KSP visits Kanlungan ni Maria

It's our barkada tradition to hold an outreach event every December of the year. But since we were too busy, our 2012 outreach was moved to January of 2013. It may be late but we won't forget to give back. We've been so blessed the entire year of 2012, and the best way of thanking the Lord for all of His blessings is to share them with those in need.

On January 13, 2013, we visited the grannies who were housed in Kanlungan ni Maria (Home for the Aged) in Antipolo City. For the past years, we've been extending help to the kids and families of Payatas, but this year, we decided to make the old ones happier, most especially those who didn't have families to take care of them. 

A lot of friends contributed in any way they can. The donations we've gathered were used to buy diapers, masks, medicines, and food for the oldies. Vans Philippines and Toby's Sports also donated prizes for the fun games. Other than the members of the barkada, some friends of our friends also joined the outreach. Our friend's aunt also gathered a few doctors to conduct a medical mission.

We had so much fun bonding with the grannies. They're so blessed because a lot of people were helping them. We saw some photos of other outreach events that have been held there. We're so thankful that we were given a chance to help them too.

I'm really looking forward to more blessings this year, and I can't wait to share them to more people who are in need. I'm so proud of my friends who have been very helpful and never selfish.:)

New Year 2013

We were back from Ilocos on New Year's eve. We headed to Ayala Ave. to catch the "One Makati" countdown. I loved the fireworks display! I took a video of it but it was quite long so I didn't upload it anymore. (I'll try when I get a faster internet connection one of these days)

After the countdown in Makati, we headed to Skye for the after-party. Got the passes from PLDT, one of the event sponsors. But since some of my friends were in 7th High, I joined them first. It's only at 5am when we decided to go back to Skye to catch the countdown to the first sunrise of 2013. I really had a blast with new friends!:)

So I went home at 7am and I was asleep almost the entire 1st day of the year. LOL! And when I woke up at around 6pm, it's time to prepare for the KSP barkada's annual New Year's party at Filinvest 2. It's the 4th year of our tradition and this year's theme was "Masquerade". However, I didn't have time to find a mask haha. I just wore a long black gown with a lace back, but I never had a photo of the back of my gown.:p

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May we all have an awesome 2013!:)


xoxo,
citygirl

Last Trip of 2012: Ilocos Sur & Ilocos Norte

My guy friends planned a trip to Ilocos, where one of our friends got a family beach house.  They tagged me along since I wasn't doing anything those days. A Lithuanian couch surfer also joined us, since he's in the Philippines for a short vacation. We left Manila at around 5pm on December 28; and we had a stop at NLEX and another one at Rosales, Pangasinan. After 8 hours on the road, we arrived in Vigan, Ilocos Sur at 2am. We had a quick meal at Rizal Park in Santo Domingo, a town near Vigan. The next town was Magsingal, where our friend's place was. We slept from 4am to 11am and headed out after lunch to explore Ilocos Sur. The last time I've been to Ilocos Sur and Norte was 7 years ago, during our field trip in Art Studies class. 

So here's a rundown of the places in Ilocos Sur that we've visited:

1. Crisologo Museum - the ancestral house of the Crisologo's, one of the most influential families in Ilocos Sur.

2. Baluarte - the house and ranch of Chavit Singson, a famous politician who loves collecting animals, even tigers!

3. Bell Belfry - the bell tower in St. Augustine church in Bantay, Ilocos Sur.

4. Calle Crisologo - a historic street in Vigan, which is listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

5. Sunset at the beach behind our friend's place in Magsingal - the sunset was so nice, plus the sand was so fine, although it's dark gray.

What's cool about this trip was, our friend's mom was also at their beach house and she was cooking for us while we were there. But of course, we paid for the groceries because only her cooking service was free. haha! We were also able to try the Ilocos miki, a super yummy noodle soup with special noodles called, "miki" that's only available in Ilocos. Our friend's cousin cooked it for us and it was so addicting!:)

So that's our day 1. The next day (30th), we went on a 3-hr trip from Ilocos Sur to Ilocos Norte. We're supposed to swim at a beach in Pagudpud but due to a rainy weather, we were not able to swim. The waves were so huge and the weather was really cold. But at least we were still able to go around Ilocos Norte and visited the following sites:

1. Cape Bojeador Lighthouse - too bad it was prohibited to climb up the lighthouse itself because it's unsafe to do so.

2. Kapupurawan White Rock Formations - it's where Mario Maurer's tagalog movie, "Suddenly its Magic" was shot, plus some fake rock houses were built for "Si Enteng, Si Agimat, at Si Ako", an entry in the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival.

3. Bangui Windmills - it energy produced by the windmills supplies electricity to the nearby towns.

4. Pannzian Beach and Restaurant - we had late lunch there while it was storming outside; and we loved their adobo.

5. Patapat Bridge - it's a bridge where you can see an ocean on the left and a mountain on the right.

6. Hannah's Resort - one of the famous resorts in Pagudpud; it's where we had coffee since it's too cold to swim. You can also try Blue Lagoon in Pagudpud.

7. Paoay Church - a baroque church that's also one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Due to bad weather, we were not able to explore much of Ilocos Norte. But I still remembered the places we've visited 7 years ago during our Art Studies field trip. That time, we also visited the place of the Marcos family, where the former president's body was still being frozen. That experience really gave me goosebumps. It's so scary to see a dead person inside a glass freezer. Anyway, it's also nice to see the Paoay sand dunes where Panday and Himala was shot. It's like a huge desert. When I first went there, there's not much to do there, but now I've heard tourists can ride some ATVs while playing in the dunes. One place we have also visited 7 years ago was the the Laoag Sinking Bell Tower, as the name suggests, it was said to be sinking year after year. We've also worked on some pottery during our Art Studies field trip there.

Then we went back to the beach house in Ilocos Sur. The next morning, it was still cloudy so we were not able to swim at the beach. We just decided to leave early going back to Manila since it's the 31st of December and we had to catch the New Year's countdown.

The 2-day trip (not counting the days on the road) to Ilocos was quick yet fun. We were able to go to a lot of nice places there in a short span of time. And to talk about the budget, it was so cheap. We paid around Php 2,200 each, not including the pasalubong. So there were four of us and we just divided all the expenses by 4. Here's how much each of us paid:

1. Transportation (gasoline of Mazda 3) - 1,000

2. Food (groceries and snacks) - 1000

3. Toll Fees - 200

TOTAL: Php 2,200 (more or less)

And that's my last trip for 2012. Looking forward to more trips for 2013.:)

xoxo,
citygirl