Life: Books and Travel

I've been bit. Travel bug.

Darn... it bites hard.

I want to travel the entire world today. I feel like going on a travel rampage ever since I've started settling down in this city. Before I moved here I used to be a real settler, you know, the kind who's absolutely content at spending an entire lifetime in one place. Maybe it's the move that made me ballsy--I realize that even if I uproot myself, nothing bad will happen to me, the world won't implode, my family wouldn't fall apart (yeah because I'm suuuuch an important member!) and my life wouldn't go haywire.

I've been meaning to do start on international travel a year ago, but due to troubles with my nephew, my Japanese visa went unused :( I was quite looking forward to it. I had my travel money saved up, a checklist of all the things I need to bring, travelogues and maps, and I even had entire playlist ready.

I haven't quite moved on from that disappointment, yet, I believe.

Traveling the world is not just an option, as I told Greencross, it is a must. I can't not go away. And it's not just because I just want to have the experience of going out of the country; No, I'm not focused on the geography. I want to go away because I want to see humanity's diversity of culture, manner, architecture, literature and language. And most of all, I want to see the lands where my favorite books were set.

If you frequent this my book blog, The Contemporary Reader, one of my earliest post included: Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios by Yann Martel. These are the three books that I want to visit. Literally visit.

MY TRAVEL BOARD

1. Captain Corelli's Mandolin is supposed to be set in the beautiful island of Kephallenia (Cephallonia) (Κεφαλλονιά), Greece, and it is the largest of all the Ionian islands in the western part of the country. In the book this is where Pelgaia, the heroine of de Bernieres' story lived with her Papa, Dr. Iannis, and where she met the steadfast soldier with a musician's heart, Antonio Corelli. It was never said in the novel what town they lived in, but according to Wikipedia and supported by other readers, "The book is believed to be inspired by the picturesque village of Farsa, just outside of Argostoli"

Farsa: quaintly beautiful, sloping, sprawling

2. Pride and Prejudice is the classic, beloved love story set in Hertfordhsire, England. This is where Mr. and Mrs. Bennet live with their five daughters. Elizabeth, the future Mrs. Darcy, loved to take long walks around the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire where Pride and Prejudice is primarily set.

Hertfordshire-- I'd love to talk a long, refreshing walk around the entire span of the town, too.

Aside from Hertfordshire, I would love to visit another county in England. Derbyshire is where the magic happens. In the novel, Fitzwilliam Darcy and the Darcy family peerage own lands in Derbyshire and has an county estate called Pemberley, which is thought to be based on the real-life estate of Chatsworth House.

Like Elizabeth, when I first saw Chatsworth house, I too, thought: "...at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!"

3. The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios tells of a story of two close friends, one is struggling with how to cope with AIDS, an existential crisis and his mortality, the other trying to help by telling a story about an Italian immigrant family who lived in Helsinki, Finland. I normally don't like short stories, but this one was beautifully told with a lot of metaphorical injections and parallelism, so it stuck with me all through these years. I want to visit Helsinki; even though the story never said where exactly I'm sure being young, active people, the two friends might have operated in the city's downtown mostly. I'd like to try and discover Sweden because here's some opportunity in it for me though, so I shall wait and see about that, too!

Esplanadi Park in Helsinki with a quintessential European feel

Oh, one could dream... and write the frustration away.

I would not consider traveling a hobby (unless I'll be stinking rich, burning money with airplane gas is not the lifestyle I want to subscribe to!) but I want my travels to mean something. I realize now there's a reason why I didn't really want to go to places like Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia... They don't mean anything to me at all. I don't want to go to places just because. I want to say, "I want to go to X and Y and Z  because... " with long-winded, excited, overanalyzed reasons hahaha!

Books were my first windows to the world; They were the ones who taught me that there are different things in life I need to see.

I want to broaden my perspective in life through literature and travel. My books somehow define me, I won't lie. They have been my constant companions that 'talk' to me about a lot of things when people didn't even want to try. I can reach out to them anytime I want to. They've been there through my saddest days, so I'd like to take them to happier places.

Planning starts now. I'm kinda thankful I have a paying job that's enough to cover my ass expenses, because this is NOT going to be a PHP 50,000 vacation, surely. The last time I checked, the plane ticket to an airport in Cephallonia alone costs that.

Please wish me good luck in my plans, and may the winds of travel take me to the places I want to go!

P.S.
If there's anyone reading this who's interested to volunteer for a 1-week organic farming activity in Sweden, let me know! Plane tickets/Visa on you but lodging and food is free.

Food: Healthy Dark Choco-Peanut Granola Squares Recipe

Hi everyone!

If you followed my other blog, you would know by now that I'm in Manila (A Chuvaness.com gift to welcome me in Manila!). This is a crazy, hectic, fast-paced city--descriptions of which are the exact opposite of what I would describe my hometown, Davao City. 

Greencross and I have pooled our resources to start getting rooted in this city. We are renting this small and neat condo in Soho Residential Condominiums. He has just landed a job and I dearly hope that I follow suit, too. I have a job that I've set my sights on; I really, really like the job so I'm hoping for the best. I don't have friends here in Manila, yet (except folks from Davao who are also here, thank goodness for them!) but I'm hoping that in the next few months, that'll change, too. I'll take to blogging in the meantime.

This is one of the Late Bloomer blog projects I will start on: "Healthy Hacks", a series of posts dedicated to share with you some quick and healthy recipes that I personally make. This post has been sitting in my drafts for about a month now, as the ingredients were something I bought from Davao in an EcoFair (wah, I need to start sniffing out market fairs here in Mandaluyong)

One of the few things I've observed from my friends living in a condo is that they are resorting to all kinds of canned food or ready-to-eat prepackaged meals. I sincerely doubt that what they are eating is healthy; I hope that it's all not junk, but I'm sure that eating spam and canned sausages for their daily breakfast may possibly skew the health balance in their body. I know that there's a lot of factors involving their choice of food, but if time constraints are a problem, there are so many easy recipes with low prep/cooking time!

On today's Healthy Hacks, we have a healthy variation of granola bars! It's a pretty spiffy, natural snack when you want something that just sits in the refrigerator, waiting to be gobbled on. I love these prepackaged granola bars, which are better as snacks than the usual chips and candies. But the recipe I have is SO MUCH BETTER. (Love your own! Hahah!)

Natural Dark Choco-Peanut Granola Squares (Total Time: 10 mins ; No. of Ingredients: 6 items )

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats / granola mix (I used both Revive Granola Mix and Australian Rolled Oats)
• 1 cup natural honey (I used Bio Dynamis wild honey)
• 2 tbsp dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Dark Unsweetened cocoa powder) or;
• 1 piece 100% cacao/tableya (I used one from Aloha Organic Garden and its AMAZING)
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter 
• [Optional garnish: cornflakes, cinnamon, sweetened cocoa powder, peanuts or dried fruits]

Above is the basic setup of your ingredients list. Here's the procedure:

1. On a pot, heat everything except the granola/rolled oats and garnish over medium heat. Do not boil, just ensure that the cocoa/tableya and the peanut butter mixes well with the honey.

2. Take out the pot from the heat and pour into a square mold, or any heat-resistant bowl you have (I used Pyrex glassware) and mix in your granola mix.

3. Mix the granola and honey mixture to ensure everything is coated well. Garnish with cornflakes, like I did. Or choose your own, really. Nuts are really great, and dried fruits as well. My sister likes her granola squares to have lots of cinnamon because peanut butter + chocolate + cinnamon is just her thing :)

Cover the container and refrigerate. This lasts for about a week and a half in the freezer. I usually bring a piece if I go out and not want to have to buy junk. This makes me very full, because of the rolled oats and granola mix. It's also perfect as a protein fix because of the grains, and because of the peanut butter, too! It is chewy but with a little crunch. It's also absolutely great paired with tea!

Just because we don't have a lot of time on our hands or that life is a little hectic shouldn't give us the license to take for granted the only thing keeping us alive and kicking: a healthy functioning body! I'll make sure that despite the many temptations to splurge on food in Manila, I will choose the one that's cheap and healthy! Making my own food is the best place to start.

Thank you for reading!~
Keep healthy!

Product: Avalon Organics Essential Lift Contouring Eye Creme

Hi Everyone!

I have bought something actually for the eyes. FINALLY! This is what I really need right now. I've been eyeing (ok, fine, enough puns! XD) this Avalon Organics Essential Lift Contouring Eye Creme since last year because...

Look at those Puffy Eye Puffs of Forever:

And for a more drastic zoom, please welcome the tired-eyes-of-the-decade:

My sleeping habits have been shot. Again.

I've been looking for the best eye cream that does not sting, does not cause irritation, does not contain too much harmful chemicals and finally I settled that going organic was best! The last eye cream I tried was the Quick FX Eyelift Eye Cream (ugh yuck!!!) and the Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Serum (no-follow through) and they all did nothing for me in the end.

It is a great privilege for me to buy this thing because it is pretty darn expensive for just a small bottle, costing PHP845.00 canyoubelieveit! The gift of beauty comes with a price, indeed! But I saved up for this splurge, so I hope it does its job of helping my tired eyes. I've always loved my double eyelid, but recently I wished I was a monolid!

I'll be monitoring the results of the Avalon organics eye cream so stay tuned for that post! And I will also be getting a lot of sleep.


Take it from me, you need your beauty sleep.
Thanks so much for reading!~~