THE KNIGHTS OF THE SCOTTISH RITE

We are the "warrior monks" of Freemasonry, the "Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon", also known as the "Knights Templar" who in 1307 the church tried to erase from the face of the earth.

The survivors of the purge were eventually integrated into the Teutonic Order while some entered into an alliance with King Robert the Bruce of Scotland who received them into the Scottish Order of St. Andrew who considered the king as its first Grand Master, with the line of succession ending with Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the last Grand Master in Scotland, who established a Chapter of the Rose Croix of Heredom in 1745.

Then there was Jacques DeMolay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, whose death spawned the birth of the Knight Kadosh of the White and Black Eagle, the 24th degree of the Order of the Royal Secret that is the immediate predecessor of the Scottish Rite.

There are 32 degrees in today's Scottish Rite --- the 4th-14th degrees of the Lodge of Perfection whose main purpose is the "investigation and contemplation of the ineffable name of Deity; the 15-18th degrees of the Chapter of the Rose Croix whose work is to attain "a deeper understanding of Religion, Philosophy, Ethics and History"; the 19th-30th degrees of the "chivalric and philosophical" Council of Kadosh; and the 31st and 32nd degrees of the Consistory that "illustrate the ideal balance between the spiritual and the temporal".     

Finally, there is the Court of Honor where only a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor ("Red Cappers" who are selected from members of the Consistory for their special service to Masonry and mankind) and a 33rd Degree Inspector General Honorary ("White Cappers" that are elected by the Supreme Council for their outstanding contribution to the Scottish Rite and public good) are allowed.

These are the Scottish Rite's cream of the crop and among them, those who have achieved extraordinary and exceptional services are elected to receive the rare privilege of wearing the Grand Cross of the Court of Honor.  

I am a Scottish Rite, I am a Knight Templar in service of the Craft, and I ride my Iron Horse everyday (if possible) to conquer the lurking demons in my mind.

And from the villas of Fontana and the cavernous hall of Leonard Wood Masonic Lodge No. 105 where the modern day Knights of Freemasonry converged, I woke up at 4 am to start on my trek to Bangkok, my first foreign trip in almost two months.

Indeed, the good things in life last only for a fleeting moment...   

WEATHER-WEATHER LANG

We only say "it's raining cats and dogs" if wind (dogs) comes with the heavy rain (cats).

Last Friday, a lot of cats falling from heaven must have caused the gridlock at the Valdefuente Bridge and at Mega-Shell Crossing that made traffic crawl all the way to the Silver Anniversary celebration of Nueva Ecija Court No. 31.

Monsoon is a weather pattern and in the Philippines, the summer monsoon is called Habagat and the winter monsoon Amihan. 

The definition of monsoon evolved through the years to mean "heavy and short-term local rains" which is incorrect since that is only true for the Habagat season between May to October but not for Amihan which is mostly dry season between November to April.

It was mostly Amihan weather during our last Official District Visit to our home Court on Saturday morning but late afternoons and evenings are ruled by Habagat which came pouring after our Scottish Rite meeting that I presided for the first time.  

And what the hell is Ernie Baron's Inter-tropical Convergence Zone?

According to the worlwide web, the ITCZ "is a belt of low pressure which circles the Earth generally near the equator where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres come together. It is characterised by convective activity which generates often vigorous thunderstorms over large areas".

In other words, ITCZ is the intermittent soft rains that failed to deter my longs rides to the Rizal monuments in San Jose City and Lupao, the dark overcast sky as I am being nuked and electrocuted, and the downpour that chilled a case of Red Horse Extra Beer which I killed with my neighbors.

August is the peak of the Habagat season but the wet weather and lousy pizza that came with a super sweet lemonade concentrate failed to dampen the smiles that radiated on Sunday evening...

NO BIKE WEEK

-24-

From Lodge to Temple

Knights of the Kingdom of Pee 

Bike in new armour

-25-

Monsoon overstayed

The workmen took all three days

Rained-out royalty

-26-

Wet roads and full days

Rust on the bikes at idle

Rain on Bowling Day

THE "BOOK OF O" INVADES BINONDO

It was the week before Balong go back to school after Bulan went back to Miga-ao, the week where Balong promised to ride with me the full seven days and Bulan moved into his new residence outside the university, the week Balong kept up to the first two rides but refused to rise from bed on the third and the fourth days, and Bulan told us he passed all of last semester's classess.  

It was also the week of back-to-back birthdays when I went home totally inebriated, and the week of our third visit to the San Jose City Court as Central Luzon's Amaranthine royalty.

And it was the Sunday when the Book of O opened a Chapter on "Eating Binondo", starting off with the homang-on-silver bread roll and pork chops at Tasty Dumplings and the steamed pork-and-kutchay dumplings at Dong Bei's after lighting colored candles at the Binondo Church. 

That was almost enough but not as the Book of O filled its pages with the crispiness of Sincerity's famous fried chicken with kikiam on the side, the unique flavor of Masuki's chicken mami paired with an unforgettable siopao asado, the exotic fried frog legs at LGA Fastfood along a murky estero, and a plate of freshly cooked heavenly chami at Delicious. 

The hopia to take home came in as a footnote too, first at the cramped Ho-Land store that's almost bursting with shelves of Chinese-inspired delicacies and then later at the new Eng Bee Tin shop where the abundance of space and airconditioning somewhat subdued the spirit of Binondo, but it was there where it was decided that room can be made for a couple, or a trio in fact, of the New Po-Heng Lumpia House's signature dish.     

It was Binondo twice for me within two weeks and on a Sunday too but I don't mind giving Ivan Man Dy a run for his money although mine is gratis for friends, plus I was able to pinpoint the exact location of two more of Binondo's iconic culinary gems --- Lan Zhou La Mien, known for its hand-pulled noodles, and the New Toho Food Center that first opened in 1866 making it Manila's oldest operating restaurant, so old that Jose Rizal was said to have dined there!

Those are marked targets on my return to Binondo any time soon.