Siargao - The Movie

I decided to watch the movie "Siargao" this morning at the SM Bacoor cinema. Since it got many awards during the 43rd Metro Manila Film Festival including 2nd Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Cinematography it made me come into consideration to watch it (actually I am keen to watch "Ang Larawan" the Best Picture of the MMFF but unfortunately it is not shown at SM Bacoor).  The film stars Jericho Rosales, Erich Gonzales and Jasmine Curtis Smith. The movie in my layman's point of view is beautifully made. It is about a surf romance film with the three characters looking for an answer for a lost love and falling in love again. As the title itself suggest, the movie was filmed entirely in Siargao island at the province of Surigao Del Norte. It showcases the pristine water of the ocean, the white fine sand of the beaches, the vast plantation of coconut trees, and the beautiful people of Siargao. The cinematography is breathtaking and awesome especially the filming of the ocean waves while the protagonist surfs their way to the boundless water of the ocean. I wish I could go there alone also and explore the the islands beautiful scenery and beaches. There are times I cried watching the movie especially when Erich Gonzales confesses her heartaches to Jericho Rosales. She was so effective on that scene, you can feel her sadness and can relate the deep sorrow of what she has experienced with regards to her lost love.  Equally effective is the mysterious character of Jasmine Curtis Smith. She never speaks too much but you can feel also the sadness on her face, the tears she shed, and the yearning of love she wants to Jericho Rosales. She deserves to win the Best Supporting Actress on this film. Jericho Rosales is always my favorite actor.  He is for me a natural born actor, no if's and but's. When he started to speak in the film he is not anymore the actor you know but the character of the movie that he represents. Both Erich and Jericho deserves the acting nomination in this movie. This is a film I enjoyed much seeing this year. Everything is complacent not to mention the beautiful music, the screenplay, the editing, and most especially the directing (congratulations to Paul Soriano, the director of the movie). It is a movie that when you go out of the theater you are smiling and never regrets to watch it. I would like to congratulate the producer and the team of this film. It is such a wonderful film that will end the year of 2017 with pride.

Without Her I'm Nothing

Today is the birthday of my dearest mother. The woman who gave my life. Without her I will be nothing in this world. Her sacrifices and love she gave us is unconditional. I consider her the greatest gift God had ever given me and to our family.  There are times we have misunderstanding but she never gave up to show her compassion and kindness. I know I had given her problems and heartaches, still she never surrendered to love us. I saw her cry, I also feel her pain when she is hurt, in spite of this she is strong enough to stand-up the trials in her life. My mother is my pillar who always give me the strength when I'm down, when I cry, when I feel vulnerable. She is always there to comfort me in times of my loneliness, my sickness, and when I'm weak. Although she may not be able to read this, deep in my heart I will always love her for the rest of my life. Words are not enough to describe my gratitude to her for being our mother. Thank God for giving this Mother to our family.

I love you Nanay ....

One Night at SM Mall of Asia

Last night I was able to visit SM Mall of Asia to relax myself and roam around the mall. Still many people are present and busy buying things in preparation for the coming new year celebration.  You can see many children around together with their parents enjoying the beautiful displays at the mall. Just seeing these children and people with their happy faces makes me forget the difficulties of life for a while. Below are some pictures I had taken and it's nice to show how this evening is colorful and stress free.

Blessed Christmas

I would like to greet all Christians around the world a blessed Christmas. Every year we celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Philippines, this special occasion is celebrated by Catholics with gift giving, attending mass, get together and bonding of family, and most especially sharing love and kindness to the needy by giving gifts, food, toys, clothes, and grocery items. This is already a tradition for Filipinos and every year this festive mood is evident at every shopping malls around the country. Everybody is enjoying themselves shopping, eating, and buying things they needed during Christmas. 

 

     

Happy Moments

One thing that amazes me is the closeness and camaraderie of my former officemates from my former company.  We had a simple get together and dinner last December 21 and enjoyed it too much. It was also a late birthday celebration for me. I want to thank my officemates for this wonderful bonding and the gifts they had given me. 

 

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash

The Body Shop located at SM North EDSA at QC had a pre-Christmas sale on some of their selected products.  Most of the items had 20 to 50% discount. A certain product caught my attention and its all about this Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash which is suitable for blemished skin. I want to try this facial wash since I had some skin discoloration on my face left behind due to pimples. The item has a 50% discount with the original price of 595 pesos each. I bought 2 quantities (250ml each bottle).  Let's try if they can do wonders on my blemished skin.

Special Day

Today December 14, 2017 I'm celebrating my 54th birthday.  I thank God for all the blessings he had given me and to my family. I'm proud to say that I'm still a part of this history reaching this age. Others are not lucky enough, gone too soon at their young age. My principle in life is always cherish the time and live life to the fullest. We need to spend our life worthwhile as long as we live, use and enjoy every minute of it. Part of this life is don't forget to pray everyday and be grateful to God for all his blessings.

Christmas CD's

Recently, Astroplus at SM City Bacoor, Cavite went on sale regarding music CD's, DVD's, and VCD's.  It was really such a bargain for one CD costing 99 pesos each with the original price of more than 300 pesos. I was lucky enough to buy three CD's of famous singers of our time such as Gloria Estefan's "Christmas Through Your Eyes", Kenny G's "The Classic Christmas Album", and Barry Manilow's "In the Swing of Christmas". I imported them to my iTunes playlist and I had the time to enjoy listening to the songs. I really like buying the physical CD rather than buying songs online. 

Christmas Through Your Eyes - Gloria Estefan 

Kenny G - The Classic Christmas Album 

 Barry Manilow - In The Swing of Christmas

Beautiful Sunday

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning! Got the chance to bring my travel buddy Click 125i at Citta Italia village for roaming around the peaceful place. Fresh morning, fresh air, fresh new day.

The Carpenters - Love Songs

The Carpenters compose of siblings Karen Carpenter (RIP) and Richard Carpenter is one of my favorite vocal and instrumental duo of all time.  Their soft musical style is so haunting and distinctive especially the contralto vocals of Karen Carpenter.  Some critics considers the voice of Karen as best female vocal talent in the world. I had been lucky enough that I bought this CD entitled "LOVE SONGS, Carpenters" from Saudi Arabia way back 7 years ago. This CD is the compilation of the best love songs of Carpenters during their 14 year career. All of the songs are classics such as the poignant "Solitaire", "We've Only Just Begun", "Superstar", "You're the One", "Close To You", "For All We Know", and many more. Every night I played the playlist in my laptop before I sleep. I can't help but to cry sometimes because of the angelic, haunting, so sweet, and beautiful voice of Karen Carpenter. One of my favorite song in the CD is "I Need to Be In Love". It was Karen's favorite song and I believe it told about her sad story. I always feel sad whenever I hear her beautiful voice. It was such a tragedy about Karen's death in 1983 from heart failure due to complication of anorexia nervosa. Listening to her songs over and over again, I suddenly came to realization that Karen never leave us. She never really left us because her magic is timeless. It's very hard to ignore that The Carpenters music touched many peoples lives, including me.

Love Songs - Carpenters (CD)

Richard and Karen Carpenter

Welcome December!

It's the first day of December. Christmas is just around the corner. Everybody is happy and excited. I do believe that some of the employees had already received their 13th month bonus. Some are waiting till the middle of December to get their much awaited gratuity from their company. People are starting to flock at every shopping centers and malls to buy their Christmas presents, gifts, new clothes and shoes. You can hear Christmas songs are being played everywhere you go.  OFWs and "balikbayans" are starting to arrive to be with their family during this holiday season. Every house, establishments, and street corners are decorated with yuletide decors and lanterns, and Christmas lights are sight to behold during the night. Indeed, December is the happiest and colorful month in the Philippines. How I wish my December will be happy for me and my family. 

Christmas Tree display at SM Dasmarinas

Christmas Tree display at SM City Bacoor

Christmas Tree display at SM Molino, Bacoor City

Carousel at SM Dasmarinas

Thank You 7-Eleven Philippines

It's almost a month now and I forgot to relay my sincere thanks to 7-Eleven Philippines for the early Christmas gift which I got from them.  I was one of the lucky winners of their 3rd draw of e-raffle contest Awesome Rrrrrride promo.  It's a beautiful Yamaha MIO i125s scooter. This is really awesome and it's almost a month now I'm enjoying the joyride of my new beast.

 

     

Flowers In Bloom

It's the month of October and the whether is getting cold at night.  The start of the Christmas season has began and you can hear yuletide songs being played at the malls and radio stations. In addition, I had noticed that even my plants in the house are growing faster and blooming because of the nice whether.  Flowers are blossoming everywhere and it is a sight to behold to look at them. Here are some of the different flowers at the garden of the National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio at Sto. Thomas, Batangas.

People's Park In The Sky

Rain did not stopped me last September 20, 2017 when I reached People's Park In the Sky in Tagaytay City, province of Cavite.  It is considered the highest peak in Tagaytay City and sits atop Mount Sungay (aka Mount Gonzales). This is the first time I came to this place.  I was longing to see this People's Park long time ago and I got this chance to go there since it is only over a 1 hour ride from Imus, Cavite where I live (41 kilometers from Imus to People's Park, Tagaytay City). It is considered a must see place for every local and foreign tourist because it is where you can see and view Taal Volcano and Taal lake, the vast greenery of the area, the panoramic and majestic view of Tagaytay City.  There is an old unfinished mansion at the top of the hill, known as the Palace in the Sky built during the Marcos era. According to reports, then First Lady Imelda Marcos commissioned to build the mansion as the guesthouse of US President Ronald Reagan for his planned visit to the Philippines, unfortunately the visit was cancelled, so the unfinished mansion.

The moment I drop off on the jeepney that I rode, drizzling rain began to fall.  Its good that I had this folding umbrella on my backpack which I used to shield myself from the drizzling rain. Honestly, I was not able to enjoy my solo tripped because of this situation. But I was able to take pictures in any way I could. I'm planning to go back there in December with a friend to enjoy the colder temperature and hoping it will not rain. I like the park because of its cold climate and the panoramic view of Tagaytay City especially the Taal Volcano. The only cons I encountered during my visit is the thick fog that enveloped some areas of the place. I had some suggestions to the city government of Tagaytay to make some improvement of the site.  I had noticed that there are some signs of neglect of the park especially the "signage" of People's Park In The Sky, where you can find it dilapidated and the missing letters of the signage which is considered an eyesore to the visitors.  They should also trim down some grasses to make the place pleasing to the eyes. I believe, the unfinished mansion should be renovated as well be painted to preserve its design so visitors will appreciate the site.   

The long and winding road to People's Park in the Sky 

Going up to People's Park in the Sky 

The foggy view of Tagaytay City from the peak of People's Park 

Uphill battle to People's Park In The Sky (this is a very good exercise for us) 

The lone waiting shed going up to the People's Park in the Sky. 
It is a favorite place among tourist to take selfies and groupies

Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love and statue of Jesus Christ

The small chapel of Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love 

The incomplete and abandoned mansion at the top
of the hill, known as Palace in The Sky during Marcos era 

View of Tagaytay City, it was enveloped by thick fog, and you can't see Taal Volcano 

The side view statue of Jesus Christ at the top of the chapel of
Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love

View from the small chapel of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love 

Thick fogs enveloped the area below

The unfinished mansion and the Doppler Radar station of PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration)  

The relic of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love, and its landmarker 

 The landmarker beside the relic of Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love

The altar of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love 

Stairways going to the Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love  

The entrance ticket (30 pesos) of People's Park In The Sky

The neglected "People's Park In The Sky" sign. There must be efforts to improve the place by the city government of Tagaytay.  Proper maintenance of the place is a must, so people who paid 30 pesos as entrance fee could enjoy the site, not only the panoramic view of Tagaytay City

How To Go There:

If you are coming from Buendia LRT Station you can ride an air conditioned bus at DLBT bus terminal going to Nasugbu, Batangas or any other bus which has a placard sign of "Mendez" and "Tagaytay" route (these busses will pass through Emilio Aguinaldo highway). Drop-off point in Tagaytay City is the Olivarez Terminal (before reaching Tagaytay Rotunda) where jeepneys are located going to different spots of Tagaytay like Picnic Grove and People's Park In The Sky (ask the jeepney driver to drop you at People's Park, 17 pesos per pax).