Out Of The House

Photography Practice at Baban+Cy’s Prenup Shoot

May 29, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 5 Comments

I know that I am better at expressing myself with words than with images. But I also know that I am capable of taking a pretty photograph if I want to. It just takes a little more effort and a little bit of post-processing. I did study photography as part of my course in college after all, and I passed too! I wasn’t the best in class, but I don’t think I was the worst either. Practice makes perfect, and I’m pretty sure I lack practice. I do have a DSLR, but I often am too lazy to take it with me because it’s heavy and bulky. Besides, our waterproof camera is a lot more fun to bring along, and it’s easy to see why.

Thank God it's waterproof! — Thank God it’s waterproof!

This year, though, one of my blogging goals is to take better photos, and that means that it’s time to reunite with my trusty D3000. Now, let me make one thing clear. I believe that a beautiful picture is dependent on actual talent and not on one’s gadgets. I just had to say that because a lot of people think they are photographers, and good ones at that, just because they own a DSLR. Hang on for a moment while I roll my eyes.

Anyway, common sense will tell you that a better camera will give you better photo quality overall. That’s how it is with digital. And you really can do so much more with an SLR than with a point and shoot cam, given that you actually know how to work the camera. So I’ve decided that I want to challenge myself, my knowledge of my camera and my retention of the things I learned years ago in college by taking photos using my DSLR as often as I can.

I started last weekend during our trip to Las Casas for my sister-in-law, Baban’s prenup shoot with her fiancee, Cy. I figured that they would all be so busy posing that no one would really be able to focus on taking behind the scenes pictures, and so that’s what I assigned myself to do that day. Like I always say, I’m a behind the scenes person, and I know that I’m more effective shooting photos than posing for them, even though I am certainly not an expert photographer.

My goal was to capture moments, and of course, provide the couple with some behind the scenes shots that they can keep to remember the day by. I’d like to think I did a pretty good job of it. But that’s just me. One thing’s for sure, the bride to be looks happy and in love. That’s good enough, right?

Opinions are super welcome, okay? Brace yourself now because a minor photo dump is coming up in 3… 2… 1…

Las Casas 1-9 — Instant tourist attraction

It was a really fun day, and the bride and groom were really happy with the photos that their supplier, FilterPan took. Can’t wait to see the official photos. Meanwhile, what do you think of these behind the scenes shots?

Baguio Birthday Weekend: La Trinidad’s Strawberry Fields

March 27, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

Cue Beatles music! Let me take you down coz we’re going to… Yes, I know, I’m corny.

The boys and I visited the Strawberry Fields at La Trinidad, Beguet on the second day of our Baguio weekend escape. We went while the rest of Baguio City was still at Session Road for the float parade, and so there weren’t that many people during our visit. I read that it can get really crowded so we planned our schedule well, and I am really happy we did that.

LaTrinidad-19 — Welcome to the Strawberry Fields!

When we got there, the first thing I noticed as soon as I got out of the car was that I could smell the strawberries from the parking lot. I kid you not. When we approached the closest stall, I wasn’t surprised at how yummy the whole place smelled. The strawberries were super red, super big and super ripe. Just thinking about them now makes my mouth water.

After seeing those boxes of strawberries, we got even more excited about picking our own. And so, we were realy disappointed when the first person we asked informed us that strawberry picking would cost us Php400 per person. That’s Php1,200 for the three of us. That included only a kilo of strawberries in our baskets, and we’d have to pay extra if we get more than one kilo’s worth. Ouch right? So we backed away from this stall and started to walk around.

My biggest concern was how I would explain to Little Mr C that we could only walk in the fields and not pick our own berries. He was super excited, and I knew that he would be disappointed for sure. It’s a good thing Mr C thought to ask someone else for the strawberry picking rates. The second person told us that the group rate Php350, and that included a kilo of strawberries. So yay, off we went to the middle of the field with our little baskets!

LaTrinidad-2 — Little Mr C leading the way!

LaTrinidad-1 — We were blessed with good weather that morning, with just the right amount of fog so it was nice and cool.

When we finally arrived at our little patch of strawberries, our guide explained how to properly pick them. You apparently should twist the stem and not pull. If the stem breaks off easily then they are sure to be nice and sweet. Of course, the little guy asked if he could taste one as soon as he successfully plucked one out of the ground. Our guide explained to him that the berries needed to be washed first before they can be eaten because they’ve been exposed to dirt and bugs.

LaTrinidad-4 — My whole outfit, except for the sneakers and the bag, was sponsored by my in-laws. They always send me nice clothes from the US. 🙂

LaTrinidad-10 — See my super full basket? I really made an effort to collect as many as I could!

LaTrinidad-8 — Getting some help from Ate.

LaTrinidad-9 — Yay for two full baskets!

On our way back to the selling area, I noticed that you can also pick lettuce. Our guide told us that we could even pick flowers if we wanted to, but we decided we’d try doing that another time. It was close to noon and we were starting to get hungry.

We ended up paying a little over Php600 for our 2++ kilos of strawberries and that super fun experience. Super worth it, if you ask me. After we paid, we checked out the stalls around the area. They were selling basically the same things you would find in Minesview and in the market – brooms, knitted and crocheted stuff, and those icky frog wallets, among other things.

I wanted to make the most out of our experience, and that included trying all the strawberry flavored stuff they were selling. It was quite uncharacteristic of me to have my kid eat taho (super sort tofu with syrup and tapioca pearls) and sorbetes (ice cream, usually sold on the street and also known as dirty ice cream) because he and I have sensitive stomachs. The yummy experience is usually not worth the risk. Maybe it was the fog, but somehow my usual precautions were thrown to the wind that day, and the three of us happily enjoyed strawberry flavored taho and ice cream. Of course, when my dad saw our photos afterwards, he just had to point out that we didn’t get sick from the unknown/possibly unfiltered/unfamiliar Baguio water that they used.

LaTrinidad-14 — The happy, hyper vendors of La Trinidad.

LaTrinidad-13 — Strawberry flavored sorbetes, aka dirty ice cream.

LaTrinidad-12 — He thinks it’s super yummy!

We made one last round of the fruit and vegetable stalls after our snack. I really wanted to buy veggies to bring home, but since we would be staying in Baguio for another full day, I was worried that they might wilt. We did buy a couple of bags of oranges from one stall. We just couldn’t say no because they were so sweet and juicy!

LaTrinidad-17 — Lots of fresh veggies for sale.

There was one last thing I just had to do in La Trinidad, something I did during my last visit, and that I had been dreaming about since then. Take note that my last visit was in 2005. Lol. I just had to have some sweet corn! It’s still the best sweet corn I’ve ever had, but honestly, I don’t know if it really is that good, or if it just tastes extra yummy bundled with our great La Trinidad experience.

If you find yourself visiting Baguio anytime soon, do plan a trip to La Trinidad. It’s only a few minutes away from the city by car, and you’re guaranteed a really fun time, specially if you’re headed there with kids.

Baguio Birthday Weekend: Panagbenga at Hotel Elizabeth

March 19, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

A week after our Hotel H2O staycation, the boys and I headed up north to spend my birthday weekend in Baguio. Coincidentally, our trip also fell on the parade weekend of Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival, the annual fiesta of the city. I was excited to be in the City of Pines during their most festive season because I really had a great time at Panagbenga years ago, and also because the strawberries in Baguio are the plumpest, juiciest, and sweetest during this season.

We left for Baguio bright and early on a fine Saturday morning!

We had lunch as soon as we got to Bagiuo, and right after we proceeded to our hotel. We arrived a little after 2PM, just in time to check in. Unfortunately, we were advised by the front desk that the room we were supposed to stay in hadn’t been cleaned yet because the previous occupants were stuck in traffic and still weren’t able to check out. They apologized and served us coffee and juice at Cafe Flora, the hotel restaurant, while we waited. Luckily, since we were there during Panagbenga season, there was a lot going on at the hotel lobby and so we didn’t really mind waiting. They were showing movies on a wide screen at Cafe Flora, there was a cultural presentation at the lobby, and a design your own cupcake activity for the kids.

We finally got to check into our room at a little past 3PM. We booked a Deluxe Single Room through Agoda, and it was the perfect size for our small family. The room was fairly simple, but was really clean and smelled nice. Being that we were in Baguio, there was no airconditioning in the room, and instead we had a nice big window and a ceiling fan to keep us cool. I love that the three of us can still fit into one big bed. At the rate that our little MrC is growing though, it won’t be long until we’ll be forced to spend on an extra bed for him.

The Deluxe Single Room comes with the following basic amenities:

Queen-sized bed
21″ Cable television
Telephone
Ceiling Fan
Electronic safety deposit box
Vingcard/Electronic door locking system
Mini-bar refrigerator
Imported sheets
Covered duvet/comforter
Private toilet and bath with hot and cold shower
Hair dryer
Coffee / Tea maker

In the room

Before heading to the hotel, we had lunch at Cafe by the Ruins.

In the bathroom

Bathroom. Me in the mirror. Behind me is a closet.

Our room came with buffet breakfast for two at Cafe Flora on both days. We didn’t mind paying for an extra buffet coupon for the little boy since the price was super reasonable. They have a pretty good spread with rice and several viands, bread, pancakes, soup, salad, fresh fruits and cereal. They also offer juice and coffee with your meal. I wasn’t able to take photos of the buffet because there were a lot of people dining on both mornings and I didn’t want to be a bother.

Our first morning in Baguio was the day of the float parade along Session Road. I had absolutely no plans of braving the crowd at Session, and so I was really happy that the hotel was projecting a live feed of the parade on their big screen during breakfast.

Breakfast on our second day in Baguio. — Having breakfast while watching the parade.

MrC's breakfast plate. — MrC’s breakfast plate.

With a guitar made of flowers at the hotel lobby. — With a guitar made of flowers.

We took a few more photos of ourselves goofing around in the room before we head out to do what we planned that morning.

A week before our Baguio trip, we stayed overnight at Hotel H2O.

I think that the prettiest part of Hotel Elizabeth is the garden in front of the hotel. That and the small cluster of gazebos located out front as well. Everything looked so picturesque from the street that we had to take photos there after we checked out, before we set off on our long journey home.

View from the garden fronting the hotel.

Hotel Elizabeth-11 — We literally parked on the driveway just to take photos.

Hotel Elizabeth-12 — Thanks for a wonderful stay, Hotel Elizabeth!

+Points
+ Super helpful staff. They even gave me a map when I asked for directions.
+ Clean and comfortable room.
+ Good selection of breakfast items in the buffet.
+ Secure basement parking.
+ It’s on the quiet side of the city, so you really get to rest.

-Points
– I can’t think of any! I really enjoyed staying at this hotel. We’ll be back for sure.

Hotel Elizabeth Baguio
# 1 J. Felipe Street corner Gibraltar Road,
Baguio City
Phone: (074) 619-0367
Fax: (074) 442-3940
Central Reservation: (632) 912-2691 & 912-8000
Email: reservations@hotelelizabeth.com.ph
Tweet: @hotelelizabeth
www.hotelelizabeth.com.ph

Sleeping with the Fishes at Hotel H2O

March 17, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

Luca Brasi isn’t the only one who sleeps with the fishes. We’ve (literally) done that too, twice! Actually, the first time it was with fish, and the second time we were surrounded by jellyfish. Both were really fun staycation experiences we’ve had at Hotel H2O in the Manila Ocean Park complex.

Picture, Picture at the Trick Art Museum in Manila Ocean Park

March 14, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 3 Comments

My sister in law, Baban, booked us at Hotel H20 in the Manila Ocean Park Complex last February as a birthday present to me. As you know, I love staycations. For me, a hotel sleepover is always a great gift to receive. So when Mr C told me about plans for that weekend, I really got excited.

It wasn’t our first time at Hotel H20. We actually booked there last year for the little boy’s birthday. Last time, though, it was just the three of us. This year, we went with Baban and her fiancee, Cy. Bigger group = definitely more fun in a place like Manila Ocean Park.

We came from Iya’s 7th at Sta Elena Fun Farm before heading to Hotel H20 that day.

We got there late in the afternoon, and by then Baban and Cy had already checked in. Last year, we stayed in an Aqua Room, which had an aquarium of fish as a wall on one side of the room. We stayed in a Jellyfish Room this time. I found the jellies in the wall a little creepy at first, but they eventually grew on me.

As seen on Instagram. Follow me? :) — As seen on Instagram. Follow me? 🙂

Iya’s 7th at Sta Elena Fun Farm

March 4, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

One of the best parts about being pregnant all those years ago was having a friend who was pregnant too. I had someone as hormonal as I was going through all the crazy changes that pregnancy brings right along with me. All of a sudden, my belly didn’t seem so large, the sudden appearance of hair in strange places seemed almost normal, and I managed to keep faith that all the sudden dark areas would someday become white again. Meet Ira, my preggy buddy, and mom to birthday girl Iya, whose 7th we celebrated last February at the Sta Elena Fun Farm.

Ira and I at about 4 and 2 months pregnant, respecitvely.

Hiding our bellies behind her bridal bouquet. She was about 9 months pregnant, and I was 7 months along.

Then came Tristan and Iya. These two kids have spent Christmases, birthdays and countless other special occasions together since they were born. Wherever us mommies went, the kids (and husbandries) were usually there too.