looking back to the year that was.. 2016

Happy new year to everybody reading this blog! Sorry I've been slow in the
postings and plan to change that. One thing about not posting is that it becomes a
habit, because I experience so much each day and have so much to
write, if I don’t do it for a few weeks it becomes well, too much to write about
and I leave it. Anyway the activities here in my LANSHOP is tiring and most of
the times hard work is behind me so will have much more spare time for such
things now.

Christmas presents

 I once thought that whoever invented  "Christmas gift giving" is some great
businessman. the Christmas rush is about buying presents to be given to, exchanged
with, people, customers, neighbors, friends, office mates, love interest, wife etc.
thats where the magic of Christmas is always a big hit. try not giving a present
to someone who asked "namamasko po" and he will remember you all throughout
the year and will be "unfriended" in real life on that moment.

christmas toycon 2016

It’s that time of year again. 

boys and girls singing christmas carols, toystores  with long lines , 

the infamous EDSA Christmas rush traffic. 

And everyone, everyone, big and small kids alike will visit megamall....

this weekend ... on a friday night, its called Christmas toycon for a reason. 

It’s got a routine to it, a familiarity, and it’s the start of the Christmas 

season proper for toy lovers like me! So, for anyone living in the 80s

or who has not been introduced to the joys of toys...

Here is a guide to What To Expect in megamall come friday night.

pinto art museum

They say unplanned trips always push through, and thats what we did yesterday

with long time friends.  we thought of going to the National Museum at first

but when I suggested to we go to an art sanctuary in Antipolo, they thought ok, 

lets start our adventure. so off we go to somewhere different, a place where 

contemporary art meets a touch of greens and nature.

LAKAD PAMANA: Baguio roadtrip

When I found out that LAKAD PAMANA is organizing a tour to the North
Manaog-Baguio, Lingayen-Tarlac-Pampanga. I told myself.. I'm IN!
so early in the morning we meet up in our place at early Saturday Dec. 3
230am  and started our journey to Mc Donalds trinoma to meet the others.

LAKAD PAMANA: baguio-manaog roadtrip

how do you spend 1600.00? if you have 1600 extra money?
I got an idea!
Its the first week of December and I thought of rewarding myself with a
our from my favorite tour group -THE LAKAD PAMANA of Mister D.
this time, its an overnight stay at Baguio, yes, I have been to Baguio twice
this yr, last summer,  and on my birthday. but I know this tour will be different
because the group is going uphill to Diplomat hotel, the grotto, the botanical
gardens, mines view park and bencab!! yeah!! and on the second day, a stop
over to the beaches of Lingayen. all for 1600.00!!

start of the Christmas season

Sometimes the road is going to get rough.....
I’ve been trying for years to combine my passion for travel and other interests
that I have.  Some efforts have been well-received and enjoyable…but others,
well…less so...

It’s been on my mind over the last couple of months, but I was feeling at a bit of
a loss as to how to bring about this kind of shift…and, dang it, the universe sent
me this experience!

life's lessons

I have been  inactive these past few weeks. I sure miss writing,  lately I have been busy
with my private life in the most awesome three months and today , as September almost
comes to an end. I want to share what I learned through this three month journey as I
learn about reality and what life and experience has to teach me.

power of selling in bed.

google definition of marketing plan, it is a comprehensive document  that outlines
a company's "advertising and marketing efforts" for the coming year. and describes
"business activities" involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within
a set time frame.(quota). OK OK... thats the definition.

in this blog, there will be no pictures, and I will be a little frank and honest about
what I am going to share. because they are happening. business is business
and signing the contract, closing the deal, and making the sale is what counts.

Marketing and selling is the hardest career path to enter. your best asset is your
looks, more than your mouth. specially if you start at a young age. and this is a
known fact. A guy will seal the deal or contract with an attractive agent
"with benefits" than seal a contract with a normal looking agent. (that
only sells the product!) Please.. oh pls. no more arguments please!

a roadtrip to wawa dam

the first days of September were days of testing how well the Cefiro
handles driving out of town, and the good thing is I have my travel
companion Donna with me in each road trip.

the hungry ghost month

This year, the Ghost Month starts on August 3, 2016. -Aug 31, my internet
cafe was opened last Sept. 5, 2005 because of delays in the construction.
and I was adviced then not to open on hungry ghost month.
this is the time where ghost wander around spontaneously. but not every
Chinese believe in ghost month. I am one of  them, I don't practice  and make
offerings, my parents do the work every year.

urban walking a good exercise

What If your car broke down and its traffic everywhere and you
need to be meeting someone? well, Donna have thought of that. and
she gave me an idea to do a new activity- brisk walking

we know that,  a city, no matter how efficiently planned out or how beautiful,
is rendered worthless without people.  It cannot exist because it takes people
 to make a city.  It is people who will take the empty shells of buildings and
make them function.

Egoy Sizzling sa Matnog

last week before we started our long walk from A. Bonifacio to 

Monumento. I was bought to retiro by Donna for a unique dining 

experience not the classy fine dining restaurants couples usually go, 

she told me she knows of a affordable dining spot near Retiro in 

pokemon Go should you download?

The world has been taken over with POKEMONGO fever & new players are busy 

exploring their barangay and having lots of fun adventures in the crowded streets.

Pokemon Go is inspired by the gameboy game, cartoon programme and 
low-tech trading card game Pokemon, which was the subject of a craze in 
the late 1990s. I should know because am a pokemon addict before.

LAKAD PAMANA: Quiapo to Bulacan in a day

Its weekend again, and its another day for another exciting activity organized by

LAKAD PAMANA another lesson in history, another nature tour and this time,

it gets more interesting because its another bonding with Donna.

Before I start my story, I want to remind everyone that this would be a long blog

with lots of pictures. pls. bear with me....

I met Mister D (Gilber Diño) at 6am,  then travelled to our usual meeting place 

at Mcdonalds Mindanao Ave. to meet Donna and off to Quiapo we go, our first 

destination...

A day in malacanang

yesterday, I had a chance to go to Malacañang Palace because of an invite, 

which I won't be writing in detail anymore. 

LAKAD PAMANA: an Ocular visit to Gapan

yesterday, was another Successful Heritage tour, its actually an Ocular visit

in preparation for a much bigger event a month after. on Sept 3, 2016

Now, during the ocular visit the organizers talked to each of the owners of 

ancestral houses accompanied by our friend, Mr. Ramon Valmonte.

An afternoon at Manila ocean park

I remember when I was a kid years ago that theres a place in Luneta called
the manila acquiarium, when it closed down. I know there wont be any marine
life for kids and oldies to appreciate, and we know Manila is one of those cities
that doesn’t have much going for it in the way of sightseeing attractions.

I hate the malls,  the cinema, and I never explore alone, so...
One afternoon, I decided to travel again Donna,  my photographer and partner
for the day, she can cook the best pasta and you should try it. I finished
the whole thing just inside the car! yumyum!

half day tour of intramuros

If there's one thing I hate about traveling, is a downpour, the weather was bad 

the other day , and I was surprised that I will be going to intramuros again

after the tour at Escuella Taller last Saturday, I cant believe that Ill be back

again this time with my travel buddy.

kalesas ( horse-driven carriage.) will offer you tours at P300 per person.  

and a pedicab driver with a map will offer you 50 per person for a tour of

half of intramuros, the best option is still, the walking tour.

LAKAD PAMANA: things to do in Garay

This is my 6th time to join LAKAD PAMANA's Norzagaray trail. yeah
yeah, I never grow tired of joining this for the 6th time with almost the
same itenerary but I enjoyed every tour because I am meeting new friends
along the way, and I was promised a slightly different schedule for today.
An additional two  destinations the tariktik trail and the enchanted farm all
in the area of Norzagaray-Angat.carshow model Donna cannot make it
today because she is not feeling well, we decided to just continue the tour
without her.

my Grimnight autoshow experience

with model friends, Carlene, Althea , Lea and Donna

After a long break from actively blogging, it's a week and I've recharged my 

self and am ready to pick up where I've left off in this series of blog post

regarding whats happening with my life.

I got into a car accident with my cefiro's front end damaged by a delivery truck

last 2 weeks and I cannot attend to the repairs because of our event last

toycon with my model friends. I told myself, if the repairs did not go as 

scheduled I will just take a 2 day vacation in Baguio. but luck came and

the repairs to my cefiro were completed on thursday, with just one day 

preparation for the weekend carshow.

my toycon 2016 experience

I know this year's TOYCON 2016 will be very very different from the
previous years. it would be a different experience,  because its held
in a new venue a much bigger venue. this time, at SMX Convention Ctr.
travel time from our place was almost doubled with the traffic and the
independence day celebration. it takes an extra effort to be there on
time.

with Models: Ayah , Lea credits to  jayjay alabastro

LAKAD PAMANA: A tour with a model

We assembled at a fast food chain in Mindanao Avenue,  where we
also waited for our lone guest during this trip, carshow model
Donna Brazos.

this is the first time LAKAD PAMANA ever had a carshow model
as a tour participant, so its a special treat for the boys out there
joining this tour.(credits to sir Roy Santiago for the shots)

This is my 4th time to go to Norzagaray the last one with my bff
so upon seing her, we all know that this will be a much exciting  trip
we travelled with another van, so there were 2 vans , and
roughly a 2 hours of travel from where we assembled up to our first
stop the historic Pinagrealan Cave.

Toycon 2016: what to see

It began as a small event made for toy collectors and hobbyist at SM MEGAMALL
back in 2002, now on its 15th anniversary, it is proud to announce it's partnership
with Pop! Life Entertainment  to create the ultimate FanXperience for the Filipino
pop-culture fans! and they promised  a bigger toycon than ever before.
it happens this JUNE 10-12 at MOA SMX

my Baguio experience 25 yrs after.

this is a late blog post, sorry for this much delayed post. this should have been
published last may 16. this will be a long blog. maybe the longest of all
I have done. full of pictures, with stories. so I know you will enjoy reading
this.

last May 14-15, me and my long time friends decided to take a short vacation
and enjoy the weekend far North up the mountains, and so 6 hours and a few
stopovers later, we arrived in Baguio, the summer capital of the country, to
experience the chilly weather that everyone’s boasting over the holidays. Since
it’s been years since we last visited Baguio, we’ve decided to stick to the usual
tourists spots.

this is also the first time since 1986 since I last visited Baguio, much had changed,
the landscape, the people, the shops, business centers, the climate, and the prices
of commodities they have all changed.
before there were no teller machines, no shoemart, no fastfood chains, no bakeshops
only parks, lots of open spaces, english speaking igorots roaming around.

LAKAD PAMANA: a whole day fun in garay

What other way to relax and enjoy the last weekend of those hot summer nights than 

to be with the company of friends from Lakad Pamana, actually this is my third time

to be here, but its my first time to spend the night at Adventure resort.

and its the first time I went into a pool after a very long time, the last one was 2007 at

Tagaytay with my past girlfriend.

A day in the life of: Donna Brazos, car show model

In the car show modelling industry, the sexual objectification of women
is not a new phenomenon.

I realized very quickly that using a female form to help promote a simple stock
looking car really works wonders. as proven in the last car show where I
was not a spectator and I tried joining for the first time.(F1 Autoshow)

Most models at these car shows enjoyed the attention and the flocks of people
wanting to take their pictures.

F1 Explicit carshow: my first carshow entry experience

I’ve always been curious what its like to be part of a car show event.
I used to love going to auto shows since 1997 to see all the latest in car
tuning, car performance and  modification trends.

These shows, brought the excitement of what the future may bring. I have been
inactive the past few years, It’s been a long time since I’ve been to one, and
this time I went with some friends who wanted to be a model someday.

last May 21st, F1 Autoshow  held a big event at the QC circle Liwasang
Quezon  grounds,  I attended BLOGAPALOOZA (at Centris) that morning while
everybody is busy with ingress, the show starts at 530pm

after attending the Blog meeting, I went back to my friend (Carlene) at 2pm, & met
2 more of her friends, (Athena, Janelle) then we were talking about car show
modelling, and their dream to one day be a car show model.
I received a message from another model friend and I finally made the decision
to try out my first attempt this time not as a spectator, but a participant and told
myself, I don't want to win, I just want to help my friends fullfill their dream.

A day in the life of : Ayah Maglinte

There is more to the modeling world than the media lets on.
Starting this month I will feature in my blog unique success
stories that gives inspiration to people. A blog that is
dedicated to the aspiring and already established car show models
who live to defy the standards and stereotypes in order to make a place
for themselves in this crazy industry.

Mapping Manila, Mapping Quiapo

Last Saturday May 7, 2016, I decided to join my friends, through a post
shared by JR Patao that says, "map the Philippines mapping party from
9am to 5pm" I got interested in the walk because its been a long time since
I last visited Quiapo and its more than a hundred yr old homes.so I signed in...

EXPLICIT car and motorbike show

The 3rd  week of May will be a big event at the QC CIRCLE because
F1 Autoshow in cooperation with LMNTRX PRODUCTION AND
GEAR FEST EVENTS. Brings you EXPLICIT car and motorbike show coming 

this May 21 2016 at Quezon City Circle .
For Carshow entry fee it is Php 1500.00 and for Motorcycle its Php 1000
Ingress time  is 9 am 
by the way, the show cars are parked here.

picture by ManilaCoconuts

is this the end to hairloss?

hello I'm Dennis, a blogger at LOVERBOYZ AVENUE, People who know me
regularly noticed that I wear a baseball cap in almost all my travels
WHY?

LAKAD PAMANA: Ecotourism with the Dumagat

Sorry for the late blog post, my hands were full after 2 days of not being able 
to  be at the shop because of 2 carshows I attended. 
the LOVERBOY  joins Mister D, Lakad Pamana and dBarkadz for another 
day of nature tripping in one of beautiful areas of Bulacan only a few hours away 
from North Caloocan, called   Norzagaray, this time in the settlement of Dumagats.
The day started when our friend Mister D, met us at our usual meeting 
place somewhere in Monumento. we were then joined by our friends from 
Bulacan, Bulacan. culinary expert maam Rheeza and her hubby Jonathan
also the beautiful maam Lani and her husband, Bernardo, also their 
pretty bff they call bunso.-Neelie Rodriguez. also maam Elvie and her daughter 
Sheryl. maam Chelle, her friend, also our friend Denzel(Washington)Sarmiento 
of Kenyo Travel from Meycauayan. this will be part 2 of our Norzagaray 
nature eco-tour experience, to promote the magnificent town of our friend
mayor Alfredo Germar.

fusion on wheels Gymkhana Car and motorbike show

I looked around and prepared myself for the week ahead. a busy week indeed for car
fans, people who love tuning, carshows, and yes, models.
With an assortment of flashy vehicles, killer sound systems, and yes. carclubs car
meet and carshow models. like a catwalk for cars. Bright lights flicker against the
new detailed automobiles.

Today, April 30, at Megatent, Libis .....