First off I’d like to send my greetings of Happy Valentines to you! So how did you spent the day? Was it a remarkable one? On valentines day we visit the place of El Salvador Municipality, particularly the Divine Mercy Shrine. It is Sunday so a mass was held at the chapel. Luckily we have attended the said mass. The mass is treated with great respect and solemnity. Ladies are required to wear long skirts as it is a holy and sacred place, so ladies take note, when going there use the appropriate skirt specially when they are holding a mass (Sunday). It’s my first time to visit the place and I don’t have the knowledge yet about this policy. I’m sorry about this ignorance. Good thing they lend long skirts to visitors wearing pants like me. So I end up looking like this. So how do I look with this one?

Okay this is not the highlight of the Shrine but this 50 feet statue.

Bryan and I are amazed and awed upon seeing the structure. It’s a huge and beautifully crafted one. If you are devoted to the Divine Mercy, you should watch it in real life. You can only climb the stairs and reach the heart of the Divine Mercy when you have the permission (given by the priest and staff of the shrine). Inside the heart of the Divine Mercy is a hidden niche of a life size statue of St. Faustina. The cross section of Ray is made up of stained glasses.

Some Facts about the Divine Mercy Shrine:

Lot Area:9.8 hectares
Purchased Price: P8,500,000.00 including taxes
Master Planner of architects: Palafox Associates, Makati Metro Manila
Sculptor: Nick Reyes, UP Fine Arts

They also have a flowing holy water. So when you go there bring with you an empty container so you can fill it with this water.

Following are the pics I took while we are climbing the stairs. I took it to show or reveal how the statue looks like as you get nearer to it.

Looking like a real tourist….and the face looked so tired too. hehe

Seeing the wide ground with flowers surrounding it creates a good feeling. Across the hill where the Divine Mercy stood is the endless sea. It’s a breathless view and the air is so refreshing.

El Salvador

And let me remind you to bring an umbrella, the heat can spoil your visit.

Or if not, enjoy a cute shade of a plant.

It was a great day and we’re happy with our date. Enjoy your visit too.

I’m writing this entry with a smile and yes! I’m back on track, that means I’m inspired with everything I have in life now, from work to relationships. I can’t help but laugh remembering our trip to High Ridge Park yesterday. It wasn’t a planned visit, we just decided to go there after accomplishing personal goals during that day. We hurriedly went there with a small pack of snack before darkness  strikes. And there, what more could I say? It was a funny crazy trippin’ activity, all we did was took unlimited pics of our faces and the view (I didn’t post all pics here). And funnier was there were only the two of us, it’s like bonding and creating different pose. Good thing the timer camera was cooperating. By the way, High Ridge park is located at the hill of Upper Macasandig, Cagayan de Oro, you can reach it via Bacolod St.

High-ridge-park

view-from-high-ridge

And when it started to get dark, we slowly packed our things and prepared to go home. Our adventure was hilarious.  I tried to scared Bryan while we’re on the road and ’twas effective I really made a scared face out of him :P, silly me! hahaha. Reminder: Road going there is a little bumpy and very challenging to amateur drivers.

High-ridge-park

High-ridge-during-night

View from the top is such a splendid thing to behold, to breath life and enjoy the scenery from afar. I wish to discover more things out of life, to travel more, to reach more destinations, to see more, to walk more and live more.

There’s no place like home. Gingoog City is my favorite spot aside from the fact that it’s the place where I grow up (though I only grew figuratively by just little inch :P) it’s the place where I learned so much things in life, it’s the place where I earned my friends who still are my friends after high school. It’s Gingoog City that I left to pursue my college education in Iligan City. But nothing still beats Gingoog from other places I’ve been to. From it’s peacefulness and simplicity and the warm people living there. In fact many foreigners are now flocking in in the city, they are more likely to live there and never go back to their foreign  country because they found a home in Gingoog. At least that’s what I observed. Gingoog though a small city is a promising land that offers entertainment to simple people like me. Want to live in a city that you could visit a beach easily? Choose Gingoog! Beaches lies attractively around it from Duka beach to Badiangon to Talisayan and all. Pictures shown here is the Sta. Rita church which is the patron of the city. In front of it is the newly renovated plaza with wondrous flowers dwelling in it and a man made fountain too.

You’ll be amazed to see sculptures of fruits along with the plaza. This is a project of the government to showcase the farm products and the famous fruits growing in the city. You may ask why fruits? It’s because Gingoog is an agricultural city.  See pictures below.

Gingoog_city_fruits

Gingoog_attractions

And what’s more special about these fruits is that my uncle is the main sculptor