back at bella vista

we blogged about this a couple of weeks ago and, as planned, we, along with our dear friend, cel, dropped by the siytangco’s to say hi, visit and support their event. 🙂

as expected, we were greeted with the same warmth we’ve always experienced from the siytangco’s. actually, at first, we were kinda hesitant to approach either deedee or sandee as they were both busy entertaining guests. but, sandee approached us and maybe feeling our hesitation, flashed a smile and simply said, “of course i remember you…” that easily broke the ice and again, they made us feel like family. 🙂

soon after, we were in the living room, exchanging stories and enjoying k by cunanan’s sumptuous food. 🙂

speaking of kaye, we just missed her when we arrived at bella vista. sayang nga, eh. it’s been a while since we last spent time with our favorite caterer. we did get to spend a few moments with ann (hope we get her name right) while we were going around the garden. like kaye, she’s a nice girl too. 🙂



it was a highly relaxing afternoon and a time well spent at bella vista. as if the warmth and hospitality was not enough, sandee and deedee even gave us a gift for our visit… our very own bella vista bird house. 🙂



thanks to sandee and deedee, bella vista is really more than just our wedding venue to us. it will remain to have a special place in our hearts. 🙂



afterwards, we decided to stay in tagaytay to relax some more. we went to cliffhouse to check out the restaurants there. but before dining, we marveled first at the view tagaytay is famous for.




and we’re not the only ones enjoying the view. 😉



after checking out the resto’s, we decided to eat at platito simply because it offered a breakfast menu at this late in the day. 🙂



it’s here we spent a couple of hours chatting away. ganyan talaga pag matagal nang hindi nakakasama ang kaibigan… especially one as talkative and bubbly as cel. 😆 we would go on to other stops after this (domicillo home gallery, razon’s, all flip-flops). kung wala lang pasok kinabukasan, we could go on much later into the night.



warm hospitality of hosts. cool tagaytay climate. relaxing view. chatting with friends. overall, we say it was a great day spent. 😀

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a traditional tagalog wedding

we woke up at three in the morning and we were on the road as early as 4 am. we were on our way to dolores, quezon for a 6 am wedding. yup, a wedding even earlier than ours. 🙂

travel time was quicker than we expected and we arrived at the church way before the ceremony schedule. this gave us time to look around and get off a few snapshots.



miriam and ferd’s wedding is interesting as it was highly educational. it introduced us to tagalog wedding traditions that we were not aware of… which is kinda weird because i am a tagalog myself. 😀 a few noteable ones we can recall are:

• the finding and counting of coins before entering of the house as newlyweds
• the feeding of something sweet to your partner
• the reception activity simply called sabugan

sabugan caught the whole samsung contingent interest the most. we’ve actually heard about this particular tagalog tradition but we’ve never witnessed it personally. as with most traditions, it’s really different experiencing it as opposed to just hearing it through stories. “mula kay ninang xxx, limang libo!” 😀

whatever the tradition, all weddings are still the same. it’s all about the union and celebration of the love of a couple. with that, congratulations, miriam and ferds. 🙂



a couple of post ceremony shots.


while the pictorials were ongoing, i was doing my own pictorials as well. 😉


the samsung contingent album cover shot. 🙂


a fruit stand stopover on the way back to laguna. sarap ng papaya! 😀

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ai7: america got it right

we had just finished watching the season finale a second time around and we were still perplexed. what was going on? what were the judges thinking? is this how they’re gonna end the seventh season of american idol? 😕

fast forward to last night’s results show. did david archuleta do enough to become the seventh idol? did the judges sway the casual viewers to vote for da? did david cook’s excellence transcend the judges comments and went straight to the viewers? it would’ve been an exciting and suspenseful results show but we were robbed of this experience as we already knew who the winner was prior to watching the show… no thanks to a couple of friends’ text messages and emails. *sigh*

anyway, the results show was entertaining (although a bit cheesy at times 😮). on a 2-hour show packed with performances, here are some of our random thoughts:

• carly smithson and michael johns will each have successful careers. they’re so good that that pair could easily have been an alternate finale for the idol crown.
• is it just us or was amanda overmeyer not having any fun at all?
  why was jason castro the only ai contestant who had a solo number?
• it was so nice to see jordin sparks well after her bout with throat sickness. her performance not only showcased her doped vocal skills but it had massive tons of her bubbly personality too. great job, jordin. 🙂
• wasn’t it great that zz top decided to give the spotlight to david cook instead of sharing some of it or getting most of it as most guest stars do when they perform with idol contestants? amusing dance by david cook during this performance btw. 😀
• by giving renaldo lapuz his 5 minutes of fame, ai just assured that there will even be more weird auditions next year.
• george michael, having colds and all, rendered a poignant rendition of the song, praying for time. great performance though we felt like it didn’t suit the overall mood of the results show.

the highlights of the night though came during the announcement of the winner. first it was simon’s public apology to david cook.


(video courtesy of youtube by aifreak08 )

that act took much humility and it was a very nice gesture by simon. some naysayers would argue that simon already knew the result and he’s just backtracking because of all his comments the night before. we don’t buy that because we felt his sincerity and his reaction after the result was announced would not support such conspiracy theory.

david cook was simon’s choice all along. prior to the finale, he verbally announced on two hit tv shows (tonight show w/ jay leno and the ellen degeneres show) that dc deserved to win. maybe simon’s comments were brought about by having extremely high expectations on dc. or maybe simon was playing the reverse psychology game so that dc fans would panic and vote like crazy. whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. he said just a few minutes earlier that he didn’t care who would win but based on his reaction to the announcement of the winner, simon cared deeply as he looked both relieved and extremely happy that david cook won. 🙂

and david cook’s reaction after the announcement was another classic. first, he acknowledged david archuleta (those were the first words out of his mouth). then, just as we thought he’s gonna act cool about winning the whole thing… it hit him. he got all emotional and all. gotta love the drama. 🙂

and then dc singing the coronation song with all the finalists was a sight to behold.



great job, dc. congratulations. ai8 contestants have a tough act to follow… but we will watching again as it all unfolds next year. 🙂


(video courtesy of youtube by penneyboy245)

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ai7: a pre-finale look back

the ai7 finale is just a few hours away and just fresh off the star world ai marathon, it’s a perfect take time to look back to what has been one of the most interesting (but at times frustrating) seasons of american idol. this season is both interesting and frustrating for a number of reasons:

• this is the first season that contestants were allowed to play musical instruments. this highly benefited two contestants, namely, brooke white and jason castro, both of whom would probably not even make it to the top 24 without instruments.
• this is the season where there were not once, not twice but multiple occasions wherein contestants forgot the lyrics. heck, for the first time, a contestant even had to re-start her performance… twice.
• shocker eliminations are a given every season. but this season, there were just too many of them. gone are the days when a contestant is automatically eliminated because of a poor performance. on the contrary, this season, it was when a contestant gave his/her best performance was the time he/she was eliminated. the worst performer? continues on. yes, like we blogged before, ai has turned into a popularity contest.
• paula abdul’s 2nd song comment on a song which has yet to be performed. we think this was a result of massive confusion and then was not handled very well. consequently, this incident only threw more fuel into the fire of the conspiracy theory that ai is rigged.

but this season should be be most remembered solely for the music. this year, there were the tons and tons of fantastic performances brought about by the deep depth of talent courtesy of the contestants. we thought of putting up all the best performances throughtout season 7 but we ended up with an extremely long list. sobrang dami. 🙂 so we trimmed it down a bit (yah, just a bit. 😀) and came up with a shorter list. so here are our most memorable performances of ai season 7, in no particular order:

michael johns
it’s all wrong but it’s all right
michael johns was one of the early front-runners for this season mainly due to his strong showing at hollywood week plus his effortless performances leading to the top 12. after an jaw-dropping rendition of the queen’s we will rock you and we are the champions just the week before, michael johns performed this song with so much passion and showcased his incredible vocal skills. it was so good that it might be even considered the best performance of the whole season. surprisingly, michael johns was eliminated the following week… one of the many shocker eliminations of the season.

(video courtesy of youtube by wookielover)

brooke white
i am i said
we are not fans of brooke white. she’s just a benificiary of a strong fan base. but we gotta give her credit for this performance. this was her best for the whole season but, ironically, it was also her last.

(video courtesy of youtube by bonk65)

kristy lee cook
anyway
we adore klc. she could’ve easily tanked out early on as she consistently was in the bottom 2. but she got her groove and showed her talent starting on week 10 with her rendition of God bless the USA. then it was one solid performance after another with this being our favorite amongst them. this was followed by another solid one the following week (forever by mariah carey) but just as we thought she already had momentum, she got eliminated.

(video courtesy of youtube by aifreak08)

syesha mercado
one rock and roll too many
syesha peaked at the right time during the competition and it was this performance that started off her string of strong performances leading to her top 3 finish. this showed how great a performer syesha is (checkout her theatrics) and disguised her weakness of not being able to connect to the audience.

(video courtesy of youtube by daeward725)

jason castro
hallelujah
jason castro was a prototypical singer/songwriter. we did not expect him to last long during the competition but he did. he had a few strong performances but this was his first and, some may say, his best.

(video courtesy of youtube by hippiegeekette)

carly smithson
i drove all night
carly was the female front runner going into the top 24. she had mad vocal skills. unfortunately, the pressure might have been too much for her as she, more often than not, was too tense during the performances. early on though there was still no pressure just like this top 24 performance. after this, only a couple of performances stood out with Jesus Christ superstar being the last. and yeah, she got voted off during that week. weird huh?

(video courtesy of youtube by jooshuaa)

chikezie eze
i believe to my soul
chikezie had talent plus personality. strangely, he didn’t have enough fans. this top 24 performance was a real wow-er. he then gave another solid one during the top 12 (she’s a woman) but then he got eliminated the following week. we told you it was a trend this season. perform really well and you’ll soon be eliminated.

(video courtesy of youtube by blahzooo)

david hernandez
papa was a rolling stone
this was one of the first real “ang GALING!” performances we saw this season. stellar performance. he could’ve gone deep into the competition with such talent but maybe there were just too many david’s already ruling the contest. 😉

(video courtesy of youtube by stipsrm)

ramiele malubay
you don’t have to say you love me
we honestly thought ramiele could’ve gone all the way to the finals and with this top 24 performance, we thought she was well on her way there. great control and, as randy said, she sang like a pro. unfortunately, poor song choices plus an ill-timed sickness did her in. but we can always look back at this performance to see how an incredibly talented singer she is.

(video courtesy of youtube by blahzooo)

david archuleta
you’re the voice
we had a difficult time of trying to remember what were david archuleta’s amazing performances. at first, we can’t think of any. there were a lot of good performances but we can’t think of any great ones until we thought of this one. interestingly enough, it was a non-ballad performance which stood out for us. yes, this was so disney-like but we enjoyed it. 🙂

(video courtesy of youtube by zuperarchie)

so there it is. for us, the ten (or more) most memorable performances of ai season 7. but wait, before any of you react, we did not forget about david cook. any “most memorable performances of ai7” list is not complete without dc. david cook was soooo good that we can make a separate list solely for him… and we did. 🙂 week after week was a molten hot lava bomb (ala randy jackson) performance from him. he was that good. we posted some of his smokin’ performances already on a previous blog post (hello, billie jean, always be my baby) but here are a few more notable standing ovation performances:

david cook
music of the night
this proved that david cook is more than just a rocker. flawless performance.

(video courtesy of youtube by razorfist20)

david cook
the first time i ever saw your face
this was simon’s song choice for david and it really upped the level of difficulty for dc. not surprisingly though, david cook smashed this one as he showed sensitivity and performed a heart-wrenching rendition of the song. simon was so satisfied that he clapped during and after the performance, the only time i can recall simon did that to any contestant.

(video courtesy of youtube by supervid98)

david cook
all i really need is you
as if he has not proven it already, david’s performance of this song only cements the fact that he is ready to be a recording artist. as simon said, this can be heard on the radio today and it would be a hit. perfect example of what the judges say of taking an old song and making it current.

(video courtesy of youtube by aifreak08)

this post is getting way too long already 😀 so just check out these other home run performances of david cook:

• baba o’riley
• eleanor rigby
• innocent
• little sparrow
• daytripper

for us, david cook has shined the brightest during the whole season. in itunes, his recordings have been the most downloaded almost every week. but despite his dominance, he’s still not a shoo-in for the title of american idol. it’s all about popularity and david archuleta has the most rabid fans who will religiously vote for two hours just to see their idol win. america made some mistakes througout this season, we hope they get it right this time around.

david cook for the win! 🙂

 

 

 

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bella vista mini-bridal fair

a couple of weeks ago, we received an email from sandee inviting us back to bella vista for a visit. we were both touched and honored by the invitation and immediately decided to keep may 25 open on our calendars. 🙂

then just this week, the siytangco’s just released an official announcement regarding their mini-bridal fair and we’re posting it here to share it with everyone. 🙂

Bella Vista, Tagaytay City’s best kept “ secret ” wedding destination will host a “ Mini-Bridal Fair” on Sunday, May 25 from 9am to 8pm.

The intimate two – tiered garden with a romantic view of world-famous Taal Lake, weekend home of the late businessman Ramon J. Siytangco and his wife, journalist Deedee M. Siytangco, will have selected caterers showing off their “tables” for weddings “in the sky” and other wedding suppliers. Among the choice caterers at the fair are “Kusina ni Kambal” of Irma San Miguel, Via Mare of Glenda Baretto, Town’s Delight of Andrew Pacumio, Tamayo’s Catering of Steve Tamayo, Fernando’s Bakery of Pinky and Rose Ramos, and K by Cunanan of Kaye Cunanan.

Top designer Toni Galang and the mother-and-daugthter of Malu Veloso and Letlet Veloso will show off their signature wedding gowns. Luvky Coprus-Say of The Flower Shop Around The Corner will exhibit bridal bouquets and Francis Gener of King Louis Farms will have his flowering plants.

Tita Trillo of Titania Wines will have her line of wines and champagnes and will have wine-tasting in the early afternoon. Ace photo-journalist Mandy Navasero will also be featured in the fair. Rounding out the fair is Eventpals, the wedding invitation designer.

Entrance is free and lucky couples who book their wedding receptions at Bella Vista on that day will receive premium gifts. Engaged couples and wedding anniversary celebrators are invited to visit Bella Vista, a private venue which has been the venue of weddings, anniversaries and birthday functions.

Wedding and event suppliers who wish to join the “Mini-Bridal Fair at Bella Vista” can contact Sandee Siytangco-Masigan at sandeesm@yahoo.com or call 09209030840. Engaged couples can also register with Ms. Masigan for the bridal fair.

in just over a week, we’re going back to our wedding venue. 🙂 see you guys there… 🙂

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breaking the work-home routine

our blog has been inactive lately mainly because of waaaay too much work. we’ve had this strenuous work-home routine for quite a while now. 😦

so what happens when we get this rare opportunity to break out of this routine?



what else but my wife going on a shopping spree! 😀

being the fashionista that she is, i got her a couple of new jeans, a new top, new slippers… and of course, her favorite magazines. needless to say, she had a great time. 😉 anything to make my wife happy. 🙂

not to be outdone, i got something also…



…a new haircut. 😀

looks like a fair deal to me. 😉

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craving for…

the temperature has been scorching for the past month or so. sa sobrang init, our electricity bill almost doubled compared to last month’s. 😦 summer time is officially here and what could be more pinoy than to enjoy halo-halo with friends. 🙂


razon’s halo-halo is composed of three ingredients only. yup, tatlo lang. leche flan + macapuno + saging. yum, yum, yum! 😀

just last week, vena mentioned a new razon’s branch here in sta. rosa. razon’s was a familiar topic of ours (reccom) a few years back as we were discussing about the best halo-halo in the country. since, back then, the nearest razon’s branch was in taguig (market market), we (reccom) weren’t able to try it together. then came this welcome news from vena and we agreed to troop to sta. rosa just to partake of the famous razon’s halo-halo. 😀 sobra kasi kaming nag-cra-crave ni selle for halo-halo lately eh so this was a perfect excuse to go to sta. rosa. 🙂



we had dinner and, of course, the famous halo-halo. more importantly, we got to spend time together with friends. two newlywed (sort of 😀) couples exchanging stories and doing some catching up. a night filled with laughter, stories and good food. a wonderful way to cap a day. 🙂


jan 2007 couple and sept 2007 couple chillin’ 🙂

btw, two years back, we did try another famous halo-halo joint. that time it was in cavite and a local tv show dubbed it as having the best halo-halo in the country. intrigued, we went out of our company outing venue just to try it out. all we can say is it was worth the trip. 🙂



reccom 2005 escaping from the 2006 company outing to grab some of digman halo-halo.

o, ano, halo-halo tayo… 🙂

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