Alapad Rock Formations - Batanes

Who can forget these majestic rock formations in Alapad, Batanes.

Looking closely at the shore reveals colorful fishes swimming and feeding beside live corals in the crystal-clear water of the sea.

It's been years since I first went to Batanes
and a voice always screams in mind: "I want to be there again!"

Shangri-La Beach in Cebu

Shangri-La Beach

Swimming in Shangri-La Cebu is fun. Aside from their number of pools, you get a beach wide enough for you to explore around.

Speedboat

Their hotel accomodation has a package where you can just sign-up and borrow some of their non-motorized swimming gears like towels, snorkel, beach shoes and kayak.

Shangri-La Beach Shore

Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa is located in the island of Mactan. It is quite far from Cebu Island but they have a free ride going there at specific time every day.

Seashell

One fun to know is that the beach is actually man-made, and yet you still experience swimming with different kind of fishes above living corals.

Poster of Fishes

Penpen's Restaurant in Cubao

Saw these cute utensils when friends and I went to eat dinner at Penpen's.

Cute Spoon and Fork Handle

Penpen's can be found at Cubao Expo Exit far behind Gateway Mall. I would recommend the delicious Filipino cuisines they serve to anyone.

Tokwa't Baboy (Tofu and Pork)

If you are familiar with the Nescafe 3 in 1 Sweet and Mild advertisement ('Good morning sa inyo...') the shooting took place near Penpen's for its old-fashioned ambiance.

Front of Penpen's restaurant

When asked for the bill, the waiter handed us this beautiful miniature chest box containing (approximately 4 inches) the bill statement.

Mini-Chest Box

SM Mall of Asia Arena

Front View of SM MOA Arena

SM MOA Arena has finally opened on June 16, 2011. I was there of course to watch the Icons concert in this big coliseum.

The Arena officially opened weeks after Lady Gaga had a concert in it and weeks before Nicki Minaj had hers. A good vibe that more internationally known artists will perform there in the future.

The Pinoy Music Icons singing the Last Song for the Concert

I bought a general admission ticket and it seems like I am 100 meters away from the stage. I'm not exaggerating here. Thanks for the big screens so we can still see the faces of the performers.

Rear View of SM Moa Arena

I finished the concert and left the coliseum with a smile having watched so many Pinoy icons live in one concert. Let's see if I can list the artists here: Gary Valenciano, Regine Velasquez, Lea Salonga, Arnel Pineda, Martin Nievera, Ogie Alcasid, Juris Fernandez, Dulce, Verni Varga, Freddie Aguilar, Richard Pood, Piolo Pascual, Erik Santos, Christian Bautista, Basil Valdes, Jose Mari Chan, The Company, Bamboo, G-force, Pokwang, Jose, Wally, Jim Paredes, Pops Fernandez, Ryan Cayabyab.

You might get tired reading the lists of artists above but not if you watch the video of their performance I uploaded in  YouTube.

Father and Son

Something inside tells me to post this pic and I realized maybe because of Fathers Day celebration.

In this candid photo, Kuya Rico looks and smiles as he holds Joaquin and the cute baby stares at him in return.

Kuya Rico is a father and Joaquin is a son but they are not related by blood. Kuya Rico is just carrying a friend's son during a wedding reception at Boston Cafe, Los Baños, Laguna.

The picture proves a photography tip I read recently. There is more connection and feeling between the subjects when taking picture of people looking at each other, instead of them looking at the camera.

Here's Pocholo Bismonte and friends. Was with them after Pocholo's recital at the De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde in Taft for the first's summer workshop. Pocholo's belted the song This is the Moment (from the broadway Jekyll & Hyde) in a ccapella - his first ever performance at his college school.

The show was properly rehearsed and appeared natural. It showcased talents of both existing and new members of the Coro San Benildo singing group.

It was fun watching the show. Thanks to Tita Rose (Pocholo's Mom) for informing me about the event.

Gary V's On Higher Ground Concert

After a series of successful On Higher Ground concerts this year, Gary Valenciano had a repeat of the concert on June 8 and 9. Luckily I was able to watch at its last date.

The stage production was very colorful. And what's amazing was they also planned this monochromatic scene with Gary jut wearing pure white.

Gary had a duet with Julianne, also a singer and composer. They sang songs from Gary's existing albums.

The concert was full of contrasts. Gary sang songs both old and new. In this outfit, he wears an outfit he usually wore before as he sings with the band popular 80's songs.

Gary sang soap opera songs he recorded accompanied by visually appealing landscape backgrounds. There are times he stops to tell a story about a song before he sings that make the audience chuckles before he starts to sing.

Overall, the concert was awesome. It was also an experience for me after taking video and pics of the concert at the same time. Imagine a digicam on my left hand and a camera on my right. I just don't know how I look that moment.

In case you want to watch some videos of the concert, check out this link.