Brown is Beautiful!

This is a personal story which I am going to share today. When I worked before in one of the biggest bank in the Philippines, some of my colleagues would ask me if I need a whitening for my skin. I just smiled and always told them, "I love my complexion and brown is beautiful". Most of Filipino women always wanted to have a fair complexion. Unlike with the women here in Europe especially in Germany, they always wanted to have a brown or tan complexion. Some are even buying the best tanning lotions or they go to the so-called Sun Studio to make their skin darker. During summer time, I even see some neighbors lying under the heat of the sun just to get a tan skin. Sometimes, I am afraid of them getting a skin cancer because too much heat of the ultra-violet rays coming from the sun. Now that I am in Europe, I enjoyed much my skin color because a lot of Europeans dream to have this natural skin complexion.

Visiting Rome, Italy

I believed I am lucky enough to visit the domicile of the head of the Catholic Church. Visiting Vatican City especially Saint Peter's Cathedral is a great moment for me. It was truly a memory that I can keep forever. I am very thankful that I was given the chance to visit this beautiful city. It was a dream put into reality and it is just unbelievable. Here is an image of me and my friend during our visit last month of August, 2010.

taken in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Vitamins Are Good

I am not an expert about this topic but I know some about it. Back during school days, we were taught that fruits and vegetables are one of the best sources of vitamins and minerals. For example vitamins A, B, C, D, E and some other more are needed by our body to help us stay fit and healthy. There are also minerals like calcium and magnesium which are needed by our muscles and bones for proper functioning and maybe to help prevent some diseases and malfunction. For women’s multi vitamin needs, you can find a lot of information online or you can ask your doctor about it. There are also these so-called dietary supplements which often contain vitamins to ensure that we take adequate amounts of nutrients needed by the body on a daily basis. Lastly, it is better to consult the doctor first before taking any sort of dietary supplements. The best thing to do, always include fruits and vegetables in your daily intakes. I am doing the same now.

White Beach in Panglao Island, Visayas, Philippines

This is one of the islands that I love in the Philippines. I had been to Panglao Island twice already and if given the chance in the future, I still want to go back there. Panglao is an island located in Central Visayas. It is located southwest of the island of Bohol and east of Cebu. It is considered to be one of the top tourist destination in the Philippines. It is famous for its beautiful dive spots and its coral reefs.

The first time I visited Panglao island was in 2006. Last February of this year, we went back there again. Here is an image I took during my second visit. This is the beautiful while beach of Bohol Beach Club. This is such a priceless view!

Panglao has a terrain that range from plain, hilly to mountainous. Panglao is made of Maribojoc Limestone, the youngest of the limestone units found in the western area of Bohol. The limestone composition halted the development of an airport as coralline limestone is soluble which causes formation of caves and sinkholes. One interesting geological feature found in the island is the Hinagdanan Cave which has an underground water source. The cave is an important water source as the island has no rivers or lakes. A tourism spot that the island of Panglao boast is the BOHOL BEACH CLUB. It features a 1.5 kilometer beach shoreline that provides a pristine beauty of what the island offers. It also boasts of the presence of one of the most beautiful dive spots that carries a glimpse of an awesome sea world treat. more about Panglao here

Apple and Banana for Dinner

Fruits and vegetables are always good food especially if you want to lose some weight. I can`t believed that I only ate apple and banana for dinner tonight. For a week now, I am trying myself not to tempt to eat a lot of food especially in the evening. It might be a good way of slowly getting rid of my excess pounds. Sometimes, I am thinking about Diet pills that work fast. I guess, there are diet supplements that also work good. You can read a lot of information online to help you find out which ones are really effective. For now, I believed that eating more fruits and vegetables are good for the body because they are also rich with vitamins and minerals. I am happy to buy a lot of vegetables today as I went grocery shopping.

Hello Chicken!

I seldom see live chicken in Germany. Of course, I see a lot of chicken meat in the Metzgerei or butcher shops. Unlike in the Philippines, where my parents live, my father has a lot of chickens in the backyard. As we attended a friend´s birthday party last month, I saw that they have a lot of chicken. I already know before that they have chicken but I never see one. This time, I already saw a lot and I was amazed how big they are. Since I always have my pocket camera with me, I immediately took some pictures. Here is one of them.

My friend said that they don´t butcher their chicken. They only use their eggs for cooking. When they are dead, they just bury them.

Americans Discovering Cheap Alternative Treatments

The United States is known for it's high technology health care, but many people are now being turned off by that and seeking a more ancient approach. When new treatments come with large costs that can't be paid with a simple short term payday loan, and instead require that you get a second mortgage, it's time to seek alternatives. In fact, many Americans are finding that other countries can offer them some treatments that seem to work well for them, even if the FDA won't endorse them as being official medical treatments.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture works on the Chinese principle of an energy that runs through the body that can experience blockages, causing diseases. While Americans in the past thought that was weird, these days it's very popular. People in China have long used it to control pain, remove wrinkles, and even treat allergies. The effectiveness of the treatment is an individual perception, but everyone can easily tell that the cost is much less than conventional medicines. Plus, there are no side effects.

Herbals and Solutions

For those people without a proper health care plan, a simple antibiotic may not just be about the cost of the actual antibiotic, but also the necessary trip to the doctor that can easily range in the hundreds of dollars. Some natural health enthusiasts use colloidal silver as a natural antibiotic since it was the choice of treatment before the others came into being. For people with allergies, they may take herbal solutions rather than choosing to see a allergy specialist or take an over-the-counter synthetic drug. For people who are into natural health, changing the diet is seen as the best way to prevent disease in the first place and is a very cheap way to implement health care plan at home. The choice to eat more foods grown at home or bought organic can increase the amount of nutrition available for the body while reducing the exposure to chemicals and pesticides.