So Gelleesh Blog Anniversary Giveaway

Hey everyone, I would love to share another So Gelleesh awesome giveaway! :D

Happy Blog Anniversary! :)

What are the prizes? 

Here's a hint! 

The sponsors for her giveaway are:

Hyphen Curiosities

 All Glammed Up 

 F*ART Fashion Art 

HBC 

Pitaka 

Queen Alice Accessories 

Snoe Beauty 

Excited much? Join her giveaway here!

The Mansion

When a Philippine president visits Baguio, he/she stays in The Mansion. Tourists are welcome to visit the place too to take pictures.

but only from the outside up to the gate

picture perfect?

Fortunately for us, we had the privilege to tour inside of the Mansion. :D By how, it's a secret and although I can't post the pictures, I would just try to describe the insides...

There's a two wooden door that leads to a huge function room, where I guess meetings are held. The walls are decorated with preserved portraits of all the Philippine Presidents from President Emilio Aguinaldo down to the latest president, from painting canvass down to photoshopped photographs. IDK, but I guess a new portrait of Pres. P-Noy now adds to the collection. The function room have a fireplace, a long wooden mahogany table with big soft cushioned armchairs. The mansion have several private rooms too, there's also a spacious backyard and another small house at the back. Lots of greens, fresh air and the usual fog! :P

Across the mansion's gate, there's a big manmade pond...

At the end of this hall, there's a circular trellis with benches perfect for

camwhoring! lol

ate dora, my sister beth, mom and mwuah

ate zhai

A ministop before

the long downhill stairs

that leads to Wright Park! :D

If you're planning to comb down Baguio but in a limited time, you could start off from Mines view park, ride a jeepney or a taxi to The Mansion, walk your way down to Wright Park and then walk your way to Botanical Garden. :) That's what we did and it was a well worth tour! We efficiently used our time and our budget! :D Lots of walking means exercise too! :P

Minesview Park

I felt sad when I heard the news that Minesview Park was burned, the statues of Igorots carrying wild games were turned to coal... On the other hand, it is a good thing that they restore the place as early as possible, they did a bit of renovation in the place including the entrance where huge statues used to welcome tourists

new entrance

On our way to the overlook, we pass these stores

cacti and small plants stalls

Souvenir Items

latest souvenir design :D

Baguio Delicacies and Sweets

Costume Wearing Booths - Php10 per person

:P

picture with the horse

and even picture with a dog for Php10, we saw atleast 3 huge Beethoven ready for picture-taking

a wishing well

overlooking Minesview Park

They are now offering binoculars for rent. Clouds shadowing some part of the land, while fog sometimes cover the view. I just noticed that the trees are thinning while houses are popping like mushroom... Good thing, they are trying to keep the place clean of thrash.

Naked Palette 2 Giveaway!

Hi everyone! All make up lovers know about Urban Decays' Nakeds; Naked Palette 1 and Naked Palette 2! So I'm uber excited to share to you the first giveaway held by Maite of MakeUpMaite as a celebration for her one year blog anniversary and yes, its the Naked Palette 2! :D

Happy one year blogging Maite! :) 

If you wanna know more about this awesome giveaway, check it out here.

FOOD TRIP: 50's Diner! :D

Searching for a unique place to dine in while enjoying your stay at Baguio? If your on a tight budget, I suggest to drop by on any of Jack's Restaurants scattered in the city, the easiest find is the one at the heart of Session Road... But if you're looking for a themed restaurant where everything including the food serving, music and ambiance will spiced up your dining experience, then check out

Glenn's 50's Diner

It's a small restaurant that features 1950's as the name indicates... First branch located at Teacher's Camp Rotonda while their second branch was at Military Cut-Off...

50's Diner is so close to my heart! Why? Well, first, my cousin Jem (who introduce me to 50's Diner) took me here a month before my wedding as her despedida treat! Secondly, since El Cielito Inn is a 5minute walk from our hotel, the night after the wedding, I decided to share this new find with my hubby so this is where we first dine out as husband and wife! So thirdly, this is where we dine out our 2nd anniversary! :D Belated happy 2nd anniversary Honey! We decided to just dine out while waiting for our baby to come and then have a double celebrate after! Ooooh excited!

Okay, enough blubbering, here are the insides:

Forgot to get a photo of the service crews, but everyday they change their "costume" uniform from 50's maid to navy sailor outfits! :D They're so cute and attention catching! The music obviously stars Elvis Presley and the 1950's famous singers! While what you see on the walls are 1950's  movie films released and other posters of stars of the past like Marilyn Monroe...

These guys down here caught my mom's attention... They're like Pork-Chop, if you know who they were...

While I wonder if I could get the chance to watch the film

Attack of the 50 ft Woman

Aside from the 50's ambiance, the food servings were gigantic!

Mom was shocked to see her clubs are more than just a mouthful!

skip the diet! :P

50's Club Sandwich

Triple Decker stuffed with chicken, tuna, ham and egg with lettuce and onion, cucumber and tomato, with side french fries!

Guys on the Hood

A Combo of spaghetti with pork chop, fried chicken, garlic bread, sliced pizza, french fries and sauteed carrots and beans!

Mama's Kidd

A combo of spaghetti, fried chicken, potato salad, steamed rice and french fries served with lemonade or  ice tea :)

Banana Split!

you know the inbetweens of this I bet!

Pasta and Garlic Shrimp

Sweet and Sour Pork

Boneless Bangus

The Famous 50's Burger

Spagetti Platter

Oh goodness! This post makes me hungry! :D These yummy foodstuff that always came in huge servings is really well worth it! Delicious! I wanna try all in their menu so I'll keep coming back! :D

Have you been here? What's your favorite out of the menu? :D

Susannah's Garden by Debbie Macomber

paper back edition

 Some paths are dead ends. But some gardens remain beautiful...

Just like Our Mother's House this is about moms, a loving mom, caring for our mom and being a mom...

Susannah Nelson is fifty years old now, a professional teacher, a wife and a mother, she should be contented and happy, but unfinished past hinder her happiness. She feels hollow because a puzzle of her past hasn't been in place... It was about her childhood sweetheart Jake and her long-lost brother Doug who both perish the same year when she was just eighteen, her anger towards her dead father, her rebellious twenty year old daughter and the demand of her aging mom, Vivian.

She have to go home to Colville to take care of recent widowed mom. Her old friends and her used to be favorite garden welcome her and her curiosity of the past, making her reminisce her more. And in here, she'll discover things she never thought would have happen...

Path not taken always bothered her, her young love for Jake, her marital love with her husband and her mom's undying love for her husband altogether. She now doubt her husband and started "investigating" about her first love while juggling work, home assistance for her mom with the so-called-help of her daughter. She hangs out with her childhood friends and made some enlightening discoveries...

The cover caught my attention because it's so vintage-y lifestyle, of the past where no internet or cellphone, just gardens and sewing and playing the piano. :) Makes me nostalgic! :P I could relate somewhat to the story because my grandma is just like Vivian, she always talked about her dead first boyfriend husband, she suffers Alzheimer's and my aunt is taking good care of her just like Susannah. I really love to share this book with my aunt actually and for sure she'll cry for some part of the book. It's very heart warming and the twist is so unexpected, although the end kept me hanging!

GeriLen Elinessete is now a BC Blogger! :D

Hey everyone, i would like to announce that I finally decided to join BC BLOGGER! :D

As you all may know or may not know, Im currently expecting our first baby and working at home as a structural engineer while doing blogs here: 

GeriLen Elinessete

Chronicles of a Young Wife

Food for Soul

and a writer contributor on

All About Structural Design

So I basically juggling household chores, designing and blogging all day and night! Pretty busy little me, I'm happy to learn about 

Learn more about them by clicking here.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

cover of the book I read

Who loves chocolate? Well, this is a story for y’all chocolate lovers out there! Are you aware that there was a time when “eating chocolate is a sin”?

This is the era where the story begun. It’s about the dark luscious taste of pure chocolate that seduce people of the town to ignore the priest’s Sunday sermon of avoiding sinning. Vianne Rocher with her young daughter arrived in a small French village in the beginning of Lent, where they started a business of chocolate. The store faces the church hosted by a young cure Francis Reynaud that watches her with disapproval and suspiciously thinks she's tempting the villagers to over-indulge...

The people cannot resist Vianne's good humor and carefree lifestyle... She even help a woman to stand against domestic abuse and she helped outcasts and children. I like how she shows her wit to the stern town people and touched their hearts through serving them chocolates.

Her genuine intentions caught the self-righteous cure off his tracks and in the end, he gave in to the luxury taste of her pure dark chocolates and hence completely open the mind of the people to embrace this new sweet treats.

I also love the film, especially the parts where they make chocolate treats. It's a mouth-watering movie starring Johnny Depp and Julliete Binoche. Now I'm hunting for the sequel "The Lollipop Shoes". :)

Cosmetic Fixation Summer Giveaway!

Hey everyone, http://chrisellesy.com is hosting a giveaway and I wanna share 'em with you! :D

This is her 2nd giveaway with two prizes at stake! :D

First Prize includes:

• 4 Excel Paris Matte Lip Creams
• 2 Lucky Thai Voodoo Dolls (Keychain/Charm)
• Glam Works Lip & Cheek Tint
• 3 Jocarste Nail Polishes
• 1 Nivea Spray Deo Jasmine Scent
• 1 Nivea Express Hydration Lotion

Second Prize includes:

• 3 Excel Paris Matte Lip Cream
• 2 Jocarste Nail Polishes
• 1 Glam Works Lip & Cheek Tint
• 1 Lucky Thai Voodoo Doll
• 1 Nivea Spray Deo Jasmine Scent

These prizes are perfect for summer! Im so eyeing Nivea products and Excel Paris Matte Lip Creams makes me curious! Join Cosmetic Fixation Summer Giveaway by clicking here!

Improvements on Bayan Park Garden

Aside from famous tourist spots, Baguio is also known for its local small garden spread all over! One of these is the local public Bayan Park garden in Aurora Hill. This garden used to be dark at night with broken bottles and garbage like plastics and papers but the local authorities here decided to beautify it! :D

I've been visiting this park for quite a while now for my walkathon and sun bathing in the morning! :P I took some pictures on whats been up and new :)

These rocks are intended for foot massage.. and I thought this spot could be use for yoga too.. :P Like the ones senior citizens do in Burnham Park. :)

They are currently planting grass while maintaining cleanliness :)

 Mountain bikes and baby bikes are welcome here as well :)

benches are scattered everywhere

comfort room for men and women are available :)

Pine trees and other plants are rehabilitated and very well taken care of

"Elephant Slide"

I think I would call this slide "The Carp" :P

See how vast the park is?

Slides

Mini Playground

Picnic Grounds

wide parking space

Beside the new clean park, there's a covered court that's also been used for government events like free check up and a police station beside it.

For now, they are planting small plants and flowers around the park :)

The renovation is still on going. It's a good thing it's just a 5minute walk from our house and we could enjoy a picnic and a morning walk anytime we want. And to help the local authorities in beautifying the place, people and tourist should also do their part: throw their garbage in the trash bins. Simple yet for sure it'll go a long way. :)