1. Bring back the child in you at Dollywood amusement park

Whether you are a kid or a kid at heart, amusement parks offer fun rides that convert your energy to screams and giggles. Shake your brain a bit or feel the centrifugal force with crazy rollercoaster rides that Dollywood has a lot of different variety. If you are not into those stuff, they have chill rides as well – which I did not try much.

You can book your tickets online or buy it there. I advise you to come the earliest they open so you can enjoy lots of their rides. Expect long lines for some rides so strategize which ones you wanted the most to the least one. You can bring refillable water bottles, and snacks if you do not want to splurge much on food. Also, they give discounted tickets to veterans so make sure to avail that perks if you can and save up to 30% off.

2. Get some extra adrenaline with whitewater rafting

Enjoy the majestic view of the mountain and river while getting some adrenaline rush as you go through the bumps in the river. This is perfect if you are a group of at least 5-6 people, if you are alone, you will join a small group and get a chance to meet new people! The best option would be booking online so you know right away if there will be slots for you or your group. You will also get to choose the date that would best fit you.

Remember to bring sunscreen, extra dry clothes, towels, and shower stuff just in case you will swim intentionally or unintentionally in the river.

3. Stretch those legs and trek the Smokey Mountain

Are you tired of sitting and drowning in the blue light of the computer and stress in the office everyday? This one is highly recommended to be part of your vacation itinerary. Get those stiff muscle going and disconnect your mind for a while by trekking the Smokey Mountain. There are a lot of trails to choose from.

Be equipped with the right clothes and shoes, and bring some light snacks and water with you.

4. Enjoy the view of the mountain and flowers by visiting Anakeesta

If the trek and river rafting did not give you enough mountain view and you just wanted to relax, then ride the gondola or lift to the top of the mountain through Anakeesta. Book tickets online. Get a good picturesque view of the mountain while the sun is setting and the lighted town at night. It is a nice place to see different flower, climb a tree house and cross suspension bridges.

Go as early as their opening time if you want to see all the stuff in there within the day. Be alert and mindful as well just in case you see some real bears.

5. Destress with the entertaining light show at Astra Ilumina

Part of the Anakeesta’s attraction is the light show which is a different ticket that you have to book. It is a trail of different light patterns and colors that are truly entertaining to the eyes. Sadly, we were not able to go there because of a bear on the way which happens rarely so if you have a chance, go for it!

6. Unleash a new hobby by trying the mini golf

If you have not done golf before, a mini golf would be your warm up. It is not intimidating at all for a first timer. They have different kinds of mini golf. The one we tried was barn-themed mini golf which was the Ripley’s Old Mcdonald’s mini golf. It had 18 holes and you do not need to book online. I did not only enjoy the golf itself, I had fun as well on the way they curated the design and sound effects in each hole.

Towards the end, if you will be able to get the last hole on your first try, you will get a free one more round of golf. Who knows you may have that beginner’s luck!

7. Be crafty and go quilt shop hopping

In this time and age where we are entertained by technology, quilting may not sound excited. But if you are around a place with so much quilt shops, why not give shop hopping a try and see how people intricately create each different quilt pieces.

Personally, I was amazed by how much work quilting requires someone to finish a piece and yet they are very passionate creating one after another. You may also end up with a new hobby aside and let go of that social media scrolling addiction.

8. Grab the opportunity to be a wine connoisseur

Have you had a wine slushy before? Yup! They have that there. Whether you love or hate wine, wine tasting is in every corner here. They have dry, semi-sweet and a slushy kit if you want to take home one.

You can try a few for free (who does not love free stuff?) or try everything in their menu for $6 (not bad) and end up getting a bottle or two of those you liked the most.

9. Tour random shop in town but do not get trapped

This touristy area has a lot of different stores. Anime-related shop, pottery, chocolate, candy, jerky, spices, shirts, jewelries, you name it! And it is not even the entire mile of shops that I went to so my guess would be the list of stores may be from the usual one to the most peculiar store.

Let me know what is the most bizarre store that you can find in the area! Have fun but do not give in or get trapped easily on what each store is offering and try to see if you really wanted what they are showing.

10. Stay sober and whiskey tasting moderately

You probably have heard of the song Tennessee whiskey. Oh well it is the time to sing it while in here and tasting whiskey. They have whiskey and other alcohol with all sorts of flavors that you can try. From a 120 proof to a milk-based alcohol. Price range is from $20-$50 per bottle and they offer discounts if you get a minimum number of bottles so make sure to buy with friends or the group you are with and get as much as 20% discount.

Quick tip: have someone in the group that does not drink that can drive just in case!

Chopsuey is a stir-fried of vegetables dish. The vegetables in this dish are mainly cultivated from a colder region. In the Philippines, usually in Baguio city. They sell very cheap vegetables that are in this mixture of vegetables. I am not here to show you how to cook this dish because this post is for us to know the scientific name of the vegetables in chopsuey. Based on what I searched, here are the vegetables and its corresponding scientific names:

Cabbage – you can either use Brassica oleracea var. capitata or Brassica napa subsp. pekinensis

Cauliflower – Brassica oleracea var. botrytis

Broccoli – Brassica oleracea var italica

Carrot – Daucus carota

Baguio beans or snap beans – Phaseolus vulgaris

Baby corn – Zea mays

Bell pepper (red, green or yellow) – Capsicum annuum

Onion – Allium cepa

Garlic – Allium sativum

Black pepper – Piper nigrum

Above is my version of chopsuey. Instead of snap beans I used string beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). I also added celery (Apium graveolens).

Nebraska is not the most popular place to visit when you go to the US – at least no for me. I usually see people travel to big cities like New York and Chicago or tourist place like Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. So, when I first got an opportunity to go to Nebraska I was clueless on where to go in a flat area. As time flies, I discovered some place here that is worth visiting.

1. Omaha Zoo

Needless to say, this has been named as one of the best zoos in the world for years by several award giving bodies, and this year it ranked #1 in the US by USA Today. From my personal experience, the award is well-deserved! Indeed, the zoo is a must-go place if you have an opportunity to visit Nebraska. My favorite spot there was the aquarium!

Make sure to have enough sleep the night before you go to the zoo, bring some drinking water, and be there early as the opening time of the zoo because you will spend a lot of time walking.

2. McConaughy and Ogalala Lake

I would always say no to friends when they ask me to go to lakes in Nebraska because if you live in a country with lots of bodies of water your standard of it would be high. I have seen a lot of lakes close to my place in Nebraska and they did not impress me the way Lake McConaughy and Ogalala Lake did! It has a wide sandy area you can walk around or camp overnight, and a big lake you can swim. My favorite would be the walking on the sand!

If you will camp, make sure to reserve through their website. Bring your own food, water and chair if you want to stay close by the lake for a day.

3. University of Nebraska – Lincoln

This place may not sound like a tourist spot but I will still recommend someone who will visit Nebraska to stop by the place. The architecture of the buildings in the campus feels like those in the old movies. Early in the morning or late in the afternoon you will see glass houses with different light colors inside. My favorite is the campus in spring. It is so pretty as it is colored by trees, flowers and bushes.

If you cannot be here during spring, the other seasons are still pretty specifically Fall!

Kimchi is a known fermented vegetables dish in Korean cuisine. The one that I know is made of napa cabbage. I think they also do radish and cucumber. Anyways, I’m not here to tell you the different kinds of kimchi. LOL.

I’m here to dissect the vegetable ingredients of kimchi and learn their scientific names.

Napa cabbage – Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis

Rice (flour) – Oryza sativa

Gochugaru or korean chili (flakes) – Capsicum anuum

Korean radish – Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus

Korean chives – Allium tuberosum

Carrots – Daucus carota

Garlic – Allium sativum

Ginger – Zingiber officinale

Onion – Allium cepa

Living alone now in the US where you have to buy stuff in bulk, it is not easy to finish all the vegetables I get. I want to have a healthier lifestyle but my environment gives me a lot of excuses not to. I have to find ways how to store food that are very perishable and I found fermentation as one of the many ways to preserve my veggies. Kimchi is not easy to make but it allows me store vegetables longer. Knowing that I am using the correct ingredients by knowing their scientific names is helpful for me since not all groceries sell napa cabbage. Here’s my version of home-made kimchi:

I’ve been reading this book The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman, and came across an insight about having a Cato.

But first, who is Cato?

Cato the Younger, according to the book, is a Roman politician known to defend the Republic against Julius Caesar. He is a brave, bold, noble and disciplined person. He is the most commonly cited philosopher because of his principled life.

March 10th entry in the book suggests having a Cato or an indifferent spectator in our life. Someone who will quietly remind us when we are getting lost in life and choosing to avoid the uncomfortable situation crucial to attain our end-goal in this short lifetime.

This Cato could be your mom, dad, friend, lover or even Cato himself, basically anyone (existing or not) who can remind you that you are not doing the right thing.

Life could be very distracting most of the time and it is important that you have someone to tell you that you are doing something that will not benefit you and consequently directly or indirectly others.

And when you find your best Cato, try to be the best version of yourself worthy to become a Cato in someone else’s life.

Have you ever read tons of books and watched millions of videos telling you how they stopped procrastinating and became more productive? And you still end up putting off things a couple of hours or day before the deadline? And then eventually you realize that you could do better than that?

Well, you’re not alone! I am still trying to be those social media productivity influencers but after a year I am still procrastinating and not living the best version of myself, and I am not proud of it. It gives me a pang of guilt and anxiety everyday and I acknowledge that it is not good for my mental and physical health.

But what can I do? I have been living this kind of routine for almost 10 years and it is so freaking hard to break it. The thing is that I have this feeling in me that I am designed to do greater things and I am not giving my 100% and even less than the bare minimum at my work. However, I keep failing in dragging myself to use my time in the most efficient way possible, and unleash the potential that I have.

At this point in my life I will be completely honest to myself and whoever is reading this. I STILL PROCRATINATE SO BAD. The more that I evaluate myself, the more I learn why I keep doing procrastination. I found one clear answer to this why.

REASON.

The reason why I need to do the task. While reading at my past journal entries I keep writing that I don’t know the reason why I am doing this or that and ended doing those at the last minute because regardless if I do it with low quality or high, I still couldn’t think of what will I get from it.

A lot of people are so goal oriented that they set goals and achieve it on the dot with the best way possible by using their time efficiently aka not procrastinating. And I am truly jealous how they wired their mind that way. Because those people most likely have their reasons even before creating their goals. However, not all people are like them, and as an easy example of those people, take me. Most of the time at work or school I was given tasks and I know that I have to do it for me to get my goal (my salary or degree), but the immediate reason why I have to do it is not tangible and instant to see. What’s going to be my approach to find that missing link between the goal and the task? What would be the paradigm shift towards a better version of myself?

MAKE ONE (though easier said than done) – have a reason. I am going to try this new approach and start creating reason/s of why I am doing such task regardless of how small or big it is. It doesn’t have to be so complicated. Start with the basic ones (you can also try to be extra if that will push you more) but make it as detailed as you can. If it’s a big task, try breaking the reasons into smaller pieces first and later on build the puzzle to see the bigger picture. YOU HAVE TO WRITE IT on a sticky note or wherever place that you CAN EASILY SEE IT. Whether it is a simple or complicated reason, try to make it as rewarding as possible. It will not be an overnight thing but practicing this will eventually make you better at using your time in the long run.

Time is more precious than gold or any other element in this world. It is something you cannot take back once you lost it. Time flies so fast but you do not have to fly faster, you just have to learn how to enjoy the journey. We are given this life with different and unique missions and a deadline so might as well live it at our best.

I don’t have a success story yet but I hope I can revisit this post and make myself proud of becoming a person that uses time efficiently.

Have you applied for a job or scholarship recently and you are anxious right now whether you’ll get it or not? I feel you. Especially when it’s a dream opportunity – something you think will cause you to break if you won’t get it. As I experienced them before, most of the time it is because I am scared of rejection and it’s normal. You are scared to lose the identity you’ve been wanting or you are at now.

But what are you getting from the dread of waiting for your application results? Or what did you get from the sadness or hate you gave yourself just because you didn’t get that job or scholarship? You get nothing but stress. You may also somehow lose confidence. Or even worse, get no sense of direction in life. It stops us from functioning and living to our full potential. You lost the opportunity and you lose you. But remember, in this time and age, there are unlimited opportunities and a limitless you.

The thing in common that I realized from my collection of rejection was that what hurt the most from the rejection was myself expecting acceptance from something I don’t have control over to establish the self I’ve been imagining. Do not get me wrong, as I wrote in my previous blogs, you have to have a goal as high as your future self won’t believe your present self made it. Aim the impossible, DO YOUR BEST especially on things you have power.

As you navigate in this life, do not find acceptance from others but crave badly for rejection. If you got rejected from that prestigious university or that dream job then find more opportunities. Apply again or apply to a different one. Give your best shot but do not expect that you will get it. Expect more rejections. This rejection/s will give you more lessons about life, other people and most importantly about yourself.

Next time, instead of stressing about the results of your job/scholarship/school application, sit down and write new application forms and send them out. Give your best shot but do not expect to get in because maybe the universe wants you to be in a different and better place you will enjoy more.

I saw in the news that the price of dried fish or tuyo is not as cheap as it used to be and people are opting to vegetables. Why not? It’s healthy and you’ll save money! Prepacked vegetables are also cheaper like the photo below.

You can find a lot of recipe in the internet for pinakbet. This Philippine dish is mainly composed of mixed vegetables that’s being cultivated in warmer areas. It’s very easy to cook. You just have to cut the vegetables mix everything in the boiling water add either fish, pork or shrimp paste and voila! Done!

What are the common vegetables in pinakbet? I looked up at different recipes and the common veggies are the following. And if you’re curious with their scientific names, just keep reading!

String beans or sitao – Vigna unguiculata spp. sesquipedalis

Squash or kalabasa – Cucurbita maxima

Eggplant or talong – Solanum melongena

Bittergourd or ampalaya – Momordica charantia

Tomato or kamatis – Solanum lycopersicum

Lady finger or okra – Abelmoschus esculentus

Garlic or bawang – Allium sativum

Onion or sibuyas – Allium cepa

Ginger or luya – Zingiber officinale

My lunchbox with my own pinakbet recipe. I like this dish because I feel like I’m eating healthy.

As I am writing this, I feel super unmotivated.

I watched inspirational videos but it didn’t work.

And looked at tips how to be motivated or productive during your low days.

They said, do the 2-minute rule,

Or chop tasks to smaller and realistically achievable,

Other suggested to make a to-do list,

Or romanticize your work/studies,

Clear desk, clear mind, and I did that as well,

I even meditated,

But nothing I found in the web worked.

What did I do?

Nothing.

Was I unproductive? Yes.

Did I feel any guilt? Sort of.

What did I do to change my mood?

Nothing.

And it’s ok.

Just feel it.

Do nothing.

Enjoy the moment of not doing anything for a while.

Maybe that’s your body’s way of telling you to pause, and reevaluate your life.

Maybe you’re in a transition phase to get the life you can’t stop thinking about.

It’s tough to rewire the mind and convince it to endure the uncomfortable.

It’s normal.

You can’t get it overnight.

It takes practice.

You’ll fail ten times.

But make sure that you’ll get up on the 11th.

Maybe your progress is slower.

But progress is progress.

Pause if you need to.

But remember to press the play button again.

Be patient.

Be strong.

Work. Pause. Work.

Repeat.

Is it your first time to go to the Philippines?

Or planning to do Filipino street food crawling?

Here are some of the Filipino street foods that you can try:

1. Grilled innards

Isaw or chicken/pork intestine is one of the famous grilled street food. But you can also be adventurous by trying out other innards like pig ear, chicken head (“helmet”), chicken/pork blood (“betamax”), chicken feet (“adidas”), pork skin, pork mesentery. For me it’s best eaten with sweet or sweet and spicy sauce or vinegar.

2. More grilled food

If you’re a vegetarian or pescatarian, you can do grilled sweet corn or dried squid. This is not too common in a lot of places so if you find one go grab one! I found the grilled dried seafood in Cebu and Bacolod.

3. Kwek-kwek

They say it’s called as egg waffle in English but I couldn’t justify. LOL. Basically, this is hard boiled egg coated in orange batter and fried. Best paired with spicy vinegar or sauce or combination of both.

4. Fish balls, kikiam, squid balls and chicken balls

So from the name itself except kikiam, these streetfood are made of fish, squid and chicken while kikiam is made of pork meat mixed with flour and seasoning and shaped into balls and fried. Don’t forget to eat it with the sweet sauce.

5. Balut

Don’t be scared of that tiny chick inside the egg. Balut is a fertilized developing duck egg embryo. Usually sold at night along the streets or mobile vendors. Can be eaten with vinegar and salt. Sip the savory soup of the egg first before opening the egg.

6. Fried intestine, proven(proventiculus), gizzard

If you didn’t like the grilled innards, you may opt to try it in fried form. Of course with good sauce and vinegar!

7. Buchi/Mochi

I just saw this in a night market in Davao. There are places with their own street food so this one was new when I tried it but it’s worth a try! This is fried rice cake with variety of fillings to choose from. In this photo, they also sell fried shrimp roll, bread rolls and chicken dragon balls that I don’t know because I didn’t try.

8. Fried peanuts

This is a common street food. No need to explain but what’s different from the packed peanuts I think is that this is freshly cooked. Usually, they also sell fried anchovies, caramel-coated peanut, kidney beans, cornick, and sweet beans alongside that you should try as well.

9. Fried dumplings and chili egg roll (dynamite)

Fried dumplings is usually made of ground pork with seasoning stuffed in eggroll wrapper and then fried. While the chili egg roll aka “dynamite”, is made of long green chili stuffed with ground pork mix then wrapped and fried. Best dipped with sauce and/or vinegar.

10. Pansit (stir fried noodle)

Pansit habhab or lomi are sometimes sold in the streets in some places. Pansit habhab is more common in Quezon province and instead of calamansi, you can put vinegar. Lomi on the other hand is being sold usually in Batangas province or nearby places. In Bicol, they have pansit bato not because it is hard as rock but because it came from the name of one of the municipalities.

11. Egg cake

This street food has a distinct smell because it is made of old egg or eggs with broken yolk. They put seasoning and tomatoes and baked or fried. Best with spicy vinegar.

12. Ilocos empanada

If you’re in Ilocos region, this is a must try. Although there are places that serve this as street food but not as common as in Ilocos. I love the Vigan sausage, egg and veggies mixture inside this orange wrap.

13. Veggie balls + lato(seaweed)

Made of ground veggies, flour, egg and seasoning. Deep fried. Try it out with seaweed if you see one.

14. Grilled bananas

Saba banana in a perfect unripe-ripe stage grilled coated with margarine and sugar. You can also try banana cue – this is the same banana but coated with sugar.

15. Taho

Soybean milk curd with sweet caramel syrup and tapioca. In some places, like in Baguio City, they have strawberry and ube taho.

16. Binaki

Steam grated corn. It’s a bit sweet and the cool part is that it is steamed using the husk. Usually sold in Cagayan de Oro-Bukidnon area.

17. Dirty ice cream

And we are down to the last one that I purposefully put here as your choice of dessert. Aside from the usual chocolate and cookies and cream flavor, they sometimes have cheddar cheese and purple yam(ube) combo flavor. In some places like Bicol province, they have chili ice cream and other interesting flavor. In Davao City, I had a charcoal ice cream variant they also have Durian ice cream. In Baguio City, they have ube and strawberry ice cream.

And if you get thirsty, we gotchu! Get some buko (young coconut) juice.

Take advantage of the health benefits of young coconut in a place where young coconut is considered as street food. Pair it with any of your selected street food!

It’s amazing how Filipinos are very creative in terms of street food. There are a lot more but I hope this list helps you decide the first ones to try.