Things We Forget: #833: Believe in the beauty of your dreams.

an early summer in bohol

Had an early summer in the lovely, laid-back province of Bohol.

We first of all visited family. 

We stuffed ourselves with food.

What was special about the food during our trip was that it was mostly fresh seafood.  Freshly-caught fish, prawns and squid taste so much better than the store-bought frozen variety.


We also went beach-hopping.

When we think of nice, white sand beaches in the Philippines, we often think of Boracay.  But I was delightfully surprised to learn that there are so many white sand beaches in the island of Panglao.

The sand is pale and fine, like polvoron.

We went to see the historical sites ...

The Sandugo Monument. It commemorates the blood compact made between Datu Sikatuna and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi on March 16, 1565, to signify good relations.

Baclayon Church, one of the oldest churches in Asia.  Built in 1727 by the Jesuits, it is quite well-preserved.

... and natural treasures Bohol is known for:

Loboc River.  Enjoyed via a leisurely cruise and lunch on a floating restaurant.

Hinagdanan Cave.

 Tarsiers, one of the world's smallest primates.

And of course, a tour of Bohol wouldn't be complete without seeing the Chocolate Hills.

One of my favorite parts of the trip: Dolphin-watching.

  We were lucky to sight a lot of dolphins skipping.  We were close enough to tell they were huge - they might have been about human size or bigger.

And I'm happy I was able to take some lovely photographs.

That was fun.  ^_^  Next trip planned for the summer:  Laiya, Batangas, next month.

more buttons

 I was looking through my files today and found these.  Sharing for grabbing.

For easy-instructions and more buttons, see this entry.

flat round

 

 

gray round

swirly, blue

swirly, pink

 

You're welcome! ^_^

how i plan to have a fruitful week every week

In line with starting a new year, I thought of an easy way to remember my weekly To-Do list. I'm not a "resolution" kind of person, but I don't mind writing out goals and tasks that would place my life in a good direction. 

I've assigned my chores and tasks into days of the week, and I've given each day a nickname for easy recall.


Every Monday is Bun-day
... Or bunny-day, in which I make sure to spend time with my rabbit and see to it that his home is clean and his supplies are well-stocked.
The personal / health-related dimension of Bun-day: This will be the time I eat only fruits and vegetables, a sort of weekly detox.  I'll be eating just like a rabbit naturally would - no carbs, no junk, no processed stuff, no added salt or sugar. 
I think I will also pick this day to wear no make-up or any hair product.

Tuesday is Shoes-day
... In which I dust my shoes and bags and place them back in their proper boxes and shelves.
The health-related part:  This will be when I pamper my feet and nails.

Wednesday is Cleanse-day

... In which I ensure the bedroom is clean and suitable for a good night's sleep, and that the living room is presentable enough to receive guests.
The personal cleansing:  This is when I take longer baths and exfoliate my skin.  I can do this more than once a week if needed of course, but Wednesday will be my fixed, no-rush day. 


Thursday is Thirst-day
... In which I drink lots of water.  I know that eight glasses of water are part of a good daily diet, but I forget to drink that much sometimes, particularly when I'm busy.  I'm slating Thursday to be the day I have to do it. It will also be my "drink water only day" - no juice, tea, and especially no soda.

Friday is Pray-day
... In which I spend a longer time in prayer, and make sure to pray for others.  Of course prayer should be done everyday, but Fridays will be for prayer requests that I might have forgotten about during the week. Sometimes people ask for prayer, right? ("Please pray for me / for my father who is sick / for my daughter who is taking an exam / etc.")  To be honest, I don't always remember everything people tell me, so I'm setting Fridays aside to recall all those.  This will also by the time I will pray for what goes on in the country, or something disturbing i saw in the news, so that I won't have to spend every day worrying about it.



Anything goes on Weekends... and I will see to it I lay back and have fun on Saturdays and Sundays.

this week's new like: prosciutto e melone

My godfather gifted us with a huge slab of prosciutto (Italian ham), and I've been loving it this week.  Coincidentally, the night before I encountered that pretty parcel of pork, I found an article on CNNGo that lists it as one of the World's 50 Most Delicious Foods. 

I Googled for recipes, and I learned that one of the best ways to enjoy it is sliced paper-thin and wrapped around wedges of melon.

Images not mine.  Taken from the web.

Or any shape of melon, I guess. But it seems laying them side-by-side on a plate is acceptable too:

Photo not mine.

I had to shoo away my ham-related fears (such as the possibility of salmonella, and the scare of fat settling in my hips forever).  This prosciutto e melone looks so intiguing, it's something I just have  to try. Luckily there was a whole honeydew in our fruit basket.

I have neither the tools nor the skill to cut ham neatly, so I just sliced it as thin as I could with the best knife I found in the kitchen (MENTAL NOTE: Buy fillet knife or other appropriate appliance).  The clumsy bits of ham I came up with weren't large enough for wrapping around, so I just opted for the "lay them side-by-side on a plate" method. 

You must forgive me for not taking any photos; I don't think I did a very presentable presentation - it was good for eating but not really for photoblogging.

Besides, I was too excited to eat everything, so I once again failed to take a decent photo before gobbling it all up.  (Burp)   I must say it was heavenly - the subtle saltiness of the ham and the sweetness of the melon compliment each other.  It makes an excellent light dinner. 

But the ham alone is delish - it's silky and moist, it kinda reminds me of sushi.  It's totally deserving of that slot in the 50 World's Best list.
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