Save Lives...if you can.

 I saw this from the bus stop close to an Elementary School in my hometown few yeas ago.

Lining with signs.

A Beautiful Thing

I can't really tell what kind of insect is this but it does look beautiful. It's some kind of butterfly but wings aren't  wide, they rather look elongated.

You know I'm  fond of mini creatures but I never frim what origin they come from. 

It's from my mom's garden again. I think I 'm kinda feeling nostalgic lately.  I feel closer when I see pictures I made last time I'm home in 2011.

I'm  linking this shot with: 

Macro Monday 2 

and I Heart Macro

Daffodil?

It was growing in my Mom's garden in summer. I've always thought that the name of this flower is daffodil. I checked google for images and this exact type didn't  come out. If you happen to know the right name for this flower, I'll be happy to know.

Feel free to check the rest of macros and collages below:

Macro Monday 2

I Heart Macro

Mosaic Monday

In Memory of Him

It has been a not very positive weeks after my last post. My Mom's Aunt passed away and 9 days later, my Grandpa did too.

I didn't know that when I mentioned at my previous post about fruits, that "chico, will always remind me of him" would sound true to true to itself. You see that tree on a red kinda concrete pot behind us in the picture? That's the chico tree I grew up with. The lawn wasn't concrete before, it was ground and there were more plants. 

This is the last photo we have. It was in 2011 when my Husband and I visited him. It was their first and apparently the last time meeting. It was a good day to remember. 

Having grown at my grannies, I have much memory of him. He's really cool. He was a navy and he retired at the same year I was born. My parents told me he  babysitted me and he was the first person to drop me when we both fell in the swing haha, that was fun to imagine. They told me I used to cry for him when he and grandma would argue. He goes to the sea every morning and I always go with him. That's everyday. But I never learned how to swim because I was so comfortable riding my life boat and him dragging it. He was serving in the church as a lay minister and everyday he'd gone to church, I'd go with him most of the times especially on  novena dawn masses before Christmas. When he ran for candidacy in the local government, I was his campaign manager haha, so to speak. I was biking the whole town giving out fliers with his name. He used to help me a lot with my homeworks and aside from that, we had lessons with his own curriculum at home. Oh man, he used to make me memorize all the president's of America and significant people in the world. Everyday there would be a short quiz in math, whew, which was the hardest. Whatever he's doing, I'm always on the watch. He would talk to me about significant happenings in the world. At a very young age, I didn't understand much but I remembered hearing USSR and nuclear. I was telling my husband about those and I really made it a point that we, altogether would meet and talk. I remember hearing those words from him but I never understood what was his personal views on those. So I was thinking, maybe now that I'm a grown up, I will :) 

It is sad that he left us already. But if that's God's will, if that's his time to take the final rest then we, the family have to let go. When my brother last visited him, he was emotional. He said he feels weak already, he feels he's old. 

When I visited, I'm soooo glad I did few weeks before he died. It was a day before I left the province. He told me he feels difficulty in breathing. He's developed pneumonia at old age. He was looking healthy and lively though. He was laughing and happily telling me that he gathered all my pictures when I was a kid, when he was pinning me ribbons when I had honors and other awards in school. He said he put them all in one album because he wanted me to have them. I never thought it was something he had prepared for leaving forever. I thought he just wanted me to bring the album when I go back to Russia. But that day, he couldn't find where he kept them. He told me to just come back and get it. I am definitely going to bring them with me to Russia. It was something he wanted me to have. I felt so sad remembering the day but I felt happy that my last memory of him was his jolly face and lively voice.

Letting go is the hardest part, people say. I realized it is, but if you knew you have done enough, when you knew you tried enough to let the person feel how much you care and love, that would make letting go much easier. 

I am thankful to God for giving me the chance to show him I cared. For waiting for me to have few more moments with my grandpa before He finally took him back. I am thankful my husband and him were able to meet still. That was important for me. I am thankful for having him in my life and I am thankful for giving him a peaceful death. He died at his own home. He was found in the morning with a rosary in his hands, not breathing anymore. I know he is in good hands now. To his loving memory, I offer my prayers.

Murals in the Town

I have been posting these murals at my photo blog without narrating any story behind the pictures. I guess the murals' details derived interest from the ones who saw it. So I decided compiling all of them in one post, here, where I can explain what they are all about. 

These murals are from an Elementary School fence. It is a project of DepED (Department of Education) in collaboration with the DOT (Department of Tourism). Artistic students are encouraged and given the chance to show off their talents by participating in this mural painting. The murals extends from Elementary Schools to High School and the Police Headquarters fences which are located in the downtown. Each school sends few group of students to exhibit their art on a designated place. Usually the theme is simple. It is a showcase of what the town has.

At the end of the event, high officials of the city, the DepEd and DOT would go around to judge who, or which school has the most beautiful and meaningful mural. The school receives a trophy and the artists receives cash. 

I always liked this idea and the event itself. When I was in High School, I remember it was launched to keep the youth away from drug addiction. There were even paintings on the street pavements, which made the whole town one colorful mural hehe. 

Mural 1

One blogger friend was asking particularly on this one. Let me start from right. The man and woman in national costume are dancing a folk dance. On the right, the first line (below  are our minorities. Different backgrounds of Filipino people. Aetas, Muslims, Chinese, Filipino-Spanish mixed and more. 

The second row (above) are the working class, professionals and religious. Doctors, teachers, farmers, priests, lawyers and politicians. The map on the hand is the province's map. It's main product is pili (which I have mentioned in the previous post). Butanding (whale shark) on the other side is a main tourist attraction in the province. Here, let me take you there: 

http://www.sorsogontourism.com/whale_shark_interaction_guide.htm

http://mambulaoansworldwidebuzz.blogspot.com/2012/03/donsol-intensifies-marine-resources.html

It's a gentle giant. You can swim with it but is discouraged to touch or ride on it. 

The rest of the details in the painting is probably self-explanatory. The man and woman wearing national costumes. The flames of knowledge, and more art details.

Mural 2

Footsteps going up success. The map, butanding and the ocean, the people united, modern technology as well is present,government and the church. The small triangle on a string signifies "fiesta"- feast days. Filipinos love feast days hehe. My husband said everyday is a feast day in the Philippines :)

The rest of the murals almost says the same, just in different presentation. If there is anything, a particular detail you would like to know, please let me know, I would be happy to answer you :)

Mural 3

 Mural 4

Mural 5

 Mural 6

The following below are parts of the painting which I've taken a closer shot.

So what do you say about painting your town like this? It may not fit on other places but in my country it's another thing that beautifies the surroundings, especially in local schools.

Summer Health Abundance

In the Philippines, there are only summer and rainy days. In other words, during summer there is such an abundance of  food, fruits, sunshine and fun. It is also harvest time for rice growers. Rainy days are difficult days. Crops usually don't grow due to flooded grounds. Some trees won't bear fruits on those days. 

I was here in October to December last year. It was a rainy and typhoon season. Life seemed to be more difficult. This summer is my first after 7 years. I was pretty overwhelmed with all abundance I see around. It was always like that, I just never noticed much since it was no difference to me when I was living here.

I must admit I made the most of my summer. I have indulged myself into eating all different kinds of homegrown fruit trees. I have been swimming in the Pacific ocean and have been watching sunsets at Baywalk facing South China sea. 

Here is the showcase of fruits I have been consuming for the past 2 and a half months :)

Have you actually seen where banana fruit comes from? It comes from its heart. See that red one? We call it "banana heart". If you cut it open you will see baby bananas growing. And once it's grown enough, the rest of the heart can be cooked as a vegetable with coconut milk. It actually tastes good. There is much preparation though. You have to slice it thinly and squeeze the "blood" (sticky substance) out of it. Then cook it in coconut milk. It is better added with some anchovy.

Banana comes in different types. The most common are the ones sold in the markets but there are many others. Some of them can be fried, which we call "banana-Q". Some harder bananas have seeds. Those type you can grate and drop in small amounts like a ball into a boiling coconut milk with sugar, then it becomes another heavy snack.

What I learned when I was growing up is that papaya can decrease ones libido. That is why it is always present in mass offerings, always seen on monasteries and convents. With scientific basis or no, let us find out from this article: 

www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47

Ever heard of a fruit that cures cancer? Here, learn about Guyabano (soursop). To be honest before coming to Philippines last March, it was already in mind to find and eat lots of this fruit. My scariest dream is to be diagnosed with cancer (God forbid, I beg You Lord). My family has a history of cancer. My grandfather died of cancer of the gland, my aunt from breast cancer, my 26 year old cousin from ovarian cancer. Probably that justifies my fear.

Guyabano is said to kill cancer cells 10 000 times stronger than chemotherapy. I am so thankful that we have 2 guyabano trees on our own backyard. Fruits grow slow though. I was only able to get 2 and bought others from the market. It's not very cheap to my surprise. Nobody much pays attention at them before. I remember whenever we have it, only Mom eats it because it is her favorite food. I asked a vendor why it is expensive. She told me it can cure cancer. Ahhh, so they have heard about the cure :)

Anyway, here are helpful articles:

www.foodrecap.net/health/soursop-benefits/

www.healthmad.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-soursop-guyabano/

www.greenbodytalk.com/forums/guyabano-the-health-benefits-of-t7548.0.html

Kakao - the chocolate tree. It is no stranger to you for sure. Many times you probably have eaten chocolate with 80% kakao, chocolate drink from kakao...etc.

Here is how the fruit looks like. It grows anywhere among the branches of it's tree. It can even grow at the main stem. They are quite generous and bears fruit whole year round. Even a young kakao can bear fruit already. Like this one on the picture. That's my cousin's son. He is 3 years old and he's harvesting his home grown kakao :)

The inside looks like small sweet coated seeds. You may suck each seed until the coat is gone. It is sweet and some kinda like cottony. You dry the seeds under the sun and when they are dry enough, roast them in an open fire and grind them. The ground kakao becomes like a dough because of its fat. Yo may mash them with sugar. Like what my mom and I did. We made chocolate balls from homegrown kakao and I am bringing them to Russia :)

Here is the professional version of making chocolates out of them:

www.chocolate.org/choctree.html

Here are some more fruits in the neighborhood :) 

Lime is grown by my Mom. We don't use it much because we have "kalamasi", it's like a very tiny lime and very sour. It also comes from the lemonoid family.

Mangoes when I made them picture just started bearing fruits but now they are in full bloom. Normally, each family has a mango tree in their yard. And if you don't have, you can claim the fruits of your neighbor's mango which hangs over you fence. Once inside your fence, it's yours :) You can buy a kilo of ripe yellow mangoes for $1.5 a kilo now in groceries. Filipinos like eating them green and sour than ripe and yellow. I don't know why but I'm one of those who do that :)

Jackfruit is not the stinky fruit but a "cousin" to it hehe. Here please take a closer look:

http://www.fruitsinfo.com/Jackfruit.php

Star apple is one of my favorites as a kid. 

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/star_apple.html

Pili is a very tall nut tree. Pili products are one of the most brought products by overseas Filipinos. It is a main product from my region since it only grows on that part of the country. Amazing eh, Agriculturists tried an experiment many times planting this tree on different parts of the Philippines but they never grew. 

http://nuts-healthbenefits.blogspot.com/2009/08/pili-nut-canarium-ovatum.html

pili products:

http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/fresh-pili-fruit-and-pili-nuts

Chico is the fruit which always will remind me of my grandPa. I grew up with this tree. I have seen how he takes care of it and I have witnessed how much it bears fruit every year since I was a toddler. The tree still exist in his yard. We used to sit there under shade on a hot day afternoon. My duty was to water plants in his garden and water chico tree more :)

People with diabetes are advised to eat it. There are many cases of diabetes in my country and I guess it is just right to have a chico tree on every yard. 

http://www.antioxidant-fruits.com/the-chico-or-sapodilla-fruit.html

I wish I made more pictures of summer fruits especially those ones which are not found in the other countries. We have tropical versions of berries. But they just start bearing fruits now as well as avocado. 

I will not be surprised if many of you are familiar with some of these fruits but I hope I was able to introduce to you at least one which you didn't hear of before :)

Have a Healthy Fruity Day!

Summer in the Philippines

I want to describe how much enjoyable summer is in the Philippines but I guess I might run out of words, so I decided to share to you this video. It is a compilation of all the happy activities you could enjoy in the Philippines during summer.

(It is done by one TV station as their summer station ID)

"Pinoy Summer da Best Forever"

("Pinoy" is a colloquial term for Filipino. "da" means "the". English is used largely in the Philippines. To localize the terms, sometimes the spelling is transformed into Filipino word which is based on the sound)

Hey ho Hey ho HEY ... Ugh, to be honest I think I start feeling nostalgic now. I am leaving Philippines soon (but not so soon) and I still cannot have enough of summer here. May is coming and it is the best month I must say. It's the peak of summer when the seas are so calm both for day and night swimming. It is also the hottest, well. if you are at the capital, you'd rather not enjoy it but the heat is best on the beach and in the provinces where festivals are held.

I hope you enjoyed watching and for those who love to travel...Come and visit Philippines. Enjoy the beautiful nature, colorful festivals, abundant food and most of all, the hospitality of Filipinos :)))))))))))

HAPPY HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

Beach Kids

This is at the Pacific Ocean. The last post about sunset was a part of South China Sea. This town is pretty small. You can go to the ocean in the morning and proceed to the sea the same day. It's just 9 kilometers away from each other. It is wonderful of course but scary at the same time since global warming started. I noticed very well how a big part of the land has been eaten by water. I know these places so well. I have spent my childhood here. I myself was a Beach Kid. 

Here my Hubby and I met some beautiful kids at the beach. Most of them are fishermen's kids so they know well about the ocean, the fish and they almost live at the beach. Other kids are friends spending time at the beach since they live close-by.

This is out little fisherman. We were picking some shells and he asked us if we want a starfish. My husband of course was delighted of the idea. So out little fisherman went to dive and he came back to us with two of these beautiful starfishes. They were alive, if you want to take a closer look at how it looks like from inside, you may download the picture and see those red thing coming out from its lines under. (I'm sorry I not good at identifying scientific terminologies of sea creatures' parts). We didn't bring the starfish with us. we just examined it and later we told the kid to throw them back to the sea...for they too have to live. 

There was a fisherman who just came back from fishing and our little friends ran to his boat and borrowed some fish and showed us. They knew my Hubs was happy making pictures of different things found at the shore and they have been so helpful finding us more subjects. They are freshly caught and still alive. One kid dropped one fish and the others told him to wash it before returning to the fisherman. I was glad hearing how responsible they are at that age. They knew it's not theirs, they knew it was clean when they borrowed it and they knew it will not be pleasant or polite to return it not the same way they borrowed. I like the way they behaved. :)

These kids did not only helped us find subjects to make picture with at the beach but they themselves became one. My Hubby makes portraits and we asked the kids to be one time models. They were not only pleased to agree but they requested for more shots, which later we printed and gave them. The boys were so resourceful, they ran to look for these hibiscus and was happily telling the girls to use them for pictures. :) I was really impressed of how they were functioning with us.

Now here comes a touch of history. This is called Baluarte, an old Spanish watchtower. It has been olden by time, destroyed by typhoons, swept by the tsunamis and sad to say not given much regard by the local government as part of our history. Maybe because the town is far from the capital and there is much more places with more historical values than this alone.

That motor boat with so many people aboard is going to the other part of the island. It takes them 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to their place. They come to the town proper to buy food supplies and some groceries to sell. 

My Hubs was pretending to pull the small boat to the shore and I asked the kids to join him. :)

These kids tagged along with us until we left the beach. I would admit they made our day, aside from the lovely weather, beautiful beach and  great company (my lovey-dovey). It was a great time spent.  How can I not be thankful to life :)

Watching Sunset

Travelling and re-discovering places is not the only thing my Hubby and I are so up to. Watching sunset and admiring its beauty is another favorite activity. We like comparing sunsets from different parts of the world we've been to, from the south tropics to the middle country China to the northern Russia.

Here is one of the best time in the days we've spent in Philippines. It is in Sorsogon Baywalk. It's a place where locals mostly go early in the morning for those who are sunrise enthusiasts and those who are jogging. Others can be seen doing taebo, tachi and other forms of exercise. Families with babies bring their kids in the morning to get a healthy sun. In the afternoon, mostly young people flock in. Dating couples anticipating a romantic sunset, friends' meeting place and also families hoping for a good sleep after they've walked along the baywalk back and forth.

This is my favorite moment of that day when the whole sky turned yellow orange. Nature is simply overwhelming with wonders. That is my friend's and my shadow, Dear Hubs is photographing :)

Definitely there is no need to describe how beautiful the sunset is. I've also written the time they were taken so to see how it changes every minute. This is one thing I'm always looking forward to see whenever we come to visit home. 

Comparing to the sunsets I've seen in Russia, the sky here feels farther above, feels higher. In Russia it feels like almost an umbrella. The colors are slightly different. Here is more yellow-orangey, there it's more like pinkish red. I'll also post them later when I go back to Russia.

I hope you enjoyed the beauty of nature. I am glad to share them. :)

Semana Santa

"Semana Santa" means "Holy Week". That is how people in Philippines got used to regard the Lenten Season. The term was gotten during the Spanish era.

As I have mentioned in my last post, I might be busy for the Holy Week, indeed. I must admit, I haven't been practicing my religion for the last 7 years I was in China. If you know about China, you don't need to wonder why . I also don't want to develop the topic. Not practicing religion however, does not mean I stopped communicating with God. It was rather personal, between Him and me. 

Today is Easter Sunday, but I don't think this post is too late. After all this is all the reason why there is Easter.

The Passion of Christ

(not complete)

The Procession of Saints and the Devotees

The Laymen

You probably have noticed people walking barefeet above. People do that as a kind of sacrifice. As a sign of penance and repentance. It is being one with Jesus and His sufferings. It is done on Good Friday procession after Christ had dies in the cross.

I know this might create an argument among different believers. Some say it's unhealthy, others might say it doesn't make sense or it is not the way (not the only way, in fact). But my post does not aim any argument or something like that. People have different beliefs and for me what is important is the "cause" of what they are doing. If these people feel good by these traditions, it good that they do. It is their manifestation of faith and love to Jesus and God. And I am happy to see people with faith in no matter way they manifest it.

The Angels

Holy week is the hottest times in Philippines. Churches are crowded. People from all ages, from all walks of life can be seen around. Fans are necessary to bring that is why outside the church, you will find people selling them. Balloons are to bribe the kids not to get bored and stop being naughty. Candles are for those who want to lit for a special prayer.

The Church and Devotees

 And finally, Easter Sunday comes. Time to rejoice! One thing for sure beaches are fully packed. Family, friends, class reunions will be flourishing  the shores and ocean/sea today. 

I'm not going to be one of them, not today. I hate crowded beaches. I'm gonna do it when the beach is all mine hehe. For the meantime, I'll be busy with another activity :)

HAPPY EASTER Everyone!!!

Graduation

Hello blogger friends, I am so sorry for not being able to reply and visit your blogs lately. I have been stuck with graduations. My brother graduated as well as my cousin, I had to attend on both as their personal photographer :)

Here are some of the pictures from their big day!

It's been a long time since I have been into activity like this. I was happy to see excited faces. This day they are reaping their hard work. I don't remember how I felt when I graduated though hehe.

Some got very emotional especially those who came from a poor family but parents struggled to support their kids with their studies. 

One more time, a large group of young professionals will be looking for job. Opportunity is small unfortunately. Some of them would even take jobs which are not in line with their degree. That is sad of course but everybody is eager to work at once. I wish them all the luck.

And of course food is always there to celebrate. Family and friends usually come to the graduate's house after the graduation ceremony to celebrate. Classmates and friends usually go to beaches the following day.

Today is palm Sunday, Holy week starts and I guess I might be little busy again. I'll try my best to stay in touch :)

Coco Delight

One thing my Hubby and I always look for whenever we come to visit Philippines is "Buko" (young coconut). For him it's exotic. For me it's medicinal. I never missed fresh coconut juice much until I left them bearing in abundance in my country. They say, you start appreciating things more when they're gone, or in my case unreachable. When I was younger, I just drank it because it's there. This time, I drink it for health and because I missed it a lot. It's a very good medicine for those who's got problems with kidney. 

The best thing about it, is that we don't even need to buy to enjoy one. We visited my college friend whom I haven't seen for years. They got big land just at the back of their house. There is quite a number of fruit bearing trees including a coconut. Her husband was kind enough to get us some.

Obviously, it's my husband's hands scraping the young coconut meat and pouring the coconut juice all the time :) He can't be disturbed savoring "buko". While I indulged myself into eating other food personally prepared by my friend prior to our coming. She's really nice. That one named "binut-ong" is one of my all time favorite. It's a "sticky rice" (it's a different kind of grain which name I can't remember) with coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. I love how it taste. I usually add sugar in it. I regret I didn't make picture of it opened. I guess I got excited eating hehe.

The rest of the day was about chatting and catching up with one another. I'm happy my friends are doing really fine with their lives. They got kids already while I just recently got married. I'm not only a late bloomer (" ,) but also I got myself busy with many other things. 

This is house is for sale. My friend's selling it. They're gonna move out as soon as they got a buyer. I like the place actually. It's pretty cozy. I don't want a very big house. I just want it spacious enough and most important is a yard where I can have a small garden. 

We're planning to have one like this. I've always wanted to even before we got married. Now, we want it so whenever we come to Philippines, we don't need to rent nor stay at my parents'. It'll serve as a vacation house for any of our family in Russia. I also want it close to my family so someone can look after it while we are away. That's a dream, a a plan as for now. It may not happen in the next few years but eventually it will. Wish us Luck :)

P.S.

Health Benefits of Coconut  Milk:

http://www.drgranny.com/2011/05/05/benefits-of-coconut-milk/ 

Coconut  Water - "The Water of Life"  

http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-320.html 

http://www.dominica-weekly.com/coconut-water-the-real-water-of-life/ 

Tologgapo Lately

P.S. from yesterday's post: 

I forgot to mention that my Husband got 2nd degree burn after his 3 hour romance with the ocean. Oh man, you have no idea how he suffered from that. I'm not going to post pictures of the burn, you're not gonna like it.

As promised, here is the same beach I've posted yesterday. It may be hard to recognize 'cause it really looks different during high tide. The water has eaten most part of the shore. Well in fact, it has really eaten most of the shore. I came here last year after I left the county in 2004 and I really saw the big difference. I remember this part with black sand was never wet, water is too far from it. Now the water even gets to the nearest cottages already which never happened before. 

The part where my hubs was swimming is that part where the curve is. As you can see, it's all water now. I was not even able to get closer. You may also notice a big splash of wave on the fence. Yes, it's a fence to closed cottages, it's not a seawall. There is also a part of the fence which is broken due to typhoon. In case you don't know, Philippines is visited by at most 10 typhoons every year, from which some of them are strong ones bringing tsunami along. Needless to say, this beach has been washed out few times. 

It's not yet summer but we're coming near it. There are more people this time, it was a weekend. Most of them are not really swimming, they're just playing at the shore, running away from the waves. I didn't swim either. It's not the best time. Waves keep on bringing sea weeds to the shore and taking sand from the shore and back which make the water unclear.

It's raining a lot lately, I'm wishing for a sunny day so I can make new pictures of the beach and others.

My Husband has an Affair ...

... with the Pacific ocean. Yes he does. The first time he stepped on it and smelled its scent, He has fallen in love with it. That's when the affair started. 

It's a beach named "Tolonggapo", meaning three rocks. Somewhere in the ocean there are 3 big rocks sprouting from the water. All three are visible during low tide and only one during high tide. The rocks are located not very far from the shore so usually kids use them as diving platform. 

The beach is pretty calm especially during months of March, April and May. May is the peak of summer in the Philippines and the best times on the beach. This is not a beach where most tourist flock in, which is good 'cause we always like taking "the roads less traveled by" . We like to discover hidden treasures, and we like to be alone most of the time. 

It is some kinda "backyard beach" Few meters from the ocean are fishermen's huts. They live there with their families and their prime source of income is fishing. 

Along the beach are cottages for rent. Some are "closed cottage" for those who want to stay overnight. Most cottages are open, which is basically covered with a roof made from coconut leaves, a table at the center and bench surrounding the table, all made of wood and bamboo. Renting cottages ranges from $2-

$5. Pretty good price eh? It's because it's not a tourist area. 

After Holy Week in April, it starts becoming crowded with local residents who come with their families to spend a day on the beach. They usually bring food cooked at home and sometimes they still would grill some meat of fish along their cottage. Young people come with friends. Aside from food, they bring with them large cassette player (before), speakers and other gadgets from which they can play music with. There are cottages with plugs and if you use them, you will have to give additional payment to the owner. The owners by the way are usually the fishermen's wives. Renting cottages become their additional income. 

My Husband's First Romance with the Ocean

Pictures speak for themselves. It is obvious how much fun he had. Not to mention that he's been doing those for straight 3 hours noontime. It was hot, really hot and really sunny. Anyone could fall in love with the weather that day. There is no doubt that we both enjoy the day. I loved watching him rambling, diving, rolling in the sand like a kid. He was happy and I was very happy for him. :) I was busy making pictures and video of him, and that explains why I'm not in any of those photos above.

And oh, don't ask me if I didn't feel jealous having fun with the ocean. I don't have to, this is the beach of my childhood :) I spent all summers here and on another beach which I will feature later. 

There you go, I got me among the shots before he started his romance with the Pacific hehe.

These pictures were taken last February 2011 while we were on our winter holiday from work. 

Yesterday I went to the same beach and it looked different. I'll show you on the next post.

Second Day at my Mom's Garden

I'm not feeling very good today. I might have woken up at the wrong side of the bed. If  I'd be in Russia right now, I would simply know it's about Magnetic Storm. It's easy to blame the weather. But here I can't do that. The weather is just to good to blame. It's sunny, it's breezy, and actually a good time for the beach.

In Russia, I usually get up at 10 or even later. But here, if you're not up till 8, surely  not going to be in your best mood the whole day. Most of people around get up together with the sun rising at 5 or 6. I used to do the same before and I remember how good it felt waking up with the sun and feeling its energy. But now, it's my 4th day and I guess my body clock hasn't adjusted well yet. But slowly it is. On my 1st day, I woke at at 10, 2nd day at 9, 3rd day at 8 something and today again at 8 something. Tomorrow I'll try to get up earlier if  I can and if the weather's good, I might go to the beach.

Anyway, I was having coffee and from the kitchen window I saw a new flowers. I started feeling right. I went back to the room and took the camera and spent time in my Mom's garden, looking for new flowers.

It feels good to find something beautiful everyday.

Orchids are my Mom's favorite. They're always on the yard. Sometimes, some people would come to buy flowers but she wont sell them. She'd rather sell a young grown orchid or other plant, but not the flowers alone.

Gumamela, local name. Hibiscus, as I have mentioned earlier, they grow by themselves, every yard has them I must say.

It's a sunny day today, I told ya. Sky is blue, creatures are busy, plants look lively.