100 Years and Counting...ANIMO LA SALLE!

The entire La Sallian community started its Centennial Countdown a year ago. I remember the DLSU Centennial website even had a countdown. So it just goes to show how excited everyone was for THE BIG DAY!

And so yesterday, June 16, we all gathered together as ONE LA SALLE to celebrate our school's 100th year. The DLSU schools in the provinces also had their own centennial celebrations, so we could celebrate all together.

Since we all had work, we got to La Salle rather late. It was almost 9PM when we got to Taft and the traffic was HORRIBLE! If you're a regular Taft-er, you'd know how bad traffic can get along the avenue during dismissal. Just imagine that traffic magnified 30 times more! And oh, parking was equally HELL-ish!

According to my college barkada Steph, who was in school as early as 3PM, there were mini-concerts all over the school. There was one along Agno Street so it was closed off for a while. But the main venue was the amphitheater, which was so JAMPACKED! I swear in my 4 years in undergrad and 1st term in grad school I have ever seen La Salle filled to the brim with students. It was like the school was bursting at the seams. It was really, really fun, but it was also super hot! AND EVERYONE WAS WEARING GREEN! :)


I'm sorry for the really lousy pictures, I was only using my BB. Anyway these pictures are from Jett Pangan/The Dawn's concert at the amphitheater. He sure brought the house down. Students were singing to the songs, screaming, bobbing their heads to the beat, and raising their hands ("parang prayer meeting lang" - just like a prayer meeting - HAHAHAHA).



It was funny though cos while Jett Pangan was dishing out some rock tunes, some group decided this was the perfect time to release balloons, much like what the Indonesians did after the tsunami some 3-4 years ago. It was kinda weird!

But what everybody was waiting for were the FIREWORKS to cap off the celebrations. It wasn't BONGGA or anything. Actually I was kind of disappointed because they didn't set off the fireworks at a higher point. Most of the fireworks were covered by the tree in the Marian Quadrangle. Sayang! But hey the students were all cheering! I wish they let the Pep Squad play the drums, so we could all have cheered our DLSU cheers during the fireworks display.





After the fireworks, our VIPs came to the stage. We had former La Sallians who are now big names in showbizness sing our Alma Mater hymn. JM Rodrigo, Epi Quizon, Ruel and Randy Santiago, and Gab and Gary Valenciano lead the entire La Sallian community in singing the Alma Mater hymn. Seriously I got goosebumps. We were all singing with pride! HAIL TO THEE OUR ALMA MATER! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! Highlight of the night, I swear!

It was a fun night! And it also served as a mini-reunion with my college loves! I feel bad for some of our friends who weren't able to go. They missed out on an important milestone. Wish you guys were there!!


No matter what others say about La Salle, I will always, ALWAYS be proud I am from this prestigious university. We may not be topping the international educational charts right about now, but I believe I am where I am right now because I am a La Sallian. It played an integral role in my life, and I am happy I made the decision to take up my undergrad here. I had a blast in undergrad, and now I'm back for my masters degree. I am a proud La Sallian, and always will be! ANIMO LA SALLE!!

P.S. We had a bitch of a time finding a place to eat dinner in. At the University Mall the restaurants ran out of food, while others were filled with hungry diners. We ended up on the Benilde side of Taft at Kenny Rogers. Did anyone of you guys experience this major foodie issue over there last night?

My Alma Mater Turns 100!!

To all my fellow La Sallians it's our 100th year TODAY!! Be proud and WEAR GREEN!! :D

For those coming over to school today, here's the schedule of activities for.

We're definitely going tonight!! Most of my officemates here at Solar are La Sallians, so we might all go together after work! And of course, it's going to be a major reunion with college friends! So exciting! :D

For those who won't be able to make it to the celebrations tonight, DLSU Manila is quite high-tech now, so you can watch the celebrations at the DLSU website via the Archer's eye. But nothing beats being ACTUALLY THERE, so try to come guys! :)

For more information you may also check out the DLSU Centennial Website.

So proud of my Alma Mater! 100 years and counting. It may not be as a big a milestone as UST's 400 or Ateneo's 150 but hey...DLSU is getting bigger and better! Congrats to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, this 100 years is all about your efforts in providing quality education in the Philippines.

ANIMO LA SALLE!! :))

Nobody Almost Always Looks Up....

...to see what's up in the sky. I've watched way too many CSI episodes to know that a lot of them miss vital evidence/clues because they don't LOOK UP.

But here in the hustle and bustle of city life, either people are just too busy, too pissed off at the traffic jam or simply too blase for stuff. But not me. One of the best things in living high up in the mountains of Rizal is that going to work, you obviously have to go down from the mountain making you see the horizon. And today while driving off to work, as soon as I turned right on Ortigas Avenue Ext from our village, I saw A RAINBOW.


This is the 2nd time I've seen a rainbow over at Ortigas Avenue Ext. whilst battling really awful traffic jam with light rains. It was raining in the Rizal area this morning, but the sun still managed to sneak out from behind the dark, rain clouds. For me it was perfect irony - dark clouds, awful weather, bad traffic jam but out there in the distance is something precious. A once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. I knew it was going to be a good sign, perhaps a good week or month coming up ahead.

It's cool because this is like the 2nd rainbow I've seen in 2 months. The first rainbow I saw this year was during my BFF Trency and mine's trip to Cebu (see photo below). We went to the town of Madridejos to watch the sunset, but I think God wanted to make that 30-minute habal-habal ride worth it by giving us not one, but two of his beautiful handy works! :)


It's such a spirit-lifter, don't you think? A rainbow is just there for a little while, but the emotions that stay with you after last several days, or you know deep inside you that you'll never forget that certain feeling you felt while you stood there marveling at that wonderful sight.

I remember the first time I saw that rainbow over an overcast sky some 9 months ago (photo of it below), my Mom and I were having some trouble. I'm not one who writes emo blogs, it gave me hope that there will be good days after. Nothing lasts forever, and problems just maybe the first ones to go.


And this rainbow I saw this morning, it gave me the strength to push forward. Had a talk with the Mother just this Saturday, and it got me thinking a lot about myself. I still see myself as free-spirited, enjoying life, and just taking things as is. But I'm sure as hell 100% sure that I am not taking things lying down because I don't want to disappoint her when I stop something I already started. I got work and I'm taking my masters degree. Sure I whine a lot, I'm not Hercules nor God, but I'm trying to make something for myself in the future. And with that talk I had with my Mom, I want to change a certain perception she has of me. And that rainbow, I took it as a sign that I should not lose any hope, that I should strive harder, that I would finish my masters degree. After all, before it helping my cause, it's all for my Mom first anyways! :)

So what about you guys? Do you guys have anything you see that inspires you the moment you see it? Share it with me! :)

Can Y'all Handle An EPIC MEAL TIME?

I'm watching the Dallas-Miami game as I write this so I'm a bit distracted hahaha GO MAVS!! LOVE YOU DIRK AND TYSON CHANDLER!!! :)

Anyway, my officemates David and Josh have been talking about this non-stop. They kept quoting lines from this Youtube sensation. I remember David let us watch our first episode, and I remember it was a bunch of girls eating mac and cheese with burgers inside. Inasmuch as it was disgusting, it was actually fun to watch them mix these RIDICULOUS ingredients all-together to make one hell of an EPIC MEAL TIME!!

Every Tuesday, the guys of Epic Meal Time upload a video on Youtube. Harley Morenstein, co-creator, acts as host. He co-created the show together with Sterling Toth who acts as their cameraman. Also popular is Alex Perrault, a personal trainer, who is known in the show as "Muscles Glasses".


As of now I've watched only a handful of shows, it's a joy to watch because it's bordering on disgusting but at the same time it's something I'd like to try. I actually want to get on a food trip with these guys!

So far, I've watched the EPIC EGGROLL which has Chicken Fried Rice, Cantonese Style Chow Mein, General Tao Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice, and Hunan Dumplings all packed inside a custom eggroll mix. It packs on a whopping 6,378 calories. This is by far my favorite episode, and something I'd most likely eat hehehe!


I also got to watch PROTEIN BAR, where they featured a Seahorse Protein Sandwich (9,763 kcal), 2 Happy Meal Bacon Protein Smoothies (10,500 kcal) and Protein Bar (29,173 kcal) dripping in chocolate.



They also have THE BLACK LEGEND, where they mixed in EVERYTHING SWEET (candies, McFlurry, Chips Ahoy) inside a chocolate wrap. And they asked GIRLS to eat it. The total calorie count was at 19,177.


Oh and these guy LOVE JACK DANIELS AND BACON!!!! Josh and David said these guys took a shot of Jack Daniels mixed with bacon fat. Haven't gotten to watching it, but I think it's fun.

Watch these guys on Youtube, just look for Epic Meal Time, and you're good to go. They have a lot more episodes, so maybe you guys can get around to watching everything. It's actually fun to watch. The mixing of the ingredients is the best part. Plus Harley's narration IS THE BEST!!

So...can you foodies handle this or not? :p

Here are the links:
Epic Meal Time Official Website
Epic Meal Time - Youtube
Epic Meal Time - Twitter

P.S. Oh and to all DALLAS MAVERICKS fans out there. It's OUR TIME!!!!!! :)) GO MAVS!!! :D

Reader's Digest Eat Shoot & Win

To all my fellow foodies out there, you guys might want to join this competition by Reader's Digest. My Mom sent this to me through e-mail. It's perfect for us since we take photos of the food we eat and we try to write in full detail the taste and how it has enthralled us. But this time instead of just informing our readers, we get a shot at winning an iPad 2! :) Perfect isn't it?

Here are the super simple mechanics on how to join the competition.

Contest ends SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2011. Let's not wait for the deadline to join so we could have all the time in the world to describe our favorite street food! :)

For those who would just like to vote for a certain entry, you guys also have the chance to win a Canon Digital IXUS 115 HS camera.

Hope to see your entries there guys! Let's do this! :)

For more information about Reader's Digest Eat Shoot & Win just click on this link.

What Doesn't Kill You Will Only Make You Stronger...

...or put a huge dent and deep scratches at the rear bumper of your car!

Just this morning I got into an accident. I had just crossed the intersection of Buendia and Makati Avenue and about to turn right on H.V. dela Costa when a taxi in front of my car stopped. So obviously I had to stop too. Unfortunately the cab right behind me didn't and hit my car from behind. The impact was a bit strong, so thanking my fast reflexes, I stepped on the brakes harder and pulled on the hand brake just so I wouldn't hit the cab in front of me and prevent further damages on my car. The result:

A pathetic looking rear bumper. It had a HUGE dent and an awful lot of scratches. Plus my bumper looks like it's about to fall off. THIS PICTURE DOES NOT ENTIRELY SHOW THE DAMAGES. But it's painful to look at all the same. What's even more painful is that the taxi that hit me only got a bent hood, and I got this.

I wanna thank my friend Mariko, who thankfully was already up and about at 7AM, for helping me with this situation. It's my first real accident ALONE, so I had no clue on what to do.

So we went to the Traffic Bureau beside the Makati City Hall and filed a police report and our sworn statements. NO BREAKFAST YET. It was killing me! Since we were obviously the first "customers" of the day, we were entertained by an unusually jolly government employees. We both wrote our written statements and surrendered our licenses and car registration. It was pretty fast, although Manong Driver took his time writing his sworn statement.

Here's the good part, I talked to SPO2 Christopher Millares, and he was VERY, VERY ACCOMMODATING. He really helped me with the process. He asked about my comprehensive car insurance (which I am so thankful to GOD for!) and told me about this car shop that was accredited by our car insurance (Prudential Guarantee). He told me if we get the car in at that shop we could waive the participation fee from the insurance company (which costs about P2000 to P4000) and they'd be the ones to process the police reports and the other documents needed to avail of the service from the insurance.

After about 2.5 hours at the Traffic Bureau, I went to check on the car shop named Ambassador Inmogo along Bagtikan St. in San Antonio Village. I talked to Kuya Ramir Bitangcor who was by then already briefed by SPO2 Millares. I thought that it was pretty fast! Kuya Ramir accessed the damages, took photos of the pathetic-looking-barely-hanging on rear bumper and was very helpful. I'd be bringing the car in this Saturday, hopefully the papers would've been processed by the insurance company by then.

This then brings me to thank SPO2 Millares of the Traffic Bureau. Thank you so much! You made my life so much easier! Thank you for giving Kuya Ramir a heads-up! I will make sure your boss knows about it and that you get commended for a job well done! :)

I would also like to thank Kuya Ramir of Ambassador Inmogo. Thank you for the quick assessment of my car and for putting me at ease that my baby Huey would be in good hands as you guys spruce him up and make him look brand new again.

But in line with this, I'd also like to say sorry to the driver that hit my car. You see he's an old guy with a bad leg. He was limping and looked rather weather-beaten. I was surprised when he told SPO2 Millares that he was only 56 years old, he looked WAY OLDER. I know it was an accident, I do not have ill feelings towards you. Your quick apology and no-fuss attitude was what really got me. I really hope you still keep the job since you said you were just driving as a sideline today and that you get into no more accidents. Hope everything's ok after I left you at the Traffic Bureau.

To all my fellow drivers out there, just be careful. Don't lose your cool. And don't ever think that just because a jeepney, bus or taxi driver hits your car, and you know deep in your gut that they won't have means to pay for the damages, don't ever make them feel inferior. Accidents do happen, that's a fact. Lahat naman ng bagay naayos sa mabuting usapan. Accept the apology, don't make a huge fuss about it, forgive the guy, and just let the insurance company take care of the problem. Don't let your anger out on these drivers. They make a living too. It's just really unfortunate that the accident happened, and a lot of time was wasted. You see, it's only YOUR TIME THAT GETS WASTED. These drivers lose potential customers, their only means of getting by. So just keep it cool! :)

Feel at Home at Mom & Tina's Bakery Cafe

It was a year and a half ago when I first got to eat at Mom & Tina's Bakery Cafe. We were newbies here at Solar Entertainment and our officemates decided to go eat at their Legaspi Village branch as a group to welcome us. We ate there again for a despedida dinner for one of us who was about leave for film school.

So I had a good idea on how good the food was here, that's why I wanted to bring my Mom there for a good dinner. After weeks and even months of planning, we finally got to go last night after Mass. Good thing they have a branch in Pasig, along C5 so we don't have to travel all the way to Makati for it.

The Pasig branch is exactly like the Makati one - HOMEY! It's really a good place for families, and since it was a Sunday night, families filled the place up. Although I have to say the wallpapers are a bit excessive, no offense!


Besides the bright and floral wallpapers, the other thing that welcomes you are these huge chillers with everything sweet, creamy, rich, and sinful.



Had had a sample of their cupcakes before, and I must say they're really super good! They're really creamy and not too sweet. Perfect for dessert with a good cup of coffee.

So here's what we ordered:

Caesar Salad - whole. We asked them to split them to two already.

What we loved with this salad is that their veggies are super fresh. The lettuce was green and crunchy. They also had very generous servings of bacon bits, croutons, and dressing. Really good way to start our meal.

For our main course, Mom ordered her favorite Callos.

Although it has to be said that OUR home-made callos is waaaaaay better than this. But suffice to say it's also waaaaaaay better than what Mom had in Dulcinea which was a total flop. In all fairness, this Callos had tender meat and good portions of twalya or tripe. It was only later that Mom noticed that it didn't have pimientos.

As for me, I've been really wanting to have this all for myself: the famed Shepherd's Pie.

The first time I tried this, I was SOLD! On top is like half an index finger full of mashed potatoes. But what's underneath that, that makes this a real winner. MEAT! Ground meat! It's just so tasty, and their sauce HEAVENLY! I especially love it when it's a bit cooler cos the mashed potatoes harden a bit and it mixes with the meat. I This was so good I had to recommend it to my good friend Mariko when they ate there. And like me, she absolutely fell in love with this.

For drinks, we had the Carousel. It's basically just an entire round of their iced teas - blue, red, green, and lemon. Mom and I only had 2 out of the 4. Their iced teas are a bit on the sweet side, it's best that you let the ice melt a little, but that's just me hehe.



We were stuffed. But more because of the iced teas. We planned on having coffee, but we just didn't have space in our tummies. But not giving in just yet, I bought a tub of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.


Had a piece at home with coffee. You get to taste butter the moment you bite into it. Not too sweet. But I don't like the kind of raisins they used. It just gave the cookie an entirely different taste. So kinda disappointed with it.

But hey, if you want something homey to eat in, I totally recommend Mom & Tina's Bakery Cafe. Nice also to bring home cupcakes for both the kids and the adults. They still have other stuff there worth trying. But I will forever swear on the Shepherd's Pie. Consistency is key...and what's good about Mom & Tina's is that no matter what branch you eat in, the Shepherd's Pie has the same quality, taste, and everything that goes into that makes it SUPERB! MUST TRY!! :))

Mom & Tina's Bakery Cafe
106 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave.
Brgy. Ugong, Pasig City
Tel. No. 914-0833