Saizen Haul

Hi! Today I decided to go to the nearest Saizen from my place. For those who do not about this store, it's a store selling Japanese products which costs 85 pesos each items. Initially, I just wanted to buy some storage for my spices for my kitchen. I saw these skin care products in the store which some bloggers are giving some good reviews (at least here in the Philippines). As I am always in the quest to find good products to control my oily skin, I wanted to give it a try.


Here they are: Charcoal Cleansing Cream, Charcoal Cleansinh Foam & the Nose Pack which I purchased for my teenager son. Since I am very excited I tried it immediately when I got home. I used the Cleansing Cream to remove my make up, and so far I like its scent and ot does its purpose on cleaning my face. It also removed my waterproof mascara and waterproof eyeliner! Wow! I am still crossing my fingers that these products won't break my skin. :)


The tubes are sealed with a foil.


This is the Cleansing Cream.


Here is the product up close! It's as a grayish color and pleasant light scent. It says in the instructions: Squeeze proper amount of the cleansing on hand and wipe out with tissue. *We recommend a charcoal cleansing foam after using it.


This is the Cleansing Foam. I don't like the scent... But I like the feel of my skin after rinsing. My skin feels matte after patting my face with a towel. I hope this works for my oily skin after a few use. :)Thanks again for reading my blog and please comment down below. -Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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Bisita Iglesia Pinoy Style

It's Holy Week once more and for this year we just decided to stay at home since "H" just got well and I have tons to do at home as well. "Bisita Iglesia" means Church Visit, this is a tradition for us Filipinos being dominantly a Catholic country. My sister has been doing this for 3 years now, together with her friends they just walk and visit 14 different Churches in Manila. She even told me that some of her friends walk barefoot. I asked her if I could join her but since our Mother insisted to come with us my sister suggested that we bring the car and go to different Churches in Quezon City area instead. Sister told me to visit 7 Churches and have 2 Stations Of The Cross per Church visit. I tagged along "H", Shawn (my son), Mama & Grace our "house angel". "H" helped with organizing with the sequencing of the Churches we shall visit and googled for the maps and directions while I prepared some "merienda" (snack). 

Started the journey at around 4 pm, our first destination is the nearest to our place which is only a few blocks away ---

National Shrine Of Our Lady Of Lourdes

Kanlaon cor. N.S. Amoranto Street, Sta. Mesa Heights, La Loma,, 1114 Quezon City, Philippines

The Shrine is under the care of the Order of the Friars Minor Capuchin of the Philippine Province

 

 Parish of the Holy Sacrife (2nd Church @ 4:49 pm)

The Parish of the Holy Sacrifice is the landmark Catholic chapel in the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Known for its architectural design, the church is recognized as a National Historical Landmark and a Cultural Treasure by the National Historical Institute and the National Museum respectively.

Church of the Gesù (3rd Church @ 5:15pm)
Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City

Landmark church of the Ateneo de Manila University campus in the Philippines. Designed by Jose Pedro Recio and Carmelo Casas, the edifice’s massive triangular structure symbolizes the Holy Trinity, as well as the three-fold mission and vision of the school. Its shape and design is also meant to suggest the outstretched arms of the Sacred Heart, and the traditional Filipino bahay kubo.

St. Pio Chapel (4th Church @ 5:50 pm)

188 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave. (C-5) Bagumbayan,

Quezon City, Metro Manila

1110 Philippines

For the Bisita Iglesia at St. Pio Chapel, they have designated area for the Stations of the Cross & we have the option to carry a cross and they come in different sizes. It's quite an experience =)

St. Joseph Convent of Perpetual Adoration (5th Church @ 7:07 pm)
Pink Sisters' Convent (New Manila)
One of the more interesting Convent in New Manila, Part of the Diocese of Cubao ST. JOSEPH’S CONVENT OF PERPETUAL ADORATION, 71 M. Hemady Avenue, cor. 11th St., New Manila, 1112 Quezon City Tel.: (02) 722-8828

 Mt. Carmel Shrine of the Cross (6th Church @ 7:31 pm)

 Doña Juana Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Broadway, New Manila, Quezon City
Tel. 727-0814, 724-5938

This is the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel under the Discalced Carmelite Fathers. The cornerstone of the present beautiful Shrine Church was laid on Dec. 30, 1954. Ten years after the laying of the cornerstone, on July 16, 1964, Mary's Shrine was finally inaugurated.MOUNT CARMEL SHRINE PARISH

Sto. Domingo Church (last but certainly not the least Church visited @ 8:05 pm)
Quezon Avenue, Quezon City 1113

For almost four centuries Santo Domingo de Manila, the church and motherhouse of the Dominican Order, stood within the walls of Intramuros . Moved to this site after the destruction of original structure in World War II, Santo Domingo is best known as the home of a beautiful and richly robed image of the Virgin Mary called 'Nuestra Senora de La Naval' (Our Lady of La Naval). The centuries-old image is credited for having saved the city from an invasion by a Dutch armada in 1646. The yearly procession dedicated to the image is one of Manila's biggest religious festivals.

I must say it's quite an experience for my family. I hope my son will pass on this Filipino tradition to his own family someday. How about you guys, how did you spend the entire Holy Week? I know some went out of town to go to the beach since it's summer time and it's one of the long holidays we have in the Philippines. There's nothing wrong with it as long as we still observe the essence of how and why Jesus died for us. This is the time to reflect and assess ourselves if we are still in the right track.   


XOXO

A Glance Of My Hometown - Baler, Aurora

Baler is the capital province of Aurora, formerly a part of Quezon province. It is around 230 km northeast from Manila."Genesis" which is the only bus liner that services the route. It takes about 7 hrs or so to travel from Manila to Baler during a good weather. There are two roads going there, one is through the Palayan City and the other on is through Canili Road via Talavera and Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija. One advise though for those travellers who gets nauseus during long road trips, better take some medicines for that. The road trek is rough and "zigzaggy". I do not bring our car going up to Baler because of this but they say that the trail going there is much better now because of Sen. Angara's projects to rehabilitate the road and he is promoting the tourism there.

I remember when my Lolo Enoy and Lola Estaling was still alive, lolo would be waiting for us at some drop point along the road to fetch us while lola is waiting for us sitting on a rocking chair holding her big "abanico fan" and then a hearty meal would be waiting for us prepared by her.

There are a lot of sightseeing and activities you can do there. It has its share of historical sights such as the home and resthouse of former Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon. The province also has a beautiful Catholic church and several historical markers. Surfing is one of the most reason why tourist visit there. Nowadays there are a lot foreigners going there just to surf. Fronting the Pacific Ocean is Sabang Beach which is renowned for its gigantic waves ideal for surfing & wakeboarding. They say that from October-February would be great for such activities because of the big waves during these months. In fact Jericho Rosales a local actor and a surfing enthusiast would often be spotted there. He was also starred in the movie "Baler" along with Anne Curtis as his leading lady.

Here are some tourist spots to visit:


Me with my son, Shawn. Sabang beach on an early morning, it's waves are still calm.

We had our breakfast there which is inside the plastic bag I'm holding! Pandesal!

Standing Along Sabang beach is a structure which has the first Tsunami marker
here in the Philippines.Located along the Pacific Ocean, Baler is prone to tsunamis.
The last tsunami that strucked this area occurred- April 7, 1970.

Shawn's first time to try surfing!

Ditumabo Falls: Also one of the most visited tourist spot in Baler. Hydro electric power plant was built here.
The trek going up the water falls is 2.5 km! Imagine that! It took us 2 hrs of walking to see the magnificent view of the water falls. Everybody was already complaining because of the scorching heat of the sun plus we're all hungry already. Halfway through, I wanted to back-out already. Crossing the big currents below isnt easy. In fact I got leg muscle cramps twice along the way becasuse the water is very cold. Good thing there's a camping site halfway through and we got to rest there. It is a good site to eat your lunch there but too bad we didnt brought any that time.

Around 1km way from the falls.

Almost there! They call this the "baby falls".
In here are my 2 brothers Han and Jr and also Marvin our cousin at the middle.



The long trek going up the falls is so worth it! "Mother Falls" as the locals call it.
You'll feel a sense of tranquility and thank God for giving us such blessing.

A famous local picnic site: Deteke River.

Dinadiawan Beach




 

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