Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The Grand Marian Procession 2014 in Pictures

The Grand Marian Procession is an annual event held at Intramuros, Manila to showcase the different images of the Virgin Mary from all over the Philippines. It’s held during December.

This year’s Grand Marian Procession was held last Sunday, December 7, 2014 around 4PM. The procession started at Fort Santiago and the images passed by the Manila Cathedral. Hundreds of devotees, particularly from Pakil, Laguna and Cavite, joined the procession. It was a great opportunity to shoot the different Marian Images without going to the churches where these images normally stay.

I'm looking forward to attend next year’s Grand Marian Procession 2015.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Cattleya Resort (Dominique), Antipolo City

Cattleya Resort is located at Sitio Ibabaw, Barangay San Roque, Antipolo City. It’s like a private subdivision with several pools. We had our team building here last July 21-22, 2014 (overnight) and it’s a nice place.

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The pool area that we got is named Dominique and the main selling point of this resort is the fabulous view of the nearby cities of Pasig, Quezon and Marikina. Dominique has a “kubo”, two smaller “kubo”, shower room and toilet, a kitchen and grilling area, and the main dining/videoke area. It also has a small gazebo, seesaw and swing, and of course, a nice pool area with an outdoor tub.

Unfortunately, Dominique is available only for 12 hour duration (until 7am the following day) although we are allowed to come as early as 5:00 pm the previous day. The only downside to this resort (aside from the time) is the lack of sleeping areas. I guess, they really intend to keep the guest awake the entire 12 hours. Good thing there were 4 beds (generally used for sunbathing) that we used to sleep.

From Pasig, I rode a jeep to Tanay passing by Antipolo. From Ligaya in Pasig, it’s around P22 to Unciano Hospital (Circumferential Road) in Antipolo City. There’s a tricycle station that took me to Cattleya Resort for P15. We’re 4 people in the tricycle so if you’re going solo, it will be P60. I walked around 100 meters to Cattleya Resort and just to the right of the gate is the Dominique Pool Area.

The water of the pool could be very cold since this is on top of a mountain and it could be foggy during the morning. I visited their Facebook page after our team building and they have a discount in August and September. I guess those are their off-peak months. The price we paid is P7,500 and that includes the overnight use of the videoke.

Having tried Pansol, Laguna for overnight swimming, I would still prefer Pansol for overnight team buildings. Cattleya Resort’s advantage is that it’s near Manila (around an hour or two depending on traffic). The view is also great. The price could also be pricey for 12-hour duration.

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The signage to Cattleya Resort.

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Some of the houses you’ll passed by as you go to Cattleya Resort, Antipolo City.

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One of the numerous gazebo of Cattleya Resort. To the right of this gazebo is Dominique.

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View of Manila.

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The pool (Dominique)

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More views of Manila

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The two smaller “kubo” of Dominique.

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Capiz shells were used for the lanterns

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The pool (viewed from the elevated portion of Dominique where the kubo are located.

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Is this considered as a gazebo?

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The pool was swarmed with “gamu-gamu” around 6-7pm. Good thing the pool attendant cleaned it before we swam.

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Although it said that the use of the videoke is up to 12 midnight, we were able to use the videoke until we left at 7am the following day.

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There’s a half-court at the entrance of Dominique.

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I love the use of Capiz shells in their lanterns

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The kitchen and grilling area of Dominique, Cattleya Resort.

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A foggy morning when we left Cattleya Resort.

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The two smaller kubo

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This kubo is the only sleeping quarters Dominique has, which sucks. Most of the resorts I’ve visited in my previous team buildings has 2 or more rooms for sleeping.