Dreaming of a magical Christmas at Hong Kong Disneyland.

The Winter Holiday at Hong Kong Disneyland has already started last November 18, 2011 and will end January 2, 2011. All the attractions there have Christmas decorations. As usual, you can meet and greet the beloved Disney characters wearing Christmas costumes.

The highlight of your visit would be procession of characters where Santa Mickey will ride a magical sleigh. And of course, the end of the day will be capped with pompous pyrotechnics show at the Tinkerbell Castle. I dunno why they call it Tinkerbell because in the US, it is the Cinderella Castle but it is where Tinkerbell descends for the nighttime finale.

Well, anyway, you can also get special treats if you stay in any of the disney hotels in the area.

I am pretty sure that in all the Disney Parks all over the world, Christmas will be as magical as this one. After all, at Disney, dreams do come true.

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has long been known for her humanitarian efforts, such as her works in Cambodia where she has citizenship in 2005.

Jolie has set up the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation in Cambodia, naming it after her adopted son, Maddox, who hails from the same country. Angelina has already put in many millions of dollars for this foundation in support of various projects for the area that was once the lair of the Khmer Rouge. She has brought so much help in the area.

However, reports now came out that Angelina Jolie has bought the land for $25,000 from a man who was once a Khmer Rouge lord and is considered a mass murderer.

Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency and she has been to so many refugee camps in more than 30 countries. One of the countries that she fell in love with was Cambodia. The question though is, “Was Angelina aware of the sale and the questionable background of the property?”

It seems that she was, if we are just to believe her former associate, Mounh Sarat. He said that he handled the purchase of the land that added up to about 225 acres, from a Cambodian leader named Yim Tith, who was known in revolutionary times as Ta Tith of the Khmer Rouge regime. When Angelina became a citizen, the ownership was transferred to her name.

I am not sure if all of this is true or just part true or not true at all. But this was revealed by a man who had publicly made allegations against Miss Jolie. So the details of this case are under investigation and Jolie’s camp would not comment on it.

No matter what economic crunch people are talking about, the rich do not seem to care. The biggest real estate sale has taken place earlier this week.

Candy Spelling, widow of Hollywood TV producer Aaron Spelling, had been selling the “Manor”, which is known as America’s Most Expensive Mansion for $150 million. Despite the downturn of real estate prices, the selling price of the 57,000-square foot Los Angeles mansion remained the same.

And finally, its fate was sealed when the elegant Manor was bought by Formula one heiress, Petra Ecclestone. The 22-year-old Petra is the daughter of Formula One Racing Big Boss Bernie Ecclestone and former supermodel wife, Slavica.

The Manor sits on five acres of property in Holmby Hills. It reportedly has 123 rooms, a bowling alley, a beauty salon, several gift-wrapping rooms (as in gift wrapping?) and a parking space that can accommodate 100 cars. It is just the perfect venue for high-society parties.

Honestly, I have seen photos of the place and it was soooo lovely. If I can afford it and its upkeep, why not? This is why…look at the photo of the foyer below.
Well, what can I say? If only I can afford even just a 3-bedroom home now, I would be really happy. hihihi

The advancements of technology have infiltrated every aspect of our world, including the ancient world. Whereas in the past, archaeologists studied the past by digging and digging every corner of the world for ancient relics, now a new robot explorer is doing a much better job.

There is this new robot explorer with a camera that can fit into any tiny hole, including the stone walls of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Whereas past robots could only look forward, this one can bend its camera from side to side. Because of this robot, archaeologists have seen writings on the stone wall that have never been seen before. The Egyptian hieroglyphics were written on the walls of a secret tunnel that led from the king’s and queen’s chambers. No one knows what lies after there. It could be the underworld that Egyptians were talking about in history books–nobody knows. The researchers have not yet released photos of the hieroglyphics they found or the hieroglyphic meanings. I wonder, is there really a hieroglyphic dictionary where we can check the writings or is it just for the use of the researchers?

Anyway, we will just have to wait and see. But incidentally, because of satellites and other modern equipment, 17 more pyramids, 1000 Egyptian tombs, about 3000 buildings have been detected under the Egyptian dessert. They were discovered because the satellite can identify the kiln-fired bricks used by the ancient Egyptians for their buildings even if buried under the sand. Cool, huh?

Some say that this is the end of the careers of archaeologists. But I don’t think so. I think there will be more jobs for them because as many things and data will be unearthed, all the more that they will have work to do. The computers may be able to find things but it will still be the experience and the knowledge of the researchers that will bring understanding to these findings, right?

I am just so amazed by the ancient world that one of the places that I have always wanted to visit is Egypt. I even have several books about Egypt–their lifestyles, the mummification process, their buildings, etc. hehe

As many of you know already because I had written about this several times already, we live on top of a commercial building in the middle of a commercial district. The ground floor is the store, the second floor is the storage area while the third floor is the residential area.

While it has its perks because we are conveniently located near banks, schools, stores, a big supermarket, and restaurants, it also has its downsides. Living in the city means that there are no trees around and because the distance of our roof to the ceiling is quite narrow, we can really feel the heat of the sun beating on the roof. The angle of our windows make it a direct hit of the afternoon sun. On the side is a wall. There is absolutely no cross breeze inside. Even the air conditioning is having a hard time working during the day.

And when you go out in our hallway, it is like stepping in an oven. My eyes would sometimes feel really hot and sore. The last thing we need here are Patio Heaters! LOL And you know what? The funny thing is, it seems that I am the only one who can feel this in the house! No one else seems feel the heat! hahaha

No, we are not really going to a new resort. But since the sun is up again, we thought of going swimming this afternoon and this time it will be at the Sta. Fe Resort. It has been a long time since we had been there so it would be nice to check out again.

We will taking Dindin there after lunch. I am sure to have a good time there. Will let you know of the things that we will find there.

Last Sunday, it was our first time to go to the Water Garden at the Forest Park in Taculing, Bacolod City. It is one of the newest resorts here in Bacolod City–a great daytime summer destination.

And indeed it was truly a water park! From the time you see the entrance of the place, there is just water everywhere! There is a like a river canal passing through the facade in front of the name “The Water Garden”. The are also small cascades of water from their giant stone entrance.

Inside, there is a river ride, a play fountain, and a really big intermediate pool. There is also a wishing well with water gushing from its hanging bucket. Aside from these water attractions, there is also a mini zoo and a small playground. For those with special functions, there are also several gazebos for small parties. And most of all, they have a couple of shower areas and each area has many shower rooms and toilets. For the P120 entrance, I think these amenities and attractions are well worth it.

If you go there, you can bring your food or you can buy from their Food Court concessionaires. But you cannot bring softdrinks because they really check the coolers before you are allowed to go in. The softdrinks are left in the baggage area near the entrance and then you will just be given claim stubs. The Water Garden only sells Pepsi products.

The only thing when we went there last April 30 was that, it was also the Summer Fun Day for Teletech employees. They had that Ohana Summer Activity there so Water park closed off most of the intermediate pool. And the parking areas were filled! The sad thing was, every one was still made to pay P120 even if the big pool was closed off for the day for Teletech employees. The other guests could have at least some discount, like P20 off because we were not able to use all amenities. Of course, they did not force people to go in, but as a PR thing, they could have at least given a small discount to the other guests.

Some things to consider:
All guests who are going to swim are required to wear proper swimming gear and to take a shower before going in any of the pools. In the river ride, guests are required to use lifesavers that the resort provides. People have to go around. In the Play Fountain, children who are not yet toilet trained are to wear diapers to prevent “accidents.”

Except for that small incident, this is a lovely place to visit! Truly a must-see.

Water Garden is like a modern-day paradise!

I don’t remember time flying this fast! It all seems surreal! It was like only a couple of weeks since we celebrated Dindin’s birthday but it was actually almost 2 months ago already!

And while during that time the nights were still cool because winter came late in other countries, summer could be officially declared around the third week of March. When mid-April came, the rains started coming and there was even a strong typhoon on Easter Sunday (April 23) that ruined the birthday party of my god daughter! Imagine!

Now it is only the first week of May and we scheduled an outing. We pursued our plan to go, but to a different destination because it was just too risky to go to a mountain resort. But since it rained, we did not go swimming either. Tsk tsk…

If there is one thing good about this shortened summer that is I would not need to buy car tint and vertical blinds for our room. You see the afternoon sun is really glaring inside our bedroom and I was thinking of buying blinds just so to keep the sun out during its most glaring time. But now that it is rainy, at least I don’t need it yet. The need is stalled. haha

I like it rainy because it’s cool but then the summer activities could not be done. Too bad for those newly opened resorts here in Negros!

It seems that people still enjoy swimming at the Manila Bay. That is because it is accessible and it is free, unlike if you go to private resorts.

However, swimming at the Manila Bay already poses health hazards because of pollution. People who swim there are at risk for skin diseases and gastro-intestinal problems. But still people bring their children there despite the many signs in the area that say swimming is no longer allowed.

In order to remedy this situation, the officials of the city of Manila have declared free swimming in different public pools in Metro Manila. These pools are, namely, the Dapitan Sports complex at the corner of Dapitan and Piy Margal streets; the Army and Navy Club in Ermita; the pool at the corner of Jose Siria Cruz and Selya Streets in Pandacan; and the Bagong Buhay Pool located at Pedro Gil Street.

ummer swimmers in the polluted bay, Manila Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso reminded his constituents that there are four public pools across the city they can use to indulge in the sport.

Vice Mayor Francisco Domagoso, better known by his former screen name, Isko Moreno, is strongly campaigning to his constituents to use these pools instead of going to Manila Bay and risk their health. And they will be strictly imposing a fine to those violators of the city ordinance banning the swimming at the Manila Bay.

I think this is a good move. All we want for summer is to have some fun swimming. And it is no fun if you get sick swimming in a contaminated body of water. Maybe the city of Manila should strengthen their campaign and make use of the internet to disseminate information. They can easily make use of hostgator to build up a separate site just for this cause.

In the past, we do not really go on a vacation during Holy Week. It is either we have a church retreat, youth camp, or we just stay at home and just bond as a family. But this time, we joined my brother-in-law, his wife, and his extended family on a trip to Sipalay City.

We left on the morning of Thursday and took the four-hour drive to Sipalay City. Then we got off a small port where were boarded two small pump boats (one for our party of 7 and the other for our stuff and my brother in law). It was a short pump boat ride that only about 15 minutes. We arrived around 1pm at our accommodation–the Fiesta Cove Resort in Langub.

It is not a white sand beach but it is very clean. Our resort looks like a two-story home on the beach. It only had four rooms on the second floor and a public mess hall and kitchen on the ground floor. It is like a beach front home with a garden, a fence, and a gate. It is really nice and homey. The rooms are clean and air conditioned that even my child was very comfortable. If she is in the room, it is difficult to convince her to go out. hehe

Above is the entrance to the hotel. The water reaches about 4 meters from the gate during high tide.

Above, this is the mess hall. It is spacious and can accommodate maybe 40 people. We brought our own food that we cooked. We rented their kitchen, along with the use of the refrigerator, their stove, and their grill for P500 per day.

We had an early morning swim. We woke Dindin up around 7:30am so that the sun is not so high up when we have our swim. It took a lot of warming up to the water before she enjoyed it.

This is our temporary shelter. It had pension house amenities. Very comfortable and clean. And that is the garden, Dindin enjoyed playing with bubbles there every night. Room accommodation is only P1,600 per night. P1,500 if you opt not to use the television.

So what did we do on Earth Day? Honestly, we did not have any Earth Day activities, except probably to pick up a few trash on the beach. It is not much really because we have been too busy with our vacation. Oh well, but just like we usually do, we do not throw our garbage just anywhere but in designated places. That is our share. And I would also like to start on the endeavor of using eco-friendly bags whenever I shop, not just the Green Bag at SM Supermarket just because I get points on my SMAC.

So what did the people on the beach do? Some smoked macanudo, others had a campfire, some danced to reggae music, while others just relaxed in their hammocks while reading books.

I am sorry that I don’t have the number of this resort for bookings. I will have to ask it from my sister in law. Next time.

Last time, I cooked Eggplant Parmigiana upon the inspiration of friends who were talking on Facebook. I thought it was pretty easy and an upgrade to our usual Eggplant Omelet. The ingredients were just readily available and it is easy to cook, so why not?

So anyway, one friend of mine said that she had her share in Tuscanny while the other one had tasted it in an Italian restaurant. I looked it up on the internet, found a workable recipe, and started on it. Ahhhh…my husband and I both loved it!

I am just thinking though, I really love the rich taste and aroma of Mediterranean dishes. I loved cooking with spices, all kinds of them, and experimenting on their different tastes. I would rather have them fresh, but for lack of it, I use the dried bottled ones like McCormick.

I really think that I would certainly enjoy a holiday in Europe, especially in England, Italy, and France. I would love to stay in one of those Holiday villas in France that I have looked up a long time ago.

After I came back from the United States, I thought it is not impossible for me to reach Europe. So I really hope someday that we are given the opportunity. hihi That would be a great time to see the sights and also sample the tastes.

For the past several days, I have craving for anything Italian–tossed salad in olive oil, bruschetta, gelato, pizza, etc. That is because a friend of mine has been posting on her Facebook account that she has since gone on redoing her diet because of doctor’s orders.

She has had health problems for the past several years and a lot of it can be attributed to her diet, lack of exercise, and some bad habits (not vices, but bad habits like taking meds on an empty stomach or just leaving the house without breakfast, and binging.)

The health problems have already taken their toll and she has since went on the healthy lifestyle bandwagon. Now she is eating a lot of low fat, low calories meals but done the Italian way and I am like drooling because of her FB statuses. hahaha

Anyway, it would be nice to sample authentic Italian fare and to rest in those Villas Italy as I visit Tuscany right? Ahh…that is still one of my dreams.

I would love to go there and stay for about a month and just enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells (or aromas) of Italy. To Europe we shall go…someday! Who knows, right? There is no harm in dreaming. weeeeee