Ngong Ping (December 31, 2011)

It is difficult to be without internet access for a couple of days let alone 2 weeks. I now have a big back log of online activities that all need my attention! This terrible sizzling hot weather isn't helping as I multitask with beads of sweat pouring down my back even though I just took a shower. Ugh!

I realized as I was (still) uploading tons of pictures from our Hong Kong trip that I haven't blogged about a marvelous place there. I tend to blog about places/events in chronological order, so indulge me as I write about this outing first before I start on my Holy Week adventures and my sister bonding moments.

It was New Year's Eve, I was still feeling weak from getting sick after our Macau day trip but I put on my happy trooper hat and was game to explore Ngong Ping 360.

It is located on Lantau Island (same area of the HK International airport), we took a bus, a long MTR ride and a very scenic 25 minutes cable car ride to reach it.









Once you reach NP360, you explore the Ngong Ping village, a wide expanse with recreational establishments like souvenir shops, restaurants and live shows theaters. The Bodhi path is a long alley where there are 12 statues of "heavenly" generals who each represent the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.















But the main attraction is the Tian Tan Buddha. It is the world's largest, seated, outdoor Bronze statue of Buddha who sits on a giant lotus flower. There are roughly 245 steps to climb before you reach it.









It is surrounded by six smaller bronze statues known as "The offering of the Six Devas" and are posed offering flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit, and music to the Buddha. These offerings symbolize charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom, all of which are necessary to enter into nirvana.













You can't stop taking pictures even though your feet is starting to ache, the cold breeze is numbing your fingers and all of the cameras you brought along are now running low on battery!













By the time we were done exploring Ngong Ping, it was already (a chilly) evening. The queue to the cable car terminal was really long but I didn't mind because the cold weather was embracing little tired me. It was a very cold cable car ride back to the MTR station but we truly cherished our very memorable experience at NP360 on the last day of the year 2011.

Making your Maxi dress look good on you

Women who do not have time to visit a tailor and have a dress fitted are advised to consider purchasing a maxi dress. Buying a dress is different from having a tailor make one for you because a tailor will make a dress that fits your exact shape. These dresses are known to fit all the different women shapes. It will fit very well in your body whether you are pear shaped, apple shaped, hourglass shaped or even boy shaped. Before settling on this type of dresses you should know that special attention must be paid to match the dress you have chosen to your body shape. This is done in order to make sure you look elegant for the occasion. Although this dress type can suit any body shape you still have size consideration to make. You cannot wear a dress that is excessively tight and again you cannot go for a dress that is too baggy. You need to make a selection that will have heads turning your way in appreciation.

Knowing you body shape is very important because that is the only way you can be able to choose a dress that will make you look good and feel good too. Whether you have heavier tops or a heavier bottom you should find a dress that balances your upper and lower sections. With this type of dress you are not really restricted to any undergarment.

Some women prefer crochet shorts to go with their dresses making them feel sexy and comfortable. The shorts also increase the bottom area making your look shapelier. If you choose to draw attention away from your neckline then you should make your hip area more noticeable and vice versa. There are so many ways to do this and all you need to do is that which works for you.

Holy Week 2012

The Our Lady of Monte Maria parish was one of the churches we (D & I along with our friends) visited for Holy Week, this year.

I will elaborate more once I'm back in Q.C.

This is just a preview. :D

My blog was getting lonely without any entries.

Or it certainly felt that way.

Be back soon!

Until then, keep cool during these scorching summer days.

Short vacay

Well I meant that this blog will be on a hiatus.

We are going to attend my uncle's funeral, tomorrow.

On Sunday, my sister is coming home for the Holy Week.

Yay it's R & R bonding time hence no blogging posts.

So whether you will be at the beach, at some family outing or just staying put in a reflective mood, let's all remember that it is called Holy Week for a reason.

Have a blessed and solemn Semana Santa.

Till next blog post, be safe everyone!

The old hometown looks the same ...

It was a sad weekend for the family as we were awoken with news that my father's youngest brother had passed away after suffering an asthmatic attack. My father hails from one of the prominent families in a town in the province of Cavite. But, by prominence I don't mean wealth but stature and respect.

My father is the eldest in a brood of 5 siblings. He worked himself to the bone to provide for his siblings, sent them to school, took care of them even though we lived overseas for long periods of time. He never failed in his huge obligation as the eldest son of a family that fell on hard times during the second World War. Their family is well known in that tiny town with its rolling hills and rice fields.

It was a big shock that my uncle (who was 20 years younger than my dad) would pass on, so suddenly. My father is devastated, to say the least. Early Sunday morning with heavy hearts, our grieving souls made our way to his hometown. The last time, my parents went home was in 2006 to attend the burial of a relative. Me, I haven't been on Cavite soil in ages. But D & I tagged along as it was an opportunity for me to reconnect with my relatives as well as introduce D to my father's side of the family.

As most wakes in the Philippines goes, it turned into a big reunion of the different clans. All my younger cousins have large families of their own. There were kids of all shapes and sizes gathered in the ancestral home. Me, being the oldest 'granddaughter' was welcomed with open arms. We mingled, we ate, we were boisterous beyond comprehension. It was a very noisy environment with babies crying, kids playing, my aunts' very animated 'kwentos'. It seemed like the whole town was present at the wake. Even though it was a sad occasion, we enjoyed the company of our relatives who never seem to run out of stories to tell.

D 'survived' the intense scrutiny with flying colors. My relatives were clearly impressed with him and couldn't stop gushing over his good looks, kuno. Hopefully next time after we attend the funeral, we would get a chance to go around so I can show D the historical landmarks of my father's hometown.

It didn't seem appropriate to take photos during a wake but I managed to snap some shots of the historically renowned church - the Parish Church of the Assumption of our Lady.

Have keys, will enter

I have my own set of keys to everything. Keys to this apartment, the condo unit, my parents' house, the 2 cars (even though I don't know how to drive) even to the cabinets/book shelves/closets/drawers of pieces of furniture found in different places. So I can easily access these places, vehicles if need be. This trait is something I inherited from my dad. He always makes sure, we have spare keys to everything that can be locked.

So coming from that background and with that frame of mind, I certainly don't get it when people don't have their own keys. I mean hey it's fine with me if you weren't trained that way BUT for the love of peaceful early mornings don't shout at the top of your voice for your partner to unlock the gate.

Sleeping is one of my fave things to do. But I'm a very light sleeper. The bark of a dog, the roaring engine of a tricyle/jeep, people's loud voices even though they are just walking by - anything can trigger me to wake up in an instant.

Naturally someone shouting at the gate for her husband to wake up and unlock the gate would get me in a really foul mood. Is it right to disturb people from their precious sleep at 4:30 in the morning? If you knew you would be coming in late, won't it be practical to bring your own key? Why are people so full of themselves and don't care if their inconsiderate behavior will cause a disturbance?

Being subjected to her incessant shouting, I wanted to wake up D and tell him to go downstairs and unlock the gate for her. Yet I remembered that D being the very cautious person that he is, he once told me (yes this has occurred several times before and always courtesy of the crazy people who live in the 4th apartment) we cannot really trust people. What if she wasn't really living there and just wanted to enter then harm anyone who lets her in? You never know and you can't be too careful.

He told me then to just 'try' to go back to sleep. That is easier for him to say since he can sleep at the drop of a hat or in this case the moment his head hits the pillows. For me, I would toss and turn. My mind would wander off into random thoughts which would keep me more awake. I would get all riled up at the rudeness of their actions. It would take me forever to calm down and invite sleep back into my conscience.

Then before you know it, the sun is already shining. A new day has begun. I need to get up even though I lack sleep. I'm in a bad mood. I'm pissed off. That's how my Lenten Friday started today. A day when Metro Manila scorched at 34.7 degree Celsius, hottest recorded this year. Hot (headed) indeed!

Random observations on a Wednesday

• Prank calls are the stupid doings of lonely, bored and boring personalities.
  
  
• But getting a prank call as a wake up call sucks super duper big time!
  
  
• Nowadays, the first websites I log on when I go online are my facebook and twitter pages.
  
  
• FB to gawk at other people's vacation pictures and silently wishing I was on vacay too.
  
  
• Strangely enough I now get news updates from tweets! Shocking, no?
  
  
• As well as juicy bits of gossip from reality stars supposedly now known as celebrities.
  
  
• And minute by minute tweets about the ongoing Impeachment trial of the CJ from all parties concerned. From the media, the attorneys, the senator judges themselves and a whole gamut of people who are tuned in regularly. It is addictive!
  
  
• I've also gotten into heated arguments with people whose views I've opposed.
  
  
• Come on, people! Just because I disagree with your opinions doesn't make me a negative person. I'm just expressing my views, geez! Lighten up.
  
  
• To ease the 'tension' I log off and play Scrabble on FB.
  
  
• Nothing beats widening your vocabulary, any time!
  
  
• I decided to fry tilapia for dinner which I really hate. I mean I dislike frying fish not the fish itself. I got oil spats all over my tank top, the skin of the fish got stuck to the bottom of the pan and I 'ruined' the dish!
  
  
• That's it! Next time I will leave the frying of marine life creatures to D. God bless him ... he can fry fish without losing his sanity. :D
  
  
• Despite repeated warnings from the Church annotators for people to dress appropriately when they attend mass, I still see people (mostly teenagers) in tank tops and short shorts.
  
  
• You devote only ONE hour every week to worship so have the decency to respect the rules. Parents need to teach good morals and lead by example. Unless, of course when the parents themselves break the rules. Tsk tsk.
  
  
• In church, sitting behind families with small cute babies can be very very distracting. Most of the time (during the entire mass) you end up cooing and making funny faces at the toddlers. Bad, yon! But I'm guilty as charged.
  
  
• During this month First Friday mass, an old lady (must be around 60+) squeezed herself into the pew. She sat herself beside me. Come on, if you are going to hear mass be early or on time. If not, then just stand at the back of the Church. Don't force yourself into the pew when you can CLEARLY see that it is already full.
  
  
• The funny thing is that the other lady who was seated on her right side, kept berating the late comer to go sit somewhere else. She kept whispering 'puno na kami dito, lipat kayo sa ibang lugar' But what does the latecomer do? She totally ignored the other lady and even inched herself more into the pew.
  
  
• Gosh! There you are inside a place of worship where you are supposed to be in a prayerful mode and you have two women (old ones at that) squabbling over a seat! Only thing I can say is that you would think that women of their stature would know and behave way better than most people. Grabe.
  
  
• That is one thing I cannot stand - inconsiderate people who don't give a hoot about their bad behavior. Unfortunately, their lot seems to be increasing instead of diminishing.
  
  
• I am in a constant state of worry that with the price of every commodity, services and utilities increasing at an alarming rate, we would end up sacrificing too much of our already very spartan lifestyle. God have mercy!
  
  
• I got to watch a movie (after my first friday mass) at the cinemas, after such a long time. Then I immediately regretted it because the ticket was priced at 200pesos. As I was watching the film ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close") I kept thinking I could have bought 200 pesos worth of groceries, instead! But I really enjoyed the film so it was such a guilty pleasure.
  
  
• Finally, I am really hoping that my sister will be able to take some time off this Holy Week. She needs a break to spend some time with her family here. It would also be a break for me from my routine. So please make it happen, now na!
  

CIty of Dreams, Macau (December 26, 2011)

The lake performance at the Wynn Hotel was spectacular but our tummies were now grumbling from hunger. So we took a shuttle bus to "the City of Dreams". This huge complex is located in the Cotai strip. It is a big podium with four towers namely the Hard Rock Hotel, Crown Towers Hotel, and the Grand Hyatt Macau with its 2 towers. Its 3 floors includes a mega-casino, 200 high end shopping outlets, a food court, restaurants and bars and hotel guest facilities.









This is the Virtual Aquarium. It combines live action with CG animation to create a illusion like show that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Using two enormous custom designed screens, it shows a rare glimpse into a mystical world under the sea. Larger than life mermaids swim onscreen and into the distance at the end of the short show.














Located in front of the City of Dreams complex is the majestic The Venetian Macao. It was the first casino/hotel built in the Cotai strip of Macau. We had our dinner, spent a few minutes at the slot machines (yet again), and took loads of pictures outside with The Venetian in the background.







We took the shuttle bus to the ferry terminal to catch the last ferry back to Hong Kong. But upon reaching the counters, we find out that all of the seats were already booked. The next ferry was at 6AM! Suddenly, one of the counters announced a special trip at 2:10 AM with limited seats. Luckily, we were in the correct counter so we snapped up 5 seats. Since it was only around 10:45PM, we decided to hop over to the MGM Grand!







We returned to Hong Kong at the unholy hour of 4 in the morning of December 27, 2011. We were exhausted from the very long day, and also very sleepy. But we had so much fun, took tons of pictures and truly cherish our wonderful Macau experience. I hope I can go back so I can watch those spectacular shows like the Cirque du Soleil and the House of Dancing Water extravaganza. So until then, I humbly remain a big fan of M-A-C-A-U!