Desert Elephant

I was viewing my social media feed recently when I saw a picture posted by my friend of these really awesome-looking shoes. They looked so good that even if I'm not a sneakerhead and I don't know a lot about shoes, I messaged him to ask him about them. He said that he pre-ordered these shoes - Nike Air Jordan 3 Retro Desert Elephant - from Titan in BGC. He also told me that when he picked them up earlier that day, the sales staff informed him that they still had stocks.

Nike Air Jordan 3 Retro Desert Elephant

I decided to pass by Titan in One Bonifacio a couple of days later to see if they still had a pair in my size. They did! So I tried them on. And I gotta say, these shoes look great in photos but I thought they looked equally good (if not better) when I was wearing them! They aren't cheap but I liked them to much that I decided to get them anyway.

The question now is whether I will actually wear them anytime soon haha. I don't want to damage them or make them dirty. Maybe I can do research on shoe treatments that can be done to keep my shoes are pristine as possible.

Face-to-Face Time

After being in isolation for most of the last couple of years, I've taken as many opportunities as I could to meet up with people. In fact, for the last few months, game nights have once again become staples. In this last month, I had a couple of them, including one where we got to celebrate Mitch's birthday. This was actually the first time we celebrated someone's birthday face-to-face. As is often the case, I was responsible for the cake. I decided to order a Dark Chocolate Cheesecake from Mary Grace because it was a limited edition cake made for Father's Day so it won't be available during most of the year. I'm glad I ordered this because it was really good. So good in fact that Mitch actually ordered the same cake for her birthday celebration with her family! It's a bit pricey but if you haven't had it yet and it's still available, I suggest you give it a try (even just a slice).

Dark Chocolate Cheesecake from Mary Grace

I also got to play a few games that night, including 5211, the new edition of Love Letter, Isle of Cats, and Qwinto. Earlier in June, I had another game night where we got to play Architects of the West Kingdom. I purchased a secondhand copy of this game before the pandemic and I got to play it only once before quarantine started so I'm glad I got to play it again.

I've also met up with many different sets of friends over meals. I had lunch at Cafe Breton with my high school friends (I requested this place because I hadn't eaten there in a really long time). That was pretty special too because the son of my friend who now studies abroad was in Manila for the summer break and he joined for lunch. It was cool hearing about how his life has been living and studying abroad.

I also had a Wild Flour-themed get-together in BGC with my friends and teammates from the corporate social responsibility group in my previous company. I say Wild Flour-themed because we had dinner at Wild Flour Italian (which was the first time I ate there) then we walked all the way to the original Wild Flour and Farmacy for dessert. While my friends all got ice cream from Farmacy, I got a cake and coffee from Wild Flour. I also ended up buying some pastries that were 50% off. (I brought those to my family the next day for their merienda.) 

I also had lunch with some friends in Single Origin in Rockwell. We had all been chatting about getting together but our schedules didn't match up until recently. It was the first time in about 3 years that we all got together to enjoy a meal and catch up. I love meeting up with this set of friends because of their involvement in the arts and culture scene. It's always great to hear about what they are or have been up to and learning about upcoming shows and exhibits. Hopefully, I can get to see a live show again soon.

Finally, I got to meet up with my friends from my first company. Jette lives way up North while Chari lives way down in the South so we decided to meet up in Shangri-La mall for lunch. Mitch suggested Kettle because of their buttermilk chicken (naturally, we ordered that). Needless to say, our meal together was filled with fun and intriguing stories. One of our friends based in Australia might be coming home for Christmas so hopefully we get to see each other again then.

There has been a surge of Covid cases recently but so far, the cases have been mild and hospitals are still not overwhelmed and remain in good shape. While I will obviously still keep my guard up, I'm hoping these are signs that our bodies are slowly building a greater ability to manage and fight the virus and that life continues to get closer to pre-pandemic normal.

My Fitbit Achievements

I really love my Fitbit! I talked about what triggered me to get one in a previous post and how it has encouraged me to exercise and try to be fitter in another post. What's made my Fitbit use even better is how it motivates me through badges. I got my first one - Boat Shoe - on the first day of using my Fitbit by taking 5,000 steps.

As it turned out, I got my second badge - Sneakers - on that same day as well after taking 10,000 steps.

But wait, there's more! Before that first day ended, I received the Stuart Minions Badge after walking 12,345 steps. Cool!

I got my fourth badge - Urban Boot - a couple of days later when I took 15,000 steps in one day.

Towards the end of the first week, I got two more badges. The first one was the Marathon badge, which meant that I had walked 42 kilometers since I started using my Fitbit. Wow! I had walked an average of more than 8 kilometers a day on that first week!

Later that evening, I got another badge - High Tops - for taking 20,000 steps in just one day. Awesome!

To top it all off, a week later, I got another badge - Penguin March - which meant that I had walked 112 kilometers in total since I started using my Fitbit. Amazing!

I always knew that I walk a lot but I never knew I actually walked this much. Having my Fitbit tell me how many steps I've taken and how many kilometers I've covered is very encouraging. I'm really happy that I decided to buy a Fitbit, even if it isn't cheap. It has motivated me to get moving. Hopefully, I can get more badges in the near future and more importantly, improve my overall fitness.

Quarantine Stories Part 20

I got my UP UAAP basketball championship shirts! One of my classmates from college volunteered to place a bulk order for our group of friends. We had a choice of either maroon or black but I decided to get both. I was initially worried that the shirts might not fit but thankfully, they do! I can't wait to wear them!

My UP UAAP Basketball Championship shirts

I also went to Ayala Malls The 30th last month to visit Anyam Hablun, an exhibition of weaving arts by women of Sulu. This was a project of a good friend of mine. There were a lot of beautiful items, such as fabrics, malongs, bags, blazers, and even dresses. I ended up purchasing a couple of beautifully designed folding fans that I gave to my mom and my grandmother. A day after I visited, I asked my friend how much the bags were and if they still had fans that I could buy. She told me that all fans and bags were sold out. I later found out that almost everything in exhibit was sold! That's wonderful news, especially for the women of Sulu who created these crafts.

Anyam Hablun exhibit

Some sad news: Le Petit Souffle is closing. Ads popped up in my social media indicating that this restaurant was closing in mid-June. I really love the chocolate souffle here and while I told myself a couple of years ago that I would visit this place every so often to indulge in great desserts, I wasn't able to do that. As such, I made sure I visited Le Petit Souffle while it was still open. When I got there, they only had a limited menu. I decided to order a few items, including the French Onion soup which was at 50% off...

French Onion Soup from Le Petit Souffle

...and the Le Petit Souffle Carbonara Souffle (yes, that's the official name on the menu) which was served with a very fancy egg. (I didn't want to eat too much since I still had dessert so I only ate half of this dish and took home the other half.)

Le Petit Souffle Carbonara Souffle

Of course, I had to order my favorite Valrhona Guanaja Souffle and it was still such a quality dessert. Such a shame I won't have a chance to enjoy it again in the future.

Valrhona Guanaja Souffle

I'm also really happy that recently, I've been able to start exercising regularly again. It started when I got my Fitbit. There are daily targets, such as number of zone minutes (22), calories burned (2,700), number of steps (10,000), and distance covered (8.1 kilometers). I don't often meet the daily targets for number of steps and distance covered on days when I work from home, especially when I don't leave my pad. However, the zone minutes and the number of calories burned are much more achievable targets. I started using the Power Abs subscription that a friend of mine gave me last Christmas. It's about a 10-minute ab workout five days a week, although I probably get to do it only 3 or 4 times a week. However, since it's only a 10-minute workout, it's not enough for me to achieve my Fitbit targets. As such, I started supplementing my Ab workout with my Downdog app or with the dumbbells that I purchased late last year. I also looked up some zumba videos on YouTube and I started doing those routines to help improve my cardio. As a result, I've been able to exercise around 3 to 4 times a week for the last few weeks, which is the most I've been able to do in the last two years. The key now is for me to be able to maintain this. Wish me luck!

Nadal wins French Open Title #14!

I am in absolute awe. Rafa Nadal just won his the French Open for the 14th time! Way to go, Rafa!

Rafa-Garros 🇪🇸🏆 pic.twitter.com/0iC9GYREvt

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022

By the numbers:

• His 14 French Open titles matches the total Grand Slam singles title count of Pete Sampras. Remember that up early 2009, 14 was the record for most major title won by a man.
• He now has 22 Grand Slam singles titles, extending the men's record that he held when he won at the Australian Open this year. He is now 2 major titles ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
• Rafa is 14-0 in French Open finals. Never losing a Roland Garros final is just mind-boggling, especially when you consider that he played two of the greatest players of all time (Roger and Novak) in the finals a total of seven times. (I guess the rule is, if you wanna beat Rafa at the French, do it before the final.)
  
• His win-loss record is 112 wins and 3 losses.
• This is also the first time in Rafa's career that he won the first two major events of the year. 

🇦🇺 🏆🏆
🇫🇷 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
🇬🇧🏆🏆
🇺🇸 🏆🏆🏆🏆@RafaelNadal | @rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/dGJucF9e3O

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 5, 2022

Before the tournament started, I thought his chances to win were slim. He injured his rib while playing Indian Wells that left him sidelined for several weeks. He returned to Madrid where he lost to an in-form Carlos Alcaraz. In Rome, his chronic foot problem resurfaced, leading to a fourth round loss to Denis Shapovalov. Meanwhile, Alcaraz won Madrid and Novak won Rome. With no title wins on clay leading up to Roland Garros and his key competitors were both doing very well, the odds seemed stacked against Rafa to win.

As it turned out, Rafa overcame Novak in 4 sets in the quarterfinals. He then faced Zverev in a titanic semifinal that featured many momentum swings. Rafa won the 91-minute first set in a tiebreak. The second set also went to tiebreak until a horrific ankle injury forced Zverev to retire.

In the final, Nadal won easily in straight sets against Casper Ruud, giving him a record-extending 14th Roland Garros title.

King of Clay x 14 👑@RafaelNadal remains undefeated in Paris finals, conquering Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 for a 14th title#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/GctcC17Ah8

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022

Rafa is now tied with Steffi Graf, my all-time favorite player, as both have 22 majors. I also love that there is a picture Steffi at the Rafa Nadal Academy restaurant. (I hope I can visit this place one day and have my photo taken between Steffi and Rafa hahaha).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar (@rafanadalacademy)

Many are now wondering whether Rafa can win the Grand Slam (all four majors in a single year). His chances aren't that great, given that he hasn't won Wimbledon in twelve years and he hasn't reached a final since 2011. But if Rafa has proven anything in his career, and especially this year, is that you can never count him out. Whatever happens, Nadal has truly spoiled me and his millions of fans so much with his amazing records and his incredible accomplishments that anything else he achieves is icing on the cake.

On the women's side, Iga Swiatek lived up to her ranking and seeding as she won the French Open title for the second time. She is now on an amazing 35-match winning streak, which comes with 6 consecutive titles. The last time a player won this many matches in a row was when Venus amassed 35 straight matches in 2000, a whopping 22 years ago! Ever since Ash Barty retired, Iga has been the clear #1, playing head and shoulders above the rest of the field. 

Noticing a trend 😄#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/QZyS26qfw9

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022

Congratulations, Rafa and Iga!

Final thoughts on my trip to Shangri-La Mactan

While my trip turned out great, it started out very rough. A couple of days before, I was notified that my return flight from Cebu to Manila was cancelled. Unfortunately, Cebu Pacific didn't move me to any other flight; instead, I was instructed to select a new one. The problem was there was no option to just replace the return leg. To rebook, I had to select both the flight to Cebu and the return flight to Manila. But because my flight to Cebu was just two days away, the flight costs were now very high. I decided that it would just be cheaper to book a new return flight (I could get one at about ~P3000) than to replace both legs because just the Manila to Cebu leg would cost me P5000 more than what I originally paid! I was later able to talk to someone from Cebu Pacific thanks to a friend who works there and I was told that I could have replaced my full flight without any additional cost. I said that it wasn't clearly indicated in the email notification that this was the set-up and I was afraid to cancel my original flight just a couple of days ahead of my trip. Thankfully, they converted my new purchase to a travel fund. Now I guess I just need to decide when I can travel again haha.

The other problem I had was that I couldn't check in online before my flight. I was worried that having two different flights, including one that had a cancelled leg, was causing problems. I decided to arrive at the airport 2 1/2 hours before my flight so that if there was a problem, I would have time to sort things out. Thankfully, there was no problem and my check-in was smooth. I'm guessing that because I got there very early, I was placed in an exit row. I was so happy that after my booking-related stress in the previous days, I had a lot more leg room to relax during my flight.

Extra leg room at the exit row during my flight to Cebu

This was my first trip since the pandemic started and also the first time I got on a plane in almost 3 years. I gotta say, it was strangely comfortable being at the airport.

My return flight was in the early evening on a Friday and since I checked out of Shangri-La Mactan at 3pm, I decided to go the airport about 2 1/2 hours earlier as well. (I wasn't sure how bad the traffic would be in Cebu during rush hour so I decided to arrive at the airport a lot earlier than needed.) Upon checking in, I requested to be seated at an exit row. Surprisingly, I was put in the front row of the plane. Wow!

Even more leg room at the front row of the plane on my flight back to Manila

A friend who saw some photos I shared said that she remembered the resort having more trees. Maybe Typhoon Odette brought down many of them. Another friend told me that she planned to visit Shang Mactan last February but it was still being renovated at that time. I'm guessing the resort must have just reopened to the public. I'm glad it was already operational by the time I went to Cebu.

I mentioned this in my previous post but once I checked in, I looked for a supermarket so I could buy supplies. Based on Google maps, there was supposed to be one about 500 meters away from the hotel. However, when I got to where it was supposed to be, I couldn't find it. I looked for the next nearest one and I saw that there was a Shopwise Express about a kilometer away. It was quite far but I started heading there anyway since it would be good exercise. Along the way, I spotted a 7-Eleven so I decided to shop there instead. I ended up going to that same 7-Eleven a couple of times during my trip.

The Promenade Mactan is practically across the street from Shangri Mactan. Each time I headed out the resort to buy supplies, I also passed by the Tom N Tom's at the Promenade to get coffee.

Breakfast at Tides restaurant

I also mentioned in my previous post that I bought wine from 32 Italian Deli and Kitchen which is also at the Promenade and that I got one with a screw cap bottle because I didn't have a corkscrew. I thought I would get to consume the whole bottle over my four nights at the resort but in the end I only drank about half of it. It wasn't expensive but I didn't want to throw it away. Because it had a screw cap, I decided to just take it home with me (I had some bubble wrap with me so I covered the bottle in bubble wrap) and placed it amidst my clothes to protect it from being broken.

Wine selection at 32 Italian Deli and Kitchen at the Promenade Mactan

I probably didn't drink as much wine as I thought I would because I drank a lot of decaf each night while reading my book. I brought some ground decaf with me as well as my plastic pour over dripper in the hopes that there would be an electric kettle in the room. And there was! I ended up enjoying decaf coffee each night I was there. Oh and if you're wondering why I drink decaf, it's because my doctor advised me a couple of years ago not to drink too much caffeine so I now have drink decaf in the evenings.

Shangri-La Mactan lobby at night

I initially thought about spending one day of my trip sightseeing and maybe enjoying local restaurants and doing a food trip. As it turned out, I didn't do that. I felt that it would cost too much for me to sightsee and eat out alone (if I was part of a group, we could all split taxi or Grab fares). Besides, I was having such a great time chilling at the resort and I wanted to maximize the limited time I had there.

Cultural show at Buko Bar

Since I didn't go out, I thought I thought of maybe buying pasalubong at the airport on my way home, specifically lechon and dried mangoes. I thought about getting lechon for my family but I knew that after 1 or 2 days, it wouldn't be as good anymore. Also, Rico's Lechon and Zubuchon are now available in Metro Manila so I had the option to buy lechon from those places instead. The dried mangoes at the airport also cost the same as dried mangoes at the supermarkets in Metro Manila. As such, I didn't buy any pasalubong from the airport anymore.

I'm really happy that things have gotten better pandemic-wise. While many other people have already been traveling quite a bit over the last couple of years, it's only recently that I considered going on a trip. I'm really happy that I did . As someone who loves traveling, this holiday at Shangri-La Mactan was exactly what I needed.

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!