Malamig (Cold)

LP Challenge: MALAMIG

I think this has been the coldest winter I’ve ever experienced here in Germany. Just looking at the eaves of the houses makes me afraid to stand right below it. The icicles could be really dangerous when it falls on a person. Tsk, tsk…deadly weapon, dear!

We went to visit my in-laws and what met us was the roads were all covered with snow 10 meters high. Okay, I may sound exaggerating, but when we shoveled the snow to clear the path right in front of the garage door, it really piled up to as high as a normal car. My tiny Ford Fiesta would be covered totally. Had to search for a higher place where I could park it since the garage was already occupied by the car of my in-laws.

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Planning for the next trip already…

“How about going to an “FKK” Oasis for our next short vacation?”, hubby asked while checking out places where we would go next. That is after our trip to Italy and Gran Canaria. I had to scratch the last one, since I won’t be able to join him on that trip.

“FKK” is short for “Freikörperkultur” ( Free Body Culture). A naturistic approach to community living. It maybe a camp or beach community where people are naked all the time. Yes, a “nudist” community. The principle behind is to enjoy and experience nature in being nude itself. In case you are wondering, it has no direct relation to sexuality or to sex itself. The traditional followers of this culture is called naturist’s or nudist’. Yes, here in Germany, this community is known to exist. You can read more about this culture here.

The thing is, if one wants to go to a place like this, one has to be open enough to walk around naked. As in totally naked. No shred of clothing should be worn. Anyway, if one decides to stay there and does not follow rules, won’t one feel weird because all the others aren’t wearing anything anyway. But I cannot imagine me, a Filipina, doing just that. I heard from my aunt once that she had a Filipina friend who is married to a  German who once went to a place like this. It was really uncomfortable for the couple since the Filipina would not budge in getting out of her clothes. So, they ended up staying in the place for three whole days she fully clothed and him, together with the rest of the people there naked!

I couldn’t imagine myself in her shoes. I would die of shame if I would be forced to do it. I tried to explain this to hubby. Fortunately, he is ok with it and immediately dismissed the idea.

Instead, we agreed to think about the next long vacation that we will be having around the last quarter of the year. It will be in the Philippines of course, but some place where we haven’t visited. Hmmm, I’m thinking the Caramoan Islands in Camarines Sur. (Picture is from the same linked site). I have heard a lot of good reviews about the place. Also, what we normally do on our vacations like island hopping, hiking, mountain biking, scuba diving, snorkelling and kayaking are offered in this place. So why not? Anyway, i still have some time to organize the trip. Way before September, I think we should be able to come up already with a fixed date and Itinerary. Till then I’m still open to other suggestions but “FKK” is out of the question!

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Sunday lunch at the Ronneburg

It finally felt like spring is here last Sunday, the 16th of January. The sun was shining the whole day and it was also not very cold, temp-wise. After weeks of enduring the negative digit temperature, it was nice for a change to have i think almost two weeks of above “0” degrees temperature.

Anyway, hubby and I decided to go for a walk at a nearby palace ruins where we could also have lunch. We’ve been to the place before several times, but this was the first time we tried the restaurant inside the castle ruins. Since we used to go there during springtime or summer, we enjoyed most of the time the garden bar/restaurant that they have outside, but never the Café inside.

It turned out to be a very good decision. The food was just wonderful. The Zander fillet that I ordered was heavenly. Hubby said that the pork meat with mushrooms in rahm sauce that he ordered was also excellent. On the way up to the castle, we passed by some paragliders at the grounds. Apparently, they also have a course offered every Saturday at the castle grounds. “Learn to Paraglide starting at 79,- €”. Not the age, hehehe. That’s something to add to my “to-do” list, but sunny as it was on the day we were there, I would not be caught dead paragliding at 8 degrees celcius. May in the height of the summer season, I will be courageous enough… (here I am procrastinating again), haha! But “thumbs-up” to the two guys who were really going at it for like almost forever. At least, I saw them already from a far on our way up to the grounds of the castle. And, when we left, they were just finishing up. Counting the time we walked up from the parking place until the time we left the castle grounds, that was probably more or less 2-3 hours tops. I wouldn’t stay out in the colds as long as it is not a matter of “life and death” scenario. I can enjoy paragliding anytime in the summer, but not in the middle of winter.

Anyway, the resto has a lot to offer. Aside from the excellent food, the place has a very nice Ambience. More medieval time. They also rent some rooms for private parties. Which I came to the idea. When I reach the ripe age of ___ty which will be in two years time, I would like to have a “medieval era” concept for my birthday party. If the price is right, with costumes and all the props, I may as well do that. Of course, I won’t be able to invite more than 20 guests. I would probably just invite the closest friends. I have to inquire about their price range though. If the price is right… I think I just might “spin the wheel”!

For more info on what the Resto has to offer, check out their website here.

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Please return my muse to me


My muse, my muse.
Give me back my Muse.
If not till sunset today
Then forever she’ll be away.

It has been months,
Or perhaps years
The last time my Muse accompanied me
Through life’s art and poetry.

Those were the days when words came easy,
Those were the days when ideas came in dandy.
It was just a blink of an eye,
Et Voila, presto… my poem danced in my eyes.

Cooking never seemed too messy,
Dancing was just another step for me.
But without my Muse,
Even drawing is a mystery.

So please, please, come back to me,
My Muse if you please, let it all just be.
I need your guidance, I need your direction,
I need your artistic creation!

Photo from Mexican Skies.Com

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Eat, Pray, Love – The Movie

Well, what can I say?

The book is better than the movie.

But, you can decide for yourself. Here is the official trailer of the movie.

The film was released in the USA sometime in August 13, 2010. Here in Germany the release date was September 23, 2010. Click here for more release dates info in other countries.

Thanks to YouTube for this video clip.

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heilpraktiker entry

Several years ago, I was diagnosed as chronically ill. I had an infection in my liver that the doctors could not really find the cause. I had problems like back pain, muscle pains in my legs and was always tired. Some days, I didn’t have so much energy. My cough made it just worst since I had it for more than six months. If it would stop for a while, it was always sure to come back after some weeks. The leg pain went away after an Acupuncture therapy with my general doctor. Since then, it seems like there is no signs of it coming back again. But the infection in my liver was never cured. I had blood tests every three months. Most of the levels were okay, except for one that was always extremely high. And it stayed that way all the time. Whereas for a normal healthy person, that level should only be at 60-80, mine was always at 260 till 400. Once it even went up to 600 for a few months. My doctor could also not explain it. But, I don’t blame him since even the specialists who looked into my illness case, also said there wasn’t anything wrong with me.

Hepatitis was ruled out. I was definitely checked for it.

In one of my visits to my mother-in-law, where we always showed photos of our recent trips, my sister-in-law showed us their photos when she and her husband joined an alternative medicine doctor on a “Fasting and Wandering” tour. Fasting in the sense, that only liquid is taken for the whole duration of the tour. It can be tea, water or clear soup. The insides has to be cleansed as well. With the help of “Glaubersalz” and or Internal irrigation of the stomach and intestines at the beginning of the fasting period. After three days of the fasting begin, internal cleansing has to be performed again. The whole fasting period could take a week or even more. They have been doing it for sometime, my sister-in-law said, and it has been a lot of help for them. Both in keeping themselves healthy and maintaining their desired weight. She suggested that maybe I should also try it just to find out if it would help cure my so-called “sickness”.

I was not totally convinced at first. But hubby urged me to do it, so we did. Anyway, we thought if it doesn’t work out for me, it was at least an experience, another adventure for us both.

Our first “Fasting and Wandering” tour was in Algarve, Portugal. We flew there and met our guide, an Alternative medicine doctor, Frau Wirth. Later at the resort where we stayed, we met 11 others who have been doing the tours for several years already. There were only three of us who are first timers. The group was diverse. Mostly of course, Germans but almost all are well traveled. I was intimadated at first, but they were all very friendly. Our guide was also very helpful in explaining to us everyday what was in the program.

All the “to-do” stuff was explained in exact details. If we needed help, she was there to assist us. It made us really feel comfortable with the group who knew each other before from the previous travels. Suffice it to say, we survived the whole two weeks without eating anything. Yes, it is a wonder, but definitely possible. What I couldn’t really believe myself, was the fact that I really could walk for hours (even without food intake, except liquids) without complaining. I did it! I lasted and the most beautiful part of it is that I lost weight. I lost more than 8 kilos already…the best part is I maintained my desired weight. No yo-yo effect at all. My food intake routine was changed. I can still eat anything I want during the day. But there are some limitations and restrictions about what to eat in the morning and evenings.

After that tour, we had our second tour with my sister-in-law HP Martina Kienzle-Schott as our guide. She is really good. With her personal experience and of course she learned to be one, we don’t need to go to other HP guides anymore. The last tour we, hubby and I did was spring last year. We tried it just the two of us. Okay, we were calling Martina all the time for some questions about the whole procedure which only a legal Heilpraktiker could answer. But in the end we made it. The next schedule tour is in March. I won’t be able to join but hubby enlisted already.

*keeping it up*

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January 2011

2011 started good. I know some friends are moving on. My sister-in-law just finished her schooling and in April will be opening her clinic for Alternative medicine (Heilpraktiker). I will be posting her website address here as soon as it is ready.

A friend who has been helping me in keeping my hair, my crowning glory ever healthy has openned a salon right in the middle of Frankfurt am Main city. I am so happy for him. I will be visiting him in a couple of hours today. The Grand Opening though will still be at the end of the month.

And I have started a new job. A better earning one and definitely less stressful. I still have to wake up at 03:30 a.m. some days, but I can live with that already. I have been doing that for years now, that I am actually much used to that schedule. The thing is, now I only have to go to work four days a week, much better than going sometimes 7 consecutive days to work for a few hours in the morning and then with one day off only. The pay is definitely a big level up from the previous jobs that I had, so I can’t complain.

So, hopefully, the year will continue to bring us all more blessings and better dispositions. Oh,yeah, today is a very special day. It’s 1.11.11 (January 11, 2011). I do believe that the whole year will be really fruitful for everybody!

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Eat Pray Love – by Elizabeth Gilbert

I finally finished reading the book of Elizabeth Gilbert called: Eat Pray Love. It’s been out for a while but what triggered me to read it is that it has a movie version with Julia Roberts as the lead actress. I saw the trailer of the film and thought, ok, I have got to read the book first before I watch the film. Unfortunately, it took me longer to finish the book because I also just started working again. I had to do a training for one whole month so, I didn’t have so much time to read.

Anyway, now I am ready to watch the movie. Hopefully, it will be as hilarious as the book itself. Tonight is the night. I have a date with Liz’ interesting journey through Italy, India and Indonesia after a failed marriage and unsuccessful relationship with David. Let’s see how it will turn out. I am mostly excited if Julia could really portray the role as well as she did on the Erin Brockovitch story.

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Liwayway series

Okay, I must admit that since I moved to Europe, I became an avid fan of Tagalog films and television soap opera series. See, when I was still living in the Philippines, to read Tagalog comics, watch Tagalog films and listen to Tagalog drama over the radio was like baduy to me, my siblings and friends…or at least I was under the impression that my so-called friends also did not patronize same.

Reason? When I was younger, my sibs and I, we were forbidden to watch them soap operas or listen to tagalog drama programs. More so, we were not allowed to read comics. Somehow, my aunts and uncles who were most of the time around and stood as our tutors and mentors thought that the contents of such Tagalog comics were just trash. At least most of them anyway. We were told to read instead English books which happened to be plenty at home at that time. Also, as reference, they always shoved to us the Encyclopedia collection of our Grandma. As a result, we never had difficulties with our English subject. We were also good in Science and History. But, we also turned out getting poor grades in our Pilipino subject. I for one, admittedly really had poor grades in Pilipino. I can still remember, my high school teacher told me I should start reading komiks to improve my Tagalog.

So, one day, thinking that I should heed the advice of my teacher, I went and bought a Tagalog Magazine. When I got to the Newstand/Newspaper stall, I saw several magazines and thought, okay… I have no idea which is good so I just grabbed one. Little did I know the what the contents of the magazine that I picked up. I chose Liwayway, since the title sounded friendly. I later found out that the Liwayway magazine with its rich in fantasy and adventure komiks page is actually an icon in the Philippine Publishing genre.

Seriels like, Kaptayn Barbel, Islaw Palitaw, Agua Bendita, Darna at ang Babaeng Tuod, Pedro Penduko and Anak ni Dyesebel to name some are specials that has been made into films time and time again. A lot of Actors and Actresses are priviledged to get the lead roles for these stories.

So anyway, I didn’t read these comic series before, but I have to admit, “baduy” (bad taste) it may be to others, that I do enjoy watching these now either as a film or television series. Am I a jolog because I like them? Or you may call me “baduy” because I enjoy watching them? Call it stupid sentimentality or shallow patriotism, I don’t really care.

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Back in the saddle again…

Yes, I work again at Frankfurt International airport. I actually started 1st of December. Until now I am still on training and already I am getting bored at it. I have always thought that an 8 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. job, from Monday to Friday is a dream. It is not! Or at least not for me. I am so waiting for my regular shifting schedule where sometimes I get to start at 05:30 till 14:00  or if I am lucky, I get to start at 13:300 till 22:00 pm. I am also looking forward to work just four consecutive days a week instead of five. Of course, working in shifts has its cons as well. But, I am so used to it already, that the con part is actually not so negative for me anymore.

I am really glad that I have something to do again now. I heard on the news just the other day that the unemployment rate in Germany, as of December 2010, according to Spiegel Online is at 7.2% which is around 3,016 million. It’s very scary to think that a first world country here in Europe is also under recession. But, I guess this is not only a case of one country. Worlwide recession is known to all of us.

That’s why, I am just as thankful that I have a secure job now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep the job long enough until I am eligible to claim for pension, hehehe.

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December is just around the corner…

(Yes, coming from the roundabout in Georges Henri, take the second exit to Rue de Heydenberg then take first street left… that’s December street, in Woluwe St.-Lambert… hehehe. )

I’ve been up and out of bed since 2 hours ago. I have so many things to do, that I thought it best to have an early start. Laundry, ironing, shopping and my vain errands like having my eyebrows threaded and getting a facial, manicure and foot spa. All these has to be accomplished today, the last day of November.

Tomorrow is already 1st of December. I think it is good to start December clean… both the home and in your own personal body. I don’t know about you, but to me the month of December is special. Not only because the birth of Christ is celebrated on this month but also because it is the last month of the year. The month where we are given the chance to let go of old habits and bad things in our life. It also signifies that a new a wonderful beginning will follow. After December comes January. The month when we all promise to start anew and hopefully do good for all mankind. The first month of the year which always brings us new hope, fresh ideas and a good jump into a new life.

So, I should stop vegetating in front of my laptop now and get on with my errands. But first, I need to turn on my loud music. It’s more fun doing household chores with music, don’t you think?
Christmas Songs- Marilyn Monroe – Santa Baby

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Winter is here…

The sign! It has been freezing cold during the last few days. I could already smell the first drops of snowflakes since last week. This weekend, it finally poured. Today, I woke up to a winter-white surroundings… I love it! Admittedly, after living of more than a decade here in Europe, I still find it amazing every time it snows. Although my favorite season is actually Autumn. Not quiet a wonder since I am an autumn child, (that’s if we have Autumn in the Philippines).

Winter still never cease to amaze me. Year after year, I eagerly wait for the first drops of snow flakes. Light as a feather and white as cotton. I like the contrast it brings when it sits on my hair. Or on my clothes. I love making wholes on a pile of white powdery snow ground. I like, i like, i like… until it starts to melt and it makes muddy paths…hehehe.

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My Desigual…finally!

I finally bought a Desigual knitted dress. It was on sale at a shop but still, for my budget a bit expensive. It didn’t matter though. I just need to skip some meals during the next few days, (blink) … hehehe! I have been keeping an eye on a Desigual Long Jacket, waiting for it to go on sale. But after two years, it is still as expensive as when it first came out. So, for now, I have to be contented with the Desigual knitted dress that I found.

I love the knitted dress. It feels good, not itchy, it’s like a second skin for me and most of all, I feel really sexy in it…Oh yeah, I think it is worth the bucks I paid for it!

Notice the neckline? Oh yeah… I dare, hehehe! Of course I can only wear it with some kind of undershirt or body tights. Unfortunately, I am not very gifted in that part of my torso. The dress looks wide but when one puts it on, it definitely clings to the body therefore showing the real body form of the bearer.

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Mahal Kita Kasi….(Nicole Hyala) Song lyrics

Mahal Kita Kasi…

Bangin ka ba? Kasi
Nahuhulog na ako sa ‘yo, naman kasi
Unggoy ka ba? Kasi
Sumasabit ka sa puso ko, naman kasi
Pustiso ka ba? Kasi
You know I can’t smile without you
Pagod na pagod na ako
Maghapon ka na kasing tumatakbo sa isipan ko
Kasi naman kasi
Mahal kita
Bagay tayong dalawa
Pa-picture nga
Para mapadevelop kita
Hindi tayo tao, hindi rin tayo hayop
Bagay tayo, bagay talaga
Papupulis kita, kasi
Ninakaw mo ang puso ko, naman kasi
Kuto ka ba? Kasi
Palagi ka sa ulo ko
Naman kasi
Apoy ka ba? Kasi
Alab-alab I love you
Magsalbabida ka nga
Kasi baka malunod ka sa pag-ibig ko
Kasi naman kasi
Mahal kita
Bagay tayong dalawa
Papicture nga
Para mapadevelop kita
Hindi tayo tao, hindi rin tayo hayop
Bagay tayo, bagay talaga
Kamukha mo si Papa P, Papa P (Ding Dong)
P Papa P, Papa P
P Papa P, Papa P (Dingdong)
Exam ka ba, kasi
Sasagutin kita agad-agad, naman kasi
Drugs ka ba? Kakaadik ka kasi, kasi, naman kasi
Kulangot ka ba? You’re really really hard to get
Posporo ka ba? E di posporo rin ako
Para match
Kasi naman kasi
Mahal kita
Bagay tayong dalawa
Papicture nga
Para mapadevelop kita
Hindi tayo tao, hindi rin tayo hayop
Bagay tayo, bagay talaga
Pustiso ka nga, kasi
I really really can’t smile without you.

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