Quezon | Visiting Kamay Ni Hesus Shrine in Lucban

The Ascending Christ
It was a long weekend then but I didn't plan for a weekend getaway longer than a day's trip; my travel buddy can't get away beyond a day and I don't have enough courage yet to go solo so I settled on another road trip, this time in Lucban, Quezon to visit Kamay ni Hesus Shrine.

Kamay ni Hesus Shrine is a healing center built under the initiative of Father Joseph "Joey" Ayala Faller, a gifted and well-known healing priest. A healing mass was conducted at the Kamay ni Hesus Chapel every Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9:30AM.

This Shrine may be known for the healing masses but it has also become a popular tourist and field trip destination nowadays. Even on a Sunday, a long weekend at that, several groups of students were having their field trip there, also lots of families and groups of people were there to visit the shrine; saw some of my office friends too, small world eh...hehe!

Food Trips | Alamarius Grill's Bulalo

Almarius Grill's Bulalo (PhP320.00/serving, good for 2-3 persons)
Bulalo is one of the famous dishes of Batangas, one of the reasons being the province as one of the major cattle producers in the country. And if you search the net for the famous bulalohan in Batangas, Almarius Grill would come up as one of them.

A few weeks back, me and my friend went on a road trip to Lucban, Quezon to visit Kamay ni Hesus Grotto. But instead of taking the shorter Laguna route, we opted for the much longer (I think) Batangas-Lipa route because of just one reason - to satisfy our craving for bulalo. We've tried bulalo from Rose and Grace's Restaurant in Sto. Tomas from our previous road trip and we liked it very much but we want to try other variety so we went to Almarius Grill in Lipa City.

UP-AyalaLand Technohub: Mezza Norte Food Trip

Mezza Norte - live acoustic band

Sometime last July, I saw a feature on TV about the newest night food market here in the Metro, the Mezza Norte. I haven't been to any food market yet because most of them are far from my place so when I heard that this one is in Quezon City, me and my friend scheduled a food trip there. It's been raining during the last weekend of July and early August so we're only able to visit the place mid of August.

Malaysia | Aquaria KLCC Tour

Aquaria KLCC
As I've mentioned in my Petronas Twin Towers post, we didn't avail ourselves of a tour to the twin towers' observation deck since we've done that in KL Tower. Instead, we visited Aquaria KLCC because my friends wanted to check out this oceanarium. I've already visited an oceanarium before (Manila Ocean Park) so I'm not that excited with Aquaria but since I have nothing else to do, I agreed to join them. So after more or less three hours of window shopping and roaming around Jalan Petaling, we went to KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Convention Center).

Everything in KLCC seems classy; this being the home to the stylish and high-end shopping center Suria KLCC and the high and mighty Petronas Twin Towers. But since we don't have money for luxurious shopping (purita us...hehe!), we didn't roam around Suria. Instead, we went straight to Aquaria.

But before we started our tour, we first had our lunch at the KLCC food center. Seeing an asian food stall, we chose to buy our foods there thinking that it would taste like our foods here in Manila. It turned out the food still has the Malaysian twist - spicy that is, super, to the max! One of my friends had to buy her foods twice because she can't stand the spicy food she got on her first order. She ordered the second time, and though the crew said it's a "little spicy", she still find her order to be too spicy.

set value meal - the beef tastes like our caldereta
This set meal was my order, a bit spicy but since I love spicy foods, I was able to enjoy it. For those who are not into spicy foods, please note that a "little spicy" (by Malaysian crew's standard) might be too spicy for you so better ask for a meal that is not spicy at all. Anyway, after this super hot lunch, we then proceeded to Aquaria.

Aquaria KLCC is a state-of-the-art oceanarium located in KLCC adjacent to Petronas Twin Towers. It showcases a variety of marine life forms and some land-based creatures occupying an area of around 60,000 square-foot. Like Manila Ocean Park, it features several aquariums of different sizes with various marine life species in it. It also has a transparent tunnel where you can view up close some wild marine creatures like sharks, stingrays, sea turtles and other marine life forms.

Now, let's start our Aquaria KLCC tour. :P Our first stop: touch pool section where everyone is allowed to touch marine life forms like horseshoe crab, starfish, sea cucumber, bamboo shark, etc.; I didn't dare touch them though. :P

Horseshoe Crab
starfish and sea cucumber

Next stop: electric zone where the exhibited creatures (electric eel, electric catfish, elephant-nose fish) discharged electricity to defend themselves; so if you happen to see them in the wild, stay away or you'll be toasted. :P

electric eel
electric catfish

Next stop: the stream, home to land and aquatic animals like otters and rodents.

Nutria(?) , semi-aquatic rodent
Next stop: jewels of the jungle, a section where various life forms that are usually found in the jungle can be seen including exhibits of butterflies and other insects.

green snake! checked the net to find out what type of snake this is but I got scared just by looking at the photos so never mind ;)
butterflies!!!
Next stop: flooded forest, the section where school of fishes in a lighted tube tanks can be found.

red-tailed fish

And last but not the least: the oceanarium, a 90-meter transparent tunnel with a walkalator where you can  view up-close the various wild marine animals like sharks, giant stingrays, sea turtles, etc.

sea turtle and shark
the scary shark!
End of the tour, hope you enjoyed...hehe!

~ oo00oo ~

Aquaria Schedule and Fees:
Schedule: 11AM - 8PM (weekdays M-F); 1030AM - 8PM (weekends/holidays); 7PM (last admission)
Admission Fee (non-Malaysian): RM45 (adult); RM35 (children); RM25 (senior citizen)

Date of Visit: May 8, 2012

KL Summer Adventure: Shopping in Jalan Petaling - KL Chinatown

Chinatown - Jalan Petaling
I see traveling as almost synonymous to shopping! Why? Because whenever we travel (local or international), we also tend to shop, not necessarily for ourselves but for our love ones and friends back home. And by shopping, I don't just mean buying expensive items from malls or shopping centers; it also includes shopping on bazaars and/or street or night markets. That's why whenever we travel, we also look for bazaars and bargain shops where we can haggle and shop for less.

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