Bulacan Independence Day Tour

I love museums, art galleries, old churches and historical tours!

The smell of old triggers nostalgia or a desire in me to have lived in the ancient times when art and literature had greater value and importance.

When my Mom told me about the Bulacan Independence Day tour, however, I had second thoughts because I thought Bulacan was the nearest province north of Manila that didn’t offer much when it comes to sceneries and heritage.

Was I wrong and I’m glad I was!

Bulacan was filled with stories of our heroes during the revolution and in fact, gave birth to a lot of our Illustrados and Katipuneros.

The tour was timely – what with the celebration of Independence day on the 12^th of June.

No regrets that I joined it with my mom as it was a win-win tour/break for me. It was quality time spent with Mom and a perfect way to stroll down historical lane.

I’m not certain whether the youth of today still recognizes the major contributions of our Filipino grandfathers and grandmothers who fought for our freedom. Without them heroes, we will not have our rights and the freedom of speech that we all so enjoy yet take for granted.

Here are some of our photos:

With me Mom inside the coaster

Happy to be on our way to Bulacan

First stop: Church of San Isidro de Labrador,
famous for the Kneeling Carabao Festival.
Yes, the carabaos do really kneel.

At the church patio

A farmer drying out the grains of rice

Second stop: Ancestral house cum museum
at the butterfly sanctuary

Yard in front of the ancestral house

Fountain fronting the sanctuary

The big butterfly bust welcoming the guests

A sumptuous native breakfast prepared for us

Arroz caldo, okoy, puto bumbong and bibingka
for breakfast. Talo-talo sa diet!

Imma eat EVERYTHING!

RAAAAR! Let's start with the arroz caldo.
Reminds me of Nanay's cooking.

Shot inside the pavilion of the butterfly museum

The butterfly museum has a resort too!

Flowers resting on the pond

Attending the briefing before entering the butterfly sanctuary.
Do not step on the butterflies! Lol!

A farmer walking his cow. He voluntarily
stopped the cow for picture-taking. Thanks, Manong!

One of the antique clocks displayed in the museum

Nuesta Senora de la Immaculada

Cherubim bust hanging near the ceiling.
Others find it creepy but I love antique stuff!

Diorama dolls on display

Dioramas depicting stages in Philippine history

More antique underneath the stairs of the museum

I think it's a rice grinder.

Us at the frontage of the sanctuary.
Met new friends - tour guide Gerry and Mon, Romana,
Tita Fely, Tita Tess and Tita Tina.

Caterpillars - creepy crawlers

Butterflies on display

Inside the sanctuary - they made us hold the butterflies.
Make a wish before you let them go!

Moi holding mating butterflies!
I was squeamish at first but they're harmless
little, beautiful creatures.

I'm about to let go of the mating butterflies.
Yes, I made a wish!

Mom and Moi at the gazebo

I like these caterpillars - they've got black and white stripes and red dots.
I touched them and put them on my palm - they're not itchy at all!

Second stop: Gat Blas Ople's Sentro ng Kabataan
This is the Malolos mural commissioned by First Lady Imelda Marcos.

The bottom of the mural - up close

Paintings at the museum

Paintings done by the late Napoleon Trono

Me and Mom at the cinema section of the museum

Taga-Bulacan pala si Jolina Magdangal, Richard Gomez and Ian Veneracion.
I'm not a fan of local showbiz - but nice to know.

Posing beside the bust of Marcelo H. del Pilar

Sana sing-galing din ako mag-paint.

Ancient artifacts from Bulacan

Any idea what these are?
These are wrappers of pastillas de leche intricately
designed and cut. Bilib, ano?

Another Bulacan artifact-handicraft

Just trippin'.

Paintings of Nap Trono

3rd stop: The famous Barasoain church

The carriage that brought Marcelo del Pilar to the Casa Real
during the revolution

Religious busts at the church lawn

Inside the Barasoain Church. Yes, it's my first time to visit.
I made a wish!

The old pulpit

Ang mga makulay na abito ng mga prayle nung unang panahon

Part of what used to be The Blessed Sacrament

More church artifacts

Moi in front of the Barasoain Church

An old house on the way to Casa Real

4th stop: Casa Real Museum - imagine they tried to build a gas station here!
What a shame! Sinong government official ng Bulacan
ang may pakana nito nung 1980s?

The tour group listening intently on the introductions made about Casa Real.

My new idols - ang dalawampung kababaihan ng Malolos.
One of Rizal's letters was dedicated to them. These women fought
for women's education during their time.

Vintage sewing machine

The printing machine used by our heroes to print out
revolutionary flyers and pamphlets. We owe the freedom of speech to them -
to think that we just blog about practically anything these days.

Old kitchenware

Puni-making in Malolos - a forgotten handicraft being revived

The finished product - a puni bouquet

5th stop: The Marcelo H. del Pilar shrine

An ancient typewriter

One of the certificates during the revolution - they managed to keep it.
Galing!

6th stop: The shrine of Gregorio "Goyo" del Pilar.
He's one of my favorite heroes - cute, too!

7th stop: The shrine of Francisco Balazar aka "Balagtas"

They don't write this way anymore, oh no.
Rumor has it that Balagtas had several girlfriends.
With writings like this - no wonder! Magaling magsulat ng loveletter si Lolo!

Second to the last stop before Eurobake merienda: Garden City
I won a topiary plant during the raffle. Weeee!

Flowers at Garden City

If you want to get the same tour - visit Adventours Exchange.
or call Inscribe Tours - 840 5912 / 8370 575

I scream for ice cream

OMG. This made me happy today.

2 foodies that will make me love you forever:

1. chocolates and
2. ice cream


P119 per tub. Finally, Magnolia realized it's time to cater to people like me!

I used to trek to Robinsons Galleria or Park Square 1 for BTIC vanilla and chocolate but now, I can get this at the grocery!

Uber thanks, Magnolia!

Happy weekend

‘Spent the weekend full-scale with Kyle, my Mom and my yaya Ate Cita.

Steady, wonderful, happy weekend.

Kyle has grown so much.

I also like being at home with ate Cita. When she’s at my apartment, I am a pampered princess. Her love for me is divine and unconditional. That’s why I love her, too!

I’m glad I have a new Sunday dinner routine with my Mom. After Sunday mass, I take her to new restaurants she hasn’t tried before. 3 Sundays in a row now.

Loving, loving, loving the weekend.

Thank you, God – for contentment.

Despite all my plans and all the gazillion things I’d like to do, thank you for creating a grateful, appreciative child in me.

Thank you for teaching me how to be happy and content with the gifts that I currently have.

Thank God for happy weekends.

My cutiepie schnoocums

(Second to R., that is.)

Another cheesy entry - I just can't help but share the most recent photos of Kyle.

Arlene - eto na hinihintay mo. Sorry it took some time. I waited for Kyle to grow up some more.

He's just most adorable.

Kyle perched on my windowsill - looking at the birds fluttering by

Kyle looking at the houses below my apartment

Sunget! Sing-sungit ng owner. Hahaha!


Chilling on my coffee table

Sleepy on my couch

Tulog na talaga.

Kyle napping in the afternoon. Cute-cute!

He's on dreamland while I was working.

Kyle on lambing mode. He cuddled up while I was watching TV.

Godiva-licious

Contrary to the seemingly popular belief as of late, I have not gone to anorexia-land. What with my recent weight loss, people who don’t really know me think I don’t eat anymore.

My besties can attest otherwise – as they know I shamelessly devour anything I consider gustatory delight. By anything, I mean from the healthy bucket wheat pasta to the decadent Spanish tapas-tapas.

One of my major weaknesses in food – chocolates.

I used to only stick to dark chocolates. The darker the chocolate is, the more orgasmic it tastes.

I, however, recently discovered the wonders and delight of eating milk chocolate and pralines.

Normally, I would stock up on 50% and 70% dark Godivas but when R. gave me a box of Godiva Gold Collection, I realized the Nirvana I was missing out on.

Thus, in the case of chocolates, the adage “once you go black, you will never go back” – is totally untrue.

I particularly fell in love with the Moelleux Caramel Framboise – raspberry flavored caramel embraced by dark chocolate and the Cerisette – cherry soaked in Kirsch and Kirsch syrup in dark chocolate.

The secret to eating chocolates is doing it the French way – savoring every bite and not going overboard with more than 3.

The rainy days also give me the excuse to drink Godiva hot chocolate.

For fellow chocolate lovers like me, champagne or sparkling white wine can add flavor to every bite. I prefer Barcino’s Claudia Valformosa to pump up my chocolates’ decadence.

I’m in chocolate paradise.

Tyra Bangs

The last time I had bangs was when I was in grade school. I never thought I'd wear the look again.

At 7am this morning, my stylist texted: "I want to change your hairstyle into FULL BANGS and then the color, let's make it ash blonde."

Wala akong nagawa kundi sabihin ang: "Amen."

And tonight, into Elphie's hands, I commended my hair.



PS: I think I look like one of my aunts back in the 80s. Seriously.

One of the best weekends (in Manila) ever!

Spent a fantabulous weekend with R. I'm glad he came home. I wish there will be more pleasant surprises like this in the future. *hint* *hint*

Happiness.

Sharing photos of our fun weekend:

We had our late lunch at Apartment 1B. By late - as in 1:30pm so we were both starved! It's good that the resto is a stone's throw away from Fraser Place - our new favorite service apartment.

Starting my day at Apartment 1B with brewed coffee.
It's good!

Crabcakes for appetizer. R. can't resist ordering it!

Apartmenr 1B's version of corn soup. It's very tasty - but I still prefer
Mandarin Oriental Deli's creamy corn soup. I kinda miss that.

R. tasting his share of the corn soup

My share of the crabcake - R. just had to try food styling.

R.'s Apartment 1B big breakfast. They were not kidding about big.

Eggs benedict with salmon and capers - what I order over and over again.

Yuuuuum!

After lunch, we had to drive to Sikatuna Village to get the hand-painted made-to-order wedges and bangle that I ordered from Joyce. More info about this in my next blog update. I so looooove wearable art!

Picasso-inspired hand-painted wedges and bangle from
Baubles, Bangles N Beads

We wanted to go back to Cubao Expo for more art inspiration but the rain poured heavily. We detoured to Greenbelt instead. After ordering my usual Starbucks cafe mocha and R.'s choco raspberry frap, we decided to watch Angels and Demons.

We both think it's better than The Da Vinci Code.
Must I say, I love Ewan McGregor! He did justice to the role of Carmelengo.

Ang usapan before entering the Louis Vuitton flagship store:
Titingin lang. Walang bibili. Oh well. Iba ang convincing power ng LV.
Dess' (the store attendant) sales pitch: "Wala na pong Speedy Graffiti. Eto na lang."
R.'s conjecture: "Baka wala na rin sa Hong Kong." Okay payn. Bili na!

I feel like a kid coming out of the candy store when we got my LV Speedy Graffiti. After that, we decided to have a light dinner at Kai, Greenbelt 5.

Fried oyster cake. It's different - in a good way.
The texture was good and not slimy.

My yummy Sake Margarita

R. ordered Lychee Sake. It actually tasted better than my Sake Margarita.

R. with our special sashimi platter

Kai's special sashimi platter - reasonably priced at P820.
Everything is fresh!

Kani salad - served later than the rest but definitely worth the wait.
The caviar made it decadent. Yes - it's caviar.

R. about to gorge into his sashimi. I still have a huge crush on him until now. Uy!

Louis Vuitton Speedy Graffiti -
a limited edition from the Stephen Prouse collection.
The orange won over the fuschia pink.

How can this weekend not be perfect?

Thank you, R., for coming home. You made the weekend most perfect.

The more beautiful surprise...

...is that Rico is here!

He surprised me and he'll spend the weekend in Manila.

No particular reason - just wanted to spend some quiet time together.

Happiness.

Beautiful surprise

There’s always a beautiful surprise when you don’t expect too much from a situation.

I’ve been reading a lot of Richard Carlson lately.

Admittedly, I’m guilty of glorifying stress.

Cliché but so true for me: when it comes to dealing with stress, I make a mountain out of a molehill. Sometimes, I go full-OA and even foresee catastrophe.

I’ve been training Segment Marketing people for 2 days now. Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting a lot from them. It’s difficult to convene our Segment guys so I wasn’t expecting good attendance in the training. I even foresaw people going in and out to attend to their business. I forecasted that no one will listen.

So 80% attendance was pleasantly unexpected.

They all listened and stuck it out in the 2-day training-workshop and I actually got positive feedback from a little bird. The guys liked the content and the way Andoy and I delivered the sessions.

Sometimes, it really helps not to expect too much. It’s not about lowering standards or excellence. It’s about dealing with life’s speed bumps in a lighter, more positive way.

Salamat sa tamang pananaw.

Cubao X and the quest for a creative hoist

I have a keen talent for perennially finding the silver lining.

I don’t want to be anybody’s dark cloud. Di ba, Kat?

So rant as I might about my creative rut, the fault is solely mine if I don’t kick myself and do something about it.

Last Saturday, all I really wanted to do was stay home. I’m freshly recovered from being sick so I didn’t wanna push my luck. Gemma, Teng, Me-ann and I were supposed to go to Chinatown for dimsum and Sincerity chicken but I had to be the killjoy flaker because I can’t go on a devil-may-care food trip. At least, not just yet.

Sayang. Birthday libre pa naman ni Teng.

After doing some Project Superfly work in the afternoon, I was texting with Teng and we decided to push through, but this time, the wanderers decided to go to Cubao Expo instead to attend the Kabuwanan A-Dos Art Fair.

I had the text invitation since Thursday last week – as sent by Sandy – but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go.

Since Teng promised a birthday treat for Gemma and me, we all decided to head out in the evening.

Both Teng and Gemma had been wanting to go since last year, but I never really had the chance to take them there since I always went with other UP friends.

Must I say --- this is one of the best decisions I ever made this weekend!

Kabuwanan A-Dos did not disappoint – although I expected more art exhibits. Unfortunately too, Lomo Manila did not mount its own exhibit. I soooo miss lomo. Sayang.

There were other things that compensated, though.

Gemma had been requesting for a dinner at Bellinis since last year – and we finally did. We ordered the Bellinis special pizza and the tricolore pasta.

I hoarded a lot of organic beauty stuff by Human Nature and Leyende at Sandy’s The Reading Room. I also managed to whisk away a vintage Japanese-printed dress for a measly 200 bucks!

Object also had a stall outside and I
managed to buy a one-of-a-kind neckpiece. It cost me P450, more than twice the dress I bought but the creative inspiration was priceless. I liked Kat’s (Object’s owner-designer) unique designs. I don’t buy accessories anymore since I prefer the real blings, but I normally spend for items that I know I can’t find anywhere else. And Object accessories? Definitely one of them.

There were a lot of very good paintings sprawled on the floor at Cubao X. It was literally a bangketa sale of good art finds. Last year, when R. and I went to the Cubao X art fair, we managed to buy 2 good paintings – both of which are below 2k each. Quite a steal, huh?

This time, I didn’t buy anything, though. I satisfied myself with breathing art in.

After laughing our asses off with the creative slogans of button pins and even Leyende’s beauty brands (sinong hindi matatawa at mai-impress sa Rumple Silk Skin and Taming of the Do?) and after Teng got tired of bugging Hanzel at The Reading Room, we capped the night by hanging out at Mogwai for a round of drinks and saying goodbye to Sandy.

Teng was still hungry so we trekked back to Gateway Mall Araneta for the usual Starbucks coffee.

The trio had a lot of laughs poking fun at the JJIBs (don’t ask what the acronym means. It’s way too mean and people will chop our heads off.) and just practically laughing at anything --- the trip was soooo worth it.

I’m glad I went out of the house and spent some time with the original beach buddies.

It was good to breathe UP air once again – especially at a time that my art mojo is on the down-low.

I also realized that there can always be a middle ground. I do have a fantabulous day job, but I need to acknowledge that creative side that had been suppressed for a long time now.

The trip was enlightening, refreshing and fun.

Oh yeah – it helped that Teng bought us the drinks. Hahaha.

Off to the next art and laugh trip.

Volare’! (An inside joke that only Teng and Gemma will get.)

More Kabuwanan A-Dos photos at Sandy's website: The Reading Room

For more Cubao X raving, visit Gemma's blog.