How I Spent Holy Week 2016

It was weird, how I spent Holy Week this year. Usually, my sisters and I, we just go to mass on Maundy Thursday then watch The Seven Last Words program on the local channels and hear mass on Easter Sunday. We never go out on vacations during this time because we're conservative in this aspect. 

However, this year's observance was mixed with a little bit of pleasure. Which is ironic because we were with my uncle who's a priest. 

Maundy Thursday. We had planned a Visita Iglesia in lieu of our usual activity which was hearing mass in the village church. AC wanted to do it in the Rizal area but since it was also the day that people walk going to Antipolo as their panata (or penance?) and traffic was supposedly horrendous, so change of plans... to Manila we went. May plano na kami eh- San Sebastian Church, the church in Adamson University, Malate Church, San Agustin then last is Manila Cathedral. But uncle pari had different plans. Akala namin we were going to fetch him lang from Paco Church. Turned out that he was concelebrating a 3-hour mass. THREE HOURS! And to think nagrereklammo na ako sa two hours na misa sa village. So napurnada ang plano. AC and I ended up doing the Way of the Cross in one church.

San Francisco de Dilao in Paco, Manila

Paco Church from another perspective

the Church at night

The mass ended at 8pm and it was already time for dinner. AC treated us to dinner in Bayleaf Hotel. I was soooo tempted to have a pork dish but uncle pari was there so chicken na lang. And pizza margherita and pesto pasta. The main attraction was the view of Manila at night. 

the Manila Cathedral at night

Manila City Hall

panoramic shot of Manila City, Intramuros side

and the photobomber

Food was okay. View was breathtaking. I want to go back to try their bestsellers which were all meat dishes so we can't have them at the time and I'll be bringing a more powerful camera. All photos were taken by my camera phone. 

I worked on orders on Good Friday.

Black Saturday we went to Regina Rica in Tanay, Rizal. It was a three-hour travel going to the place. I didn't expect it to take that long but it was worth it.

LUNCH!

So okay, I felt guilty that we had lechon on a Black Saturday. But to be fair, we asked uncle pari if we can already eat lechon. Puede naman na daw. But still there's still a little nagging feeling of guilt inside. Inihaw na baboy (or lechon) is reserved for Easter Sunday lunches.

the road to forever. char.

the image of Mary from afar

on our way up, I stopped and smelled the flowers...
or took pictures

and there were sheep!!! it was my first time to see a sheep

and there plenty of sheep grazing us with their presence
nyahahaha

Finally.

view of the mountains

Glad we didn't go on Good Friday or else it would have taken us 3-4 hours to go inside the mantel of our Lady, And because I was with senior citizens, we actually didn't have to line up. 

Another 10 minutes spent inside the holding area where we prayed a decade of the rosary and a little orientation from a Dominican nun who must have taken her charm lessons under Mar Roxas. She had no charm at all. They have this fundraising where they're asking for 90 pesos donation for the construction of Mama Mary's mantel and more rooms (I suppose to be used for retreats, etc), and sister said eh kung ang pera niyo ay isang daan, eh 'wag na ho kayo mag-expect ng sukli. In fair, magalang pa din pero parang her manner of speech was unbecoming of a servant of God. I feel there's a much nicer way to say it. 

Easter Sunday we had lunch at Yabu in SM Aura. We were supposed to hear mass in the San Pedro Calungsod chapel but it was overflowing with churchgoers and daddy was uncomfortable in the heat and can't bear standing for an hour in his condition. We planned to hear the 7pm mass at the village church, but we were already 45 minutes late. Ayun. Hindi kami nakasimba. 

I'd rather stay home next time.

Recreation Therapy 2016: Cheese in the Trap

I finally finished my second Korean drama for the year- huzzah! 

via

I think I started watching this drama January this year but due to my busy (naks) schedule (and also ADHD), I got to finish just now. As in today lang. Aside from the reason I found the pace of the story a little slow, there was no character that I really really liked.

Obviously Seol, Yoon and In ho are in some sort of triangle and usually in triangles like this one, I find myself rooting for either A or B. For example, Bae Yong Jun in Winter Sonata, Kerokerokeroppi (si Carlo) in Lovers in Paris and Cha Seung-won in The Greatest Love. I was neither for Yoon nor for In ho. I read in another blog that the author is suffering from Second Lead Syndrome or wanting the female lead to end up with the second male lead (aka ang pampagulo) than the male lead. I think I like Yoon (for Seol) but he's creepy na medyo with serial killer tendencies. So I tried picturing Seol with In ho, but there's no chemistry there. And I feel there was no contest naman to begin with. Seol likes Yoon and sees In ho only as a brother (wag po koya!) although there was a moment of confusion there when In ho hugged her (parang hug lang eh, malisyosang babae! although you don't just hug friends of the opposite sex). 

Out of all the characters, I find In ha the most entertaining and endearing. Well she was supposed to be one of the traidoras but I just can't get myself to hate her. Maybe there was this one point I did not like her (when she ratted out Yoon to his dad), but aside from that, she may be one of the reason I watched this drama until the end. 

So I found out through Dramabeans that there was a little controversy happening behind the scenes. It was an okay drama but it's not one of my favorites. I'm planning on reading the original webtoon to better understand Yoon and his "personality disorder." 

6 out 10. Kinilig ng bahagya ngunit kulang pa din. 

Because it's a slow day which I spent half of sleeping on my bed (To be fair, it's been a long time since I last did this), here's a video of Christina Perri's song Distance 

I used to not like her because I abhorred her first single (that I know of), Jar of Hearts. Just want to share this cos I think it's beautiful. 

Emotera

Makapost nga about life... in general.

So, umm, there's no mistaking summer is already here in the metro. I'm currently here in my "laboratory" (must be pronounced like how Dexter says it, hehe) and it is hot. Sadly, business is not that lucrative yet to "invest" in a cooling equipment because that much money may be appropriated to more important stuff like raw materials and business-related gadgets. I'll have to make do with what I have.

Let's move on to more ma-drama ekek. I feel lonely nowadays. I've always been comfortable being alone and not feel lonely because I can entertain myself. I like peace and quiet. Even if I was alone most of the day, my sisters will be home at the end of the work day, or I have friends to invite for lunch or a movie date. Eh ngayon it seems everybody's living their own lives. Without me. Leche ang emo. Hence, the current theme song:

But I'm still happy that I have my parents with me ☺ I have the privilege of eating two to three meals with them everyday. Unica hija ang drama ko ngayon. And I know they won't be here forever so I'm enjoying my time with them. I go walking around the village with daddy every day. More than seeing it as my daily exercise, I see it more as accompanying daddy in his daily exercise. I just wish mas picturesque ang view.

So, am I sad? I don't think I am. Maybe just lonely, but I'm sure this is just a momentary thing.

2016 Reading Challenge: 99 Days

via Goodreads

I don't care if I'm being judgmental but in this case, I guess Molly deserved it.

She already caused trouble the first time and the second time around, she should've been more careful, more mindful of people's feelings. Double standards ek-ek, I know, but still I believe she knows what she should've done. And man, especially not when they're brothers. I sort of knew that she'd still end up with Gabe (although technically she didn't end up with him but there were context clues that they might be together soon) but jeez, can you just imagine how awkward their family reunions would be?

Also, I understand why Julia hated her so much. Molly caused a rift in their family... even if that rift was already there prior to everything that happened, the thing is she made it worse. Eh who would be happy with what she did? Alright so she's not solely to blame but still she caught the bait. She should've thought about it a hundred times before acting on it.

And let me just say my opinion regarding what Molly's author-mom did. It was foul, Sobrang foul. I mean, she could've used her daughter's love life as an inspiration but telling the whole world that the book is based on her relationship with two brothers? Gahd.

I enjoyed the book. It was okay but I didn't like- liked it. If you were the girl, hindi ba you'd know better than to get tangled in such a complicated relationship? Cos this love triangle? It'a kinda sick. That's my opinion when it comes to love triangles involving siblings. That's how I felt with Belly-Jeremiah- Conrad triangle. Also with Molly-Gabe- Patrick.

Gahd. I suck at doing these nonreviews.