Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho

For those who have many questions in life, this book may help you find the answers. 

1. What is knowledge?
- It isn't the absolute truth about life and death, but the things that helps us to live and confront the challenges of day-to-day life. It isn't what we learn from books, which serves only to fuel futile arguments about what happened or will happen; it is the knowledge that lives in the hearts of men and women of good will.

2. None of us can know what tomorrow will hold, because each day has its good and bad moments.

3.Our task is not to leave a record of what happened on this date for those who will inherit the Earth; history will take care of that.

4. Does a young man, rejected by his first love, declare that love does not exist? The young man says to himself: "I'll find someone better able to understand what I feel. And then I will be happy for the rest of my days."

5.In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat ; there is only movement. Within that cycle, there are neither winners nor losers; there are only stages that must be gone through. When the human heart understands this, it is free and able to accept difficult times without being deceived by moments of glory.

6. What is true in love is also true in war. 

7.Only those who fail to recognize that inner strength will say, "I lost, " and be sad. 

8.Only he who gives up is defeated. Everyone else is victorious. 

9. Three important things :
☑ Wait patiently for the right moment to act. 
 ☑ Do not let the next opportunity slip by you. 
☑ Take pride in your scars. 

8. There are people who have never been defeated. They are the ones who never fought. 

9.Woe to those who were never beaten! They will never be winners in this life. 

10. Solitude is not the absence of love, but its complement. 

11. If you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void. But  the void does not exist. A vast world lies hidden in our soul, waiting to be discovered. 

12. Just as love is the divine condition, so solitude is the human condition. 

13. Listen to your elders and then you'll have a better idea of what to do. 

14. They don't understand that religion was created in order to share the mystery and to worship, not to oppress or convert others. 

15. Don't try to be useful. Try to be yourself; that is enough, and that makes all the difference. 

16. Walk neither faster nor slower than your own soul, because it is your soul that will teach you the usefulness of each step you take. 

17. The people who who really help others are not trying to be useful, but are simply leading a useful life. They rarely give advice, but serve as an example. 

18. Live the life you always wanted to live. Avoid criticizing others and concentrate on fulfilling your dreams. 

19. Small things are responsible for great changes. 

20. Difficulty is the name of an ancient tool that was created purely to help us define who we are. 

21. Faith shows us that we are never alone. Transformation helps us to love the mystery. 

22.To those who believe that adventures are dangerous, I say, try routine ; that kills you far more quickly. 

23. If the person looking into someone's eyes has a dark soul he will see only his own ugliness. 

24. We deny our own beauty because others can't or won't recognize it. Instead of accepting ourselves as we are, we try to imitate what we see around us. 

25. We forget that the world is what we imagine it to be. 

26. Beauty is present in all creation, but the dangerous fact is that, because we human beings are often cut off from the Divine Energy, we allow ourselves to be influenced by what other people think. 

27. Beauty exists not in sameness but in difference. 

28. They were trying to reflect what came from outside, forgetting that the brightest light comes from within. 

29. Enthusiasm is the Sacred Fire. 

29.... ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you. 

31. Only the person who accepts God's plan with humility and courage knows that he is on the right road. 

To be continued.... 

Sunday, November 13, 2022

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho

My favorite lines from this book are the ff:

¬ Fear reaches only to the point where the unavoidable begins; from there on, it loses its meaning. 

¬The meaning of Life is whatever we want it to be.

¬ It is not difficult to rebuild a life. It is enough to be aware that we go on with the same strength that we had before, and to use that in our favor. 

¬ If you have a past that dissatisfies you, forget it now. Concentrate only on those moments in which you achieved what you desired, and this strength will help you to accomplish what you want. 

¬ God's motives are always beyond our understanding. 

¬ Remember the good things you have done. They'll give you courage. 

¬ The pain we feel will never go away, but work will help us to bear it. Suffering has no strength to wound a weary body. 

¬ A child can always teach an adult three things : to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires. 

¬ The brave are always stubborn. 

¬ Only those men and women with the sacred flame in their hearts had the courage to confront him. And they alone knew the path back to His love, for they understood that tragedy was not punishment but challenge. 

¬ The destruction of the city and the death of the woman he loved had been necessary for Elijah to understand that he too must have a name. And at that momenthe named his life LIBERATION. 

¬ He enemy is only a pretext to test our strength. 

¬ "Can a man cast from his heart the pain of a loss?" 
"No. But he can find joy in something won. "

¬ A warrior is always aware of what is worth fighting for. 


Short Reflection:

As we continue to grow physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, there are parts in our lives where we struggle on our choices. We don't know where to go, where to begin, what to do, how to do the things expected from us and even who to trust. Seems like we're trapped in a tunnel, where looking back is scary but looking ahead is scarier, and there's no way end.

These things we undergo are not easy to heed, but fret not, and stay calm. His reasons may be beyond our grasp, but all will be well in His own time. Let's not give in to our doubts, anxiety and confusions that can hamper our goals and can ruin our relationships with anyone.

STAY STRONG and KEEP THE FAITH! 🙏 ❤️ 


Friday, November 11, 2022

Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird

One of the best books I have ever read! And the lines from the book that totally caught me were:


1. "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

2. "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It is whom you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway, and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

3. ".... a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they're still human."

4. "In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but these are the facts of life." 

5. "Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced."

6. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

7. “People in their right minds never take pride in their talents.”

8. “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

9. “Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.”

10. “How could they do it, how could they?” “I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it—seems that only children weep.”

11. Atticus says you can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family, an’ they’re still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge ‘em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don’t.

12. “Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in.”

13. "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is a trash.''

14. "... she just fell down in the dirt. Just fell down in the dirt like a giant with a big foot just came along and stepped on her. Just.... like you'd step on an ant."

15. "Democracy... Equal rights for all, special privileges for none! "

16. "... the Jews have been persecuted since the beginning of history, even driven out of their country. It's one of the most terrible stories in history."

17. "It's not okay to hate anybody."

18. 'How can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?'

19. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

20. "....he was really nice....' 

        "Most people are Scout, when you finally see them."



Short Reflection: 

Sometimes, we judge people merely by appearance, status and background. We are so blinded by our own views, curiosity and standards without considering others. We forgot, they are also human; they have hearts and mind, too. 

Fairness may be lack in many places in so many ways, but may justice always prevail in every country for there are many of us who are hungry for it. 




Monday, October 31, 2022

Penang, Malaysia

This Malaysian state on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia has two parts; the Penang Island, where George Town (the capital city) is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. These two are connected by two bridges; the Penang Bridge (13.5km long) and the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge (the 2nd longest oversea bridge in Southeast Asia at 24km). 


(Under a Penang Sky- an abstract sculpture in the "old town" area of George Town created in 2009 by the sculptor, Mikuchi Mitsuo.) 

Our travel was mainly for business, however, since we just had to stay there for 3 days, we made the most out of it even for a short period of time. 

📍 Tropical Spice Garden
A tropical landscape with over 500 species of flora and fauna, plus garden tours and cooking courses. 

"Matchy matchy" 😄- my hair color and the color of the tree
Buying tickets in advance via online is also available. As I've known, its current Admission fee is RM15 per person and the rate for its guided tour is RM25. 
# Teluk Bahang Eco-Park
This 32-hectare forest eco park is perfect for hiking, but as you can see, we were not dressed for hiking especially me, since that site wasn't part of the real plan. Hahaha So, can you imagine the pains all over my feet and legs? 😂 

#Batik Factory 
What a sight! By far, this is one of the favorite things I've ever seen! I really love how they do the batik printing. It's so intricate and unique. And yes, it's so expensive! Hahaha

#Around George Town City (first thing we did before going somewhere else) 
I like their bicycle rides. 😊 
George Town is known for its British Colonial Buildings, Chinese shophouses and mosques. But beyond the old town area, it is a modern city with shopping malls and skyscrapers. Plus they have nice beaches! We only saw them as we passed by on the road, but unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go for a swim. 


#Chocolate and Coffee Museum 

It was previously called The Chocolate Boutique.

My eyes were literally like these "😍" when we got there. Haha 

They even had spicy chocolates. Amazing! But I am not sure if it's still in operation at present. :(

# Binge Eating
😋Roti
We ate roti late at night. Kinda Midnight snack! 😁 Not our first time to eat roti though, but of course Malaysia has its own taste and recipe. Theirs are also good!

😋Noodles 
For the name of curiosity, I bought this noodle soup and tbh, not my taste. Hehe I forgot its name. 😂

For your reference 😊 (Prices may have changed already.) 

Penang, Malaysia is truly one of the places I want to visit again! I really love the vintage vibes of the old town, its beaches and eco parks, as well as the modern part of the city. The state itself is a whole package. 


Monday, October 24, 2022

Phang Nga

Sometimes, I miss Thailand and it results to browsing photos. Haha

I would love to share my first long-travel in Thailand way back November 2012, my trip to Phang Nga with my cousin. Travel time from Bangkok City to Pha Nga province takes 12-14hrs by bus. Some people prefer trains, but it takes longer. 

It was an unplanned travel since a colleague of mine who was in Singapore wasn't allowed to travel that time so, lucky me she gave me her beach resort reservation. 😊
We stayed at Takolaburi Cultural Resort exactly located at Pakarang Cape, Takua Pa, Phang Nga. It has an outdoor pool, fitness center and an outdoor tennis court. Its Jedi Restaurant serves international cuisine,  and I must say their food tasted good. My cousin and I enjoyed their food a lot. 
The day we arrived, we walked around the area and we were so dumbfounded by the remnants of the deadliest-tsunami-recorded-in-history way back in 2004. Some hotels even the one beside Takolaburi Resort were very wrecked. (I can't find the photos of those.😕) In fact, the Takolaburi Resort was also very ruined by the tsunami, but it was rebuilt, unlike the other resorts in the area that were just abandoned. That was why we never talked about it at night especially on our first night because we had goosebumps thinking there were so many people who died there during the disaster. Naki "marites" po kasi kami😁 with the staff if how was the resort and the people in the area during that time since it mainly hit the coastal areas of Phang Nga and other nearby coastal provinces of Phuket and some coastal areas of Krabi. 
To make our stay in the province more memorable, we booked for a Phang Nga Bay tour. 🏝️❤️

It took about an hour by van from Takua Pa to Khaolak City. Good thing the tour included the hotel pick-up and  drop-off. 

1st stop: Koh Panyee
This floating village is notable for its structure being built on stilts by Malay fishermen. It is a pretty small community; with a small school and a clinic. You may also tour the area and shop a little since they have souvenir shops. 

2nd stop: Koh Tapu
This is popularly known as James Bond Island after the movie, James Bond: The Golden Gun, was filmed at the site. 
3rd stop: Sea Caves 
We had our kayaking, and I was surprised that our guide told us it was off season because actually, there were many people especially Chinese tourists. I can't imagine the place then during peak season! Hahaha
4th stop: Monkey Temple 
It was one of the  biggest caves I've ever seen! And the Buddha inside the cave was one of the biggest leaning Buddha I've ever seen as well. 
As we went further inside, we could see huge stalagmites and stalactites. 
Oh, yes! There were monkeys at the temple, but I just managed to take one shot of one of them.🙊😀 
After heading back to our resort, we stopped by for a while at the waterfall, which unfortunately, i forgot its name and i can't find my photos of the waterfalls anymore😑. 

That year, the tour cost Baht2,500/pax, inclusion of transpo,lunch, and island hopping tour. 👌 The stopover at the waterfall was actually not included in the tour. The agency was just kind enough to add that destination in our tour. ❤️







Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Local Beverages

To continue the Food and Drinks Fair in San Vicente, Palawan, here are the different beverages created by the participants:

JUICE 

Local Tropical Juice 
Cucumber Honey Lemon

Blue Ternate 

SHAKE

Smoky Coconut with Cashew Butter Nut 

Island Splash 

Crust Shake


Bhamentuce (Banana- Lemon-Lettuce) Shake


ALCOHOLIC DRINK 

Long Beach Punch

Local Tropical Cocktail 

San Vic Sour

Happy Drinking in San Vicente! :) 💓 

Friday, September 30, 2022

San Vicente's Local Food and Drinks Fair

The LGU-SAN VICENTE through the Office of the Municipal Tourism initiated an activity which gathers its local chefs, cooks or those who are into cooking and/or into preparing beverages to not only sell their products but to create local dishes (main ingredients are just found in the vicinity) and drinks that could be called  their own; something unique that is NOT FOUND in other places, and could be eventually marketed and be part of its Food Tourism.
Competition in different food and beverage categories were very interesting and exciting as the participants  showcased their very own recipes in the public.  
Check out these dishes during the first day of the fair:

APPETIZERS:
MAIN COURSE 


     Fisherman's Red Catch

 
    Seafood Rice in Bamboo
  DESSERT 
       
        Banana Sticky Rice

Looking forward to different beverages tomorrow! 😊 


T H R O W B A C K s

Remember the days when:  you were awakened by the shout of your mother, who told you to get up early so you could take a shower, eat, and go...