Wednesday, April 30, 2014

St. Augustin Church - Intramuros, Manila



San Agustin Church is located inside the historic walled city of Intramuros in Manila City, a Roman Catholic church under the auspices of The Order of St. Augustine.




In 1993, San Agustin Church was designated as World Heritage Site  by UNESCO . It  was one of four Baroque Churches of the Philippines which was constructed during the Spanish colonial regime.  This church was named a National Historical Landmark by the Philippine government in 1976.




Inside the church there are gravestones.



Gen. Luna St, Maynila
(02) 527 4060









Tuesday, April 29, 2014

The Manila Cathedral






The Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica commonly known as  the Manila Cathedral. It  is a Roman Catholic Basilica located in Plaza de Roma,  Intramuros, Manila City, Metro Manila, Philippines.  This church is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Principal Patroness of the Philippines. This cathedral serves as the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila.




The cathedral was originally built in 1581 but it was  damaged and destroyed several times .  The retrofitting and restoration were completed last April 9,2014.





Cabildo corner Beaterio, Intramuros, Manila, Metro Manila 1002
(02) 527 3093

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Visita Iglesia 2014

This Holy Week we spend it in the metro. We didn't plan of going somewhere else because our trips are already planned for the year. But when Maynilad, a water company, announced a water interruptions we crammed to look for where we could spend the four days. We couldn't find the best place for us so we opted to save water instead. The good thing the water restored less than 24 hours. Maynilad suspended the water interruptions in some areas.

Usually on Maundy Thursday we do the visitation of churches or Visita Iglesia. It's our way of saying thank you for all the things that came our way in the past years. This year we did it on Good Friday because we thought that after the Visita Iglesia we would attend the mass at 3:00pm. Some visited 14 churches, which stands for 14 stations of the cross but for us we opted for 7 churches only because every church we did two stations of the cross. We arrived in the first stop around 10:00pm

Our first stop was the Manila Cathedral located in Intramuros, the walled city. It was loaded with pilgrims. I noticed there are white people in there taking pictures and scrutinizing the details of the church.



Along the way there were bazaar, selling memorabilia, souvenir items, food etc., we bought green mango and suman sa ibos, a glutinous rice delicacy.

Second stop was the Saint Augustine church, it is inside the Intramuros too. One of baroque churches in the Philippines it’s also part of the UNESCO heritage.



Before we proceed to our third stop we dropped by at the Luneta Park to rest. We ate the food we bought from the bazaar. At this time there were a lot people having their picnics.



Third stop was supposedly the one in the skirt of Luneta Park, but we didn't notice it was a Protestant church and it was closed. Sorry we didn't notice the sign. lol


The third church was the one still near, the malate shrine also known as Nuestra Senora de Guia. It is a small church but too many pilgrims too. When we arrived there the 7 last words was already starting. Although even there was an activity inside the church, pilgrims were still allowed to the station of the cross because they set up the 14 station of the cross outside the church.



Malate church was our fourth stop. We walked from Manila cathedral till this church. It is under renovations. The 14th station of the cross was set on the right side of the church too.



We were hungry already, all the restaurants around this area were full, some were waiting. We opted to have our lunch in a fast food instead.



From bay walk area we rode a van going to Baclaran church, our fifth stop. It is a pilgrim church that's why more people were there. When we arrived the 7 last words is being held. The church was full packed. And it was almost 2:00pm.


From Baclaran church we walked few meters and we reached our sixth stop, the St. Rita De Cascia Church. It's a small church and at that time the pilgrims were just few. Some were waiting for the 3:00pm mass.



After our sixth stop we rode a jeep going to St. Andrews Cathedral in Paranaque City. And this was our last stop and where we attended the 3:00pm mass.



It was a loaded day, refreshing and it was like we had a tour too. Different churches and it has its own history. Exploring Philippines includes visiting the historical churches too to understand better the culture and its people.


Friday, April 11, 2014

Maynilad Holy Week Water Interruption Advisory




This morning my sister called me to tell that there will be a water interruption this coming holy week. Timing that we have no plan on going out of the Metro Manila. We were planning to stay in Manila for the Holy Week. It’s super  hot lately, well its summertime. We can’t live without water for sure. We have options to save water or go on short trip.

The water interruption is due to Department of Public Works and Highways’  construction of an interceptor drainage box culvert along Blumentritt St.  in Manila City to eliminate flooding in the Metro. This project will cross the pipeline of the Maynilad water pipe, that’s why they need to re-align the pipe  prior to the construction of that project of DPWH. It will be from April 16 to 19,2014. But don’t get me wrong the water interruption has schedule so better check the schedule in your area. It is not a whole three days of no water supply. Please read the complete schedule from Maynilad .

For those who had no plan to go on trip this holy week, we still have time to look for a nice get away. Goodluck to us.

Monday, April 7, 2014

The Importance of having a Portable Hard Drive

At last I have a portable hard drive. It’s been awhile that I was contemplating of buying one. For the reasons that:

We travel often and we usually save our pictures in the laptop, compact discs, flash drive, tablets, and office pc. I want to organize all the pictures and files in one storage device;

Saving huge  file in the laptop makes it slower and the files are prone to virus too;

I can easily carry all my files since portable hard drive can be easily carried wherever I would be. Even on travel can be easily put inside my bag;

Lastly I am moving out. I need to compile and save all my files.


Having a 500GB capacity is more than enough to save all my files. This model of Toshiba Canvio Connect  is easy to operate. Literally plug and play no need for power cable. No much hassle. Usb cable is just a foot and the size of the hard drive is just as huge as a palm. Light and easy to use.


Actually I used it already and all my files from my laptop were transferred to it. Next is my file from my office’s personal computer and from the huge file of CDS. LOL goodluck to me.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Delivery Experience from Lazada, an on line shopping website

Yesterday,  Saturday April 5,2014, I got an email from Lazada, an online shopping website,  that there would be a fireworks of vouchers, which would be released at 4:00pm that day. The vouchers should be redeemed  on that day itself and can be used for all items in the website. To avail the vouchers there are certain minimum amount of purchased:

For 2000 voucher the minimum purchase is 8000 pesos
For 1000 voucher the minimum purchase is 5000 pesos.
For 500 voucher the minimum purchase is 2000 pesos.
For 200 voucher the minimum purchase is 1000 pesos.


Since it’s been awhile that I wanted to buy portable hard drive, I grabbed the opportunity to  order on-line. I chose the Toshiba Canvio Connect V7 with a capacity of 500GB. The original price was 2,500 pesos but with 500 pesos discounts voucher I had to pay 2,000 pesos. Huge savings right?  I got so excited that I didn't notice my order was on cash on delivery option, I just clicked it right away.  Lol I had to force myself to pay it in cash then. But I just think of the discount it’s okay. Lesson  learned.



The usual delivery for Metro Manila   is 1-2 days that’s why I was thinking it might be on Monday,  April 7,2014 but to my surprise around 1:00pm today, April 6 the delivery man from 2GO a courier company, was calling me, he was on his way to deliver my order.  Less than 24 hours my order  is delivered. Great  service. Good job Lazada, hope it will always be like that. Fast and efficient.