Kamay ni Hesus Shrine

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai! Xin Nien Kwai Le! Happy Chinese New Year!

Warning: This is a super late post! Hahaha! This has been sleeping in my draft folder for almost a year now. But as promised, I'll try my very best to publish all my pending posts, so let's start the ball rolling... 

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I visited this place twice last year, on February 17 and March 10, thus, I have divided this post into two section...

1st Visit: February 17, 2013

Together with my family, I celebrated my birthday in Lucban, Quezon. I have been longing to see Kamay ni Hesus Shrine (KNHS) and since it was my birthday, I thought that was the best time to go and see the place, magpapaka banal ako kahit sa birthday ko man lang, hahaha! 

a group of bikers resting under the marker

We took the Antipolo route hoping that it was a shorter and less time consuming route. We left our house in QC at around 6 am and arrived at Kamay ni Hesus Shrine by 10:20 am. Ganun din pala, it took us more than 4 hours to get there, wrong timing because the Pagsanjan-Cavinti road was under construction that time so we have no choice but to go around Cavinti area which was an added approximately 1 hour of travel. But nevertheless, we, especially my husband, enjoyed the route and the sight, he had so much fun driving on the winding road connecting Antipolo and Laguna.

We're able to attend the 10:30 am mass. As expected, a crowd of churchgoers filled the place, we were seated at the covered area beside the chapel. Nevertheless, I could still feel the solemnity of the place. People rushed inside the chapel the moment the priest walked around to bless the crowd with holy water.

Beside the chapel are several souvenir shops where one can buy KNHS items for personal use or pasalubong.

It was raining the entire time we were there, so it was difficult for us to enjoy the sceneries and have our picture taking.

Noah's Ark



We made an attempt to reach the peak, but since it was raining, the steps were slippery, thus we decided not to continue with the climb for safety reasons.



buti na lang panandaliang tumila ang ulan, may matinong family picture kami ;)



As the rain would not stop (ang hirap tuloy kumuha ng matinong picture!) we decided not to further explore the place, instead we just had our lunch at Palaisdaan Restaurant.



2nd Visit: March 10, 2013

Since it was raining and I failed to reach the peak the first time we were at KNHS, I promised myself that I would go back to the place and make it to the top. Hence, we joined my cousin's family on their trip to KNHS.

This time we took the SLEX-San Pablo route (the same route we took on our way home on our 1st visit) just to see the time difference compared to the Antipolo route, halos pareho lang din.

Again, we were able to catch the 10:30 am mass. And since we arrived a little early, we were able to get a seat inside the chapel.

Luckily, the weather was nice that time, so we were able to wander through the place.

Finally, my son and I made it to the top!

My son and I, together with his nanny, joined my cousin and her daughters in climbing. My husband and my cousin's husband were left downstairs to rest since they will drive back to Manila, while my mom and aunt stayed in the chapel. In the middle of our climb, my son got too tired climbing the stairs on his own so his nanny and I took turns carrying him up to the top... and we made it, yey! Thus, it was a very fulfilling and memorable experience for me. Relating these experiences in real life perspective, I'll never get tired of carrying/supporting you my son 'til you reach your own summit. ♥

Welcome 2014!!!

Happy 2014!!! Happy Feast of the Black Nazarene!

Yes I'm back from a prolonged hibernation! I'm happy to be back in the blogosphere! =)

Gosh, I super miss my blog! It's been months since I last logged in here. Sad to say I wasn't able to fulfill my goal last year which is to be active in blogging... ooops, to be honest, majority of those goals weren't fulfilled... knowing myself, I made lots of twists and turns, hahaha! Anyways, today's another year, time for a fresh start, hope I can achieve those goals and more. ;)

Well actually, I haven't totally forgotten this blog last year, once in a while I tried making some posts, but all of them were left hanging in my draft folder awaiting to be finalized, hehehe, I kinda reached a point of busyness in my day job and mommy duties. Now, I'll try my best to finish all those draft posts and publish it ASAP!

So there you go, just wanna share this kickoff blog post of mine for the year (pampaswerte ba!). Happy reading! =) 

Figaro treats from Globe Rewards

Since I started using a mobile phone, about 15 years ago, I have been a loyal prepaid subscriber of Globe network ;) Good thing the network has this MyRewards MyGlobe program where all active subscribers of the network gets to earn reward points for every reload/usage. Read more on this here.

 

Last year I was able to redeem a 4GB USB using my points. Now, even if my husband and mom shared their reward points to me, sadly, my current total points are not sufficient to redeem any GC's, not even another USB. I don't want to use it naman to redeem call and text services, for I want something that I can truly enjoy or have a good use of. And to make the situation worse, my points earned in 2012 will expire on the 30th of this month, waaaaah! So I was thinking hard on how to maximize the use of my points, I don't want it to be forfeited just like that, yet I don't want to compromise the benefit I would get out of it.

 

Luckily just a few days ago, I received a text message from Globe (4438) saying that reward points can be used to pay for Figaro treats... yahoo! At last my points will be put into good use, it's a happy tummy again for me! ;)

Text message I received from 4438

So last Sunday afternoon, I decided to use my points before it becomes forfeited... and yes I redeemed my treats at Figaro Tomas Morato branch. The redemption process was such a breeze. I went straight to the cashier, asked for the mechanics, they took my orders, and then I was given an instruction on how to transfer my points to them. Once the message was sent and confirmed, my orders were given to me. I'm so happy and thrilled because I got lots of goodies without handing out a single centavo. I'm such a proud wise mom that moment!

Tomas Morato branch

My bag of goodies! ;)

Paid everything by my G-Reward

By the way, I'm not a coffee drinker, but a certified dessert lover, hence the reason why I chose to order purely these sweets. If these are not your thing, don't worry, according to the cashier the points are applicable to all Figaro menu items. Here's a snapshot of my goodies... =)

L-R: Cheese Muffin, Chocolate Cake, Tuna Pie, Figaro Carrot Cake and Pandan Cake

My Liam enjoying his cheese muffin

My family and I truly enjoyed these treats!  =)