Faces

Faces....what do you see? Do you see the same expressions as I do when I first viewed these pictures? The pictures below were taken last Sunday by my husband who decided to focus on faces during our relaxing stroll at the Wild Animal Park.

Sad ?

Lemur are nocturnal primates native to Madagascar. Lemurs are named after the lemures (ghosts or spirits) due to their reflective eyes, ghostly vocalization and nocturnal habits.

Pensive?

Black-crowned night heron is a local San Diego bird that is found throughout a large part of the world. These birds often frequent the Wild Animal Park maybe because they see the place as a rich place for them to hunt and hang out.

Angry?

Shoebill stork is such a huge bird - they are quite tall, with such a penetrating stare that can really look straight at you in the eye without batting their eye lash. These birds are solitary and native to the marshy banks of the East African White Nile. They feed on frogs, small crocodiles, and other mud puddle fish. 

Relaxed? 

Actually, since this is the Wild Animal Park, I am not very sure what type of pelican is this. Is this the pink backed pelican that is native to Africa, or is this a local white pelican that is found all over the world and like the herons also make this park their favorite stop? 

Focused

Hummingbirds are so easy to find everywhere in San Diego but are not so easy to photograph because they move so quick, in fact the humming is from the quick flapping of their wings. 

Cutesy?

The African Crowned Crane looks very majestic with their crown that is made of tall stiff golden feathers that looks like a real crown. These birds seem to love to walk in pairs.

Surprised?

Who doesn't love the meerkats? They are just so cute and adorable little creatures. They love to be in groups, and always show off their cute and admirable poses. 

San Diego Whale Watching: Celebrating the Diversity of Life at Sea

In my dreams, I invited them, and then, they came to give me some of life's simple gifts, such as BIG SMILES and PURE JOY :)

2 Gray Whales, One Diving, One Breathing

haha! Dream on Betchai! Last Saturday, hubby and I took the Bright and Morning Star boat from Shelter Island.

North Harbor @ Shelter Island, San Diego

And the transcript that follows here are a result of my "wishful" thinking, riding high the simple gift of pure joy from our natural world.

Dolphin: "Hey, there is a b- party on that boat! I am coming!"

Dolphins: "whoa! a party? We're definitely joining!"

Whales: "wiggle wiggle, let us dive and wag our tails, let us show them who the crowd drawer of the party is!"

Dolphin (smiling): " I do not need to prove anything, I give them a smile and their hearts melt, whoa!"

Whale: " And I just wag my tail again, and oh, they jump for joy!" 

Pelicans and Sea Gulls: "huh, there is a party? hurry!!!! We have to get the best meal, the best fish!"

Whale: "Ahhhh, there they are, waiting for me to breath again, they are excited to see my blowhole as much as my wagging tail!"

Sea Lions: " there's a party, shall we all jump in?"

Sea Lions: "were in! but where are the foods?"

Elephant Seals: " wish it's easy to leave the shore and join them there!"

Boobie to other Boobies: " I am Joining! Come, fly with me"

Mom Boobie: "I can't leave my baby, but you all have fun!"

Baby Elephant Seal : "Mom, I love you! If you want to join, I'll be okay here, I know you'll come back for me!"

Cormorants:"let's join them"

Cormorants, Sea Lions, Dolphin and Pelicans: "what a wonderful party it is!"

dolphins dancing: "joys, pure joy!"

Betchai: "oh oh, I can see the San Diego Skyline already,soon party is over :( "

Betchai: " and over :( , but then, again, what a wonderful joy the day went!!  "

Anyway, always thankful to God for all the blessings He had given me all these years. Life is beautiful, always is, and hoping and praying that it stays beautiful.

So Much More Than Hot

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TABASCO® Original Red. All opinions are 100% mine.
Have you had a bite where it was super spicy you can hardly taste anything but hot? Where it seems your mouth is burning and you got to stop from eating since aside from hot your taste buds can not identify anything? I had a few of those moments, and I usually would simply stop from having more bites since I don't feel I am enjoying my foods anymore, but rather it seems like I am being punished.
However, I love spicy foods! But I love them with a taste, when, hot is not just hot, but it is so much more than hot. When the spiciness of the food brings the most of the taste of the dish. Now, that is my kind of hot. That's why I simply love using TABASCO® Original Red in our dishes. Tabasco Red is so much more than hot, its simple combination of salt, red pepper, and vinegar perfected in 3-year aging process produces a hot a sauce that has the uncanny ability to bring the most of of the taste of your food. I love Tabasco red on my pizza. Pizza and spicy wings are a favorite when we simply want to sit down and watch football, it has been a long Tabasco tradition, that is Superbowl and Tabasco.  However, since we shifted to healthier snacks, we substitute the spicy chicken wings to tofu sticks, and boy, how I love the tofu sticks with Tabasco Red. We also make our own pizza, since I love the combination of Asian vegetable ingredients that I can not find at all in any pizza shop. If you want more pizza ideas, you can also check out Pizza Perfected and get a thrill out of creating your own pizza.
Tabasco will go almost with anything, however, if you want to get more recipe ideas, check out Game-Day Party Menu for more food recipes enhanced by Tabasco Red.

The Joy of Giving In

I was walking at Balboa Park when the blossom of a lotus called my attention. I stopped, and enjoyed the moment of watching and drawing inspiration from their beauty.

Lotus Flower, Reflecting Pond, Balboa Park, San Diego

While I was taking a picture of the lotus flowers, suddenly a bumblebee appeared and enjoyed working on the blossom.

Bumblebee on Lotus Flower

Nature was so good, giving me an additional treat. Suddenly a bee followed on bumblebee.

Bee and Bumblebee on Lotus Flower

( you can click on this picture to enlarge)

What a joy it was to be treated with nature's surprises, I just stopped for the lotus flower, and the bumble bee and bee came in to add more life to the pictures. I was planning to inch a little bit closer and take a good picture, when, suddenly, a little voice from behind asked me, "Can I also take a picture?"

It was from a little girl. Though there was a lot of open space for both of us to take a picture, but I believe she believed where I stood was the best angle to take the picture, so I smiled to her and said, "Sure, go ahead."

She smiled back, hurriedly say "thank you" then she was lost in taking pictures of the flower. What a sight, what a joy, to see a little girl also inspired with her surroundings. Knowing her parents must be looking from somewhere, I did not attempt to take her a picture nor ask her to take her a picture for that will take sometime from her to capture the moment she wanted. Instead, I just watched her happily taking the shots. It is during these times, where the joy of giving in is so much more than the joy of taking pictures.

Happy New Year!!

Betchai's Joyful New Year's Day Jump, Torrey Pines Gliderport, San Diego, CA

(the print in my shirt, "Pinoy" means, Filipino, I am proud to be one! Thanks to Rose for the shirt, fellow TSS sister, her picture below with the group )

Life has been too quick these days, I had been enjoying my 2 week's vacation from work, and then quickly, the 2 weeks disappeared :( Though we did not go anywhere this Christmas break but home, but this has to be one of my happiest Christmases here in the US. During Christmas, my cousin joined us and we spent a lot of time wandering in San Diego despite it was not our original plan.

My Cousin showing me how to jump high, Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego, CA

Originally, we planned to go snowshoeing in Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierra, however, because of the snowstorm that hammered the Eastern Sierra before Christmas, we were not able to go because the roads were still not perfectly clear. Imagine in just one weekend, 15- 20 ft of snow dumped in Mammoth, thus, the snowplowers can only do so much in clearing the roads. We decided instead to enjoy home, and what San Diego outdoors has to offer. After Christmas, Tes of the Craftista joined us 

Tes @ Cabrillo National Monument

on the 28th in San Diego with her hubby and 3 nieces, 

Left to Right: Cate, Teki and Yam ( Tes 3 nieces) enjoying the sea and sand at Mission Beach

for the much awaited The Salitype Society mini reunion. 

TSS mini reunion on 30th ( picture courtesy of Teki, Tes' niece)

sitting from left to right: Rose, Chay, Betchai

standing from left to right: Ruthi of My Refuge Online and Tes

Ruthi @ Shell Beach, La Jolla

It was such a joy spending time with fellow Salitype sisters, how we just wished the rest of the Salitype Society sisters were with us. It is our dream that one day we will all be together, like what Chay keep on saying, we will make it happen, one sweet day according to Zen ( or Kulasa). 

The joy spent with fellow TSS sisters ended on the 31st :(, and on New Year's Day, it was back to reality, but still a joyful reality filled with hopes. Hubby and I went wandering around San Diego again.

Joyful Reminiscing of Happy TSS wandering, Torrey Pines Gliderport

The New Year treated us so well, just so many sightings in one day. The ocean is amazingly sparkling blue, though we missed the dolphins that we oftentimes see, but then, the flock of birds were always there for us.

Gulls in Flight

Heron Kissing Its Reflection

We also had wonderful time tidepooling, saw several sea stars, sea hares, eggs of sea hares, lobster, octopus, etc etc, and I remember the days we spent with Tes charming and kind 3 nieces, how I wished it was also low tide when they went to Cabrillo with us. Anyway, I will save the pictures and exploration of our tidepooling in my next post. Sadly, right now, time is so short it is about time for me to sleep and welcome tomorrow, back to reality! Back to School! Back to teaching! And here I am, back to blogging before I get lost again this week :)

Again, Happy New Year Everyone.

Travel for Adventure

I and my cousin at Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego, CA

We love to travel, and we love it with adventure. Though San Diego is one of the popular vacation and adventure destinations, yet our wandering spirit always long for an adventure somewhere. A vacation for me would not mean sitting down and lazying on sand, but it means being on the go always, exploring our beautiful world. Because of the adventurous nature of our travel and vacation, it is very important for us to have peace of mind when we travel. We see to it that we are covered by health insurance wherever we may end up with. Each year, we compare holiday insurance that would serve our needs.

on top of Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah

We never know what will happen the next day. Though we take a lot of precaution in our travel, but we can hardly tell what the conditions of our body will be tomorrow.

White Water Rafting at White Salmon River, Washington

A few years ago, during one of our trips, my hubby suddenly found himself limping and in excruciating foot pain. We thought it was from hiking injuries, we ended up in the urgent care of a nearby hospital. Thankfully, our insurance covered the cost that we did not have to worry about added expenses in our travel. The X-rays showed no physical injuries, for that we were thankful for. Now, we continue to explore our wonderful world while we still have the energy to kick our feet and keep on going.