2018 Tokyo Japan "Twilight"

My first trip to Tokyo Japan was very memorable because of the snow. They said snow is not always in Tokyo, but we're so lucky to experience the coldest season in Tokyo with warmth and full of happiness tour I've ever experienced with my closest childhood friends.

It was a warm surprise for me to see my "kababata" who welcomes us on our 1st day in Tokyo. After 35 years of not seeing each other, the heart remains for each other and we're really excited to catch up every year we've missed. My twilight tour here in Tokyo Japan was so amazing with these awesome childhood friends. One thing I am sure in each inspiring stories of the past is that we made us cherish the present. Dinner is warmth while we're having a tete a tete with the group. God is so kind to make this moment for us to renew our friendship, what a wonderful chance.

I love Japan, and Tokyo is my favorite city. I've always known that Tokyo was modeled after New York City, so I was ready for the subways and all the people, but it's a little overwhelming at times, and I'm more motivated than ever. I always had a sense that I would fall in love with Tokyo. In retrospect, I guess it's not that surprising. I was of the generation that had grown up in the '80s when Japan was ascendant and have lots of Samurai and swords like Katana.

The beauty of Odaiba at night.

Replica Statue of Liberty in Odaiba, with the Rainbow Bridge behind it.

No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who

are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth. 

Wherever I go becomes a part of me.

The Odaiba illumination "Yakei" display lights up brilliantly against the view of Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge at night. "Odaiba Illumination 'YAKEI'" consists of 40 trees running a length of 200m and a height of 20m, plus a participatory outdoor 360°projection system.

The night view of Tokyo Bay includes Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree, and the Rainbow Bridge, all together behind the 220,000 lights of the illumination display that garnishes the Odaiba night throughout the year.

Odaiba (お台場) is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. It was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, dramatically expanded during the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed since the 1990s as a major commercial, residential and leisure area. Odaiba, along with Minato Mirai 21 in Yokohama, is among a few manmade seashores in Tokyo Bay where the waterfront is accessible, and not blocked by industry and harbor areas. For artificial sand beaches in the bay, Sea Park in Kanazawa-ku is suitable for swimming, Odaiba has one, and there are two in Kasai Rinkai Park area looking over to the Tokyo Disneyland.

Odaiba Illumination 

Daikanransha, literally meaning “big wheel” When it opened in 1999,

it was the world's tallest Ferris wheel

Tokyo Dome City referred to as Big Egg City an amusement park
known as Tokyo Dome City Attractions the urban entertainment zone
with a wide variety of eating and drinking establishments.

Tokyo Midtown’s “Midtown Christmas” is one of most popular winter illumination events in Tokyo.

The famous “Starlight Garden”.

“Starlight Garden”

Tokyo Midtown

Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.9 meters, it is the second-tallest structure in Japan. 

Tokyo Tower in Roponggi

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー Tōkyō Sukaitsurī) is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 meters (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa (829.8 m/2,722 ft). Wikipedia 

The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region, the older Tokyo Tower no longer gives complete digital terrestrial television broadcasting coverage because it is surrounded by high-rise buildings. Skytree was completed on 29 February 2012, with the tower opening to the public on 22 May 2012. The tower is the centerpiece of a large commercial development funded by Tobu Railway and a group of six terrestrial broadcasters headed by NHK. Trains stop at the adjacent Tokyo Skytree Station and nearby Oshiage Station. The complex is 7 km (4.3 mi) north-east of Tokyo Station.

Tokyo Sky Tree

Tokyo Sky Tree and it's peaceful surrounding.

Roppongi Hills is a development project in Tokyo
and one of Japan's largest integrated property developments,
located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. 

Stop over at Burger Food Chain in Roppongi.

"A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more."

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is
that they can grow separately without growing apart.

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. At the end of the night, it looked like we had always belonged to each other.

Click the link to watch YouTube Video

Click the link to watch YouTube Video

Love Locks at Redemptorist "Baclaran" Church!

MANILA, Philippines

Love locks have found a new home at a grotto outside Baclaran Church, the newest “love escape” for people to display and declare their undying love, with God as their witness.

SEALED WITH PRAYERS

The fence around a grotto outside Baclaran Church in Parañaque City is now heavy with “symbols’’ of relationships seeking heaven’s blessing.

Filipinos have caught up with the trend of affixing padlocks to bridges, park fences, and other landmarks as symbols of their unbreakable vows. However, the country’s first love lock location, which is beside a church, is proving to be quite different from the other sites found around the world.

“Some call them love locks, others call them faith locks. But the main thing is that they celebrate different types of relationships,” said Fr. Ino Cueto, the rector of the church also known as the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Parañaque City.

Madonna and Child

Grotto Wishing Fountain 

Grotto Wishing Bridge

The first time I heard about love locks in France and Korea, the “mini-shrine” that has formed in Baclaran is “not just for lovers.”  After seeing these locks I think I need to write something about it when I affixed my own love family lock with a Prayer for a united, happy, loving, and healthy family, for a celebration of our love, 26th year Wedding anniversary this coming December 18, 2017. 

The keys along with coins from those making a wish are tossed into the pond surrounding the grotto. Aside from padlocks, the fence outside the church has also been strewn with rosaries, scapulars, and even rings.

Father Cueto said he doesn’t openly endorse the practice, though he recalled mentioning it once during a service on Valentine’s Day. “At first, we (in the church administration) tried to decide if we will remove them or not. But we eventually thought that they were there for a reason, so we just allowed them.” With the trend not expected to wane anytime soon, Cueto is already thinking of the time when all sides of the grotto are already bristling with padlocks. “We don’t want to simply regard them as unimportant. But I suppose the most practical thing to do is just remove them and we will pray for all the vows and relationships they represent.”

Curious passersby often direct their questions to Jun Cuayzon, the grotto’s caretaker. “I hold the key to this place and I also tell people what this is all about. And sometimes, I also have to guard it against those who might take the coins tossed here,” he said.

Cuayson has taken upon himself to fish out the keys from the pond and hang them on one side of the grotto, near a shrub, because “you’ll never know if people want them back. But so far, nobody has returned to get their keys or remove the locks. And besides, most of the locks are now rusty. Good luck to them if they think they can still tell their keys apart from the others,” he said with a grin.

My not so old Prayer Book
26 September 2012

Redemptorist "Baclaran" Church Grotto 

Click the link to watch YouTube Video

Me and My Ate Lily, our eldest sister in the family after our 1st Wednesday Novena here at the Shrine of Mother of Perpetual Help, Baclaran.

Holy Year of Mercy, Philippines

The practice of pilgrimage has a special place in the Holy Year because it represents the journey each of us makes in this life. Life itself is a pilgrimage. Pope Francis himself called on the faithful to make a pilgrimage because “mercy requires a goal, dedication, and sacrifice.”

“Mercy is not just a concept or an abstract idea but an action word. It’s something that we do perform acts of mercy to one another,”

Aside from the spiritual benefits, a plenary indulgence is also available to the faithful for making a pilgrimage.

The Catholic Church is celebrating the Holy Year of Mercy, a time of grace, peace, conversion and joy. It is meant for everyone, people of every age, from far and near. There are no walls or distances which can prevent the Father’s mercy from reaching and embracing us. The Holy Door is now open in Rome and in all the dioceses of the world including the Philippines.

In Manila, Cardinal Tagle starts the celebration by opening the Cathedral’s Jubilee Door and hold Mass on December 9, 2015. Catholics are encouraged to go on a pilgrimage to designated “jubilee churches”.  Rectors and parish priests are coordinating well on how to make pilgrimages fruitful and meaningful to pilgrims.

These five churches were chosen for the pilgrimage “because of their connection to mercy.”

1. Manila Cathedral

2. National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati City

3. Archdiocesan Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Mandaluyong City

4. Santuario de Santo Cristo in San Juan City

5. Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Pasay City

The Holy Year encourages the faithful to understand the practice of “merciful love” by dividing the works of mercy into two kinds "spiritual and corporal." Ritual is meaningless if not coupled with works of mercy and concrete actions towards charity,”

Year of Mercy pilgrimage may be held starting from Ash Wednesday, which marks the season of Lent, until the Pentecost Sunday.

The universal Church will observe an extraordinary Year of Mercy as decreed by the Pope from December 8, 2015, until Nov. 20, 2016.

Donations may come in cash or in kind and will be used to feed the hungry, provide housing for the homeless, and other projects.

Albar's Certificate of Pilgrimage
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Once you have completed the pilgrimage to all the five Jubilee churches, a certificate of Pilgrimage will be given to you at the last church you will visit.

Passports are available at all five churches. May start and end at any church.
Refer to your Pilgrim's Passport for the list of activities
you need to fulfill in your visit to the Jubilee church.
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Passport-stamping
Catholics may start their pilgrimage from any of the churches,
they will have to proceed to the parish office every after they accomplished the required activities
in each church for stamping of their passports.
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Guidelines in the granting of indulgence during the Jubilee of Mercy:

1. Make a pilgrimage to the Holy Door in designated Jubilee Churches.
2. Have a good confession and celebrate the Eucharist with reflection on mercy.
3. The profession of Faith (Creed).
4. Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the good of the Church and of the entire world. (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be)

Manila Cathedral 

The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, informally known as Manila Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic basilica located in Manila, Philippines, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Principal Patroness of the Philippines. The cathedral serves as the see of the Archbishop of Manila.

Located at Plaza de Roma in the Intramuros district of the City of Manila, the cathedral was originally a parish church owned and governed by the Archdiocese of Mexico in 1571, until it became a separate diocese on 6 February 1579 upon the issuance of the papal bull, Illius Fulti Praesidio by Pope Gregory XIII. The cathedral was damaged and destroyed several times since the original structure was built in 1581 while the eighth and current instance of the cathedral was finally completed in 1958.

The basilica has merited a papal endorsement from Pope Gregory XIII and three apostolic visits from Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Francis. On 27 April 1981, Pope John Paul II issued papal bull Quod Ipsum designating the cathedral as a minor basilica by his own Motu Proprio.

The Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Manila Cathedral.
http://manilacathedral.ph/
(Photo by Tony & Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Manila Cathedral Holy Jubilee Door "Porta Sancta"
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Recite the Year of Mercy prayer in front of Jubilee Cross
containing a relic of the True Cross of Christ which you may venerate with a kiss.
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Grand bronze image of St. Peter the Apostles (a replica of the one in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican)
Pray for the intentions of our Holy Father Pope Francis.
You may venerate and kiss the foot of the image as is practiced in Rome.
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Blessed Souls Chapel
Offer prayers and masses for your departed loved ones.
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

St. Peter Adoration Chapel (newly renovated)
Spend some moments of silent adoration and meditation inside.
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Going down to Manila Cathedral Crypt.
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Manila Cathedral Crypt
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Manila Cathedral Crypt
Where four former Archbishops of Manila laid to rest. (Here you may pray for their eternal repose.)

Rendering peaceful solemnity and quiet grace to the crypt is the mosaic of Marcello Avenali.
The three-subject mosaic depicts the Lord’s agony on His way to Calvary,
the meeting of Mary and Jesus on the way to Golgotha, and the Crucifixion.
The crypt has been dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Former Archbishop of Manila
Michael J. O’Doherty, Gabriel M. Reyes, Rufino J. Cardinal Santos and Jaime Cardinal Sin
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Going up and will pass by the confessional box. Avail the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

(Check the schedule of Confession)
(Photo by Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Baptistry
Renew your baptismal promises by reciting the Creed.
(Photo by Tony & Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Saint Joseph Chapel
Share your help and donation for the homeless.
(Photo by Tony  Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Pray "Hail Holy Queen" in front of the main altar
where Mary the Immaculate Conception is enthroned.
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Proceed to the Manila Cathedral Office for proper stamping of your passports.
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Santuario Del Santo Cristo

1. Enter through the Holy Door and recite the Prayer of the Year of Mercy.
2. Pray for the intentions of Pope Francis.
3. Pray the devotion to the Santo Cristo.
4. Give Alms for the Corporal Works of Mercy of burying the dead.
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

5. Proceed to the Conventual cemetery and pray for the dead.
6. Those who may want to attend Mass or avail of the Sacrament of Confession may do so.
(Please check the schedule of masses and confession.)
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

6. Baptistry
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

7. Going up to Santo Cristo Altar
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

8. Exit the church through another door.
9. Proceed to the Parish office for proper stamping of your passports during office hours.
(Photo by Tony & Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Shrine of  the Divine Mercy

(Photo by Tony & Sol Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)

Our Lady of Sorrows

1. Enter through the Holy Door.
2. Celebrate Mass with Community.
3. Pray the Rosary or the Novena to Or Lady of Sorrows.
4. Give donation to the Prison Apostolate.
5. Give food to street children/homeless
(Photo by Tony Albar for Princess Sol Diaries)