Puesto del Sol: The place where the sun sets (A review)

I am here in the office – waiting for my VMware template download to finish.  I still got 21 minutes and 52 seconds. Then I thought, why not start writing my review for Puesto del Sol?

My family was there just a couple of weeks ago… though, I have booked the reservation a year back. I bought this deal from Metrodeal way back September 2011. The pictures on the deal caught my attention – the infinity pool, jacuzzi, a beautiful kitchen and luxuriously designed rooms… P2999 for a place like this which is good for 8 people was a good deal, I said to myself. So my brother and I agreed to book for 2 nights.

THE JOURNEY TO PUESTO DEL SOL

We live in Bulacan. Our travel took an excruciating 5 hours. We were stuck in traffic for 2 hours upon approaching Tagaytay. It shouldn’t be that bad but there was sort of a political campaign that time and there were cars parked on both sides of the street that it only left one lane passable.

Commuting is not an option for you if you want to go to Puesto del Sol. It is located at the  edge of Calatagan and after that the deep blue ocean.  Trust me when I say, it will be more convenient for you have a private car going there.

The road to Puesto del Sol was okay.. maybe better than the previous months based on the other blogs I read about this place. Bring a skilled driver. The road before its entrance is really steep.

White sand covers most of the grounds of Puesto del Sol. But if you have this impression that the beach is just nearby, well, not really. The place is on top of a hill. You’ll need to drive down to get to a beach. Below is the picture of Puesto del Sol’s entrance.

Our initial reaction when we first set our eyes on the place was “This is it?” We were disappointed with what we saw. Perhaps we have set our expectations high or we might had expected better.

The first thing that I checked was the kitchen. Based on other reviews, it was beautiful… personally designed by the owner of Puesto del Sol. Below was the picture posted on Google.

This is the kitchen when we got there:

Oven

Stove

As you can see, the kitchen has already deteriorated. Sayang… I was looking forward to check out this kitchen. I don’t know how long since this place has been built but I was hoping that they have maintained the place.

The next thing that caught my attention was the infinity pool. It was narrow and long… I thought it was wider. In all fairness, it was clean.

Actual infinity pool

jacuzzi on an ad

my pic of the Jacuzzi

The jacuzzi was almost the same with what was on the ad. I didn’t dare soak on it though. Mainly because it was not working but it should. Secondly, it was not inviting. Can’t remember if it was clean… LOL! The two chairs in the ad, those were not there anymore when we came.

Next the room… Here’s what we have seen in the ad…

inside the kasitas

Here’s the actual picture I have taken:

Actual Pic

There are only 2 kasitas. The 1st picture might be taken from the other one. Well, it was more pleasant compared to the room we stayed at. The room has a small TV, no cable channels… Bed was OK – nothing special. Air conditioned as promised – no additional charge. Toilet is ordinary. It was long and narrow like the infinity pool. LOL! The good thing was it has hot water. We brought our own towels even though we were informed that we would have two towels available for us. No towels prepared though when we entered the room.

 There are actually more cons than pros for this place. There are still renovations going on – with the landscaping and all but I just hoped that they were able to maintain what was already there. (The caretakers were nice and accommodating, though. That was a plus. But I can’t really say that the experience was worth the distance we traveled.)

The place is secluded. It’s good for people who want to be alone and do some soul searching… Not much activity can be done too. When we went to the lighthouse, it was closed and the gates were locked. No caretaker inside. The beach, we didn’t go there but I would recommend that you do so you can maximize your time and effort while in Puesto del Sol.

The view of the sunset from Puesto del Sol is amazing and the view around it. The place has great potential but at the moment, it was lacking of so many things. Wishing the owner would continue to improve the place. It will be a huge waste if he’ll do otherwise.

Surroundings

Puesto del Sol 180 degrees view

the sunset

[click the pictures for a bigger view]

Oh well, that’s my review for Puesto del Sol. Hope it would help it setting your expectations if you have bought a deal and will go there soon…

tah tah for now!

Realizations… The dark times…

Dark times: Picture from google.

The dark days have come and the worst of me has emerged…

For the past months, I’ve been struggling with myself. My thoughts, feelings, actions, and beliefs have been in contrast. Well, as they say, your worst enemy is yourself. That’s how it has been for me. Constant arguments… a daily war that only me can witness and I have been in the losing end…

People would ask if I’m OK and I would usually say yes… not because I was OK but because I didn’t want to answer “no” then explain why. One of the hardest thing for me to do – explaining “me” to others. It would take a huge amount of effort on my side. If you can notice, my blogging is not constant… and this one you’re reading now is not out of a smooth flow of thoughts… it’s more of thoughts coming anywhere in my head and I have to organize them bit by bit to make a sense out of them. (Oo, magulo akong kausap.)

The other day, I was out with my friends and old teammates here in the office. Before I even came to meet them, I was really in a very bad mood… very bad in the extent that there was a huge “DON’T TALK TO ME RIGHT NOW, I’M PISSED!” sign on my forehead. Wondering why? Well, there were some stuff going on at home and my 2 little nieces – a 4 year old and a 2 year old – were really getting in my nerves. Don’t get me wrong… I love them both… but there are just those times that, you know, you can’t stand them anymore. Staying in a clean home is one of my simple pleasures in life… and my dad, mom, brother, and I don’t get to have that often since we had the kids at home… and let’s not forget the endless sibling rivalry between the two… It’s just plain stressful.. (To my sister, who’s the mother of my beautiful nieces, if you’re reading this.. please be informed… yes, I get stressed and mad of your kids at times… and I always feel guilty of scolding and being tough on them.)

my 2 nieces

So going back… I was out with friends… all is going OK until I poured a pitcher of cold water on Ef’s head. (To Ef, I know I said sorry already but let me say it again… I was wrong. I’m so sorry and I regret doing that to you.) Of course, there was a story why I did that. I don’t want to go in details but to make it short, he did something and it triggered the mischievous, evil side of me that has been there all along… hidden, suppressed, locked somewhere within me that managed to get out that moment… Yeah, I was not the patient – smile lang – girl my friends knew… They were so shocked about what I did that they named their drinks to “Bad Patty.”

Si Ef...

I’m not proud of what happened. If I could take it all back, I would… but I can’t. Nangyari na eh.. I just thought to myself, “what the hell have you been doing lately?!” I’ve been really impatient, easily irritated, insecure, bitter, would grumble under my breath, would drink alcohol, would not care of anything… My hands, my words and actions have hurt people I love and care for. I have been full of all these negativity and it has been ripping me apart. I’m so ashamed of myself right now… and I even call myself a Christian?! So ashamed… and I hate myself for failing in every test of character.

I remember my dgroup leader asked me before how did  accepting Jesus change me? And I found it hard to answer… because I was thinking I have always been the good daughter, a loyal friend and I have been nice to everybody… then, I wondered, did something really change? And the other night reminded me of who I used to be… Maybe, what’s happening within me right now… and what I have been doing is  God’s way of reminding me of who I was… the “mad-at-the-world” Patty… and experiencing once more my old self makes me realize that I don’t want to be like that kind of person. Drinking sessions don’t make me happy… it used to… but now all it gives me is guilt and resentment. My conscience torments me with every sip… No offense to my friends who enjoys drinking… but this is what I feel about it..

I’m exposing these things for the world to see because I don’t want to hide behind the facade of a happy face… I’m not perfect and near my breaking point…

To Selle and my dgroupmates… to Karot, Ice, Ed, Zay, Kuya Den, JonC, Jlo… please pray for me… that I may be able to soar above the storm and may I be victorious in the end…

God said earlier in 2 Cor 12:9 – And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

I’m keeping this promise… so please pray for me… thank you guys in advance…

it’s not all about you…

pic from google...

Life has been busy ever since I transferred to the new department… tons of things to think about and act upon that I didn’t get much time to blog… but tonight, I just feel like sharing something significant (for me and I hope, for you too as you read along… 😀 )… to serve as a reminder for myself and for you that there is a much bigger picture… that it is not all about me… it’s not all about you…

I was checking Facebook posts and read some friends’ post about their problems… one took it negatively… the other, hopeful that things are happening for a reason and soon everything will be okay… (nakakatuwa lang…) well, we all have problems! sino bang wala? disappointments and problems are parts of life… but the way we take them makes the difference….

Most of us ask God for a reason why things are happening to us… “why me of all people…? why???” (ahhaha!) Often times, we don’t get the answer right away… Most of us take it bitterly… and it affects our behavior… and the rest follows…

First significant truth that I realized earlier: the way we think towards our experiences affects our emotions and thus affects our behavior.

A famous cliché… experience is the best teacher. We can relate with other people because we have gone through a similar if not the same issues before. Just imagine a friend seeking advice about something that you don’t know… How can we comfort them? How will they know that we understand? Trust me, saying “I understand how you feel” doesn’t always work. (sometimes, i feel guilty using that statement..hehe..)

2 Cor. 1:3-4, “³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Second significant truth: Most of the time, we experience problems and issues for us to be able to comfort other people just as God comforted us.

As I have said, the way we think affects how we feel and how we react… two choices when we have problems: to be better or to be bitter… sadly, most of us tend to be bitter… 😛 (i’m Guilty!) So, when we feel that we are getting bitter, rethink… reprocess the thoughts… because the battle is in the mind…

I have heard this several times from our pastor, “Your perception of God affects how you process your thoughts.” Well, it’s true… let’s ask ourselves… who is God for us? Do we think that He who has created the world, us, and the universe can’t deal with our troubles? All we need to do is cry for help and put our trust in Him.

2 Cor 1:9, ” ⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Third and most significant truth: God has the best intentions for us. God is bigger that our problems. His faithfulness and love endure forever.

Lamentation 3:22-23, “22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.”

It’s not all about us… sometimes, it’s all about our purpose in life… all about Him… how He can use us to be a blessing to others… 😀

May the Lord’s love and kindness overflow so we can share it to others who need it the most… 😀

i wish i can accomplish something today….

haist… it has been almost 2 months since i transferred to my new department… i’ve been in training for a month… and there have been trainings after i was deployed… but here i am still can’t figure out things on my own… 😦 it’s frustrating at some point… i mean, what’s wrong with me??? i can’t concentrate on anything anymore… 😦

good thing, i have good and smart teammates… panu nalang kung wala?? how can i ever survive… hays….

There are things to finish… there are tasks to be done… but i can’t seem to focus and work on them… maybe i don’t have the motivation… maybe i just don’t feel like doing them… maybe i don’t see the point why i should finish them… or maybe this is not the place where i should be??? or maybe i’m just ranting like a mad man or something…. ahahhaah…

i dunno… i dunno anything anymore… i feel so futile…

 

 

 

After 40 days of love

So you have read my other post about the 40 days of Love. Many people got curious but only few came and wanted to be part of this campaign. It was sad… but I fully understand why they seemed to be “allergic” toward it. Maybe they were thinking that I would try to convert them to another religion or change their belief… Well, no… This is not about religion… Yes, we have Bible verses mentioned during the small group meetings… however, this is not to convince, or force, or even dictate them to join our Church. We’re doing this because we desire to tell people about God’s love…. and how His love can change our relationships here on earth. As I have said before, and I’ll say it again, we are made for relationships.

A couple of friends had asked me, “kamusta na yung 40 days of love mo? nakahanap ka na ba ng love?” Everytime they asked me this question, I just didn’t know how to answer it. Should I answer it at all? Just to clarify things up, the 40 days of Love doesn’t aim to give you a BF/GF after 40 days. You might find love as your group meets for 6 weeks… I mean, who knows? God moves in so many different ways… magugulat ka nalang…

Primarily, this is to help people build a stronger relationship with God, with their families, friends, officemates, classmates, their spouse, their partner, with everyone they know. To patch what is broken… to create what is not there… to deepen the existing relationships… 🙂

6 Sundays of small group meetings on the 40 days of love are over and I can say that I enjoyed those sessions. The laughters… the arguments… the tough questions… I learned a lot about my group. I just hope that somehow, somewhere in their heart of hearts, something good and significant has been learned… and I pray that they would apply it in their daily lives. It would be so sad and would feel so useless if I would see that nothing has changed afterwards… outcome matters, you know!

I have planned of sharing the session subjects here but I have known something that has changed my mind… and I think it would be better to just keep them instead. Maybe in the next coming posts I’ll discuss them… but for now, I’ll keep it to myself… 😛

My Figaro Experience

It all started with a card… and then I conclude that Starbucks and Seattle’s Best Coffee are way better with their services and food.

Click on the Figaro link below to know why…

MY REVIEWS

Figaro Coffee Company Mayo Inn, Singapore ReviewStream.com

Enjoy reading! 🙂

Figaro Card

40 Days of Love Campaign

Valentine’s day is over but love season isn’t over yet.

I’m inviting everyone to come and join me and my friends as we meet up on a 6-week series about the 40 days of Love.

So what’s this 40 days of Love campaign? This is an event where people will meet in groups regularly within 6 weeks. This activity aims to build stronger relationships with your other half, your family, office mates and/or friends.

People were made for relationships. With this, we can share our experiences, bond with old friends, make new friends and build broken or new relationships.

“With conflict, divorce, violence, prejudice, abuse, division, and polarization around us daily, it’s obvious we all need some lessons in building healthy relationships, and that’s what 40 Days of Love is all about. ” (40 Days of Love)

40 days of Love

Having issues with love and relationships? This will help. If interested, kindly leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. 🙂

This will start on the last week of February. I’ll give you the what, when, where, and the how once I get back to you.

My Fave Pics from Puerto Galera Outing

I’ve been busy with many things these past months (the holiday craze, work, parties and whatnot!) that I had to set aside blogging.

Nice to be back though! And for my first entry for this year, I’ll be posting my favorite pictures from our team outing in Puerto Galera. These were not my shots… all of them are taken from my friends’ cam shots.

By the way, you may click on the thumbnails to view a larger picture.

1st Fave Pic: 1 Kilo team

This picture has vivid colors and very clear, indeed. It gives me that light and cool vibes every time I look at it… Almost all of us are here – relaxed and smiling… aside from that one guy who was making faces right above my head.

Isang Kilong Team

2nd Fave Pic: This beach is mine.

When I first saw this picture, I was like “whoa.” =P I like how light was focused on the area where the model is at… and the dark shades right at the back… I also like how Tin (the model) positioned her body. It was so classic as if she owned that beach right then and there.

this beach is mine.

3rd Fave Pic: Silitas in Action

The timing of the shot was perfect. The angle of the ball and the “bring it on” expression on Silas’ face gave that certain zap in it…

silitas in action

3rd Fave Pic: Shadows and Silhouettes

See how the yellow light transcends the darkness of the whole picture? It’s really nice – being the only different striking shade on them. If this is because of the editing, well, kudos Ef! Otherwise, the background, the angle of the horizon and the other objects in the shots have added factors in making these pictures remarkable.

shadows and silhouettes

4th Fave Pic: Candid Shots

I love candid shots! Even though it might show the “not-so-pretty” side of the person whose picture is being taken. Candid shots can show the real emotion in a picture. It has the power of telling a story… showing what’s really happening in that captured moment.

i luv it candid!

5th Fave Pic: The Smize

Uh-huh! The last but definitely not the least… the smize! Smize is a technique models use to get a stunning photo! Smiling with your eyes is what we call smize. Watch America’s Next Top Model to see more.. 😀

smizingggg!

All right! Those are all the pictures that really caught my attention… I wanna thank the people who captured these shots (and the peeps in the pics!)… kudos!

Mayo Inn Review

Hi guys!

I’ve created a review about Mayo Inn at Reviewstream.com. Please read and vote for my review… 😀

Tusen takk! 😀

 

 

 

The Good News

I’ve been wanting to write about faith, God, and about the Gospel but I don’t know how to start… It’s like a complex thing… I’ve blogged about the end of times on my old Friendster blog page but after that, I never tried again until now.

Today, I will share with you the Good News… and it is written in this formula.

Faith in Jesus + 0 = genuine salvation > good works

Oops… you might be thinking that this is just another Bible preaching… well, it is… of course! So what’s in it for you to know this message?

Let’s put it this way… Answer these questions:

1. Do you believe in God?

2. How about life after death?

3. Will you go to heaven, hell or purgatory?

Finished answering? Let’s trim it down…

1. Most people believe in God… I hope you do… unless you are an atheist or a Satanist… or you belong to another religion that believes on a different god. If you answered yes to this question, proceed to #2. If you answered no then here’s my stand on that… “It is better to die believing that God is real than die and find out later on that He does exist.”

2. Death is not the end of our life… it is the beginning of eternity… the body can wither… but the soul and spirit of man will live forever. Remember the parable given by Jesus about Lazarus and the rich man? (Luke 16:19-31) It is a parable but it depicts a picture of what would it be like after man dies.

3. Heaven and hell are not just a state of being. Both are places. Several Bible verses attest that both exist.

For hell, Revelation 20:10 says, “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (NIV)

On the other hand, Jesus said in John 14:1-3, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (NIV)

As for purgatory, nowhere in the Bible that it was mentioned.

So, where do you think will you go? Heaven or hell? You might be thinking, “Heaven maybe. I am not a murderer… I haven’t killed anyone… I didn’t steal banks… I lie but only white lies… I go to church every Sunday… Based on the standard of the society, I’m a good man.”

Well, think again. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…”

You may not have killed anybody… but have ever you hated or got angry at someone? In Matthew 5:22, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”

You lied but just little white lies… nothing serious eh? In Proverbs 6:16-19, it is stated that “there are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him…” one of which is a lying tongue.

Since all men have not met God’s standards, then no man shall enter His kingdom… But He so loved the world that He gave His only Son (John 3:16) for man to have eternal life.

Romans 3:24 says, “…and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

For us to be justified and become righteous in the eyes of God, Jesus died for us so we can have life… This were the good news comes in… we can be free from the bondage of sin and inherit God’s kingdom through Christ Jesus.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Yes, faith in Jesus alone can bring us salvation. We just need to accept Christ as our LORD and Savior and believe in Him.

In Galatians 2:16, “…know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.”

What about good works? Does it mean we can stop doing good things after we are saved? Certainly not! Once saved, we should reflect in our actions the grace that God has given to us. “Faith without works is dead,” (James 2:20). That’s why this is the formula:

Faith in Jesus + 0 = genuine salvation > good works

We can’t add or deduct from the grace of God. As it is stated in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not of works, so that no one can boast.”

The gift of forgiveness…  God’s grace has been there all along… it’s up to you if you’ll accept it or deny it… your call…