Shangri-La Mactan

I had the most relaxing, restful, and revitalizing holiday at Shangri-La Mactan.

I had been hearing great things about Shang Mactan for a really long time now but prior to this trip, I hadn't gotten a chance to stay there yet. It has its own private beach and a couple of swimming pool areas and as I mentioned in my previous post, this was something I was really looking for. As it is a luxury hotel, it is definitely not cheap but it ticked all the boxes and I hadn't traveled in more than 2 years so I felt it was worth spending more than I normally would on a trip.

I decided to stay there from Monday to Friday to avoid the bigger weekend crowds. While I initially thought of going out of the resort in at least one of the days I was there to see a bit more of Cebu, I scrapped that plan and just spent the entire time at the resort.

I arrived on Monday at around 1pm and I was told that my room was still being sanitized. I told the person behind the counter that I would just have lunch lobby lounge since I was already hungry. I had a beautiful view of the resort from where I sat. As soon as I sat down, I already started to feel very calm and relaxed. At that point, I knew I would have a fantastic holiday.

View from the Lobby Lounge

I booked a Sea View Room which is more expensive but when I entered my room, I immediately felt it was worth it. The view was spectacular! The fact that I had a balcony where I could sit and relax and just look out onto the resort grounds and the sea made was just absolutely perfect.

My Sea View Room

I didn't really get to do anything that Monday. After checking in, I looked for a place where I could to buy water and other supplies (I found a 7-Eleven about 800 meters away from the hotel). On the way back, I swung by the Promenade Mactan which was practically right across the street from hotel. Here I saw 32 Italian Deli & Kitchen and noticed they had a selection of wines so I got a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (I was certain the wine at the hotel would be a lot more expensive). Once I got back to my room, I got cleaned up and fell asleep for almost 3 hours (I had very little sleep and was so stressed leading up to my flight; I will write more about this in my next post). It was past 8 when I woke up so I decided to just rest and read a book that evening.

I got to enjoy the resort a lot more the next day. Buffet breakfast was served at Tides Restaurant and this was my first buffet since the pandemic started. My initial plan was to go to the beach and read my book before hitting the water a little later in the afternoon so it wouldn't be too hot. However, once I found an available beach bed with its own giant umbrella and got settled, I felt the sea calling out to me. I applied some sunblock to my face, my neck, and the exposed parts of my arms but I hadn't put any sunblock on the rest of my body before hitting the water. Needless to say, I had a pretty bad sunburn after that haha. Nevertheless, I felt so at peace while in the sea. I'm sure it helped that there was almost no one else in the short section of the beach where I was in.

Later that afternoon, I went to the main pool to swim a bit more. I enjoyed a meal at Buko Bar before heading back to my room. (I got room service every night I was there. Some restaurants were still closed and there were a few items in the room service menu that I really liked that weren't available in any of the restaurants so I decided to just have dinner in my hotel room every night.)

Chicken Breast from the room service menu

I had the same routine on Wednesday. In fact, I got the exact same beach bed where I stayed the day before. Later in the afternoon, I decided to try the Ocean Wing pool. There is a sign that says the Ocean Wing pool area is restricted to guests who are staying at the Ocean Wing but since the hotel was still not at full capacity, all guests were allowed to use any of the pools. Cool!

Shang Mactan has a cultural show at the Buko Bar on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. During my stay, the only chance I had to see the show was on Wednesday but since I had settled into my room already in the late afternoon, I didn't feel like heading out. However, at 7pm, I started to hear a very invigorating drumbeat coming from Buko Bar. I got a jolt of energy and I decided to head down. I'm glad I did because the show was really enjoyable.

Cultural Show

More people seemed to check in on Thursday. When I went to the beach at around noon, most of the beach beds were occupied and I didn't feel comfortable lounging too close to other people. I decided to just spend the afternoon at the Ocean Wing pool area where there were still many pool beds available.

Friday was my final day in Cebu. My flight was in the evening but thankfully, I was given a late check-out time of 3pm. The breakfast area was pretty packed that morning so I was really happy with my decision to book my holiday from Monday to Friday. After breakfasst, I managed to get a pool bed in front of the infinity pool in the Ocean Wing area so I stayed there for a while. I read a bit and swam a bit before heading back to my room to check-out.

Shangri-La Mactan is a really beautiful resort. I love the grounds and I also love the fact that it has its own private beach. I prefer staying at the Ocean Wing pool area because it looks out into the sea and is more shaded but the main wing pool area is really photogenic. The staff is also very courteous and helpful and the service is excellent. I definitely recommend Shangri-La Mactan and I hope I get to stay here again in the future.

Next Post: Final Thoughts On My Trip To Shangri-La Mactan

Traveling Again!

For the first time since the pandemic, I went on a trip! I spent a week at Shangri-La Mactan for a much-needed break.

I say that because I had been tremendously busy the last several months, and things got even more hectic in the last few months due to a huge project I was assigned to. (It was completed successfully a few weeks ago, hooray!) I also just organized my grandmother's 95th birthday. To say I was exhausted would be a huge understated. I decided to go on a solo trip so that I could detach from the world and not worry about anything or anyone else.

I wanted to stay at a high-end resort that had both a beach and a pool. I wanted a beach because it had been five years since I had last been to one. I chose Cebu because the only requirements to travel there are a vaccination card (or vaccination certificate) and a valid ID, making it really easy to visit.

I ended up staying at Shangri-La Mactan because it is one of the best resorts in the country and I felt that it would the perfect way to reward myself. I will write more about my holiday here in my next post. 

Next Post: Shangri-La Mactan

Quarantine Stories Part 19

I bought a Fitbit! I had been thinking about getting a Fitbit for a while now so that I could monitor my heart rate more proactively and so I could check how many steps I take each day. However, it wasn't until a friend of mine shared some of the statistics her Fitbit was providing, like how much sleep she was getting. It was then that I decided I wanted to get one. Another friend purchased his Fitbit from the main store in Lazada so I decided to get mine during the Lazada 5.5 Sale. (I got more than P1000 off!) I chose the Fitbit Charge 5 because I was telling my friend that wearing a watch all the time sometimes felt a bit heavy on my arm so he suggested I get the Charge 5 instead of the Sense, which is like a big watch. Hopefully, my new Fitbit can help me lead a healthier lifestyle.

My new Fitbit Charge 5

That wasn't my only recent gadget purchase. I also bought a cooling pad. I had been noticing that whenever I play Steam games, especially Scythe and Terraforming Mars, my laptop would heat up. So while doing some errands recently, I passed by Datablitz to purchase a Redragon Ivy Laptop Cooler. I didn't really feel like studying what cooling pad to get so I decided to get the exact same one that my nephew asked me to buy for him about a year ago. I figured he researched what he wanted to get so the Redragon Ivy must be at least a decent cooling pad. Another friend said it has a pretty big fan so it should be good.

Redragon Ivy Laptop Cooling Pad

I also purchased an electric fan. I've been working from home a lot since the pandemic started and I noticed that while I do have air conditioning at home, because of its placement in my apartment, only my upper body usually feels the cool air. My lower body tends to feel a bit hot. I felt that having an electric placed on the floor and directed towards my lower body would help me feel cooler overall. I passed by the SM Appliance Store and this Hanabishi floor fan was the smallest and most inexpensive one I found so I decided to get it. So far, I haven't been disappointed and it has indeed helped me feel cooler overall.

Hanabishi Floor Fan

I also had another game night! My friend Cla had been wanting to play board games for a while so we decided to schedule one.  I decided to bring my Herbaceous Sprouts which I purchased back in 2020 and hadn't played with other people yet (I only played the solo variant) and I'm glad people had fun playing it. We also played MicroMacro - Crime City (I had previously played an online version of this), Tiki Topple (this was such a fun game), and Canvas (which I just played for the first time last month). I played Canvas horribly, with one of my paintings scoring really low. While I ended up in last place, I did put together a pretty cool and interesting painting called Precious Pride. (The person in the painting looks just like Freddie Mercury in Queen's "I want to break free" music video!)

Precious Pride, my best painting in my most recent game of Canvas

I also finally went out for drinks on a weeknight for possibly the first time since the pandemic started. My friends Pia and Marco wanted to have drinks and they invited me to join them. Since my project at work had just completed and I wasn't too busy, I decided it would be nice to go out and. We ended up in The Spirits Library which was an interesting bar along Guerrero Street in Poblacion. There was a really good band (or I guess technically it was a duo with a singer and a musician) performing the night we were there but I forgot their group's name. I also like the cocktails I got to try. I surely wouldn't mind going there again.

While we are still in a pandemic, I guess because most people are vaccinated and boosted, we are now able to do more things that we avoided in the last two years. I still make sure I have my mask on whenever possible. Hopefully, things continue to get better and Covid starts becoming more like the normal flu.

Congratulations UP! UAAP Season 84 Men's Basketball Champions!

Congratulations to the UP Fighting Maroons for winning the UAAP men's basketball tournament! Amazing!

UP Fighting Maroons is #UAAPSeason94 Champions! #UPFight pic.twitter.com/pfdPmAGGFZ

— UP Fight Club | CHAMPIONS✊🏻 (@upmaroonclub) May 13, 2022

This was such an amazing win on so many levels. The last time the UP men's basketball team won the UAAP championship was in 1986, back when Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, and Eric Altamirano played for the team under Coach Joe Lipa. More recently, UP had been knocking on the door of greatness in the previous two UAAP seasons but were unable to take it home. They lost to Ateneo in the finals of season 81 and in season 82, they were second after the elimination round but lost twice to UST during the stepladder semifinals. (Season 83 was not held due to the pandemic.)

In the final, they also had to contend with Ateneo Blue Eagles, a team that had won the last three seasons and went undefeated in the most recent one. In fact, Ateneo was favored to win, being at the top of the standings after the elimination round. However, UP did manage to beat Ateneo by the smallest of margins, 84-83, during the second round of the eliminations. That win snapped Ateneo's 39-match winning streak that stretched all the way back to 2018. It must also have given the Fighting Maroons greater belief.

UP then had to face La Salle in the semifinals. Since they were second in the standings, they were twice to beat. But that didn't seem to faze La Salle, who beat UP 83-80 and forced a second do-or-die semifinal. And in that game, many people thought La Salle had it in the bag when they were up 70-56 with 7 minutes remaining. However, UP refused to go away and took the game 78-74, thanks in large part to the last minute heroics of Rookie of the Year Tamayo.

As if that come-from-behind win against La Salle wasn't enough, they had to do it again in the finals against Ateneo. Twice! In game 1, Ateneo was ahead 70-64 with 53 seconds left. But a 3-point-play from Lucero and a 3-point shot by Spencer allowed UP to take the game to overtime where they eventually won 81-74! Ateneo won a tight Game 2 69-66 and this meant that it would all come down to one final game to decide the championship.

Game 3 featured a major seesaw battle that saw the lead all throughout but in the final minute, Ateneo was up 59-56. However, a 3-point shot by Cansino took the game to overtime again. Ateneo had the upper hand yet again as they led 69-64 with less than 2 minutes remaining. It was then that JD Cagulangan stepped up big-time, being involved in an 8-0 run by hitting a three, making an assist to Finals MVP Diouf, and hitting another three to give UP the championship!

CAGULANGAN PUT THE TEAM ON HIS BACK AND SCORED/ASSISTED ON UP'S LAST 8 POINTS. AN ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE FROM UP'S POINT GUARD.#UPFIGHT pic.twitter.com/Mi3jE3YJkG

— Ryan Alba (@_alba__) May 13, 2022

With the UP Fighting Maroons still pretty much intact for season 85, they must be considered a serious contender. That said, I don't even want to think about the future. For now, I will join the rest of the UP community and relish this amazing win. The team just had a magical run that involved multiple come-from-behind victories to bring home a trophy that they hadn't won in 36 years. Congratulations again, UP Fighting Maroons!

Mother's Day Celebration

Since the pandemic started, all our special celebrations have been at home. For Mother's Day, I thought of trying to make it extra special for both my mom and my grandmother. Obviously, you can't have a celebration like this without cake. Since my mom has been trying to reduce her sugar intake recently, I decided to get a keto cake for her. I ordered the Bordeaux Chocolate Fudge cake from Chrisha's Kitchen and interestingly enough, they were offering specially decorated cakes for Mother's Day. I got another cake for Nanay. Patisserie Le Choux-Colat had been popping up quite a lot in my social media feed and I had been interested in it for a while so I decided to order their Yema Cacao Entremet Cake. It looks really beautiful. I ended up trying both cakes and they were both good. The keto cake was surprising because it's very low in sugar and carbs but you don't feel like you are being being deprived of enjoyment when you eat it.

Bordeaux Chocolate Fudge cake from Chrisha's Kitchen and Yema Cacao Entremet Cake from Patisserie Le Choux-Colat

I also put in a bit of effort thinking of what to get them. I got a Tempur pillow for my mom. I figured it would be a bit of a unique gift and hopefully she would enjoy it. I also added another gift - a pair of pre-loved Christian Dior sunglasses. My friend set up a business that sells pre-owned items and she had several sunglasses for sale. I watched one of her live shows and I saw these Dior glasses that I thought looked really classy and stylish. That said, I wasn't sure if they would look good on my mom so I asked my friend if I could borrow them first so my mom could see if it fit her well. My friend ended up handing me all the sunglasses she's trying to sell. That way, my mom could try them all on and pick which one was the best. In the end, the Dior sunglasses not only fit, they looked great on my mom so I ended up getting them as an extra gift. 

Pre-loved Christian Dior sunglasses I got for my mom

I wasn't sure if my grandmother would have any use for sunglasses but I asked her anyways if she also wanted a pair. Interestingly enough, her current pair was broken so she said it would be nice to have a new - or well in this case, a pre-owned - pair. She tried on all the sunglasses and we felt that a pair Cath Kidston shades looked best on her so I got them as an extra gift. (I think they might have been new because the tags were still attached.)

Cath Kidston shades I got for my grandmother

I say extra gift because I wasn't planning on getting those shades for my grandma, which means I had other gifts for her already. Since she can feel a bit cold sometimes (not this summer obviously), I ordered a couple of light robes from Zalora. I also got her bedroom slippers (also from Zalora). She actually thought the slippers looked too fancy and didn't want to use them but I told her that it would be a waste if she had these nice things and never used them. I'm guessing she liked what I got her because she posted a picture of all the gifts she received.

Bedroom slippers I got for my grandmother

I also ordered a lot of food, including a Caesar salad tray (my mom really loves salad) and lengua (which my grandmother really loves). While we just celebrated at home, it was still pretty special. I'm also happy that my mom and my grandma liked the gifts I got for them.

Nanay's 95th Birthday!

My grandmother, whom we fondly call Nanay, just celebrated her 95th birthday. Given that it was a milestone, I wanted to organize something special. Since I'm kinda like the designated organizer of birthday celebrations at home, I decided to make this as special as I possibly could.

First, I had to check if people were comfortable with a party at home. Nanay often gets too tired when she travels away from home (when our family goes out, even if it's just to have dinner a short distance away, she often begs off) so it was logical to celebrate at our house. As Nanay's birthday got closer the number of Covid cases had gone down and hospitals were reporting fewer and fewer cases of severe Covid. Since the situation wasn't as dire as it had been in the past and everyone, including Nanay, had already been boosted, we agreed to have a party at home.

Next: the date. I asked Nanay when she wanted to celebrate and she decided the best date would be the Sunday right before her birthday.

Next: the guests. The plan was to invite Nanay's children and their families as well as Nanay's sister and her family. This would amount to around 20 people. It would be our biggest family gathering since the pandemic started. I also checked with my two aunts and both thought that meeting up for lunch would be best so people could go home earlier.

Next: the food. Now that I had an approximate headcount, I knew how much food to order. I decided to get food that I knew Nanay liked as well as food I felt guests would enjoy. I ordered several dishes from FoodTray2Go, one of my go-to places. Nanay really loves the Chicken Relleno from Dulcelin so I ordered that as well.

Next: the cake. I needed to make sure Nanay would have a grand cake that would make her feel extra special. I reached out to some potential cake makers and I decided to go with Baker Rae on Facebook. My main idea, which was inspired by a cake I found online, was to decorate it with photos of Nanay that were printed on edible paper. Since I needed to provide Baker Rae with more details, I searched for more ideas and found some good ones. I also asked a friend for her suggestions. I ended up combining some concepts I got from different cakes to come up with a final design which I then shared with Baker Rae. Since the design would include photos printed on edible paper, I also had to provide pictures at least a few days before the party (which I did).

Next: my gift. I decided to give Nanay a Photobook. I had hundreds of photos of Nanay with my family but I wanted to make sure other important people in her life would be there too. I asked some relatives for pictures and I also searched the Facebook accounts of other relatives since I knew they would have some good pictures of Nanay, especially during parties and family gatherings. Once I got a good enough set of pictures, I had to choose which ones to use. This was a huge effort! In the end, I deecided to use about 350 photos. Now I had to do the layout. This also took a massive amount of time. I must have spent fifty hours gathering pictures, selecting which ones I would use, organizing and sequencing them, laying out the book, and adding captions. Whew! (Sadly, my gift didn't make it in time. But Nanay still appreciated it when it arrived, especially when she saw photos of big family gatherings that she hadn't seen before.)

Next: the party set-up. Since we were celebrating at home, and our house is not really equipped to accommodate 20 guests, I had to get tables and chairs. I asked my friends if any of them could recommend a reputable place where I could rent tables and chairs. One of them said she had portable tables and chairs that I could borrow. Awesome! Naturally, I had to pick up the chairs and tables and I decided to do this the day before the party. (I also had to return the tables and chairs once the party was over.)

Finally: preparations on the day itself. The cake was delivered to me in the morning. Thankfully, Baker Rae delivered it even earlier than our agreed time. Such great service! It was a large and heavy two-tier cake so I drove slowly to make sure I wouldn't damage it along the way, especially since I still had to pick food up from Foodtray2go and Dulcelin. I arrived at my family's house at 11am. As my mom prepared the food, I set up the cake in the living room table (it wouldn't fit in the dining table anymore, plus having it in the living room meant people would see it as soon as they came into the house). Everything was ready shortly before noon, which was perfect because guests started arriving.

I didn't tell Nanay who was coming so she was especially surprised to see my aunt who now lives in Batangas with her entire fmaily. Nanay had a great time catching up with everyone! After people had settled in, we invited everyone to start eating. I'm glad people enjoyed the food I got. After lunch, we brought everyone together in the living room to sing "Happy birthday" to Nanay. Thankfully, Nanay loved the cake, as did everyone else. She was also so excited to see the edible photos!

It was mid-afternoon when people started to leave. There was a lot of cleaning up to do and I still had to return the tables and chairs to my friend. It was really exhausting organizing this party but I am really happy that Nanay enjoyed it.

Happy 95th birthday, Nanay!

[Throwback] Visting Vietnam

I had a business trip to Ho Chi Minh many years ago. At that point, I had never been to Vietnam so I thought it would be a good idea to fly there at the start of the weekend (my business trip would officially start on Monday) so I would have more time to go around the city a bit more. My friend Duncan was assigned in Ho Chi Minh during that time and he had a spare room at his place so he kindly agreed to host me over the weekend. I arrived on Saturday and Duncan took me around. We passed by some establishments that offered day trips and I looked at some of their packages. I really wanted to see the Cu Chi Tunnels and I found a tour would take me there and also to the Cao Dai Temple. I booked this day tour and took it the next day, Sunday.

Cu Chi Tunnels

Our first stop was the Cao Dai Temple. Caodaism is a religion in Vietnam that combines other religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and even Christianity. We got there around noon and when we arrived, a mass was ongoing and there were lots of people inside. Despite that, we were still allowed to go in (although I think we had to stay away from the prayer area while worship was ongoing). Visitors also have to leave their shoes at the entrance.

Cao Dai Temple

We spent maybe an hour or so at the temple. You can find a lot of very good information about it in this link from Local Insider (https://local-insider.com/cao-dai-temple-tour-a-journey-to-explore-the-most-mysterious-religion-in-vietnam/). At the altar area is a large globe with the Divine Eye, the symbol of Caodaism.

Inside the Cao Dai Temple

We then left the temple and headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels. When I was a kid, my mom told me that the Viet Cong built these tunnels during the Vietnam War as a way to protect themselves against, and to ambush, American troops. They are now a tourist attraction and since I was familiar with their historical significance, I wanted to see them.

Our guide shared information about the Cu Chi tunnels with us and took us around the grounds where we got to see booby traps...

Booby traps built by the Viet Cong

...and even broken tanks.

The highlight however was actually being able to go into the tunnels. We were told that it would be dark and hot and that people who are claustrophobic might have some difficulty. There were two tunnels, a shorter tunnel that would require people to crouch as they passed through, and a longer one that might require people to crawl and be on their elbows. I tried the first one but what I didn't expect was how hot it would be inside. Despite it being a short tunnel and only requiring me to crouch to get through, I ended up being drenched in sweat by the time I got out. (Of course, I still needed to have a photo op while there haha).

Me inside the tunnel

I originally wanted to go through the second tunnel as well but I was already absolutely soaked and I didn't have a spare shirt nor a towel with me. I thought that going through the second, narrower tunnel would cause me to get even more drenched and I was worried that if I got in our air conditioned tour bus in wet clothes, I would get sick (which wouldn't be ideal since my business trip would start the next day). As such, I skipped it. If I get to revisit the Cu Chi Tunnels, I would surely bring a towel and a spare shirt.

The rest of my stay in Vietnam went well. Since we were kicking off a project there, we even had a team-building activity at a beach at the end of the week. While I didn't get to see too many places during my business trip, it still allowed me to see some really interesting sights, have some pretty cool experiences,  and meet some great people. Hopefully, I get to visit Vietnam again.

Quarantine Stories Part 18

I have finally gotten to eat at Mendokoro Ramenba! I've been hearing about Mendokoro from many friends who say it's the best ramen they've tried in the Philippines. However, I know that the queues here are always really long and I don't have patience to fall in line to eat and the few times I had been near a Mendokoro restaurant, it was always packed with a long waiting list. As such, I had never gotten to eat there. That is, until recently. I attended a wake in the evening but I didn't get to eat before going. I left in the late evening and by then I was quite hungry and wasn't sure where to eat until I remembered there was a Mendokoro Ramenba in Salcedo Village, about 10 minutes away. I checked its operating hours and it was open until 11pm. Perfect! Despite me arriving there at around 10pm, it was still almost full! I ordered the Shoyu Ramen and Gyoza. The verdict: it definitely lived up to the hype! It was sooo good, I kept thinking I want to eat here again soon. Hopefully, I get to do that soon.

Shoyu Ramen and Gyoza from Mendokoro Ramenba

As I was sharing my Mendokoro experience to a friend of mine, she told me that maybe I can also try Marudori, which is also owned by the same people who own Mendokoro. The difference is that it used a chicken-based broth. Marudori is located in Rockwell Makati so when I found myself at Powerplant Mall one afternoon, I decided to have a very late lunch here. I ordered the Shoyu Paitan with Aji Tamago. I also ordered some gyoza. Everything was good but I do prefer the pork-based broth of Mendokoro. The gyoza was also pretty interesting in that it was shaped differently, more like xiao long bao.

Shoyu Paitan Ramen from Marudori

Marudori Gyoza looks different from traditional gyoza

I also recently got sick with a bad sore throat. I was worried that I might have contracted Covid again. Thankfully, I had a few antigen test kits at home so I administered one to myself. It was my first time doing this and it was a bit difficult to insert the swab into my nose because I was worried I wouldn't insert it the right way. It also caused me to sneeze right after. Thankfully, my test was negative. Whew!

Negative Antigen Test

I also got to watch a few more Netflix shows. The Queen's Gambit was extremely popular when it was released back in 2020 but it was only recently that I watched it. It's not your common story but I found it really interesting and exciting. In one episode, the lead character Beth was challenged to solve a chess problem that she does so in seconds. Since I played chess as a kid, this piqued my curiosity so I looked for it online and found it (check it out here). Needless to say, I did enjoy The Queen's Gambit and I understand why it became the talk of the town back in 2020.

In Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure, the presenter Joanna Lumley takes the silk road from Venice to Kyrgyzstan, passing through many countries along. A lot of the countries featured in the show are places that don't often get featured in travel shows so I found this really interesting and engaging. One of the most interesting places she visited was Persepolis in Iran. When I saw these ruins, it made me really want to visit Iran. She also visited Cappadocia in Turkey. This place has been in my bucket list for years. I really do love travel shows like this and I appreciate Joanna Lumley because I find her very respectful of the people she interacts with and of local traditions. This is the third and last of her series on Netflix that I got to see - I also saw Japan and the Trans-Siberian Adventure - and I enjoyed all of them.

Finally, I got to watch the animated limited series Maya and the Three. It was recommended to me by Netflix based on other shows I watched and I'm glad it was. The story is interesting and entertaining enough but what I loved most about it was the animation. It was just such a visual feast! After watching a few episodes, I recommended it to my friends because the animation was done so tremendously well, as if it was moving art.

I still have a lot of movies and shows in my Netflix list (as well as my HBO Go list). I do have a planned 1 week vacation soon so maybe I can catch up on more movies and shows then.

Game Night!

For the first time since the pandemic started, I had a face-to-face game night with my friends! We had all been talking about the possibility of finally getting together in the same room to play board games once the Omicron surge abated and after we all got our boosters. Almost everyone in the group had already started going out so many of us had already gotten used to less physical distancing. We figured we were ready to meet up and so we did. And I gotta say, it really was such a blessing.

I couldn't stay too long since I had an early day the next day but I did get to play three new games. First was Canvas, a beautiful art-themed game where you compete to produce the most highly-rated paintings. What's unique about this game is that it makes use of transparent art cards that you lay on top of each other to form your painting. You need to choose the right cards and you need to figure out the best sequence to maximize scoring. I had never played a board game before that made use transparent cards so this was a really interesting experience. I did quite well for my first time and my final three paintings were called Risky Anxiety, Heavy Moment, and Liberated Expanse. I look forward to playing this game again.

My Canvas "paintings" and their corresponding awards

We then played Wavelength. I'm not sure how to explain how this game is played in just a few sentences hahaha so let me share the description on BoardGameGeek: "Wavelength is a social guessing game in which two teams compete to read each other's minds. Teams take turns rotating a dial to where they think a hidden bullseye is located on a spectrum. One of the players on your team — the Psychic — knows exactly where the bullseye is, and draws a card with a pair of binaries on it (such as: Job - Career, Rough - Smooth, Fantasy - Sci-Fi, Sad Song - Happy Song, etc). The Psychic must then provide a clue that is *conceptually* where the bullseye is located between those two binaries. After the Psychic gives their clue, their team discusses where they think the bullseye is located and turns the dial to that location on that spectrum. The closer to the center of the bullseye the team guess, the more points they score!" I am not good at these games so my team lost badly haha but it was still fun to play (albeit a bit stressful at times haha).

The third and last game I played was New York Zoo. Players compete to build the best zoo. Part of the game involves breeding animals in the different enclosures. It has a simple mechanic but it requires a lot of strategy and forward planning. The game ends when one player fully builds their zoo. I made the mistake of choosing the wrong enclosures and leaving chunks of spaces open, which meant I couldn't complete my board. Nevertheless, it was still very entertaining to play.

It was great getting to play actual board games (and not their online version which we had been playing for the last two years) but even more amazing getting to spend time with friends. Hopefully, the worst of the pandemic is over and we can continue playing board games face-to-face without significantly risking our health.

Meeting Up With Friends

I've started to meet up with people more often recently. First, my high school classmate Jeff was in Manila so many of our batchmates met up with him for dinner at Florabel in Estancia. It was really nice catching up with people I hadn't talked to face-to-face in years over good food. I ordered the Grilled Prawns and Salmon in Uni Lemon Butter Sauce served with Adlai Truffle Rice because I wanted something a bit light.

Grilled Prawns and Salmon in Uni Lemon Butter Sauce from Florabel

Dinner ended when Florabel closed and while most folks headed home, a few of us decided to look for some place that was still open because we didn't feel like heading home yet. We decided to have a few drinks at Tipsy Pig. We called it a night at around 130 to 2am, making this only the second time since the pandemic started that I stayed out until past midnight.

A week later, I met up with my friend Eliza for an al fresco lunch at Brotzeit in Shangri-La Mall. A lot had gone on in our respective lives since we last saw each other and we spent a few hours catching up. We probably could've talked even longer if not for a smoker who sat next to us and made it a bit (a lot) uncomfortable. I guess staying indoors at home for a couple of years means I'm not used to secondhand cigarette smoke anymore. That said, we were there long enough for me to have merienda haha. I got the Kaiserschmarren which is shredded rum raisin pancakes served with plum sauce. I realized this was the wrong item for me to order because it was quite heavy, which wasn't ideal since I was still a bit full from lunch.

Kaiserschmarren from Brotzeit

My plan after meeting up with Eliza was to do a few errands at the mall before heading home. As I was buying some banana bread, I heard someone call out my name. It was my friend and ex-colleague Gabbie. She was there planning to buy some meds from Mercury drugstore but the line was so long so I told her there was another Mercury on the 5th floor. I walked with her there - they didn't have the meds she was looking for - and we ended up just hanging out. She wanted to have am extremely late lunch but I was still so full so we got a table in Cibo where she had a proper meal while I just had coffee. It was past 8 when we parted ways. I hadn't intended to stay that late but the unexpected catch-up was a very pleasant surprise.

We also talked about trying to meet up with our other friend Marie and soon after that, we were all chatting over messenger, trying to find a common schedule. And just like that, a couple of weeks later, we all met up for an early dinner in Rockwell. Since we hadn't seen Marie in a while, we felt that meeting up earlier was ideal so we would have more time together. We had dinner in Nikkei before moving to UCC for drinks and dessert. (We were thinking of either Starbucks or UCC but we decided UCC was better because they served beer haha.) We stayed there until UCC closed.

It's really been a good last few weeks in terms of getting to meet up face-to-face with people. It looks like physical meetings with people is slowly but surely becoming part of the new normal (or next normal, whatever it's called).

[Throwback] Luxembourg

During my short assignment in Brussels many years ago, I decided to take a day trip to Luxembourg, which was only about a 2-hour drive away. This was the first - and so far only - time I drove from one country to another. My friend Brian was also on a business trip to Brussels at that time so he joined me.

As we had only one day, we spent our time at Ville Haute, which is the historic center of Luxembourg City. I had a Lonely Planet book of Europe and we used that to help us figure out what sights to see and how to get around.

We visited the Monument of Remembrance (Monument du souvenir) which is located in Place de la Constitution. At the top of the obelisk is the statue called Gëlle Fra or the Golden Lady.

Monument of Remembrance, more popularly known as Gëlle Fra

From there, we headed down into the Pétrusse Valley, a beautiful park through which the Petrusse River flows. We spent a lot of time just leisurely walking around and taking photos. It was winter when we were there so it was pretty cold but I can imagine spending the day here during warmer weather, sitting on the grass or one of the many benches and reading a book while enjoying some coffee.

Pétrusse Valley

The park is bound on one side by the Passerelle, which is the Luxembourg City viaduct. It was built in the mid 1800s and is also known as the Old Bridge.

The Passerrelle as seen from the Bock Casemates

A short distance away is Pont Adolphe or the Adolphe Bridge. It was named after Grand Duke Adolphe who ruled the country in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Since it was build half a century after the Passerelle, it is also known as the New Bridge.

Pont Adolphe

From there, we walked to Casemates du Bock or the Bock Casemates. It is known for its multitude of tunnels and passageways (I don't know if visitors can explore them but we didn't). It also served as a fortress, holding guns and cannons. Apparently, Luxembourg was known for its impressive defense against invaders, and the Casemates du Bock were instrumental in repelling enemy forces.

Casemates du Bock

We then made our way to Place Guillaume II, which is the town square in Ville Haute. It is named after Grand Duke William II and an equestrian statue of the Grand Duke stands prominently in the square.

Place Guillaume II

Almost right next to the square is Cathédrale Notre-Dame. I realized I didn't take  a photo of the church from the outside but I did have my photo taken right next to this bell that is on display on the cathedral grounds.

We did go inside the church and the interior is pretty outstanding. Aside from what I think are tapestries adorning the walls and beautiful paintings on the ceiling, I really loved the stunning stained glass windows.

Interior of Cathédrale Notre-Dame

It was late afternoon when we left Luxembourg. As I look back at this trip, I realize I don't remember where we had lunch but I do know that we had dinner at a pit stop along the road back to Brussels. I'm not particularly sure why we chose to eat on the road rather than in Luxembourg where it would be more comfortable but maybe I wanted to get home early because it was winter and it got dark quite early.

That might not make a lot of sense but this trip happened a really long time ago and my car didn't have any GPS system so I relied mainly on road signs to find my way. I didn't even have a map with me! Unfortunately for us, I made the mistake of taking the wrong exit heading back into Brussels and we ended up getting massively lost. If I recall correctly, it took maybe an hour or more of driving and asking around for me to finally get back home. Still, I'm glad we got lost on the way home rather than on our way to Luxembourg.

Despite that bad end, it was still a really good experience. Luxembourg - or at least the Ville Haute or historic centre - is quite compact, making it easy to get around. It is very charming, which historic buildings set amidst the beautiful Petrusse valley.

I don't know if I will have a chance to visit this beautiful country again, but I hope I will.