[Throwback] Playa Del Carmen and Xcaret

Playa Del Carmen is a city on the Eastern coast of Mexico. It's less than 60 kilometers away from Cancun. Everyone attending the wedding stayed at one of the RIU hotels in the city (apparently, there are a handful of them!). Amy and John arranged for transport for the entire party (it was a relatively small wedding and everyone fit in one coaster). This meant that we all went from the hotel to the church to the reception and then back to the hotel together. Amy and John asked me if I could help remember all the wedding guests by name and by face - they gave me a few pages with all the guests and their pictures - so that I could ensure that everyone was in the transport before it left. (When I watched the Devil Wears Prada a couple of years later, that scene where Andy and Emily have to memorize the names and faces of all Miranda's guests reminded me of my assignment in Mexico haha.) I gotta say, I think I did pretty well remembering and accounting for everyone since no one was left behind.

Amy and John's wedding reception

The next day, I visited Xcaret Park, a water amusement park in the Riviera Maya not too far from Playa Del Carmen. I learned about this place through a travel brochure I saw at the hotel and I decided I wanted to go.

Xcaret Park

There are several things to do here. There was an underground river that went around the park and guests can get on a large swim ring and just float down the river with the current.

Visitors enjoying the facilities at the park

There is a shallow lagoon that held several sea creatures such as sting rays...

Sting ray

...and turtles.

Guests can see dozens of turtles at the park

Guests can also see lots of marine life through an underwater viewing area.

An ominous-looking barracuda

My most memorable experience in Xcaret Park was getting to swim with dolphins!

You can swim with dolphins at Xcaret Park

In the evening, guests can enjoy a Mexican culture show. It started out with performers simulating an ancient Maya ball game called Pok-ta-pok. This was then followed by a series of cultural performances, including traditional Mexican songs, dances, and music. It was a great show!

Evening entertainment at Xcaret Park

Next post: Chichen Itza

[Throwback] Guadalupe and Teotihuacan

There were a couple of places I absolutely wanted to visit in Mexico. One was Guadalupe because of its significance in the Catholic faith. The other was a Mexican pyramid (I didn't know enough about them at the time to know which one/s to visit but I knew I had to see at least one). When I arrived at my hotel in Mexico, I immediately checked some tour brochures and I saw one that would take me to Guadalupe and Teotihuacan, an ancient city where one can see the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. I instantly booked this tour which I then took the next day.

Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan

Our first stop was Tlatelolco, an ancient Aztec city that is just a short distance away from Templo Mayor. We didn't get to go in but we stopped by briefly so our guide could talk about it a bit and so we could take photos.

Tlatelolco

We then headed to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. One of the most important artifacts to see here is the tilma (cloak) of Juan Diego who saw the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Archbishop Juan de Zumarraga didn't believe in Juan Diego's claims about what he saw so the Virgin Mary asked him to go up the mountain to pick some flowers. He wrapped these flowers in his tilma and presented them to the archbishop.  It turns out that these flowers were Castilian roses which were not found in Mexico at that time. Furthermore, the tilma now had an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. While there are questions about the accuracy of this story and the authenticity of this tilma, I felt I still wanted to see it as it has served as an inspiration of faith to millions worldwide.

Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe

There are several buildings in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Due to our limited time here, I got to visit Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey (Old Basilica of Guadalupe)...

Old Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

...and the New Basilica of Guadalupe.

Inside the New Basilica of Guadalupe

We made a quick stop at a tourist spot/shop where Mexican souvenirs were being sold. Here, we got to have a shot of tequila (part of our tour). Our guide explained that tequila is made from the agave plant. I'm not a fan of tequila but I had to have it when I was there. I gotta say, the shot we had was really good! As I recall, it was pretty smooth and it had a really good flavor.

An Agave plant, from which tequila is made

Finally, we visited Teotihuacan, a holy city that was very significant during pre-Spanish times. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The massive Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building here.

Pyramid of the Sun

Visitors are allowed to go up!

Going up the Pyramid of the Sun

From the top, you have great views of Teotihuacan, including that of the Pyramid of the Moon.

Pyramid of the Moon, seen from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun

Visitors are also treated to a fantastic view of the grounds and the Avenue of the Dead from the Pyramid of the Moon.

Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan

Another significant structure is the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, who was a very important Aztec deity.

Temple of Quetzalcoatl

Our tour only lasted half a day but before we returned to Mexico City, we had lunch at a restaurant that served Mexican food. While I really love the more popular dishes such as tacos, burritos, enchiladas, I decided to have a Mexican mole because I had never had it before. A mole is which is a dish served with dark sauce, kinda like a curry but with a different flavor. I'm glad I ordered it because I enjoyed it and I think to that might have been the only time in my life I've had it.

Enjoying my first Mexican mole

After spending two days and two nights in Mexico City, I boarded a plane to head to Playa Del Carmen, where Amy and John's wedding would be held.

Next post: Playa Del Carmen and Xcaret

[Throwback] Mexico City

Mexico City is about 7,200 feet above sea level. I actually felt the altitude while I was there because I found it a bit difficult to breathe, but not enough to hold me back from doing touristy things haha. My hotel was a short walk away from Plaza de la Constitución or Zócalo, the main city square in the historic center of Mexico City so I made sure I got to see a few places here. It's a huge square, flanked on one side by the Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Mexico, or the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral.

Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Mexico

This Catholic church took 240 years to build. To the right of the main cathedral is the Metropolitan Tabernacle, which has a beautifully elaborate facade.

Facade of the Metropolitan Tabernacle

A significant amount of my time was spent at the Museo del Templo Mayor, which houses archaeological findings of Templo Mayor, the Great Temple of the Aztecs.

Artifact on display inside Museo del Templo Mayor

One of the most important artifacts here is the Coyolxauhqui Monolith. The story says that the earth deity Coatlicue became pregrant. This embarrassed and angered her children who, led by her eldest daughter and moon goddess Coyolxāuhqui, attempted to kill her. Before this could happen, Coatlicue gave birth to a fully grown and armed Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec solar and war deity, who protected his mother by killing Coyolxauhqui and dismembering her. This Coyolxauhqui Monolith depicts the dismembered Coyolxauhqui.

Coyolxauhqui Monolith on display inside Museo del Templo Mayor

There is a replica of this large stone at the entrance of Museo Del Templo Mayor. Naturally, I had to have my photo taken with it.

Replica of the Coyolxauhqui Monolith

A very short distance to the west of Zocalo is Palacio de Bellas Artes, or the Palace of Fine Arts.

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Next to it is Alameda Central, the oldest public park in the Americas which was built in the 16th century.

Fountain of Venus in Alameda Central

On the south side of the park stands Hemiciclo a Benito Juarez (Benito Juárez Hemicycle), a large monument built in honor of Mexico's 26th president.

Hemiciclo a Benito Juarez or Benito Juárez Hemicycle

I spotted this interesting yellow statue located near my hotel and decided to take a picture of it. Apparently, it is a steel statue called El Caballito (or Cabeza de Caballo) created by prominent Mexican sculptor Sebastian.

El Caballito by Sebastian

I actually did all this sightseeing on my second full day in Mexico City. My first day was spent taking a tour of Guadalupe and Teotihuacan. I will write more about this in my next post. 

Next post: Guadalupe and Teotihuacan

[Throwback] Mexico

I visited Mexico almost a couple of decades ago to attend the wedding of my friends Amy and John. Amy is Filipino and John is American and both of them live in the US but they decided to have their wedding in Playa Del Carmen, about an hour away from Cancun. They invited me to their wedding and I figured that I would most likely not have any business trips to Mexico so that would have been as good a time as any for me to go. I spent five days there, a couple of them in Mexico City and a few in Playa Del Carmen. During this trip, I got to see some famous ancient Mexican pyramids such as the Temple of Kukulcan in Chichen Itza...

Chichen Itza

...and the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan.

Pyramid of the Sun

I visited Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City...

Item on display in Museo del Templo Mayor

...and I also got to see Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

I will write more about this memorable trip over the next few posts.

Next: Mexico City

Ave Maria by Bobby McFerrin and the Audience

I discovered this video on YouTube a while back. Bobby McFerrin is known by many because of his 1988 mainstream hit Don't Worry, Be Happy but that song doesn't really showcase how much of an incredible artist and musical genius he is. This video of Bobby singing the Bach Prelude in C Major as the audience sings Gounod's Ave Maria is absolutely amazing.

 

video uploaded in YouTube by user cristi176153

There are a lot more videos of Bobby McFerrin showcasing his amazing talent online. I highly recommend checking them out. He is truly one-of-a-kind.

Sick

After a very active March, I spent several days at home because I got sick. I think there must have been some bug going around the metro because many people I know were also sick at around the same time. On the plus side, it wasn't Covid, which meant that I didn't need to worry about quarantining myself. On the minus side, it was a pretty nasty upper respiratory tract infection - my throat was really red and badly swollen - and my doctor had to prescribe antibiotics.

It came at a pretty bad time too because there was so much going on at work and April 6 to 10 are all holidays in the Philippines. I actually tried to work on one of the days that I was sick, thinking I was well enough to be productive. (Don't worry, I was working from home and I didn't expose anyone to whatever virus or bacteria I was infected with.) However, after a couple of hours, I was feeling really miserable and I had to take a sick leave the rest of the day. I ended up being out of commission for five days. I worked for a couple of days leading up to Holy Week even if  I still wasn't 100% just to catch up a bit. I guess I was still sick because people I was in virtual meetings with kept telling me that my voice sounded really different.

Thankfully, I started feeling better on Wednesday evening so at least I can look forward to a restful long weekend and hopefully, a Happy Easter.

My New Fitbit Achievements

I've been walking a whole lot more this year and with my Fitbit measuring my activities, I actually get to see how much work I'm putting in. Earlier this month, I achieved what was then my best week. For the first time since I got my Fitbit almost a year ago, I exceeded all my daily targets for steps (10,000),

distance (8.1 kilometers),

and calories (2,700).

I also hit my weekly target of 150 zone minutes, which is the total number of minutes of moderate activity.

I ended up walking a total distance of 66.56 kilometers over 7 days, or an average of 9.5 kilometers a day. At that point, I achieved personal records in steps (96,099) and distance (66.56 km) in a single week (since I started using my Fitbit, of course). Wow!

As if that wasn't enough, I practically matched that achievement the following week. While I missed my daily target on March 22, the total steps I took (97,066),

the distance I covered (67.21 km),

and the calories I burned (21,309) that entire week actually eclipsed my totals in the previous week.

In fact, my total steps and distance became my new personal records, besting my achievements the previous week. Awesome!

To top it all off, from March 9 to 21, I covered a total distance of 132.01 kilometers. That means that in those 13 days, I averaged more than 10 kilometers per day. That is the best 13-day stretch I've had so far!

While the only exercise I'm doing is walking, I am covering pretty good distances and I'm definitely not living a sedentary lifestyle. While I do want to start exercising more properly again, I'm just happy that my Fitbit is encouraging me to walk more and be more active again.

Rest in Peace, Maricel

My dear cousin Maricel passed away.

She's not that much older than I am but unfortunately, she got sick. While there were moments that gave our family hope that she would pull through, she eventually succumbed to her illness. I was able to visit her at the hospital shortly before she passed on and I am grateful that I still got to talk to her. On that visit, I brought her and her family a box of Bake cheese tarts, hoping she would be able to eat a bit of it. Thankfully, she did and her mom and her sister both told me that she really enjoyed it.

Any death in the family is difficult but what made this loss somewhat easier for everyone was seeing how strong Maricel's faith was. She understood that this cross that she had to bear was God's will and she embraced it fully. Even amidst all her trials, her faith never wavered. Even her doctors were moved and inspired by her steadfastness.

It was a bright, sunny day when we laid her to rest. While the weather didn't really match how we all felt, maybe it was God's way of telling us everything was going to be okay. Rest in peace, Maricel! We love you and we miss you.

March Hodgepodge

I got to try the Afternoon Tea Set at the lobby of the Peninsula Manila. My mom and I were in Makati one Sunday afternoon and we were hungry so I thought it would be nice to go to the Manila Pen lobby, which in my opinion is the best hotel lobby I've visited so far.

Manila Peninsula Lobby

We got there mid-afternoon and as it turned out, the hotel parking was full (I needed to have the valet park my car) and when we got to the lobby, it was packed. My mom and I were placed  in the waiting list but as it turned out, we didn't have to wait too long because a table became available for us quite quickly. The afternoon tea set came with a choice of coffee or tea - both my mom and I got coffee - as well as a 3-tier cake stand filled loaded with many different pastries and savory appetizers. Each item comes in a pair because this tea set is meant to be shared by two people but I do think that it can actually be shared by three people, considering the volume of food. I've always wanted to try the Manila Pen afternoon tea set so I'm happy that now I have.

Afternoon Tea Set at the Manila Pen

I also got to plant another tree through GCash! This time around, I planted Bakhaw Babae at the Tanon Strait. It's worth 19,108 G Energy so it took a while for me to earn enough to plant it so I'm really pleased that I finally did.

A Bakhaw Babae tree was planted in my name!

On a recent visit to S&R, I purchased a few tubs of ice cream. As I paid for my groceries, the cashier told me that I qualified to get a couple of ice cream bags for free (I figured this was because my ice cream purchase reached a certain amount). It's strange to think that something like this would actually make me happy but it does. I often bring ice cream to my family and having these bags keeps them from melting (or at least melting too quickly). I've used these bags quite frequently since I got them.

Free ice cream bag from S&R

And since we're talking about sweets, I also purchased some Valentine's Day donuts from Krispy Kreme last month. I especially enjoyed the chocolate-coated heart-shaped donut with a rose and caramel drizzle. In fact, I bought one again for myself on a subsequent visit to Krispy Kreme.

Valentine's day donuts from Krispy Kreme

I also forgot to write about this in my previous post about get-togethers but I attended the first birthday of the son of my cousin. The celebration was held at Alex III in San Juan and it was great seeing Guilly in person for the first time. The food was really good but the company was even better.

Guilly's first birthday celebration

Finally, I got to renew my passport. It expired during the pandemic but now that things are getting back to normal and international travel seems to be a bit easier again, what with less Covid-related requirements, I decided it was time to renew my passport. Now that I have it, I need to start planning trips abroad again.

Half Saints

I discovered Half Saints when I was looking for restaurants in the Tomas Morato area that I hadn't tried before. I checked out their social media accounts and I thought that their menu looked really interesting. When I found myself with some free time one late Saturday afternoon, I decided to have an early dinner here. For my main meal, I ordered the Gravlax and Schmear, which is house-cured salmon in salt and dill, spiced cream cheese, red onion pickled in mirin, dill, lemon, olive oil, and black pepper. It is served on their housemade pain au lait (milk bread). You can add poached eggs to this dish (I did) and it was pretty good.

Gravlax and Schmear with poached eggs

Since it was my first time here, I had to order something else. There were a lot of dessert options but I ended up choosing something that wasn't exactly a dessert: the Flower Tartlet Trio. It includes a Calamansi and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tartlet, a 64% Dark Chocolate Tartlet with Himalayan Pink Salt, and a Queso de Bola and Paprika Lava Tartlet. While I absolutely enjoyed all of them, I think my favorite was the cheese one. I would absolutely love to have it again!

Flower Tartlet Trio

The place is small and cozy, which means there is limited seating. When I arrived, I was asked if I had a reservation and I didn't. Thankfully, there were a couple of empty tables in the bakery area. The food, and especially the desserts, are not cheap but I thought the quality was excellent and everything I had was delicious. I definitely plan to visit this place again.

Half Saints
halfsaints.com
62 Sgt. Esguerra Ave, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila

Tamang Hinala by Rumors

A very long time ago, I heard a song on the radio while driving that I really liked. Unfortunately, the title of the song wasn't shared. I took note of the some of the lyrics I heard, specifically the ones that I figured could uniquely identify this song: "Bigla na lang nagdadabog" and "Naiinis sabay alis". I searched these lyrics online after but I couldn't find the title of the song. The only hits I got back then were pages or sites where people were asking for the title of the song with the same lyrics hahaha. Apparently, other people heard the same song, remembered the same lyrics, and tried searching them online to no avail.

For the some reason, I kept those lyrics and I searched every now and then to see if I could get the song title. For a long while, my efforts were futile. That is, until I got a link to the song Tamang Hinala by a band called Rumors. I clicked on it to see if it was the song I was looking for and indeed, it was! Hallelujah!

Check out the song here:

video uploaded in YouTube by Rumors MusicOfficial

As soon as I found it, I added it to my liked videos on YouTube. Since then, I would play it every now and then. I'm not particularly sure why I like this song, but I really do. What do you think?