The Queen Enthroned and UST's Fiesta

Yesterday, the image of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, La Naval de Manila was enthroned at her altar at Sto. Domingo Church, QC, marking the start of this year's fiesta celebrations. I wanted to visit the church yesterday but plans didn't go through since it rained hard, but just passed by and saw what was going on there from the jeepney on the way home from school. Today, the first day of the novena in honor of Our Lady, I got the chance to go to Sto. Domingo since I've got no classes and I have all the time to do so. I attended the 10 AM novena mass kanina. Few people attended, mostly because it's a weekday and more people attend the evening novena to Our Lady.

The altar was very beautiful as it has always been for La Naval de Manila. Even looking at the sanctuary, with the image of Our Lady enthroned in her baldachino, commands reverence and devotion to Our Lady's devotees. Seeing the altar of the church like that makes me happy.

Pics (Sto. Domingo):

Sanctuary of Sto. Domingo Church, La Naval de Manila 2014

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, La Naval de Manila

The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Sto. Domingo Church, QC

Bas relief at the church facade

As a devotee of Our Lady of La Naval, it's great that it's that time of the year again... In all the years I've been attending La Naval de Manila, this is the first time that I'm blogging about this event. :)

Along with the celebration of La Naval de Manila, UST's parish, Santissimo Rosario Parish is currently celebrating it's fiesta. The celebrations there started last week with the enthronement of the image of Our Lady and today is one of the novena days. UST's feast day will be this Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014.

Here's some pics of UST's fiesta celebrations:

Nuestra Senora del Santissimo Rosario, UST

Singing the "Despedida a la  Virgen"

VIVA LA VIRGEN! VIVA NUESTRA SENORA DE LA NAVAL! REGINA SACRATISSIMI ROSARII, ORA PRO NOBIS! 

You can check more pics et al. at my Flickr account

Edit (10/7/14): Let me add better pics of Our Lady, from last Sunday and yesterday during the Besamanto.

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, La Naval de Manila. Taken 10-5-14

 Taken yesterday, during the Besamanto.

Puto Bumbong in September

One thing that I miss from Christmas is puto bumbong. The only chance I get to have some is during the ber months and of course, the holidays, since it is associated with the season along with queso de bola, hamon and others. For those who aren't familiar, it's a purple steamed rice cake, cooked in bamboo tubes and served with grated coconut. Today, I had a craving for that and, although Christmas is still months away, I know there was this stall in front of our church that is already selling it so I there to buy some for 25 pesos. The one I just had today was good as always, texture was nice, good deal for 25 pesos. :)  It's been a while since I've had one of these.

Wow, September's coming to a close... October's a promising month and hopefully, things will get better from here on out. Thanks for dropping by! :D

Rak of Aegis - Review

Warning: Some spoilers ahead!

The ticket

Yeah, you read the title right, it's not "Rock of Ages" (which I haven't even watched), but "Rak of Aegis", a musical play based on the songs of the popular Pinoy band Aegis. Something like "Mamma Mia" which used ABBA's songs (which I watched live during their world tour last 2012 at the CCP, though that's a different league altogether). Yesterday, I watched the play with my mom at the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) Theatre, near E. Roudriguez, QC. Thought I was gonna go somewhere else when she told me we were going out on the day.

Anyways, there were people lining up when we came since the play was to start at about 3 PM. We got in the theater at 2:30, and while waiting, I looked at the nice stage which looked like an estero, complete with a canal that actually was filled with water. The theater overall was quite small, it could seat I think 300 people at the most and it wasn't very comfortable, despite air conditioning (especially compared to the CCP main theater or UST's med audi or the open-air quadrangle of my high school). The play didn't start exactly at 3:00 though.

The play overall was nice. Again, spoiler alert, I'll be telling some (not all) of what happened. Basically the story is about the situation at this baranggay and the main character, a young woman who wants to become an internet sensation to be popular and to support her family, who are having financial problems. It also dealt with the issue of flood in their baranggay, the setting of the play as well as business woes and family problems on the part of its residents. In addition to those, it also dealt with being positive in spite of the problems and how the residents, towards the end were able to rise up against the challenges that they faced through creativity to say one thing. I wont be telling about it in depth but that basically is the story of the play.

For me, on a deeper level, the story is a reflection of some social problems affecting our country, especially on the issue of flooding, and the issue of unemployment and family problems. Yet in spite of this, the characters tried to find something to make them positive in spite of those issues. In addition, it portrays the attitude of many people, aspiring for a better life and popularity, especially at these trying times. I could say, this is a Filipino play because it is timely and shows some aspects of thee society, plus it supports OPM. :)

Personally though, it was nice, everyone watching it was laughing a lot with all the jokes and the acting, and some of the lines that sounded like they came from some teleseryes, as well as some pick-up lines. Best part for me however, ike most of those watching I'm sure, was the singing. Just amazing, parang concert, even if I'm not a fan of Aegis, though I do know some of their songs. Maybe I should check out more of their songs.

Also, a thought came after the play, on the way home. I found it nice to watch this play this month of August, because as we know, it is the Buwan ng Wika, or the month dedicated to our national language. So it's nice (and IMO at least, appropriate)  to watch  Filipino play during the Buwan ng Wika. Man, almost halfway through the month already... :| Ber months na in a few weeks...

Overall score: 8/10. Story and choreography aren't the best, dialogue is ok, aesthetics (stage, props and costumes) were great, venue wasn't so good (compared especially to bigger venues) but the singing's awesome. :) It's like you're watching a concert if it was the singing alone.

Cast of the play

PETA Theater, Near E. Roudriguez.

Ozine Fest 2014 and Going Around Mall of Asia

Last April 25, 2014, I headed down to SM Mall of Asia to go around and also to go to day 1 of a cosplay event, Ozine Fest 2014. I arrived there about 11 AM or so, somewhere around that time. Hot day, really and when I came to SMX MOA, the event hasn't started. I won't go to all the details but while waiting, I went around the place and had lunch somewhere, checked different places and checked the situation in SMX Convention center. Originally at first, I wasn't going to buy a ticket for the event but I ended up buying it (at 150 pesos) and I guess I can say, it was worth it, especially hanging out with the cosplayers :). Next time though I gotta be more careful when I go to events like this, especially Otaku/Hobbyist events because there are things there that make me feel uncomfortable (I won't tell what they are, but for sure, it's not the cosplayers). I don't go to MOA since it's far from our place (add to the fact that there are other malls more interesting than MOA) and in fact, last time I was there before Ozine fest was for a Cosplay event last year. Overall, enjoyable day but wow, I ended up tiring myself so much that my feet really hurt. -_-

Be sharing some scenes here:

En route to MOA

Lining up

I haven't been with cosplayers since last January. Nice to be with them again.

Shrine of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life, next to SMX Convention Center

Photo-ops outside the hall

SM Mall of Asia Arena

Shirts and pins

Posters

Chibis

Going down

Seashell lane, SM MOA

Edit: I'd just like to add this. I have read in other blogs, heard in some comments and sites that many people complained about this convention. I only went to day 1 and even then, I had my share of negatives and all, like most, if not all the attendees (such as the entry time). In the end, really, it was enjoyable IMO, despite the problems (and other things at the mismong con). What matters most, more than the negatives is that we enjoyed ourselves and had a good time. If I were someone who focused on the negatives, I'd probably refrain myself from attending another convention or something for a while. Remember, it's always good to count your blessings and learn from mistakes. :) (although that is something I've gotta work on myself... ^_^,)

Another edit (added 6/10/14): After some things, because of personal reasons I decided not to attend any Ozine events anymore. It's not because of disorganization or the guards or mismanagement (I've been to events, not just cons, that had those, with bigger attendances), but rather other reasons why I'm not attending, lest I may run into those reasons. That said, it however does not mean I'm not attending any cons anymore and I will still be attending others, such as Toycon, BOA or Cosplay Mania or other cons. Also, it doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy these events and I had fun in them, not to mention that 3 out of the 7 cosplay events I attended (so far as of this edit) were Ozine events (namely Ozine Fest: AFS last December, Otaku Expo last January and this one).

Good Friday 2014 - Prusisyon ng Biyernes Santo sa Marikina - Part 2

More pictures from the Good Friday procession in Marikina.

These carozzas are from the procession of an IFI church

The Good Friday procession from OLA in front of Marikina Sports Center

The procession along J.P. Rizal, Marikina