Didn't really expect myself to say this but #MaramingSalamatBieber @justinbieber

Before I get hate mail about what I wrote before about Justin, please let me take it back. The boy guy earned my respect. 

He's been trending yesterday all over Twitter, and this time, for a good cause. I like that he flew unannounced and performed for Tacloban residents. I was monitoring activities via social media and I have to say, I gotta hand it over to him. Thank you very much Justin Bieber.  He even raised over $500,000.00 for Yolanda Relief operations. 

All photos are not mine and each image links back to its original source.

Just looking at the photos, at thirty years old, OMG, I think I may even become a fan.

What you will normally see in Boracay

We went to Boracay last 2009 and stayed at Station 1. This time, our accommodation happened to be in Station 2 where it's near the bars, restaurants, mall and all the popular spot to party at night. Besides the beautiful beach, the powder-like sand and the best sunsets, here are the stuff you will regularly see in Boracay Island, particularly in Stations 2 and 3.

This is a major photo dump, prepare to load.

Skimboards

Boracay Birthday Getaway: Veli's Inn

"You're flying to Boracay in 20 days and you still don't have accommodation? That's so not you."  Kuya Stew said on his last night in Laguna. He's been to Boracay twice this year.

His then girlfriend, now wife, booked their accommodations using this website: Agoda.com. I'm not really a  fan of these sites, because I prefer the direct transaction. It's exactly what I did when I booked our trip to Davao last year and when we booked ourselves in a nice hotel in Kalinga. I always, always want to transact directly to the hotel concerned. Trust issues, I guess.

I was supposed to go on this Boracay trip alone, then my sister booked herself as well because the roundtrip airfare from Manila to Caticlan (Boracay) is so amazingly cheap that we got it for less than Php 1,300.00 ( Less than $32.00, Less than 20.00 British pounds, that's all in with travel insurance). We booked it on a P2.00 promo flight of Air Philippines last February, we forgot about it when Dad got sick, then now that we have an already paid round trip ticket on hand to one of the Philippine's most amazing paradise, it would really be crazy not to go!

I tried calling other googled accommodations that seems to be offering good and practical rates. My sister and I are determined to make this a budget trip so every peso counts! I've been calling Boracay Courtyard, Taj's Guesthouse, but they keep on hanging up on us when we called. I guess it's either they are freaked out by an anonymous callers (then why give your business number online) or they have jampacked guests. (They could've just properly said so.)

Since I do not want to be stressed last minute, I decided to give in to this whole Agoda thing and booked my sister a room for 3 nights and 4 days. We found Veli's Inn.

Travel Lumban: Where to get really nice Barongs + Filipiniana Terno?

One of the many advantages about living in Laguna is you need not to look further if you need a really nice  Barong or a genuine Filipiniana Terno made. Because Lumban in Laguna is the home of the finest Barong and Filipiniana Makers.

What coming back to your Alma Mater feels like

If not only for some important documents that I need to personally request, then I wouldn't really have the chance to go to my undergraduate university this year.

This is where I earned my Communication degree and where I spent my four great years as a regular, average student, who never really studied geek-hard, but passed the degree because of passion. Naks!  

We almost missed our flight to Tuguegarao

I think, now that Kuya's wedding successfully pushed through, it can now be told that we almost missed out flight to Tuguegarao. 

The last time I rode the plane was November last year when our family and relatives flew to Davao for my birthday weekend, I always seem to not remember what stuff to bring and what to check in. Good thing, we're shipping flowers for Kuya's wedding which allows us to have more kg for check in. Not only I am a terrible light packer (I always tend to bring more clothes than what I can actually use), I'm a paranoid flyer as well. 

It's been almost a year and NAIA Terminal 3 really did change from the last time I saw it. First, you can now bring hairspray via hand carry. I even remember seeing another passenger leaving his brand new bottle of perfume because he did not check it in and it was not allowed to be hand carried.

The best Halo-Halo in Pagsanjan, Laguna? Go to Aling Taleng's!

Along Mabini Street in Pagsanjan, Laguna lies another branch of the really "popular halo-halo in Pagsanjan" called "Aling Taleng's Halo-halo".

After running some errands in Lumban, Laguna we decided to try the "talked about" Halo-halo, that according to people who actually tried it, did not use sugar as sweetener but used  "kundol or gondol" instead or Wintermelon, according to Wikipedia.

Travel Kalinga: Leigh's Grill and Coffee Shop

While we were "hotel hopping" for my cousin's wedding, we saw this grill and coffee shop right beside the second hotel, Davidson Hotel and Restaurant, that we went to:

The next day, we decided to give it a try. We arrived at this cozy coffee shop.

While waiting for our food, this little boy came over and took a seat. His little brother joined him in this photo op which they gamely posed:

Kids like me?! Really? I don't even have friendly features! haha 

 ( I think the second brother looked like baby james! They were jumping up and down the couches and my sister took photos of them ). Now on with the food:

The Chico River chocolate Drink, The Chocoloco cake and the Caramel cake 

The Filipino Breakfast (Php120.00) and the Clubhouse sandwich (php140.00)

Quick Tips and Review:

• Strategically located along the road
• Good clean ambiance
• Free wifi
• Ask for their best-seller (ChocoRiver)
• The caramel cake is too sweet, and the Chocoloco cake is only sweet on the surface part and the cake part is bland.
• Speed of service: I'd give 2 out of 5.

We didn't really have enough time to try the other dish because we just wanted to grab something to eat. An hour later after having this quick, after-mass brekky, we had lunch at the Red House that I wrote earlier.

Travel: Our "Pamamanhikan" Trip to Kalinga

"Pamamanhikan" in Filipino is the traditional "formal asking of the lady's hand in marriage" from her parents. The groom's whole family goes to the bride-to-be's house to formally meet the family and plan for the wedding. Weddings are actually big in the Philippines because it's the union of two families. Okay so these photos are not exactly about my Kuya's Pamamanhikan. He braved it by asking his girlfriend's hand for marriage on his own  and doesn't want me to film his nervousness and blog about it. A month later, his immediate family in the Philippines which he fondly calls "The Team Araguas" (us!) came to finally close the deal.

It's been five years since I last rode the deluxe bus. My first deluxe bus that I experienced before is called Fariñas Bus and it was bound for Ilocos Norte. This is the first time that I am riding via Victory Liner Deluxe Bus:

Victory Liner Deluxe Bus

How much: Php750 ( From Sampalok, Manila to Tabuk City, Kalinga)

They have in board free wifi ( c/s Sun Cellular, but lost the signal once we were in Nueva Ecija...so Boo!) 

The Grad School Diaries: Episode 9 - Pride Day, Pride Day on a Thursday

Wanna know what was up in UPLB yesterday?

The LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender)Rally:

And the Anti-LGBT rally:

Sincere apologies for the crappy photos. These were taken again using my camera phone.
Deym, I need to invest in a proper blogging camera since I have been using my phone's camera a lot. 

Another thing that I noticed, maybe because I was only able to catch up a few glimpse of the LGBT rally, the rally now is not as aggressive as the ones I've witnessed back in circa 1990s. Maybe it's because with this generation, we have migrated to virtual communities rather than in a real environment. Or maybe because of UP's changed profile of majority of students, or because the undergrad students are digital natives and some of us in graduate school are digital migrants. 

If only I was still studying the LGBT movement for my thesis topic, I would have enjoyed this day just observing how to they go around "fighting for their cause".

Elbi's hub for Artists & Photographers: Gallery F Studio Cafe

Just when I thought I have seen pretty much of elbi since I came home last 2010, a new establishment comes up!

I've seen this shop at the back of the ground floor of Atrium Center (in front of the new Los Baños mall currently being constructed ) being constructed last month. My friend, who is so into discovering new places and private spaces to hang out in elbi after migrating from Baguio (famous for being The Artist Haven), wanted to check the place out but during that time it's still under construction.

So when my cousin by one weekend, we decided to check out this new place and see what's in store:

I'm a big fan of little nooks and private spaces so when I saw this couch on the corner, my first thought was " Dibs!"

It ain't called a GALLERY for nothing. I love how their walls are decorated with frame photos from their photo shoots. 

PLUS They have a STUDIO! 

What the "F"? and Why "F"?

Derived from a photography term and camera setting, Wikipedia provides the definition: 

In optics, the f-number (sometimes called focal ratio, f-ratio, f-stop, or relative aperture^[1]) of an optical system expresses the diameter of the entrance pupil in terms of the focal length of the lens; in simpler terms, the f-number is the focal length divided by the "effective" aperture diameter. It is a dimensionless number that is a quantitative measure of lens speed, an important concept inphotography. 

And since the studio's owners are majority (if not everyone) are photographers, Gallery F was first conceptualized as a Studio since there hardly any fun-concept studios (like those in Bonifacio High Street in Taguig) around Los Baños and the cafe came next so that the clients can have a place to hang out and wait while they get their photos done. It turned out that the cafe was a hit so it turned out to be 2 major services: Photography and Cafe. Gallery F wanted to see their clients bond and they want to be the place where artists, students, photographers and others can meet and collaborate. 

They also have old school camera accessories on display.

I like how their menu is presented in photo graphs with cool write ups. The menu houses not only the food but other services as well (usually photography stuff)

The concept of "F" it Forward
Instead of the traditional gift certificates, you can buy your friend a drink, ask them to claim it by looking for the card that's hanging on this clip on tree (see bottom left part photo) and give it to the cashier. It comes with codes so it's being tracked down.

The counter and their lovely rest room

Gallery F's Menu: (By the way, they serve organic Coffee! )

We tried the Flicker Snicker (Php55/pc) and the Fervently velvet cake (Php90/pc). I'd say not bad! I might be biased for the chocolate part because I am a huge fan of chocolates but the velvet cake's not bad either. 


Lil bit of trivia: All their cakes are cleverly titled with words starting with F! 

Image Source

Image Source

Ms. Angie Metin, one of the owners of the cafe, informed us that they will be offering pasta dishes, nachos and sandwiches after holy week (April 2-8, 2012).

Click HERE to watch the video

Meet Gallery F's Fun Owners:

Photo courtesy of Ms. Angie Metin

Other updates an d info:

1. You can rent the whole place exclusively (for private parties, like showers, intimate celebrations etc., private theme parties, etc.)

2. There will be an up coming kiddie workshop:

3. Purpose Driven Photographers Photography workshop will also be held at Gallery F (Check their contact information below for inquiries).

4. They'll be offering WIFI too!

Gallery F Studio Cafe Contact Information:
Mobile:
+639175343213
+639228869508
+639178521897 

Operating Hours:
Tue - Sun

12:00 pm-12:00 am

My apologies for some crappy shots but you can view more photos here.

Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/galleryfstudiocafe/info

Never too old for amusement parks

I've been going to Enchated Kingdom since highschool with different sets of friends. Amusement parks in general is still very much appealing to the kid in me.

I have experience riding the Space Shuttle (the one with the loop) three times already and it still never fails to give me jitters pre-ride. 

I must be getting old because I started to get nervous getting on the Flying Fiesta (the one with swing seats) and the wheel of fate (Ferris wheel)

I love carnival games but I am not lucky when it comes to winning prizes.

I love how these amusement parks like to surprise the guests. You never know what you might just run into:

Video of the parade:


The I love E.K. Street Dance (plus LSS) from The Kea Channel on Vimeo.

View from the wheel of fate (Ferris Wheel):

Special thanks to my friend Jon Sanpedro for lending me the majority of the photos. I took such crappy shots from my point and shoot cam (because I was busy having too much fun despite the heat).

I came, I surfed and got Stoked in 2009

I blame  my friend Karen, who I first surfed with,  for this post. She sent me a text message saying:

" I remember the Tower of John!"

Back in 2009, I so wanted to go and try surfing. I've been telling everyone that I want to go to La Union and surf even though I don't swim well. Who cares? I'm young and fearless plus I'm willing to pay a surfing instructor to guide me and teach me how to paddle.

We were already set to go to La Union when we got a text from one of my friend's contact and heard the ultimate party pooper for surfers:

"There's no waves today and in the next few days sir."

Whaaat?!

I've already bought a surfing outfit and my bags are all packed two days before and now don't tell me we're not going?! I have already set my heart to surf and there's no way I'm going home and spend the weekend in take outs and DVDs.

By three in the morning I was furiously googling places where we can surf until I stumbled upon Zambales and found Crystal Beach Resort. And the next thing I knew, all of us, coming from Pasig, QC, Makati were furiously running to catch the last decent time bus going to the bus terminal.

The photos here are intended for personal consumption, I did not plan on blogging about it until Karen's text.

So, here are some of the photos from my first ever surfing trip.

The surfing school and beach/campsite/retreat

We stayed at the Tower of John. I wish I had taken more photos so that I can show you what it looks like. It was the cheapest and scariest looking hut, it was more like a tree house and we paid Php1,000.00/night when it was worth Php500. Well, at least breakfast is included.

 The  next night we transferred to the attic with decent doors and bathroom and paid extra.

We had the traditional tocilog breakfast and met the owner, June, who was very nice.

They have Kayak boats and Indo Board to practice balancing. 

On our way to the beach (separate from the resort) to surf. We had to take lessons from instructors first before going in.

I wish I could post surfing pics but I swear they're not flattering! Haha!

But I am very happy that I was able to stand on the board, and well, surf to be politically correct.

I did try and try until you almost himatay! 

Unfortunately I have not been into any surfing trips after that, but at least for once in my life I have felt what exactly it feels like to be stoked. Although the very next day after surfing, I can’t laugh without feeling that my entire ribs are about to crack, but it is just the best feeling ever. 

Contact Information:

Mobile Numbers:

SUN :(0922) 841-9004
GLOBE: (0917) 545-2791
SMART: (0919) 939-3153
Manila Tel: (02) 514-2117, (02) 941-9004


Multiply site: www.crystalbeachresort.multiply.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/crystalbeachresortzambales

Patis Tito Garden Cafe, San Pablo City

One of the fun things about event planning as a wedding/events coordinator and having a sister as a wedding/events florist, is we get to do ocular of new places that we can suggest to clients for their pre-nup or wedding reception.  I've been noticing the sign that says PATIS TITO GARDEN CAFE when it was still KUSINA SALUD. It was along the way to Grandma's house and same road going to my nephew's house.

One Sunday, when we were picking up the kids to go to the mall, we decided to drop by Patis Tito Garden Cafe to check the place out. It just so happen that my sister, a wedding and event florist, was looking for places to recommend to her clients.

The place is really secluded, private and if you want a very private setting and it can only house a maximum of 150 guests.

The part where the Kusina Salud is located is officially closed and for the owner's use only. The guy who assisted us was very welcoming and allowed us to take a look around the place.

Entrance

Giant Painting of the owner on the left side. Super old house on the right

The place and some interesting details

The second floor

Souvenir for sale

More of Patis Tito

 I didn't notice I have the same photo of the orange vase twice! Oh well... let's move on with the show...

Tour around the private house

Lots of Antique (not for sale)

Peak of the garden

Tips:

• A pre-nup pictorial costs: Php 2,000.00/hour. (use of the place)
• They have a small parking space. Really. If you have 150 guests suggest a carpool.
• Business hours: 11am - 9pm, closed on Mondays.
• It also has a mini-bird zoo inside the area.
• Food prices are around 100+, 200+ but since we were not able to order food, maybe I'll blog about that next time.

We could've really stayed and ordered some food for food review but since we're running after a schedule, I guess we will have to do that next time.

But there's a scanned menu for those interested to hold their weddings, baptismal, debut, anniversary and other special events:

It was really different from the pictures/features/review from magazines. It was quite an interesting place but more like a diamond in the rough.  There are some huts outside that are being renovated for the guests. I think this place is best for privacy but the place needs to be styled for an event.


How to get there:

Source

Patis Tito Café is at 285 Barangay Sta. Cruz Putol, San Pablo, Laguna. Call 7244231 and 0906-4439092.

 Credits to guest photographer, Aprille Araguas