Sunday, January 5, 2020

Simala Church, the Monastery of Holy Eucharist


Simala Church is exactly located at the uphill area in the village of Lingodon, but because of its access is in Simala, it was eventually called Simala Church.

Simala sounds-like "Himala" is true to its name.  The place have been known as miraculous.  Simala Church is the Monastery of the Holy Eucharist.  Simala Church is what the place more popularly known.

Simala church was built in 1998 by the Marian Monks of Eucharistic Adoration from Pampanga who escaped the wrath of the Mount Pinatubo eruption.  Now, it is also where the Mongha ni Maria lives.

Our itinerary in Cebu was to go South first and explore Oslob on the first day, hike Osmena Peak and visit Simala Church on the second day.  From Oslob, we made our way going to Osmena Peak in Dalaguete and from there we rode a bus going to Cebu City and told the conductor to drop us off at Sibonga going to Simala Church.  There's a 7-11 store where we were dropped off and from there we hired 3 habal habal for the 7 of us, including our 1 year old. Habal habal fare is 25 pesos per person one way (as of May 2019)

From Cebu City, make your way going to the South Bus Terminal.  Ride buses going to Oslob or Liloan/Santander and tell the conductor to drop you off at Simala.

Be mindful in what you are wearing going to the church as they will not allow entrance if you are wearing revealing clothes such as tubes, shorts, mini skirts, sleeveless blouse.  Pay respect in going to the area even if you are not a believer of the Catholic Church or you are just going to the shrine for photography purposes only.  Most of the people here comes for a purpose and they are believers of the church.  The place is sacred so let us pay respect.

on the left side are reminders on what to wear and what not to wear




The church holds a Eucharistic celebration everyday at 12 noon except Saturdays but every 13th of the month, the celebration starts at 10:30 a.m.

 Candles are also available in the monastery for ₱35 each and you can use these to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary. (Proceeds will serve as funding for the improvement and maintenance of the monastery.)
• Gold: Healing (Good health, Recovery, Spiritual, Family Tree)
• Green: Prosperity/Success (Exams, Study, Financial, Business)
• Blue: Perseverance (Employment, Career, Assignment, Promotions)
• Violet: Achievement (Plans in life, Struggles, Endeavors, Journeys, Voyage)
• Red: Love (Utility, Friendship, Engagement, Family)
• Yellow: Peace (Courage, Strength, Hope)
• White: Purity (Enlightenment, Guidance, Right Path)
• Orange: Reconciliation (Sweetheart, Wife, Husband, Enemy, Family)
• Pink: Thanksgiving/Happiness/Joy (Spiritual, Physical)
• Black: Souls (Forgiveness, Pardon)
• Brown: Vocation (Marriage Bond, God’s Servant, Single life)
• Gray: Deliverance (Bad ways, Things, Spirits)
• Cream: Conversion/Faith (Children, Household, Couples)
 

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Rainbow Village (Caihongjuan) in Taichung

 
It is not that easy to get to Rainbow Village in Taichung. Most tourists with very tight itinerary won't be able to make it in Taichung since it is two hours drive away from Taipei and not even located near the city of Taichung.  I've seen itineraries from travel agencies going to Taiwan and more often visiting Taichung is not part of the tour.  Good thing before we got here, I've done a lot of research about Taiwan, where to go, how much would each itinerary costs my family.  Check out Mga Pasyalan sa Taiwan on facebook.  The admin of the page have daily private tours to Taichung that includes visit to Houli Farm, Miyahara Ice Cream, Rainbow Village and Green Fantasy Forest.  The tour costs only 1200 NT each and it was so worth it.  We were picked up right in front of our rented unit in Tucheng District.  Pick up station for private tours are in Ximen and Taipei Main Station. You can also reach this village through public transportation, through taxis and buses.



 

Rainbow Village is located in No.56, Chun’an Road, Nantun District, Taichung 408, Taiwan, a bit far from the city center.  Admission is FREE. You can get there by taking a bus ride from Taichung Main Station, take bus number 27 to Ling Tung University, then walk for about 10 minutes.  You can also ride bus number 56 and 89 from Taichung Main Railway Station.  By taxi from Taichung THSR, it will costs you around 200 NT.  It is also known as Caihongjuan Village.


The colorful village is open from 9am to 6pm. 


my 5 kids


Julia having fun =)
Inside the Rainbow Village are colorful houses painted by Rainbow Grandpa Huang Yung-Fu (彩虹爷爷).  He is more than 90 years old.  He actually still lives in here. He began painting the walls with murals in order to save the village from demolition.  He began painting a bird in his home and from there his paintings grew.  Students from Ling Tung university students campaigned to save the village.  Authorities have eventually agreed not to destruct the village and preserved it to become a designated cultural area. 
 
We saw some students cleaning the whole village.  I guess they are volunteers or maybe it is a school activity to help in cleaning the village.  They were fond of my daughter so they allowed us to take pictures with them.





There are ice cream, bubble tea and souvenir shops inside the Rainbow Village.  All are in very affordable prices.
hubby got hungry again, he grabbed a bite of sausage with sticky rice at 60 NT

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Sumilon Island in Oslob, Cebu


Sumilon island is located off the southeastern coast of the municipality of Oslob.  Oslob is a three-hour bus ride from Cebu City. And from here, it can be reached by a motorized banca in 15 minutes. The island is owned by Bluewater Sumilon Island Resort but can still be reached for an entrance fee of Php50 per pax and a boat fee of Php1500 for a group. The island spans 24-hectare.



Bluewater Sumilon Island Resort is a high-end resort in the island.  There are day-pass offers in Trip advisor costing at 3,300/pax inclusive of welcome drinks and buffet lunch with softdrinks, mask, fins, and towels.

Bluewater Sumilon has its official webpage at  https://www.bluewatersumilon.com.ph/. 
View their rooms here


Of course we just stayed outside their resort.  We just stayed for an hour to experience Sumilon, got a little swim, took pictures and went back to Oslob.

There are cheaper inns and hostels near Sumilon at Airbnb for as low as 558pesos per night.



James, JP, Janelle
Julia had a little swim in the island


Other places to visit within Oslob:
If you will still be staying for another night in Oslob, visit Tumalog Falls, a 20-minute trike ride away from Oslob town proper.  Also include in your itinerary a walk to their heritage park.  This includes preserved Spanish colonial buildings such as the Cuartel and Baluarte.  It is beside their old church Parish Church of the Immaculate Concepcion and Oslob Museum.


Jinan dining



We are truly captivated by the Chinese dishes we have tasted during our 12-days stay here in Jinan.  They are amazingly aromatic, scrumptious, delicious, and fresh. China have been known as the kingdom of cooking, and Shandong's dishes is listed  as China's top 4 dishes. Every restaurant we go in Jinan will surely offer you their specialties.  Truly Chinese dishes is one of the best in the world.

 I don't exactly know how they are called but these are some of them.

lamb barbeque
This lamb barbeque made my stomach grumble for a day.  The smell is terrible, but so many people are taking orders of this.
Roasted Peking Duck
The beers...
best tasting beer according to my colleagues




matcha ice cream cake from Pizza Hut

healthy tea with fruits mixed

Fried Chicken

Tang Cu Liu (Sweet and Sour Carp Fish)




hotpot (boiling chili soup!!!)


chili string beans

my first steak - I can't buy on my own =)
Thank you guyz for accommodating us during our 12-day stay in Jinan.  Our stomachs are always full =)
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to try most of Jinan's famous cuisine.... Hope to see you soon!!!

Exploring Ximending


 

Your trip to Taipei won't be complete without a visit to Ximending. It has been called the "Harajuku" of Taipei.  The local bookstores sell Japanese magazines, books, CD albums, and clothing , making it a haven for the "Harizu", or Japanese culture adorers. Individual vendors gather in the streets as well as the large business buildings, such as Wannien Department Store and Shizilin Square during the day, and Wanguo Department Store and Eslite 116 later at night. Due to the density of young people, Ximending is comparable to Shilin Night Market and the Eastern District to be areas with the highest crime rates. In addition, Ximending is well known for student prostitution.
www.en.wikipedia.org



How to get to Ximending?
Ximending is connected to blue and green lines of Taipei's Metro Rail Transit.  We visited Ximending twice in our Taiwan vacation because just staying at the place feast your eyes to different activities of people around the area, there are also some street shows.  There are a lot of cheap but yummy food around Ximending.

pokemon fanatics




The Ximending Pedestrian Area is named after the administrative division Seimon-chō (西門町), which existed during Japanese rule, referring to an area outside the west gate of the city. The area of Seimon-chō included modern-day Chengdu Road (成都路), Xining South Road (西寧南路), Kunming Street (昆明街), and Kangding Road (康定路). However, today the Ximending Pedestrian Area not only includes Seimon-chō but also Wakatake-chō (若竹町) and Shinki-chō (新起町). The historical spelling of this area was Hsimenting, which is based on the Wade-Giles romanization of Standard Chinese. The use of the character chō (町) is unusual in a Chinese context: it denotes a cho (a part of a ward) in the Japanese municipality system. 

The popular restaurants in Ximending are the Modern Toilet and Ay Chung Noodles.  You can read it here and here.



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