my momentary sanctuary

A temporary home for me, this village is always very pleasant and energizing. Although it takes much time to get to work and come back home, the sight of the beautiful village lights at night relieves all the stress. I kind of feel like I am in a different world -- so serene and hassle-free. 

I also love walking around and looking around at night without any feeling of danger. The security guards are all at their posts, protecting us, the villagers. *wink*



When the weather gets better, I would like to sit and enjoy people (or pets?) watching  just right here.

By the way, the village's buildings are named after big universities in the US.

Pretty interesting?!

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wonder:

"Sanctuary, on a personal level, is where we perform the job of taking care of our soul."
                                                                             ~ Christopher Forrest McDowell

from meaty to veggie

Donday's samgyeupsal (FRIDAY)

Big Sis' vegan burger curry (Sunday)

bottomline: I love veggies as much as I love meat :)

virtual wandering: Braderie de Lille

Lille must be a city or a village in France? But what in the world is braderie?

I'm completely clueless about these words until one of my French students explained to me what they mean. Well, I am right that Lille is a place, a city actually which is in northern France (See image below)

Braderie, on the other hand, is like our ukay-ukay shops, where pre-loved items are sold. The City of Lille hosts its 48-hour-giant flea market every first weekend of September (did I write my thoughts right? *wink*). Must be interesting to see people flocking to the streets of Lille to trade their used goods or to hunt for some cheap or rare items worth their euro.

With lots of treasures to hunt in this fair and intense bargaining skills to make use of, I think my mom and my big sister would love it here. However, the distance between my country and France is more than six thousand miles plus I must have lots and lots and lots of money to purchase their air tickets. But I wonder, should you take such a long trip to France just to buy some pre-loved items? Might as well shop for the high-end brands in Paris!! *daydreaming*   

Anyway, I think local ukay-ukay shops are enough for now *hahaha*.  Mom and Ate Kath can still find rare treasures in them anyway. They have the "eye", my Ate especially. *wink*

the travellers' mini food fair

As travelling is sometimes unworkable because of busy schedule, budget constraints, troubled stuffs and what-have-you, I think having a small potluck dinner with friends could soothe our itch to pack our bags and satisfy our wanderlust.

Hence, last Sunday we had a mini food fair at the Maplewood and enjoyed some good foodies. It was simply fun chilling with people who have the same passion for travelling. Plus, we got to see "Red Riding Hood" while the goodies were settling in our tummies. ;)



Bruschetta Italiana (I made this! yay! :))

mixed fruities, boho-style



Japanese rice rolls, y'all! :)



Vietnamese spring rolls (I made this one too :))

We love international foodies :)

Credits to Keya for the photos :)

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wonders:

 



book the travel

It is not every time possible to travel but my wandering feet wants to experience more adventure. Thank god for these travel books, I can travel (virtually?) cheap but my journey is packed with lots of adventure, new discoveries, and cultural explorations.

How I get them is pretty easy. I scavenge some BookSale shops I come across, I don't buy firsthand books (as they are very expensive and I know I am such a cheapskate *hahaha*). When I walk in, I actually don't know what book(s) to get, no particular titles/lists in mind. I don't even check book recommendations from other travel enthusiasts to know which ones are good or not. What I do however, is scan the books and spot these big words: TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, DESTINATION, CULTURE. I also read the synopsis or reviews found in the books and check if they suit my taste. If they do, then time to bring them home! :)

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wonder: “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

lip-dub it baby!

I know this is off the theme, can't help but share this fantastic (so Brit!) video though. :)

the chant, the temple and the vegan breakky

I was easily persuaded to come with my sister (and her Buddhist friends) to listen to a dharma talk and have a big breakfast after. In tagalog term, I am such a "kaladkarin" that I had to wake up around 4:30 in the morning to prep up for the early morning ritual in the Buddhist temple. So while waiting for everyone to come, I took some photos inside -- it is so serene here -- an ideal place to generate good vibes or to simply meditate.

the chant

It puzzles me everytime I read the lines from the book, which must be read from top to bottom, from the right side of the page to the left. On each page, I see Chinese characters and their phonetic equivalent (written in English alphabet) next to them. I can sometimes follow, reading the lines to join the chant. But sometimes the chanting tends to be a bit fast that I can no longer catch up. There must be a special breathing technique used in chanting. The monks and Buddhists recite it as if they are singing. *amazed*

The temple
My sister frequents this temple a lot that it seems like she lives here. She now knows the ins and outs of the place and rubs elbows with almost everyone. Although I often feel like a stranger here, she always accompanies me and tries to make me feel comfortable. Anyway, the temple is huge and has special rooms for different meditation- or Buddhist-related activities. Further, it is a mix of old and new. It has the traditional Buddha statues and other artworks related to Buddhism but it also has a touch of modernity from the free wi-fi service to the up-to-date facilities in the building.

The vegan breakky

The vegan breakfast was a delight. It is something that I look forward to every time because it is for sure going to be a healthy meal. Indeed, the breakky was a hearty one, lots of vegan dishes to choose from and healthy drinks too.

Too bad I was not able to take photos of the healthy foodies-- I focused much on feeding my tummy than completing the temple photoshoot. hahaha

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wander:

Fo Guang Shan Mabuhay Temple

656 Pablo Ocampo St., Malate, Manila

wonder: 

Since the beginning of this year, I have been hearing and reading this phrase in most activities in the temple:

Do Good Deeds, Speak Good Words, Think Good Thoughts.

                                             -- The Three Acts of Goodness