A sort of pilgrimage to the relic of St. Francis of Assisi at the Sta. Clara Monastery

My siblings had already visited the relic of St. Francis of Assisi when it was still as the St. Francis of Assisi Church at Lourdes Mandaluyong. I wasn't able to get a chance to go there but my brother sent me the schedule and saw that this week, the relic will be at the Monasterio de Sta. Clara in Katipunan, Quezon City. 

Sta. Clara was transferred to its current location back in the 1990s prior to the construction of the Aurora Flyover and the Line 2 Katipunan Station. The lot where it was previously is unoccupied.

 

The relic is located at the right when facing the altar. It will be here until June 26th.

Sta. Clara when I visited before noontime had few people. One vendor mentioned that this time of the year, the church usually had the most visitors on Sundays. There are no licensure exams or entrance exams coming up soon so I guess many who come here to say a prayer and ask for help in their exams are elsewhere or maybe visiting other churches or shrines for the same purpose. I wonder how many come back for thanksgiving after their desired results are granted. 

I think Sta. Clara remains a place for quiet reflection and prayer. It is not as crowded as Quiapo or Antipolo or Baclaran. You can actually come and sit or kneel away from the other people in the church so you can immerse yourself in prayer or meditation. The nuns pray and sing solemnly at a section separated from visitors so you will probably hear their humming voices while you are there. They only increase the volume when they sing and respond during the regular Masses held at the monastery church. 

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Puto from Laguna

On the way back from Tagaytay, we decided to have lunch at one of the stops along the SLEX. After our quick meal, we went to check out stuff for pasalubong. We had only bought pineapples by the roadside in Alfonso, Cavite but not everyone likes pineapples as pasalubong. Instead of pasalubong, we ended up buying some snacks and puto for merienda when we reached home.

The rice cake (puto) came in a box. Puto sold in markets usually come in a paper tray wrapped in cling wrap. In some, they are wrapped in banana leaves.

Here's a look at the puto, which is a "putong bigas" meaning its made entirely of rice. Note that other puto can be a mix of rice and regular or typical flour.

Close-up of the puto

The puto was okay but I do have my suki for puto at the Antipolo Market where I can also get the "putong bigas". I would say that the one we get at the market in Antipolo is of the same if not better quality. I wouldn't mind buying this for personal consumption especially when on travel.

 

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Relic of St. Francis of Assisi

My brother shared this information about the pilgrimage of the relic of St. Francis of Assisi. He went to St. Francis of Assisi church at Lourdes Mandaluyong last week. My brother-in-law went with my nephew and niece there. Unfortunately, I've not had the opportunity to visit. However I will probably get a chance between June 23 to 26 when the relic is at Santa Clara, which is just along Katipunan and near my office. Here is the official itinerary shared to me by my brother. 

  

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Back in Tagaytay - Lunch at Charito by Bag of Beans

We were back in Tagaytay last weekend. We decided to have lunch at Bag of Beans but instead of going to the original restaurant, we went to Charito, which was supposed to have an excellent view of Taal Lake and Volcano (there wasn't a good view that time because of the haze). We ended up ordering and enjoying what was probably one of the best roast beef we've had. 

What looks like a serving of roast beef is actually half of an order. We were right to split this along with the rice, which we really didn't mind not finishing as the beef was that good.

 

We were so hungry that I didn't take photos of the pasta our daughter ate. I also forgot to take a photo of the frozen blueberry cheesecake. I will probably take those photos in the (near) future when we eat there again.

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Chocolate review: Jojo's Dark Chocolate Bites

From time to time, we come across some snacks given to us as gifts (pasalubong) by friends from abroad. These dark chocolate bites is a good example of something that tastes good while supposedly being healthy (i.e., plant-based, less sugar and dark chocolate)

The ingredients and look make these basically like energy bars.

Nutrition and other information at the back of the package.

Nutrition facts

Ingredients - though not mentioned here but indicated at the top of the package, it claims to have 70% dark chocolate.

The chocolate bites also has a heartwarming story to go with it.

 

I don't know if this is available in supermarkets here but I wouldn't mind purchasing one or more packs if I see these on their shelves.

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Basketball topics - happy and sad

I just had to write about basketball after what transpired the past days. There are stories worth celebrating and those that are tragic. Recent events this past week are precisely that mix of happy and sad.

Happy

I am happy after watching the games of the current NBA Finals, especially yesterday's Game 4 where the Knicks battled back from 29 points down to win by 1 and lead the series 3-1. They will now have 3 chances to win the title but 2 games will be in San Antonio including the next one. The Spurs should be desperate now as they have to win all the remaining games. Only 1 team has recovered from a 1-3 deficit and that was one that featured two stars that at the time were still in peak form - Lebron and Kyrie. That wasn't an easy task vs. a Warriors team that won 72 games in the regular season. The Knicks will probably win this series but they should not allow it to go to a Game 7.

Sad 

I have to admit my sad feelings about the tragedy of the drowning of 2 Ateneo basketball players. I learned of this after the big news of the week that is the strong earthquake that rocked General Santos City and its vicinity. One player in that tragedy had a Cinderella story of sorts coming from a poor family in Agusan and using his talent in playing basketball to get noticed to play high school ball at Ateneo de Davao. His talents led to being selected to play college basketball for Ateneo de Manila. The university has one of the stronger programs in the UAAP but has faltered the last 2 years. The The 2 players could have figured in their revival. The player from Agusan had so much potential and was en route to also giving his family a chance at a better life. That chance practically disappeared after he drowned during what was supposed to be teambuilding activities held at a beach resort in Aurora. The incident is still under investigation and hopefully can be resolved ASAP. Hopefully, too, his family will be compensated fairly.

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Venus and Jupiter conjunction

Walking out of the house yesterday evening, I was greeted with this sight in the sky:

Venus appears larger and brighter than Jupiter in the evening sky. I framed the photo using our Narra tree and the building under construction across from our home. I didn't need any filters for the shot as there were no streetlights or other significant lighting that affected the photo.

The view could have been more spectacular if there was no construction across from our house. 

[I will write about the construction across our home another time. It's a good topic especially in light of the commercial developments sprouting inside our village.] 

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A quick snack at Dunkin

For some reason, I had a craving for some donuts. If I had the time and money, I would probably get the old-fashioned donuts from Wild Flour. Unfortunately, this was a sudden craving and some less expensive options would suffice. Dunkin Donuts or Dunkin, as they prefer to be called now, is quite accessible and I like their butternut donuts (the regular and chocolate variants). And so I got me a couple of donuts and some iced coffee.

Butternut donut and iced coffee 

 

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No more Thai food at the hub?

After a few months of not eating at the Gyud Fud Hub at UP Diliman, my friends and I decided to have lunch there last Tuesday. I was looking forward to having some Thai food but that was not to be. The stall where we usually got our meals (or satisfied our cravings) is no longer there. We ended up eating inasal and barbecue at the stall beside what was our 'go to' place for Thai food.

Later, at home, I decided to make some Thai food, kra pao to be specific, for dinner. Here are some photos of the kra pao we had at home.

Close up showing the ground pork, Thai basil and chili pepper that are the main ingredients

Here is the kra pao still in the pan

We used the last of the paste my brother got for me when he traveled to Bangkok last year.

We got the Thai basil from the supermarket. We have basil at home but this was the sweet variety that's typically used for making pesto or other dishes. Thai basil has a stronger taste and aromatic smell that's perfect for kra pao.

Here's a photo of the ground pork already with the paste mixed into it.

I'll probably try to find more of the kra pao paste if I see them in a store here. To be sure though, I will probably ask friends or colleagues traveling to Thailand to get me some even at the airport.

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