Banana cake and God's provision

Banana muffin & coffee

Today is the start of my working week even if  it's a weekend for everybody here in the UAE.  I slept late last night so it was kind of hard to wake up early.  Rushing to the bus, i found myself carrying only one bag.  I would normally carry one big bag and a small lunch bag.  When i noticed that I did not bring my lunch bag, I immediately looked at my bag to search for my purse and to my surprise again, it was not in the bag.  I went on doing my work while praying.  Lord, I truly trust you that you are enough.  Bless my tummy that I will be able to last the 10-hour duty without food.  Working in a weekend means less staff are on board, so i do not know whom to ask for food or borrow money.  But then I said again, God is enough, let this be my fasting day.  

The first few hours went by and suddenly I got a message from a friend who currently is quarantined in a hotel near Manila airport after flying home from Dubai for good.  She said that the result came back negative and she is free to go just waiting for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to give the instruction on how she can go home after five days of staying in a hotel.  She was placed in a  twin-bed room alone, so i asked her what she was doing there.  She said it was her moment of silence with the Lord and Zumba.   I asked her how was the hotel stay.  She told me about the hotel and that she cannot really go out but she had a nice view.  The thing is sometimes they forget to give them food.  Good thing she brought banana cake from Dubai.  She told me that the banana cake sustained her for the whole five days especially those times they are given food late or when they do not like the menu.  Thanks to the banana cake.  I told her truly God provides and He sustained you with a banana cake, how sweet is that?

Few more hours the next shift came.  I haven't eaten breakfast or anything at all.  After one of my colleagues settled, she suddenly offered me something wrapped in an aluminum foil, guess what, yes, it's banana cake.  I took and said thanks to her.  After I kept it for my break, i suddenly realized what I told the Lord in the morning, God is enough.   The moment I trusted that God is enough, the Lord worked on it and  provided for me.  Banana cake saved the day!  

Recalling our Filipino priest here in Dubai saying even with enough can create a lot, I realized today that if we truly trust and settle on the idea that God is enough and surely will provide.

And that's my daily amazing miracle for today!

Through Night and Day - the not so popular lessons I learned

source:  www.imdb.com

Recently, the 2018 movie Through Night and Day suddenly made noises.   The movie stars Alessandra de Rossi and Paolo Contis who played Jen and Ben.  They were childhood best friends turned into boyfriend and girlfriend to almost husband and wife.  Their relationship was tested when the couple after their engagement traveled to Iceland to witness the aurora borealis as Jen has been wanting to see the aurora borealis saying that once she sees it she can actually die.  It was also in Iceland where they ended their relationship.  Fast forward after three years, Ben moved on and was about to get married in the New York where he originally wanted to settle with Jen.  Planning to move permanently to New York, Ben went back home to Baguio to sell all their properties.  Ben learned that Jen suffered from brain tumor and had brain surgery leaving her bald.  It was also revealed that the change in her behavior during the Iceland trip was due to her sickness.  Ben spent some time with Jen until the last sunset together where Jen died in the arms of Ben while watching the sunset after forgiving each other.

Since 2018, a lot of reviews and blogs have been made about the real life lessons or takeaway from Through Night and Day.  Let me share with you about the not so popular lessons I learned from this movie.

One-bag travel

1.  Travel Light.  Whether you are a solo traveler, couple or family traveler, always remember to travel light.  Carrying a lot of things burdens the one who carries it (especially boyfriends/husbands).  It adds pressure to a supposedly pleasure trip.  When traveling, always bring what is really necessary.  In life, we also can relate to traveling light.  If we keep on adding up unnecessary things in our life, it adds up our burdens thereby adding up pressure to our life.

Grateful journal

2. Journal.  The good old journal will never fail you.  It is a collection of memory and emotions written in a notebook.  Like in the movie, Jen collected memories through her journals.  She did not only write but also put ephemeral, memorabilia and photos that recorded their lives together even after the breakup.   Make your journaling creative and unique.   The possibilities are endless just like our daily adventures are.  

3. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.  Seize the day, and have little trust in the next one.  This was written by the Roman poet Horace.  When Ben and Jen traveled to Iceland, they made the most out of the moment, well most of the time at least.  When travelling with a loved one and enjoying every single moment, that is seizing the day!  It does not matter who likes the scenery or not, who enjoys the activity or not but the most important thing is that togetherness in being in that moment.  Those are precious moments that cannot be repeated, cannot be re-done, but will only be memories, which brings me to the next lesson.

endings could be beautiful beginnings

Camera is a must

4.  Do not forget to record moments.  If it weren't for Jen's documentation with cameras, go pro, instax, journaling, etc.,  Ben wouldn't have things to look back to after Jen has  gone.  Today would only be a memory tomorrow, record the moments so that there will be a lot of things to remember and review tangibly in the future.  When traveling, it is really essential to have at least a mobile with camera  to capture each moment but if you are able to bring those DSLRs, why not?

5.  Of burning bridges and building walls.  After the breakup of Ben and Jen, they stopped communicating, even prevented their families to get connected but what happened the bridges they have burned were the same bridges they walked on again and the walls that they built had to be forcefully broken to bring closure to the old relationship.  I guess it is all about healing and forgiveness that give closure to a broken relationship.  It is not advisable to burn bridges and build walls after  a broken relationship because it will only bring forth more regrets and what ifs. Burning bridges and building walls are both temporary solutions to stop the hurt.  It is only through forgiveness and letting go that bring peace to a person after a broken relationship.  

burn bridge, build walls?

So, those are my five not so popular takeaway lessons from Through Night and Day movie.  Let me end this blog with my favorite lines from the song, I will be here sang by Jen and Ben, "If in the dark we lose sight of love, hold my hand and have no fear.  'Cause i will be here."

God bless everyone.  

Kyrgyzstan, the road less travelled

Last month, me and my beshie went to Kyrgyzstan, the unknown land of the Silk Roads in Central Asia.   Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country bordering Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and China.  It is one of the countries along the silk roads.  It is also home to UNESCO Heritage Burana tower and Issyk Kul lake, the second largest salt water lake in the world.  Here are my top 10 things to do in Kyrgyzstan.

10.  Visit Bazaars. 

Bazaars are widespread all over Kyrgyzstan especially in the capital city of Bishkek.    Every bazaar has its own different products from food to, electronics to souveniers.  Everything can be bought in bazaars.

Osh Bazaar in BIshkek

9. Eat at Chicken Star Restaurant

Looking for the best Korean restaurant in Bishkek?  Chicken Star is the place to be.  It is located in Erkindik 36 between Toktugula and Kievskaya, Bishkerk.

8.Eat at Arzu Restaurant

Posh and reasonable restaurant that offers traditional and Kyrgyz food at very cheap prize.  Ambiance is very nice with three areas to choose from.  Staff are English speaking.   Menu has English translation.

7. Fairytale canyon

Skazka or Fairytale canyons from the name itself are castle-shaped canyons formed from erosions.  

6. Eagle hunting and horse back riding

One of the most amazing experiences we had in Kyrgyzstan.  UP close and personal with the eagle and riding a horse just completed our nature immersion.  

5. Experience yurt camping

Yurt is a portable tent.  Yurt means home.  It is one way of immersing in the culture of Kyrgyzstan.

4.  Ala Archa National Park

Ala Archa National park is 40 km away from Bishkek.  This is the nearest nature park from the city.  This is sooo beautiful.   We found a squirrel and a humming bird during the hike.

3. Send post card to self

Visit the post office in Biskek and send a postcard to yourself.

 2. Visit the UNESCO world heritage, Burana tower

Burana tower is located 80 km east of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan in the Tokmok region in the Chuy province.  Burana tower opens at 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Burana tower is a large minaret in the city of Balasagun.  The height of the tower is 82 feet.  Few feet away from the tower are the balbals or ancient tombstones.

Burana tower

1. Play with the waves of Issyk-Kul Lake

This second laregest salt water lake in the world is so huge that it looks like an ocean.  Waves are so big like the sea.  It is the seventh deepest lake in the world.  Issyk Kul means warm lake but it was cold when we touched the water :)

More things to do in Taiwan

11. Visit temples

There are a lot of temples in Taiwan.  There are three major religions in Taiwan - Buddhism, Taoism and Confuscianism. 

12.  Admire the beauty of Shifen waterfal

Shifen waterfall is located in the Ping Xi District in the north eastern coast of Taiwan.  We went on a trip to this waterfall on a nort eastern coast tour through KKDAY voucher.

13. Visit the A Mei Teas House in Jiufen

A Mei tea house is one of the location shooting in the movie Hayao Miyazaki’s award-winning Spirited Away.   

14. Ride the see through floor gondola at Mao Kong

15.  Off the beaten path - Visit a cemetery and pray for the souls 

Things to do in Taiwan

Here is the continuation of our Taiwan family travel:

6.  Join the hisorical walking tour

Our first day in Taipei was concluded with a historical tour in the afternoon.  The walking tour Like it Formosa is a free walking tour conducted by Taiwanese volunteers on a tip basis.  We took the voucher from KLOOK  It was very informative and cheap way to budget travel in Taiwan.

7.  Get around the city by Taipei MRT (mass rapid transit)

This very efficient transport system is very easy to navigate though it might look complicated at first especially for tourists.  The Taipei MRT is a government operated mass transit that runs from Taipei to New Taipei.

8.  Eat at Modern Toilet Restaurant

Modern Toilet Restaurant as the name implies are all about toilets (does not smell good for a restaurant, ey?).  Well it is actually a restaurant that uses bathroom and toilet items as plates, serving tray, etc.  The restaurant is also designed with all bathrooms and toilets and, guess what? cute poops :)

9.  Visit the UNESCO heritage "Queen's head" in the north eastern coast

The Queen's head (Wanli) can be found in the Yehliu Geopark in the north eastern coast of Taiwan.  It is a rock formation formed by the waves hitting the rocks.  As  time goes by, the head is getting eroded, so a replica was made.  Visit this now or you might not be able to see the original rock formation anymore.




10.  Make a wish and fly a Ping Xi Lantern in Old Shifen street

This is a great experience of sending your wishes up, up and away.

Taiwan family travel

With another year of "visa on arrival" extension for Filipinos travelling to Taiwan, take this opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful countries in Asia.

Ilha Formosa which means beautiful island is Taiwan's Portuguese name.  Amongst the Asian countries that I have gone to so far, Taiwanese are the nicest of them all.  They are so courteous and even if some do not understand English, they do not shout out of stress unlike some Asian countries I have been to.  My family and I traveled to Taiwan in April 2019.   It was still cold then where the temperature ranged from 15 degrees to 20 degrees celsius.  We were not actually ready with this cold and rain when we were there.  Good thing we had  long sleeves, shawls and caps to cover us.  It was really cold.

What's good about travelling with teenagers, my son and my niece, is that these millenials are really good at directions. Yes because with the complexity of Taiwan's very efficient railway system, it would be hard for me as a no-life-direction human to navigate in Taiwan.  Thanks to my millenial son and niece.  

There are a lot of fun things to do in Taiwan as a family.  Here's what we have done during our Taiwan visit.

1. Rent a portable wifi

Before travelling to Taiwan, we bought a https://www.klook.com/wifi-sim-card/ portable wifi router for onlt 6 AED for four days.  This was the best thing as even in the east coast we were connected.  It can be picked up in the airport by just presenting the Klook voucher, passport and copy of credit card (security purpose only) to the Unite traveler counter in Taoyuan airport.  Return to the same counter.




2.  Check in to a budget local Hotel.

For this trip, we checked in to King Plaza Hotel.  Five of us were booked in a huge room with two large bathrooms.  We booked for three nights and four days for only 9000 PHP.

King Plaza Hotel:
3F No. 163 Nanjing W. Road, Datong District

3.  Visit a Catholic church - Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Every time our family visits a country, we make sure that we hear mass in the local language or visit a church in that area.  When we arrived in Taipei, after checkin in, we went to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Shenxi Road, Taipei.  This is just walking distance from our hotel so it was easy to find through google map.

When a closed door literally opened by kind hearted church sisters especially for us awww so touched. Thanks sister Theresa Lee and friends. 

4. Lunch along NingXia night market area

Oyster omellete

Lunch around Ningxia night market

5.  Taste the local tea.

Taiwan is the origin of milk tea which almost all Filipinos are crazy about.  Never forget to try the best tea in the world.  It's all over Taiwan.

Oolong Tea

To be continued....

Queen Elizabeth 2 ship Dubai

QE2 or Queen Elizabeth 2 is a now floating hotel that used to be operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008.  It started operating in Dubai as a floating hotel in April 2018.  It is situated in Mina Rashid area in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

We had the chance to have breakfast in QE2 Dubai and here is our vlog and picttures below:

Eat and Run at Queen Elizabeth 2 ship Dubai