Travel: Year-Ender Trip at Tagaytay

The holidays and my first week at work made it impossible for me to catch up with blogging. I'm happy to be finally writing again! Please bear with me as I try to adjust with my new responsibilities. I only have the weekend to blog now, must use my time well! 

Just before the year 2012 ended, our family stayed over at Tagaytay to bond, relax and enjoy the holiday season. And this is what I will be sharing with you! We started the trip with an ocular at CCT Tagaytay, a great venue for conference, retreat or team-building activities. The dormitories reminded me a lot of the ones at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

We spent the afternoon enjoying the majestic view of Taal Lake and the breeze of the cool wind!

With little sister, and mom

The tripod I bought from CD-R King for only 250php came in handy for family pictures. Yes, 250php only!

Outfit of the day includes a corset from Chicadora, thrifted blazer and jejejeggings!

More pictures

Dinner time! We all agreed to have dinner at Mile Hi.

Burger, Pasta, Steak. What else do you expect from a diner? Yum yum!

                                 

We were all satisfied with our orders. Food is fairly priced at 150-300php. I definitely enjoyed my Mozarella-stuffed burger!

I am not a big fan of Starbucks but the one in Tagaytay is easily one of the nicest Starbucks I've visited. The second floor is an open area that is strategically situated for people to get a nice view of Taal. The best time to visit is night time because you'll make the most out of the cool temperature. Nothing beats a hot cup of coffee in a cold place. Relaxing!

Family picture before leaving Mt. Tabor, where we stayed over for the night.

                               

Before finally reaching Manila, we stopped over for a late lunch at Solenad 2, Nuvali. There were several food stalls there, the setup was Mercato-like.

Great food for very affordable prices! I had isaw and Ilocos empanada. Yum yum!

Tagaytay will always be one of my favorite places. It's the nearest and easiest escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Spending time with family is also a great way to end and start a new year.

Travel: Baguio city Weekend III (University of the Philippines Baguio)

Remember when I told you how Baguio City is close to my heart on the First Part of this post? Well here is the reason why! I spent one academic year at UP Baguio. After which, I transferred to UP Diliman. One school year is enough for me to fall in love with the city.

Living in the City of Pines felt like having a long, long vacation. The cool temperature, fresh air, strawberries, Session Road walks, cheap finds and the kind people are what I love most about the city. I stayed with my aunt at Philippine Military Academy (PMA) for several months. I forget the stress from school everytime the breathtaking landscape at PMA greet me each morning.

Just so you can visualize what I'm talking about. Here's a picture! Such lovely flowers to look at.

Spot the tourist! Hehehe. Photo taken 3 years ago.

Now, I'll give you a quick photo tour around the UPB.

Each school day is exercise day because of steep slopes and stairs. 

Say hello to the renovated canteen!

The Abortion Stairs! If you are a follower of Miss Cory Potts, you might have seen these stairs on one of her vlogs. She's from UP Baguio too. These stairs lead to my former college, College of Social Sciences. Treading up this flight of stairs is no joke!

Psych 101 days!  This is the classroom where we held our Psych 101 classes.

Newly renovated UPB library!

Sabi nila may curse daw pag nagpapicture kay Oble. Hindi raw makakagreaduate. Makakagraduate naman ako, di nga lang on time! 

Read about the first and second part of my Baguio trip:

Baguio City Weekend I (Sister Bonding)

Baguio City Weekend II (Church Anniversary & Meralco Summerhouse)

Have you been to Baguio City? What do you love most about the city? 

Thanks for reading!

Have a blessed day!

Love,

Iya

Travel: Weekend at Baguio City II (Church Anniversary & Meralco SummerHouse)

The main reason of our Baguio visit is to attend Church on a Hill Christian Community's 7th anniversary. It is a sister church of our local church. I was once a member of the church that is why I really wanted to celebrate with them. I've seen how God worked gloriously on their church.

They grew in quantity and in quality each year. The testimonies of the church members are not enough to describe God's grace and power. The story of how their church flourished is really amazing. It started from a small Bible study group. Look at them now! 

Few years back, the church rented a space at Minesview to hold Sunday Celebrations. Now, they have their own space. God is full of grace! 

Daddy preached about disciple-making. Yes, my dad is a pastor! 

Hello Ayie and Sam!

The church has the tradition to have kainan after the service which I really enjoy! I had 5-6 of this yummy brownies. Calories!

Now, I'll share some pictures of the house. We stayed at Meralco Summerhouse. Such a lovely place to stay. Thanks to Tito Bong. It was really cozy.

The interior of the house is American-inspired. Fireplace, wooden fixtures, picture frames.

Every meal is fiesta! From breakfast, lunch to dinner. Bonggang bongga ang pagkain!

I really had a great weekend! Happy 7th Anniversary Church on a Hill Christian Community!

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

-Matthew 28:19-20

If you haven't read about the first part of my Baguio trip, read about it here!

Have a blessed day! 

Travel: Weekend at Baguio City I (Sister Bonding)

Several weeks ago, our family went to Baguio City to attend the 7th anniversary of Church on a Hill Christian Community, a sister church of our local church. I'll be dividing this post into three. For this part, I'm gonna be sharing you some of my younger sister and I's vanity shots.

Meralco Summer House, where we stayed for four days.

Zen Tea, Baguio Cathedral Grounds

Swapped hairstyles!

Had a mini haul @ BonChic: Comb:15php, Ring 35php, HengFang Liquid Eye Liner - 30php

Look at these adorable rings!

Baguio Cathedral looks so beautiful. Pang post card!

The shoes I'm wearing is from Shoe Haul last month. Click to read about it!

Back to Meralco Summer House!

 Some self-timer shots...

Paparazzi shot ang peg ng lola mo!

So much vanity? :p
Baguio City is my favorite city. A city close to my heart. A city I'll always come back to. I'll tell you the reason why on the second part of this post <3