My World#123 Philippine Churches#9 Baclaran Church (National Shrine Of Our Mother of Perpetual Help)

Baclaran Church was a part of my childhood days when my mother devoted every Wednesday to visit it for years.

The Baclaran Church (also called Redemptorist Church) or the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is one of the most popular churches and also considered as one of the largest churches in the Philippines. It houses one of the most revered and celebrated Marian images in the country, called an icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. It has been known to be miraculous.

Every Wednesday is popularly known as "Baclaran Day", and devotees flock to Baclaran Church to participate in a popular Marian novena offered for the Blessed Virgin Mary's reputed miraculous aid and intercession.

Baclaran Church is located along Roxas Avenue, Paranaque City. Its modern-Romanesque styled building has a full-seating capacity of 2,000, but as many as 11,000 people including standing can be inside during Masses. (source: wikipedia)

It is just a few minutes walk from the Baclaran station of Manila Metro Rail Transit (MRT3).

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My World#122 Cagayan de Oro's Whitewater Rafting

Before Davao City started having their own whitewater rafting adventure, Cagayan de Oro City already had theirs years ago. Whitewater rafting in Cagayan de Oro became so popular that it is considered a must-do for visitors and locals. Years ago, the fee was P2,000 (minimum of 4 persons)  inclusive of free buffet lunch (grilled seafood, rice and roasted chicken, yummy!), a bottle of mineral water,  free use of helmet, paddle, drybag and the rubberboat. I heard that it is now P1,200 minimum of 4 persons but without the delicious buffet lunch.

Before we started tackling the churning waters of Cagayan de Oro river, we were taught the basic rules for whitewater rafting which are: Listen carefully to your leader-boatman. Follow his instructions. Pray, paddle, pray and paddle. Of course, we were also taught how to handle our paddle to keep our rubberboats floating over the churning waters and to prevent ourselves from getting overboard (some did get thrown overboard and survived the churning waters minus the rubberboats).

For beginners, the whitewater rafting runs about 3 hours with 14 rapids to tackle with 10-15 minutes interval for every rapid. Along the way, aside from beautiful sceneries to see, there were lush vegetation and some monkeys gawking curiously at us, water rapids that folded our rubberboat into half, whirlpools and churning waters that almost ate my paddle, and jutting mountain walls (a certain wall had snakes sleeping on its holes/crevices) to tackle.

After some paddling, we took our rest in this cave which turned out to be nerve wracking because of its fast and heavy current that we need to traverse to get to the spot where we can sit on some rocks. Thank goodness for our ever-helpful and vigilant boatmen, they helped us crossed to the other side.

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Skywatch#81 Beijing Sunset

Covered with smog or just mere fog, the Beijing sunset was beautiful. Took this photo while on top of the ancient towers in Beijing. As the peak hour traffic slowly moved on, the misty reddish-yellow sun set on its own.

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My World#121 Singapore and Expensive Cars

Singapore is one of the places I had visited that got the latest and the most expensive cars running around its streets. We passed by along Raffles Hotel (one of the oldest and most prestigious hotels in Singapore) and saw several expensive cars lining up by the hotel's front door. After gawking at the cars, we took some photos. My favorite car there was this Mini Cooper.  I took its photo with the Raffles Hotel as its background.

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Skywatch#80 Sunrise At Camiguin Island

Before heading home from our 3-day travel around Camiguin Island, I decided to wake up early to see the sunrise. On our last night, we stayed by the beach and so I knew that we would be having the best view to see the sunrise. It did not disappoint because it came out blazing with colors.

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My World#120 Costa Marina Beach Resort

I am getting tired of hearing and seeing the words "ITCZ" or "intertropical convergence zone" because it means more rains. I've been hearing it for months now and they have been coming just a few days apart since summer.

I wish we have more sunny days now with some days spent on the beach like the Costa Marina Beach Resort at the nearby Samal Island. Unlike its next door neighbor, the more popular, Paradise Island Beach Resort, Costa Marina Beach Resort has fewer guests (something my family most prefer). Its waters are clean and really suitable for snorkelling and swimming even for kids.

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Skywatch#79 Caramoan Peninsula Island

This is one of the islands in Caramoan Peninsula, Camarines Sur we passed by on our way to the town of Guijalo. Guijalo is a 2-hour boat ride from the town of Sabang. It  is also be reached by 4-5 hours land travel through dirt roads.

What I like about this photo is that the rolling cotton-like clouds in the background look like they were about to kiss the island as people unknowingly bathed in the waters.

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