Western Cathedral: The Youngest among the 4 Catholic Churches in Beijing

Before the year of 2015 bids goodbye, I finally found the WESTERN CHURCH, the youngest of the 4 Catholic Churches in BEIJING. It was established in 1723 and was restored in 1912.

I previously visited the other 3 Churches. 

It was a successful, complete, and BLESSED Journey for me in 2015. 

I already DISCOVERED THE 4 CATHOLIC CHURCHES in BEIJING!!!

inside the WESTERN CHURCH or XIZHIMEN CHURCH

It was actually really challenging to explore Beijing because of its considerable large area. BEIJING is 26 times compared to the total land area of the whole METRO MANILA. BEIJING is more than 16,000 square kilometers compared to METRO MANILA with about 600 square kilometers. It is even made more difficult because some of the signages in Beijing are written in CHINESE CHARACTERS. It is also a challenge to ask anyone along the way because majority of them do not understand English. And since it is winter, the freezing temperature is an additional burden. Today the temperature is NEGATIVE 8 degrees centigrade!!!

On my way to the bus stop, I spotted this river, the right portion is partly covered by SNOW...

After thorough research from the internet, I still couldn't really find the complete guide on how to go to WESTERN CHURCH. It is just stated in the different sources that the only available public transports are BUS and TAXI. There is no mentioned about any SUBWAY station. But as an explorer myself, I analyzed the available information. The other name of the CHURCH is XIZHIMEN. There are blogs mentioning that the location of the Church is along XIZHIMEN NEI DAJIE. Using the BEIJING map issued to us, I searched for any subway station and the road with such information. EUREKA! There is a XIZHIMEN Subway Station along LINE 4. Then the information on the net, the bus number 7, 27, 105 or 808 will pass by along the street where the church is located and should get off at XIKAI HUTONG bus stop. 

Prominent feature of the Western Church 

After breakfast, I proceeded to the nearest station to start my journey for today with the noble mission to visit the 4th Catholic Church in Beijing. After a while in the Subway train, I alighted at XIZHIMEN Subway Station, then I took bus Number 105 and got off at XIKAI HUTONG bus stop. While the bus was about to stop, I already spotted the Cross on top of the Church. Yes, I arrived at my glorious destination!!! But to my surprise, there is a nearby SUBWAY STATION about 50 meters  from the Church compound. It is the XINJIEKOU SUBWAY STATION. It is actually just one station away from where I alighted, Xizhimen. But I am still wondering until now why there is nothing in the internet that mentioned that information.

Christmas tree inside the compound of the Western Church

To make things clear, if you want to visit the WESTERN CHURCH in BEIJING, take the subway train at LINE 4, get off at XINJIEKOU SUBWAY STATION, then exit at D. Then walk west, after about 50 meters or less, you will find the WESTERN CHURCH or the XIZHIMEN CHURCH. The exact address of the Western Church is 130 Xizhimenmeinan Dajie, Xicheng District, Beijing.

The "MESSAGE WALL" inside the compound
of the Western Church

WESTERN CHURCH is the youngest and the smallest among the four Catholic Churches in Beijing. 

also located inside the compound

The beautiful facade of the WESTERN CHURCH. There was a wedding ceremony when I came.

Wedding ceremony is being held inside when I came

May the LORD BLESS our JOURNEY in LIFE ALWAYS...

inside the Western Church

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE...

This is PROBABLY my LAST BLOG for 2015...

What is the Art and Science of Leadership?

LEADERSHIP can be defined in many ways. 

Many books are written and published about LEADERSHIP.

How about you?

How do you define LEADERSHIP?

This is mine...

This is inspired by the lecture about the subject with the same title: THE ART and SCIENCE OF LEADERSHIP when I took up my Command and Staff Course at the Air Force Command College in Beijing, China. The professor has a very creative way of conducting the lecture. He elaborately discussed the definition of LEADERSHIP by giving us some practical exercises and clear examples. He presented the definition of leadership and asked for 5 volunteers to give the key points in the definition. After a lengthy and thorough discussion, he gave us his own 5 key points: THE ORGANIZATION, THE LEADER, THE SUBORDINATES, THE METHODS and OBJECTIVES. According to him, those are the most important elements in leadership. Excellent explanation!

Being inspired, I crafted the definition in my own unique way. As shown in the second slide, the words ART and SCIENCE are embedded in the word LEADERSHIP to show the relationship between the three words. Then in the third slide, I added letters HE to the ART and the letters CON to the SCIENCE to form new words, HEART and CONSCIENCE. 

LEADERSHIP should be exercised with HEART and CONSCIENCE.

LEADER should have a HEART and a CONSCIENCE to be able to lead with UNQUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY during the process and accomplishment of an objective. 

HEART for EMPATHY 

and

CONSCIENCE for INTEGRITY

This is the kind of leader that we need to have a BALANCE between having to feel what is really needed by others while doing the right things in the process.

The HEART determines the right OBJECTIVES 
while the CONSCIENCE determines the right PROCESS. 
Process is consist of the ways, the means, and other things in between.

Do you have your own definition of LEADERSHIP? 

Please share it in the comment portion below...

Eastern Cathedral: The Catholic Church at Wangfujing Street

It is always my first priority to visit a Catholic Church whenever I visit a place for the very first time.

My journey in CHINA especially in BEIJING started more than 3 months ago. During the first week of my stay, there was a long break because it coincided with the celebration of the founding of the new China. Conditions that provided me the opportunity to explore BEIJING. 

During my first week in China, I conducted thorough research thru the internet about the interesting places to visit with emphasis on the Catholic Churches in BEIJING.

It is interesting to note that there is a Catholic Church in the busiest street in BEIJING, the WANGFUJING St. 

After familiarizing myself from riding the SUBWAY TRAIN up to how to go to the WANGFUJING ST., I finally proceeded to explore one Sunday after lunch.  My primary mission is to locate the ST. JOSEPH CHURCH which is also being called as WANGFUJING CHURCH obviously because of the street where it is situated. It is also known as the EASTERN CATHEDRAL since it is built at the eastern part of Beijing. If you can observe, majority of the places in China are named based on direction.

After getting of from the WANGFUJING Subway Station., I initially explored the WANGFUJING ST,. I was amazed by the wide and busy street which is devoted only to pedestrians. All types of  vehicles are prohibited to pass which pave the way for the tourists to enjoy the majestic views of the creative designs of the buildings while freely walking along the wide lane. There are numerous shops, bookstores, fast food chains, snack houses, souvenir shops, and even stores for branded products like APPLE.

After satisfying my senses and savoring the Wangfujing St., I headed for my main destination, the Eastern Cathedral. 

Most of the time, it is really challenging to locate one place because what you read on the net is different from the actual situation unless the written article is comprehensive stating all the necessary details including the exact street, the building number, and even the prominent landmarks.

After several minutes of analyzing the given address on the net reinforced by the map that I was holding, I finally spotted this magnificent view.

I hurriedly walked towards the remarkable structure. I was really excited to visit a Catholic Church outside the Philippines for the very first time. Although I already visited MALAYSIA and INDONESIA, I failed to visit any Church because of the very busy schedule in a very limited time of stay. But my long in journey in China provided me the wonderful opportunity to explore more.

I finally found my primary objective for the day. I entered the gate leading to the 10,000 square meter compound of the Cathedral. There were many tourists both local and foreigners like me, taking pictures while being enthralled by the remarkable structure.

As I gazed closely upon the towering Church, I really felt the overflowing blessings. My sincerest gratitude to the Almighty for always providing me a safe and enjoyable journey. 

Although the Church was closed when I came, it didn't stop me to offer a Thanksgiving prayer infront of the Church. Prayers for the Lord to continuously guide me throughout my journey in life so that I can also continuously serve others. 

How to reach the EAST CATHEDRAL or ST. JOSEPH CHURCH?

The easiest way is by subway train. Take subway Line 1 or Line 5.

For subway line 1, get off at WANGFUJING station, then exit at C2, then take a very long walk along Wangfujing St., then cross another street, then you will find the Church on the right.

For subway line 5, get off at DENSHIKOU station, then walk heading CYPRESS HUTONG for about 300 meters.

For schedule of mass services:

Monday to Saturday: 6:30am and 7am in Chinese

Sunday: Latin 6:15am, 7am and 8am in Chinese

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE...
GOD BLESS US ALWAYS...

How to discover the largest Catholic Church in Beijing?

Today is my 3rd month in CHINA.  Although the temperature was freezing at negative 6 degree centigrade, I took advantage of the good air quality to once again explore the environs of BEIJING. My objective was to look for another Catholic Church in Beijing. I already found 2 Catholic Churches in the capital city. I previously visited the South Cathedral (the oldest Catholic Church in Beijing) in XUANWUMEN and the East Cathedral in WANGFUJING ST.

It was certainly a remarkable day since I finally found the 3rd Catholic Church in BEIJING, the NORTH CATHEDRAL after a thorough research on the internet.  It was a challenging journey to finally locate the church since there was no visible signage for the street leading to its location. It was even made more difficult because of the freezing temperature. But when I finally took a glimpse of its alluring facade, all the efforts and time devoted to locate it were all fully compensated. THANK YOU LORD for this WONDERFUL JOURNEY today. 

Although the Church was closed since it was already past noon when I came, it was still a great feeling to step on the ground of a BLESSED place. I just prayed infront of the Church thanking the Lord for the safe JOURNEY not only for today but in my entire life. I also asked for the continued guidance for the rest of my JOURNEY in order to serve others and to contribute to the WORLD in my own way.

According to my research, mass usually happens in the morning at 8am.

It is also called the XISHIKU CHURCH. It is located along XISHIKU st. at XICHENG DISTRICT at the heart of the capital city.

A remarkable Gothic Architectural style with elaborate grey marble facade, the NORTH CATHEDRAL or XISHIKU CHURCH is more than just a religious place. It is a great landmark and nice destination in BEIJING.

The refreshing path towards the NORTH CATHEDRAL adds to its magnificent aura.  

Closer look at the captivating design of the NORTH CATHEDRAL

This is also located within the compound of the NORTH CATHEDRAL

How to reach NORTH CATHEDRAL?

Take BEIJING SUBWAY LINE 4, get off at XISI Station and exit at D, walk south along XISI NANLU, then turn left at XIAMEN DAJIE. Then walk walk straight, cross XIHUANGCHENGGEN BEIJIE.

visible signage of XIHUANGCHENGGEN BEIJIE.

This is a visible landmark that will lead you to the street directly hitting the NORTH CATHEDRAL. The street is the XISHIKU DAJIE, but when I visited the place there is no signage. I had to use my "EXPLORER'S INSTINCT" to know that I was already in the right place. Turn left and walk straight.

visible landmark at the corner of the XIAMEN DAJIE and XISHIKU DAJIE. There is no signage for the street.

The GATE leading to the compound of the NORTH CATHEDRAL

There are also buses passing along the XISHIKU DAJIE. Take bus number 101, 103 or 109.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE.
MAY GOD BLESS US ALWAYS.

12 Trivia about Christmas

CHRISTMAS is always the most anticipated season in the PHILIPPINES. As soon as the first day of September which is the start of "BER" months, the spirits of Christmas can be felt already with the Christmas carols airing over the radio and some houses are already adorn by Christmas decors.

This blog is intended to provide some additional knowledge about CHRISTMAS.

The information written here are sourced from various materials intended to make our CHRISTMAS celebration more meaningful by understanding the facts behind the special festivity.

Celebrating CHRISTMAS SEASON outside the PHILIPPINES

1. In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ.

2. Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” which is derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter “X” in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and “Xmas” has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the mid 1500s.

3. The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.

4. Bolivians celebrate Misa del Gallo or “Mass of the Rooster” on Christmas Eve. Some people bring roosters to the midnight mass, a gesture that symbolizes the belief that a rooster was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus.

5. In Poland, spiders or spider webs are common Christmas tree decorations because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. In fact, Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.

6. Alabama was the first state in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836. Oklahoma was the last U.S. state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1907.

7.Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

8. Santa Claus is based on a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra (also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari), who lived during the fourth century. Born in Patara (in modern-day Turkey), he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint except Mary. He is the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.

9. Christmas stockings allegedly evolved from three sisters who were too poor to afford a marriage dowry and were, therefore, doomed to a life of prostitution. They were saved, however, when the wealthy Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna (the precursor to Santa Claus) crept down their chimney and generously filled their stockings with gold coins.

10.It is estimated that the single “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the bestselling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.

11. The first person to decorate a Christmas tree was reportedly the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546). According to legend, he was so moved by the beauty of the stars shining between the branches of a fir tre, he brought home an evergreen tree and decorated it with candles to share the image with his children.

12. The “true love” mentioned in the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” does not refer to a romantic couple, but the Catholic Church’s code for God. The person who receives the gifts represents someone who has accepted that code. For example, the “partridge in a pear tree” represents Christ. The “two turtledoves” represent the Old and New Testaments.

 MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone...

Insights about PIA WURTZBACH and the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant 2015

As every Filipino around the WORLD is extremely happy about the achievement of PIA WURTZBACH winning the MISS UNIVERSE 2015 crown, I have crafted some words to describe PIA and what happened today.

1. Meaning of every letter of PIA. Perseverance because, she never stops after failing twice to capture the elusive Binibining Pilipinas Crown. It was even admirable because during the first time she joined, she was the Runner-up while during the second time she was only within the TOP 15. But those moments did not dampened her spirit. Intelligence because aside from having the physical beauty, she has also beautiful heart (EQ) and mind (IQ). She has a resolute mission, her ultimate Aim is to capture the crown and reach the top.

2.  Total encapsulation of the 3 main characters in that twists and turns of events:

3. Definition of RESILIENCY of PIA as encapsulated into this:

4. Connection of the current blockbuster movie in the Philippines today with Miss Universe 2015:

5. Do you still remember the social media post of PIA when MANNY lost during his last fight? "Kalma lang guys. Ako bahala. Babawi tao sa Miss Universe!!" Posted on May 3, 2015 at 12:08am. The PROMISE was fulfilled. Let me just summarized the connection of their names:

6. Look at the commonalities of the 3 Miss Universe title holders from the Philippines. They all have the letters IA in that order in their first names while they have the letter A as the last vowel in their surnames. It can also be seen that all of them have letter A in both their first names and surnames. Another notable element is their first names all end in letter A.

How about you? 
What is your insight?

How to Create Innovative Presentation?

The presence of powerpoint presentation is an opportunity to convey the message clearly in engaging and powerful way. Powerpoint slides should be done creatively. They should be crafted to reinforce the presentation to completely connect to the audience. The presentation should get the attention of everyone from beginning to end.

POWERPOINT 

simply means 

present your POINT  in POWERful way!!!

The first slide should be something unique to catch the attention of your audience while the final slide to create lasting impression about the presentation.

My first slide in one of my individual presentations. 
To catch the attention of the audience, I made a TRIVIA about our NATIONAL FLAG.
TAKE NOTE: The TRIVIA should be related to your TOPIC to both have an impressive start and excellent foundation for your presentation.

As a student in China, I included trivia in all my presentations about our country, the PHILIPPINES, not only to provide POWERFUL attention getting, but also to promote our country to individuals from 43 countries. I ensured that the specific trivia for each presentation is closely related to the topic. 
To make the trivia more relevant, I covered the connection between the PHILIPPINES, our beloved country, and CHINA, the host country.

This is my last slide in the individual presentation for the subject on CHINESE MILITARY THINKING. I conceptualized a POWERFUL concluding slide to make a lasting mark, not only to get high grade but also to provide insights about the quality of Filipino students in abroad.

This is the last slide of our group presentation. As the group leader, I had the opportunity to design our presentation.

Goodluck!
Make your own mark!
Be unique in your presentation!

How I Predicted the Winner of the MISS UNIVERSE 2015?

This BLOG is inspired by the great performance of the candidate from the PHILIPPINES for Miss Universe 2015, PIA ALONZO WURTZBACH, during the preliminary shows.

PIA ALONZO WURTZBACH

My three experiences as judge of BEAUTY PAGEANT made me more interested in BEAUTY PAGEANTS especially for international competitions. I used to predict winners based on names. The last 5 candidates from the Philippines for Miss Universe are all successful starting in 2010 with Venus Raj (R) as 4th Runner-Up, 2011 with Shamcey Supsup (S) as 3rd Runner-Up, 2012 with Janine Marie Tugonon (T) as 1st Runner-Up, then it jumped to A with Ariel Arieda in 2013 as 3rd Runner-up. Unfortunately, Mary Jean Lastimosa although landing in the TOP 10 failed to make it to TOP 5 last year. Based on my play of letters and words, the next letter to the sequence of R,S,T before it jumped to A is W which is the surname of our candidate for this year, Wurtzbach. For the last 5 years we failed to land in the 2nd Runner-Up and the title of Miss Universe. 

My prediction for this year is: 

2nd Runner-Up finish or we will bring home the bacon, 

the Miss Universe 2015 crown. 

The prediction is also greatly based on the remarkable performances of the candidates. But to give room for numerous factors such as human prejudices of judges, the quality of questions to be asked, and other elements that may affect the result, I playfully used the English alphabets to make it unique and artistic, my trademark. 

Now, let give me you a comprehensive information about our success in the various international beauty pageants:

The PHILIPPINES is the first ever country in the world that won in each of the 5 international beauty pageants: Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss World, Miss Earth, and Miss Supranational. It happened in 2013 when MEGAN YOUNG won the first ever Miss World title for the country while MUTYA DATUL won the first ever Miss Supranational for the country.

MUTYA DATUL

The country has already produced 2 Miss Universe: Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Miss Margarita Moran in 1973. Other notable accomplished personalities for Miss Universe pageant are: Janine Marie Tugonon and Mirriam Quimbao for garnering the 1st Runner-up finish; Shamcey Supsup (2011), Ariella Arida (2013), Maria Desiree Verdadero (1984), Maria Rosario Silayan (1980) and Lalaine Benette (1963) for the 3rd Runner-up finish; Maria Venus Raj (2010) and Rose Marie Brosas (1975) for 4th Runner-up finish; Mary Jean Lastimosa (2014), and Geraldine Edith Asis (1987) for being in the TOP 10. United Sates has the most number of Miss Universe winners with 8, followed by Venezuela with 7, Puerto Rico has 5, Sweden has 2 and followed by 11 countries including the Philippines with 2 winners each.

The country is most successful in Miss International beauty pageants with a total of 5: Gemma Teresa Cruz in 1964, Aurora Pijuan in 1970, Melanie Marquez in 1979, Precious Lara Quigaman in 2005, and Bea Rose Santiago in 2013. Other notable winners are Yolanda Dominguez (1972) and Evelyn Camus (1971) for the 2nd Runner-up finish.

The country made history by winning the back to back Miss Earth titles for Jamie Herrell in 2014 and this year by Angelia Ong, bringing the total title to 3 for Miss Earth with Karla Henry winning the title in 2008. The Philippines is the most successful in this competition with 3 winners, closely followed by Venezuela and Brazil with 2 winners each. The Philippines has also 2 Miss Earth-Air, 2 Miss-Earth Water, and 6 semi-finalists.

Miss Megan Young won the only crown for the Miss World for the country in 2013. Other notable accomplished individuals for Miss World are: Gwendoline Gaelle Ruais for 1st Runner-up finish in 2011, Sharmaine Ruffa Gutierrez for 2nd Runner-up finish in 1993, Maria Karla and Maria Karla Bautista for garnering both 4th Runner-up  in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Just recently, Hillarie Parungao landed as semi-finalists in the Miss World 2015.

MEGAN YOUNG

For other international beauty pageants, Odessa Mae Tadaya won the Miss Heritage in 2014, Gemitto Gonzalo Gemparo won the Miss Model of the World in 1993, Michelle de Leon for Top Model of the World in 2007. The country has 3 Tourism International winners, Maria Esperanza Manzano in 2001, Rizzini Alexis Gomez in 2013 and Angeli Dione Gomez in 2014. For Miss Intercontinental, Christi Lynn McGarry is 1st Runner-up for 2015.

PHILIPPINES ranked third in the world for having the most number of winners for INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY PAGEANTS, the top 2 are VENEZUELA and the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, respectively.

How about you? What is your prediction?

"THE PLACE" BEIJING: Asia's Largest Outdoor LED Screen

Weekend is the most awaited part of our stay in BEIJING. It is not only having that needed break from classroom lectures and discussions from Monday to Friday, but also the opportunity to explore numerous TOURIST SPOTS in the capital city of China.

Although the territorial dispute between CHINA and PHILIPPINES still remains unresolved, it doesn't affect my stay and study in BEIJING. I am making the most of this great opportunity, not only to learn the lessons inside the classroom but most importantly to learn from the different systems from other countries. I have classmates from 27 other countries including China in the English Class. Aside from that, there are also participants from Russian and French speaking countries where we have interactions at the dining hall and during educational tours.

With my continued research of the PLACES to visit, I found another perfect place worthy to be explored and be shared.

It is called "THE PLACE". It is actually a MALL, together with other malls in its surroundings. 

The most interesting thing about this mall is the big outdoor led screen.

The LED screen is hanged situated between two towering malls. It is considered the LARGEST OUTDOOR LED SCREEN in ASIA at 250 meters long and 30 meters wide. The screen displays various entertaining videos, just like as if you are under a huge aquarium or watching movie. The best time to visit the place is from late afternoon until 10pm. Within the area, there are many other malls, markets, restaurants, and tourist spots that you can visit and enjoy. 

I happened to visit "THE PLACE" during the Christmas in 2015. Although, Christmas is not widely celebrated in China, unlike, the celebration that we have in the Philippines.

The spirit of Christmas can still be felt when you are exploring the area since there are numerous Christmas decors including a giant Christmas tree.

 How to go to the PLACE?

Use SUBWAY line 10, alight at JINTAIXIZHAO station, then exit at A, then walk WEST for about 15 minutes. It is located along GUANGHUA ROAD.

Thank you LORD for this wonderful JOURNEY!!!

BUS TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN BEIJING

Public transport system in BEIJING is excellently planned and efficiently being utilized.