Christmas in Different Places

Merry Christmas everyone. Yeah, these days have been about preparing for the New Year but as long as the Christmas spirit is alive, it's Christmas. This post, I'll just be sharing some pics of places I've been to so far during the holiday season. Christmas is a great time to go to places, like the malls, because of all the decorations, ornaments and lights all over. It's only at this time of the year wherein almost every place looks attractive because of the decors contributing to the festive spirit of the season. Hope you enjoy some of these pics and apologies if they're not very good. :)

Of course, UST is one of the best places to visit this Christmas, you can check out my post on UST's Christmas decors here.

Here's the rest of my pics...

Trinoma, Quezon City...

SM North EDSA...

 Now, the next two are that of a house somewhere in Marikina. I took them during a bike ride with dad and a bike group he joined. The house was so nice I just had to stop and take pictures of it. It's all complete... and includes a dinosaur made out of lights!

Next are from Araneta Center. Haven't been here at night yet, though I've seen it while passing by. Maybe one of these days as long as the lights are still up.

 SM Megamall, Centris, Fisher Mall and Greenhills respectively...

SM Megamall

Centris

Angels and a Christmas tree in Centris

Santa Claus at Fisher Mall, Quezon Ave.

Greenhills. We weren't there for the Christmas on Display.

 And finally, Robinsons Magnolia...

And of course, churches are definitely worth visiting during the Christmas season. You can check out some of my pics of them at my Simbang Gabi posts and at my account on flickr.

While the decorations in different places are still up, its definitely worth visiting them before the holidays come to an end. :)

To cap off the pics, here's a picture of the most important thing to put up during Christmas: The Belen.

Belen at Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon City

This is also going to be my last post for the year. 2014 has been a good year although there were definitely some low points. I hope that 2015 will be a better year. I gotta admit, this year went by so fast... Nonetheless, no doubt there were blessings through the year. :)

Thank you Lord for every blessing this year and continue to guide and accompany us in the coming year of 2015 and in all the days and years to come...

Thanks for reading everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D

Update: made some additions and added Greenhills.

Simbang Gabi 2014 - Day 3 and 4

Simbang Gabi is something I always look forward to. Since it is only once a year, it's best to take the opportunity to complete the nine days, or at least attend even once. Many people try to complete the nine day novena in the hopes of having their wishes granted. Simbang Gabi can also be an adventure as well. Sometimes, it's nice to go to different places to attend it but it should be noted though that the early morning hour (and even nightime) can be unsafe, so if you go anywhere, even to your own parish for the mass, it pays to be careful. But even with the idea of wishes and the adventure, Simbang Gabi in the end is not about those but is a way of preparing for Christmas and focusing on why we have this season. So far, the Mass for the 4th day is done and in my case, I've attended all of it thus far.

Day 3 - Immaculate Conception Parish, Marikina City

Attending Simbang Gabi in a place you haven't experienced it before is, IMO, a nice experience and that's what I had for the 3rd day. Now, I had the thought of going to Simbang Gabi in Marikina for a while and decided I should do it at a right time. I mean, going to Marikina and spending an overnight stay at my dad's place just to attend it doesn't seem like a good reason. Finally, I went on with going to Marikina last Wednesday, since there's some activities and my ninang and cousins left for vacation in the USA on the next day. Overall, my stay there was great since I spent time with dad and my relatives. Some things I did there were a bike ride with dad and a group that he's part of on Wednesday night and being with my cousins before they leave for vacation yesterday.

Now, for the Misa de Gallo, I went to Concepcion Church. While that was my plan at first, I had a thought of going to Our Lady of the Abandoned at the Bayan but in the end, I stuck with my original plan. This parish had two dawn masses and I got there at the last part of the first mass, so I attended the second one at 4:30 AM. The church was packed at both masses. Imagine, if there was only one mass instead of two, you'd be seeing an SRO church with people all over the place, and both masses already had a lot of people attending (the 2nd mass had a bigger crowd I think). The Gospel focused on St. Joseph, who would become the foster father of Jesus and would be with Mary, who was already bearing Jesus. It was a nice celebration and a good experience to attend Simbang Gabi in a new place for it. On a personal note, it's been a while since I've attended mass here and this was my parish when I was living in Marikina, though I went to a chapel near our place for mass. Now, my former place is under a new parish.

Day 4 - Santissimo Rosario Parish, UST

For the 4th day, it was either one of two places; UST or Sto. Domingo Church along Quezon ave. Between the two it wasn't easy to choose, not to mention that both places are under the Dominican Order. There are differences of course. UST's starts at 4 AM while Sto. Domingo's starts at 4:30. In the end, I went on with UST (but I'm thinking of going to Sto. Domingo in the future). I decided UST since I thought it'll be at the field this time but it was still held at the Chapel. Like day 2, one of our helpers here accompanied me and we arrived at about 4 AM, when the mass was about to start. Since we arrived late, I made a run for it to the church and the entrance hymn took place when I got there. I wasn't feeling good at first because I got irritated with the jeep that took us to UST. It's not easy to concentrate on the mass when you're feeling bad but things got better as the mass went on. The readings of the day focused on events that led to the birth of two Biblical figures. The first reading focused on the birth of Samson while the Gospel focused on that of John the Baptist, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah telling him that his wife Elizabeth will have a son. Like last time, people attended from even outside the church. After the mass, I went to Sto. Domingo while ate went home immediately. I went to Sto. Domingo just to check out their Misa de Gallo and the mass just ended there when I came. The crowd there was so big, I decided not to go inside the church anymore due to the number of churchgoers leaving. Also, after the mass at UST, some people were taking selfies. Guess they don't wanna miss the chance of doing so... (then again, why not? :) Though di naman ako mahilig magselfie, hehe. :P)

Now, with that, were almost halfway through the Misa de Gallo. Are some of you readers attending Simbang Gabi/Misa de Gallo?

With that, I'm done with this post. Thanks for reading! :D

The Long Weekend

It's been a busy long weekend. As we know, last Thursday and yesterday were both holidays; Ninoy Aquino Day and National Heroes Day respectively. So yeah, it was a long weekend, meaning it was chance to have a break for some of us, although some of us too might've been busy with something, maybe like work or school. In this post, I'll be sharing about some of the stuff I've been doing in the last few days.

Thursday - August 21

Didn't really do much on Ninoy Aquino Day. Uneventful really. :(

Friday - Aug 22

Fridays this semester are no school days for me, since I have no classes scheduled for this day. Yet last Friday, I went to my school (UST) because I had to go to the general assembly of school organization. Other than that, nothing much, aside from homeworks and reading this long novel for one of my classes. Weird novel... :/

Saturday - Aug 23

Busier than the day before. I had to go back to UST to attend the general assembly of another org I joined (Yeah, I joined two orgs. I won't attend every activity though since I've got other things to do). In addition to that, before going to UST, I went to SM North EDSA to attend some event. Didn't finish the org GA, so I asked permission to leave after the dinner portion and I went back to SM North after going to UST. Of course, I still did my homeworks and was nearly done with them at that point.

Sunday - Aug 24

Much busier. By this time, I finished much of the bulk of my homeworks and did my readings. In the afternoon, I went to Marikina and had an overnight stay there with my dad. During my stay, me and him rode bikes all over Marikina during the night. Good experience plus we ate at this pansiteria (forgot the name, it's near the market area, but a bit off) for dinner. For something that's 90 pesos, the pansit was a great deal since it was 1) a big serving (it could feed 2-3 guys) and 2) it tasted good. :)

Just sharing some of my pics I took:

Sunset at Marikina

Taken at the pansiteria where me and dad had dinner during the ride.

Monday - Aug 25

Of all the days, this was the busiest day without a doubt. In the morning, me and dad had another bike ride all over Marikina which we finished by noon. Man, though ride. We rode by the river (which was really muddy. Bikes and my shoes were a mess. :( Good thing I wore my rubber shoes :) ), through the "bayan", took the bike lanes all over the city, headed to Marist (my old school) and from there went home, but not without having lunch first at this Pares house next to Concepcion church. Didn't bring my camera this time though unlike the night ride.

Later naman in the afternoon, I went to Tagaytay with my dad, ninang (Dad's side) and cousins. Of all the out of town trips I went to, this was one of the shortest ever, if not the shortest. We only went to the Pink Sister's Convent and had dinner at this restaurant that had a great view of Taal volcano and the province of Batangas. While it was short, it was fun. :) I'll be focusing more on this in another post so look out for that.

Pink Sister's Convent, Tagaytay

Taal lake and Taal volcano

And today, classes were suspended in UST, adding another day to the 5-day long weekend. Oh well, more time to do my homeworks and/or other stuff. :) All in all, enjoyable except for a few mishaps that happened. :)

And man, September's upon us again. :)  It's almost the start of the ber months. :)

While in the middle of biking...

Took this pic on the banks of the Marikina River during a break from biking with my dad last weekend in Marikina. I suddenly had the thought of uploading this pic. It just goes to show how one can enjoy life simply without too much stress, just like those kids (I guess), or doing activities like biking, now that I think about it. :) I gotta do better though, even with school stress and all...

Visiting my old school

It's always good to go visit someplace you haven't been to in a while, especially if the place has a meaning to you, like for example, going somewhere you spent your childhood or a place where you had an unforgettable experience. Today, I had this privilege to visit the school where I spent my grade school years in: Marist School in Marikina. Reason why I went there was because I had to accompany a tita because she had this event at there. When we came, one of the guards recognized me (I guess he still remembers who I am after all the years I spent there). After accompanying her, I spent some time to go around the school grounds, remembering some moments I've had back then. Wow, a lot of things have changed since I got out of there and I couldn't help but notice them.

Where I spent my Grade school years...

It was a walk down the memory lane since I've had a lot of memories, both good and bad there from all the years I spent there as a grade school kid. Back in those days, while I did have some good moments, I remember times I got bullied back then. >_< Oh well, now that I'm older and all, I guess I have to learn from those days then and look forward to what's happening to me and live the moment. :) Even so, at least I've had some good moments and in a way back then, I was somewhat well known. :)

One of the buildings. Where I had my last year in grade school, Grade 6

Leading to the Grade school canteen and the gym and many classrooms. I remember times I walked in these halls.

St. Marcellin Champagnat. Founder of the Marist Brothers who administrate the school

Swimming pool. I was once a member of the school's varsity swimming team then.

New gym. Built after I left the place. One of the many new additions to the school.

Marist Oval. Where the our sportsfests and school fairs were held.

Taken from one of the school's highest points. One could see parts of QC from there.

Hope the students are living by these...

Marist School Chapel

Interior and sanctuary of the chapel. A very modern, artistic and beautiful church.

Stained Glass windows, Marist Chapel depicting scenes from the Old Testament

More windows depicting the Ascension and Pentecost

A snack bar located right in front of the school. Not sure if they still do this but I remembered them selling trading cards back in the day and I bought a lot of them. :)

After going around the school, I went to my dad's place but before going, I stopped first at Conception Parish, which was my parish church back when I was living in Marikina. Reason why I stopped there because I was told by dad to take a tricycle there from Marist. Although this was our parish, I went to a chapel nearer our place to attend Mass (though it was under this parish community then. Now it's under a newer parish community). After that, I walked a bit and took a jeep to dad's place. But I ate in a 7-11 before going to dad's. After staying in dad's place for a while, I left with him and we headed to Quaipo and Divisoria (again). Be posting on that tomorrow or some other time.

What used to be Concepcion Market is now replaced by a McDonald's.

Immaculate Conception Parish, Bayan-bayanan ave., Marikina. I gotta like the fact that it looks like an old church, though it isn't. It's also one of the most beautiful churches in Marikina.

"By Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the World"

Interior of Concepcion Church. It's been renovated many times and is under another one. Originally, the altar before was much simpler and featured the life sized crucifix in the previous photo before this golden sanctuary was added. I don't know when that was though.

Ave Maria

Luyong Restaurant, J.P. Rizal, Marikina. There's a nice goto place across it.

A jeepney I took a picture of. The Marikina and Rizal provice area has these really nice Jeepneys. Many far better than this one.