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December 26, 2013

Variety Of Interesting Activities In Canada

Being a large country, Canada has vast lands and magnificent sites to see making is rich in both domestic and foreign tourism. From the climatic conditions for the rare species of animals that live here this is a country worth visiting at least once in a life time.


A glimpse of Ontario alone is enough to get outdoor sports lovers quickly booking a tour with their local travel agent but this is not all that this destination offers. Using the satellite application on your Smartphone you can have a glimpses shot of what we will experience if we choose to visit the various destinations in Canada. It is easier now more than ever to select a tour package that suits you because all the information needed to make this decision is available on the internet. Do not listen to other people for information about Canada anymore because the internet now offers that service in a detailed and unbiased manner.

It is easy to make online reservations when you want to book a trip making use of the time you have at a certain place. So the next time you find yourself in Canada either visiting friends or on official assignment just type the activities you wish to engage in while there and you will have a variety of tour agents with quotations of their packages. No budget is too small nor too big for the Canadian tourist because there will always be new places to visit and new things to experience. Be sure to tell the tour company when you want to stop to record events on your cam coder because with the many activities they won’t bring themselves to.

Martha’s little helpers

Martha pulled out a bundle of burlap curtains from a box. We started hanging them in her living room. Her great new Living room was all brand new except for the sofa that was from our grandmother. Martha is my dearest and oldest friend, so when she finally bought a house I volunteered to design her new Home and a couple of our friends helped out.

It was going to be a great house. The price was a bit steep for my taste and budget but still the opulence of the neighborhood is what the overpricing was all about. Martha could definitely afford the luxury being the first lady country manager of Dell she definitely deserved this.

She was so glad her girls were there to help her out with the move in and designing, because what Martha had corporate plethora, she lacked in homemaking abilities.

How Chocolates Came To Be

What would the world be without chocolates? Imagine that. If it weren’t for the creation of chocolate, the world would be cold, boring, and meaningless because chocolate is one of the reasons that the world is a sweet place to live in. For many, it gave meaning to life. When you are down in Dumpster's, you can hide away with a box of chocolates. If you are up in the mood for a celebration, chocolates can make you high. When you are in love, an outward expression can be given chocolates. Clearly, the world is a better place to live in thanks to chocolate.

But have you ever wondered where chocolate really originated? Belgium is known across the world to have produced the most delicious chocolates. But did it start there? As far as history takes you, it actually came from Mexico dating back to 1100 BC. Cacao trees have been cultivated in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America for almost 3 millennia already. It was known to be Nahuatl to the Mesoamericans including the Aztecs which meant bitter water. Cacao seeds are so bitter that you need to ferment it before it is dry, peeled, and finally grounded. This is what you refer to as chocolate in its pure form. This is then usually put into a liquefied form and molded with or without the use of other ingredients. This has become a beverage or an ingredient to food for the Mesoamericans.

But the Europeans put another kick into it. They sweetened and fattened it by using sugar and milk. Mesoamericans were not aware of such. Rather than drinking it or using it as an ingredient, they tagged it as a dessert. And that is a short history of how the chocolate came to be. Cheers to both the Mesoamericans and Europeans for a job well done!

Dyslexia is a fact and yet not a cause

My nephew gave me a sterling silver bracelet for my birthday. It was really sweet because my sister said he saved all of his weekend money for three whole months just to give me the bracelet. I was really touched by his effort. He was really a special kid that had a good heart.

I know that Dylan will make it big someday because not only is he very sweet he is also a very determined kid. The bracelet is just one thing, but his determination to get high grades despite his dyslexia was something we are all proud of.

Dylan may not be the smartest kid, but his sheer determination is what makes him the most amazing little kid in the world. And he’s only 11.

December 24, 2013

A Small Yet Wonderful Instrument

Music has always been known to calm the soul and relax the body. It always gives you that amazing feeling of being in the mountains with the sweet smelling grasses, the beautiful trees and the cooling breeze. That feeling of being in the same setting like in the movie, The Sound of Music, is exactly what I was referring to.

When you play a good new selmer tenor saxophone at musicians friend, it is like you are listening to a natural whistle that can summon the gentle wind that puts you in a trance of being one with nature. Some psychologists say that the kind of sound that this instrument produces calms animals down and gives people a lot of hold when it comes to self-control. It is a small and wonderful instrument.

December 17, 2013

South America's culture and people

Many from inhabitants of the South America are indigenous, therefore their culture is full of traditions and customs kept unaltered during the centuries.

The indigenous South American culture is having its roots during the Mayan civilization. Later on, the colonists of the European culture added their own cultural flavor on top of the historic heritage of the indigenous people. The African culture of the African slaves brought here by the European settlers has influenced the culture of the South America too. More recently the modern culture has its own contribution, mostly coming from the North America but also from other parts of the world.

The South American culture is strong, diverse, autonomous and reticent to change. People here are very proud of their roots. As an effect of the colonial period the vast majority of South Americans are Catholics. Usually the indigenous population of the South America is friendly and open with the foreigners but at times they may avoid contact with outsiders because of the long history of oppression by the colonial powers. The South American culture is very rich.

Around three quarters of South America’s population live in cities, some in the mega cities such as Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Lima and Santiago. However, in the Andes people are still keeping their way of life from the past, based on the respect for the mother nature. African Americans in the region still dance and play music with joy and great passion. There are still farmers to live connected to the Earth resources, people are still creating clothes and hats in a traditional way. South America is home of a mix of races and cultures and in time those diverse influences have grown together in a symbiosis of beliefs, customs and traditions.

The key to getting noticed

Lisa invited us over for the launch of her new office. A marketing firm broke away from the biggest Marketing firm in Manila. When we got there, we noticed the sleek building she constructed to house a marketing firm, advertising firm and events specialist group. It was uber trendy, we were enjoying the party and kind of wondered if we were here for Anta lighting because it was everywhere and it made her whole office Interiors laminate amidst us.

I hope the people here appreciate Lisa’s efforts to keep up with the trend. She is indeed a great Marketing woman to have. Just look at how spectacular her launch party is. No one can go crazy with too many pizzazzes I guess.

Lessons learned the hard way

My diabetes is pretty much the reason for my depression these days. Being faced with mortality is no easy topic to deal with. I know I am not alone and yet a lot of times I still feel I am suffering alone. That being so leaves me restless in the evenings after a hard day’s work and feeling my legs cramped up.

Great medications like Metformine, Insulin and Clopidogrel allows me to believe that I won’t end up like my mother who lost her leg because she was not taking medication. I for one used to believe that alternative medicine can help me prevent diabetes, but then what happened to Mama opened my eyes to it. The clopidogrel cost plus the Insulin intake can lead to prevention of amputation. I know that now, sadly it is too late for Mama.

Keep your travel healthy

Whenever we are travelling we must be in our best health. You cannot fun whenever one in getting sick in your group that’s why when you go on a vacation especially overseas.

Jot down your health history

This can come in handy especially when you travel on a country where English is not used too often. You would not have problems explaining your medical history since it’s all there and the health care provider can make better judgement of your condition. Write down your vaccinations, recent illness, medications, allergies, your blood type and the contact information of the people you know in case of emergency.

Food safety

We cannot resist eating some the native delicacies, so whenever we travel we quickly try their food without thinking what kind of preparation has been done. And if your stomach is not made of iron then you’ll probably end up having diarrhea. The same goes with the water. It is likely safe to drink water coming from sealed bottle, or purified.

Basic

Whenever we travel, we sometimes forget to include our personal safety because we are so preoccupied having fun and taking pictures of the beautiful sceneries. Never walk in alleys, also don’t try to wander around secluded places, you might get mugged or worse. Pay attention to traffic rules. Each country or other places have different traffic rules. Some government are strict about it, so if you tend to oversee the traffic rules in your country you might want to think twice when you are travelling.

Silent rivers run deep indeed

He plays the guitar like he was the legendary Jimi Hendrix. The guitarist and his instrument playing amazing guitar solos reminiscent of Satriani. Patrick Almeda is indeed a rare musician to encounter. Not your typical crazy rock star, but a more grounded, IT employee, gamer rocker. He lives for his music and yet lives the life like any ones.

I first saw him play in Strumms along Jupiter Street. He was fixing his hughes and kettner fs1 at music123 and talking to his guys about their next song. I thought he was one of those cover musicians, so it kind of blew my mind when I heard him play.

Patrick’s legendary skill did not need marketing, he is very well respected for being just that, a great guitarist.

Keeping up with the times in your Kitchen Interior Design

Designing your Kitchen must specifically have the Kitchen triangle at a minimum area. The kitchen triangle composes of the sink, the ref and the cooking area. Keeping the three in short distances is very important because it allows the cook, the chef, a convenient way to serve up a fabulous feast. Doing a parallel workstation is not recommended, however if you are living in a small condo like us, it is but inevitable.

Swanky contemporary kitchen cabinets can be purchased easily nowadays. Online or by mail, the options are limitless. I remember an episode in Melissa and Joey, wherein Mel Burke encounters a Cabinet Designer who was Italian and very Romantic. Like a Picasso, he swooped her up with poetic words while designing her kitchen cabinet. It was hilarious.

Roald Dahl young adults favorite author

Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, are to name a couple of books from the ingenious mind of Roald Dahl. He is the most sought after young adult author. Frowned upon by many because of his black and white stories. A great enough reason to be desired by teenagers with a lot of angst. I am one of those teenagers, well was one of those teenagers. But up until today I still read Matilda, still watch the Danny Devito Movie. And I, still ,always cry at the end.

His views on how we feel are very simple. He was brave enough to point it out. Psyching us to feel we belong to a million other individuals who love him. That each and every one of us was touched by his characters gave us the link that we hunger. That weird as we all are, we are not alone.

“And a strange sight it was, this tiny dark-haired person sitting there with her feet nowhere near touching the floor, totally absorbed in the wonderful adventures of Pip and old Miss Havisham and her cobwebbed house and by the spell of magic that Dickens the great story-teller had woven with his words” – Matilda by Roald Dahl

Summer time with the kids

Keeping the kids busy during summer is pretty much a job on its own. School is great for honing their minds, but Home is where everything is instilled. Summers are best times to strengthen their values, skills and well yes values.

A lot of things can be learned online, but of course taking their time away online is what everyone is preaching nowadays. Kids need to go back to running around outdoors, enjoying the air outdoors, nature and of course the afternoon sun.

Order wood craft supplies online and spend an afternoon in the park going through projects. Take a picnic basket and read out loud with the kids participating. Take a road trip to Nuvali and enjoy their manmade lake. Do anything as long as it keeps their mind off social media which we know so well is very addictive. It is our job to do so.

Taking Care of your art

Taking care of your guitar of course is a great way to keep abreast with your art. Being able to play beautiful melodies must come from hard work with honing your skill and caring for the instrument that makes those great tunes.

Always make sure to clean and polish your guitar, regular use oftentimes lead to dirt on the wood which you need to polish with great furniture polish. A standard guitar tuning at musicians friend will exemplify your guitar’s tone, if not retain it. Always keep it handy especially for road trips. Not unless you plan to buy the foldable guitar.

Tightening of the screws will enable you to keep away those rattling when you are playing your instruments, a no no especially if you are making music, not noise. Metal parts easily get rusty so keep that rust away and always check for the beginnings of it.

Love your Art, work that Art and keep that Art going.

The Tuna Sandwich Delight

Cooking has its ups and downs which you can easily notice from how the food ended up. The beautiful ingredients that you have to chop into teeny tiny pieces end up looking harassed if you are not careful. The delicious oil searing through the fat, are messy to clean up afterwards. The tender meat that should be cooked evenly has to be fresh or else you end up with a tough one. All these things are what make up the love hate relationship I have with cooking. Now I know why Chefs prefer tuna sandwiches at home. They don’t have assistants to chop the onions, clean the cauldrons and even tenderize the meat.

Tuna sandwiches are easy to make, pop open a can of tuna mix it with soy mayo, grab a couple of bread, lightly lay down the lettuce and tomato, and for zest a couple of onions. Voila Tuna sandwich heaven with leftover spread for breakfast.

Our St. James Renewal Praying Meeting Choir

My choir group in St. James Renewal movement is the best. We have gone from a simple Prayer Meeting Choir to a nationwide phenomenon. Lucky to have Melissa Silvana with us I guess but her humility prevents us from giving her credit. She said her voice is only good when she sings amongst us. Such a lovely person.

Every Thursday we would meet up in the lower chapel, armed with our choir folders and our love for God. The Church is then turned into a spectacular arena filled with the most amazing melodies. Our 15 minutes of fame in Chanel 2’s morning show turned into a lifelong showbiz because everyone wanted us to sing in their parties.

With Christmas Parties on a roll, our weekend schedule is packed. We sang in churches, corporate parties and even the Malacanang. Amazingly, we don’t feel tired after every event.

Ella’s Treats is on its way to everybody’s home

Ella’s Treats is doing pretty well for a home based Cookie Business. Husband and wife Anne and Elrond have done a good job sourcing out the best suppliers for their packaging. Because having the best product is half the sojourn into the food business, great marketing will surely get you all the way there.

Having artsy friends did not hurt either. Their labels were designed by the best graphic designer in the country. Godfather to their daughter Ella, it was a sure freebie. They also saw a click here for cheap label printing that really worked well with their costing.

Packaged and ready for sales everything was uphill from there. Of course, crazy price hikes bumps had to happen and the macadamia nuts altered their costing. With their great packaging costs savings they were able to hurdle the humps and get back on track.

City of Pines on top of the Northern Mountains

Baguio is called the city of pines by a lot of people. Coined by the Manilenos who finds pine trees to be exhilarating and refined. The cool breeze of the mountain is what makes it so popular, graced by the quaint houses on the sloping hills. Breathtaking views of the strawberry fields and the infamous parks. Beginning with our beloved and memorable Burnham Park.

Burnham Park has this very special activity that Millions have flocked over to do, biking. Even if it was just on that small strip, biking in it was fun. Although I don’t think I would be doing that now, as a kid though it meant the whole world. Mama found it hard to pull us away from it so she would peruse us with lunch or spaghetti at The Solibao restaurant. Simple fun and ask anyone from manila, they would have the exact memory of Baguio. It just goes to show how popular Burnham Park is for the kids.

My Life in the Corporate World

I used to work for Caltex Philippines. It was one of those summer jobs that I am proud to put in my resume. Doing encoding for one of the biggest names in Philippines Economical Scene was exciting. Grunt work, yet still satisfactory because I got to wear corporate clothes.

I also did some temporary secretarial work for them. I loved it so much, but of course, I knew I couldn’t be one forever. I loved print presentation folders because I get a sneak peek at my bosses minds and works. I learned a lot from those presentations than I did in school.

Eventually I had to go back to school, taking up Interior design, ironic. I was no corporate duckie, I just loved the idea I guess. Designing is still my passion, creating art, but it did not hurt that I had that experience to add in to my data based mind.

Modern Business Plan for a globalized world

When Barbara said she was going to start her own furniture company I quickly became the pessimist she really did not need. I apologized of course but still kept my opinion on the table. I told her the difficulties of running a furniture retail store let alone a furniture manufacturing company. She said the economy in the US is getting back on their feet and a lot are looking for great furniture manufacturers once more.

A year later, her business was doing quite well. It was incredible, restoring my faith in retail. Her methods were pretty modernized, using a lot of online design tool, globalized marketing and local reliable labor. Honest investors were hard to find, but she was able to team up with a great board.

It was no easy feat, but she said she owed me a lot for the advices I gave her. Having a pessimistic friend gave her the drive to never take her eyes off the ball.

My techie husband and his toys

My husband loves Dell. It is the bespoke product in computers. Masterfully crafted he said. And we were but glad to hear that they were able to bounce back from the horrific recession and will continue to make computers in their Dell tour de force quality.

We have kept our dell laptop despite the tablet craze. Selling it would be sacrilege. We even bought a dell inspiron 1525 battery - batteryheads.com for back up. Yes, we love our Dell. Husby has gone Asus with his Transformer 100 touch screen atom just a month ago. I wanted to buy a Samsung Ativ, but he beat me to it and turned Asus. It is running great, although some of the little rubbers fell; still the t100 is running quite well.

Our stress free Condo lifestyle

After 2 years of Condo living, it is everything I expected it to be. The easy cleaning, the simple tiny furniture, the close proximity to everything. My husband and I are used to living in houses. Big spaces, huge parking, helpers. But choosing to live independent of helpers with little cleaning (hence the small space) was a practical and sound decision. And thank goodness it was. As a couple with no kids we have the liberty to eat out or eat take outs. Back in our old house, delivery was scarce and choices limited.

We could have easily cooked but as good as we were with gourmet dishes, we did not have the luxury of time and there was just the two of us. I am quite happy here, with the views of skyscrapers and the noise of other people keeping everything quite real. We don’t know when we will transfer again, but one thing is for sure, we are settled in like and we have no plans of leaving.

Interior Design your Bedroom

Being able to come home to a beautifully designed bedroom is the best happy hour you can give yourself without alcohol. To be able to relax after a hard day’s work is not only a want but a need. Keep the walls painted in a nice toned down shade, like providence blue not baby blue paint palette. The curtains can be livened up a bit even going bold with quizzical patterns. Just as long as they have a sweet relaxing color.

The mattress is the most important part of the bedroom. Investing in a great upholstery foam for your bed is probably the best gift you can give yourself and or your wife. Not only is it for your psyche but also for your physical health.

Lots of pillows are not necessary, it adds coziness sure, but a better option is great lighting, with a proper dimmer, you can give your room a cozy hotel room ambiance in no time.

My Husband’s 40th birthday bash

The birthday party was a smashing success. They all admired my Home, the interior design I did and the Christmas decors I put up. I had put a lot of beautiful poinsettias along the banisters and placed a lot of led candles all around the house. I lit up the whole place with red, gold and white. As Christmas should always be, not purple, not blue, but a beautiful classic Christmas color motif.

They liked my outfit as well. I designed it too, accentuated by my necklace from Reeds.com. It was my husband’s 40th birthday, I wanted him and them to remember this beautiful milestone in his life. Without kids, this was our family, his friends. Their support is part of our lives and we want them part of the greatest event in ours.

December 9, 2013

Learning French Cuisine and Trade

The city of Paris in France is built in the center of the most magnificent tourist attractions of this country owing to the fact that it is home to the Eiffel tower. All visitors to France must pass through Paris to see for themselves this amazing work or architecture.


The climatic conditions of France are appreciated by visitors who love winter sports which are held on the island of Corsica for its vastness. If you are visiting France for the fast time pack an extra bag with warm clothing to keep away the extreme cold during winter. Most tour operators will give you information on where to rent ski gear so that you can also participate. First time skiers find this sport thrilling and the more they become stable in the snow the more they want to ski. When it is not winter in this destination then it’s time to enjoy the beaches of the French rivers or the Atlantic Ocean.

France has a rich culture of cheese and the world’s finest wines and people flock here every day to carry with them a taste of this brilliance. So the key is wine making in France that nearly all families have a heritage in wine pressing, packaging and selling. When you want to taste real wine that is made from natural food items then come to France and learn the difference of taste according to the age of the wine. You might need to bring with you a camera and tape recorder to take lessons in healthy food and beverage making.