Another Elephant Story

Last time, I posted an elephant story about how sweet and smart these animals are. Elephants never forgets for they have an elephantine memory. :)

Elephants are my favorite animal. Aside from looking so huge and cute, seems like these animals can understand.

It was during our trip in Chiang Mai when we went to the Elephant Nature Park. There was an amazing fun elephant show but we were late so when we got there, the show was about to end. Anyway I bought some bananas to feed the elephants. I patiently waited, people were already tipping them, giving money to elephants. The elephants happily took the tip using their trunks and gave it to their trainers/owner. 

One elephant saw that I was carrying a bunch of bananas so it came up to me, I gave one banana then suddenly it took all of it from my hands. The bunch of bananas were tied to my wrist so when the elephant grabbed it, it was really painful. I was panicking asking help from the trainer until the tie snapped from my wrist. I really thought I'm going to break my wrist, can you imagine the strength of an elephant???
Anyway, I was hurt and had a lot of scratches on my wrist. The elephant noticed that I was in pain, so instead of getting tip from the people, I think it felt so bad that the elephant focused on me instead. Tapping it's trunk on my head many times like asking ''are you ok?'' It was really cute!!!
I even got a hug when we left. :)

Elephant Nature Park

At Elephant Nature Park, you can buy Elephant food like sugarcane and bananas to feed the elephants.
Since the elephant ate all the banana, I bought 2 extra bunch of bananas and some sugarcane for the other elephants. They were really hungry after the show!

By the way, have you sign the petition to stop Thai Ivory Trade??? Let us help WWF...
Show your support, sign up now!!!

www.panda.org/ban

Make Your Own Chocolate Candy Dessert

I'm not really a fan of Chocolates but I dunno why I love hamstering chocolates. Its just fun collecting them! Crazy? I know. I always get thrilled every time we are travelling to Europe, its the land of the nice and creamy chocolates. I love visiting chocolate shops and chocolate factories, just admiring how those beautiful chocolates are created. We have lots of chocolates in our refrigerator from our previous European trip and should really eat them since some of them are expiring soon. Anyway, my husband and I made some chocolate candy with MARZIPAN inside. Quite difficult for first timers but it was fun!

Chocolate Candy with Marzipan

Ingredients:
Almond Nuts or any nuts (crushed)
Anthon Berg Marzipan
500 grams Milk Chocolate Bar
1/2 cup Butter

Method:
1) Cut and mold marzipan into small balls. Put in the refrigerator.
    Crush the almond nuts, set aside.
2) Turn heat to low-medium, melt 1/2 cup butter then add 500g chocolate bar.
    Simmer until chocolate is fully melted. Turn off heat.
3) Dip the Marzipan balls into the melted chocolate carefully,
     use toothpicks (melted chocolate is really hot!).
4) Sprinkle some crushed almonds.
5) Put in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
6) If the chocolate candies are hard, they are ready to serve.

Enjoy!!!

Help Ban Ivory Trade!!!

Please, Let us help WWF to ban Ivory trade!!! Thousands of elephants are killed in Africa for Thai Ivory Trade. Let us sign the petition to stop this!!!


www.panda.org/ban

Viking Graveyard

When in Scandinavia, a visit to the Viking Graveyard is not only historical but also a very unique experience. Graveyard stones piled, formed like a ship and dates back thousands of years. It was so great to see how the people from Scandinavia preserved and respected their forefathers.

Viking Graveyard

Skåne, Sweden

My Travel Must Haves

When you're travelling, are you very meticulous about skin care??? When I used to work as a Flight Attendant, I'm very picky when it comes to using lotions and skin products. A lot of them doesn't really work with my skin when working up in the sky, they dry up quickly leaving a rough and dry skin.
Here are some of the skin products I recommend to use when flying and travelling. Believe me, they really moisturize the skin leaving a healthy glow.

Body Butter from The Body Shop
L'Occitane Shea Butter Body Lotion
Injecto Pure Coconut Oil Hand and Nail Cream
L'Erbario Toscano Olive Oil Body Milk
Burt's Bees Banana Cream
Nivea Creme
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Cream
Human Nature Choco Vanilla Lip Balm
The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

World's Smallest Monkey

The smallest monkey in the world is found in the Philippines. The Philippine Tarsier, measures 3.35 to 6. 30 inches in height and weighs about 60-160 grams, is found in Bohol, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.

Facts about Philippine Tarsiers:

* The Tarsiers have large and disproportionate eyes, the Philippine Tarsier's eyes
    are also fixed in its skul that they can't turn in their sockets.
* They can turn their head to 180 degrees.
* They have fur that is thin and rough, usually gray to dark brown color.
* The Philippine tarsiers are shy and nocturnal, sleeping during the day and active at night.
* They feed on insects and small lizards.

World's Largest Flower

Rafflesia Arnoldii is known for bearing the largest flower in the world. Found in the rain forests of Borneo and Sumatra, the Rafflesia arnoldii grows to a diameter of around 1 meter and weighs up to 11 kilos. It is a parasite to the Tetastrigma vine. The Rafflesia arnoldii has a very strong decaying flesh-odor that sometimes it is dubbed as a ''corpse flower''. Although it doesn't have leaves, stems and roots but its still considered as a vascular plant.

I saw the Rafflesia Arnoldii in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. It was such a great experience to see the world's largest flower.

The Beauty of Busuanga, Palawan

To see the world is one my favorite hobby and it doesn't really mean that I should pack my bags and be at that specific place. Photograph is also a way to see the world. I love looking at travel photos, sometimes it makes me feel like I'm actually there. Though my husband and I are travelling around, there are so many places where I want to be and I want to see.

And our favorite travel destinations are usually places with nice beach. Yes, we both love swimming and sunbathing. Not because I come from the Philippines, I am biased to my country. To be honest, one of the best beach that I have been to is actually in the Philippines. Let the pictures say it all, no Photoshop! Real or in photographs, Busuanga is the best place I have been.

Busuanga is a province located at the northern part of Palawan. The town center of Busuanga is called Salvacion, which is approximately 50 kilometers from Coron. And when in Manila, the easiest way to get there (Coron) is to fly with:

Cebu Pacific Air
AirPhil Express
Zest Air

When in Busuanga, Palawan one of the best things to do is to go island hopping, diving and snorkeling. You can even book these activities at your hotel or simply go to the town center and book it through travel agencies (they are actually cheaper). The price range for island hoping is about 80- 200 USD for the whole day depending on the size of the boat and if food is included. When you go island hoping, make sure you ask the hotel or agency if food is included, if not you can pack your own food for there are no restaurants on the islands. But its actually more fun if they the arrange food. The crew will normally serve you seafood and meat, they grill or barbecue it at one of the islands. Serving it fresh and delicious.

To see the different islands in Busuanga is simply breathtaking. Imagine a mountain of limestone and in the middle is a white sand paradise with locally built coconut hut where you can rest or enjoy your lunch.
The water is crystal clear with lots of the fish swimming together with you. You can even feed them with rice or bread. But make sure to ask the crew first. Snorkeling underwater is just spectacular for you can see the different types of Philippine fish. Also ask the crew to take you to this Sunken Ship from World War II to see a little bit of interesting history.

For Hotels in Coron (Busuanga) Town Center click HERE and HERE. But if you are looking for a more intimate accommodation, living in an island resort click HERE.


Summer is fast approaching in Asia.
So where will you spend your summer???

Busuanga, Palawan
Philippines

Click HERE for more information about Busuanga.