Revisiting Death Valley National Park

Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, CA

@ 282 ft below sea level, is the lowest elevation in North America

Hiking Golden Canyon, Death Valley National Park, CA

Keeping the Joy of Blue And Peach

Reflecting in Hues of Friendship: Blue and Peach

If not probably for my love to explore our wonderful world at the backroads, I may not be as committed to take full control of my health and fitness. Though I indulge mostly in healthy foods, but I can't deny I have problems with portion control. :( When it comes to food, too much of even a good thing can still wreak havoc, such as the dreaded weight gain. We all know the inequality to weight loss: calories burned > calories consumed. For some people, it is easier for them to attain this inequality, thus they can always go back to their ideal weight. However, for others, where there may be some metabolic problems, exercise and dieting may be not enough that physicians would recommend supplements for them for weight loss. Raspberry keytones at present are the number one greatest fat burner. Aside from raspberry ketones, Dr. Oz featured some of the effective and fast fat-burning natural supplements. They include the green tea extract and the green coffee bean. Drinking supplements won't be that boring if incorporated in our favorite beverages, such as raspberry lemonade, or green tea mint tonic.  A lot of patients have attested the almost miraculous weight loss using these products. Some shared they have lost 18 pounds in one month using the green coffee bean extract. If paired with exercise and balanced diet of healthy and whole food, the weight loss would truly last. I am glad to know about these PureBio Health products because I actually love all 3: raspberry, green coffee and green tea!

I know I eat a lot. Despite that I eat mostly healthy foods, I know if I am not careful, I would still end up having problems with weight. I believe I burn the calories from over-eating by rewarding myself always with a joyful hike or walk with nature.

Mambukal Mountain Resort, Negros Occidental

Boating Lagoon @ Mambucal Mountain Resort, Negros Occidental, Philippines

Mambukal Mountain Resort is one of my favorite nature escapes in my hometown, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. As far as I could recall, this place awakened my love for hiking and nature exploring! Back when I was a child, I often heard stories from elder relatives how they would do rope bagging to explore the 7 falls in Mambukal. I knew that the 6 falls were near each other, but the 7th is a long way from all the other 6. When I was 13 years old, during one of our family outings there, instead of spending all our time swimming in the pool like most people would do, I talked to my two younger brothers about discovering the 7th Falls. It gave me confidence after that hike about the powers of my legs in exploring our wonderful world. My trip back to my hometown is always not complete without spending some time in this cool mountain oasis.

Bats @ Mambukal Mountain Resort

Paper Kite Butterfly at Mambucal, Philippines

Paper Kite Butterfly, Mambucal Mountain Resort, Philippines

Paper kite butterfly is native to my home country, Philippines, and Malaysia. One of my wishes when I visited my hometown for a vacation was to capture these butterflies. Imagine my grin from ear to ear when I saw lots of them.

Simple happiness, priceless joy from a happy butterfly. :)

Valentine's Date With Nature

Valentine's is everyday. It is not exclusive only to couples, but to everyone. Because Valentine is everyday, we also did not do anything differently last Thursday, February 14. We did not celebrate the day with a candle light dinner, nor had an extravagant exchange of gifts. Instead, we spent the rest of our day after work the same way we would always do, sharing the activity we love.
Let me take you to our Valentine's date last Thursday. Two simple hearts always finding immense happiness in the priceless gifts that comes from our wonderful world.

~ Valentine's Date With Nature ~

A walk to see the daily miracles of life. From the desert garden,

Desert Garden

Fishing at Bishop Creek Canyon, Eastern Sierra, CA

Thinking of a vacation? Looking for some cheap airline tickets to get-away from the recent hustle and bustle of a busy work life? Let me share with you one of my favorite places for a very relaxing vacation, the EASTERN SIERRA, CALIFORNIA.

Shore and Float Tube Fishing at North Lake, Bishop Creek Canyon, Eastern Sierra, CA

The Eastern Sierra of California is home to awe-inspiring contrasts and diversities. It offers several interesting geological formation and stunning scenery.

Sagada via Banaue, part 4: Burial Traditions in Sagada and Kiltepan Sunrise

My Last Glimpse of Rice Terraces at Sagada ( taken through a glass window of a running van )

2 and 1/2 days in Sagada was not enough. First day, we explored The Banaue Rice Terraces and then went Hiking to Pongas Falls.  Second day was Spelunking at Sumaguing Cave and visiting one of Sagada's famous traditions, burying their dead. 3rd day was a very short stop for sunrise at Kiltepan Point, before we finally left off for a short detour to Baguio on our way back to Manila. What I will be sharing in this post are some more of the activities we did before we finally left Sagada.

First that I will be sharing in this post is the burial tradition in Sagada. Burying the dead underground was not practiced before Christianity came to Sagada. Instead, the people of Sagada believed in allowing the spirits of their dead to be free, to be close to nature. There were 2 options to bury their dead then: hanging coffins and pile coffins, which are found in Echo Valley, a sacred place for the Sagadans.

Echo Valley

Nature Heals

Field of Wildflowers ( CA Sea lavender )

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.”  by John Muir

One of the many things I am very thankful for being out in nature is the healing power it brings. Taking a walk in the midst of nature does not only bring me inspiration, but also helps in rejuvenating my energies. I also take some examples from some of nature's inspiring changes, such as how plants heal naturally. For example, the field of purple above may turn brown in the fall and winter, but comes spring, they come alive and burst with fresh blossoms bringing out wonderful colors of inspiration and of healing.

What The Sunrise Brings

SUNRISE FROM HOME

"Nothing is lost when all memories are kept in the heart."- This is what I told myself about 3 weeks ago in realizing that I deleted a set of pictures that I took during my Philippines vacation. I really thought those pictures were gone. I spent a lot of times learning how to retrieve files that were deleted from the recycle bin. I tried several rescue procedure, but nothing that I wanted to recover were found. Thankfully, the sunrise last weekend brought me a very pleasant surprise.