Ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino
Minamahal ko ang Bayan ko
Tinutupad ko ang aking mga tungkulin
Sinusunod ko ang kanyang mga alituntunin

Tumatawid ako sa tamang tawiran
Sumasakay ako sa tamang sakayan
Pumipila at hindi nakikipag-unahan
At ‘di ako pasiga-siga sa lansangan.

Bumababa at nagsasakay ako sa tamang sakayan
‘Di na makahambalang parang walang pakialam.
Pinagbibigyan ko ang mga tumatawid sa kalsada
Humihinto ako kapag ang ilaw ay pula.

‘Pagkat ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino
Minamahal ko ang bayan ko
Tinutupad ko ang aking mga tungkulin
Sinusunod ko ang kanyang mga alituntunin

‘Di ako nangongotong o nagbibigay ng lagay
Tiket lamang ang tinatangap kung binibigay
At ‘di nagtatago sa ilalim ng puno.

‘Di ako nagkakalat ng basura sa lansangan.
‘Di bumubuga ng usok ang aking sasakyan
Inaayos ko ang mga kalat sa basurahan
Inaalagan ko ang aking kapaligiran

‘Pagkat ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino
Minamahal ko ang bayan ko
Tinutupad ko ang aking mga tungkulin
Sinusunod ko ang kanyang mga alituntunin

Lagi akong nakikinig sa aking mga magulang
Kaya’t pag-aaral ay aking pinagbubutihan
‘Di ako gumagamit ng bawal na gamot
O kaya’y tumatambay at sa eskwela’y di pumapasok

Pingtatanggol ko ang aking karangalan
‘Pagkat ito lamang ang tangi kong kayamanan
‘Di ko binebenta ang aking kinabukasan
Ang boto ko’y aking pinahahalagahan.

‘Pagkat ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino
Minamahal ko ang bayan ko
Tinutupad ko ang aking mga tungkulin
Sinusunod ko ang kanyang mga alituntunin
Ako’y isang tapat at totoong lingkod ng bayan
Pabor o lagay ay ‘di ko pinapayagan
Tapat ang serbisyo ko sa mamamayan
‘Di ko binubulsa ang pera ng bayan

Pinagtatanggol ko ang mamamayang Pilipino
Mga karapatan nila’y kinikilala ko
Ginagalang ko ang aking kapwa tao
Pinaglalaban ko ang dangal ng bayan ko.

‘Pagkat ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino
Minamahal ko ang bayan ko
Tinutupad ko ang aking mga tungkulin
Sinusunod ko ang kanyang mga alituntunin.

Ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino
Minamahal ko ang bayan ko
Tinutupad ko ang aking mga tungkulin
Sinusunod ko ang kanyang mga alituntunin
‘Pagkat ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino.

Our school’s rondalla, then, was composed purely of banduria players. The banduria traces its roots from Spain, brought here in the Philippines by the conquerors somes 400 years ago. It’s like a small guitar (ukulele) but instead of having just six (06) strings, the banduria has 14 strings — whichgives it utterly distinctive and unique sound.

I fell in love with playing the banduria — not to mention that I was the only male in the entire rondalla group — that I had begged my parents to buy me my own banduria. A school quarter after I learned how to play the banduria, my dad and I went to a Lumanog branch in Pasay City (it was at Holiday Plaza then) and got myself a brand new banduria (we got the high end, glossy finish one made from maple wood at PHP600 –that was around 1989).

A year after, my classmate & rondalla buddy Ellaida invited me to be part of the parish rondalla … and the rest was history.

When I was 10 years old, an uncle gave me a Casio MT-45 as a birthday present. This is when I started to self-study how to play the keyboard (piano). I begged to my parents again — this time, for them to buy me a book about piano playing. The one that we got proved to be the best self-study guides out there at National Bookstore, then.  I learned how to play the piano in a month’s time, and a couple more weeks later, I was able to memorize the chord table already.

Then came one Sunday morning, the church organist was absent. The parish rondalla was left without an organist that morning, so I braved myself and volunteered (again) to play using a double-decker Technics organ. That was the start of a weekly commitment — to play during the Sunday mass — that I still do up to this day (20 years now).

When I met Rose (who is my wife now), the very first Christmas present I got from her was a Casio CTK-49 keyboard:

The Casio CTK-49 was my very first keyboard (in my collection) that comes with an LCD screen. It’s a self-teaching keyboard, that my son (who is 2 years old now) actually enjoys playing with. The downside with the CTK-49 is that it only has a MIDI OUT port.

Then came a time when I got a client in website development, who encountered financial troubles in the middle of the project, thus she opted to give her Yamaha PSR-100 as token for me.

This is my very first Yamaha keyboard. Though still part of my collection, this unit is now part of our parish rondalla’s instruments inventory. The only downside with the Yamaha PSR-100 is that it does not any MIDI ports.

A couple of years ago, I was able to acquire a pre-loved Roland E-16 — the very first synth in my keyboard collection.

As the pro musician’s say, you can never go wrong with a Roland. Indeed, with it’s crisp sounds (thanks to the dual speakers on board) and wide array of instruments, coupled with its capability to be expanded and connected to the PC via MIDI, the Roland E-16 — though considered to be vintage already today — is still my favorite. I use it during thanksgiving masses at the office, whenever I jam with my band, and when the church organ is uncooperative.

Just a couple of months ago, before 2009 ends, I was able to acquire from the master Pepe Manikan a Kurzweil K2000.

This synth uses VAST (Variable Architecture Synthesis Technology) which allows you to take any multi-sample, noise or waveform and process it using just about any synthesis technique. It has a built-in floppy disk drive, so that you may record/save your samples into a diskette. Now, how cool is that?! This is the very first Kurzweil in my collection.

My next target is to acquire a Korg (X3 or X5) to be included in my keyboard collection.

Last night, I missed a great portion of my life: (1) I missed the opening night of Elvert’s Omega exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) — though you (we) may still catch it, still have 28 days left; (2) Rick Astley performs live at the Big Dome. And the best ting about #2 was the fact that Roderick Paulate, Rick Astley Pinoy version, was invited to perform on stage. Never Gonna Give You Up lyrics and YouTube video of the Astley-Paulate encounter below.

Never Gonna Give You Up

Were no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do i
A full commitments what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

* Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve know each other for so long
Your hearts been aching
But you’re too shy to say it
Inside we both know whats been going on
We know the game and were gonna play it

And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see

(* repeat)

You’re telling me what I want to hear
But what’s the use when we just don’t share
The same emotions that brought us together aren’t there

In this world, nothing lasts forever
Was it you who changed or me
Should we go our separate ways or stay together
Believe me when I say

I’m not gonna change
I’m not gonna change now
If you walk away
There’s no turning back now

I look in the mirror
And see a relfection that isn’t me
It’s hard to remember the girl that used to be me

In this world, nothing lasts forever
Was it you who changed or me
Should we go our separate ways or stay together
Believe me when I say

I’m not gonna change
I’m not gonna change now
If you walk away
There’s no turning back now

I’m not gonna change
I’m not gonna change now
If you walk away
There’s no turning back now

(Inst. Break)

In this world, nothing lasts forever
Was it you who changed or me
Should we go our separate ways or stay together
Believe me when I say

I’m not gonna change
I’m not gonna change now
If you walk away
There’s no turning back now

I’m not gonna change
I’m not gonna change now
If you walk away
There’s no turning back now

I’m not gonna change
I’m not gonna change now
If you walk away
There’s no turning back now
Repeat Fade

Today, Air21 finally delivered the item after two days of following it up from them.

PSR-100 is an old model synth (released in 1991, as stated here), but it was during its time when General MIDI (GM) was introduced. But, the true value of this musical instrument to me is the fact that this is my very first Yamaha machine. My very first electronic musical instrument was a Casio MT-45 (still have it in my closet — reserved for Robyn’s small fingers), then followed by several models of CTK’s, also from Casio. Then, was able to save up for a Behringer U Control UMX49 USB MIDI Controller Keyboard, after Rose bought me a CTK-45 three Christmas(es) ago.

Next in my wish list: a digital piano (portable or not) and/or a Roland synth.

Now, the work-around:

You may use Google’s Advance Search to look for your favorite music files within Multiply.com. In the Find Results > With All Of The Words field, type the title or artist’s name of the music file you wish to look for. Just add the keywords “music/item” without the quotes. Next, in the Domain field, key-in “multiply.com” so that the search results will be limited to Multiply contents only. Though this work-around may not work 100% all of the time, atleast, we can still search for our favorite MP3 and WMA files in the best social networking site this side of the planet.

For the lyrics of Tuloy na Tuloy Pa Din ang Pasko, click here.

Well, for those who are searching for the lyrics and MP3 file, here it is.

TULOY NA TULOY PA RIN ANG PASKO
(APO Hiking Society)
O bakit kaya tuwing Pasko ay dumarating na
Ang bawa’t isa’y para bang namomroblema
Hindi mo alam ang regalong ibibigay
Ngayong kay hirap na nitong ating buhay

Meron pa kayang caroling at noche buena
Kung tayo naman ay kapos at wala nang pera
Nakakahiya kung muling pagtaguan mo
Ang ‘yong mga inaanak sa araw ng Pasko.

[refrain]
Ngunit kahit na anong mangyari
Ang pag-ibig sana’y maghari
Sapat nang si Hesus ang kasama mo
Tuloy na tuloy parin ang pasko

Mabuti pa nga ang Pasko noong isang taon
Sa ating hapag mayroong keso de bola’t hamon
Baka sa gipit, Happy New Year mapo-postpone
At ang hamon ay mauuwi sa bagoong

[refrain]
Ngunit kahit na anong mangyari
Ang pag-ibig sana’y maghari
Sapat nang si Hesus ang kasama mo
Tuloy na tuloy parin ang pasko

(Instrumental)

[refrain]
Ngunit kahit na anong mangyari
Ang pag-ibig sana’y maghari
Sapat nang si Hesus ang kasama mo
Tuloy na tuloy parin ang pasko

[coda]
Tuloy na tuloy pa rin (Tuloy na tuloy pa rin)
Tuloy na tuloy pa rin (Tuloy na tuloy pa rin)
Tuloy na tuloy pa rin ang Pasko …
Tuloy na tuloy pa rin ang Pasko …
Download the MP3 file here.

You can get free ringtones from different internet websites. All these tones are different and mostly people like music ringtones. There are many companies providing these ring tones like nextel ringtones is best among them.