Misa De Gallo Day 6: Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

Now I am getting the hang of it, I now decided to stay up late to avoid oversleeping. I will get my sleep afterwards. Unlike this time, I know where to go. Going back to the first church where I started this devotion, Sacred Heart Parish in Sta Mesa Manila. 

Back then when we were living in Manila, it was this church that I always pass by when I go to school. It is also a witness of changes in my life, and I have also witnessed the changes of the church as well. Since I lived in Mandaluyong, going to the church was also not that frequent. 

But for this mass, I was quite impressed with the many changes inside the church. The facade remained the same, but the feel of the interior is new, there are now side screens instead of the projector and massive celling fans which I would only find in malls. The changes were ment to bring a better experience for mass goers since it can be hot and dark beacuse of the original architecture. This reminds me that we do change, and it should always be for the better.

SM City Sta Mesa 3 Day SALE is a Shoppers' Haven!

It's a given that I always pass SM City Sta Mesa before and after school and even stay there when I have vacant time. And even the mall is the same age as I am, one can still find something fun and interesting to find and buy. I often find myself strolling the new cyberzone on the 3rd floor which brings together a lot of my favorite electronic brands which makes it a gadget geek's paradise.

I also come across great fashion with the shops from 1st to 3rd floors, which is gives you a lot of choices without tiring your feet. And of course, when hungry, there are food shops like McDonalds, Jollibee, BonChon, SM Foodcourt, etc., ensures no one goes out the mall hungry. And the new department store or now known as SM STORE, has become more elegant and consumer friendly with a fine ambiance yet have thousands of items at affordable prices. 

SM City Sta Mesa 3 Rainy Day Sale!

The 3 Day sale happens once again in SM City Sta Mesa this August 3, 4 and 5 with its mallwide sale from all stores inside the complex. And since the mall is just across the street from my school, the experience has been indeed more than the usual. I do pass by this mall almost everyday whenever I go home, but things change especially when sale season comes.

SM City Sta Mesa may be one of the oldest SM Malls in the Philippines, but it houses a lot of stores that one can spend hours just looking at the choices. Situated in the middle of the borders of Manila, Quezon City and San Juan, it brings people from these cities to what is was called "Centerpoint". Now with a new face as SM City Sta Mesa, still has been visited by a lot of patron ans also regular  shoppers.

Lyf's Guide to Commuting: Ferry Joy Ride

I love going to new places, however since I'm always busy with a lot of things however I actually got a chance to ride the pasig river ferry service. Yep you heard it right, this ferry goes trough the pasig river. My original location was Intramuros where one station, Plaza Mexico is located. I was very fustrated with the traffic in road at that time and tried to go on a cruise on that ferry service. I was aware that this service is already operational however I never tried to go on board. Well it was really a new feeling knowing that you road is the pasig river. And that one fact is I cant swim, so it was one of my hesistations. But because of the need to go to school I had to take a chance to take the ferry service. I was quite impressed about the station and the ferry itself. a fare of 20 pesos is fair for a student from intramuros to the PUP station.

the golden mosque near the river

a boat! a boat!

pandacan oil depot

also part of the oil depot

under the bridge

inside the ferry

the other ferries...

under the Quezon bridge

a different view of escolta

guess where...

And the journey itself is also an adventure. Seriously, how many of us go to work or school through the river. I have passed to stations like Escolta, Lawton, and the highlight was to pass by the Malacanang palace which again we don't see directly since it faces Malacanang park. You know, security purposes. Also with this reason I was not permitted to take a click on the "white house". Don't also miss the oil depot, one of the benefactors of the river but also contributes to its contamination. However, another sight to see are the birds that fly over the polluted river. They seem to adapt the environment of man and was able to survive with it. Thus there might be some hope in reviving the river. And practically there had been improvements thanks to the linear parks on the side but still a lot of work to be done to attain the former glory of the river.

Starbucks Mezza is now open! Free wifi at SM Centerpoint!

Lately there had been nice improvements here in the Sta Mesa area after it was badly affected by typhoon ondoy last year. Mezza by SM has been a great landmark there. And since its also across my school (CCP), it has been very convenient for me. But what caught my attention is the new starbucks store on Mezza. Its kinda exciting since SM Sta Mesa does not have Starbucks and the other store is located kilometers away in Quezon Boulevard. It actually opened last week and saw that they have a lot of customers which I can say is a nice location. I am looking forward to enjoy a frappe here soon. 

Also another thing that happened in SM City Sta Mesa is the launch of the FREE WIFI! Yes you heard it right, free wifi and this time its available in one of SM's pioneer mall. I have not tried it yet but I was able to get a pic from the launch and it seems to be good. Now these things made me so happy since its just beside school. I thought that Sta Mesa was left out but with these improvements in the area, I feel that this is be a center of trade, education and also amusement. Now the only thing missing is a McDonalds branch, the branch in SM closed and never opened since then. Well at least there are improvements and these makes life here in Sta Mesa more convenient.