Videos That Shift Moods

Sometimes especially when I’m feeling a bit blue, I like to surf the Youtube and watch videos that are inspiring, funny, and overall just makes you feel good.

Here are some of my favorite videos that I watch over and over again:

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, how Meghan Currie created this video and with that music as background. Gosh! So beautiful!

The video is called Yoga Breakdancing. Honestly, I think this is just purely break dancing, but it is beautifully choreographed.

One of the things I want to do before I die is to try becoming a street performer. And I think I finally found my act. 😀 This guy, Okotanpe, is just so entertaining. 🙂

Watching this guy reminds me of childhood, the stuff we do after watching an action movie especially a Kungfu. I remember wanting to learn how to ran on water. Of course, I was never successful except in my imagination. This guy is actually doing them.  I wish I can do half what he can do.

Kenichi Ebina, wow, I can watch him again and again. He always tells a story through dancing.

This little girl is just amazing. And if you follow her progress, you know she really worked hard to get where she is right now. It didn’t just happen over night for her.

I love guitar and more if it’s fingerstyle. After seeing a video of Sungha Jung, I know I am forever his fan.

Can’t stop laughing at this video. 😀

Well, that’s it for now. Enjoy watching them. 🙂

Us 3 in 3 countries

It has been a long while since the three of us (Erik, Mai and I) traveled together. So we decided to take  a ten day trip to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Since I have more free time than my other siblings, I get to do our itinerary. Luckily, my siblings are not too picky, I was free to decide where to go and where to stay. Basically, all they have to do is follow my lead.  I do often asked them their opinions before I make a final decision. First stop Cambodia, Siam Reap to see the Angkor Wat. Siam Reap is a cute little town. People are quite friendly and accommodating. What I like about Cambodians is that they are nicer to Asians and definitely would not take any crap from the white folks. As compared to us here in the Philippines, Filipinos tend to be more hospitable to the white folks than to their own kind. I can’t say it’s because of years under colonialism. Cambodia was also under France for many years. Anyways, Siam Reap is an easy place to move around. It also reminded me of our small towns here in the Philippines. I like small towns, you feel safe walking around as you do some sightseeing but a disadvantage of a small town is you’ll get to see everything in 3 days. That was when we left for Thailand.

Oh yeah, Ankor Wat is a must see.

I think I had more fun inside the van traveling to Bangkok than going around the city itself.  It was an adventure especially after people have warned us from crossing country by land. I’m here to tell you about crossing borders: It’s totally safe and fun, you get to see and hear stuff you won’t normally experience when you take a plane. The best part of the experience was in Thailand. A crazy guide picked us up at the border and gave us a warning not to go down of the van at any given time. Mind you, he was laughing while he said this. We were sharing the van with people from Europe and the United States.  I knew intuitively that the guy was bluffing, but our companions believed it! When we stopped by the gasoline station, I wanted to go down to stretch my legs and I heard one of them say… “Is it safe to go down? The guide said not to go down anytime.”  In my opinion, it is always good to practice caution but anything too much will spoil the fun. Now, the city of Bangkok has overpowered me with its colors, crowd, glitters, noise, taxis, etc. It’s crazy! Sight. Sound. Smell. Taste.  Whew! They surrounded my head as I stepped out of the street. It can really be overwhelming! I think the next time I go back to Thailand, I’ll hit the beach instead for serenity.

I love where I stayed though.

This is Phranakorn-nornlen , a lovely place to stay. It’s so near all the tourist spot you might want to see: the palace, the temples, Buddha statues, shops, etc.   Just click on the picture to drop their site a visit.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Gosh, I was so glad that I decided to place Vietnam as our last place to go. We went to Ho Chi Minh. I love small towns. Ho Chi Minh City is very picturesque. Old French buildings, small roads, people hanging out in the open park, and maybe over a million of bikes, these are what I saw of the town.  The roads inside of the town  just loops around.  In case you get lost, look for where the Notre Dame Cathedral is located and I believe the whole town loops around it. The church being the center of that circle. I’m guessing here, so I can’t be that sure, but that was how I found places when I was there. We also did our shopping there… But, that was a mistake. We should have done our shopping in Siam Reap. It is a lot cheaper to buy in Siam Reap than in Vietnam but I always do my shopping on the last day of my trip. Tsk, tsk, tsk…. And I really should learn how to bargain well. Or at least get a friend from the area to bargain with me. I was not able to meet up with my friend, Patrick until we were about to leave the country. Sigh, that was a wrong move from me again.  Otherwise, I’d love to go back and do some more sightseeing. Just be careful of the motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh, they rule the country.

First Encounter with Grasshopper

Last weekend (July 7-8, 2012), I attended Alexandria Crow’s Workshop in Urban Ashram Manila. Saturday’s topic was about Understanding Sun Salutations and Exploring Fundamentals of Standing Poses. Although, I’ve attended so many workshops that deal with Sun Salutation out there, still I know there’s always something new out there.  In my practice, I do a lot of Sun Salutations and sometimes it can become very monotonous. If you do things again and again, there’s a possibility to take it for granted. And I did and I still do take my practice for granted sometimes. Okay, most of the time actually. There are more days when I do my practice with my mind flying all over the place rather than in my breath. Thus, I really enjoy attending these workshops as I am reminded to practice with more awareness, to experiment a bit, to change the way I usually do things, and best of all it really just levels up my practice. I especially love it because not only do I get to practice under such fantastic teachers, but I get to do things I normally won’t even try doing it on my own. There is this level of trust that you know they can help you get into a scary pose by just listening to them. Most of the time, you’ll be amaze that you’re in the pose already and you wonder how you get there. 😀

Alex led us through a strong vinyasa class leading to Bakasana (Crow Pose),  Parivrtta Urdhva Dandasana (Grasshoper, I could have sworn this is a Dragonfly pose…. hmmm), Eka Pada Galavasana (flying crow pose), and Adho Mukha Vrksasana (handstand) on the wall.

Wahhh… that was a great class!!! I got to do my first Grasshoper pose and  Flying Crow pose. It is exhilarating getting to do something I won’t normally try. I’m pretty cautious with my body now after feeling pain in my back from doing a bad back bends. It really boost up your energy doing these amazing poses.

Parivrtta Urdhva Dandasana (Grasshoper Pose)

My Great Granddad

After more than a year of not writing… I’m back! So many things had happened and so many things will still happen. I can only write them down as I remember them. It may not be exact, but it is how I remember them. Have fun reading! And join me as I happily go down to that memory lane.

Lola Elvira, the beautiful lady second to the top. >,<

Last February, my cousin Gaia tagged me into this poster… my grandmother, that beautiful lady second from the top, was being honored by the University of Santo Tomas in their 400 year anniversary event.

I AM SO PROUD!!! >,<

 That was then…

And this was last night’s event (June 25, 2012)…

In honor of my great-grand dad!!!

A few months ago University of Santo Tomas (the oldest university here in the Philippines) celebrated their 400 years anniversary. And I really don’t know the rest of the details… but for some reason they collaborated with the GSIS ( Government Service Insurance System) and conducted an event to honor pioneering artist here in the Philippines that led to the Philippine Modern Art. As it happens, my grandmother was one of the pioneering professors in Fine Arts in that university. So, of course, her paintings were part of the showcase in the museum of GSIS last Feb-Mar 2012.

My mom went to the show bringing with her the book she wrote, Bong To. It’s about our grandparents and published last year of June 2011. A funny thing happened, one of the organizers whom my mom either gave or sold her book to, discovered from reading her book that my grandmother was the daughter of Salvador Lagdameo. Okay, so who is Salvador Lagdameo? Now the next info is something new to me and to my family meaning no one remembers in my immediate family that great-granddad was the first General Manager of GSIS. How weird is that?

It brought a series of events which made my Mom (a “writer”, among many other things she does) and my aunt Angel (partner in crime and really good at getting what she wants)  to visit some old relations to gather either paintings or info regarding either about my grandma or great-granddad. They were sometimes successful and sometimes not-so, some relatives just don’t want to lend lola’s paintings to them. Sigh… relatives.

Last night was the culmination of their short research. My great-granddad was not only the first General Manager of GSIS, but he was the Treasurer of the former Central Bank of the Philippines, and according to my uncle-twice-removed, a financial genius. What I find amazing was that he used to sign those Philippine bills. O-M-Gee, I used to collect old stamps and old money when I was kid. And I never knew of this info?!? If I have known, I would have done everything to search for a bill that was signed by Lolo Salvi. (Yes, I decided to call him such instead of Lolo Badoy as he was known… I mean come on. He had such a manly name, I don’t know why they have to bastardize it into Badoy. Badoy means tacky or close to it. Probably worse than tacky.)  Just imagine, if my mom gets it into her head to write another book a pre-sequel to “Bong To” (which was the nickname given to my grandfather by the Tibuli tribe. It means medicinal man (yes, I know I’m regressing to another story ). And titled the book; “Ang Lolo Kong Badoy”.  Well, he was my mother’s lolo.  You see what I mean?

Anyways, during Lolo Salvi’s time, signing your name on those bills meant engraving your signature which is no longer done now. So, if you ever find one signed by Salvador Lagdameo, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll move heaven and earth to have one of them in my collection. Which means I cry and I’ll beg you to give it to me! Pretty please!!!

A one pesos paper bill signed by Lolo Salvi:

A One Peso Bill Signed by Salv. Lagdameo

Let me recap things here: Last night, it has been a year since my mom launched her book about her parents, my grandmother Elvira turned 100 years old if she was still alive last Feb. 12, and it was the 75 year anniversary of GSIS.

What can be weirder than that?

Don’t you just love how the universe can come up with all of these things without you knowing it. >,<

Namaste!

Sunken Cemetery. Photo taken last May 2010 at Camiguin.

After many months of dilly-dallying, I finally decided to enter the blogging world.

I am an aspiring photographer, a yoga-enthusiast, a vegetarian in a meat-eating nation, and have a bad case of wanderlust. In this blog, I’ll be sharing to you a lot about photography, yoga, health and traveling. Enjoy! ^_^V

To start, the photo on your left was taken last May 2010 in Camiguin, Philippines. This is an unedited version of the Sunken Cemetery. I’m proud of this photo because it show how much I improved since November 2009 when I first held a DSLR. Of course, I admit I still have a long way to go to call myself a pro. >_<

Camiguin issuch a beautiful island. It’s located down south, just at the top of Mindanao and it’s a peaceful place. There is so much to do in this little island from dipping into the different springs- from hot to cold to soda springs. Then jump into the clear water of their waterfalls, go hiking to the top of a volcano crater, or just  basking under the sun on the sandbar.  There is also diving and the famous Mantigue Island which I didn’t get to go. I would have wanted to stay long, but I guess the only solution is to go back. 😛  The island is systematic that once you get off the ferry you’ll see a big billboard of all the prices of the tours or rides for hire. That is such a big relief to any first time traveler. What I love best in this whimsical island, is the fact that they protected their old trees. Bravo!

HEALTH

I’m so happy when I learned of this organic market that’s open every Saturday at Salcedo Village. I became a “suki” of this store and I buy my Kumbocha and pink Himalayan salt here.

Just a short info on the salt.
The Himalayan pink salt is mined in Pakistan Himalayas in an area known as the Salt Range. It is so pure and rich that it not only re-mineralizes the body but also promotes optimum health. It contains 84 essential minerals and trace elements naturally found in your body.

Chlorophyll Manila also offers different products aside from the pink salt. I like their 100% Natural Probiotic, but if you are going to buy one be sure to bring a cooler. You can get ice in any Mini Stops which is just around the area. And of course the Bee Pollen, which is a a powerhouse of minerals and vitamins. It tastes like flowers, but it contains so much goodness. >,<

Just put a dash of Bee Pollen on your salads or fruit bowls and wahla! That’s it!

Bee Pollen is listed by Foodmatters.com as one of the Superfoods found in nature. I’ll go into details of the other Superfoods on the later blogs.

Of course, there are lots of other food you can buy in this only once a week market. The food I can recommend to my fellow vegetarian out there is Tita Ope’s vegetarian lasagna. She offers two kinds: one creamy spinach and the other one the yummy tomato sauce based. Be sure to try both. >.<  I also like the Pad Thai of Thai Vegetarian Food and for an authentic Indian food try Kashmir. Yum, I’m getting hungry just thinking of it and I have yet to explore the whole market.

The Salcedo Community Market is at Jaime Velasquez Park between Leviste & Tordesillas Streets. Salcedo Village, Makati. They’re open every Saturday from 7 am to 2 pm.

For more info what else you can get from the market, click here.