A Seaside Paradise owned by Filipino-American Retirees(David Balleza Katague & Macrine Nieva Jambalos)Boac,Marinduque, Philippines
WELCOME TO CHATEAU DU MER BEACH RESORT
If this is your first time in my site, welcome! Chateau Du Mer is a beach house and a Conference Hall. The beach house could now accommodate 10 guests, six in the main floor and four in the first floor( air conditioned room). In addition, you can now reserve your vacation dates ahead and pay the rental fees via PayPal. I hope to see you soon in Marinduque- Home of the Morions and Heart of the Philippines. The photo above was taken during our first Garden Wedding ceremony at The Chateau Du Mer Gardens. I have also posted my favorite Filipino and American dishes and recipes in this site. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own, but I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights!
Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands
View of Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands-Click on photo to link to Marinduque Awaits You
Ditas and I had a sumptuous dinner at Andaman Thai Restaurant located at Newell and South Carolina Blvd, Walnut Creek last night. The food was delicious and service was prompt. Ditas and I took some photos as follows:
Our Soft Shell Crab- Appetizer
Our Seafood Feast-Calamari, shrimps. mussels, clams, white fish etc...
is a family-owned restaurant in Walnut Creek specializing in authentic Southern Thai flavors, located directly across from the Kaiser Permanente hospital. It is highly regarded for its beautiful presentation, friendly service, and a menu that accommodates various dietary needs, including vegan and gluten-free options.
Signature Dishes: Pumpkin Curry ($21.95), Pineapple Fried Rice (served in a hollowed pineapple, $18.95), and Pad Thai ($17.95).
Recommended Appetizers: Fresh Spring Rolls, Chicken Satay, and Corn Fritters.
Drinks & Desserts: Thai Iced Tea (often served with coconut milk) and Mango with Sweet Sticky Rice.
Dining & Logistics
Reservations: Accepted and recommended for weekend dinner or large groups. Smaller parties can often use an online waitlist.
Parking: The on-site lot uses metered parking (approx. $2.00–$3.00/hour). Alternatively, the Broadway Plaza Parking Garage is nearby and offers the first three hours for free.
Ambiance: Contemporary and cozy with both indoor and outdoor seating available.
Service: Known for fast service, often seating guests within 10 minutes and serving entrees within 15 minutes of ordering.
Meanwhile, Saturday Afternoon was fun with THD Card Making Activity hosted by capable Elane Johnson. I created three Happy Birthday Cards in less than 30 minutes. Here's the photo I took of my creation.
Kudos to Elane for a well-coordinated activity on a beautiful Saturday Afternoon.
Have you ever found yourself wondering about the people who came before you, your grandparents, great grandparents, and the lives they lived long before you were born? For many of us, those questions get postponed by careers, responsibilities, and the sheer busyness of raising families. Retirement, however, offers something rare and precious: time. And with that time comes a unique opportunity to rediscover who we are by exploring where we came from.
Researching your family tree can begin as a casual curiosity and quickly become a deeply moving journey. Names on old documents transform into real people with real struggles, triumphs, and migrations. You may learn that your ancestors crossed oceans with little more than hope in their pockets, or that they worked the same land for generations before history pushed them elsewhere. These stories don’t just belong to the past, they live quietly within us.
For some retirees, the journey goes beyond research and becomes a pilgrimage. Visiting your family’s homeland can be profoundly awe-inspiring. Imagine standing in a village church where your ancestors were baptized, spotting your family name etched into a weathered gravestone, or seeing an ancient crest displayed on a castle wall that once represented your lineage. Even something as simple as encountering your last name on a street sign can send a shiver down your spine, a reminder that your life is part of a much longer human story.
If you’re not sure where to begin, modern technology has made discovering your heritage easier than ever. DNA testing services can provide detailed ancestry reports, offering insights into your ethnic makeup and pointing you toward regions your family likely came from. While no test can tell the whole story, these tools often spark meaningful questions and guide further research. They can also connect you with distant relatives you never knew existed, sometimes on the other side of the world.
What makes this exploration especially meaningful later in life is perspective. With the urgency of ambition behind us, we can approach our heritage not as a project to complete, but as a story to savor. Understanding the sacrifices and choices of those who came before us often brings gratitude, humility, and a renewed sense of belonging.
Discovering your heritage is more than a hobby. it’s an act of remembrance. It roots us in something larger than ourselves and reminds us that our lives are chapters in a long, unfolding narrative. Prepare to be surprised, humbled, and even awed by what you discover. The past may be behind you, but it has a remarkable way of illuminating the road ahead.
Meanwhile, Here's the AI Overview on this Topic:
Discovering your heritage is
a journey that combines personal stories, historical records, and genetic science. In 2026, the process is more accessible than ever through digitized archives and advanced DNA technology.
1. Start with Yourself and Your Family
The most reliable information begins with what you and your relatives already know.
Interview Relatives: Speak to your oldest living relatives. Ask about full names, birthdates, locations, and family legends.
Search Your Home: Look for family bibles, letters, scrapbooks, and military certificates.
Record Details: Document names, dates, places, and relationships to serve as the foundation of your search.
2. Build a Family Tree
Using a digital platform helps organize your research and offers "hints" based on other users' data.
FamilySearch: A completely free, massive database where users collaboratively build a global family tree.
Ancestry: A leading paid service (with free trial options) that offers over 40 billion records and highly intuitive tree-building tools.
Findmypast: Excellent for tracing British, Irish, and Commonwealth roots.
3. Utilize Historical Records
Once you have names and dates, verify them using public documents.
Census Records: Federal censuses (like the 1940 and 1950 records) provide snapshots of where your ancestors lived and worked.
Vital Records: Birth, marriage, and death certificates are essential for confirming family links.
Immigration Archives: The Ellis Island Passenger Search allows you to find relatives who arrived at the Port of New York.
National Archives:Archives.gov provides extensive resources for military, land ownership, and naturalization records.
4. DNA Testing
DNA tests can reveal ethnic origins and connect you with living cousins who share segments of your DNA.
Autosomal DNA: The most common test (e.g., AncestryDNA, MyHeritage) traces both parental lines back about 5–7 generations.
Y-DNA and mtDNA: Specialized tests (available at FamilyTreeDNA) trace direct paternal or maternal lineages much further back in time.
Ancient Past: Services like MyTrueAncestry allow you to upload raw DNA data to compare your genome with archaeological samples.
5. Professional & Local Assistance
Genealogical Societies: Local groups often hold unique physical records not yet available online.
I have searched my ancestral roots from both sides of My Family- My Father's side ( C(K)atague and My Mothers's side ( Balleza). My findings are documented in my blogs below.
This posting is inspired from my recent Viewing of the TV Documentary, Beyond the Grave by Serena DC in the Gaia Channel.
Touching the Edge of Life: Reflections on Near-Death Experiences
In recent weeks, I found myself absorbed in watching and reading about near-death experiences, or NDEs those mysterious moments when a person is clinically near death yet returns with vivid memories of what they felt, heard, or saw. These accounts come from people of different cultures, ages, and beliefs, yet the themes are surprisingly similar: a sense of peace, a tunnel or pathway of light, presence of loved ones, life reviews, or an overwhelming feeling of love and clarity.
For someone in the later chapters of life as I am now, these stories naturally resonate more deeply. They invite not fear, but reflection. They remind us that death is not only an ending, but also part of a much larger journey we rarely pause to contemplate.
A Moment Outside of Time
One of the most common elements in NDE stories is a feeling of leaving the body and observing the scene below. People describe it not as frightening, but oddly serene, like stepping out of a heavy garment. They speak of timelessness, as though they had entered a realm where clocks no longer mattered. Some recount hearing music unlike anything on earth, or encountering a warm, loving presence.
What struck me most is how impossible these experiences are to capture with ordinary language. Many say, “I don’t have the right words,” or “It was real, but not in the way this world is real.” It reminds me that the spiritual truths we seek do not always fit neatly into the vocabulary we use for daily life.
The Life Review: A Mirror of the Heart
Another recurring feature is the “life review,” a kind of panoramic replay of one's life. But instead of a judgment, people describe it as an understanding, a chance to see the meaning of choices, relationships, kindnesses offered, and hurts inflicted.
What stands out in these accounts is that the most important moments are rarely the grand achievements. Instead, they highlight small acts of compassion, a comforting word, an apology given, a meal shared. In short, the pieces of life that reveal who we truly are.
This aligns with what I have come to believe: our lives are measured not by what we accumulate, but by the love and connections we cultivate.
A Sense of Purpose on Returning
Nearly everyone who returns after an NDE does so with a changed outlook. They become less afraid of death and more appreciative of life. They speak of a renewed sense of purpose whether caring for others, living with integrity, or simply being present in each moment.
For some, it becomes a spiritual awakening. For others, a reminder of unfinished work. And for many, it leads to a deeper understanding that every day we wake up is another chance to shape the legacy we leave behind.
What NDEs Teach Us About Living
Whether one sees NDEs as spiritual truth, neurological phenomena, or something in between, they offer valuable lessons:
Life is brief, but meaning is abundant.
Our connections with others matter more than anything else.
There is more to existence than what we can measure or prove.
Death, when it comes, may be far gentler than we imagine.
In my own reading, I found comfort in the idea that the transition from life to whatever lies beyond is not a cliff but a doorway, one that many describe as filled with peace, love, and light.
A Personal Reflection
At this stage of my own journey, living with a serious illness and looking back on almost nine decades, I find that NDE stories do not frighten me. Instead, they bring a quiet reassurance. They echo the belief I’ve carried for years: that when our time comes, we will be welcomed, not abandoned; embraced, not forgotten.
And perhaps, in that great moment of release, we will understand what truly mattered all along.
Here's the AI Overview on the above Topic:
"Touching the Edge of Life"
likely refers to the profound, transformative experiences known as Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), characterized by out-of-body sensations, tunnels of light, encounters with divine beings, and intense feelings of peace, often leading survivors to lose fear of death, gain spiritual insight, value love, and focus on purpose, as explored in books, scientific studies (like those by Bruce Greyson and the National Institutes of Health), and personal accounts on platforms like YouTube and Quora. These reflections suggest NDEs reveal a common spiritual narrative, challenging materialistic views and offering hope for a conscious afterlife, say researchers like Dr. Bruce Greyson and the author of a psychology today article.
Common Themes in NDE Reflections:
Out-of-Body Experiences (OBE): Feeling separated from the physical body, sometimes observing events from above.
Tunnel & Light: Moving through a dark tunnel towards an intense, loving light or divine presence.
Life Review: A panoramic review of one's life, often with insights into consequences of actions.
Cosmic Unity & Peace: A profound sense of oneness with the universe and overwhelming feelings of love and peace, transcending ego.
Spiritual Encounters: Meeting deceased relatives or divine/spiritual beings, as noted by researchers at the University of Virginia.
Ineffability: Difficulty in describing the experience using ordinary language.
Impact on Survivors:
Fear of Death Loss: Many lose their fear of dying, believing in an afterlife.
Spiritual Growth: Increased spirituality, focus on love, service, and purpose.
Life Transformation: Renewed appreciation for life, leading to changed priorities.
Perspectives on NDEs:
Spiritual/Religious: Viewed as evidence for soul survival and an afterlife, often aligning with faith.
Scientific/Neuroscientific: Explored through neuroscience (e.g., brain activity during hypoxia), but still debated, with some researchers seeing parallels to mystical experiences described by William James, say experts at the National Institutes of Health.
In essence, "Touching the Edge of Life" captures the essence of these experiences as profound bridges between life and death, offering deep lessons about existence and consciousness, as seen in various online discussions and videos
