a new home for my blog - tara-na.com

Weee I got my blog a new home! I finally have my own domain in the world wide web. *clap clap clap*

I just got it the other day, and I finished designing my layout yesterday. And now i’m importing blog posts….

see you there!!

http://tara-na.com

iBlog6: I’m excited and I’m nervous!

iBlog6: The 6th Philippine Blogging Summit will be on April 16 and 17, 2010 at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman, Quezon City from 8 am to 5 pm. Registration will still be FREE.

We will very much appreciate if you can help us spread the word about the event and encourage sponsors to support it too.

iBlog6 will be two days this year. The first day (April 16) is targeted for businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to understand how to tap blogs as a medium to promote their products and services. The second day (April 17) is meant to everyone interested about blogging. REGISTER NOW!

Gosh. I am really looking forward to attending my very first blogging event. I am very excited because I know that I can meet new friends and as well as learn a lot of things about blogging.

I am always excited to learn new things. I am attending both dates because they are both relevent to me. Day 1 would be for entrepreneurs, to learn how to tap blogs as a form of advertising. And I am taking up BS Entrepreneurship, this would be very useful in the future and in my practicum. As for Day 2, as newbie, I sure would need to learn a lot of things to improve my blogging.

As much as I am excited to meet new friends, I am very nervous!  You see, I’m not going with anyone I know. And I am really scared to approach people and introduce myelf and start conversations. So even though I really want to make new friends, I am scared to make the first move. Rawr! How do I handle this? I really do wish that everything would turn out just fine. And I won’t be alone for the rest of the event. Hopefully, I made atleast 5 new friends Yeah!!

See you there!!

Snakes, Bees, Butterflies, and Miniature Horses of Paradizoo

This blog is already the third part of a series.

For the first part of this blog - Paradizoo Part 1: Paradizoo’s Farm Animals

For the second part of this blog - Paradizoo Part 1: Paradizoo’s Gardens

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Exploring the 7 hectare theme farm is really tiring and the sun is really scorching hot! At the top of the theme farm, near the vegetable field is a gazebo. Hooray! We could finally rest. We are really hungry, our stomach’s are already angry. The gazebo seemed like a restaurant or a cafe, but there’s only water and juice and they’re pretty expensive. So I just bought a bottle of water of Yel.

We noticed plastic containers with little holes. Surprisingly,they contain snakes!! For any amount of donation, you could have your picture taken with the snakes. Of course we grabbed the oppurtunity! It’s not my first time to touch a snake. Back in Singapore I held a really large phython, but there’s many of us holding it for picture taking. This time I had the snake on my shoulders.

They even had a little snake for kids who want to try it out. But Yel didn’t want to put the snake in her shoulders, I think she was quite scared.

To those who have been to Paradizoo, you may be wondering what happened to the Infinity Pond of Positivism. It has no water now. They had to use the pond’s water to water the plants. The El Nino has dried up their source of  water.

Moving on, is the Eclectic Garden back down the farm.

Across the Eclectic Garden is the Honey Bee Farm.

These are European Honey Bees. In a colony, there is only one queen. The queen bee actually knows when she should lay the next queen bee. Here is the thrill, the new queen bee has to kill the old queen bee because there should only be one queen. But in the Honey Bee Farm, they destroy this cycle. The actually look for the old queen bee and then sell it. A queen bee costs 800 pesos.

Did you know that a honey bee could only produce 1/4 tsp of honey in its whole lifetime? So just imagine how many bees it takes to produce a bottle of honey.

This is what’s inside the boxes in the honey bee farm. See the resin? In Japan, they melt that and use it as a spray to wounds so its heals and dries up faster.

It seemed like the bees are captives inside the box. No, they have small holes where they can exit and enter. I was really afraid to take this picture for the fear that a bee might sting me.

Honeycombs are made by the worker bees *amazing*. In almost every two days, a honey bee’s role in a colony changes. During harvest season, which is approx. every 2nd week of April, the honeycombs will be full of honey. The honey is taken out with the help of centrifugal force.

The honeycomb is placed inside this machine and then the lever is turned.

1 honeycomb produces up to 4 kilos of honey. After the honey is taken from the honeycomb, it is directly placed into bottles thru the faucet at the bottom of the machine. The shelf life of honey is forever. We were even told that to this date, honey is dugged up in Egypt. Honey used to be an offering.

This is the bees wax used in cosmetics. When the honeycomb is melted, it turns into bess wax. Melting a honeycomb uses a special process. You can’t just put it in a pot and melt it. Before moving on, I bought a bottle of honey which costs 200 pesos.

Next to the Honey Bee Farm is the Butterfly Garden.

A butterfly needs two kinds of plants: the host plant and the food plant. For every kind of butterfly, there is a unique host plant. The butterfly lays its eggs only on its host plant.

 The food plant could be any flowering plant.

 Beside the Butterfly Garden is the PerPETual Park Cemetery.

Back to Paradizoo Grill which seemed to function like a lobby; we noticed the miniature horse backriding in the playground. A round of horsebackriding costs 30 pesos.

Yel enjoyed it so much!

It’s 1pm and we haven’t eaten yet. We’re really hungry!! Paradizoo seemed to have nothing to offer our angry stomachs. So I told hubby that we’ll eat lunch instead on our next destination, Residence Inn.

And so I thought that we’ll just go there some other time but…

Ticket to Paradizoo costs 199 pesos. Yel got in for free. And for an additional 50 pesos you get to go to Residence Inn which is just 10-15mins away. A separate ticket to Residence Inn also costs 199 pesos. It’s a good bargain so we decided to go there too since hubby really wants to see the lion there. And we were also told that we could give milk to a tiger cub. It would be a really great experience!

We waited for their shuttle, but it didn’t arrived in 30 mins. So we decided to commute instead because our tummys could wait no more.

On my next post, I will show you Residence Inn!

Paradizoo’s Gardens

For the first part of this blog - Paradizoo Part 1: Paradizoo’s Farm Animals

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cont…

Following the trail of from the farm animals, on the other side is the floral greenhouse.

nursery plants

beside the floral greenhouse are soon to sprout dragonfruits

 behind the greenhouse is the floral garden

going up, you would find the vegetable field

herbs and spices

culinary plants

vegetable nursery

hydrophonics

On my next post, i will show you the rest of the attractions in Paradizoo like the butterfly garden and the honey bee farm! 

Paradizoo’s Farm Animals

I simply wanted to go out last weekend (March 13). So last friday night, I asked hubby whether he wanted to go historical in Manila or sight-seeing in Tagaytay; hubby went for Tagaytay. So I started exploring the world wide web regarding the places in Tagaytay that might interest us. Originally, we intended to go to Picnic Grove, Palace in the Sky, and Flower Farm. But then I found out that Flower Farm only accepts tours by appointment with a minimum number of people. So I searched for more places we could visit. And then I came across Paradizoo, a theme farm in Mendez. People have mistaken it to be located in Tagaytay, but in fact it is already a part of Mendez, Cavite.

Thanks too bloggers who have been to Paradizoo, it wasn’t hard for me to decide whether we should go and visit the place. It seemed like a place where kids would enjoy and so are animal lovers like hubby. Under the same company is Residence Inn in Tagaytay, just 10-15 minutes away from Paradizoo. It’s a hotel with a mini zoo. But I thought of visiting it some other time since we’ve just been to Manila Zoo. And so I told hubby that we’ll be leaving early in the morning for Paradizoo and then Palace in Sky afterwards since we’ve never been there. And so it is set!

We left at 8am in the morning. Early? Yes, I really did my best to leave early! *hahaha* We waited patiently for a bus that would reach Mendez so that we wouldn’t have to keep on transferring. Hooray! After waiting for quite a while, there came a bus bound to Tagaytay that would pass by Mendez Crossing. We have no idea where exactly to alight. Thankfully, the bus conductor was really accomodating. Our only landmark was Mendez Market, and the bus won’t reach it. So the bus conductor simply gave us instructions. (After telling you everything about this weekend trip, I’ll tell you how to get there via public transportation, promise!)

We arrived at 10am from Imus, Cavite. Getting there was really easy for us. I guess we were lucky with the people we came across on our way. I even thought the we’d get lost!

Here is the map of the 7 hectare theme farm. It took us 3 hours to check out everything. The theme farm has a lot to offer its visitors. There’s so much to show you that I have to divide my post so loading pictures wouldn’t take that long. *hihi*

Upon entering the theme farm, the first attraction that you would see are the farm animals. And here they are, enjoy!

 Llama and Alpaca

One-Humped Camel

 Ostrich

Miniature Horse

Carabao

Lots of Goats!

   Erielle liked the goats! It even seemed that she doesn’t even want to leave them anymore.

A cute kid smiling! We were told during briefing that they have no kid in the farm at the moment. So the experience of giving milk to a kid through feeding bottles is not possible. Then what is this? Sad I was really looking forward to that activity.

Yel found some grass on the ground and fed it to the goats. I could really say that she had fun giving them grass. 

 Cool Horns!

5 Legged Cow

 Sleeping Pig

Ducks

 Sheep eating lunch

Lots of Chickens!!          

There’s more to see in Paradizoo! I’ll show you the rest on my next post. They have nurseries, gardens and vegetables and more!!

A Visit to Manila Zoo

I could hardly remember my first visit to Manila Zoo when I was a kid. Now that I have my own daughter, we paid a visit last Sunday. We just wanted to go out, without actually planning. I was thinking of going to Intramuros or Rizal Park that day. But hubby wanted to go to Manila Zoo; he is an animal lover. And then I remembered that I haven’t seen Manila Zoo for so many years, so I agreed. It’s not Yel’s first visit to a zoo. She has been to Singapore Zoo last December 2008. I doubt that she still remembers, she was just 1 year and 9 months back then.

The Manila Zoo is very close to the Harrison Plaza Shopping Mall. It is between Mabini and Adriatico Streets and Pres. Quirino Ave two blocks from Roxas Boulevard. Entrance fee is 40 pesos for adults and 20 pesos for kids below 4ft.

As I saw Manila Zoo’s entrance, I started to feel sad. It’s not how I remembered it. This was the very same feeling that I felt during my second visit to Burnham Park in Baguio. It’s like a painting, a wonderful painting of a garden that suddenly lost its color. Manila Zoo was not maintained properly. And I am scared that the animals inside may not be well taken care of.

On July 25, 1959, the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden opened its doors to the public. Manila Zoo has a land area of 5.5 hectares and has a current population of about 500 animals. There are 106 species, among which are 30 different kinds of mammals, 63 reptile species and 13 types of birds. In addition to popular zoo occupants such as elephant, tigers lions and the hippos, Manila Zoo also houses several endemic and indigenous species of animals like the bearcat, long-talied macaques and crocodiles. 

Entering the zoo, at the right is an elephant. This is Mali, an Indian Elephant. It could be seen that he is so old already. Yel calls her Teeca. Teeca is the baby elephant in Barbie as the Island Princess.

Straight ahead the zoo are the birds. Yel loves to look at the birds. It is sad that the aviaries are not well maintained. Yel calls the peacock Prince Azul, a character from Barbie as the Island Princess too.

And then at a corner, we found a hornbill or kalaw sitting on a rail outside the aviary. Then a caretaker approached us and told us that we could have our picture taken with the hornbill. They are accepting any amount of donation. We wanted to have the bird sit on Yel’s shoulder but the caretaker said that the bird may be too heavy for her. So just had the hornbill sit on hubby’s shoulder.

Moving along, in the middle of the zoo was a large pond with a small island in the middle. In the island were different kinds of flightless birds. I wanted to get close so I told hubby to find the entrance for the boat ride in pond. The fee was 60 pesos per boat for 30 minutes.

While we were having a boat ride, I saw this interesting ice cream stand: Frito Frio, the real fried ice cream. So after the boat ride we checked it out.

Hubby and I ordered pistachio and we got chocolate for Yel. I was wondering where they keep the ice cream. And I was surprised that the ice cream wasn’t ice cream yet. The vendor mixed water, some white powder, and some sticky flavoring and then placed the liquid mixture in the ice cream fryer. Obviuosly the fryer isn’t hot because moist could be seen, it’s cold instead. She spreads the mixture till it hardens and then scrapes it off. And then there’s the fried ice cream! And it tastes really good!

Hubby wanted to see the tigers and lions. So after we finished our fried ice cream. We started to look for the den. We found lots of tigers! But there was no lion. I wonder what happened to him. Hubby was disappointed cause we weren’t able to see the lion. Then we found a large tiger inside a cage near the monkeys. I wonder what’s he doing there. I was surprised to learn that the cage he is in is actually a cage that used to belong to orangutans! Oh how I pity that tiger.

Hubby and I were thinking of the same thing. It’s as if the hippo was the only animal they take good care of. But I noticed that some parts of the zoo were closed and under construction. So maybe they have already started restoring the zoo bit by bit. I think they are already done with the extension of the elephant’s place and the place where the zebras, the deer, and the horses are. I hope that they would put more funds for the animals themselves, and not just for the structure of the zoo.

And finally, the reptile house. There are actually live chickens and mice in there. And I think most of the people in there are waiting for some live action. They are waiting for the snakes to eat their prey. I think Yel is more interested with the mice rather than with the reptiles. At the end of the reptile house was a really huge snake sleeping, some say he has just finished eating cause there are chicken feathers around. Yel was so amazed with the huge snake.

Manila Zoo serves as one of the educational centers in the country where the viewing public can observe, discover and learn interesting facts about the beauty of Philippine fauna and flora.

Manila Zoo used to be in field trips’ intenerary. Nowadays, when it comes to field trips, avilon zoo and zoobic is the place to be. I haven’t been to those places. Maybe one of these days. And maybe at some point in the future, we could be proud of Manila Zoo again.

Reminiscing Bangkok

It was in November 2004 that our family first experienced going out of the country, aside from my mom. My mom had a workshop to attend in Bangkok, Thailand. And it was great that her mileage with Philippine Airlines was enough to get tickets for me, my sister and my dad. We are really excited because we are going to Bangkok with her!

The plane ride was 3 hours. Then we took a taxi from the airport. Bangkok has lots of skyway, eliminating traffic. We stayed for a week in Holiday Inn Silom, where my mom’s workshop is. Because my mom was busy with the workshop, we only stayed at the hotel. My sister and I enjoyed the pool, although we only stayed at the shallow part because we both don’t know how to swim.

Our hotel accomodation only includes buffet breakfast for two, while there are four of us. So everyday we take turns on who would be eating breakfast with mom. Good thing that there is a grocery store across the street where we bought milk, cereals, noodles and bread. Food at the hotel is expensive, so we always go out to eat. Beside the hotel was a restaurant that serves delicious food that we could afford. Sometimes we also order chicken at KFC.

Along Silom Road was a commercial shopping center with thai restaurants. There are stages around the open dining area where culturals dancers perform every once in a while. We also ate at a chinese restaurant in a hotel when we met up with my mom’s chinese friend. There’s this electric pot on every table with plain soup, then there are lots of refrigerator in the restaurant where you could get the ingredients that you want to put in your soup. There is also an ice cream corner where you could make your own desert. Yummy!

There was also a night that we had a river cruise with my mom’s officemates. The food and the scenery was really great! Bangkok’s attractions by the river looked really beautiful at night. It was also my first time to hear of, to see, and to eat a dragonfruit.

 The invigorating air, the cooling breeze, the scenery at once sleek, scruffy and spiritual…  the Chao Phraya river is up there with the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, one of the city’s most indelible sights. Not only that, it’s super efficient ferry network - not to mention river cruisers, dinner cruises and long-tail boats - means it is also a picturesque gateway to many, many others. Unmissable.

Above is a picture of a tuktuk. This is the equivalent of the tricycle here in the Philippines. The tuktuk took us to tourist destinations around bangkok and also to jewelry shops that we think they get commission from the tourists that they bring there to shop. One of our destinations was the Wat Intharawihan.

The Wat Intharawihan is the temple of the tallest standing Buddha. It is 32 meters tall and 10 meters and 24 inches wide. Ouside the temple are vendors selling birds: free the birds for good luck.

Another temple we visited was the Wat Phra Kaeo or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha located inside the Grand Palace.

Regarded as the most important Buddhist temple in Thailand, Wat Pra Kaeo enshrines Phra Kaew Morakot (the Emerald Buddha), the highly revered Buddha image meticulously carved from a single block of emerald. The Emerald Buddha (Phra Putta Maha Mani Ratana Patimakorn) is a Buddha image in the meditating position in the style of the Lanna school of the north, dating from the 15th century AD.

We weren’t able to see the huge reclining Buddha because of me. We had to go back to the hotel because I started to feel sick - dysmenorrhea. boohooo.

This is the Grand Palace. It’s so beautiful! The structures of the temples in the palace are amazing!

 If there is one must-see sight that no visit to Bangkok would be complete without, it’s the dazzling, spectacular Grand Palace.

Built in 1782, and for 150 years the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative seat of government, the Grand Palace of Bangkok is a grand old dame indeed, that continues to have visitors in awe with its beautiful architecture and intricate detail, all of which is a proud salute to the creativity and craftsmanship of Thai people.

Another must see is the Vinmanmek Mansion. It is the world’s largest teakwood mansion. I saw a huge diamond in there!!  As big as my two fists combined, or maybe even bigger!!

Vimanmek Royal Mansion is the world’s largest building made entirely of golden teak. Moved from Ko Sichang in Chonburi province, it was rebuilt on the grounds of Dusit Palace in 1900 by the command of King Rama V. It was recently renovated by H.M. Queen Sirikit, and made into a museum paying homage to the late King. As well as antique furniture, there’s glassware, porcelain, old photographs and memorabilia from the late King’s reign (1868 - 1910).

We also went shopping in Bangkok. Bangkok is the shopping capital of the world!!! - kidding *hehehe*. Along Silom Road was a night market. My sister and I bought shirts there. MBK Mall or Mah Boon Krong is the place to be if you are looking for bargains.

The multi-storey MBK, or Mah Boon Krong, is probably Bangkok’s most legendary shopping mall, popular with both tourists and locals. Eight floors packed with 2,000 shops that sell everything from clothing, fashion accessories, handbags, leather products and luggage to furniture, mobile phones, electric appliances, cameras, stationery and DVD’s (and then some). MBK (launched in 1986) is a beehive of activity, especially on weekends, when half of Bangkok converges to shop for bargains. And plenty of bargains are to be found here!

My mom gave my sister and I thai baht for shopping. Sadly, most of my shopping budget went to pasalubong for friends and teachers. My mom bought me a North Face backpack that I could use during campings. I was an active girl scout at that time. That is the only thing remaining from my shopping in Bangkok *hahaha*. Hey, that was alreay 6 years ago!! I love the dried langka (they call it dehydrated fruit) that you could buy in Thai Fruit in MBK. Whenever my tita goes to Bangkok, I ask her to buy me this, yummy! I would love to go back to Bangkok for shopping! Oh well, Divisoria is always there for me anyway.

Next time, I’ll tell you about our trip to HongKong.

-Erica

Pixie Dust - wandering around a world full of magic!

Hi there! Welcome to Pixie Dust =)

I am one of those kids who have always wanted to travel and see the world. It’s as if the world is so enchanted and that there are lots of things waiting to be seen and discovered. Every place is unique; there are details that sets it apart from the others. And there would always be reasons to admire and adore these places. It only varies on your point of view; how you appreciate things.

I have always fantasized going to Europe, i can’t help but admire it’s beauty. I envy my mom so much cause she has been there for so many times without spending for her travel. My mom travels a lot because of her work. She would have meetings and workshops in different continents, in different countries, in different places.Yes, she is there to work but she is also a tourist. Then she would go home with those pictures of lovely places that she has been to. And I tell myself that one day, I would also travel and see the world’s beauty.

Then just this past weekend, I came across a travelogue that inspired me - Sexy Nomad. I found beautiful pictures of Casa San Pablo at her homepage. She was telling about her wonderful Valentine weekend that she spent in Laguna. I got interested and read her Valentine travelogue. I learned that there are wonderful places to see in Laguna such as the Japanese Garden and Pandin and Yambo Lakes. I wanted to go there too! It’s not impossible because Laguna is just beside Cavite; if i really wanted to go there, I can! It’s just a bus ride away anyway.

And then I thought of Cavite, the province where I live. I don’t have enough resources to travel to far off places. But I sure could explore nearby ones! Cavite is a province rich in history. In fact, just a tricycle ride away is the municipality of Kawit, where Aguinaldo Shrine and Museum is.

The town of Kawit played an important role in Philippine political history. The proclamation of the Republic of the Philippines was made in this town in the balcony of the home of General Emilio Aguinaldo. Now a national shrine, it was in this house where the Philippine flag was first unfurled.

How about the municipality where I live in, Imus? Almost everyday, I pass by the town plaza. Yes, I do see the two vintage artillery pieces there and the commemorative marker but I never really took time to know what their significance is. And as I look for information on tourist destinations here in Cavite, I was surprised to see that one of the historical places of interest is the Imus Commemorative Marker.

It pays tribute to the first successful revolution to reclaim independence against the Spanish regime.

But hey! The baranggay next to ours is also a historical place of interest.

The Battle of Alapan, which occurred on May 28, 1898, is the ‘baptism of blood’ of the Philippine flag sewn by Doña Marcela Marino de Agoncillo with the help of her daughter Lorenza and Doña Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, niece of Dr. Jose P. Rizal

And then I realized, before I see the world I would want to see my country first, my province, my town. I would travel one step at a time (but of course I would not refuse travel oppurtunities that could come my way! hihi). Join me as I explore, Manila and Cavite and as I progress to neighboring provinces! I would also share to you my trips to Bangkok, HongKong, and Singapore.

-Erica