year was our thesis defense. Then the rest are a bit relaxing because at that time we were all ready graduating students. We had a lot of activities in school and a lot duties, thus results in a lot of sleepless nights and overnights. This time we had no junior-senior promenade because of the typhoon sendong that affected many of our schoolmates and teachers. I could say that time was really fast at first it was just the first day and then graduation followed, it all happened in  just a blink of an eye. As graduation was fast approaching we did a lot of things in order to cherish or as we Filipinos say "sulit-sulitin mo na ang panahon" we wrote messages on our uniforms, some were from 

our teachers, some were from our classmates and batch mates and some were from the lower years. Tears were shed on this day and memories were made. On graduation day, I could say I was very excited but sad. Excited because another chapter of our life was closed and a new one was opened, sad because I didn't want to say goodbye to my friends. All in all I could say that high school life is indeed the best years of a persons life and I could say it was on hell of a ride.

#3 reaction to sweet unforgettable day

            Losing a loved is somewhat the most painful, heart breaking experience for us. It may take some time to move on or it may take an entire life time. Even though we have move on, we constantly think back of the memories we had with that special person and wish that we could be with that person once more in our life.

          Many said that even someone is already dead, they still continue to communicate to those who are living. Many believe that it is true but others does not believe, others believe based on their experiences. Many say that some stories are just made up and are used for entertainment. I do believe that the dead still communicates to the living, based on my experience. This is how it goes, few days or weeks had already passed when my grandmother passed away, I was able to have sightings that I saw her and could really tell that it was her. One day when I was at the city, I saw my grandmother riding in the front seat of a public utility jeep, it gave me shivers but I was happy because I was able to see her one more time, because at the time of her death she was in Dumaguete and I was not able to attend the burial of my grandmother. As my reaction to the selection "The Sweet Unforgettable Day", I could say that, that scenario where they felt the presence of their late mother could be true.

#2 me myself and i

Hello I am Lanz Gregory Emperado Banzuelo, 17 years old and the one and only son of Earl and Greta Banzuelo. Supposedly my name would be "keo" which means king or ruler but my parents wanted a longer name so they named me Lanz Gregrory, the name "lanz" came from a baby book that my aunt had and suggested it to my mother while my name "gregory" came from the name gregorio which is the name of my grandpa. My hobbies are surfing the net, playing computer games, playing basketball and going out with friends. 

My educational background, I finished my kindergarten in Mount Carmel Montessorri here in Iligan City, then my family moved to Pagadian City and stayed there for two years, and had my grade 1 and grade 2 in Montessorri Pagadian City, then my family went back to Iligan and I finished my elementary at La Salle Academy Iligan City, I finished my highschool in one of the so called best schools here in Mindanao, the MSU-IIT Iligan City Integrated Developmental School.

Most of the people who just know me by name and by face often describes me as a bully and an unapproachable person. But for those who have known me for a long time would say that I am talkative and funny and a very approachable person. So if you are reading this do not worry i wont bite, and i am a happy go lucky person :).

#1. i stopped by to say thank you to God

We are thankful that we live each day with something new in our life, we are always given more days to enjoy the wonders of life, and we are with the people we love and to be able to do it together with them. Who would not say thank you to the one who provided everything that we enjoy in life?

For me I am thankful to my family, my friends and classmates. Each and everyday they give different meanings to life. They are with in times of happiness or in despair, but sometimes there are times that we are in deep trouble that even the help of family and friends cannot help. That is the time i turn to God, to ask for guidance and help in what to do with problems, and He never failed to give me an answer, He is always there. That is why every time I go home and go to sleep, I always pray and thank Him for guiding me throughout the day and keeping harm away from me, I thank Him for the blessings He had showered upon me and my family and thank Him for giving us good health always. Thank you God for every thing that you had done.