SM Bowling Center Opens at SM Southmall

Journeyed down south last Thursday morning with the Full Circle Communications team for the opening of SM Bowling Center at SM Southmall. Days prior to the event, I was hesitant to go because SM Southmall's super duper far from where I live (North people can relate to this, haha) but the people from Full Circle Comms were so kind enough to fetch me near my place. Huge thanks and hugs to Ms. Mel, Ms. Angel and Sir Genson! They're definitely one of my favorite PR teams!! ♥



So anyway, we left our meeting place around 9AM. We arrived just in time for the 11AM event. The program started after a couple of minutes, with a welcome message from Mr. Bonifacio Solis, the division head of SM Bowling, followed by the ribbon cutting.


Yay! SM Bowling Center is now officially open at SM Southmall!


Blessing and tossing of coins


Before trying out the wide array of games that SM Bowling Center offers, we feasted on lunch first prepared by Racks. Nom nom nom!


Aaand the game begins in 3... 2... 1...


First game: Bowling

Of course, it's already instinctive for everyone to try out bowling first. I'm honestly a "newbie" to this game, so I had no idea on how to properly play it or if there are techniques or whatever. Haha!


No judging for us in this game!! Haha Ana and I are bowling rookies :p


Sobra sobra sobrang fun nito talaga!! To me, bowling seemed intimidating before. Pero super na-enjoy ko 'to! I suddenly missed my high school friends and crazy college buddies. For sure, we'll have a blast dito.


Second game: Battle Sea

We took a break from bowling by playing Battle Sea. Kaaliw din dito! Kalurks ang war-la with other ships plus the chair's moving with you pa!


PS3 Gaming Stations

Di namin na-try ni Ana here, but there are actually 20 PS3 gaming stations inside SM Bowling Center, too! :)


Third game: Arcades

I've always loved playing arcade games. My friends and I would hit Timezone pa nung high school for car racing, barilan, basketball or Pang Pang Paradise (alam niyo yon? Hahahaha). So when I found out that SM Bowling Center isn't only limited to bowling games, but this and more activities that they offer, the place really became close to my heart!


Guitar Freaks with big sis! Pwede na ba kami gumawa ng band? :p


Shocks. I forgot the name of this arcade game. But barilan siya. And in all fairness to the guns that we used, they're so heavy and they seem legit. Feel na feel namin ni Ana mag-firing! Hahaha


Basketball's definitely present, too! Winner si Ana dito, her score was 100+ hahaha! Inspired by Jic ba naman? Mehehe :p


Fourth game: Billiards

When I was younger, I've tried playing billiards, but it was never my thing. I can't even remember the last time I came this close to a pool table. Buti na lang Ana still knows the game, she taught me the basics and refreshed ng konti.


No guys. Photos can really be deceiving. Hahaha! Wala kaming napala sa billiards. Picture-picture lang! We had a few attempts, though, but wiz uy yata talaga kami dito.


There's also a bar inside SM Bowling Center. If ever you'll get hungry or you'll be needing some refreshments, no need na to go outside! Like example, that day, they gave us popcorns and bottled iced teas! Perfect, right? :)


Fifth game: Kinect

Oh my gosh!!! Favorite game ever!!! :) I always see my cousins play Kinect but they're all kids and I don't want to ruin their enjoyment. Good thing SM Bowling Center has Kinect Consoles! We were able to try it, finally!!! ♥


Hashtag OOTD, chos!! Haha here we are before the first Kinect game that we tried. Kaloka napagod kami with the adventure-type game na pina-try sa amin. We felt like we were really at the river, riding our boat, jumping up and down maiwasan lang yung obstacles. Hahaha! Tiring but it was so much fun! :)


We also danced sa Kinect ala-One Direction. Hahaha! Four of us (me, Ana, Sir Genson and Sir Bhel) participated in this What Makes You Beautiful by 1D dance number. Hahaha! In fairness to the steps, di lang sila basics, may mga complicated ones din. But since we were competitive, nasundan namin. Uuy! Haha! We were all sweating after. Pwedeng pang-workout 'to!


Ana and I rested and had coffee at Starbucks for a while after playing almost everything sa SM Bowling Center. Love you big sis!! Kwentuhan galore but bitin because of the limited time that we had. It was already past 4PM and our all-access privilege will be gone by 5PM. Haha avail na namin lahat syempre!


Sixth game: Karaoke

We've been wanting to enter the karaoke area but never na-empty the two rooms 'til that hour. Sa wakas!!! Hahaha! Bilang singers talaga kami ni Ana more than anything else (what???) di namin pinalampas 'to!


Panay duet kami ni Ana. We started by singing Lucky, tribute na rin to the recently concluded Jason Mraz concert (hahaha). We sang a lot, actually. Madaming "last na 'to" promises, haha! But our main favorite talaga was our rendition of Mariah Carey's Through The Rain. Hahahaha! OMG I can still clearly remember our moment. Hello Araneta bumirit! Concert levels! Hahaha sayang walang video. :( Lol!


Hi Sir Genson, Ms. Mel and Ms. Angel (na singer talaga, yung legit not like me and Ana, hahaha) ♥ We love you guys!!

It was time to leave, and sobrang nabitin ako. One afternoon isn't enough for all the awesome activities that you can do at SM Bowling Center. This event's definitely one for the books! I'll surely bring my friends here (or probably at the MOA branch para nearer, hehe). But for South people, you guys are lucky to have such kind of gaming center at SM Southmall.


Photo grabbed from SM Bowling Center

Thank you so much to SM Bowling Center for having us! We had such an amazing afternoon! And also for the real bowling pins you gave us! Super love it ♥ Coming back for sure!


I'd also like to thank Full Circle Comms for trusting me and Ana with this event, most especially for taking good care of me the entire day! I've mentioned earlier that they fetched me before the event, right? Not only that! They also gave me a ride back home. :') It means a lot to me, really! So thank you to Ms. Mel, Ms. Angel and Sir Genson for being extra kind to me! Wishing Full Circle Comms all the best. You guys deserve the success you're having! ♥

So if you want to have a day filled with nonstop fun and games, SM Bowling Center is the place to go to! :) Visit them at SM Mall of Asia, SM North EDSA, SM Southmall, SM City Fairview, SM Center Valenzuela, SM City Cebu and SM Lanang.

SM Ladies' Fashion (Philippine Fashion Week) Giveaway

Definitely, SM Ladies' Fashion is one of my go-to places whenever I need to have my dose of retail therapy. The brands that they hold have really fashionable, trendy and affordable pieces! It's impossible for us not to love SM Ladies' Fashion! ♥

If you can recall, I've blogged about their S/S 2013 Preview last April. Those are just some of the designs that you'll see on SM Stores nationwide. Prior to its release, though, SM Ladies' Fashion will be joining this season's Philippine Fashion Week (show will be held on the 22nd of May). And since their team knows that you're all excited to witness their clothes on the runway, they're so kind and generous enough to throw a giveaway with Raid My Closet! :) Yay! Here's how you can win:



1. Like Raid My Closet on Facebook here.
2. Like SM Ladies' Fashion on Facebook here.
3. Follow @listentoarnie on Twitter.
4. Tweet this: I want to watch SM Ladies' Fashion on Philippine Fashion Week! Join the giveaway of @listentoarnie at www.arnievillanueva.com
5. Name any SM Ladies' Fashion trend for Spring/Summer 2013. Comment it on this post along with your full name, link of your tweet and email address.

One lucky reader of mine will be given two (2) tickets to Philippine Fashion Week along with an SM Ladies' Fashion gift bag. I'll be randomly choosing the winner on May 19, 2013.

Easy, right? I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss this! Best of luck and see you at PFW! ♥

Overnight at La Breza Hotel

Thank goodness that my big sis Ana and I are both very optimistic and game about anything! If not, kung nasa Trinoma kayo around lunch time last May 3, you would've seen us crash and our hearts fall into pieces. Hahaha! Days before our supposedly hotel staycation, we were both very excited na and prepared ng bongga for it. We bought new stuff, said no to numerous events, cancelled meetings, packed clothes good for one week (even if we're only staying overnight hehe) - all those and more sacrifices. Ana and I were on our way to our meeting place already, you can just imagine us carrying sobrang heavy bags and commute lang ha, then minutes before the call time, we received a last minute cancellation message from the hotel. Swear naiyak ako. I didn't know what to do.



Photo grabbed from Ana

Big sis and I spent an hour or so at Coffee Bean to calm ourselves down and to think of a backup plan. Sayang ang weekend and we wouldn't want to waste it. Hello!! We gave up so much for this talaga and yung mga bagahe namin ilang kilos na yon! :( Hahaha!

Since we don't have hotspot on our phones and down ang wifi at Coffee Bean (mamalasin nga naman, hahaha) we decided to rent PC units at an internet shop inside the mall. Yes, bitbit pa rin bagahe! Haha! I don't know if nababaliw na ba kami that time or sadyang adventurous lang talaga, we even thought of going to La Union to follow Ana's potential jowa hahaha for surfing, or even Bulacan/Batangas na lang makapag-swim lang! Jusko!!

Long story short, umuwi na lang kami. Char! We tried our luck at La Breza Hotel, conveniently located along Mother Ignacia Ave. Got our room on a discounted price, too, with so many inclusions. Thank God! Avail agad! :)


Our suite was really huge and spacious, with a welcome area, 2 beds, terrace and bathroom.


Nom nom nom! Late lunch at Cafe La Breza. In all fairness, I loved their Tapsilog! :)


We proceeded to the recreation area afterwards. Alam niyo ba that one of the reasons why we chose to stay at La Breza ay dahil sa pool at gym area? :) Haha cray cray, but we tried to call other hotels while we were at the internet shop pa but either under maintenance yung pool nila or walang gym.


We weren't able to try their fitness center, though, 'cause daming tao inside. #ProjectSexy2013 for them! Hehe!


Poolside chillin' :p The very gwapo papa Joed visited us there, too, by the way!


Huhu galing ni big sis mag-swim! Isa pa 'tong di ko kaya gawin aside from biking! Ackkk what's wrong with me!! Hahaha


Matapos ang few attempts of floating, Ana taught me some yoga poses. Easier to balance talaga pag nasa pool! Super enjoy!! Hahaha!


Photo grabbed from Ana

After a deep heart-to-heart talk (naks!!!) with Joed and Ana's online class, Niche finally came and we headed to Mezza Norte for dinner. More more bonding with Niche, Kelly and Ana!

Kelly drove us back to La Breza around midnight. Thanks love! But di natapos dun ang araw namin ni big sis. Hahaha! We spent hours enjoying the lobby wifi, stalking, exchanging stories at sobrang tawanan! Inabot kami halos 2AM doing those!


NEXT DAY!!!! :)


We went down to Cafe La Breza for breakfast at around 8:30AM! Good morning big sis!! :)


Nom nom nom


Prepared for our checkout (12NN) na rin and I agree with Ana na sume-separation anxiety mode kami! Although napagastos kami and bitin with our staycation, we had so much fun!! :) Many thanks to La Breza Hotel for adopting us!

I have no regrets of saying yes to this spontaneous experience! I enjoyed our stay at La Breza and had the chance to know more about Ana.  I'm an only child (for those who do not know yet) and I've always wanted to have a big sister. Someone ready na mauna sumilip around the room 'cause she knows I'm not brave, yung magki-keep ng keys and other important stuff kasi I tend to be forgetful, someone who's always there and ready to make chika and give me advice about anything in the world. Super glad and thankful that Ana's like this to me. Love you big sis! ♥