Juice Up Your Life 101: Maroon Juice

                                                   photo taken by me :-)

This juice is an absolute yum to start your day. I made it this morning with 2 peeled sugar beets, 2 peeled large carrots, 1 pc large cucumber, and 1 jicamah (singkamas). I usually start my day with this drink. 

                                               photo taken from google image

Sugarbeet is rich in folate, manganese, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus. It contains nutrients rich in antioxidants that helps boost immune system and helps fight against heart disease as well as phytonutrients that has anti-inflammatory properties. It helps detoxifying the liver too.

                                                 photo taken from google image

Jicama or popularly known here in the Philippines as singkamas is my favorite vegetable to add on to any juice. It's like my seasoning to every juice that I make. It can do magic even to the bitter arugula. Its yummy taste blends well with pretty much everything. It is rich in sodium, iron, protein, Vitamin C and calcium. 

                                                        photo taken from google image

Carrots are one of the most healing foods available. It is an excellent source of pro-vitamin A, vitamins C,D,E,K,B1 and B6. It is rich in biotin, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and some trace minerals as well as phytonutrients that promotes healing. 

                                                      photo taken from google image

I love to munch cucumber sprinkled with little himalayan salt and pepper. It is very refreshing and is rich in vitamins C, A, potasium, manganese, folate, magnesium and trace minerals. It soothes irritations and inflammation. 

Oh well, that's a load of info! You don't need to memorize the nutritional facts of each vegetable or fruit in your juices, but I just put it here anyway, just to show you how nutritious this juice is made of, and  how good it can do to your body. Now who would prefer colas over fresh juice?

Cheers! :-)

Juice Up You Life 101: Fruits and Vegetables

Have you chosen the right juicer for you?  You may be very eager to use it, but hold on it for a while. :-) It's not yet time. Let's first check on what to juice. There are two kinds of juices that you can make - a fruit juice

or a vegetable juice.

Most of them can be mixed, however there are certain combinations that result to unpleasant tastes.  What to combine in making a juice deserves a separate blog.  So I'll be blogging about it in my next post. For now, let me just remind you that not all fruits and vegetables are created equal! Yes. So we have to be careful of what kind of fruits or vegetables we are juicing. Remember, the primary reason to gulp in juices daily is to take in something that is packed with nutrients. If you are not being careful of what to juice, you might be taking in a drink concentrated with herbicides and pesticides, thus defeating the very purpose of juicing. Organic fruits and vegetables should be the first option. In Metro Manila, organic fruits and vegetables are available in Market Market and Salcedo Village in Makati during weekends. But don't lose hope if there is  no organic produce available in your place. The next best thing to do if fruits and vegetables are not organic is to  wash your produce with running water for a while or dip it, of not more than 15 minutes, with water plus salt. Also, fruits such as apples and pears must be peeled and deseeded before juicing because those are being waxed. You don't want your juice mixed with unseen wax, right? With crops such as sugarbeets, carrots, jicamah (singkamas), radish and sweet potatoes, I preferred them peeled if not scrub thoroughly to avoid soil contamination to my juice. 

Are we now ready to make juice?  :-)

P.S. I've been swamped with work today, I can't wait to hit my bed right after finishing this blog. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my site. I really appreciate it. 

Juice Up You Life 101: Start With the Right Juicer

Are you thirsty of fully loaded fresh juice? The easiest way to grab one is to buy a freshly squeezed orange juice like Del Monte orange juice.

              photo taken from google image

That's available in any S&R chains

         photo taken from google image

There are juice bars that you can find inside the mall too, such as fresh sugar cane, coconut water and even fruit juices. I find these stores convenient especially when I'm not in the house and I could not make my own juice.  But that's quite expensive if you are planning to make it a daily habit.  Each glass will cost you 60-110 pesos. So the best thing to do, if you commit to chug in fresh juices daily is to purchase a juicer that suits your budget. Yes, a juicer NOT a blender. You'll have a 24/7 juice bar right at the comfort of your kitchen. If you searched on the internet, there are many kinds of juicers available in the market. Depending primarily on your budget, you have a wide array of options. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. But here's how I chose mine. 

There are three general kinds of juicer: Centrifugal type, Masticating type and Hydraulic Press type. 

Centrifugal type of juicer usually is the cheapest.  I started with this kind of juicer when I was a student. I bought mine in SM appliance center and cost me 2,500 pesos. However the downfall of these inexpensive juicers is they usually produce a wet pulp. Meaning, there are juices that were not extracted properly and many enzymes and nutrients put to waste.  In my experience, with 2 fuji apples I can make 1 glass of juice with the use of hydraulic type or masticating type, but with centrifugal type of juicer, I'll have to use 5 apples. Moreover, it operates in high RPM, meaning it produces heat while extracting the juice. It destroys the enzymes that we want in our juices.

       photo taken from google image

Omega juicer is one of the expensive type of centrifugal juicers but still produce wet pulp.

Masticating juicer is the one I'm currently using. It's not too cheap, but not as expensive as the hydraulic press type of juicer. It is known for its maximum juice extraction and squeezes out more juice. It operates in low RPM thus preserving most of the enzymes and nutrients.

         photo taken from google image

Hydraulic Press Type of juicer like the Norwalk Juicer is claimed to be the best. It produces 50-100% more than any other juicers. It extracts juices even from the difficult to extract vegetables such as brocolli, wheatgrass, sugarcane and many others. It preserves nutrients to every juice you made from this machine. The downfall of this juicer is it's VERY expensive. It costs around 100,000 pesos!!! But if you are interested in this kind of juicer, you may check this link: Norwalk Juicer

If you want to explore the wide array of juicers check this site. Juicers at harvest

I hope at this point, you aren't discourage yet of the prices of the juicer. It is worth the price. Like me, you can start buying the affordable centrifugal type, then save up so you can invest on masticating type of juicer. If you invested expensive gadgets such as celphones, laptops, cars,  why not invest juicer? You are investing not just for your own health but you can share it with your loved ones as well. 

So, shopping time guys? :-) Let me know what juicer you get. :-)

On my next blog, I'll be talking about what fruit or vegetable to juice and how to prepare them. :-)

Juice Up Your Life 101: Chug! Chug! Chug!

         Are you a soda type of person, a juice type of person, a water type of person or a coffee or tea type of person? I was once a coffee addict.

                                                  photo taken from samraff's photobucket

I consumed 3-5 glasses of coffee in a day. It kept me awake, yes, but I had my frequent attacked of hyperacidity in addition to the nasty 'hang-over' feeling few hours after. Then I changed to teas.

                                              photo taken from google image

I'm more comfortable drinking tea, and until now, if I need to be alert, I chug a cup. I especially love mancha green tea with soy milk. But because teas are diuretics, I don't feel vitalize after drinking one.

Then I learned the goodness of fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

                                                    photo taken from google image

Every glass of juice is refreshing, in a way that colas and other high paid ad drinks can never do. Aside from its yummy taste, it's packed with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytochemicals. All needed to revitalize your body. A drink with good taste packed with nutrients, who wouldn't drink, right? 

The juice that I'm talking here is not the concentrated ones available in supermarkets, or the falsely claimed "all-natural' juices commercially packed. How can a juice be fresh and natural when it's already packed? I'm talking about the juice that is freshly made. Yes, the ones you made in your home. 

In my next blog, I will talk about what juicer to get to have 24/7 juice bar right at the comfort of your kitchen. :-)

If you have inquiries, just leave a comment, and I'll try to cover them in my succeeding blogs. :-)

Cheers! :-)


  

Good Bye My UNP

That's my dependable UNP, well at least until today. :-( I can't help but being emotional of letting go my very first owned car. So pardon me for being soppy. I am having separation anxiety! He was my ever loyal companion to my every adventure. Most of my joy rides to memorable places were with him. Places such as Tagaytay, Baguio, even all the way to Ilocos, he never failed me. He even provided a dressing room whenever I needed to change. The trunk was my clothing cabinet slash bookshelf when I was a student. During internship I used to sleep inside my UNP when I needed a nap. He was the lucky car too. I drove him when I took my board exam and when we went out to celebrate after passing the boards. He served his purpose very well for all these times except lately, when he become a financial burden for its maintenance. :-( That made me come up a hurtful decision to sell him. This car is very sentimental to me. I guess this time, I have to let him go :-( But memories of him will surely be treasured. 

Good bye my UNP!  

Juice Up Your Life 101

Few years back, I learned how beneficial fresh fruit and vegetable juices are in our body. I tried it myself and felt the goodness brought to every glass of fresh juice I chugged. I'd like to share this good news to everyone, hence the series Juice Up Your Life will be posted starting tomorrow, God willing :-)

With the gazillion processed foods that we took in, and the unfathomable number of ways it brought harm into our body, juicing is one brilliant way to reverse some of the damages that have been incurred by unhealthy eating habits. Juicing fresh organic vegetables and fruits provides concentrated nutrients - vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytochemicals and antioxidants, that you can't find in any other source. 

 I was so interested that I started researching and reading about it. Juice Fasting And Detoxification By Cherie Calbom is one of my favorites. ( I can't upload a photo of the book now :-()

Grab a copy of that book. It's very informative. Now if you don't have time to read the whole book, you may follow my blog series Juice Up Your Life 101. :-)) Ohh I think the latter is a better option! ;-)  I'll be posting everything  you need to know about Juicing including what juicer to buy, how to prepare healthy juices everyday and benefits that you can get from it. Feel free to leave a comment or questions or clarifications that you want me to discuss further. You  may tweet your inquiries as well: @mjgotardo_md

Cheers! :-)

Yearly Overhaul

I went to The Medical City for the yearly executive check-up of one of my patients. I strongly recommend yearly overhaul to all my patients aging 35years old and above. I couldn't emphasize more how extremely important for everyone to have yearly executive up. There are diseases such as cancer that can be cured with early detection. And the only way to treat such diseases is to catch it early by way of  having yearly check up. Health should never be taken for granted. Never.

I personally recommend The Medical City to my patients because they have extensive executive check-up packages, have one of the best patient care services and is the cleanest hospital, that when you're inside, you won't feel like you are in a hospital. You know what I mean? There's no nasty distinct hospital smell, broken chairs and rusty ceilings or messy nurse stations. And you can't encounter irritable staff. Everyone is very accommodating. At least based on my experience so far. Look at the lobby in their Wellness Center, very hotel-like. Nice.

How organized the extraction set, right?

And competent staff as well.

So while my patient was in a procedure, I stayed at their Wellness Center lounge and this was my view:

And you will be greeted with this garden at the lobby:

And oh, how I cannot not miss to show you a painting in one of the doctor's clinic that we visited:

I was drawn to this painting. It's very modest, very artistically lady-like that somehow I could identify myself with it.


I wish every hospital will be as clean and comforting and medical staff as accommodating and friendly as TMC.

And if you are 35 years old and above, and not have executive check-up yet, PLEASE do it this year. You only have one precious body. No one will take care of it but you. Stay healthy. :-)

Monkey Business

What are you suppose to do if you learned that somebody spread ill words about you? Or make untrue stories about you as their daily dessert to every meal? Sigh. Would you rush to confront, or would you rather keep quite? I'd rather keep quite, shrug my shoulders and will just say "have fun guys!" :-)

Gossiping seems to be a daily monkey business to some. I cannot fathom their enjoyment of talking the lives of other people. It's  a ton waste of time to be nosy. What good thing can you get from it? Especially if the stories being told were untrue, and the person you were talking about had nothing to do with your own lives. 

To spread demeaning stories at this time is quite easy. YM, twitter, FB, text, emails, among others have been converted to high tech grape vine. I simply could NOT understand someone you deal with everyday would recklessly use technology to talk at your back, mindlessly airing their unfounded complaints about you to the wrong authority, yet when he/she needs something from you became the nicest people in the world. Arrrrggghhh HYPOCRITE! Breath in, breath out... okay. :-)

So here is my thought: I would never stoop to that [gossiping] level.  I would never find myself enjoying talking other people's lives especially if I have nothing to do with that person. It is pathetic. Besides, a well-mannered individuals would rather talk the good side of a person. Gossiping is a low form of envy.  Gossipmonger will tittle-tattle the lives of the people whom they are envious. Thus,  victims of these gossipers must be doing something good for these people to go green with envy. So why bother, right? I'd rather spend my time to something worthwhile. 

Let us mind our own business people!

Health Alert: Listen Ladies As Well As Gentlemen.

Yesterday I went to Baguio City to take some breather, only for a day though. Surprisingly the weather was not cold anymore, but quiet good a refresher for someone like me who rarely got the chance to go places. Of course, I didn't miss to visit Burnham Park. There were many people in the park. I love to see families taking time to bring their children to play in the park, having snacks while sitting on the grass, talking and just taking time slow. 

 It's quite a sight as well to see those 'manongs' and 'manangs' industriously selling corn cubs, balloons, green mangoes, peanuts, cotton candies for visitors to grab. I couldn't resist not to try strawberry taho.

It's yummy. But while taking every sip, I was hoping and praying that I don't get strains of Salmonella or E. coli from it. I think I didn't because there were no frequent visits to the rest room afterwards, thank God :-D

I took the time to stroll the park, imbibing the scenery when I noticed in one corner some ladies having pedicure right at the park!

I love to pamper my nails all the time. But not under a tree at the park. I don't intend to belittle those ladies who had their pampering at the park. It's just that, there's no way that those pedicure sets were sterilized or at least being cleaned before jumping to another client. Don't take this for granted ladies, as well as gentlemen. Diseases such as HIV, hepatitis among others CAN be acquired in that way. Yes! When someone who happened to have hepatitis, and the manicurist accidentally pricked and made that person to bleed, and the next client happened to have an opened wound, that gives a way for that person to get HIV or hepatitis. It may sound obscure to some, but the chance to get sick in that way cannot be discounted. There's no harm in being cautious. If you love to pamper your nails, please bring your own pedicure/manicure sets, or at least go to a reliable salon where you're sure they have their instruments sterilized or cleaned. Cliche but true: prevention is always better than cure. 

Be careful everyone! :-)

Erase! Erase! Erase!

Is there something you've done in the past that you regretted a million times why you did it and wished to every stars in the sky that it could be erase? Or something in the past that was so wonderful that you've wanted so bad to happen each day repeatedly? Your answer would most probably be a big YES, right? 

There are times that you are haunted by your past, even how hard you try not to remember it. Or there will be an equal desire to reminisce some elated emotions you don't want to forget. I don't know if this happens to everyone, but there are certain circumstance or person that somehow reminds you of your past, that travels you back to that moment, feeling the emotions you've felt at that time as if real at present. Sigh. But why do unfortunate circumstance in the past seems to come back more often that the good ones? Or is this just me? Let's throw those nasty feelings away. I would like to remember the good ones and bank my memories with wonderful experiences.

Oh and speaking of  good memories, I'm thankful to have found someone very close to me back in high school. Photography has reconnected us. It's nice that fate has allowed us to 'meet' again at His perfect time. Thanks to you my friend! I grabbed a photo you've taken :-D  How I wish time would come that I could take photos as wonderful as yours. Teach me! :-)

Strike Even When The Iron Is Already Warm

These past few days, I've been juggling things, reading, learning, writing, and taking care of sick babies as well as adults. Busy days indeed, and I'm loving it. I am used to fast pace life. When I was still a student, I used to volunteer charity projects outside school,  to add up my already hectic student schedule. On top of my school projects, to-read and to-learn lessons, I wouldn't mind helping charitable activities. Not to mention, spending time with friends and loved ones. I hate idle moments and unproductive days ever since. I would be more satisfied and contented knowing that I've done something significant to each day.

I'm way far from super hero, but in my small world, I'm trying to make use of my time to do something productive. May it be reading to gain more knowledge, acquiring new experiences of pretty much all sorts, watching tv programs that I could learn something from, though not so much, because I am I'd-rather-read-than-watch type of person.  Any useful activities, count me in.

I remember my internship days, when we were pushed to our limits, literally dead tired that I wouldn't mind anything at all but to sleep after duty days. For good two years, I became antisocial simply because I'd rather hit my bed than went out with friends most of the time. We usually incorporated our leisure time while at work.

Above were my Sodis groupmates. We were doing research at UP Diliman for our Preventive Med paper. We dined in at UP's Chocolate Kiss Cafe, sort of group bonding while at work. 

If time won't allow us to dine in, we made some fun while on duty. Simple pleasures to get by the heavy workload. 

Now that I'm working, those days of 'not worrying for moolah cause there will be an allowance that kept coming monthly' were so over, I have to get going to survive. Utilizing every minute in a day to be productive. I learned not to strike only while the iron is hot,.. I have to strike even when it's already warm. Life. is. hard, but. beautiful. :-)

Reveal: What A Pleasant Surprise...

Yesterday, while doing my usual daily tasks, I was caught by surprise when a small box was delivered to me. Seeing the box labeled with amazon.com, my heart palpitated not by excitement but by worries that I might have accidentally purchased something from amazon.com without knowing it. And that my next credit bill will include an item that I didn't intend to buy. I made sure twice if it was really for me. My name had it, so it was undoubtedly for me.  I hurriedly opened the box, the receipt indicated electronics. Oh my, the random peso signs or rather $$$ were chaotically running in my head! Did I accidentally buy an electronics? oh my, that would be an expensive mistake! Look here, I forgot to take a photo of the box, or sort of document the 'unboxing' because I was anxious, very anxious. What a huge sigh of relief, when I checked the receipt, looked right away on the Billing Address, it was not billed to me. Big grin this time. :-D PHEW!

When the 'thing' was finally out of the box, my heart melted...

It's amazon kindle reading device, with wifi+ 3G, that I've been dreaming to have since last year! Hundreds of books in this sleek gadget. The bookworm in me can't be more than happy. Wonderful surprise from my very dear Uncle Chuck. Thank you very, very much Uncle Chuck! I love you. 

And the very first book that I downloaded was of course, something to my new found hobby, Perfect Digital Photography. :-)

And for anyone interested on kindle, here's a link for an extensive review of the product.

I have to cut this blog short because I want to explore more on my kindle. Lovely day indeed! :-))

Wardrobe Blog: Casual Party

Last night I attended UNTV's 2011 kick off rally. I would just like to show here what I wore. It's not a big deal, I'm telling you, dear readers. But just the same, it's part to any woman's life to make wardrobe a heck-of-a-deal. Right ladies? LOL. So, pardon me for blurting it out here. :-)

My wardrobe preference is always modest apparel. Always. I'm not comfortable showing off too much skin. That's why you won't see me wearing sleeveless nor mini skirts/shorts. I don't like revealing clothes at all. Some may typified me as 'manang' or my fashion sense may be so outdated, but I don't mind at all, as long as I look decently modest. That's my style. 

So last night, I pulled out my AlsieJ blue denim skirt that I bought 50 % off post Xmas sale. What a steal to purchase something nice in a discounted price. See the lovely ribbon tie on my waist? Very girly. The fabric where it was made of is so soft that it became my ultimate favorite. :-) 

 I paired it with my floral blouse. Everyone who attended the party must wore something green. The leaves of the flowers in my blouse were green. So there went my way of wearing something green! LOL

    Hahaha, seriously taking photos guys for you to see. :-)) The green leaves weren't so obvious in this photo. :-) And look at my butterfly sling bag! Cuteness. :-)

I opted to wear my brown/blue sandals, which I got 30% off the price also.  I love to wear flat shoes and sandals. That's my daily footwear, all flats.

And lastly, wore a so last-minute purchased headband. Very pretty. Love to wear headbands with my braids.

Oh there's my iphone 4 that came in handy that night. 

Dressing up is an expression of yourself. It does not require expensive clothes all the time. The clothes you wear may cost a penny or hundred bucks, it doesn't matter as long as you're comfortable wearing it, and for me, it's a must for it to be modest. 

How's your casual wardrobe look like?  

Reveal: Butterflies... Not In My Stomach

Butterflies have special place in my heart (other than my ultimate obsession, Mickey Mouse. :-) I never outgrown Mickey, only him, not Minnie or other disney characters).  I like butterflies very much. Who doesn't adore these colorful, serene, day flying insects? Such a lovely sight to see it kissing every stunning flower in a garden. The metamorphosis adds more fascination to its existence.

                                        Monarch Butterfly, photograph by Hope Ryden of Nat Geo

Not so surprising that few of my favorite things has butterfly on it. And this morning, I had a quick trip to the mall and found this absolute cuteness sling bag from Guess. Lovely! of course the main character is the day-flying insect in subtle pink/brown color  :-)  Here it is : 

Isn't it cute? :-) pardon for the bad photo. Yours truly is still learning how to take good photos :-) Just snapped that picture using my iphone 4. I'll be using her later in UNTV's kick-off party. :-)) 

Click! Click! All The Way

Sunday is one of my most favorite days of the week. There is a certain calmness and serenity that I feel on Sundays. I don't know if it's because this day is programmed by our society as rest day, or it's because I always assigned Sundays as 'me' day whenever circumstance allows it.

So today, I spent the whole day learning all about photography. Yes, I'm telling yah, yours truly is an eager student.  :-) I'm like this when I want to learn something. I will go all the way... most of the time. When I woke up this morning, I dug up The Digital Photography by Scott Kelby. 

                                                     picture taken from amazon.com

Very funny man. He put his lessons in a very light manner, very 'laymans', which I love by the way. This book is a great start for someone very neophyte to photography like me. As I flipped the last page, I played the downloaded photography lessons I got from @iamdhagz. Thank you very much. I love that you included the how-to videos of webpress. It was very timely,... you peeps will know why in the next days to come, God willing.  Oh by the way, thank you also to @macrorag and @iDatgril for last Saturday's short meeting. :-) very business lang ang dating. LOL


I then tinkered my macbook and dived into youtube. As I clicked and clicked, I stumbled to snapchick's videos:

Oh how my eyes went green with her sets of camera and lens. Oh well, it's her bread and butter, what can I say? What I was happy about her videos was she's using Nikon camera in most of her demos, so it would be an easy reference for me, as mine is a Nikon.

Then I was more than happy to learn from her an apps for my iphone 4, 'Field Tool' that gives you some control of the depth of field in your phone. Cool! Here's what the apps looked like in my iphone:

You can adjust the focal length and aperture of your iphone 4. And this app is free in apple store! So go ahead peeps, download it in your iphone. Or maybe, I'm the last person to know this and you have downloaded it already. :-p Camera phones come in handy when something comes up and your dslr or point and shoot camera is nowhere to be found. Everybody for sure won't leave the house without his/her phone, right?  So it's a nice add up.

And of course, my day won't end without cyber window shopping! Oh how I wish I have the moolah to buy all of these stuff. I was particularly drooling on these cameras.

First the very chic Leica D-lux 5. Oh how I love its form and the elegant cover. (hehe: warning I won't attempt on reviewing the following on its technical capacity as I myself doesn't fathom those. I'm more of 'porma' here. )

Then here's Ricoh gx200. Its antique look caught my attention. It looks like an old camera yet has its up-to-date functions.

I look into Canon G12, the camera my Uncle Chuck recommended when I was on my search to what camera to buy... and I drool more! Oh I'm dreaming to have this baby as my second camera. Or any of the compact cameras above. Hahaha, dream on!

And then, here is Nikon D300. Will my Nikon D60 morph to this one soon!? Oh my! let's see!!!

So there goes my Sunday. How about yours? How did you spend your day today? Have fun learning everyone!

Hyperacidity Attack!

I'm feeling under the weather since this afternoon. :-( Yes, doctors do get sick, nobody is exempted to that. It's as nasty as anyone who's feeling sick. I ate past noon and way too much that hyperacidity kicked in ending myself feeling some pebbles stuck down my throat. It's too much acid in my stomach that refluxed into my esophagus caused the lumpiness. I hate it. I've discomfort swallowing my own saliva, much more eating something solid. But I have to have 'small but frequent' intake of food otherwise it will get worse, which I don't want to happen. Aaarrgh. I took Prevacid FDT with warm water to lessen the acidity. It's at this time that I've fully regretted why I didn't do the things I should've done to avoid hyperacidity attacks :-( Next time, I promise :-) I will eat my meals on time with proper amount. Stop being a pig! Avoid spicy (great sacrifice coz I love spices), fatty (not a problem coz I'm not a fan of fats), anything with caffeine (have to lessen my tea, rather will get the decaf ones),  processed (I'm working on this one) foods. Take more alkaline foods such as cucumber, cabbage, singkamas, watermelon among others. And gulp liters of water. Have to make this blog short because I have to eat 2-3 hours prior to sleeping time to avoid further stomach reflux. 

Take care everyone. Let's not take for granted our own health. 

Zest in Life

I love the way my days are going lately. After I sort of make a commitment to blog as much as possible and study photography at the same time, there's this kind of energy that runs through my spine. It's the new learnings that kick the interest out of me. 

I'm a sucker for new learnings ever since. Maybe that explains of my surreal enjoyment of reading books, magazines and blogs. From health books to fashion books to travel blogs, I greatly enjoy.  I'm in my comfort zone each time I read, traveling along with the writer's idea. I'm ecstatic every time I learned something new. My mama used to have an old joke on me when I was young that goes, "if you were born in world war era, you might probably be holding a book despite a bomb exploding outside our house". My love for books started when I was still young. I remember back when I was in grade 1, I was a little way ahead of my classmates in terms of reading, that our teacher asked my help to teach them how to read Little Red Hen every afternoon. And during PTA meetings in school, I was often asked to read on something, short stories or poem as an intermission number. My love of reading is deeply rooted in my family. My father is a bookworm, so are my uncles, auntie and cousins on father side. So that explains quite well. 

It's in learning on something new that hooked me to reading.  That's why when @joiye sent 600++ iBooks for my iPad, I was literally jumping up & down. Heaven. Thank you so much @joiye.

I don't limit my acquisition of knowledge to books. That passion to learn buds to my love in trying food that I haven't tasted before. The more weird the name, the more eager I'd like to try. I have my favorite food, yes, but I'm not afraid to taste on something new. I took every dine in opportunity to try on something new to my palate. Though lately, I'm trying to get away with meat for health reasons. 

    My Uncle Chuck and his family in their visit to Philippines last 2010. We dined in at Italianis. 

That also explains my dream to travel to new places, may it be local or international, when time permits. One day, God willing. Going to new places brings learning to a new level. There's no compromise to it. More than what you can learn from cyberseeing (thanks to those people posting their travel photos), which I often do. I make myself die for envy, no...make myself inspired :-)

Singapore is one of the most memorable places I've been to, my very 1st out of country trip. I love the place!

Dubai is the place I would like to explore more. Love the infrastructure and huge malls!

It's the 'adding something new to my brain cells' and new experiences that give zest to my everyday life. It's in my dream and hope to everyone who reads my blog to learn something too, with God's help.  

Let The Lesson Begins...

Kuya Daniel (yes, the CEO of UNTV, the notable broadcast journalist, Mr. Daniel Razon) is one brilliant photographer. Oh well his genes speak for it as he is the grandson of Bob Razon, a renowned photographer of socialites and actors way back in the 50's or 60's. I know Kuya Daniel and his family personally. Lucky me, rubbing elbows with the famous! Hehe. But I know them in a very personal level, that I often forget they are that famous. They are the most down to earth celebrities.

Kuya Daniel, ate Arlene (Kuya's wife), and me in one of our out of country trips. This couple is THE nicest, I mean, nicest nicest couple in the world, beyond words! 

                   Here is Kuya, using his underwater camera. Photo taken by Datgirl

So this morning, Kuya learned my recent purchase of second hand Nikon D60. He gave his insights and some tips on photography. He promised to teach me more when he has spare time. I hope I could grab a little of his uber hectic schedule, God permits. I'm the luckiest to get a lesson from him, for free!!! :-) But for now, he's too nice to lend me some of his basic digital photography books.

Thank you so much Kuya Daniel for these books and for everything :-) Let the lesson begin to this very eager student. :-))

Reveal: Click! Click! Click!... My Nikon D60

Yes, my newest baby is here! My Nikon D60.

In my previous blog I aired my desire to beautify this blog for it to be more interesting to read. So, in an impulse, got myself a second hand yet in very good condition (hopefully it wont fail me in the next few days) through my friend Sahlee aka Datgirl.  Had a handful of time pondering what to get, but with few knowledge about cameras, I trusted my friend's recommendation, since she's into photography right now, and the deal she was able to find fitted my budget.

With no further ado, here it is... (giddy :-))

And this is Datgirl testing the toy if it's in good condition. Approve girl?

Thanks so much for carrying it with great care. I'm blessed to have such a friend.

Thank you as well to my friend's gentleman, who's too nice to help out in scrutinizing my toy. :-)

Here is Datgirl's camera, twinned with mine...

And anyone wants to see on my very first try?... photography lesson so badly needed :-p

Pardon for my despicable look, I was sick and too lazy to even just comb my hair!

And here are few more testing... to click is too addicting, oh my! :-)

                                                   oppps, bllluurrrr!

 hmmmm, too yellow? well, well, got to practice more :-)

So folks, let me just get the hang of this new toy, and let the colorful journey begins :-)