March | 2014 | Heart-2-Heart-Online.com

March 3, 2014

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Arriving in Iloilo

By Heart2Heart | Giving Back, Travel | No Comments

We arrived at around 530am in Iloilo Airport. It’s only 50 minutes to get to Iloilo from Manila!! And wow, what a beautiful airport!! Thanks to Tito Frank Drilon for building such a nice airport! I was a bit sleepy so I was not able to take photos so I had to borrow this photo.

This is the reason we had to be ready to rough it out 🙂 We took an hour land ride to Port of Estancia

Eds told me that after Yolanda, this place was full of dead bodies lying on the ground 🙁

We went together with the Negrense Volunteers for Change ( NVC ) headed by Tito Noel and Tita Mariel Tolentino, Camille Tolentino Genuino, Giselle Tolentino, Benger and Toni Ben and our Iloilo based hosts Allan and Allen. Everything was planned so well and went smoothly

Full force attendance by the Syquia family!

More photos of the port. This is where they trade their catch

Working our way towards our bangka

We thought our boat was the one in front! Nope!! It was the smallest one and the farthest one 🙂 O oh! 🙂 We crawled our way towards that little boat by walking from biggest boat to medium boat to small boat haha!!

On the way to Carles – A boat hit by Yolanda

Trees that fell sideways

Around 45 minutes we arrived at Carles

Because it was high tide, we could not go too near the shore so we had to walk! Which explains why Camille told us to wear shorts or capri pants – I think it had to be short shorts 🙂 This is Clarissa in her long jeans which she had to fold and still got wet

Tita Mariel roughing it out just like all of us

Traps being built and used for fishing

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March 3, 2014

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Trip Memo – Instructions on What to Wear and Bring

By Heart2Heart | Fashion, Travel | No Comments

In preparation for our trip to Iloilo, Camille sent out a memo on guidelines and everything that was going to transpire. One of the first things on the memo were guidelines on what to wear and what to bring. This is a funny story I want to share because it goes to show you how each one interprets a memo and how each one is really unique in their ways.

Eds and Clarissa picked me up at 245am and Eds saw me and asked if I was going to Hong Kong! haha!! I explained to her that I hardly have anything white as a top so I had to wear whatever white blouse I had.

I also cannot wear flip flops on the plane since I am “malamigin “and that I had brought my flip flops in the bag and would change when we got there

Hmmm… Leah looked more like she was going to Hong Kong 🙂

My best friend, Eds, came perfect! Her shoe was perfect for what we were going to do and she came so prepared with that big blue bag of snacks 🙂

We were all laughing at Clarissa because she was wearing long pants and boots! They were rain boots actually and we were also wondering why she was in a raincoat! Apparently, she was the smartest one of all! The raincoat came in handy in the boat and there were many times it was cool or you just needed to protect your body. Closed shoes were good in some of the places we went to but not in the water though she also had her flip flops which she used eventually

Pauli, who is always so prim and proper and knows what to do in every situation 🙂 , came so fashionable. Her shoe was perfect too. And she told us she put socks temporarily for the plane because of the aircon in the plane – same reason I wear closed shoes 🙂

Our boss for the trip, Camille, wore this 🙂

The Happy2Help gang totally disregarded the colour and just all came in pink! 🙂

We were so happy they put us in the front of the plane – so we had a lot of legroom – we felt we were in Business Class! God is good to us 🙂

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March 3, 2014

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New Menu from NawwTy’s Kitchen

By Heart2Heart | Foodie | No Comments

Previous entry: NawwTy’s Kitchen November 25, 2013

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March 2, 2014

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Makan Makan Asian Food Village

By Heart2Heart | Foodie | No Comments

And since we were in the hotel already, we heard about this restaurant which is the restaurant of the hotel

Asian food at very reasonable prices

Again the restaurant is well maintained. Very decent and clean

Step out into the balcony of the restaurant and get a very beautiful view of Manila Bay

They have a head chef but each station/cuisine has its own chef specialising in each cuisine. They have a very extensive menu with around 150 dishes, so I am sure there is something for everyone. James and I ordered quite a lot of dishes and we spent P 1,400.00 for the two of us.

The concept is street food and their specialty is Singaporean – I would assume because the owner of the hotel is Singaporean 🙂 and the chefs were trained by Chef KF Seetoh from Singapore

Roti Prata

Chicken Satay

Yummy Laksa!!! A bit spicy for me but I enjoyed it, though its my first time to try the soup

Some Chinese dim sum – Hakaw for James

Sauteed squid and shrimp with broccoli flower in XO sauce

I liked the very refreshing lemon barley drink and Kopi for James

Click below to go to their website

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March 2, 2014

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Important Philippine Art Auction by ACCPF

By Heart2Heart | Arts and Culture, Giving Back | No Comments

I had lunch with Rajo Laurel last week and aside from being a great and talented designer, he is also a source of many things! He knows a lot 🙂 He also told me about the upcoming Art Auction which will be for the benefit of the ACCPF ( Asian Cultural Council of the Philippines Foundation ) where he is a Board of Trustee together with another friend, Malu Gamboa

Many beautiful works of art up for auction at the same time, you give back and help the ACCPF

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March 2, 2014

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What You Think of Yourself

By Heart2Heart | Today's Quote | No Comments

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March 1, 2014

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Zenyu Eco Spa at H2O Hotel

By Heart2Heart | Spas | No Comments

We came mainly to try the spa in H20 hotel

A friend, Eric Tan, invited us to try it! Eric operates and manages the spa. They showed us how antioxidants helps the blood circulation. James and I saw how our circulation was and it does improve with antioxidants

So we went to change in the locker room

Inside the locker room is a Full Body Fish Spa! You can avail of this service for a minimal fee and dip yourself into the tub with fish!!! 🙂

Then we did the hotbed treatment! First time for us to do this and I believe this is the only kind of treatment in the Philippines. We lay down for 30 minutes. They give you a mug with water so you can drink water. It is quite hot but I felt very good after!! I wish there was a Makati branch!

In the spa, there is a room with Ecoparadise products. They are also all antioxidizing products with interesting effects. It’s from Malaysia

I heard that Kris Aquino bought a lot of these plastic bags to store her bags!!

Click below to read more about the spa

Click below to read more about the Ecoparadise Products

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March 1, 2014

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The Art of Collage Cycle 3 Begins March 8

By Heart2Heart | Arts and Culture, Workshops | One Comment

Another cycle of Collage workshop by my batch mate, Toots Magsino

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March 1, 2014

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H20 Hotel

By Heart2Heart | Accomodations, Animals and Pets | No Comments

I have always been curious to see this hotel! I finally had the chance since I was in the area. This is the view from the hotel reception/lobby. My friend, Eric, told me that this area gets so full you cannot walk anymore. It’s full of kids and visitors going to Manila Ocean Park. I am so glad it’s doing well. The developer of this whole place is building an underground hotel in Boracay and will open in 2015. I am looking forward to seeing that!!!

The entrance to the hotel is actually the same entrance as the Ocean Park – but you pass the left side which will take you to the elevator going up to the lobby. The hotel is owned and operated by a Singaporean and I would say it is being maintained well. It’s clean and does not look run down. I hope they keep this up

Love the hallway to the rooms

The room with an aquarium!! And no that will not break unless someone really purposely tries to break it. This Aquarium goes the whole perimeter of the rooms – so it is just one aquarium circling the rooms. The glass is double glass so don’t worry about it breaking while you are sleeping 🙂

It’s a small room but it is clean and I must say unique! Not for claustrophobic people but definitely a unique experience

There is a special area for people who book in this wing. It’s like their Executive floor with special facilities for businessmen or people who would like to have more exclusivity and privacy