iheartkapuso

SIMBANG GABI is one of the longest and most popular among the Filipino traditions in the country. It is when Catholic churches across the nation start to open their doors shortly before the break of dawn to welcome the faithful to the Simbang Gabi mass. Simbang Gabi or Mass at Dawn is a nine-day novena to the Blessed Mother. The novena begins December 16 as early as 4 in the morning and culminates with the “Misa de Gallo” on Christmas Eve to welcome the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. In some churches, the panuluyan is reenacted showing the effort of Joseph and Mary to find a suitable birthplace. ORIGIN Simbang Gabi traces its roots in Mexico when, in 1587, the Pope granted the petition of Fray Diego de Soria, prior of the convent of San Agustin Acolman, to hold Christmas mass outdoors because the Church could not accommodate the huge number of people attending the evening mass. During the old times, the pre-dawn mass is announced by the ringing of the church bells. In some rural ar

Facebook has launched a next-generation online messaging service that gives the user a Facebook.com email addresses, in a move seen as a shot across the bow of Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled what he called a "convergent" modern messaging system that "handles messages seamlessly across all the ways you want to communicate." The messaging service blends online chat, text messages and other real-time conversation tools with traditional e-mail, which Zuckerberg said had lost favour for being too slow for young Internet users. "It is true that people will be able to have Facebook.com e-mail addresses, but this is not e-mail," Zuckerberg said at an event in downtown San Francisco. "It handles e-mail." Zuckerberg dismissed reports referring to the messaging system as a "Gmail killer" aimed at the heart of free Web-based e-mail services from Google and similar services from Yahoo! and Microsoft. "We

PULLMAN (AP) – It's usually cheaper to fly one way, even to Mars. Two scientists are suggesting that colonization of the  red  planet  could happen faster and more economically if astronauts behaved like the first settlers to come to North America — not expecting to go home. "The main point is to get Mars exploration moving," said Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a Washington State University professor who co-authored an article that seriously proposes what sounds like a preposterous idea. At least one moon-walking astronaut was not impressed. "This is premature," Ed Mitchell of Apollo 14 wrote in an e-mail. "We aren't ready for this yet." Also cool to the idea was NASA. President Barack Obama has already outlined a plan to go to Mars by the mid-2030s, but he never suggested these space travelers wouldn't come home. "We want our people back," NASA spokesman Michael Braukus said. The article titled "To Boldly Go" appears in the latest is

        Watch live streaming video from photomylens at livestream.com Some "nationalistic" Filipinos complain why my lot keep on singing songs from foreign lands. Then, recently on Facebook, a lot of videos of foreign choirs singing Filipino songs are being posted. They are practically doing the same. I guess it’s the trend then! I am proud that other races find Filipino music classic and beautiful enough, that our songs qualify to be a part of their librettos.  They find our music as excellent pieces that they perform it with all their hearts.  A kind of recognition, if I may say.  And for me, that’s something to be proud of.  Something to strengthen my national pride.  Something that’ll make me more proud for being born and raised as a Filipino.. True to the saying that music is the Universal language we Filipinos can sing other nations music and vice versa.

Eid Al Adha celebration to all especially to everyone here in U.A.E and to all our Muslim brothers all over the world. With a million and one things happening across the Emirates this Eid, you won’t be able to find an excuse to stay in. Take advantage of the markdowns at the malls or plan a staycation at a nearby luxury hotel. Just get out, get active and enjoy your time off with friends and family. As Eid Al Adha 2010 countdown starts, malls in Dubai and Sharjah are bracing up for the long celebration offering the best shopping deals and bedecked with colourful decorations that beckon shoppers, particularly families to come in and join the holiday bandwagon. Mercato Mercato in Jumeirah will celebrate Eid Al Adha with popular “Yola” performances. Starting from today (15 November), the mall is beautifully decorated with a typically Arabic colour scheme, capturing the spirit of Eid celebration. Rana Jaser, PR and Corporation Communications Manager, told Khaleej Times that like in the pas

Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca. (Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images) Pilgrims flooded into the Arafat plain from Mecca and Mina before dawn on Monday for the annual Hajj, a visit to the site where the Islamic prophet Muhammad gave his farewell sermon on this day in the Islamic calendar 1,378 years ago. The annual pilgrimage drew 3 million visitors this year, the BBC reports, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. The end of Hajj will mark the beginning of Eid al-Adha, which starts Tuesday. The Eid al-Adha, or the "Festival of Sacrifice," commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command. Cattle, goats and camels are slaughtered the morning of the festival and the meat is shared with the poor.  A Muslim pilgrim prays on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy on the Plain of Arafat near Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (Hassan Ammar/AP) Source: Washingtonpost.com ‘Eid Al-Adha: Im

Happy Eid Al Adha to our Muslim brothers! Eid al-Adha is an Islamic festival to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim (also known as Abraham) to follow Allah's (God's) command to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Muslims around the world observe this event. What do people do? At Eid al-Adha, many Muslims make a special effort to pray and listen to a sermon at a mosque. They also wear new clothes, visit family members and friends and may symbolically sacrifice an animal in an act known as qurbani. This represents the animal that Ibrahim sacrificed in the place of his son. In some traditionally Muslim countries, families or groups of families may purchase an animal known as udhiya, usually a goat or sheep, to sacrifice, but this is not common or legal in many parts of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States or many other countries. In these countries, groups of people may purchase a whole carcass from a butcher or slaughterhouse and divide it amongst thems