Pagsanjan Laguna: A peice of heaven in a hot summer!

Last April 25, we celebrated the 37th wedding Anniversary of my in-laws.  We decided to spend the day down south to a place that we've never been before, to the tourist capital of Laguna, Pagsanjan. 

Pagsanjan is where the Bangkero Festival is held.  The bangkeros are tour guides, who steer the tourists' boats. They are the boatmen who shoot the 14 rapids between rocks and boulders all the way to the Pagsanjan Falls (or Magdapio Falls), for which the town is well known but are actually located in the neighboring municipality of Cavinti. The Bangkero Festival is celebrated in the month of March (wiki).

 

Hard to admit, I am from Laguna but this was my first visit to this wonderful place.  

Now on to the trip - we left Angono Rizal at 5:45am and headed our way down to Laguna via the Manila East Road passing by several towns that includes Binangonan, Cardona, Morong, Baras, Tanay, Pililia (all part of Rizal Province), followed by Mabitac, Siniloan, Pangil, Pakil, Lumban then Pagsanjan (Laguna). We arrived at 7:45am and we headed to Aling Taleng's Halo - Halo.  My bud (Elaine) informed me that from Aling Taleng's Halo - Halo, we can already find resorts that has bangkeros.  True enough, just when we were about to ask some people for a boating experience, someone approached us and offered their resort for the boat trip.  We were then directed to Melissa's Resort.

It will take you an hour (or so) to reach Pansanjan Falls.
You will experience calm waters and the rapids and it's a fun experience.

The boat can carry 2-3 passengers and you will be accompanied by 2 boatmen (one in front and one at the back). At the start of the trail, you will feel how the calm waters freshen up the lives of the villagers, it was like summer all year long because they can just dip anytime they want.  The water is clear and it was cold! Perfect for the summer time!

This was our baot, it was just me, Papa and Angge.
We were accompanied by Kuya Ryan and Ton Ton.

Let me share with you how it was done..




From how it's done, I cannot stress enough how hard it is to be a boatman. Imagine going through 14 rapids and at some rapids, they were literally lifting the boat.  At one instance, my brother in law suggested that we (me, Papa and him) can step out of the boat first so the boat will be lighter..

They have a very tough job and they still do it.
Kudos to all the boatmen in Pagsanjan!

After that almost an hour boat ride, with 14 rapids, you will then reach the falls. I looked at this picture from my history books way back in elementary and now I am looking at it and it was a very good piece of earth.

To reach the falls, you have to ride the balsa.
You will literally go beyond the water falls, it's called the Devil's Cave simply because it was dark. In the cave, the water is up to waste high, as you reach through the falls the water will be up to your head.

Inside the cave, there is a rope where you can hold on to, if you want to go nearer the falls.  The cold water that is falling down from the falls gives a huge windblow, as if you are at the middle of a typhoon. I loved it!

After about 15 minutes of staying at the cave and doing some swimming, we headed back to where we started.  Then we went ahead to grab a cool recommended Halo Halo from Pagsanjan.

Aling Taleng's Halo Halo is one of the best halo halo in the Philippines.
Its secret ingredient was "minatamis na kundol" or sweetened Winter Melon. It is really a "Must Try" when in Pagsanjan.

Then we went to have our lunch.
Another recommendation from Bud was at Calle Arco.  It was a home turned restaurant, that's why when you get in, you will see a lot of photo frames and a china wares.   They have a separate space for their cafe and cupcakes as well. 

The people there were very accommodating and I will definitely go back.
If you are in Pagsanjan, you can order in advance by calling Noel H. Dagle, numbers are: 0919 507 9278 / 0927 309 7796, or by emailing him at noelhadapdagle@gmail.com.

They also offer bed and breakfast :)

A plus in our stay in Calle Arco, there was this boy selling "Kesong Puti". My husband and mother in law really likes Kesong Puti and thus she baught some. The Kesong Puti was from Sta Cruz Lagun and it was freshly made.

Our overall stay in Pagsanjan, maybe around 5 hours was very well spent and was all worth it.  Since it's just a 2 hour ride from our place (Angono) we will definitely go back!

A poster from Calle Arco!

Xoxo
 

Welcome to the Christian World Vianna Sybelle

It was a privilage to be invited to witness the celebration of life, love and happiness! 

Last Easter Sunday, we welcomed Rina & Vincent's little princess, Vianna Sybelle, to the Christian world.  It was celebrated together with their family and closest friends. 

Rina and her family is based from Haugesund, Norway and they went back for a vacation and to have Sybelle's Christening.   The baptism was held at the Sanctuario de San Antonio, Forbes Park Makati and the reception followed at the same venue. 

The venue was elegantly dressed to say that we are welcoming a baby girl to the Christian World. 

This name was shown right before you enter the reception hall and it's such an eye candy. Wait until you see what's inside the hall. 

This was the very simple yet elegant pink cake.. It looked so nice that nobody tried to even cut it. 

The candy buffet looked so dainty with its pink tutu and japanese lanterns.  The sweets includes gummy man, sugar cookies, cake pops and cupcakes.

Now on to the party favors. We had some more cupcakes and pretty stuffed toys from Disney.

There was also a kids table where they have coloring materials to make them busy.  I was able to do some coloring as well, glad that no one policed me to stay out of the kids table ^_^

It was also my privilage to host this party!  It may not be as grand as hosting a wedding but it was an experience that I would always cherish! Thanks Ate Rina and Vincent for trusting on this one! 

It was a fun filled but simple gathering and I hope to see Ate Rina soon before they fly back to Norway. 

Xoxo

Have you ever realized?

I want to share this wonderful video to everyone!
Thanks Sweets for sharing to me.

Towards the end of this video I was close to tears because I remembered my two Mamas -- how, even if we (their kids) are older now, they are still doing the same kind of tough job that they did when we were younger.

Sometimes, I tell them that they are over reacting on things but those things are the things that one can't understand unless they themselves become a mother.

Mother's Day happens only once a year (every May) and I am saying to myself that I do not need to wait for Mother's Day to remember my own hero.  I will give my 365 days in a year to always love Mama and remember the things that she has done to me and to my siblings, also what Mama Lena has done to my husband and Angge.

Again, to Mama Inday and Mama Lena.
My deepest "Thank you" as always and for not getting tired of me and Sweets!

Xoxo

Let us mind our own Business!

In our everyday lives we always interact with the people around us.  May it be during our transit to the office, while we are buying our lunch or doing our groceries.  When we interact it's easy to be kind. 

Well, imagine that you are driving to work and then it's very traffic and you are late.  Then you blame the traffic to the traffic enforcer who is "merely" doing his job and says that he is not doing things right?  Or imagine that you ordered your meal and it's been 15 minutes and your order is not yet served? Or you are simply experiencing a technical problem on your laptop and you blame it to the IT guy?

It's hard to be kind during these situations but let us all remember one thing first, to breath in and out three times.  After which we need to stay calm and understand the situation.  

Sometimes, we often think that things should always be at our advantage but that's not always the case.  We should also think that no one wants to be in a difficult situatuon and so instead of being hard on the situatuon or the people involved, we need to step back and think that "anger" will not do any good in any situation. Thus it's always better to be calm and explain things calmly to the people in that situation. 

Remember: 

We all went through something in our lives and it pays to listen to the words that are not said. 

Xoxo

Thanks for the inspiration Kate!

I admire you for being: 

So simple.

Yet sophisticated!

So calm.

Yet elegant! 

You repeat your shoes! 

That's just being practical and I love it about you! 

Your smile never fail to make me smile as well! It's just overflowing with love! 

You are a jewel and I will always look at you from time to time! 

Thanks for the inspiration!

Now my motto would always be:

Xoxo

Memories -- it last Forever!

I was browsing through Pinterest when I saw this inspirational quote:

I super agree with this postcard!
Nothing compares with the memories that we can make together with our family. It is something that we can always look back and reminisce. 

We all know that "Time is limited" and we need to make the most of it while we can.  While we have the means and energy to enjoy these travels.

My husband and I always take some time to take a vacation.  With our family or with ourselves -- simply because we are a firm believer of this postcard and we know that memories are the only thing that we can look back when we grow older.

Here are some of the lovely trips that we had.

Nowadays, the word "travel" means expense.
Well, when you look at it, it is really expense but for me it is an expense worth spending.  It will help build a lasting memory and money cannot buy the memories that can be created in any of these travels made with family.

Here are two of my personal tips on how to make lasting memories if you are in a budget mode:

1. Plan Ahead - My husband and I agreed that we will travel once a year, on our anniversary month.  With this in mind, as early as one year prior to our anniversary, we already plan our expenses and (if we can) we book our flights as early as possible because it's cheaper that way.  Last minute planning can be expensive and super time consuming so better plan ahead of time.

2. Start Simple - Creating memories does not mean that you need to go to Bali or Maldives -- it does not mean that you have to spend all of your savings just to have a picture with the Eiffel Tower or have a Euro Tour.  I always suggest to start traveling within our country, within the metro if you can.  There are a lot of places to see within Metro Manila that can be equally relaxing because it's always about perspective (how one define relaxing).  Then once you have explored Metro Manila then you can start traveling to nearby provinces -- like Laguna, Rizal, Batangas and Cavite.

Always remember what the postcard said:
"You can always make Money, You can't always make memories".

Let's do what we can while we are still young!
Enjoy creating memories! ^_^

Xoxo


 

Times three Celebration: Happy Happy Family = Happy Happy Life

These past few weeks, there have been several celebrations in our family.
There was Louise' graduation, Mama's Bday and Mika's graduation.

What's the best way to celebrate all of these wonderful events is to celebrate it all in one day together with the special people in our lives.

We all thought and agreed that a Triple Celebration would be nice - to celebrate the events that happened and to share the blessings that happened to our family.  Then when I was thinking of a theme.. this came to mind:

"GREATER THINGS TO HAPPEN"

Because I know that Greater things will surely happen if we continue to have the positive outlook that we have in our life!  I know that if we all stick together and we listen to each other -- greater things will happen :)

I already said my two cents to Louise and Mika -- Graduation Message
I hope that everything that I said will stick to their minds and hearts.  I can only say so much -- but it's them who needs to act on it.

To Mama, who is celebrating her 58th birthday.
My only wish for you is:

May you continue to be healthy until you celebrate the wedding of your first apo!  I have said enough and also action speaks louder than words, so I don't have to over emphasize that I love you so much! You know that! ^_^

To my two younger siblings - thanks for giving me the strength in celebrating!
Here is a sample photo booth that we had! Thanks for all the support!

Thanks Louise for helping me create the props.
Thanks Sweets for patiently taking our pictures.
Thanks to our color bright yellow wall that made the all pictures pop. ^_^

Thanks for all those who prepared the food!

Life is sweet and so I made some treats!
For the kids and kids at heart! My very own Dessert Buffet ~

If you want to have some sweet treats into your parties -- give me a ring!
Again, I would like to thank everyone who came and who celebrated with us!

See you all again! Muah!

Xoxo