Is Christmas really a Christian Celebration?

If there is a time of the year when the activity level of millions of people around the world gets raised several notches, when their “to do” list becomes noticeably longer, it is the Christmas season. In the United States, it begins after the Thanksgiving holiday with its traditional turkey dinner. Then starts the countdown as to how many days are left before December 25th.

As the days make that turn into the month of December, definite signs appear that show the yuletide season has indeed arrived and is fast reaching full bloom. Christmas trees for sale begin to populate supermarket fronts and empty corner lots. The greeting card section in stores are fully stocked with Christmas cards. Not far away would be the brightly colored wrapping papers and ribbons bearing the designs and symbols of the season. Christmas lights retired for months are now retrieved from storage, dusted off and hung on homes and landscaping. Mailboxes are stuffed with catalogs, and newspapers are jam-packed with sales ads. Shoppers are greeted in malls spruced up with all kinds of Christmas decorations, where it would not be unusual to see a white bearded figure dressed in a red and white suit, along with a line of little children ready to tell him what they would like to have for Christmas. Over the radio, the familiar tunes of Christmas carols are heard more frequently. And as the days draw closer and closer to December 25th, the air becomes filled with the sights and sounds of Christmas.

(Click "read more" on the lower left portion of this entry)

Snack time with Venus G

Yesterday was a totally unplanned day for me and my girlfriend Venus.

It was the first day of school for "my" last semester, since my charming friend right here will have another more year in college because she is a Liacom student. Hihihi. RK right? Hahaha

It was a fine day at school, no stress (the stress only came later that afternoon bc of Criminal Law and Obligations and Contracts haha) and we just decided to have a quick snack after we did some errands. 

The original plan was to eat at dunkin' donuts in Robinsons Triangle but their aircon was not functioning and it was really humid inside so we went to find another place. Sandok's was the next stop. Aaaaaah, I've been craving to eat there for months but unfortunately, the odds were never in my favor that day. Haaaay, I will surely be back and pig out with their pinoy foods. Haha.  Lastly, we went to SOFIA's the place was not really new but we haven't tried to eat there yet and their food was perfect for merienda so... yeah that became our destination.

Project Plum Hair

Split ends have been girls’ least favorite friend since the beginning of time and unfortunately, I had them for ages already. Hahaha.

I was torn between cutting my hair short or just cover those nasty split ends with hair color. And so, I decided to dye it and make my dead hair on the lower part become more dead so I won’t have no choice but to chop it off (this is only half true haha). Plus, I believe this is going to be the last time (I hope not) that I’ll be enjoying these kinds of hair color because I will be graduating pretty soon and I don’t think any employer would hire anyone with this kind of hair. That’s just totally out of their league. Hahaha. JK alright. (This statement is debatable haha)

And to be honest, I’m not really that brutal when it comes to my hair. I also have hair treatments to.. well.. prolong my hair’s life. Hihi. And for inspirations? I don't know, I just decided to dye my hair again. That's all :)

I decided to do it last night and here are the pictures :)

Book Review: Looking For Alaska

It’s been a while since the last time I’ve updated my blog and there is nothing I could say to make me not look like a lazybum because actually, I am. Haha.

There’s just so many things that could’ve been included in my blog like my birthday, the amazing masskara festival, the departure of my love (huhuhu) and the like but..

Okay, so what I’ve been doing with my leisure time lately was reading books and believe me, it was sooo nice to be back in this hobby. When I was single, all I ever did was read books and now that my boyfriend’s away, I’m back in the biz! I really love being alone with my books. But of course I love going out with my friends too (hehehe). I miss my boyfriend a lot but reading makes me less depressed, hihihi.

I am always random when it comes to book preference. One day I like reading self-help book; the next day, novels; the next next day; classics; the next next next day, history books (haha) and etc etc. But I would always love self-help, history and classic books! Heee :")

 Just let me make a little review of the book that I’ve read recently. It feels like I was sort of late in reading this book since it prominence ended a few years ago but I would be regretting for the rest of my life if I hadn’t read this one.

Out of all John Green books that I’ve read, I could say that this is, by far, his masterpiece. His books are great but looking for Alaska is different. I only decided to read it because I had the time do so and I wanted to read a feel-good, easy to read book to escape stress. It was, undeniably, easy to read that you could really finish it in just one sitting. It was a feel-good book too that I laughed so hard on this one but never expected I would cry harder. Hahahaha. I’m such a marshmallow, I know. The plot twist was bewildering and the conclusion was simply stunning. A very compelling book indeed, I could not even get my nose out of it. Also, it was absolutely an insightful one, it teaches readers lessons and helps them find their great perhaps in the search for life’s meaning even in the midst of the labyrinth of suffering.

So for everyone out there, never fear! Take risk in the quest for a greater maybe.

“We are indestructible as we believe ourselves to be” – Miles “Pudge” Halter

Goooosh, I am really attached to this book, aren't I? Hahaha.

I’ve enjoyed every second that I am lost in the world of that book and I was kind of sorry for myself for letting dust get a hold of the book for almost a year before I could read it. Haha.

Here’s for Pudge, Takumi, Lara, the Colonel and for our upcoming journeys. May we all find our great perhaps.

Oh btw, another thing this book teaches us is never to get too moody and impulsive.. or else.. haha!

Alaska Young! <3 

(Now, what to read next?) 

A little surprise birthday for my lovey :)

Last August 12 was a “beyond wonderful” kind of day for me and Lovey because it’s his birthday and, at the same time, our monthsary! Hahaha. Never mind the monthsary thing ‘cause his birthday is the main event of that day and the gist of this blog. Hihihi.

Initially, my plan was to surprise him with a dinner for two so we can have an intimate birthday celebration. Then I realized, it was his birthday and not our anniversary, it would be best if we’ll celebrate the moment together with our friends because, as stated in the movie Into the Wild, happiness is only real when shared. Hahaha.

Our friends and his cousin Bryan helped me out in planning on how to execute the “surprise” thingy that I’m going to do for him. Hahaha. I just hope that I did, somehow, surprised him. 

Let's talk about "Feelings"

I’ve been talking about “feelings” lately because I'm really an emotional wreck this past few days, *note: I'm always depressed whenever I have my monthly visitor hihihi*  

I've been writing about my woe since Saturday night but I’m happy that I let it all out and fixed my undesirable feelings with my love today. Hahaha. 

Suddenly after talking it out, God reminded me of something, and that is.. not to based your love on feelings.

 Feelings can make you fly on cloud 9 or break you into pieces. The best thing about feelings is when we experience it with the ones we love like a sweet icing on a cake. However, we should not depend our love merely on feelings because feelings are liars and certainly fleeting. Feelings change and are not easily controlled. Today we may feel all the sort of kiligness that we can feel with the other person but we’ll never know, tomorrow it might suddenly vanish like a mist.

Love is more than that. It is more than just a feeling. It’s a decision.

It’s a decision to be open and to share when you don’t feel like it. An honest communication to settle things. However, it’s not only talking but it also requires listening.

It’s a decision to stay with the person you love through good times and never leave his/her side even through the toughest times of your relationship.

If you’re on a rocky road with your partner and you don’t feel like doing good to him/her, love will incline you to choose to do it anyway.

It’s a decision when you don’t think your partner deserves your love.

It’s a daily decision to love your partner every single day. 

Just always remember what the Bible tells us about the description of love and may this serve as a guide for us on how to love our partners.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

8 Love never fails.

xoxo! :)

The denouement of our stay in Manila =)

Our 4^th day in Manila was chock-full of fun, we traipse all over Resorts World and MOA till we almost drained our energy, hahaha. We did made the most of our last day in Mnl, though we could’ve visited oodles of amazing places such as EK, museums, the central bank of the Philippines and whatever educational or entertaining stuff the places of Luzon has to offer but the time is just too short to do it all. Well, maybe there’s always a next time? Hahaha. 

We first had our lunch at Crisostomo's. They serve authentic and sumptuous Filipino dishes! Thank you Valencias for this. :))

Then we opted to pose for another picture while checking in in Remington. Haha.

After being freed from the load of our baggage, we went around Resorts World Manila.

On the afternoon, we traveled to MOA and "shopped?" there. Hahaha.

Sorry if I can't provide pictures for you since the camera's battery became exhausted and my phone already bid its final farewell to me hahaha!

*Wow i put too much "HAHAHA" in this post, hyper lang te? Hahaha. Ooops.*

Lots of thank you for the valencia, melgar-bayot family for adopting me; tita lilibeth for letting us stay in your humble abode; and God for letting us experience all of these! :)))

By the way, credits to vhing and tita febe for all of these photos! Hahaha.

Again, Happy Centennial mga kapatid!

Ciao! ♥♥♥

Fireworks Display at the Central Temple

This blog entry is should be part of my previous centennial celebration post. But since it's already too long to read and to look at, I reckon to separate this one from the other. After all, this is a different event. Hihi.
The title, FYI, speaks obviously of what this post is all about. Hahaha.

The castle-like structure right there is the central temple of Iglesia ni Cristo. The pictures shown above are not mine, they're from INC Media. 

The fireworks display lasted for 30 minutes! That's like a whole city or maybe whole country celebrating for new year! Hahaha. The skies of quezon city turned colorful and of course, as an avid fan of fireworks, I was totally delighted. Hihi

Hooray for the quirky face ever. Hahaha. Feels like I'm one of those Guardians of the Galaxy in this photo. Hahahaha. Yaaaay!

Look at the pretty colors behind us! Hahaha. 

Pretty much enjoying every sight of it. :))

Say hello to my sexy love, meheheheh.

As you can see, fireworks makes us happy and childlike! Haha.

We are now with the Melgar Family.

We went to UP HUB afterwards and lookey who we found! Hahahaha. 

It's Anthony Taberna (Tonying), he is also a fellow INC Member and one of my favorite newscasters ^_^

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God is really good all the time! 

It was hard for me to recover from the hangover that this fireworks display.
HAHAHA.

Oh what a way to celebrate God's undying love :)

CENTENNIAL Celebration: Day Two and Three

I know that I've told you that I would be posting this blog entry right after my previous post but aside from being such a lazybum, I just had other school stuff and whatnot to attend to (as always) haha.

Okay, so day two was a very exciting and at the same time busy kind of day for us. We woke up at day break to prepare ourselves for our departure from Quezon City to Bulacan, where the Philippine Arena is located. Others went to church and attended the worship service and we took several photos at the Central Temple. (We already attended the service the day before day two). Hihi

This entry consists of:

Our journey before going towards the biggest dome in the world; and

Our experience inside and outside the arena.

Got the chance to take a photo with this marvelously beautiful temple of God while the people were still inside it. Hihihi.

You might have seen this picture on my facebook because it's my current display photo but, really, this one's different since this was edited by one of my closest friends who's always jokingly flirts with my lovey. Hahaha. Seriously, she must stop doing it. HAHAHA. She's actually our #1 fan. Hahaha.

Of course, since it was my first time, I just had to take a photo with this magnificent temple alone :)

And here's another one. Hahaha.

Rj too must take an "alone" picture with the temple, though it was not his first time haha.

His first time was "okay" while his second time (with me) was "the best" haha! 

Then we went to Iglesia Ni Cristo's official school, the New Era University (NEU)! Yaaaay :))

Hi love! Haha. 

The fellow INC members behind him were forming a line to get to their respective buses.

It was sooooo hot that day and this picture is not enough to show you the real number of people lining. SRSLY.

____________________________________________________

 And the moment we've all been waiting for has arrived! We are now in the Philippine Arena! Hahaha

Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside yet since there were several  "exclusive for authorized persons only" kind of things happening inside the dome.

A lot of abrupt things happened! It rained and the tents provided outside were overloaded with people trying to find shelter from the rain. Fortunately, we found this spot. We might look a little tired but believe me, this specific incident was unforgettably super fun! Hahaha. It was a bittersweet experience and our faith were tested but by God's grace.. we surpassed every trial. ^__^

While we were waiting for the time that we can enter inside the arena, we roamed around and took some pictures, one of the pictures is this. Hahaha. So happyyyyyy!

We went to the memorabilia section afterwards, can you find me? Hihi

Other memorabilias that could be found in this area. There were also shirts, centennial 100 peso bill, stamps, pens, pins, keychains, plates, mugs, planner and many more!

When the clock struck 12 in the midnight, a fantastic fireworks display took place as INC members welcome July 27, 2014 (the centennial anniversary) warmly ^_^

Since I wasn't able to photograph the Pyromusical because we were stuck on the entrance part of the arena, I'm borrowing a picture from Eagle News.

This made us awestruck. There were three birds with INC and Biblical words on them that few around the arena that time. They were at first, simple birds then turned into fiery ones, like phoenix. 

A moment after we entered the Arena, this happened. Hahaha.

Yep, we stayed the night inside because the special worship service will start early in the morning, hihi.

It was very cold that's why we're wearing extra clothes haha! Maaaan we look so sleepy haha.

My eye makeup smudged and I'm still sleepy (but ecstatic) but whatever I'm posting this photo anyway. Haha. Look at that huge crowd proudly waving their INC Flags! This photo was taken after the special worship service led by brother Eduardo Manalo. 

Haaay I'm so blessed to be here! ^_^

Look at how a sunnies can help when you suffer from lack of sleep. Hahaha. I believe that we both look good together, right? Hahaha. Kiddin'. Behind us are the people preparing for the next program :)

Finally! A picture of us with the grandest arena in the world :)

It was the best and satisfying feeling ever. The weariness we felt suddenly melted away when we entered the blessed arena and listened to the sermon. It was priceless! <333

CENTENNIAL Celebration: Day One

Everybody knows that I am pretty thrilled to share our incredible experience when we celebrated our church’s (Iglesia Ni Cristo) Centennial Anniversary in Philippine Arena last July 27, 2014. There were series of amazing events and as much as I wanted to put it in just one blog entry, I can’t. So I decided to divide it into three parts and.. obviously, this is the first one. Hahaha.

*Bound to Manila*

I assume you already know the persons I am with? Hihihi.

They are the Bayot Siblings:

Vhing and Ralph (also known as RJ)

Hahaha.

We also had our friend Carlo to travel with us (Upper Photo)

Teeeheeee ^_^

Then of course, a warm big smile from Bacolod to Manila! :))))

These are the only photos that I've salvaged from my erstwhile phone. Hohoho.

Travelling with my cutie pink Hello Kitty bag with a centennial logo in it :))

Aaaaaah, I'm in love with its pinkness. Haha

I just had to have an OOTD picture for my Lookbook. Haha.

First stop was the Central Office. 

Then we went to tita Lilibeth's house, just near the INC's Central Office, to freshen up and free ourselves from our heavy luggage :)))

After that, we went malling and gave ourselves something to eat bc we were famished! Haha.

*With me are the Valencia sisters including tita Luzvi and the Bayot Siblings* :)

The last part of this blog is this ^

Behind us is the Central Temple located in Commonwealth, QC.

We spent our day one's last expedition by attending the worship service in this temple.

It was my first time and we arrived earlier than expected! Hahaha.

I wish you could also go inside the temple and witness God's splendid presence inside it.

Also, the temple's interior design was classy and majestic but it's just a bonus. Hihi :)

All I can say at this point of time is "THANK YOU GOD", this is a privilege that I will forever cherish

^________^