TRAVEL | Kamay ni Hesus

I can’t dream of anything better than this wonderful heavenly place. It’s just so complete, a place where family can hangout, enjoy, as well as receive the blessings of God. Kamay ni Hesus is located somewhere between the city of Tayabas and the town of Lucban in Quezon province. Kamay ni Hesus is part of Lucban’s tourist spots, including its own rendition of Quezon’s San Isidro Festival, the Pahiyas Festival, which takes place every May 15th of the year.

My girlfriend and I decided to eat Quezon’s very own merienda, Pancit Habhab, in a cousine nearby, inside the shrine. We were so captivated by the place, its atmosphere, despite the hotness of the weather and lots of people around since its sunday.

After stocking some food in our stomach, we wandered around the park and took some pictures. The one below is the Noah’s Ark which is built just 2 years ago.

The park of the shrine is located at the back of the altar of the church of the shrine. There, families can go picnicking or just take pictures with the animal statues around, take a look:

No wonder, you’ll drain a lot of your energy, like I do. So feel free to take some rest. I even changed my tops to match the hot weather. And make sure to bring lots of water.

I’ve been to this place a lot of times. The highlight of the place, aside from the park-like feel, are its 292-steps shrine (as you can see in the pictures) located in the feet of Mt. Banahaw. This 292-steps stairs were first introduced to the public around 2005. My first visit is on 2008 and since then, I enjoy every steps I made with it.

On the top of the shrine, there, lies the 50-foot statue of Jesus Christ, which is another highlight of the place. Once you get to the top, people start to rest from their journey and some others take their prayers into the statue. The statue is said to be the 3rd biggest in the whole world.

While on your journey to the top of the shrine, you will encounter the 14 stations of the shrine, where people undergo the Station of the Cross Holy Ritual. Also, its the chance for people to take some rest and take pictures after some steps of their journey.

While on your way, aside from the beautiful statues of the stations, you will the wonderful landscape of the place, as well as the town of Lucban far away.

Once you get to the top, as I’ve said earlier, you’ll see more about Lucban, as well as the foot of the Jesus Christ statue.

Below the shrine, aside from the park, lies the Church of the Shrine which people attend for masses. The good thing about the place is that, the budget used to make this place were donations of several rich and wealthy people from around the country. Names of the donators were engraved in the floor outside of the church.

Indeed, it’s a good place to go to when you’re looking for real adventures. Kamay ni Hesus is surely one of the best hotspots in the country, as well as the whole world. Mabuhay Lucban!

|> Metallica – Metal Militia

TRAVEL | Tayabas City

This day, we came to Tayabas City, in the province of Quezon, so that we can get together with my cousins and my Kuya who’s having his Silver Birthday celebration his 18th. I came with my girlfriend who never been to the province of Quezon.

These goofy photos were taken outside my cousins’ house in Brgy. Mateuna, Dela Torre, Fairview Park Subd. in Tayabas City, just before we go to Lucena City’s Pacific Mall.

The good thing in this area are the fresh area coming straight up your nose. The market, the establishments, restaurants and bars are just some small distance from there, so you don’t need fancy transportation and just walk there.

|> Metallica – Ride the Lightning

TRAVEL | Tagaytay City

January 15, 2011

Another day, another place. This time, the next trip would be, the beautiful place of Tagaytay. And since it is, I packed all of the necessary things I will need. Digital Camera? Check! Hoodies? Check! Extra Clothers? Check! Sunglasses? Check! Snacks? Check! What more? Anyway, we arrived there at around 10AM, a few hours before lunchtime.

I quickly look around the awsomeness of the place, the ocean, the sand, the hut, the boats, everything. I can’t believe that everything I’m seeing right now are part of my country. All hail, Philippines.

And then, we stayed at one of the resorts in Tagaytay, until lunchtime came and we ate our lunch there, including Chopsuey, Nilagang Bulalo and Adobong Chicken Feet. Great appetite.

I even went sleepy just because I lack of sleep, too excited for this experience. Anyway, after that great appetite, we decided to take and ride the boat, until we arrive near at the primary hotspot of this expedition, Taal volcano.

Finally we ride the boat. Everyone’s happy yet excited of how Taal volcano would look like, and how will everything turn out. Even Kuya Dani himself, though he’s been there before, he still felt the excitement.

Here’s a video of us riding the boat, take a look 😀

And once we arrived, I was like… “gosh…!”. So what did I see?

A. An Island
B. Koreans
C. Horses

The answer is… Actually all of it. An Island full of Koreans riding Horses making them look like the natives and us, Filipinos the Tourists <- that’s what my brother said when we came.

Each of us ride their own horse which costs 500php each for riding them for about 10~ kilometers up until you reach the top part of the crate. Up ahead you’ll see how beautiful this place is, really.

Finally, we reached the destination. As expected, many koreans are hanging out there, just like how many they are while we’re still riding the horses. There are also a place there where you can buy souvenirs like T-shirts.

Up ahead, instead of buying those souvenir T-shirts, I think we will need something to drink first. My mom decided to buy coconut juice and then after a few photo moments, we finally agreed to go back to where we started. We ride back using the horse, the boat and finally to Kuya Dani’s White-painted Toyota Avanza.

Inside the car, I took a quick nap until the car stopped by to a well-known town church of Tagaytay. We visit it and then went back to the car then we stopped by again, but this time, in PAGCOR. Unable to pass the entrance bacause I AM STILL A MINOR, I just let the time pass by while I stay in the lobby and they enjoyed some games inside.

And finally we came home, back to Tiara Oriental Hotel, took a rest with a smiling face. All satisfied. That’s how a family vacation should be. End.

Read Part 1 | Read Part 2

|> Darkest Hour – Doomsayer (The Beginning of the End)

TRAVEL | Century Park Hotel, RaiRaiKen

January 10, 2011

We went back to Century Park Hotel just to take home all of the things we bought back from Arysta Marketing, including my gaming chair. But before that, we decided to eat at a Japanese restaurant called Rai-Rai Ken, just beside the hotel’s building. Cool name, by the way. 🙂

What we ate there are, of course, japanese cuisine, such as various flavors/style of Japanese Ramyun and some other noodle.

After that japanese dinner, we went back to the hotel to get the things while a number of us, including me and my tita, stayed in the lobby, until we went together to the hotel’s open-coffee space.

There, we ordered different coffee. I remember, I fell in love to the lady serving my coffee, she’s cute enough for me 😀 Sadly, I forgot to atleast beg for her number. 😦 Anyway, we had so much fun that night, knowing that we’re being joined together with my tita and cousin.

Read Part 1 | Read Part 3

|> Girls’ Generation – Honey (Into the New World – The 1st Asia Tour Concert Live CD)

TRAVEL | Century Park Hotel, Tiara Oriental Hotel, Seafoof Market, Harrison Plaza

As the brand new year came, the best thing to do is to start your year with cool new experiences, things that are real new to you. After my stepdad arrived in the country, January 7, 2011, we stayed in a hotel named Century Park Hotel. Currently owned by famous Filipino-Chinese businessman in my country, Lucio Tan, Century Park Hotel surely attracts a lot of tourists from Asian countries, as well as the other continents.

Our first night was just a plain and simple dinner together with the family. We ate a few of the Hotel’s midnight offerings such as sandwiches, hamburger and some more noodle soup. After all, everyone went back to their respective bed, including myself.

As the morning came, everyone went downstairs just to eat the morning breakfast served by the waiters and waitresses of the hotel. Food. I really like how it is being served. Buffet style. That means, you can eat all you want, how many you want, until your stomach feels like it’s bursting. Satisfied.

After all, we went back home for a couple of hours and check everything out. Took some shots together and pack things up, things that we’ll be using in a couple of days during our stay in the hotel.

Back in the hotel, I managed to take some shots of how the room looked like. It is indeed a classy-hotel. I swear to you, everything is made of quality materials, and, my gosh, a 40-inches Toshiba HDTV up and running right in front of my eyes.

And as the beautiful sun sets, I took a glimpse of how the city of Makati looks like, way different at how Quezon City was. Buildings, luxurious cars, shopping malls, classy people. Outside, there’s the Harrison Plaza, SM Harrison as well as a Shopwise branch.

Our next stop for the day after arriving back in the hotel is to eat dinner in a Seafod restaurant near the hotel. Getting ready, everyone’s so busy organizing things, but not me. I’m busy goofing around, as you can see.

Now that we’re already in the restaurant, I was like, “whoa!”. Everything’s so cool. The name’s Seafood Market, everything in this restaurant are indeed, seafoods.

The moment everything’s ready, it’s time to taste them all and finally finish up with a bunch of healthy fruit.

After eating all of those creatures (kekeke), it’s time to wrap up and get back to the hotel to get some sleep. But before that, I should atleast read a couple of pages in my newest VB2008 book by Copernicus P. Pepito. While I’m reading, my brother and sister tried the hotel’s very own WiFi internet connection with their new Tri-Core AMD Phenom Toshiba Satellite A665 laptops.Cool notebook.

The next morning, January 8, 2011, we ate breakfast hurriedly and then went to SM Harrison and all the way to Harrison Plaza. There, we shopped together.

By the way, just before going to the mall, we transferred to Tiara Oriental Hotel, a few kilometers away from Century Park Hotel. And then, we came back, my mom bought my brother his Nokia C6. Great phone, I would say. Until we came pass to a shop named Arysta Marketing, where they sell products of a multi-national company called INEX. There, we bought the INEXTRON gaming chair I’m using right now in my PS3, bundled together with massage chair, mult-purpose cooker, kitchenware, foot massager, and some more. Cool stuff.

Read Part 2

|> Girls’ Generation – Ooh La La!