What to eat: Binondo, Manila Chinatown

Whenever I visit Binondo, it is a never-ending journey of discovery and a test of self. The place may be a little overwhelming at first. You may find yourself one rainy June walking in an ankle deep charcoal-colored mud, inhaling that signature smell of sewers brought by the garbages in its now clogged but once magnificent canals, the super overcrowded streets especially during the "ber-months" (October, November, December) where you literally have to muscle people to get through the next shop, the hazard and hassle of finding a parking space or commuting during peak season and rush hour, and of course the constant mental battles between you and your anxiety attacks brought by fear of being mugged or falling prey to pickpockets. But, like many people who have fallen in love with Binondo, the secret to appreciating its beauty is to look beyond its rough facade and discover that there is a harmonious order well at play amidst the rowdiness (more like a dance) that a little open-mindedness, preparation and research can unlock. And the reward once we figure them out? ...definitely a unique experience, great value for our hard-earned money, loads of huge blue plastic bags filled with cheap items of almost everything and thanks to a Fil-Chi friend, an affordable food haven of chicken, eggs, teas and dumplings. Having mentioned food, let me show you some of the places our good friend Michael shared with us one Saturday afternoon when we roamed around to eat in the oldest Chinatown in the world.....^_^

Manila Chinatown's Welcome Sign

Night Walk Photos: Seaside Boulevard, SM Mall of Asia

With nothing to do, we headed off to Seaside Boulevard and just started taking photos. This part of Pasay has something to offer for all walks of life.

Seaside Boulevard, Pasay

The Mall of Asia eye which stands at 180ft tall is one of the iconic structure in this strip. It will cost a person about PHP150 per person for a 10 minute ride. Each cart can accommodate 4 persons. There's also a VIP option, that is if you don't want to share a cart with anybody else for PHP50 more.

SM Mall of Asia Eye, Philippines

There are also restaurants not only on the bay area but also at the mall itself that gives a grand view of the strip. And, it's far less noisy as well.

SM Mall of Asia, Pasay, Philippines

There are newly built buildings that are also like candies to the eyes like the Two-E com Center just beside Mall of Asia. There are restaurants on top of it (but we haven't tried them yet) with an open garden facing the bay, a good place for a conversation.

Two E-Com towers, Philippines

There's also the SM Arena, an event center that has a capacity of 16,000 for sporting events and 20,000 full capacity according to Wikipedia. It's parking capacity is about 2,000. An ideal place to held concerts. It opened last June 6, 2012. ^_^

SM Arena, Philippines

A Visit from Our Lady of Penafrancia

It will take her 13 hours of train ride just to get from her hometown Naga to the Capital City of Manila. But I guess, travelling great distances has become her forte, there is no distance that is really too hard for her. How she came about and how she was made known to the world, it had all been one great journey of faith....of overcoming great distances.

Her story started when a french man named Simon Vela heard a voice telling him to find the Virgin Mother's image in the far away mountains of Spain. He answered this call and spent 5 years wandering around to find it. He was led to a place called Pena de Francia and with witnesses, he dug a small land as shown to him in a dream and found this miraculous image.

Our Lady of Penafrancia, Philippines

Changes and DIY landscape

I know there's a big gap in my blog because I haven't been able to write anything for a couple of months. For those who would like to know, I'm back working (yey!), found a perfect job that suits me and my lifestyle but (just like any job) I needed to adjust so I've been taking some time off of blogging and just wrote in my journal instead. But, I really missed sharing the many things that made me smile, laugh and cry so I just want to write as many posts as I can this week and then I'll just set the proper time stamps of the posts once I get a long break from my hectic schedule. Either way, it's the thought that counts right (?) ^_^ . I also want to share that even if I'm back working again, it didn't stop me from experiencing life and  enjoying the fruits of my labor. ^_^
One of the home projects that my husband and I focused on in the month of June (before the heavy rainy season started) is to improve the small patch of land in front our home. Landscapers in the Philippines costs about PHP5000 and up (depends on the plants and the size of the area), since we only needed to have a small area planted, my husband and I gambled to personally take on this small project, and in the end, learned and realized that doing it ourselves really has their own rewards.

finally, a home for the horsetail that my mother -in-law gave us as a gift.