UPDATE: THANK YOU, SM Hypermarket! This entry was judged one of the three best blog posts, and I took home a beautiful brand-new DVD player. Thank you!

In the Philippines, the ubiquitous shopping mall is an unmistakable part of local pop culture. At last count, Metro Manila is home to more than 30 shopping malls, all of whom jockey for our patronage and loyalty.For my family and me, however, whether we are in the market for life’s little necessities or preparing for life’s major milestones, there has always been one trustworthy name on which we can rely: SM Hypermarket.

From the promise of a new life…

On September 22, 2003, my wife Catherine went into labor at the Olivarez General Hospital in Sucat, Paranaque. It was a Monday, and the family car was coded. Luckily, SM Hypermarket Sucat was two minutes away from the hospital. I festooned my wife’s hospital room with colorful blue “It’s a boy” banners and balloons from the school supply section of SM Hypermarket Sucat. Our hospital guests welcomed Nathan James to the world; we welcomed them with cold juice and chips from SM Hypermarket Sucat.

… to the closure of a life well-lived…

On June 13, 2005, my father, Nicholas, departed this world for a better place. We did not want to hold Dad’s wake at a funeral home, so my mother and I booked a conference hall beside our local church and held a four-day party in his honor, with exhibits, his favorite Johnny Walker Black, and Sinatra on the sound system. Senator Franklin Drilon joined us. See the stuff on the table? Snacks, juice drinks, ice, and materials for parlor games and the Mass? All available and present, thanks to the convenience of SM Hypermarket Bicutan.

… From the joy of knowing a friend isn’t too far away…

Shortly after Dad died, my family and I moved from Paranaque City to Quezon City. I worried a bit, not knowing where we’d do our shopping, but lo and behold! At the newly opened The Block, there was an SM Hypermarket! Hahaha! It was pure joy to welcome a new haunt with an old friend.

… to the accomplishment of a goal…

On June 10, 2007, we welcomed our daughter, Nicola Jean, named after my father, to the world. As with Nathan, I festooned the hospital room with banners and other pa-cute decor from SM Hypermarket Sucat, this time in pink. Cathy was adamant she would nurse Nicki, but was unsure of whether she’d be able to do so after a failed first time with Nathan. Nevertheless, we wanted to try, and all the research we did on Aventis breast pumps at SM Hypermarket North EDSA truly came in handy for that wonderful day when mother and daughter shared that truly beautiful moment for the first time.

… From the joy of a once-in-a-lifetime celebration…

On September 18, 2004, we celebrated Nathan’s first birthday party with a VeggieTales-themed celebration at our home. The supplies for the the Bob the Tomato masks, parlor games and little giveaways that drove the children crazy… ever-reliable SM Hypermarket Sucat and Bicutan came through once more.

… to the everyday niceties that make one just a little happier to be alive…

I’m nursing a flu as I type this. Yesterday, I ventured out to do some grocery-shopping before Cathy leaves for Davao on Monday. I know it’ll be hard to be without my wife around, but Nicki has a brand-new can of Nan milk, Nathan has school snacks, there’s a week’s worth of fresh meat and vegetables in the fridge, and I’ve got Alaxan to help me type this. In sickness and health, I can rely on God, Cathy, and SM Hypermarket North EDSA/The Block.

… one knows can rely on SM Hypermarket to help make living life a little easier. Thanks, SM Hypermarket, for more than five years of memories.

(Will post photos within the next 24 hours)

Be updated and interact with SM Hypermarket through their blog.

I’ll be reformatting GannsDeen.com over the weekend. This ought to be fun.

Last Saturday, Cathy, Nathan, and I went to SM North EDSA’s The Block, 4th floor, to pick up a second pair of Bradford shoes. I present to you… Howard, a pair of first-class casual men’s shoes for Filipinos made in patent black leather with brown laces and orange trim. Comfortable and classy, the soles of these shoes make walking feel more like gliding on air.

In 2006, I bought a pair of phenomenal dress shoes called Adrian from the Bradford Shoes store at the 2nd floor of the Mall of Asia (above Ace Hardware). I bought it for one benefit: Bradford shoes made men taller! Hahaha! The shoes use AddHeight Tech, technology which adds up to four inches in height without the shoes showing it. (You be the judge; does the Howard look like it adds 3 inches to your height?)

It’s hard to find shoes for short men in the Philippines (I’m 5″6), so I thought long and hard before purchasing my first pair. It wasn’t cheap - the Adrian topped out at Php3,999.00, but what an investment! After almost a year of using the Adrian, especially when singing onstage at church, I have received countless compliments on how much taller (and thinner!) I look. And the quality of the shoes is obviously topnotch, so the shoes feel as good and sturdy as ever. (No mean feat, because I weigh more than 200 lbs; the fact it can carry my heavy bulk is testament to the quality of the shoe.) I fully intend to wear it until it falls apart, which I don’t think will happen anytime soon.

Choosing the Howard was a strategic decision; I wanted a pair of casual shoes that make me taller. Honestly, the photo doesn’t do justice to this particular pair of shoes. The leather is terribly comfortable, and the soles…! I can’t stop gushing over how comfortable these soles are.

If you’re a short guy looking for shoes that make you taller, visit the Bradford shoes website and see if there isn’t a style that strikes your fancy. There are more than 50 styles in dress, casual, even sport shoes, that all add inches to your height. Then swing on by either Bradford shoes branch in Mall of Asia or SM North EDSA and find out for yourself why I love these men’s shoes!

American Idol Season Five finalist Mandisa has debuted at #43 on the Billboard 200 with her debut album, True Beauty (Sparrow/EMI). By selling a little over 17,000 copies, 9th placer Mandisa bests 5th placer Paris Bennett, whose debut album, Princess P (306 Entertainment), debuted at #133 with a little over 6,400 units sold. True Beauty had the benefit, however, of a hit Contemporary Christian single, Only the World, which spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart.

Actual tallies will be released on Billboard.com tomorrow, but unless BarlowGirl registers an increase in sales, which seems highly unlikely given the Christian group’s lack of a hit single on the Contemporary Christian singles charts, it seems apparent that Mandisa has debuted as well at #1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums and the Billboard Top Christian and Gospel Albums charts. If this is, in fact, true, that means that Mandisa would have earned the 131st and 132nd and 133rd #1s for the American Idol franchise. (When Only the World topped the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart, she added to the initial 130.) It would also mean that the debut of Mandisa’s True Beauty at #43 on the Billboard 200 means American Idol’s Season Five has surpassed Season Three for having the highest number of chart-worthy singers with albums to their credit.

Update: It is true! Mandisa debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums and Billboard Top Christian and Gospel albums charts. She is the first female solo artist in the history of the chart to debut at #1 with her debut album! Congratulations, ‘Disa!

Am I a Mandisa fan? Heck, yes. I can’t wait for my True Beauty album to get here, because it takes 4-6 weeks to ship to Manila from the USA. I wanted to add her up on MySpace, but apparently, I can’t get that add. *sigh* You know what I want? A Mandisa interview for LIVEtheLIFE. That’d rock my socks. Come on, Lord, make it happen in Jesus’ name.

Today, I honor an amazing Filipina writer, wife, and friend, Wifely Steps!

Here are my Top 10 Reasons why Wifely is a terrific Filipina.

10. Wifely is a Filipina who is not afraid to cook - and is not ashamed of the occasional failure.

9. Wifely is a Filipina who is fiercely proud of her Filipino husband.

8. Wifely is a Filipina who delights in keeping house.

7. Wifely is a career Filipina, forging ahead and claiming success in an industry not readily welcoming of most women.

6. Wifely is a Filipina who gladly accepts her physical shape, and revels in her own unique beauty.

5. Wifely is a Filipina blogger who now maintains Happy Nest, a blog on Inquirerbloggers.net.

4. Wifely is an award-winning Filipina writer, whose blogs of positivity and grace shine out in our selfish online world.

3. Wifely is a loyal Filipina friend and confidante.

2. Wifely is going to be a spectacular Filipina mom. (Prophecy!)

And the number one reason why Wifely Steps is a terrific Filipina:

1. Wifely celebrates, encourages, and champions the achievements and accomplishments of other Filipinas. In a world of crab mentality, Wifely is a breath of fresh air, a model Filipino woman in every sense of the word.

This week’s Filipina Focus: my longtime buddy online and offline, Wifely Steps. I am so privileged to call you friend, Toni.

This post is part of a weekly post series I’m titling Filipina Focus to honor the fabulous Filipina. It is also part of the campaign to reshape the image of the Filipina online by linking to the websites of the best Filipina women bloggers and Filipina organizations. The Filipina is an independent Filipina, a God-fearing Filipina, a funny Filipina, a Filipina who deserves accolades for everything she’s done. For information on the Reclaim the Filipina campaign, click here or here.

Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Begin the music, strike the tambourine,
play the melodious harp and lyre!” - Psalm 81:1-2

A few months ago, I entered the Kerygma Feast Songwriting Contest, entering two of my favorite praise songs, Magpasalamat (Purihin Ang Panginoon) and Superblessed. (I also used my legal name, which is James Michael Deen. Doesn’t it sound so formal? HA!)

Well, last night, I received a call from Brother Alvin of the contest. He called to inform me that I made the finals of the contest - WITH BOTH SONGS!

I’m overwhelmed by God’s providence. Left literally speechless. Last week at an early morning Wednesday prayer meeting at the Fort, this South African man named David prophesied that God heard the desires of my heart and told me that what I was praying most fervently for was coming. Little did I know what I thought was one answered prayer would grow into a floodgate of blessing!

These past few days have just been a wellspring of blessing, from my wife’s safe arrival from Singapore, to the extra income brought in by side projects, to two very generous offers of new jobs (which I’d turned down, by the way, because I’m believing God will use me to spread His Good News in Makati City), to an unexpected blessing of something as trivial to others or important to me as shoes (yes, I’d been praying for new shoes, and I got a pair! More on that later).

This is what grace means. I get what I don’t deserve. And when I do get it, the feeling is just… indescribable. Then you’re just overcome with gratitude.

I am in the finals of the Kerygma Feast Songwriting Contest. With two songs. I can’t believe it.

Congratulations to the other finalists:

1. Magpasalamat by James Michael Deen Quezon City
2. For Today My Heart by Chris Givenchy of Edejer Davao City
3. Aking Hesus by Ernigem Indac of Paranaque City
4. With My Imperfect Heart by Ma. Cecilia Datu of Paranaque City
5. I’m Yours My God by Ma. Cielito Michelle Tagaza of Taytay, Rizal
6. Forever in My Heart by Rea Gloria of Meycauayan, Bulacan
7. Superblessed by James Michael Deen of Quezon City
8. My Song of Worship by Bonifacio Tagadtad of Ontario, Canada
9. You Have Created Me by Allan Obias of Marikina City
10. Touch My Heart by Emmanuel Carlos Malibiran of Paranaque City

O make a new song to the Lord; let all the earth make melody to the Lord. - Psalm 96:1 (BBE)

My eyes almost literally popped out of their sockets when I visited Amazon.com today to see how well American Idol finalist Mandisa’s debut album, True Beauty, was doing sales-wise (#109 right now, #72 a few hours ago). True Beauty is selling for the already incredibly low price of US$9.99 on Amazon; plus, it’s an enhanced CD, so buyers get access to a lot of great stuff on Mandisa’s official website. The first single, the Matthew West-penned Only the World, is already Top 10 on Christian AC and mainstream charts; it topped Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart for a month.

What I didn’t expect to see was what Amazon decided to bundle with Mandisa: Say It, the debut album of red-hot rising Christian teen star Britt Nicole! Her debut single, You, is one of my favorite songs of 2007 - Lord, give me time to update my charts! - and the snippets I’d heard on her official website told me her album was destined to be one of the best Christian pop-rock albums of 2007. And not just bundled: it’s selling for US$5.99.

Five dollars and ninety-nine cents?!

To top it all off, if you buy both albums on Amazon, they’ll throw in an additional US$2.00 discount. Total cost for both albums, if you buy this week? US$13.98. That’s just crazy. I asked God, “Lord, may I?” I don’t have a Visa credit card anymore, so I was like, “Lord, I’ll only do this if Amazon accepts JCB.” Apparently, they do!

So I have the two albums that I want to have this year. Well, there’s still one more album to complete my year, Another Time, Another Place: Timeless Christian Classics, potentially the last studio album of Avalon, the greatest Christian vocal group ever. (Okay, I may be biased.)

Meanwhile, I’m glad to have contributed to Mandisa’s first-week sales! Support our girl ‘Disa! Woohoo!

Update: OMG! Mandisa has a duet with Michael W. Smith?! I’ve died and gone to heaven!