Change The Way You See Happiness

What makes a person happy?  I'm sure the most common reply that you will hear is that being with their loved ones, family and friends makes them happy.  Or maybe for some, you will hear materialistic responses like chocolates, flowers, shoes, bags among others were the things that will make them happy.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Anything that will make them feel good inside or anybody who can make them smile can be factors that makes a person happy.  But happiness is not limited to the material things that you like nor the people that surrounds and loves you.  There are little things that can bring happiness into your life.  Those things that will make you change the way you see happiness.

I'd like to share some of the few shallow things that makes me happy.  

Sunset - I just love sunsets.  Whenever there's a chance, I try to take a picture of it whether on the streets, on the beach or even when I'm inside the car.  I get a little frustrated when I am not able to capture the beauty of the sunset as seen by my naked eyes.  But nevertheless, I get fascinated on the outcome of my pictures even just using a mobile phone.  This is happiness.

Boracay Sunset

Sunset in Thailand

Sunset in Bolinao, Pangasinan

Capturing sunset in a moving car

Nasugbu, Batangas Sunset

BGC, Taguig Sunset

Sunset in Bantayan Island, Cebu

Capturing sunset again while inside the car

Photography - No, I am not into photography but I love taking pictures!  I do not have plans of making or shifting a career out of photography though.  I do, however, do a little research on how to take nice shot or what cameras (or even mobile phones) can best suite my personality and love for photography.  I took mostly nature shots and night shots. I know my pictures are just basic but when I get some compliments on it, it already makes me feel happy.  This is happiness.

Tinuy-an Falls

Siquijor

Apo Island

Malaysia

Enchanted River

Event in Circuit Makati

Nemo in Moalboal, Cebu

Batangas restaurant

Instax taken in Mactan, Cebu

My cute niece

Artwork in a restaurant in Boracay

Golden fields in Mariveles, Bataan

Fireworks show

Fireworks show

Kabiang Tunnel

Instax capture of our wedding

BGC street at night

Boracay Sail

Blogging - Eversince high school, I already love to write.  I even tried to take up Journalism in college but I ended up in an Engineering course.  My passion for writing has not ended until I put up this blog last January 2011 just to share to the world my thoughts and experiences mostly about my travels.  It really makes me happy when people find my blog useful.  This is happiness.

You see, there are really more than just family, friends, love ones, and material things that can make a person happy.  With our fast-paced and stressful life to some, one can discover various things that can change the way they see happiness.  Even the smallest things can change the way you see everything.  Just like Huawei's new mobile phone, the Huawei P9.  With its cool camera features, it will feel like you have a camera with a smartphone attached.  This will change the way you see mobile photography.  Huawei P9's camera is co-engineered with Leica, one of the world's most respected names in the photography industry.  It has dual lenses at the back where one lens shoots exclusively black and white while when both lenses are used, a DSLR-style shallow depth of field can be produced.  This can definitely change the way you see mobile photography.  It is a mobile phone but with features similar to DSLR when taking photos.  With its 2 lens camera, you can set the depth of field of your shots which has the same effect as changing aperture of a DSLR.  Result, photos will be high quality and users will be able to take amazing monochrome, slo-mo, colored, light painting photos among others.

Living in this world could take you to a lot of challenges and experiences.  But seeing life in a different perspective can make living worth it, so enjoy every bit of it.  Live life to the fullest!

Discovering Taiwan's Best Brands: Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Event in Trinoma

It's the third leg of Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Mall Event this weekend in Trinoma.  The event first happened in SM Megamall last June 3-5.  Mallgoers will once again be able to witness a wide selection of high quality products from Taiwan's best brands through Taiwan Excellence.  This event is happening at Trinoma mall in Quezon City on August 19-21, 2016.

Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone, led by the Bureau of Foreign Trade and in partnership with the Taiwanese government, is an interactive product showcase featuring brands that bear the Taiwan Excellence seal which assures customers of superior quality products.

There will be 140 products from 54 Taiwan Excellence-accredited brands that will be seen on this event.  This wide range of products covers needs for Information and Technology, Home and Living, Sports and Leisure.  Included in this products showcase are STRIDA's durable bicycles which is designed for ease and reliable urban transport, SH-RD's protein cream that prevents hair damage and makes hair softer and shinier, and FECA's storage products which helps in maximizing home space.

Guests and visitors will not only enjoy the Taiwan Excellence product showcase, they will also be entertained by performances, fashion shows, games, and raffle draws.  They can watch out for surprise number from local bands such as Silent Sanctuary on Aug. 19, Callalily on August 20 and Up Dharma Down on Aug. 21.

The Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone will also have brand presentations to make consumers aware on the featured products and how it can complement their lifestyle.  There are also booths from brands such as Tatung, MSI, Feca and Asus.  Consumers can also avail huge discount from featured brands such as Kymco, MSI, Pacific, Tatung, Tern and Thermaltake.

This Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone is happening this weekend only.  So hurry! Be in the know on the latest gadgets, home appliances, fitness gears and many other treats.  Head now to Trinoma this weekend!

Review: My Boracay Guide's Transport Service

I have been using My Boracay Guide website the past years I've been to Boracay.  Recently, I booked again through their website when my husband and I decided to stay in Willy's Beach Hotel again for the second time.  I also booked through them the first time we visited this hotel (you may read about my review on Willy's Beach Hotel here).  Their rates were quite lower than other booking sites such as Agoda and Booking.com.

Upon booking, there was a notification that my booking comes with free airport pick up.  This is My Boracay Guide's way of gratitude to their customers who chose to book with them.  Based from their website, they have various kinds of transport vehicle depending on your budget.  Price is also dependent on the number of persons.  Since ours is free, the kind of vehicle given to us is their economy transfer.  This usually cost Php 400 per person for 2 pax, one way, inclusive of boat fee.  However, terminal and environmental fee is not yet included.  In their other transport service, all of these are included in their fee.

Once booked, My Boracay Guide will send an email to confirm your booking.  The free transport service was not included in their email to me so I confirmed it further to them.  Once confirmed, I gave them details of our flight and arrival.  We will be coming from Caticlan airport.  I believe My Boracay Guide's transport service can either be in Caticlan or Kalibo airport.  They were able to acknowledge my email on our flight details. I thought that was it.

Upon arriving in Caticlan airport, there was a My Boracay Guide staff waiting outside.  We approached her but unfortunately our names were not included in her list.  I showed her the acknowleged email when she was asking a voucher from me.  She made a few calls and thankfully I heard that we were indeed part of their transport service.  

Aboard the shuttle/van service, we were with other passengers who I believed booked through Southwest tours since that was the name written on the van as well as on the driver's shirt.  For proper identification, we were given sticker of My Boracay Guide. This is I guess to separate and identify us from those who booked through Southwest tours.

From the airport, the van took us to Tabon port.  This is an alternate port going to Boracay.  The travel time is quite far, about 8 minutes.  The port is not as orderly as in Jetty port thus the fee were minimal.  Environmental and terminal fee is only Php 100 per pax while the boat ride is only 25 per pax.  From Tabon port, the boat will lead you to Tambisaan port.  Similar to Jetty-Cagban port route, travel time from Tabon to Tambisaan port is less than 10 minutes away.

Upon arriving at Tabon port, we had to find the My Boracay Guide staff to assist us.  It seems that we were the only one who used My Boracay Guide's transport service.  Well that's a plus since we are the only one who they would take care of.  Anyway, it took us a while before the staff from My Boracay Guide assist us.  We were asked to pay for the terminal and environmental fee then the staff told us that another staff will be assisting us on our way to the hotel upon alighting at the Tambisaan port.

Tambisaan port is near Crystal Cove as we can see it from afar.  There were tricycles also waiting for passengers to take them to their resort.  But it seems that most of the tourist there were guided by various transport service.  Not the usual DIY traveller.

Since our service was free, we rode the E-trike, the economy transfer service of My Boracay Guide.  Travel time is about 20 minutes from the port to Station 1 where our hotel is.  That's quite far since i'm used to the very short travel from Cagban port to hotels in Station 1.  Another reason why the travel time took a while is because we were riding an e-trike.  It's a battery operated tricycle which travels about 20-30 kph at maximum.  Quite slow.  I heard that the e-trike fee is 180 pesos one way.

We took the same route on our way back to the Caticlan airport on our last day in Boracay.  Similar to Cagban port, vans are available should your flight be in Kalibo.  As for us, since our airport is in Caticlan, we just paid Php 25  boat ride and Php 30 terminal fee.  I noticed that some did not buy tickets for the terminal fee.  Also, there were locals and pinoy tourists who simply go straight to the ticket counter without even bothering to fall in line when there is one.  Pinoy nga naman. Well, maybe one reason is that the line were not so organized.  Even after paying for the boat ticket, there was no organized line in the waiting area of the boat.

This new or alternate route is new to us.  The e-trike driver told us that this is the usual route when the water is not calm or when there are waves during Habagat season.  Well, there was indeed strong waves as if you were in a surfing beach.  This is the reason why we were not able to go to Ariel's Point... Again *sigh*.

Anyway, My Boracay Guide's transport service is quite acceptable.  Though it wasn't perfect and organized and there was a little waiting time, I would still recommend it for convenience.  But for budget travellers, you can still do DIY as it is not really difficult to reach Boracay.

Taiwan Excellence: Showcasing Superior Products through Experiencing Zone Mall Event

Last June 3 to 5, Taiwan Excellence, a campaign that promotes high quality products, showcased their amazing wide array of Taiwan’s product design and innovation through the Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Mall Event held at SM Megamall Event Center.  The event drew attention to mall goers with its attractive experiencing zone which allows them to see how Taiwan Excellence products can complement and enhance their lifestyle.

The Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Mall event is one of Taiwan Excellence’ activities to showcase their high quality innovative and game changing products.  Organized by Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) of Taiwan and undertaken by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TIATRA), Taiwan Excellence has helped Filipinos appreciate the products that have been engineered and manufactured to the highest standard of Taiwan.

Joining this event were some of Taiwan’s brand partners where they exhibit their products’ superiority such as Acer, Asus, D-Link, Tatung, Heartway, KYMCO, MSI, Johnson Tern and Chanson.  All of these brands proudly bear the Taiwan Excellence Seal which ensures consumers of highly superior, quality and innovative products.

Keeping the event fun and pleasant, a Formosa bear mascot greeted guests happily and gamely posed for photos with them.  The event not only exhibit Taiwan Excellence products, it also features a lively dance number from Conven PH and a soothing song number from singers Christian Bautista, Julie Ann San Jose and Yeng Constantino.  Adding entertainment and excitement to the event was a fashion show of products and fun games lead by blogger and vocalist, Saab Magalona and Cosplayer sisters, Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao.  Several lucky draws were also provided to keep guests entertained.  Each brand partners also shared the best features of their products to make it more interesting to the guests. 

Formosa Bear

Coven PH

Yeng Constantino

Saab Magalona

Cosplayer sisters Ashley and Alodia Gosiengfiao

 

Fashion Show of TIATRA’s highlighted Products

TIATRA Deputy Executive Director, Scott Yang, said: “Every year, we strive to bring best Taiwanese products to the Philippines and its experiential activity allows people to see these things up close.  We’ve made everything in this experiential exhibit fun, captivating and different.  We hope to do more projects that would help Filipinos discover how we can help enrich their lives with Taiwan’s superior products.”   

(From left) Taiwan External Trade Development Council Deputy Executive Director of Strategic Marketing Department Scott Yang, Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office Minister Samuel Chang, Taiwan Trade Center Manila Director Harrison Koming Lan

Not only the guests have benefited from this event, even the brand partners appreciates TIATRA’s effort in helping them spread awareness and strengthen visibility of their products in the Philippine market.  Such brand partners as Asus products where their Product Marketing Commercial Solutions, Ruemer Allan Santillan, takes pride in embodying the Taiwan innovation by having high quality and technology that keeps up with the needs and lifestyle of its consumers.  Likewise, Heartway’s Supervisor and Far East Medical’s Jailyn Macamay shared that linking their products with TAITRA gives their product a reliable impact to the public.

Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Event does not end here.  Other upcoming events are scheduled as follows: July 8-10 in SM Mall of Asia, August 19-21 in Trinoma and October 21-23 in Market! Market!  For more details, just visit their website at www.taiwanexcellence.ph.        

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

Same Day Edit (SDE) or Onsite Photo by Efjay de Leon Photography

I honestly did not know that there is such thing as SDE photo or Onsite Photo.  I am only familiar with the usual SDE video.  But since onsite photo is part of my wedding photographer, Efjay De Leon's package, we availed it.  It is similar as onsite video only it is in still photo.  All the important and memorable photos during our wedding, from preparations to the reception were chosen and compiled to make an onsite photo.

Sharing below our onsite photo done by Efjay de Leon and his team.

You may also want to visit my blog post on our prenup AVP and SDE video.

Below are the details of my suppliers:

Church: Transfiguration of Christ Parish, Antipolo
Reception: Le Blanc Exclusive Resort, Antipolo
Photographer: Efjay de Leon
Videographer: Daryl John Santos
HMUA: Leah Pechuanging

Happy wedding preps!

Our Prenup Session

I previously posted on my blog on some tips in planning your prenup or e-session shoot.  I learned a lot about planning on this prenup shoot which I initially thought is no longer needed.  But I'm glad we did it as we were able to know better on how our photographer works.  Besides, it is included in the package so why not avail it :)

It was 1st week of October, barely 1 and half month to go before our wedding, when we had our prenup shoot.  We chose Microtel in MOA since I want to have a sunset captured.  Microtel was the cheapest hotel I inquired near Manila Bay (where sunset is awesome) and with less or no requirement for photo shoot.  My (then) fiance and I decided to stay overnight in Microtel and as guests, we are free to use their roof top with pool and sunset view, even for a photo shoot.

Efjay suggested to us what clothes, accessories and props to bring.  Basically there's not much props, just pizza which we ordered at SM Mall of Asia, very convenient.

My hair and make up artist, Ms. Leah Pechuanging, was one of my first choice since she is based in Antipolo and she was also the one who did our hair during my brother's wedding last 2014.  Glad she was available on our prenup shoot though it was quite a last minute schedule.

I love my hair and make up.  Ms. Leah was very diligent in ensuring I look fresh all througout the session.  I also had several hair styles which I also like.  Unfortunately, the hairstylist won't be the one who will do my hair on my wedding day.  But I trust Ms. Leah that she will provide an equally creative hair stylist.

Sharing with you Our Prenup Session AVP.  I hope you will like it. :)

You may check the FB page of my hair and make up artist and photographer below.

Efjay De Leon (photographer) - https://www.facebook.com/fjdeleonphotography/?fref=nf
Leah Pechuanging (hair and make up artist) - https://www.facebook.com/makeupbyEYAH/?pnref=story

To know more about how I got Efjay as my wedding photographer, read my blog post about it here.

Happy wedding preps! 

My Wedding Photographer: Efjay De Leon

One of the hardest part in wedding planning and preparation is looking for a good and trusted photographer that is within your budget.  Our initial budget is only Php 60,000 that includes videographer, album, SDE, and prenup.  Too small?  Well, I'm not so sure since I haven't been married before.  Good thing, there's the ever reliable GirlTalk forum where cheap wedding photo and video suppliers is one of the major topics under Weddings and Engagement.  I listed down all their recommended photo and video suppliers and I tried to check out their profile and sample works, one by one.

Searching for a photographer, I really don't have any idea what to look for or what type of shots that my (then) fiance and I wanted.  But for videographer, we somehow have specific shots that we want and do not want to see.  For the videos we initially watched, they all seem the same.  Same concept, same flow.  Even for some of the well known photographers out there, their videos were not consistently have that wow factor.  So we had a hard time looking for which one will suit us or maybe which could assist us in coming up with nice ideas for a nice photo and video.

One of the famous photo/video supplier mentioned in GirlTalk is God's Grace Productions.  Their works were ok and from the posts in the forum, one of the owners, Ms. Raiza, is very kind and easy to talk to.  So we decided to set a meeting with her.  That was about 5 months away before our wedding day.  Yes, we were already rushing that time and God's Grace was the first photo/video supplier we met.  The meeting went well.  We were somehow decided to get their package and luckily, even if they were already famous in GirlTalk, they are still available on our wedding day.  A few days after the meeting, Ms. Raiza had another meeting with a client who incidentally have the same wedding day as us.  Unfortunately, she has to give the slot to the other client since they were able to give downpayment fast.  I told Ms. Raiza that I can also send downpayment the same day just to reserve them but it will be right after I finish my meetings and errands at work.  Well, the other client went ahead of me so we were "bumped" off.  Ms. Raiza was apologetic but it wasn't really her fault.  She's just in demand that's why clients are racing to get their services .  Because Ms. Raiza was really kind, she recommended other photographers to me, one of them was Efjay De Leon.

I was glad to have met Efjay.  I like his works as it was mainly natural, candid photos.  It took us about a month before we personally met him.  Actually, we met other photo/video suppliers prior and my (then) fiance thought that we will already get them.  Something tells me that they were not "the one" yet that's why I insisted in scheduling a meeting with Efjay.  This supplier I was talking about (I will no longer mention the company name), it was their account executive whom we met and discuss our requirements.  For me, it would be best to meet with the photographer or videographer personally so that in an instant they will have an idea on what shots you really want.  And since I had initial conversations with Efjay, the photographer, I did not have second thoughts of scheduling a meeting with him.  Besides, he has full of ideas which was really helpful.

It was mid August already when we met Efjay and Darly (videographer), only 3 months to go before our wedding.  Efjay suggested several videographers but I chose Daryl John Santos because of cheaper rate but acceptable videos (see our SDE videos here from Daryl). So both of them met us which I totally look forward to since we were meeting the actual photographer and videographer.  They were young, slightly new to the business but still professional.  They shared lots of ideas on how our wedding photos and videos can look great.  That was a plus point for me because (of course) it is our first time to get married so somehow what they shared gives us a picture on what to expect.  And because of this meeting, my (then) fiance and I was able to determine what particular shots we want to see in the photos.  They helped in bringing out our thoughts and ideas as well.      

Because the meeting went really well with casual conversations and lots of ideas and suggestions both from Efjay and Daryl, we did not have second thoughts of getting their services.  People from GirlTalk was right.  You will just feel it that you met the right photographer and videographer when you personally met them.  That's what I feel and my (then) fiance agrees with me.  

I will share in my next blog our prenup AVP and onsite or SDE photos.

You may get in touch with Efjay De Leon and Daryl John Santos from their FB pages.  By the way, Efjay is also doing freelance photos to God's Grace Productions.

Efjay De Leon (photographer) - https://www.facebook.com/fjdeleonphotography/?fref=nf
Daryl John Santos (videographer) - https://www.facebook.com/djphotographystudio/

Happy wedding preps! 

Same Day Edit (SDE) From Daryl John Santos Photography

I was very busy last year that I wasn't able to post and update my blog much.  It is simply because I got married late last year.

I just want to share with you my SDE or Same Day Edit done by my videographer, Daryl John Santos.

https://vimeo.com/149187263


If you enjoyed or liked our SDE and is getting married soon, I recommend Daryl John Santos.  He and his team, together with my photographer, Efjay De Leon, is very easy to deal with.  They're young and full of fresh ideas.  You will never get bored working with them.  The photos and videos they took always made us teary eyed everytime we viewed it.  It simply means that they were able to capture those special moments during a special event in our lives.

Follow and check their FB page for details.

Daryl John Santos (videographer) - https://www.facebook.com/djphotographystudio/

Efjay De Leon (photographer) - https://www.facebook.com/fjdeleonphotography/?fref=nf 

I'll try to blog more about my wedding suppliers soon :)  Happy preps to all soon to be brides!

Review: Raffles Hotel, Makati

The excerpt of this review came from my TripAdvisor account.

My boyfriend and I got to celebrate our 2nd year anniversary here and they provided us with an anniversary cake! We enjoyed every detail this hotel has to offer: lovely room, courteous and helpful staff, responsive butler, personal touches, food inclusions (not only buffet breakfast but also afternoon tea and evening cocktails).

We felt very relaxed and at home during our short stay. Though butlers were very responsive, they sometimes did not meet our expectation on some of our requests but its not really a big deal. We still felt well taken care of with their personal touches. I think the only cons we experience was when we ask for their assistance in hailing a cab for us. Though its common here in the Philippines for cab drivers to choose passengers or even ask for additional fee other than the metered rate, I just hope the management will do something about this and how to address this concern. They took quite a while to get us a cab.

Overall, we still enjoyed our stay and would want to come back if time permits. I would also recommend this to friends for their relaxing staycation.

Stayed May 2014, traveled as a couple

Sharing below are the pictures of our stay.

Hotel Room - All rooms are called Suites.  We stayed in the Junior Suite  

Small Living Room with mini ref, electric kettle, snacks, utensils underneath the TV cabinet

Small Dining Area with coffee machine and tea service

Big bedroom view from the living room

Bedroom with city view

Big bathroom with bath tub, separate shower and toilet and 2 sink

Other view of bathroom

Some toiletries

Coffee maker and tea service

Alcoholic drinks area

Glasses and other utensils storage

Snack storage

Electric kettle

Other refreshments

Pool area

Panoramic View

Nice Lounges

Afternoon Tea at the Writer's Bar

Writer's Bar

Canapes, sweets and breads

My (ex) boyfriend (now my husband) and I enjoying the afternoon tea

Wall painting at Writer's Bar

    

My Tea

Bread and spread

Pastries

Yum!

                          

Evening Cocktails at Writer's Bar - cocktails and some food we ordered.

Cocktail with pica pica

Finger food

Cocktail

                                      

Pita bread with bacon

Closer pic

Small bottles of mayo and ketchup

Chicken wings

This hotel is highly recommended.  A truly relaxed staycation.

Should you wish to have your staycation here, you may book and check the rates from this link.