STI College Malolos squeaks past STI College Ortigas-Cainta

STI College Malolos flirted with disaster but regained their bearing just in time to beat STI College Ortigas-Cainta 83 – 78.   Although the Bulacan team was the bigger team, their small soldiers were the ones that pierced the heart of the Cainta team as Glenn Bautista and Arche Salo torched the nets with 21 and 15 points respectively with power forward Mark Tamayo chipping in also 15 points and adding 10 rebounds.  On the other hand, the trio of Richard Palanca, Ron Sanvictores and Joel Ramos combined for 40  points with Sanvictores and Ramos getting a double-double by adding 13 and 14 rebounds respectively. 

The first quarter had the Ortigas-Cainta team starting hot while the Malolos team was playing cathch-up.  Palanca opened up the scoring by sinking two three pointers enroute to a 21 – 19 lead after the first canto with Palance owning up to 9 markers and five other players scoring  From a slim 16 – 13 deficit, STI College ORCA doubled own on defense and scored on an 8 – 0 run to take the upper-hand 21 – 16.  

  

In the second quarter both teams fought to a standstill with neither team taking control of the game.  STI College ORCA had Jei Ramos, Bandam Locsin and Kenneth Afuang taking care of the scoring while Salo and Bautista with some help from Ralph Bonifacio and Aram Pujante countered for STI College Malolos. The Rizal based cagers still had a slim 3 point lead at the half.

The third quarter determined the final outcome of the game as the Bulacan cagers came out with guns blazing. A balanced attack by the Malolos team combined with their crippling defense made it hard for the ORCA bigmen to penetrate. On the other hand, their offense went full swing in the second half.  By the fourth quarter, Glenn Bautista who has been missing his three pointers suddenly erupted as he scattered 11 fourth quarter points and combined with Mark Tamayo’s 9 points to seal the win.

STI College Malolos shot better overall as they outshot their opponents 40% (33/82) to 37% (30/82). Malolos also had more free throws 13 – 8, rebounds 55 – 51,  blocks 10 – 4 and had fewer turnovers .  The Ortigas-Cainta team had more three pointers 10 – 4, Assists 19 – 14 and steals 11 – 10. In the end, the will to win was more evident with the Malolos cagers as their over-all play helped them squeak past a determined Ortigas-Cainta team.

The scores:

STI COLLEGE MALOLOS (83)

Bautista 21, Salo 15, Tamayo 15, Bonifacio 9, Pujante 8, Gatchalian 7, Victoria 4, Cruz L. 2, Santos 2, Encarnacion 0

STI COLLEGE ORTIGAS-CAINTA (78)

Palanca 14, Sanvictores 14, Ramos 12, Locsin 8, Afuang 7, Estabillo 5, Vigil 5, Alcantara 4, Paredes 4, Deniega 3, PIlapil 2, Picones 0

Quarterscores:  19 – 21, 35 - 38, 55 – 52, 83 – 78

STI College Santa Rosa beats STI College Koronadal

The Meralco Bolt's Anjo Caram does the ceremonial toss to start the National Finals

STI College Santa Rosa took time to heat up but still got the job done by beating Mindanao champion STI College Koronadal 73 - 51 at the start of the National Finals week of the STI National Basketball tournament at the Eusebio H. Tanco gymnasium at the STI College Ortigas-Cainta Campus.  June Aliparo led the Laguna based Luzon topnotchers by scoring 29 points and giving STI College Santa Rosa more breathing room as they gave the South Cotabato based champs a rude welcome.

June Aliparo sinks a three-pointer

The first quarter started with both teams sizing each other up and showing good defense against each other.  The trio of Bernard Caguisano Jr., Norman Puerto and Kenneth Libdan carried the fight for the Southerners as they were on the verge of taking the first quarter until a last second heave by Raul Guerrero tied the score at 16 – all.  Both teams were oozing with energy and were not giving any room for each other to score that resulted in a tie after one quarter.

Vince Romero scores on a jumper

In the second quarter, STI College Santa Rosa began to slightly pull away as the Laguna tightened their defense more that made the Mindanao team score only 9 points as against the 18 of South Luzon champs.  RJ Guerrero scored 10 points in this quarter and teamed up with Aliparo as they surged ahead 34 – 25 amidst a scoring drought by the Koronadal team.

Coach Erald maps out a play

In the third quarter June Aliparo fuelled the Santa Rosa offense once again as he scored 13 points with most of the points coming from the rainbow area and the free throw as he was fouled while taking a three-pointer.  With Norman Puerto and Cris Valencia pacing the Koronadal team, their efforts were still in vain as the Santa Rosa team outscored them 25 – 18 which gave STI College Santa Rosa a 59 – 42 lead going to the pay-off period. 

Addis Lizen on the drive

In the fourth quarter, STI College Santa Rosa took care of their lead but still defended well and their lead eventually ballooned to 20 points. STI College Santa Rosa had a better stat line against the Mindanao champs as they outrebounded them 51 – 43, had more assists 16 – 9 and shot better with a 39% clip against Koronadal’s 28 % shooting. In stark contrast Santa Rosa actually had more turnovers 22 – 18, lesser steals 6 – 7 and blocks 4 – 8.

Kenneth Libdan blocks the shot

The Scores:

STI COLLEGE SANTA ROSA (73)

Aliparo 29, Guerrero 19, Ursua 9, Lizen 4, Fabic 3, Hercia Jer. 3, Hercia Jes. 2, Romero 2, Romualdo 2, Adato 0, Ibbara 0,

STI COLLEGE KORONADAL (51)

Caguisano Jr. 12, Puerto 12, Valencia 9, Sulit 8, Libdan 5, Castillo Jr. 2, Ignacio 2, Lopez 1, Caguisano J. 0, Famulag 0, Morte 0, Soliva 0

Quarterscores:  16 – all,  34  - 25, 59 – 42, 73 – 51

2016 STI NBT: The National Finals April Madness

Catch the 2016 STI National Basketball Tournament National Finals at the Eusebio H. Tanco Gymnaisum at the STI Academic Center in Ortigas-Cainta. Support your team. See you there.

Commuting to Universal Studios

For a change, we decided to commute via the Singapore Mass Rail Transit (MRT) and Cable Car to Universal Studios instead of going there via taxi. In doing that we learned that the Singapore MRT system has more than a hundred stations and lines. But when you get the hang of it, its quite easy to understand.

We had a 15 - 20 minute walk from our hotel the Orchard Hotel Singapore. The weather was nice for walking and I had many stops because it was quite hard for me to walk for almost a kilometer going to the MRT Station. 

After walking endlessly, we finally found the Orchard Station of the MRT. Luckily they had a mall beneath the at the street complete with working escalators.

Had to wait for a while as my sister bought the tickets for us.

My sister buying the tickets through a kiosk. Note that it took her almost five minutes to get the tickets since there were no long cues in getting tickets.

This is a sight to behold, we never thought we can sit down considering that comparing this one to the MRT in Manila which is always full.

From the Orchard Station we took the North South line and went down at Dthe Dhoby Gaut station. Then we transferred to the North East line Dhoby Gaut station enroute to the Harbour Front Station. We walked again to the next building to ride a cable car to Sentosa.

After alighting at the Harbour Front Station, we walked once again to the city's most unique hilltop destination - Faber Peak Singapore. At the lobby of the building we bought our tickets at SG$29.

Eight people can fit inside a cable car. I think if we have something like this in the Philippines, most cable cars would carry 10 - 12 passengers with some sitting at the laps of the others. Just like what we say in the Philippines, "Punuan, Kalong Kalong, upong walong piso po!" 

After that ride, we changed cable cars as we went down the Mount Faber Line station to change cars.

The second set of cable cars at the Sentosa Station are colored and looks cool.

Upon alighting the Cable Car you will be greeted by the biggest Merlion in Singapore which is 37 meters tall.

Going to Universal Studios we walked around the Sentosa Island and passed by the Lake of Dreams

We passed by a lot of directional signs and walked and walked and walked 

Finally, the last sign going to Universal Studios. After turning right you can see the Universal Studios Globe. We must've walked at least 8,000 steps to reach our destination.

Carlton Hotel Singapore

I finally made it back to Singapore and one thing that I was so excited about was the hotel where I booked myself in for three nights - the Carlton Hotel. I like it when you can get in at 12 noon and not wait anymore for that 2:00 pm check in, they gesture to allow you to check-in early is a big check for me.

The room I got was a 30 sqm De Luxe room with city view.  First I love the King Sized bed with four big hard pillows that suits my taste together with the usual Business hotel amenities like complimentary hi-speed wifi and cables for my laptop. It also has a standard IP Television, Iron and Ironing Board, coffee and tea making facilities, robes, Mini-bar and ample space for a 3- 5 guests. 

What made this Hotel get my nod as the #besthotelever I have even been is their complimentary use of a cellphone complete with 4G connection which you can use in and out of the hotel. The phone also has apps that you can use to get around Singapore and point you to the best places that you want to go to. This for me is the best service that a Hotel has given me. 

Since I was on Vacation, a visit at their pool was necessary and I find their pool quite small for a big hotel like Carlton. I was just lucky that during the time I was on the pool there were just enough people there considering that the other side of the pool is around eight feet deep.

The usual bathroom amenities like the shampoo and  shower gel smells great. That was why I had to ask for an additional pair so that I can bathe away all day long and tuck some in as a souvenir.

The last thing I liked about Carlton Hotel is its location. Just in front of it is one of the best malls in the city - Raffles Mall. I liked that mall because  you can shop for great stuff, look for gadgets, have coffee and more importantly eat whatever food you are craving for because they have various fast food restaurants that can fit your budget. At the same time it is also near the MRT City Hall station so you can go anywhere you like. When in Singapore may it be Business or Pleasure, do consider the Carlton Hotel.

Cartlon Hotel Singapore

76 Bras Basah Road

Singapore, 189558

http://www.carltonhotel.sg

My Singapore Sling - A mixture of awesome experiences

My second time in the city of fines proved to be a more memorable one since it was ignited by my passion to travel through with travel group. Together with my sister Angie and my eldest nephew Louie our dream trip was filled with lots of beautiful memories.

We started out our day by checking in at the prestigious 5-star hotel Carlton Hotel Singapore located at Bras Basah road. The hotel is very accessible to almost everything since its near Bugis street which is famous for souvenir shopping and lots of other stuff, plus right in front of it is Raffles mall where you can eat at its numerous food courts, shop at its many branded stores and have starbucks coffee.

Being a member of our unique travel group has its many perks and when we checked in we were greeted with lots of gift items. A box of chocolates, a purse of straps and bag tags, a merlion souvenir icon and a bottle of wine complete with wine opener.

During our first day at the Carlton Hotel we simply took advantage of the time to relax by dipping at its nice pool. The weather was great and the 15 meter pool  was just right for some laps for a little bit of exercise.

Our second day brought us to one of the biggest attractions in Singapore - the Gardens by the Bay, Bay South. According to Trip Advisor, Gardens by the Bay is the number 1 attraction in Singapore and as I witnessed it I was amazed with everything I saw.

Our Singapore journey was very informative thanks to our very accommodating and pleasing Singaporean our Tour Guides Chris Tye and Glenda Wu.  Not in this picture is another cool guy Frankie Tang who was also nice and friendly.

Our trip inside the Gardens brought us to the Flower dome which made me think again on what I have studied regarding flowers which by far outnumbers the flower species I know by 10,000 to one. The only thing I can think of is that this garden most probably is how the Garden of Eden would look like today.

Not only that, there are so many other things that you can see just like this flower arrangement pictured above. Do you think the composition of this flower looks familiar? It is because these flowers are made of lego blocks. 

After our sumptuous lunch we went to the west side of Singapore to visit the Jurong Bird Park. Here is our International  Travel featuring Chinese Mainlanders, Malaysians, South Koreans, Americans, Taiwanese dream trippers and us. We were around eighty six in our group.

The highlight of the Jurong Bird Park trip was the 3:00 pm Bird show. The show was something i have never witnessed before because I have never seen birds respond to what the emcee was telling them.  The 30 - minute show had so many birds fly to the audience, engage with each other and walk around as dictated by the emcee. It was a truly magnificent way to see how the birds were showcased in this event.

Day 3 of our dream trip had us  join an exclusive trip to one of the icons that represent Singapore - the Merlion.  Half Lion and Half Fish your trip to Singapore is not complete without a picture at the Merlion park. We were joined by hundreds of tourists taking different kinds of pictures at the two Merlions in that Park.

My nephew was so happy  to be part of this trip which is his first international trip. I was telling him that he was so lucky that his first trip abroad was with our travel group because all the trips that he will have in the future will never compare to his experience with us.

Here is another photo of the Merlion and the very imposing facade of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore. Although its my second time to see this awe-inspiring hotel, just looking at it makes me happy to be part of our wonderful travel group.

Our last visit brought us to the Singapore's Chinatown for a look at the another attraction - the Buddha Tooth Relic temple. At the same time the Chinatown marketplace was just around the corner and some little souvenir shopping in that area. 

This Tang-Styled Chinese Buddhist temple in Chinatown gets its name from what the Buddhists regard as the Sacred Buddha tooth relic.

Our trip ended with a party at the Orchidville Gardens. We were treated with lots of performers and most of our travelmates performed as well. The food was also great as they served a famour Singaporean dish - the Singaporean Chili crab. There were unlimited drinks and most of all unlimited happy memories brought by this wonderful trip. 

The most important memory for me are the friends that I gained from different parts of the world which was made possible because of this one of a kind travel team. So if you want to travel around the world in style - Join our travel group. PM me for details since I will most probably be busy planning our next trip.