Last December, we were able to visit Nuvali, a new development located in Sta. Rosa Laguna. We often passed through this place every time we were on our way to Tagaytay but we never had the time to stop, and maybe because some of the amenities at that time were not yet open. Now, there are boat rides which are available now and restaurants are also available to serve food. We were able to try Crisostomo, a typical Filipino restaurant but was incorporated with some historical, memorabilia of national hero Jose Rizal, some old furnitures and switch plate.

Maybe Crisostomo was taken from the main character from one of Rizal books, Noli Me Tangere. The menu is great especially lengua laruja but what captured us especially for brunch time was the tuyo flakes of their mongo soup. To those who are on their way to Tagaytay and or those on their way home from Tagaytay, why not drop by to Nuvali first.

It was almost 15 years ago when I last worn my nursing uniforms. The last time I worked as a nurse reliever in hospital in our place and I am proud that I am nurse, and I am not closing my door that someday I will work as nurse again. But at this very moment I am not thinking about working again in the hospital. That’s why I can relate to those new registered nurses who are complaining about those hospitals were they pay just to have hospital experience. Luckily for me, I don’t pay the hospital before while I am on my volunteer job. Sadly today some are paying the hospitals while rendering duty. During my time I just did 15 days as volunteer then I became a reliever nurse, but sadly sometimes I would do 16 hours of duty straight, sometimes after 10pm-6am duty and about to have sleep after, when you will received a message that I have to be back in the hospital at two pm duty. In my six months as reliever nurse I only received an equivalent to one month salary. That’s why to those who are planning to take nursing course think of it a thousand times.

It’s been almost two years ago when we accidentally discovered about Leisure Coast Resort in Dagupan, It was during a typhoon called Peping hitting Northern Luzon, around the same time that we were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacle in one of the resorts in San Fabian in Pangasinan. The whole Province of Pangasinan was very much affected by almost a week of non-stop raining at that time. It was our free day and we were on our way to Baguio. But we could not continue due to the heavy rain and some roads were already not passable. We decided to come back but found out that the place where we were staying at already didn’t have electricity. We decided to find another place to stay because we already felt that it was going to be flooding as the place were surrounded by rivers. Luckily we were able to find Leisure Coast on our way to Dagupan. The next day we learned that the resort were we previously stayed were affected by flood. And then we knew about the extent of damage of that typhoon in the province. Although we knew that our Almighty Father will not permit that something to happen to us, He didn’t want us to have patient monitor after our feast celebration. It was the beginning were almost every year during our feast that we choose to stay in Leisure Coast.

Many believe that food business is one of the best businesses to open nowadays because people eat so virtually all of them can be your market. But not all food business turn into a success. Even giant fast food chain ventures to other business when their name does not turn that big. As we all know investing into food business it is not like you buy morgan dollars where you can always expect better investment returns. It is better to manage it yourself, work hard for it and don’t let anybody manage it without your close involvement.

A couple of days ago when I started to scan, edit and post some of the photos we have during our visit in Belgium, I feel that I began missing the place. It’s like bringing back those beautiful places we been to almost three years ago especially the UNESCO heritage site we visited reminiscing those great architecture designs. We had the chance to see the square which is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels, along with the Atomium and Manneken Pis. Although it is hard to read those names of the Landmarks as I was having problem using their Ordinateurswhich means computer because it is usually written in Dutch or French. But I am still hoping too see again the place someday.

It is really sad that instead of receiving holiday cards, you will receive bad news instead. My uncle passed away and although the whole family felt sad, there was also a feeling of relief that he already rested. My uncle was already suffering from his kidney failure for so many years and he already accepted this fact and one day, he grew tired of fighting it. We know he is already ready and may he rest in peace.

We were able to try so many restaurants and new dishes over the last couple of weeks. I even called it food fiesta as I thought I would need sensa weight loss for that. We visited the Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill in Fort Bonifacio twice and were able to try the new dishes of three restaurants there. The last one was Sweet Pea. It was chosen because we want to have thanksgiving of my niece’s first special day. My brother in-law and I were hesitant first because we thought it was only for health conscious people and only salads were served there. But after I saw that I could also order Angus beef and other meat based dishes, I was then keen on giving this place a try. Sweet Pea serves American, Filipino and Mexican foods and I can say it is really a chef’s kitchen.