PHOTOHUNT : SYMBOLIC

Magellan’s Cross is located in Magallanes street, Cebu City. It is housed beside the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño church. A historical landmark not only for Cebu City but for the Philippines. It was planted in the year 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portugese navigator who worked for the King of Spain in search of the Spice Island.

It symbolizes the propagation of the Roman Catholic faith in Cebu. When Magellan and his crew arrived in the island they were greeted by the local natives led by Rajah Humabon. They befriended him and consequently accepted Christianity and was baptized accordingly.

It was Saturday morning when I decided to tag along with my hubby as he is scheduled to play golf in Intramuros. I went not because I wanted to play golf but I wanted to bring the kids to Intramuros and fire up my passion for photography.

Yes, it was not only a walk back time with lessons in Philippine History but it was a photo shoot with my fave subjects … my children. Here are some of the shots I took. The photographer wannabe strikes again! Hope you enjoy.

At Intramuros wall …

At Fort Santiago…

The kids had a great time and of course, I was able to practice my photography skills once again. I am looking forward to a lot more trips like these. Thanks and I hope you enjoyed your weekend too.

First off, I want to greet everyone a Happy New Year! The holidays brought a lot of craziness in my schedule — but good kind of crazy! The kind that gets you that gives you time to bond with your family and friends… and I am grateful for those times (even though I cannot be online that much). It’s what makes me look forward for the Christmas season.

This weekend was a spillover from the Holiday schedule. It was a time to bond with our employees. We decided to treat them to a day at the amusement park together with my children.

The kids had a blast with those crazy rides..

I am just so glad that they their “Ates” and their “Kuya” (our driver) who were brave enough to accompany them, cause I sure am not!

There were a lot of things to be thankful for in the year 2010 and one of those is the blessing of trustworthy employees. This is just one way of giving back the blessings. They all enjoyed and it was nice to see them having a blast.

I hope you all had a nice start of the year and I’ll see you all next weekend.

Sunday after lunch was dedicated to a meeting with our business partner and the venue was at the Venice Piazza @ Mckinley Hills in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Believe it or not, it’s my first time here. I was amazed at how fast the developments are. I believe I have once passed by this strip but there were just digging up and look at it now.

Although not all locators are open yet, I am sure most of this will be open in time for Christmas season. This is just the the first phase of the Venetian Mall, a three-hectare retail commercial complex which is part of the development of Mckinley Hills.

The mall wants to achieve a feel of Venice, Italy with its architecture and design. I believe they also want to be the first to have a man-made canal where you can ride the Gondola. We’ll watch out for that.

For now since it’s a nice gloomy afternoon, I’ll treat myself to a Light Caramel Capuccino at Figaro.

So, how did you spend your weekend?

PHOTO HUNT: Hanging

These photos were taken last summer during our exhilarating escapade at Subic Tree Top Adventure.

Here’s my son hanging as he was rappelling down a 60-foot tree.

And this is my daughter hanging as she was about to rappel down.

These batch will include the lovely tropical, exotic plants that I saw during our recent trip to Quezon. I fell in love with that place the first time I saw it. Nothing fancy, but I just love the greenery unlike here in the Metro. It’s like a tropical rain forest, that’s why there are a lot of beautiful plants. When you’re close to nature, the feeling of serenity is there and we, Manilenyos need that every so often.

Here are some of the gorgeous flowers and plants I saw growing there.

156/365 Anthurium or “Flamingo Flower”

157/365 Bromeliad – a very common tropical plant. There are a lot of varieties of Bromeliad and this is just one of them.

158/365 Blue Hydrangea – I love these flowers, too bad I can’t grow it here in the Metro. Even though you can see hydrangea being grown in our country, these lovely ornamental plant thrives in cooler climate. If you’ll notice, we have a lot of them in Baguio and Tagaytay. Quezon being at the foot of the mountain has a cooler climate also compared in the City. These flowers have become a favorite for wedding bouquets and arrangements because of its soft, delicate look.

159/365 This another kind of a very lovely exotic flower. If I am not mistaken, this is called a Red Ginger. If anyone knows the real name of this plant, please let me know by leaving a comment.

160/365 I never really know what this fruit is and upon searching, I discovered that it is called the NippleFruit. This is commonly used as an ornament for exotic flower arrangements. It is realted to the tomato and potato family. However, this fruit is poisonous if ingested.

(continue reading…)

Truly, I am falling behind this project … but I still wouldn’t want to give up. This batch will contain 10 photos to let me catch up.  Most of the photos were taken during our Baguio Trip.

92/365 It’s Good Friday — meaning were supposed to fast and no meat. So, I decided to prepare this Grilled Vegetable Salad. It’s also one way to make the kids enjoy veggies, you can find the recipe here.

93/365 Black Saturday, still no meat. This Anchovies pasta is a perfect dish, it’s not only yummy but it’s healthy as well.

94/365 Egg – Shaped Doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. An Easter treat I gave away to the kids last Easter Sunday.

95/365 In this heat, we should always remember to wear sunglasses to protect our eyes from damaging UV rays.

96/365 Candle Offering — We passed by the Our Lady of Manaoag Church and offered our prayers…

97/365 Aside from the weather, what I love about Baguio is the vegetables and of course, the fresh strawberries.

98/365 Cemetery of Negativism

99/365 – Father and daughter bonding : I just love seeing my hubs and daughter bonding together like this. Knowing that my hubby is not the showy type… this is just an awesome sight.

100/365 Anyone care for fresh strawberries?

101/365 Sombrero

To get away from the scorching summer heat, my family and some friends of ours headed out to Baguio for a change. It’s been a while since I visited the City of Pines, although it’s not that cold but it’s still so much better that the temperature here in Manila.

The kids really enjoyed their stay in Baguio. If you are contemplating on going for a vacation in Baguio, a lot of activities await you and your kids… such as horseback riding at Camp John Hay…

And while your at John Hay, you can visit the Cemetery of Negativism, a symbolic burial place for man’s self-imposed negativism. It’s an interesting place to visit, especially for kids. I was amazed at how my boy and his friends tried to figure out the meaning of the tombstones. They really analyze things! Here are some of the epitaphs at the Cemetery…

Burnham Park is also one place for kids to enjoy. They can ride the bike, enjoy a picnic, row a boat, ride the bump car, go skating, or just enjoy a leisurely walk around this scenic park. (Sadly, I wasn’t able to accompany the kids in this park, so no photos to share.

You can let your kids strawberry picking at the Strawberry Farm located in La Trinidad, Benguet. The place is 20-30 minute drive from Baguio City proper. This is such a remarkable experience for the whole family, even hubs enjoyed picking those strawberries. The cost would be double the price per kilo, if you buy your strawberries from the market. I guess the additional cost would go to the accidental picking of unripe fruits — which cannot be avoided especially if you are dealing with kids

There are still a lot of places to visit while in Baguio, but a weekend is just not enough. Even so, it was still a fun-filled weekend!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

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