My mind is always filled with vacation plans. I’m always on the look out for seat sales, as well as, accommodation sales. I guess I got addicted after going on a trip on a tight budget, and came out of it with souvenirs (pasalubong) and great photos. I realized that all the barriers to great vacations were just in my head, that I just created.

So maybe, it won’t be farfetched to start planning about Orlando vacation. Haha. Kidding aside, husband and I have carefully mapped out our family budget this year. And by the looks of it, we’ll just be in Asia for the rest of the year.

To go to the other parts of the zoo tour such as the Tiger Safari or Savannah, one needs to bring his vehicle. Of course, not all are willing to bring his car and risk it, although very little possibility, to be scratched by animals along the way.

One has an option to ride the train-like vehicles of the zoo for only P50 per person. The advantage of this is you save up on gas. The disadvantage is the road is very dusty. I do not recommend it to those who have asthma.

I suddenly remembered this site http://www.blackheadextractors.org that I browsed last week. It was so dusty my face felt like it was so thick and heavy with oil and dirt. We ran out of wet wipes for trying to keep ourselves fresh once in a while.

Rodent world is where we saw the hybrid of zebra and carabao, as well as the albino carabao.

We weren’t able to take a picture of the hybrid facing us he seemed to be very shy. That or my mind was just preoccupied with quick trim extreme burn. Haha. Anyway, this one is enough, I think, to show that it’s a carabao with the zebra stripes.

Here’s the albino carabao.

For weekends, holidays and peak season, an entrance to the Zoobic Safari costs Php449 for adults and Php349 for kids who are 3 feet or higher.

It was so hot last Sunday when we went there. We all felt sticky. It seemed that shaving my head wouldn’t be such a bad idea then. Well, there will always be hair growth shampoos in the groceries.

Kidding aside, I highly suggest for a family or group of friends to go on swimming after going to the zoo.

One of the cool things here in this zoo is you can take your photo with the animals such as tiger in the above photo. I was just too afraid to do it.

I have been having coffee for breakfast, pasta for lunch, crackers for snack and salad for dinner, and yet, I still keep gaining weight. I am not about to give up as I am inspired by these weight loss stories I read online.

I wanted to keep this diet as part of my lifestyle, with the weekends as my window to eat something that is not crackers, pasta or salad. Sometimes I feel like that I can. But more often, I feel like I want to order everything that I see on the menu. I should just accept that gone are the days that I can simply eat whatever I want how much I want. Oh, age!

Today, well just for today anyway, I’ve stopped looking for diets for quick weight loss as today, I need as much food and fluids as I can take. Well, not that much though. Maybe just enough to have my body nourished as I’ve been feeling under the weather.

Hmm, do people get sick from having too much fun?

Last Friday, I met up with fellow Bebot (a digiscrapping community) / Twitter ladies (who had been using Twitter as a venue to talk about blogging, digiscrapping and online shopping). Well, not all digiscraps, not all have blogs, not all shops online (some sells haha) but all wanted to PARTEEEEEEH!!!

Too bad, my family and I were all too tired to attend the continuation Jollibee party last Saturday. Tsk tsk!

This has been my mother’s problem when I was younger. Not only did I often write accidentally on my school uniform, but it was plain white! I remember one time, after busy drawing a project on Amish fireplaces, I found my shirt covered with the “evidence” of all the hard work done.

What I am about to share with you was what my mother told me to do if I became aware of any ink stains that I made on myself.

Place the stained shirt on top of an old rag or toilet paper (whatever was available in our school washroom). Rub alcohol very gently on the stain. The rag / toilet paper will absorb the stain. Once all stains have been transferred to the rag / toilet paper, wash the area with soap and water.

What did Sir Isaac Newton, Ludwig van Beethoven and Van Gogh have in common? They all have bipolar disorder. The first time I heard of Van Gogh is bipolar, I had to check my textbooks if they were referring to the same person I had in mind. Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood.

Well, this post isn’t about that disorder but rather about our CNY’s eve slash Valentine’s family date. I was looking for a new dining place where we could have late dinner on a Saturday till midnight and where kids are allowed. I stumbled on a review about this Van Gogh is bipolar restaurant, which serves all natural and authentic happy-hormone-producing foods. It got me so intrigued! Not to mention they have selection of tea! (A little trivia: I eat once a week at Hap Chan because that’s the only place that serves hot tea near our office. Pathetic huh.)

I was the one who had the red wine that goes with this order.

I was eating halfway when I remembered to take a photo of this.

We left the place satisfied, full and HAPPY!

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A little trivia about the owner, who by the way talks to the customers personally before and after preparing the food. He is a travel photographer by day which is the reason the restaurant opens only at 5pm and till 12:30am.

Location:
van gogh is bipolar
living art space • cafe
inner courtyard of 154 maginhawa st.
(behind “Redbucks cafe)
sikatuna village

I will say once again what I have told myself around 3 months back. I will never want to ride the ferry again.

Last October, I wasn’t able to hold it in and had to blow right when the ferry had docked. This was even on the trip back. And what do you know, same thing happened today! Imagine, I was able to hold it in for an hour but not anymore just when it’s almost over. Argh!

Anyway, it’s nice to see Hong Kong again. We weren’t able to roam around as we were in a hurry to go to Ocean Park. We just bought diapers for BG near the ferry terminal before heading to the nearest MTR station. One saleslady was trying to convince me into buying hair loss vitamin. And then, she offered Omega 3 supplements for BG.

It was also nice seeing ladies in winter clothing. Fashion there is a mixture of European, Korean and Japanese.

Oh, just my observation, it’s colder in Macau than in Hong Kong.

We woke up late so I did not expect to go to each place in our itinerary. And by 5pm, we’re already back to our hotel room. As early as 8pm, I was putting on my night cream. Now, this is what I call relaxation!

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Earlier today:
Me: “Dad, let’s go to Venetian!”
BG: “Dad, let’s go to FE-ZI-SHAN!”

Is it just me or did she just say PHYSICIAN?

Earlier (more like yesterday), I was entertained unknowingly by several people who like us, were waiting for their flights. First, I was watching people who passed by and their choices of wardrobe. I found the boots of two little girls cute but of their mom shady. Then there’s this woman probably in her 50s who dressed so well she’d be mistaken for a celebrity, but her face was so red and probably never heard of the best rosacea treatments.

And the most amusing of all that I saw earlier was when one guy who I’m guessing is in his late 20s decided to change his shirt in public, and showcased his torso, a lady probably in her 40s was watching and smiling the whole time. Looks like I wasn’t the only one who has gotten entertained.