Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba

The best hotel we stayed in during our South America trip was Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba. This hotel was awarded as one of the best new hotels in the world in 2016. I'm very happy that our tour included a one-night stay here.

Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba

We actually didn't have any tour activities on the day that we checked in here. I could have tried planning something but I felt it would be better to just relax because this was our first day in very high elevation; Sacred Valley is about 2,900 meters above sea level, meaning that there is a lot less oxygen in the air. I wasn't sure whether my mom and I would handle the elevation well or not (thankfully, we both did). Since we had no planned activities that afternoon, we got to enjoy our stay at the hotel a lot more.

Upon arrival and while waiting to be taken to our room, we were given Chicha Morada, which is a traditional Peruvian drink made from purple corn. It was actually quite good and refreshing. The fact that we enjoyed this drink while lounging comfortably at the hotel lobby and looking out at majestic mountains made the experience even more blissful. :)

Chicha Morada

We were then taken to our villa. The set-up of this hotel is that it has a central building where you can find the lobby and the restaurant while the villas where guests stay are a short walk away, spread across the mountainside. It was just such a charming set-up.

As if that wasn't enough, our room was very spacious, cozy, elegant, and comfortable. There's a fireplace in the room but we didn't use it.

Even the bathroom was huge and very tastefully designed. It features a large open closet that made it easy to hang our jackets and the clothes we would wear the next day.

We also had a great view of the mountains from our room.

After getting settled, we headed back to the hotel lobby where we spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening.

There are so many comfortable lounging areas here, including this cozy place in front of a fireplace.

Aside from the chicha morada, we also had one additional free drink. Guests had a choice of lemonade or Pisco Sour, which is a Peruvian alcoholic cocktail. My mom ordered the lemonade while I got a Pisco Sour. I love how the lemonade was all glammed up (although it was difficult to drink LOL) while the Pisco Sour had a Superman symbol on it. :)

I spent most of the afternoon and early evening going around the grounds, taking dozens upon dozens of photos.

Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba is a very photogenic hotel, especially at dusk when the lights give it a glorious glow.

The hotel is secluded, meaning that there are no restaurants or convenience stores around, so it made sense to just have dinner at Earth to Table, the hotel restaurant. The cool thing about Earth to Table is that it focuses on using local produce from Urubamba, making it more ecologically friendly and giving guests a good opportunity to enjoy locally grown food.

For dinner, I had the Trucha Pituca de Puno a la Plancha, or Grilled Trout from Lake Titicaca on black quinoa, sauteed prawns, dehydrated onions, toasted fennel, and lavender sauce. It was very good. And healthy, I think. :)

Our tour of Sacred Valley was scheduled the next day, which also meant we already had to check out. Of course, after a nourishing breakfast, we still had time to take more photos before saying farewell to this extraordinary hotel.

Next: Sacred Valley

Lima, Peru

Our first stop in South America was Lima, the capital of Peru.

Government Palace

We spent two nights here before heading to the Sacred Valley and our itinerary included a half-day city tour on the one full day we had in Lima. This meant that we had a free morning to do what we wanted. The guide from Condor Travel who picked us up from the airport shared some information about Lima with us on our way to our hotel. She also told us that most visitors to Lima choose to stay in Miraflores, which is a pretty high-end district with lots of good restaurants, hotels, and shopping areas. We spent our first morning in Lima walking leisurely around Miraflores.

Cobblestone streets in the Miraflores District

Our hotel is a short walk from Parque Kennedy, or Kennedy Park, which is the central plaza of Miraflores. This is where Iglesia Virgen Milagrosa, or the Church of the Miraculous Virgin, can be found.

Iglesia Virgen Milagrosa or Church of the Miraculous Virgin

To get to Parque Kennedy, we passed through what is known as Calle de las Pizzas or Pizza Street. This short alley is lined with restaurants, a few of them pizza places, but it is more popular at night when it becomes a lively and vibrant place where people hang out and have some drinks.

Calle de las Pizzas or Pizza Street

The cool thing about Lima is that is is actually a coastal city. On our way from the airport to our hotel, we passed by the Pacific Ocean. Our hotel was only a short walk from the coast so we decided to head over there for a closer look. Despite it being about 18 degrees Celsius in Lima (I'm sure the water would have felt colder), a lot of people were still surfing.

The Pacific Ocean

At 2pm, we were picked up at our hotel by Condor Travel for our city tour. Our first official stop was at Casa de la Literatura Peruana, or House of the Peruvian Literature. This building used to be Lima's main train station.

Casa de la Literatura Peruana or House of the Peruvian Literature

It is now a library that also houses temporary art exhibits. There are many stained glass windows and a beautiful stained glass ceiling that let a lot of light into the building.

Stained glass ceiling in Casa de la Literatura Peruana

A short walk down the street is Choco Museo, which isn't really a museum but a chocolate shop chain. We didn't buy anything here but my mom did try a free sample.

Choco Museo

We then headed to Plaza Mayor or Plaza de Armas de Lima, which is the main square of Lima. The importance of this square is emphasized by the buildings that surround it. On the west stands the Municipal Palace of Lima, which is where the mayor holds office.

Plaza Mayor and the Municipal Palace of Lima (on the right)

It is flanked on the east by the Basilica Cathedral of Lima and the Archbishop's Palace of Lima. Peru is still a mainly Catholic country, with more than 70% of its population being Catholic. The Archbishop's Palace has ornate cedar balconies. Our tour guide told us that balconies in Lima carry a lot of significance. Collectively, they played a key part in the Historic Centre of Lima being declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archbishop's Palace and the Basilica Cathedral of Lima

Finally, on the north of Plaza Mayor stands the Government Palace, which is the official residence of the president of Peru.

View of the Government Palace from Plaza Mayor

Finally, our tour brought us to the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, which is where we spent the most time during our city tour.

Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo

The first room we visit in our tour of the convent is the guest room, the highlight of which is the gorgeous Mudéjar-style ceiling. This style originates in the Iberian Peninsula that was strongly influenced by Moorish architecture.

Mudéjar-style coffered ceiling of the guest room at the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo

The library holds thousands of centuries-old books, including some of the oldest used by the Dominicans. I'm guessing that this room remains dim to prevent light-related damage of the books and artifacts that are kept here but the low light definitely adds to the magic. I remember muttering an audible "wow" as soon as I stepped in.

Library of the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo

The Church and Convent of Santo Domingo is also famous for its tribute to the Peruvian saints: Santa Rosa de Lima, St. Martin de Porres, and St. John Macias.  Our tour guide told us that 3D printers were used to create models of the skulls of these three saints, which were then used to create impressions of their faces.

3D-printed skull models of the Peruvian saints

The skulls, face impressions, and paintings of these saints are on display at the altarpiece inside the church that is dedicated to them.

The Peruvian saints: St. Martin de Porres, Santa Rosa de Lima, and St. John Macias

Finally, we visited the crypt of Santa Rosa de Lima. When our tour guide found out that my mom and I were from the Philippines, he told us that Santa Rosa was a patron saint of the Philippines. I didn't know this so I decided to do a bit of research on this afterwards. It seems she used to be a co-patron of the Philippines and was moved to second-class patronage in September 1942 by Pope Pius XII. In fact, Santa Rosa City in Laguna is named after her and there is a parish dedicated to her in the city.

The crypt of Santa Rosa de Lima

If I could redo my trip to Lima (or if we had one extra day), I would love to visit Plaza San Martin just to marvel at, and take photos of, the beautiful buildings around this plaza and the massive monument of Jose de San Martin, who is known as the Liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. I would also love to walk around Park of the Exhibition, which features beautiful structures and is surrounded by buildings that feature impressive architecture. Instead of walking down towards the beach, I would head up to Parque del Amor, or Park of Love, which offers grand views of the Pacific Ocean amidst a beautiful park with many spots that are ideal for photo ops. I would also ask our tour guide to give us maybe an extra five minutes at the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo so we could buy a rosary at the church. My mom wanted to buy a rosary but our bus was on its way to pick us up and the person at the shop couldn't speak English so my mom ended up getting just a postcard. Still, it was a good start to our South American sojourn.

Next: Inkaterra Hacienda Urumbamba, our hotel in Sacred Valley

Prepping for our South America Trip

It started some time after my trip to Russia back in 2013. I realized then that while it was enjoyable for me to travel and see more of the world, I wanted my family to see more of the world too. In fact, I started thinking of some of the countries I've been to that I would like the rest of my family to see. I then decided that my future international trips should almost always include at least one other member of my family. I mapped out a list of countries that I wanted to visit and also take my family to, did some high level estimates of how much each trip would cost, and spread out these trips over the next 15-20 years in a way that I could save enough money for all of them. (Talk about long-term planning LOL.) I also knew that it would be better to go to the places that are difficult to visit sooner since I would still be younger and fitter and I would have more energy. As such, South America seemed like the obvious pick for my next international trip, what with the long flights, the language barrier, and some degree of physical activity and exertion required in a trip to this continent. I asked my mom if she was interested to visit Machu Picchu and she said she was. I then decided that my next trip would be to South America and I would take my mom there.

 Machu Picchu, Peru

The initial plan was to go on this trip in 2017. There were five places I specifically wanted to visit: Machu Picchu in Peru, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Iguassu/Iguazu Falls in Brazil/Argentina, the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, and Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Four countries would be a bit too much so I decided to plan a trip to Peru, Brazil, and Argentina first. (Bolivia could come later.)

Iguazu Falls (from the Argentina side)

I started the more detailed planning in 2016. A friend of mine went to Peru and Brazil on a DIY trip so she shared her itinerary with me, along with a lot of travel tips. However, given that I would be traveling with my mom, taking a tour seemed like a better idea because it would be a lot more convenient. Another friend who had also been to South America suggested I try to book a tour with Condor Travel. I searched for tour options from Condor Travel and I saw a three-country tour of Peru, Brazil, and Argentina. It was almost perfect; I say almost because that tour did not include a visit to Perito Moreno. Condor Travel did have a separate tour of Perito Moreno so I sent an email to Condor Travel asking them if it was possible to combine those two tours and how much it would cost. Condor Travel then directed me to their partner Journeyou. This started what would end up being more than 200 emails sent to and received from Journeyou from 2016 all the way up to 2018.

Mini-trekking in the Perito Moreno Glacier

The original plan was to go on this trip in September 2017. However, I just started a new job. Also, when I finally told my mom that she would need to go on leave for three weeks, she said she wasn't ready to be gone that long from work yet. (She initially thought she would just need to be out for maybe 1-2 weeks.) As such, we decided to postpone our trip to 2018 instead. And now, after all that planning, saving, preparation, and rescheduling, we finally made it to South America. And what a fantastic trip it was!

View of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from Corcovado Mountain

This was our itinerary:

Day 0 - depart Manila
Day 1 - arrival in Lima. Peru
Day 2 - half-day tour of Lima in the afternoon
Day 3 - flight to Cusco, travel to and check into Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba in Sacred Valley, which has a lower altitude than Cusco to help in acclimatization
Day 4 - Sacred Valley tour, train to Machu Picchu, overnight in Machu Picchu
Day 5 - half-day tour of Machu Picchu, train to Cusco
Day 6 - free day in Cusco
Day 7 - flight to and overnight in Lima
Day 8 - flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Day 9 - whole day Rio de Janeiro tour
Day 10 - flight to Iguassu; Iguassu falls Brazil side short tour
Day 11 - cross the border to Argentina, Iguazu falls Argentina side half-day tour
Day 12 - flight to Buenos Aires
Day 13 - Buenos Aires half-day tour in the morning, dinner and Argentinean Tango show at night
Day 14 - flight to El Calafate
Day 15 - Perito Moreno Glacier whole day tour with mini-trekking
Day 16 - flight to Buenos Aires
Day 17 - flight to Lima, then flight back to Manila
Day 18 - in transit
Day 19 - arrival in Manila (it's a 35-hour flight via Europe and due to the time difference, we essentially lose a day)

Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru at night

Next: Lima, Peru

South America Trip of a Lifetime

Conceptualization started four years ago. Detailed planning started two years ago. More than 200 emails sent back and forth to my travel agent based halfway around the world. A lot of effort spent on visa application and flight booking. The result? An unforgettable trip of a lifetime to South America that brought me and my mom to three countries - Peru, Brazil, and Argentina - and allowed me to visit four places that have been in my bucket list for more than a decade. These were:

1. Machu Picchu in Peru

2. Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) in Brazil

3. Iguassu/Iguazu falls in Brazil/Argentina

4. Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina

My mom and I spent 17 days in South America, took a total of 12 flights, and stayed in 10 different hotels. We also had to fly through Europe instead of the US or Canada because we didn't have transit visas. This meant that it took us 35 hours to go from the Philippines to Peru and 35 hours from Peru to Manila. It also meant that this trip was both expensive and exhausting. Still, it was absolutely worth it as it was very exhilarating, enriching, and soul-stirring. I will be writing in detail about this fantastic experience over the next several blog posts.

Dimash and his incredible voice!

I discovered Kazakh singer Dimash maybe about a year ago and I was blown away by fantastic, otherworldly voice. I came across this particular video just recently. His voice, his range, his control are truly spectacular. For me, he has one of the best voices in the world. Check it out.


video uploaded in youtube by Посольство Беларуси

Pixar's Coco

I missed Coco during its theatrical run but I heard and read such positive feedback about it that when it was shown on Fox Movies, I just had to watch it.  Now that I've seen it, I have to say it definitely lived up to the hype, if not exceeded it.

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_(2017_film)

When publicity for Coco started coming out, I wasn't too keen on watching it because I felt it was too similar to the animated film The Book of Life that came out in 2014. Both were set in Mexico on the Day of the Dead and the lead characters in both films had guitars and were passionate about music. Given that The Book of Life was released 3 years before Coco, I felt that Pixar should've taken a different direction thematically.

However, the countless glowing reviews from just about everyone made me want to see it. Unfortunately, I missed its theatrical run in Manila. Thankfully, it was featured on Fox Movies. I now strongly agree with the general concensus because I think Coco is one of the best animated films I've seen so far.

The story is great and I love the twist that greatly changes the complexion and the urgency of the plot. Gotta say, I didn't see that one coming. Furthermore, the world of the dead in this film is beautifully created. The writing is excellent and compelling, enabling the audience to go through the same emotional journey that the characters are on. I was excited when Imelda finally started to sing again, I felt frantic when Miguel dropped Hector's picture, and I felt even more frantic and heartbroken when Miguel was trying to get his great grandmother Coco to remember her father.

The voice acting in this movie is also topnotch. While the adults were all remarkable, it was the voice actor of Miguel, Anthony Gonzalez (who was about 11 years old when he did his voice work for Coco), who was most outstanding. Considering he is so young, he delivered such an emotive, nuanced performance that helped carry the film. I'm not the only one who thinks so too, since Anthony won Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production at the Annie Awards. As if that wasn't enough, he sings really well too! And while we're on the subject, the music in Coco is great. While Remember Me won best song at the Oscars, I actually preferred Un Poco Loco and Proud Corazon (the song Miguel sings at the end) a lot more.

Coco is such a tremendously beautiful film. I think this may just make its way to my top ten animated films of all time.

Goodbye, Ludo Makati

Another sad moment for the Metro Manila board gaming community. Ludo: Boardgame Bar and Bistro in Makati is now closed. They shared this post on facebook a month ago:



My friends and I spent many fun evenings in Ludo Makati so we decided to play there one last time before it closed. While we normally play the games that are available there, this time around, we brought a couple of games with us, although we only got to play one of the games we brought: Radiers of the North Sea. Cla had been raving about this game so a lot of us were very interested to try it. In this worker placement game, you have Viking warriors and you try to gain the most points by raiding the most valuable settlements, increasing your military strength, and going up the Valkyrie track when your Vikings perish during raids. We got to play it twice that night. I won the first game and placed a close second in the next game (I lost by only 2 points). Thankfully, the game lived up to the hype and I enjoyed it. It's currently ranked 117 on BoardGameGeek so I guess many other people enjoy playing this game too.

Raiders of the North Sea

The other new game I got to play that night was Bärenpark. This is a tile-laying game where players try to build the best bear parks :). The tiles are of different shapes and sizes so the strategy involved is figuring out where on your park to place any of the tiles currently in your hand so that you get the tiles that you want that will fit and cover as much of the space left in your park. It's a cool, quick game and despite the fact that all of us had not played it before, we picked up on the gameplay quite quickly. In fact, we ended up playing it three times. I won on my third try, and it was a pretty good win because in the previous games, everyone completed their bear parks once end-game was triggered but in this last game, I was the only one able to completely fill my park. I ended up with the highest score of the night in that game - 107 - which was also the only time any of us breached 100. Cool! Cla has now gotten her own copy of this game so I am sure we will get to play this again.

Bärenpark

We started the afternoon with me teaching Kat how to play Sagrada  and we ended the night playing Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, another game I really like, I did my coffee plantation approach, which is the same thing I did the last time I played this game (also in Ludo). This must be a good approach because both times that I employed this strategy, I won. :)

It's too bad Ludo: Boardgame Bar and Bistro is now closed. I guess if I want another Ludo experience, I can gather my friends who are based in the North to play in their QC branch.

Manila Pen Staycation

After I stayed at Hotel Intercon a few years ago, I got reminded of the Peninsula Manila, or more popularly called Manila Pen, and how I used to stay there quite a bit. Not because I had lots of money to throw away LOL but because the company I worked for had a fantastic corporate rate with Manila Pen. In fact, I wasn't the only one who did this; many of my colleagues did the same. Anyway, I was looking for hotel rooms recently because I wanted to book a place for a game night I was hosting when I saw that Manila Pen had some good rates. While I didn't originally plan on booking a room here, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to book a room here for a weekend staycation.

It's been such a long time since I stayed at the Manila Pen so my memory could be deceiving me but the room I booked seems to be a bit more modern than what I remember. I don't know if this is because they renovated in the last decade. In any case, the room looked really good.

My booking didn't include breakfast so I was initially toying with the idea of just paying for it but I think the buffet breakfast cost P1,600++ so I decided to just sleep in and skip breakfast altogether. :) I do remember enjoying the breakfast spread at the Manila Pen so maybe the next time I am there, I will make a booking that includes breakfast. I have to say that the lobby still remains one of the best hotel lobbies in Manila, with its very high ceiling, its spaciousness, the lighting, and the atmosphere. Every time I passed by the lobby, whether when I was checking in or out or heading out for dinner, it was full of people enjoying the hotel lobby service.

I found my weekend staycation at the Peninsula Manila to be very cozy, comfortable, and luxurious and the vibe in the hotel is still great. If I see a good deal online, maybe I might just book a room here again.

Que Jianyu Juggles and Solves 3 Rubik's Cubes!

Wow, I am lost for words. It's hard enough to solve a Rubik's cube under time pressure, much less three of them simultaneously. But to do so while juggling all three of them? I am absolutely blown away. This kid, Que Jianyu, is not only a genius, he is also extremely adroit with preternatural hand-to-eye coordination.

video uploaded in youtube by Guinness World Records

The interesting thing is that the Guinness World Record he got is for the fastest time to solve three Rubik's cubes while juggling them. Does that means other people can do it and have held the record before? I guess if this kid can do it, it's not hard to imagine there are at least a few other geniuses out there in the world like him. Gotta, I loved his reactions when he completed the task and then again when his Guinness World Record was confirmed. Congratulations, Que Jianyu!

Kanban, Grand Austria Hotel, and Other Games

One of the most interesting new board games recently is Kanban: Driver's Edition. This is one of the most complex games I had played in a while. The premise of the game is that you are a worker at a car assembly line company and you are looking to achieve the strongest results that will be noticed by plant manager and the board of directors. These results can be in the form of the number of cars, car part upgrades, and tested designs you have, certifications you've attained, and performance goals you've achieved.

Kanban: Driver's Edition

It's really quite complex since you need to keep track of so many things at the same time. I had to ask our game master to explain how to get tested designs and do upgrades on more than one occasion. So I was pretty shocked that I ended up winning since I didn't think I was being that competitive. I guess my strategy of getting as many tested designs as possible - even without knowing how they were scored LOL - and getting seats at the board and achieving many performance goals helped.

The Kanban board gives you an idea just how busy this game is

Kanban: Driver's Edition is from the same maker as The Gallerist - Vital Lacerda - and a friend of mine asked me whether I preferred The Gallerist or Kanban. I had to tell him that it at this point in time, it feels like I like Kanban more, but I'm not sure if it's because of the car theme, because I played it more recently, or because I won. That said, I do think The Gallerist is not as complex (although it is complex enough as it is) and I do like the premise of that one as well. I would definitely like to play Kanban again.

While we're on the topic, I also broke a promise I made to myself late last year: that I wouldn't any new board games until I had played 75% of the games and expansions I had. I hadn't reached that target quite yes - I have only played 2/3 of my games and expansions - but an opportunity presented itself that warranted this oath to be broken. Someone posted on a social media page I follow that he was selling three games at a steal price - Dinosaur Island, Grand Austria Hotel, and Super Motherload - and two of them were games that I really wanted to get. Grand Austria Hotel had been in my radar since last year and none of my friends have it. I also thought my other boardgaming groups would enjoy Dinosaur Island because of it's theme and its gameplay. As such, I decided to forego my promise to myself and get those games. The cool thing is that soon after I made this purchase, I got to play both Dinosaur Island and Grand Austria Hotel already.

My new games

While I had played Dinosaur Island before, I hadn't played Grand Austria Hotel yet so in our July game night, I read the rules and taught my friends (not very well, unfortunately) how to play. The object of this game is to run the most successful hotel by having the best and the most guests stay in your hotel rooms, hire the best staff, and achieve game objectives. I ended up in second place but I was happy that I got to have the most guests. It was the first time any of us played Grand Austria Hotel and I didn't explain the rules well enough so my friends said that we should play it again soon.

My hotel and staff in Grand Austria Hotel

The problem with getting new games is that it kinda opened the floodgates a bit. It didn't help that Ludo in Makati was closing so all games had 20% discount when paying with cash (and 10% with card). Because of this, I ended up getting a couple of new expansions as well -Scythe The Wind Gambit and Dungeon Petz Dark Alleys. With so many new games and expansions, I need to be a bit more disciplined and not get more of them LOL. Hopefully, I get to achieve my 75% target by the end of the year. :)

More Reunions

This year continues to be the year of reconnecting for me, and I'm very grateful for the many opportunities I've had to spend quality time with so many wonderful people. The biggest reunion I had this year was with the department I worked in in my second company. It was multiple generations of our department, but as I did work there for many years, I actually recognized majority of the people who were there. I hadn't seen many of them in more than a decade so it was tremendously satisfying to spend a wonderful evening catching up with many incredibly amazing people like Angel, Ces, Ella, Led, Afi, Vei, Romi, Benj, and many more. It was also the first time I got to see Kleng since she returned to Manila, despite a couple of attempts for us to meet up prior to that.

There was a smaller version of that reunion a few weeks earlier. Amy and Duncan were in Manila and they had very limited time to meet up with friends so they organized dinner one stormy night in BGC. I got stuck in bad traffic so I only made it for dessert. Not only did I get to catch up with both of them (and their kids who are now both really big), I also got to hang out with Shawie, Michelle, Marion, and Celle. I think the last time I hung out with Michelle and Marion was during team events. With Shawie, it was even longer, because it must have been when we were still working on the same project maybe 16 or 17 years ago. Wow!

I also had dinner with Kat, Sol, and Aren in Spatzle in Shang Mall. Aren requested that we meet in Shang Mall and I suggested Spatzle because it is one of my favorite restaurants there. The last time I saw Sol was more than a year ago - we both resigned on the same day - and I last saw Aren during the wedding of Auds and Primo a few years ago. It was a lot of fun hearing the new challenges each of us were facing since all of us were now working in different places. It was also really fun to hear Sol talk about her recent furniture purchases. :) I'm happy that the folks also enjoyed the food in Spatlze. I normally order the Roesti Complet when I'm there but that night, I ordered the Risotto con Maiale, which is creamy truffle risotto with crisp pork belly and asparagus. It was really good!

Risotto con Maiale from Spatzle

Not all my recent get-togethers were done over dinner, though. One of them, with my college friends, was done over brunch. Lala went to a wine sale and she took orders from many of us. She had a few boxes of wine so she suggested that we have brunch in Ortigas so everyone can get their orders. We had breakfast at Wildflour in Podium and it was good that Jed was able to join us because he had a flight that afternoon.

I also got to catch up with Krizel for coffee at UCC on a day that I didn't have work. It was funny because this was the second time we were having coffee together and each time, there are just so many stories to share before she had to go back to work that we always forgot to take a photo of ourselves. The cool thing was that after coffee/brunch with Krizel, I had dinner with AJ and Tin later in the evening. It had been more than a year since I had dinner with AJ and Tin and it's always great catching up with these two because there are always a ton of stories to share. AJ is getting married soon and she is really busy with the preparations so thankfully, we found a schedule that worked for all of us. Tin wanted to have dinner somewhere not too near her office so we ended up meeting in Little Flour, which is Wildflour's little sister. Funny how I ended up catching with two separate sets of friends in the "flour" sisters in a short period of time. :)

Finally, another brunch reunion. (Can you say Titos and Titas of Manila? LOL) Alvin was in Manila and was staying in the Rockwell area so he asked if anyone from our high school batch was free for brunch in that area. A few of us were so we joined him in Refinery. I see Joyce a lot and I've seen Elaine a few times over the last few years but I can't really remember the last time I saw Alvin so it must have been many years ago. We met at 10:30 and while Alvin had to leave at 1pm for another appointment, the rest of us hung out together until almost 2:30pm. There were some discussions about more plans that our high school batch has so I'm excited to see those plans brought to fruition.

Kitchen Sink Catastrophe

So I was pulling stuff out from the cabinet underneath my kitchen sink when I felt that it was warm inside. I wasn't quite sure why. That is, until I started moving things around and I noticed that a paper bag was soaking wet. It was at that point that I realized that there was a leak somewhere.  I immediately asked a plumber to take a look. When he checked my plumbing, he told me that the flexible hoses were leaking and that I had to replace them with new ones. It was late in the evening with no chance to buy the hoses until the next day so the plumber told me to just call again once I had the hoses.

The next day, I got the correct hoses from a hardware store and I asked the plumber to come back. However, it was a different guy who came (the one who visited me the previous night had already gone home that evening) so I had to explain to this new guy what the problem was. He said that it was only one of the two flexible hoses that had a problem so he replaced just the one and told me to keep the other as a back-up. I thanked him for his help.

A couple of hours later, I felt that my cabinet would already be dry enough for me to put back all the stuff in it when I notice that a puddle had formed underneath the hoses again. There was still a leak. I asked the plumber to come back and he said that the other hose was apparently also leaking. I hand him my second hose and he proceeded to remove the leaky one that was still currently installed to replace it.

Then, disaster. Apparently, the plumber didn't turn the water source off so as soon as he removed the defective hose, water started to come out of my plumbing, much like water coming out of a faucet that was fully turned all the way up. It badly drenched the bottom of my cabinet and very quickly, water started pouring outside the cabinet. The plumber initially stuck an empty water bottle underneath the nozzle and told me to hold it in place while he turned off the power source. Unfortunately, the water flow was so strong that the water bottle filled up really quickly. I swapped it with a bucket. After several seconds, the bucket was close to being filled when finally the water stopped flowing. To say that was stressful was a big understatement.

It was 11:30PM when this happened and while I was initially very thankful that the plumber was helping me late at night, I was now quite irate. After all, it should be in a plumber's standard operating procedure to make sure that the water source is shut down before trying to repair any plumbing problems. I now had to dry my cabinet and the surrounding areas at close to midnight on a week night instead of getting ready to go to bed. It was around 12:30am when I finished cleaning up but I was still in a pretty foul mood, which meant that I couldn't even sleep immediately.

The positive thing is that at least the leak in my kitchen sink has been repaired. I also ended up noticing quite a few items in my cabinet that I didn't need anymore so I ended up doing some decluttering and throwing out stuff I didn't need anymore. Still, it was quite an unpleasant experience in the middle of the week at a very inopportune time. Hopefully, I don't have any other similar problems in the near future.

MSJO win 1st place at the Summa Cum Laude Festival!

This is more than a week late but this piece of news made me very happy. The Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) returned to Austria this year to compete again at the Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival and they finished in First Place with outstanding success in the String Orchestra Category. Congratulations!



I became fans of the MSJO when I saw them perform last year. It was already an incredible honor that they represented the Philippines at this prestigious international festival so I felt that their second place finish in 2017 was already a massive achievement. Little did I know that a year later, they would go a step further by winning 1st place. Amazing!!!

My friend texted me late this afternoon asking me if I was interested to watch the performance of the MSJO and other orchestras at the CCP tonight but I wasn't available. It's been more than a year since I got to see them perform so I am hoping I can watch them again soon.

Congratulations again, Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra!

Wimbledon 2018

Wimbledon was incredibly interesting for many reasons. First, it marks the return of Novak Djokovic at the pinnacle of the tennis world, beating Kevin Anderson in straight sets in the final to claim his fourth Wimbledon title and his 13th Grand Slam singles title. He is now just one short of Pete Sampras' 14 majors, which is amazing because many thought that 14 would be an impossible record to break in our lifetimes. Now, both Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal have gone past that mark and Novak is knocking on the door.

Back In The Winners' Circle❗️#Wimbledon🏆 No. 4
Grand Slam 🏆 No. 13
Tour-Level 🏆 No. 69

Novak Djokovic beats Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) to triumph at The Championships.

➡️ https://t.co/Isfm5bbYK2 pic.twitter.com/ehtkyVnZ4f

— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) July 15, 2018

Second, this Wimbledon featured the tightest and most competitive set of quarterfinals and semifinals on the men's side that I can recall. All four quarterfinal matches went 4 or 5 sets. As if that wasn't enough, both semifinals not only went 5 sets, they went beyond regulation. Novak beat Rafa 10-8 in the 5th while Kevin Anderson beat John Isner 26-24 (!!!) in the 5th set of a match that lasted more than 6 hours. The final was a bit anticlimactic but the quarterfinals and semifinals provided so much drama and excitement to make this major a very memorable one.

Third, the women's final also featured some amazing comebacks. After getting to the finals of 3 of the 4 majors in 2016, Angelique Kerber couldn't get beyond the semis in 6 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments - and in fact she didn't get past the 1st week at all the majors last year - and now, she overcame 7-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams in a rematch of the 2016 final which Serena won. Serena's run to the finals was also impressive and inspiring considering that this is only her 4th tournament back from giving birth (and it was a difficult birth for her too). Many people, including me, were expecting Serena to win but I guess she just didn't quite have the level of consistency that she needed to have. I guess that nerves and pressure were also a factor, since a win would have allowed her to tie the all-time Grand Slam record of 24 titles held by the legendary Margaret Court. Here's an interesting stat: Angelique Kerber becomes only the second woman in history to beat Serena Williams twice in major finals. Amazing.

#SAPStatOfTheDay @AngeliqueKerber is making her own history with her @Wimbledon title! @SAPSports pic.twitter.com/KxYsqprAjL

— WTA (@WTA) July 14, 2018

Fourth, Kevin Anderson. He reached his 2nd major final but his path was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it was so close to ending a couple of rounds earlier. When Roger Federer was up 2 sets to 0 and had a match point during their quarterfinal, I thought the match would be over. A few hours later, Kevin provided the biggest shock of the tournament by coming back from 0-2 and match point down to beat Roger 13-11 in the 5th set. As if that wasn't enough, his semifinal against John Isner ran all the way up to 26-24 in the 5th set in the longest semifinal and the second longest match at Wimbledon. In both cases, he was actually serving second in the final set, which is often viewed as a disadvantage mentally because the player is always playing catch-up and as such is always under just a bit more pressure. Kevin also now holds another record: he has played more games in a single Wimbledon - 332 - than anyone else in history.

Another lengthy record goes the way of Kevin Anderson...#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/tX9a3aGQKi

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 15, 2018

Still on Kevin, one of the most memorable points of the tournament came at the 49th game of the 5th set when Kevin fell to the ground after getting jammed by Isner's serve, picked up the racquet with his left (read: non-dominant) hand and hit a decent deep return that prevented Isner from attacking him. He eventually won that point. That he was able to do this after more than 6 hours of play is just mind-blowing. Check it out here.


video uploaded in youtube by Wimbledon

Fifth, I'm really happy that Rafa Nadal got to the semifinals. After getting to the final in 2011, he couldn't get beyond the 4th round in Wimbledon in the years that followed. That is, until this year. With Federer losing in the quarterfinals and Rafa getting to the semis, he increases his led at the top of the ATP rankings. I think he might remain at the top at least until the US Open. Cool.

Now, on both the men's and women's tour, we have different champions at each of the majors. Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, and Novak Djokovic won on the men's side and Caroline Wozniacki, Simona Halep, and Angelique Kerber won on the women's side. Will this trend continue at the US Open? We'll find out in a couple of months.

Unilab "Son"

This Unilab commercial entitled "Son" is one of my favorite advertisements ever.


video uploaded in youtube by UNILAB

I love this commercial for many reasons. The narrative is tremendously moving and it paints a realistic portrait of the challenges and even the loneliness that artists face. It is very well acted, the music is touching, and the artwork featured towards the end of the video is beautiful. I also love how it shows that while a parent's love and support for their children may seem unappreciated, it does make a difference.

National Bookstore Project Aral

Earlier this month, I swung by National Bookstore to buy a couple of supplies. As I was paying for my purchases, the cashier asked me if I wanted to make a Project Aral donation.

The donation is in the form of a care package. There are 2 options: the first kit includes two notebooks, two pencils, a sharpener, and an eraser and costs P30 while the second kit contains those same items plus a pair of slippers for P60. I decided to get the second kit since I felt that many underprivileged kids walk to school barefoot and a pair of slippers seemed like a good idea.

This project seems to be all-year round although the kits are probably only displayed in National Bookstore branches shortly before a new school year starts. You can still make a donation through the NBS website: https://www.nationalbookstore.com/project-aral-2018. I'm not sure how many donations have been made but I did see a tweet from NBS that "over 28 schools and 6,000 students in Tawi-tawi" received Project Aral kits. That's amazing.

Thanks to you, over 28 schools and 6,000 students in Tawi-tawi have received #ProjectAral kits. Keep making children across the Philippines smile and have a great back to school by donating. pic.twitter.com/yRnUT2edaq

— National Book Store (@nbsalert) June 16, 2018

I realized when I left that maybe I should have made a bigger donation but another opportunity presented itself shortly after that. My friend Zaza volunteered for a project that was trying to raise funds to buy books and school supplies for schools of indigenous peoples in the Philippines. I decided to make a donation through her and when she shared everything that their team was able to buy and donate to the schools and the students, I was amazed at how much they were able to raise and how many people they were able to help.

These recent donations have made me want to be more active in volunteer work again. There are still so many people in the country and in the world who need help and so many causes that need more support.

Movie watching in June

Incredibles 2

Photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incredibles_2

The Incredibles is one of my favorite animated films so when this sequel was announced, on the one hand I was excited to see what would happen but on the other hand I also had a bit of trepidation that this second outing wouldn't live up to the greatness of the first. Thankfully, it did. In fact, I find it to be a perfect sequel in that its story integrates seamlessly and effortlessly with the first. In fact, I feel that if you watch both movies one after the other, it would be like you're watching just one film. The script and the characters are all very well-written. Jack-Jack proves to be a bit of a star here but everyone has their moments, including the very cool Edna Mode. I also loved the introduction of many new heroes and the fight scenes and action sequences are very well-choreographed and executed. Considering that I watched so many good movies already this year, this might just be close to, if not at, the top of my list of favorite films I've seen in 2018.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_World:_Fallen_Kingdom

I am, and will always be, a sucker for dinosaur films so I made sure to see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom even if it wasn't getting very good reviews. The movie takes the moral question of the creation of life to another level with the impending destruction of Isla Nublar and the debates as to whether the dinosaurs should be saved or left to perish. Aside from that, the story is pretty simple: sell dinosaurs for indecent amounts of money and create even more monstrous, genetically-engineered ones. For the most part, I really enjoyed the movie, although I will say that the greater moral dilemma about genetic engineering that is tackled towards the end of the movie was, for me, a bit out of place (I mean, it's a very good topic for discourse, except I wasn't expecting it in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom).

Eden Cheese: Drayber

I remembered this video because it was Father's Day last Sunday. I saw it a while back and I was moved by it for many reasons. It's a commercial for Eden Cheese entitled "Drayber" and I think it was released last year.


video uploaded in youtube by Eden Cheese PH

What I liked about this ad was how it pays homage to single mothers who also take on the role of father to their children. But beyond that, I was tremendously moved by its vivid imagery of how life is for many people who are not born into privilege. The mother has taken on many jobs, all of which require a lot of physical, mental, and emotional energy, just to make ends meet. She then comes home to her children who prepare a special meal for her: giniling that is made even more special by cubes of Eden cheese added to it. It was that scene that actually hit me. To many people, giniling is a regular meal that they can easily have on any given day. And here, this family prepares giniling as a celebration dinner. It just makes you realize that many things we take for granted are things that are very special and of great value to many others.

I'm not sure how this family came to become a single-mother family. If you look at 0:09 of the video, you will see a picture that seems to include the father so I don't know if he passed away, left them, or if his absence is due to some other reason. In any case, I found it tremendously heartwarming to see the great love this family had for each other. I stupidly ended up looking through the comments section and saw so much vitriol spewed against this ad - from homophobic remarks to anger that it wasn't a real father who was being celebrated in this video. In my opinion, those people seemed to have missed the point of what I thought was a very well-made commercial. Kudos to Eden Cheese and the advertising team for creating and releasing this commercial.

French Open #11!

Congratulations Rafa Nadal for winning the French Open for a mind-blowing 11th time! He just keeps on adding on to the records he holds and it is just incredible to witness. Rafa just refuses to relinquish his throne as the King of Clay.

It never gets old, does it @RafaelNadal?

The King of Clay captures his 11th Roland-Garros title 6-4 6-3 6-2.

Rien n'arrête Rafa ! 11e titre pour l'Espagnol ici à Roland-Garros et son 57e titre sur terre-battue.

👉 https://t.co/xP28FRO671 pic.twitter.com/UzI4tcyikb

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 10, 2018

Let's break down just how phenomenal Nadal's win is:

• Rafa is now in a tie with Margaret Court for the most titles won in a single Grand Slam tournament (Court won the Australian Open 11 times).
• Rafa now has 17 major titles. A decade or so ago, it seemed unlikely if not impossible for a male player to get close to the singles Grand Slam count of tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Now, Federer has passed them and Rafa is just one shy of tying them. Amazing.
• His record at the French Open is 86 wins and 2 losses. That is just unreal.
• By defending his title, he retains the ATP #1 ranking.
• He has now won three tournaments eleven times. No other male player has won an event 11 times and now Rafa has achieved this three times.

Given the way that he is playing now, barring any injury, I think he still has a good chance to add more Roland Garros singles titles in the future. Many people thought would not be able to stay at the top of the game for too long given how physically exhausting his playing style is but he has continued to defy the odds and show the world the importance of passion and hard work.

*****

I am also happy that Simona Halep finally shakes off the "best player never to have won" a Grand Slam title by coming from behind to beat Sloane Stephens in three sets in the final. She lost three Grand Slam finals - 2 of them at the French Open in 2014 and in 2017  and one at the Australian Open earlier this year - so I was rooting for her to win. By beating Garbine Muguruza in the semifinals, she also ensured that she would remain #1.

Words can’t describe how happy the last 24 hours have been for me. I’ve read so many messages & social media posts that’ve brought tears to my eyes that I can’t thank you enough. Sorry for a few bumps along the way 🤷‍♀️🙄 but we finally got there!☺️💪 Lots of love, Simo ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Rzvs6fzN1Y

— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) June 10, 2018

That said, my second favorite moment in Roland Garros (Rafa's win was obviously my favorite) was seeing Nicolas Mahut's son run on court and jump into Nicolas' arms to celebrate the doubles title that Mahut won with his partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert. It is just such a beautiful moment:

🤗 and 😘@p2hugz @nmahut #RG18 pic.twitter.com/R5QJmOtHzv

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2018

Congratulations to all the French Open winners!