Eto palang! Eto palang convinced na ako na I made the right decision to join the event!
Hashtag-HASH BROWN! ;p

We gathered and had a buffet (!) breakfast in Mom & Tina's near Tiendesitas.
Naka tatlong balik ako, no judging! Hehe.

The beautiful Joanne Ignacio as the event's host. Love how she speaks.
For a morning call-time, chill na chill lang! ;)

The handed to us the day's "map" or "itinerary" - eto mismo yung nasa email nila.
We were all guessing kung ano yung mga stop-point illustrations,
bakit may PARANG SUMAN? Bat may parang pang-PAINT and POTTERY?!

  

Still clueless of our destination! But since clear skies mean good omen, I was SUPER EXCITED! 

Joanne made the coaster ride more interesting, with trivia, fun facts, and tweet-games!
With the hashtag #WeekendDiscoveries, we answered her questions via Twitter, at may prize daw!
One of the questions is about the location na pupuntahan namin, and ang clue: Tipolo Trees.
Bilang bingi, muntik ko nang itweet "Dipolog!?" Hahaha! Talagang eroplano levels nasa isip ko! ;p (#sabaw)

We actually headed to the beautiful Antipolo City! :)

Our first stop was in The Crescent Moon Cafe / Lanelle Abueva-Fernando Studio Pottery

We were introduced to Ms. Lanelle, an artist / potter.


Aside from the must-try cafe (sayang we were full pa and didn't dine na here), The Crescent Moon Cafe also houses one-of-a-kind stoneware ceramics that they produced there mismo. I learned that sila ang nag provide sa Yabu, Sumo Sam and other restaurants ng plates and other dishwares, which is so cool! :D 

We had a pottery barn tour:

They also create ceramic molds to meet bulk orders:

Hi Helga! :) Hehe!

The two giant ovens na kasha ang tao. :p

Ang cool nito, handmade kung handmade! How they patiently and uniformly paint
every piece of ceramic is just so painfully amazing.

With utmost care and balance....

...Ms. Lanelle calmly worked on the potter's wheel to create...

...This vase! :)


It wasn't as easy as it seems! A blogger was given a chance to try out the craft,
but pedaled way too fast, the wet clay flew to the kawawa people in front! ;p Akk!

(Read more on my outfitey here.)

Our next adventure? More kwentos and photos on next post! :)

Thank you Nescafe Philippines and Nuffnang Philippines!

"The name "Maundy" comes from the Latin antiphon Mandatum Novum, or "a new mandate." 

This new mandate from Jesus is taken from John 13:34 - Love one another as I have loved you."

(source)

After attending the Be Still Recollection with the whole family yesterday, we rested for a while before ending the Holy Thursday visiting several beautiful churches here in the south for our annual Visita Iglesia. It was a day filled with prayers and songs, of renewed faith and hope. (my current favorite worship song! :))

Btw, Be Still, a Holy Week recollection of Feast Alabang, will end tomorrow, Saturday, from 8am to 12pm at The Filinvest Tent, Alabang (near Acacia Hotel). I invite you all to a morning of worship songs and talks (guest speaker for tomorrow is Father Jerry Orbos with Fatima). Everybody's welcome to walk-in, and recollection is FREE of charge! :) 

Also, the whole Light of Jesus community will celebrate the Grand Easter Feast "UNBOUNDED" this Sunday at the SMX Convention Center from 8am to 12pm with our Feast Builder Bro. Bo Sanchez. No entrance fees, and open for all!

Be blessed! I hope to see you there. :)

---

The Feast Alabang is a weekly Catholic Prayer Meeting of the Light of Jesus (LOJ) Family, aimed at celebrating and spreading God’s love through worship and inspirational talks. The LOJ Family is headed by lay preacher, Bo Sanchez. The Feast is held at the Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig City but, eventually, local Feasts were created in different areas of Metro Manila to allow more people to experience what can best be described as “one of the happiest places on earth.” (read more here)

So it really took me months, and I am not even pertaining to just 1 or 2 or even just 3 months, but halos bordering over a year of petiks mode na when it comes to my physical activities. I do get a lot of walking (especially when I go out to attend events and alay lakad talaga ang commuting from the south)... But aside from that, waley na. Most of my days, asa harap lang ako ng laptop or my work-table, making accessories, so in short, hands ko lang ang bukod-tanging may exercise, haha. :p

Anyway! So what made me decide na mag balik-loob sa sweat machine (or routine) are the onemilliontweets I've been reading every single day na pinagkaloob ng diyos on these sprouting new (and not so new) "alternative" exercises aside from the usual gym--there's Elorde for boxing or Muay Thai, or Plana Forma ang exercise ng bayan, or yung 360 circuit training for the busy bees. I've also heard about the more extreme alternative physical activities like lambitin peg anti-gravity, paka-sexy-much pole dancing or belly dancing, cool-mo-dude surfing, etcetera etcetera. I went for Bikram Yoga:

What made me decide to go for Bikram (aka Hot Yoga)?
Hindi niyo natatanong (lol), I was actually part of the UST Yoga Club! :) I am not an expert, but it's something na I really enjoyed while kaya ko pang dayuhin ang USTe. I actually stopped nung napagod na ako sa layo ng location (I attended kahit graduate na ako).

Sadly, I have no pictures of my UST Yoga Club days, but I have these circa 2006 photos of one of our inter-school events in a hotel function room in Manila. It was a full day of get-together of all yoga orgs from different schools, where everyone enjoyed festive music, watched hatha yoga demos, and, of course, "pig" out on vegetarian buffet.


My UST Yoga Club Family. :)


Convenience
Aside from choosing something na alam kong I've tried na before, I also went for Bikram after learning about the Bikram Yoga Alabang studio, which is ang pinaka malapit na from my place (tric-jeep-walk away). The BYA is in Commerce Center, right across the Acacia Hotel--a long (but fun, cardio-ish) walk from Festival Mall's Commerce Avenue exit. (Yun lang, walang jeep / commute sa area--pang mayaman! :p).

The temptations sandwiching my paradise, hehehe. BYA studio is at the second floor of the Commerce Center, and lahat ng katabi niya mga restaurants. May time na napaaga ako sa sched (must be there 20 minutes before the class para masanay muna sa heated room--aka chill time, e I was there mga 40 minutes ahead pa. :p), I actually ate muna sa Army Navy. Bad idea pala yun, better to come to a yoga session with an empty stomach (Mistake #1). Just come to class ng well hydrated. (more tips here).

I saw this "Hot Room Etiquette" posted in every cubicle of the female locker room in the BYA studio. On my first day, I didn't read the whole thing (tamad), thus we arrive to Mistake #2, which is, spraying perfume before going to class. :p With the 26 Poses of Bikram Yoga, more than half of these include bowing your head down, with the chin touching the chest. Sweating 10x more in the 40 degrees heated room, I was suffocating from my sobrang-bango-shirt, I swear kulang nalang hubarin ko nalang t-shirt ko bilang lahat naman halos ng classmates ko - young & old, fit & flab - naka sports bra!

My bikram essentials include: my own yoga mat and huge towel (required, to cover the whole mat), a bottle (or 2) of water, padlock for the locker to leave my things (especially my gadgets, na hindi pwede sa hot room), and my No Stiff Emu Oil--not required, but an essential for me.

Everything else, pwedeng i-rent (mats and towels at P30 ea) or buy from them... But for my post-yoga muscle pains, JTomas No Stiff Body Massage Lotion does the job of soothing stiff and painful parts brought by taxing activities. Sarap din langhapin ng mint-y scent noh? May time na hindi ako makakatulog ng walang emu oil, in short, amoy lola daw ako. Lol.

Lotion form sha, actually. You can buy a bottle sa Landmark or Watsons, and other leading dept stores and supermarkets nationwide. (Lakas maka-commercial noh? Hehehe.)


This is me, post "workout", ready to take my long walk again! :) 

I am actually enrolled in their 10-day program for beginners: Ten consecutive days na you can take unli classes (kahit i-umaga-gabi, pwede daw!) for only 1000 bucks! :D Medyo expensive na after this (inquire here for rates), but bikram yoga is something na I really enjoy and look forward to already. Wala shang feeling of obligation, naalala ko tuloy sinabi sa amin ng instructor namin yesterday--it doesn't have to be a debate in your mind if you're going or not. 

I'd love to talk more about the benefits of Bikram Yoga, but since ang haba na ng post nato hehe, you can read more HERE.

Visit http://www.bikramyogaalabang.com/ if interested ka din to take classes. :) They'll resume after the Holy Week, schedules include 6am, 8.30am, 6pm, and 8pm on weekdays, and 9.30am and 3pm on weekends. I usually take the last class on weekdays. :)