CEBU CITY

 

We were in Cebu over the weekend . Our CebuPac flight departed from the NAIA Terminal 4, first time to take a flight in this terminal. We have to make arrangements with Park n Fly as Terminal 4 does not accommodate overnight parking or just leaving your vehicle at the airport ( safer than to take a cab ) . However on the night of the flight , I realize that Terminal 4 is the old Manila Domestic Airport , which they refurbish and call it now as Terminal 4 , which is really such a small airport compared to Terminal 3. It is just equivalent to the checking in area of CebuPac or PAL at Terminal 3. There was only one available cafeteria that night compared to Terminal 3 where there are a lot of restaurants .

Anyway because we will depart from Terminal 4 , the plane was small and took us 2 hours to reach Cebu . Well since I was listening on my phone while the plane was loading passengers I think I heard the 2 hours notice by the flight attendant at the start of the flight but didn't took it seriously.  I thought I was mistaken with what I heard but when we reach Cebu at 2 am , that's when I realize the flight announcement . I have been travelling local for the past years and it's only one hour more or less wherever you go. This is the first time it took me 2 hours to reach my local destination and the seats are not comfortable . Is it just me or it's CebuPac?

Upon reaching Cebu at 2am , we check in at our hotel in Cebu , The Bayfront Hotel Reclamation branch . Since we slept at 3am , we wole up at 830 am and took our breakfast . To ous dismay , because there were a lot of guests around , maybe because of the long holiday weekend , there were food that were not anymore available at the buffet table. But we still enjoyed  our breakfast and ordered our favorite freshly cook egg omelette .

Our first stop is at Danao City Cebu , where there are a lot of  beautiful beach resorts . We took a lot of pictures rendering our camera almost full of storage capacity . 

We did a lot of walks in Cebu city visiting a lot of stores and checking of product displays . It was fulfilling , it was tiring , it was productive . We know Popsy enjoyed his time in Cebu which is what is important to me  .

We again left Cebu at night time on a Saturday night but this time on a bigger plane and arrive at NAIA  Terminal 3. Arriving 2am on a Sunday morning .

Till the next trip my love .

 

Baguio City

 We spent a few days in the city of Pines last weekend. The place never fails to amaze me with the Baguio weather and the glorious beautiful mountains. The walking is one of the challenge you face while in Baguio . Because of the traffic situation and parking problem , you have no choice but to engage in long walks to reach your destination . But of course this add to your steps counter , which is to your exercise advantage .

After your Baguio stay , there's the pasalubong spree which add to your fun while in Baguio - peanut brittle , ube jam , strawberry jam , lengua de gato , among others and strawberries as well .By the way we were also able to buy affordable persimmon fruit .  Daniel, my eldest son , ordered for 3 bottles of ube jam , his favorite . While I bought peanut brittle for officemates . Well I miss buying pasalubong for Cathy and Tin who wants all the Baguio goods and the dream catcher for Cathy .

The night market is one enjoyable experience . Never forget to buy the straweberry taho and the sweet corn with milk and cheese fl;avor. We were not able to taste the Korean treats because of the long lines . We had to go back the hotel as we have early work the  next day . We did not anymore come back the  next night because parking area is quite a distance from the night market or the Burnham Park. 

Looking forwatd going back Baguio especially when Tin and Cathy comes back for a visit .

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FAMILY IS LIFE

 Truly indeed family is life . I visited my Mom's house in Manila towards the weekend and what an enjoyable experience eating home cooked meals for the day . I even had a spa treat from my Tita Leony at a nearby nail salon . Then Sunday is Father's Day , we had a lunch treat from my son and daughter in law at a nearby shopping mall . Thereafter we had a coffee treat at a nearby Starbucks store . It was a truly delightful day experiencing the joy of family . 

I use to experience family life almost everyday when all my children were still living with me but now that they have their own lives , we are separated by oceans and skies . Lucky we now have social apps to communicate everyday of our lives but you miss the physical presence of these loved ones . You can no longer hug or kiss them because of the distance of space and time.  So you miss everything that use to be .... merienda of street foods in the aftrenoon after school , movie dates  , dinner treats . 

A vacation should now be scheduled so you can come together in one place and enjoy family time . You have to do a visit to see your Mom or your aunties but these are the times now you have to exert effort to be with them .

So if your family is with you , enjoy your time together now while they are in your house . Hug them , kiss them , spend time together telling stories , conversing and just lie around to savor the moment of family ties .

Thank you Lord for family .

God bless us all !

To Hear God , Be Still and Listen

 We are so use to the noisy world that we have that becoming quiet is such a challenge for all of us. We want background music while reading or meditating or even while exercising . We seem so afraid of the quiet moments of this world that we continuously look for distractions to avoid God's voice. But today we are ask to Be Still so we can listen to God's voice that we evade amidst all the challenges we face everyday of our lives   . But in the quietness of our mind that's where we could hear God's voice , God's urging ,  God's guidance and directions . Keeping us Still will give us the peace we seek and wanted to enjoy in our daily lives .

To some there maybe difficulty keeping still or we seek the wildness of this world and keep looking for the adventure of a lifetime . 

But we will always find ourselves seeking God's love and provisions , finding God is like finding our lost self and going Back Home in the hands of  the Almighty always craving , always seeking , always loving .    

BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED

 In my morning journal I was asking myself how can I be better at work, at home or at the office. Then since it's early morning twilight I was happy seeing myself writing and pouring my hearts out . Then I saw it - Bloom where you are planted - as if the words in the devotional was talking to me  .

Sometimes we look in so many places , trying to find our pot of gold , when it is just around our little corner . We search long and hard and not finding anything when all along the gold is in us or within our reach .

Trying to make that difference when all along the difference is nearby . But we are blinded by realities , fake news , misinformation that we get rattled off by the loud noises and AI. 

We become engross on temporary solutions in our everyday life challenges . when the answer is just an arm reach to us ..

 

What's Slowing You Down ?

 Are you living in a fast pace world ? Always on the go and looking for new adventures . But the pandemic event has in some ways slow us down with all the lockdowns all over the world . We are aware that now life is slowly going back to our normal phase of fast moves and sudden turns . 

But what about you friend ? 

How has life change you for the past 3 years ? Have your goals went into set back mode too just like our everyday life in the past 3 years ?

There was a sudden stop that we experience that even if we want  to move we can not out of our fears , or the world's fears. So how do people pivot again to normal ? 

You can feel that life is back to normal with the crowds in the malls or in public places . But in your heart , is life back to the normal phase ? Or are we still feeling hesitations ? anxieties ? or other mental health issues that's prevalent these past years and that's distracting you to Moving Forward . 

So how do we move forward with all these challenges in our midst ? How do we get back to our usual grove  to bring back our enthusiasm in life and be that achiever again . During the lockdowns when we have so much time in our hands and nothing specific to do I decided to turn to the Lord Jesus and pray the rosary everyday to get assistance from Mama Mary . I also ask protection from the Holy Spirit with his white light of protection . 

It has been 3 years ago but I continue to ask for protection from the Holy Spirit , the blood of Jesus and the cloak of Mama Mary including for my other family members . What a journey it has been and I continue to trust the Lord for his mercy and compassion  . 

To God be the glory !!!