The first month of 2020 brought some sting which made me ache for some rosy moments. I thank the universe for being such an ardent listener for I had the chance to spend the second day of the second month of 2020 witnessing LANY perform live in our city. 

       I've heard many good things about the band and though I'm not one of its biggest fans, I do adore their music. I would say that theirs' is something that is definitely fun to listen to. Even if most of their songs pertain to the pain which comes from loving dearly, they still give that feel good and chill vibe. Listening to LANY's music feels like being in an open car with your friends heading somewhere wild for a long weekend, with the carefree zephyr freeing your hair, all of such against cotton candy skies as your backdrop. Ah, such a marvelous thought to ponder! Fortunately, I got the closest thing to such which is being able to witness the band perform live during the annual Plus63 Music and Arts Festival.

  Plus63 is a music and arts festival which started in 2016. it aims to support local talents and musicians by giving them the opportunity to perform alongside the world’s top performers. It seeks to be a staple event in Cebu, highlighting great music, great food, and an unforgettable experience which is something that I truly support! I couldn't be any happier that the event went successfully. To say that witnessing LANY among Cebuano musicians perform is fun would be an understatement. It was more than what we have expected which we would surely treasure as one of the most memorable events of this year. Of course, something good must be shared which is why I'm sharing some of my favorite shots of the night in this blog post. Enjoy xoxo 🌹

My #SugDi friends are awesome! They rock just like LANY's concert. 
Capturing the moments but living life ❤️
Here are few of the many things that I love about the concert:
1. The venue is clean, spacious, and has good bathroom facilities. They even provided free rubbing alcohol for bathroom users. The vvip area where we stayed is secured and filled with good drinks. Kudos to the guards!
2. Just like the vvip area, the whole concert ground is safe and secured. All bags were checked and security personnel were all over the place during the entire event.
3. The fans - LANY has wonderful Cebuano fans. It can be noted by how peaceful the night went by. Plus, they sang so well with LANY's hits.
4. I wasn't expecting a grand fireworks display, but Plus63 was able to pull it off so well when LANY sang their last hit which is ILYSB (I love you so bad). Everything feels surreal and magical that even those who didn't know the song fell in love with the night.
5. LANY and their music. Need I to say more? Listen to their melody and you'll know what I'm saying. Some of my favorite songs by them are Malibu Nights, ILYSB, so Far, and Thick and Thin. ✨

Big kudos to the organisers of the event for a job well-done. They've just released an official statement for another Plus63 moment for 2021. I hope they'll bring us exciting musical talents, local and international artists alike. I would probably die to know if either Lana Del Rey or Billie Eilish would be on stage!

Til' next year!
Do you love LANY? Let me know what are your favourite LANY songs in the comments section below.

Love lots, 
Tin

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. (Left to right) Grace Semilla, Pioneer CPMS Parent, Canduman Brgy. Councilor Wilmer O. Zanoria, DepEd Mandaue City Schools Superintendent Dr. Nimfa Bongo, CPMS President Marivic Bathan, CPMS BOD Chairman Vicente Bathan, GSG Architects Principal Archt. Clive Aaron Guanzon, GSG Architects Design Director Arct. Clive Andrew Guanzon, CPMS Parents’ Circle President Stephanie Nablo, CPMS Grade 6 student Aeisha Sepulveda

Sinulog isn’t over just yet for the students and staff of Children’s Paradise Montessori School (CPMS). As they celebrate their 15th Founding Anniversary today (January 28), CPMS is also inaugurating their newest school building – the St. Therese of the Child Jesus Building. And what better way to kick off the festivities than doing it the Sinulog way?

“January 28, 2005 was when our SEC registration and Charter were signed. For 14 years, we did not really celebrate that. This is the first time in 15 years that we are celebrating our Foundation Day. Sto. Niño has been the source of everything. This is our thanksgiving,” said CPMS President Marivic Bathan.

After a Holy Mass in front of the new school building, a re-enactment of the arrival of Magellan, who gave the image of Sto. Niño as a gift to Queen Juana and Raja Humabon in 1521, until the victory of Lapu-Lapu was presented by the parents and teachers of CPMS.

The four-storey St. Therese of the Child Jesus Building, which features green and environment-friendly elements, bursts with the lively beat of the Sinulog as the students themselves performed the traditional dance in veneration of the Snr. Sto. Niño on each floor, while the priest blessed the building.

While they don’t usually commemorate their Founding Anniversary, the students and staff of CPMS always make sure to celebrate the Sinulog Festival every year through dances and performances. After all, culture and arts are some of the disciplines that CPMS instills on their students. CPMS Consultant Rudy Aviles shared that this yearly tradition is usually done in the same week as the actual Sinulog Festival. But this year they decided to hold it on the 28th in order to celebrate the school’s other milestones.

“This year is important for us. Aside from the 15th Founding Anniversary and the new building, we are also having a new thrust and revisioning for CPMS. We want to instill in the school a nature-loving consciousness and connectedness,” he said. Aviles explained that CPMS officials and staff have been brainstorming on the school’s focus on green living. Bathan added that in CPMS, they create an environment that will nurture and cultivate children “to grow to be truly human.”

“We lead everyone back to nature and being natural. The human beings have the spirit that makes us one with nature and connects us to each other, making this world as one, just as our creator intended it to be at the Garden of Eden,” she said.

The CPMS BOD with its collaborators & partners from GSG Architects Co. and Siteline DBS Team, the OAD Community, Barangay Canduman, Department of Education Mandaue City Division, and consultants.

CPMS has been putting in place several activities and programs in their curriculum on how to embody the green lifestyle over the years – from exposing students to nature and the outdoors, eating healthy, and even solid waste management. Part of its strengthened focus on nature and the environment is the inauguration of the St. Therese of the Child Jesus Building which is set to be a green building. “We want to be anchored on caring of nature. If I take care of nature, nature will take care of me. It’s a symbiosis. It’s a communion between me and the environment,” Aviles explained.

CPMS tapped the services of GSG Architects Co. in the design and construction of the new building features sustainable and tropical design concepts. Among these is a water recycling system wherein wastewater from washbasins are recycled and used to water the garden on each floor’s terrace garden and drip irrigation system. The building’s three main columns also have a plant climbing support structure to encourage vine growth and supply cool fresh oxygen to the hallways and classrooms.

“Two-meter wide balconies and three-meter wide hallways on each floor provide planting strips to bring in the fresh air, provide shade, and puts nature in close proximity to the classrooms even if these are elevated from the ground,” explained Archt. Clive Aaron Guanzon, Principal Architect of GSG Architects Co.

The new green building broke ground last year and is set to be completed within 2020. It will host the preschool and elementary classrooms as well as administrative offices.

It is part of the CPMS 2025 masterplan wherein four new school buildings will be built by CPMS within three phases. By 2025, in its 25th year, CPMS foresees a population of 400 to 500 students from toddler to Senior High School.

CPMS was founded by Marivic E. Bathan, who has been its President since its inception in 2005, with the mission of providing children with an education for life. CPMS has created a learning environment based on Dr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy and principles that guide and nurture the development of each child’s potential to become an informed, creative, compassionate, and lifelong learner who will make a positive contribution to the global community.

For ten straight years, from 2010 to 2019, CPMS has been awarded as Montessori School of the Year in the Business Achievement and Recognition Awards. CPMS has exposed its students to real-world experiences and to the beauty and discipline of the arts. CPMS is located along H. Abellana St. in Canduman, Mandaue City.

Let your hair down and sway to the flow of the music as the biggest and most anticipated international music fest, Plus63 Music and Arts Festival comes back to Cebu!

Plus63 Music and Arts Festival at a glance:

Plus63 Music and Arts Festival started in 2016 with the goal of supporting local talents and musicians by giving them the opportunity to perform alongside the world’s top performers. “Plus63 Music & Arts Festival began as a fun project between childhood friends to create an international music festival for the city of Cebu. We brought Steve Angello from the Swedish House Mafia to kick off the inaugural event on Sinulog, Saturday of 2016.”, says Peter Delantar, head of Plus63 Music and Arts Festival.

Plus63 since then has become an annual music event that never fails to leave partygoers awestruck - with its spot-on premium sound quality, impressive digitally-programmed fireworks and eclectic mix of international and local performers. It has brought in international DJs and performers like Steve Angello of Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, Showtek, Kid Ink and Dada Life in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Plus63 always brings the best to give out a true music festival experience while adding a local twist, enhancing it even more with the best of the Philippines’ hospitality and cuisine. “The goal is for Plus63 to be a staple event in Cebu, highlighting great music, great food, and an unforgettable experience.”, says Delantar.

New date. This year’s Plus63 is set on February 2, breaking away from the Sinulog festivities for the first time. “We believe the time is right for Plus63 Music & Arts Festival to establish its own weekend where it becomes the main event of the city. We have bigger and grander plans for the years to come.”Delantar added.

New place. Attracting thousands each year, Plus63 is set to happen at the SM Seaside Complex Cebu Concert Grounds, a location apt to host such a grand event and accommodate a big crowd. With over 7,000+ fans since it was first introduced, the festival has grown over the years and is expected to double to over 15,000+ this year. Plus63 persistently grows into a destination festival in Cebu attracting international and local tourists.

Bigger party. Now on its 5th installment, Paul Klein, Charles Leslie Priest and Jake Clifford of LANY headlines the music fest.

LANY is an acronym for Los Angeles New York as their desire is to spread music from coast to coast. Now, they have come to the Philippine music fest scene alongside some of Cebu’s best - Lourdes, Three Legged Men, Mandaue Nights, Sepia Times and DJ Short. In addition, LANY will be bringing special merchandise up for grabs and Plus63 Festival will have limited edition items for sale.

In today’s world of modern technology, people need to take a break from all their hectic work schedules and the energy-consuming high demands of city living to enjoy and find adventure in the outdoors. And where else is the best place to unwind, relax, meditate and experience laid-back life even just for a few hours?

Sleepaway camps, parks, nature-centered recreational facilities are today's favorite destinations for Cebuanos. Many of us even consider going through all the hassle of traveling outside Cebu City—all in the name of peace and tranquility. Some even go as far north as Baguio or Tagaytay.

Now, Cebuanos need not travel far from home just to be close to nature since Cebu’s newest adventure-based nature camp, Evo Nature Camp, has already opened their doors to the public last January 11, 2020, with the goal of bringing people and nature together through their plethora of outdoor activities which everyone can enjoy.

The newly-opened 4.5-hectare nature camp, located in the picturesque countryside setting of Gaas, Balamban, is the best place to satisfy one's growing need of escaping the stress and anxiety of city living. Only 32 kilometers away from Cebu City and with travel time estimated at 45 minutes, you'll finally get to experience nature at its finest in this latest escapade!

Mr. Edwin Ortiz, owner, EVO Nature Camp

During their soft opening last Saturday, Evo Nature Camp owner Edwin Ortiz, disclosed the upcoming activities and future plans they have at hand for the developing camp. “We came up with this kind of recreational venue to promote Gaas and one day, put in the map as a top destination for nature-enthusiasts at the same time, we are helping the locals get employed,” he stated in a sitdown interview with the media.

“Evo Nature Camp is a great venue for outdoor sports activities. In fact, the place is designed for trekking, rappelling, camping, and glamping or glamorous camping—another prospect addition to its offerings wherein big tents will be put up together with nice beds, food, and some snacks to go with it,” he added.

While the market for glamping is millennials, young professionals and families, the target for Evo Nature Camp’s future big camping site is elementary and high school students. Ortiz shared that they are eyeing educational institutions as their target market since schools conduct camping activities such as summer camp for the students and the place is a great camping site.

As of the time being, the area for camping is still on the developmental status and what is offered is camping in the gazebos. The Grill House offers bbq, grilled specialties, corn soup, pumpkin soup, fruit shakes, etc. Around 40,000 flower plants and 2,509 Pine Trees and Giant Ferns have been planted in the property.

The traditional ribbon cutting to officially open Evo Nature Camp last January 11 was spearheaded by Owner Edwin Ortiz and family, together with Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay, Congressman Pablo John Garcia, and Gaas Barangay Captain William Genel. The event was also witnessed by the senior high school students from the University of San Jose-Recoletos Balamban Campus, guests and friends from the local media.

At the GROUND ZERO rock formation which is around 30 min. walk from the cave to the peak     

Some relevant information going and about EVO Nature Camp:

🌱🏕️ Entrance fee: 50php + environmental fee: 5php

🍃🏕️ Gazebo for rental: 500php for 4hours, 1,000php for 8hours

You may enjoy the following activities at EVO:

🍃 Guided Trekking to Cebu's "Ground Zero"

🍃 Flower gazing

🍃 Camping

Other activities which can be enjoyed real soon:

🍃Camping

🍃Glamping

⚠️

🍃 You may bring your own food and water at the camp but flexible fees may apply to some e.g lechon, and others. 

🚗 EVO Nature Camp has a 50 minute travel time starting from JY Square Mall in Lahug, Cebu going to Barangay Gaas in Balamban where it is located. The camp can be reached via V-hire vehicles at Ayala Center Cebu and SM City Cebu terminals.