Vegetarian Treat

Earlier we went to one of our community members house to attend the block rosary.  Cintuja's family is of Indian origin.  They hosted the activity for tonight.

Eating authentic sub-continental food is always an adventure for me; with my south-east Asian preference.  Only here in AIT that I'm able to appreciate such strong herbs and spices which is pretty uncommon in the Philippines. 

A vegetarian dinner was served right after prayers.  I so love their plain unleavened puree/poori matched with potato curry called Chole.  Now it makes me crave for a Samosa. SU snackbar here I come!

Visiting UK for a Holiday

Going places is one of the things I like to do. If I will have the chance this holiday, I’ll probably visit my friend in UK. I’ve invited her to come over to Thailand for a vacation but it seems that her schedule doesn’t permit. I instead plan to drop by UK.

One on the top of the list of the places to visit is Blackpool. It prides on one of UK’s oldest theme park. Pleasure Beach is Britain’s No. 1 biggest tourist attraction resort Amusement Park. It have some of UK’s and the worlds best rides like Pepsi Max Big One, Europe’s tallest, fastest rollercoaster; Infusion, a suspended looping coaster, soars to amazing heights and takes riders through a whirlwind water experience; Big Dipper, a traditional wooden rollercoaster; all are world famous. If rides is not your turf, you could watch some of the most exciting and powerful live entertainment that you’ll ever witness, from thrilling ice shows, sensational circus musicals to fun-filled on-park live entertainment. If you just would like to relax; Big Blue Hotel at the south end of the park offers luxury accommodation at an affordable price.

The theme park attracts around six (6) million visitors each year. Its mission is to make adults feel like children again. It’s worth taking a visit when in UK.

Blog Transformation

Talent is cheaper than table salt.  What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.–Stephen King

Blogging? I just started it lately.  Perhaps about a year ago for this site alone. When I registered this blogsite I never thought this as financially rewarding.  I used to blog only to de-stress, make life more meaningful and communicate with virtual/long lost friends.  Later two of my family members showed me their impressive return with this casual hobby.  Indeed with hard work, in no time you can tell that it makes a big difference not just on the financial aspect of life but also social, family, intellectual etc. It’s fun and challenging.

What I did first was to:

1. Register my site/domain name

• If possible related to your expected categories. i.e. Techie site- (computers, hardware, software…);  Personal- (food, shopping, musings, blogging..); Food (dessert, drinks, beverage, restaurants…).
• Own-domain blogs have bigger chances for paid posts opportunities and non-own/free domain blogs have lesser high paying opportunities.

2. Post blog entries

• At least 3 entries per week from the start.  Better you do it on daily basis =).  Make sure it must not be less than 50 words per post.
• Consecutive postings for at least 3 months.

3.  Increase  Page Ranks and Alexa Ranks

• Exchanging links with other sites.
• Others link back to you inside their posts.

• By way of redirecting [http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?simplepleasures.i.ph].  Use this when asked for URL in leaving your comments.

• Unique visits from different countries outside your host country will surely boost your rankings.

4. Apply for electronic banking in your local banks

• Like Union Bank in the Philippines.

• This is in preparation for you Paypal account approval.

5. Apply for a Paypal account.

• Use your valid email address and easy to remember password. 

6.  Register on advertising sites

Nourishment for sensitive Skins

Joining a fitness program prompted me to be more health conscious. I’ve been reading stuff about health, nutrition, skin care and the likes. The only dilemma I have is that my skin is prone to irritation when exposed to hot sunny weather which gave me interest to this topic.

I learned the importance of anti-oxidants to ward off a lot of health related problems even to the point of curing cancer. Natural health supplements worked for my friends and I have taken some also. They come in various forms like gels, oils, juice, syrups and tablets. The trend now is to nourish our bodies with the essential nutrients that are insufficient from food supplements. Missing the proper nutrients from our regular diet may leads to health troubles or skin problems.

Fruits like gac, noni, mangosteen and acai to name a few have become a common source of beta-carotene, lycopene and other potent antioxidants. If you can get a grab of this fruits it would be good. This support healthy skin and enhance the body’s own defense mechanisms from free radicals or disease causing elements.

One particular fruit of interest is Gac. A tropical fruit found in Vietnam and other regions of Southeast Asia. Gac does not only contain generous supply of these carotenoids; the fruit also has a fat content which creates high level of absorbability. The local people sometimes refer to it as "fruit from heaven" for they have experienced its ability to promote longevity, vitality, and health. That’s why it become a prime ingredient in newly discovered dietary supplements like R.G. Skin Revitalizer. I am not sure if it’s available on your local health stores. One thing for sure if you go to Vietnam you’ll surely not miss this bright-red fruit that grows as large as a cantaloupe.

Whoever suspected that an oil extract from Red Gâc, when taken as part of one’s daily diet, will support skin health is a genius. Maybe this is one of the secrets of Vietnamese ladies having fair skin.

Chulalongkorn Day

Thailand was in holiday spree yesterday.  In celebration of Chulalongkorn Day, commemorating the  death of King Rama V.  Students and government officials laid wreaths at the Royal Plaza to pay homage to his memory.  He's one of the most significant king as he abolished slavery and did alot of reforms to modernize this country.

I was planning to go to Queen Sirikit National Convention yesterday to see some photography books at the book fair. However, I have another idea in mind to do which was baking. I asked hubby to teach me how to do the pan de sal. Now I have more reasons to stay at home and call my friends to come over and have coffee or tea with me. =)

Photo: taken during my first attempt to bake Pan de Sal (a famous Filipino bread). Notice the imperfections? I still have to master the rolling and folding part of it.

Barracuda Networks joins force with Open Invention Network

How often do we hear of a big company joining the band of open source community? Here’s one for the record. Barracuda Networks, Inc., the worldwide leader in email and web security appliances joins force with Open Invention Network an intellectual property company that promotes Linux patents for collaborative environment.

This is a strategic move for Barracuda Networks as all of their firewall and anti-spam appliances are based on Linux. Their Spam Filter technology is to be the best there is. A wide array of products like Barracuda Spam Firewall, Barracuda Web Filter, Barracuda IM Firewall and Barracuda Load Balancer are all based on Linux.

Barracuda Networks have huge development investment in Linux and becoming a licensee of Open Invention Network will make their open source intellectual property protected. Actually, Open Invention Network will make it difficult for example Microsoft to lightly sue over Linux intellectual property infringement. In that way this will help ensure the continuous innovation in the Linux environment.

"Barracuda Networks is strongly committed to promoting the use and adoption of open source software," said Dean Drako, president and CEO of Barracuda Networks. "We are proud to support Open Invention Network in its mission."

Barracuda Networks is one of those unsung heroes of open source. It’s an active member of the open source and free software communities, donating hardware, code, funds and other resources to fuel open source technology innovation and collaboration. Barracuda Networks combines its own technology with open source technology to provide affordable, easy-to-use and powerful network security appliances.

Businesses could actually be built around open source; Barracuda Networks is a good example coupled with Open Invention Network for intellectual property protection.