I WON!!! charmietambaphotography.blogspot.com is Best Photoblog!!!

***my other blog won: charmietambaphotography.blogspot.com, not this one... hehehe i think i've confused some of my friends... :D


weeeee!!! look what i got.... a Philippine Blog Awards (Mindanao division) jeepney!!! :-)

1st Ciudad Medical Zamboanga Fun Run!

all i ever wished for is to have fun runs in zamboanga...

when runs and marathons became so common in Manila after I left I really envied my friends who were able to join.... i've heard of around 3-4 runs organized in zamboanga city this year, and i was only able to join one, Rotary's Stop TB Run... then planning came for CMZ's 7th anniversary celebration, i was really ecstatic when it was agreed that we will organize our own fun run!!! :-)

i'll be @ the 4th Mindanao Bloggers Summit this weekend!!!

my first time to go to a bloggers event... :-) am excited to see the faces of the bloggers i stalk... hehe

jog mode on!!!

finally!!! after many attempts... we were able to push our pretty asses to start jogging! we went to good ol' zamboanga grandstand...

i am here

i am here... NOW.

i may have been in denial that i had gone through some withdrawal syndrome after abruptly changing my life last year... but right now I can happily say that i am moving out of it... :-) 

Sto Nino Shrine (Tacloban) Part 3: Common Areas

My Sto Nino Shrine posts are a product of a combined effort by me and my Tacloban trip buddy Ezra. She was the one taking photos, and I was assigned to take down notes during the Shrine tour. :-)
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you've seen the guest rooms and the Marcos family rooms... here's the rest of the Sto Nino Shrine. :-) The common areas, grand ballroom, dining areas are scene stealers too!

Here's one of my fave items inside... a big version of this oval-shaped mirror... you'll actually see smaller versions of this inside the guest rooms.... These mirrors were all shipped from Austria... this big one is in the Antique receiving area. A small holding area from the Chapel to the back...

Sto Nino Shrine (Tacloban) Part 2: Marcos family rooms

My Sto Nino Shrine posts are a product of a combined effort by me and my Tacloban trip buddy Ezra. She was the one taking photos, and I was assigned to take down notes during the Shrine tour. :-)

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as if the lavishly designed guest rooms were not enough, our eyes were treated with more extravagant rooms of the Marcos family at the 2nd floor. I didn't expect that the Shrine was actually like a place to stay for them while in Tacloban....

Each of them have their own room... and yes by that I mean each of them, Marcos and Imelda having their own rooms even!


First room we went into - the President's room... first thing you'll notice is the mini office on the right side of the receiving area.... a sitting place is set on the left side... Marcos' bed is on the other end.

Sto Nino Shrine (Tacloban) Part 1: the Chapel & Guest Rooms

My Sto Nino Shrine posts are a product of a combined effort by me and my Tacloban trip buddy Ezra. She was the one taking photos, and I was assigned to take down notes during the Shrine tour. :-)

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while preparing our itinerary for the Tacloban trip i have seen photos of visitors in the Sto Nino Shrine showing it's facade only... 2 bloggers mentioned about the Shrine and that they opted not to go inside,either because of lack of time or the entrance fee is unreasonable.... we went there not having any idea what's inside...thinking, probably its just some religious stuff.... 

We hesitated to enter at first after finding out that the entrance fee is Php200 for a minimum of 5.... It took us a walk around the building and a tour at Kyle's before we decided to check out the Shrine.

 

VIVA Nuestra Senora La Virgen del Pilar (2010)

Fiesta Pilar happened so quickly this year... we didn't get to go to other activities lined up by the City Gov't since 1st of October, but I cant afford to miss the procession on the feast day....

The procession seems shorter this time, and with lesser people compared to last year... we were already at the Fort Pilar shrine before 5pm.

And while editing pix for this post...I just realized we ended up almost on the same spot where we stayed last year to hear mass... but this time we were able to go inside. ;-) Familiar angle... hehehe here's an almost similar photo from last year: 2009. I love the color of the drapes this time... not the typical blue and white associated with the Lady of the Pillar. :-) 

choices...

im going to dwell on a cliche....

vintage trinkets galore in Kyle's! (Tacloban City)

this is definitely one of the reasons why i love travelling... because when i do, i would usually turn the net upside down to find what's not to be missed in whereever im going... the most "off the beaten path" as possible the better... :-) and far far better is stumbling on something so interesting that's not even on your list.... :D

one of our target places to cover is the Sto Nino Shrine (which is actually now a museum)... we held back when we saw the rates to go inside... although i've read somewhere already that it is not advisable to go in if there's just 1-2 of you... price is Php200 for the first 5, so even if it's just me & ezra, we still need to pay that much... that's Php100 each!!! kinda not ok for a backpacking trip... hehehe

so we just camwhored on the sides of the building a bit and checked out what's behind the shrine... and then we noticed a bamboo-fenced estate at the back... the gates says "Kyle's"... we peeked and saw a really big pool with dirty water.... we sneaked in... it was really nice inside! when we met one of their guys there we asked if we can go around and take photos... he gave his yes! so we had a feast at all the things we saw!!!

Tacloban Resto Review: Dream Cafe

3rd stop of our Tacloban foodie adventure....

We initially planned to have our breakfast on our first day in Sunzibar... we left our hotel quite late than originally planned (almost 9am) and it took us more than 30min just to locate Sunzibar only to find out it's still closed and opens 10.30am.... We ended starving and a bit lost on where to have breakfast... i ended up asking where Guisuppe's is, im pretty sure anyone from Tac would be able to lead us there... :-) It also opens around 11am... the nearest options that we have is Chowking and Dream Cafe... eating in Chowking would be a BIG NO for this trip... hehehe we have limited time and tummy space to just end up with a generic resto... hehehe... so Dream Cafe it is then....

Tacloban Resto Review: Jose Karlos Cafe! (proudly pinoy!)

2nd stop of our foodie adventure in Tacloban! :-)

I didn't expect Jose Karlos would end up as one of our favorite place in Tacloban... I almost scrapped it out of our list because after having a quick run through of the materials we got from the net on what we can find in Tacloban, Jose Karlos didn't stick with me... probably because they don't have free Wifi... hehe im bias like that.. :D

good thing turn of events that night ended with us settling at Jose Karlos... and then we were just filled with our "wow's" and our "aaahh's".... the place is really nice... very homey... nice for just hanging out and having chitchats with friends.... it's as comfy as Starbucks or other known cafes (well except for the wifi hehe).... i love the trinkets and art on display all over the place...

Tacloban Resto Review: Calle Z! (Zaragossa)

First stop of our Tacloban Foodie Adventure! :-)

Calle Zaragosa Cafe or better known to locals as Calle Z is one of the best local hangout place in Tacloban. It is a cafe-restobar. They are known for their bulalo, but we failed to try it (huhu)... we were too overwhelmed with the choices and we were too hungry to check our list of what's not to miss in Calle Z hehe. The owner Gerry Ruiz is a respected photographer and Tacloban Blogger (blogging at gerryruiz.wordpress.com).

The place reminds me of our fave indie bar in Makati - Saguijo! :-) Major difference is the live bands which is a major constant for Saguijo. But the feel, the vibe, the crowd... feels so much like Saguijo... :-)

Calle Z had been a hangout place for Tacloban since 2002! I am sooo loving the foodie world in Tacloban, there are a handful of loved restos that had been there for years! They can really support restos there, just as long as they're good. hehe

sense of self

Hotel Alejandro, Tacloban City!

This is Tacloban's surprise #1. :-) I did not bother making any hotel reservations before the trip because i was confident that we would be able to find a decent place to stay on the spot... I made a list of possible hotels to consider. I've scrapped out Leyte Park Hotel because it's just simply too expensive for a backpacking trip... I have 3 hotels on my list based on the reviews and rates i saw online: Hotel Alejandro, Asia Stars and Hotel D'Angelo. Initially, Asia Stars was on top of my list because of the good reviews and somewhat cheap rate... But while we were on the jeepney from the airport I asked the driver which hotel he would recommend... and without a blink he said Hotel Alejandro... but my list says Hotel Alejandro is expensive!!! but nevertheless, we asked him to take us there...

and look at what we saw!!! the facade simply awed us... Hotel Alejandro had us at hello... hehehe

Hotel Alejandro looked so inviting from the outside... :-) the photos on the net does not give justice to the place..hehehe I love how it looked historical... somehow blending with the notion of a historical trip if you're heading to Leyte...