My Most Read Blog Posts as of Year Ending 2013

Instead of the usual year-end thoughts that can be mixed with fears, I've decided to see which among my posts in my three blogs had the most number of readers.

The top five posts came from only one blog, "Amusing Tips". It is the newest blog among my three blogs so I don't know if I should be happy to see that, but looking at the top five posts, 3 of them are about health and wellness while 2 about beauty tips so I'm glad to see that. Here are those five posts, just click on the title of the post that you want to read:

1. 3089 pageviews - The Five Elements

2. 2081 pageviews - More Glycemic Index Tips

3. 1793 pageviews - Red lips without lipstick

4. 1472 pageviews - A life saving chart

5. 1041 pageviews - Spirulina Mask

For my "Dreams List" blog, I just would like to mention some notable statistics, like it is awesome to see that until this week, there were still people who have landed to a song I have posted with two versions, and the comments were also awesome. The title of the post and the song is "Dreams are my Reality". I wish that those in the younger generations will also learn this beautiful song.

Lastly, for this blog "I Don't Want To Retire", I was glad to see that until this week, my post "Fighting a fever without medicines" had readers. I think I posted this in the wrong blog since it can be considered an amusing tip too.

What I'd really want to see in my main blog "I Don't Want To Retire" are more readers for my post "God's Message" which was the main reason why I started blogging. Definitely one's religion won't matter in this post because it was a simple message of God for mankind, it was a true simple story and not a made up one. As I've said in the post "My Conversation with God on June 12, 2001", which is part of the introduction of this blog, God proved His love for me by giving me what I wanted: a child that will help me forget about disappointments.

God gave me a very special child because she was born blind and had cerebral palsy. Through this child, God shook off my tendency to expect too much from people. That tendency was the real cause of my disappointments. For eleven years now, this special child taught me to be happy with the smallest things people would show me.

For the coming year, 2014, I wish to continue to be happy with the smallest things people would show me, and with the smallest blessings God will give me. That is also my wish for everyone.

Happy New Year!

So Excited!

Yes, I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it! I've just posted the main reason in my Dreams List blog, titled "A Free Brand New Family Car!". Just by the title alone, you'd guess why I'm so excited, though it would take a lot of guts talking to people for me to achieve it. Not only guts of course, but a lot of positive thinking, so help us God!

I changed that last statement which was originally "so help me God", because it is not only me involved here but a lot of my relatives and friends who can also get the free brand new car after or even before I get mine. It is the network marketing plan of Tiens that would make that possible, and thank God it is a very good plan that doesn't have to be "binary" to make it work.

Thank you Lord for these small blessings of excitement and happiness that makes people forget about any problems at hand.

A Better Pomodoro

This post should be a sequel of my post three months ago, titled "A Better Life", which mentioned about my goal to get rid of cancer cells present in my body, and present in everyone's body my age, by the way. I seem to be successful in my goal so far, because the results of my pre-diagnostic tests on the presence of cancer cells showed they are gradually decreasing, though still within the positive range meaning if I don't do something about it and make it negative, then it can be a case of diagnostic cancer later.

The past year, I've been cooking Pomodoro but using a canned marinara sauce, canned mushrooms and canned spicy tuna. I can no longer do that because canned goods are forbidden for a person who'd like to eliminate cancer cells. Until I found bottled alternatives, though seemed more expensive at first. Like the Cadia Marinara Sauce which costs 279 pesos at Healthy Options but may be used for 5 recipes of Pomodoro. Instead of spicy tuna, I used bottled Spanish sardines. For salt, it should be sea salt, not iodized salt which can be synthetic. The oil must be extra virgin olive oil in bottle and the heat should be the lowest heat of the stove. Anyway, here's the recipe of what I call "A Better Pomodoro":

For every 100 grams of uncooked spaghetti pasta:

2 tbsps. chopped white onion (1/4 of a big bulb)
2 tbsps. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (includes 2 tsps. for sauteing)
1/2 cup marinara sauce (bottled or may be prepared beforehand using another recipe)
1 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves (around 10 leaves)
2 pcs Spanish sardines if bigger than usual, broken into 5 or 6 parts with fork (Milk Fish Spanish Style sardines may be used), or 4 pcs. small sardines, each piece broken into 3 parts (the Young's Town brand has bigger sardines than other brands).

In a pan using low heat, saute the chopped white onion in 2 tsps. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil until soft. Add the 1/2 cup of marinara sauce, 1 tbsp. water, 1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1/2 tsp. sea salt, then mix and simmer for about one minute. Add the chopped fresh basil leaves and simmer for half minute. Set aside (this Basic Pomodoro sauce may be used some other day by freezing).

Boil water just enough for the spaghetti to be cooked "al dente". Drain.

Add the prepared sardines to the Basic Pomodoro sauce in the pan and add 1 tsp. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Simmer for half minute and remove from heat.

Pour the drained cooked spaghetti on a platter and pour the Pomodoro sauce with sardines on top. Toss with forks until thoroughly mixed. Best served with green salad which helps digest starches more easily.

The Chemical Intake Timeline

The timeline came from the book "Don't Eat Cancer" by Sean David Cohen. The book is about Modern Day Cancer Prevention and stresses the importance of learning to be a defensive consumer to prevent cancer. This timeline is one of the most important facts from the book I strongly felt I should share:

Age 0 – 10: CHEMICAL INTAKE BEGINS, USUALLY RIGHT FROM BIRTH. More than a third of the foods and drinks the average person consumes contains a chemical agent. Many solutions applied to the skin have chemicals also. The sun damages skin more than ever now due to ozone depletion. Kids unknowingly eat m.s.g. or monosodium glutonate, aspartame, sorbitol, fast food and microwave dinners like they‟re going out of style. And remember, chemical intake is not measured for children regularly.

Age 11-20: AN ACCUMULATION OF TOXINS GETS TOO HIGH IN OUR SYSTEM FOR OUR MAJOR ORGANS TO FILTER OUT ALL OF IT. OVERLOAD!

Age 21-27: OUR OUTER AND INNER SKIN LININGS ARE BECOMING DAMAGED AND VULNERABLE.

Age 27-35: CARCINOGENS BEGIN MUTATING OUR CELLS AS THE NEWLY DAMAGED CELLS DIVIDE AND MULTIPLY IRREGULARLY.

Age 36-50: Mutagens SWIM IN OUR BLOOD STREAMS, and begin their search for damaged tissue to which they can attach themselves. PRE-CANCEROUS SKIN SPOTS AND SMALL TUMORS DEVELOP, noticeably enough for good doctors to treat.

Age 51- 61: Major RESEARCH AND TREATMENT BEGIN HERE!! BILLIONS PER YEAR SPENT ON FINDING A CURE FOR THE AFTER-AFFECT OF CHEMICAL CONSUMPTION, including chemotherapy, freezing off skin, surgery to remove basil cell cancer spots, and sometimes removal of major organs, including colons. These people continue consuming chemicals! Cancer cells are more likely to be traveling in the blood at this point, searching for weakened tissue. Within two to three years you‟re dead. Just like that. No social security for you. No retired living, after all those years of work.

God's birthday gift

I didn't want to have a party to celebrate a milestone birthday, all I've wished for was to appreciate God's creations and this time I've thought maybe that would be best done in Palawan. Since the start of the year, I've prepared myself to fulfill that birthday wish so I patiently looked and waited for the cheapest promo air fare that I would find.

The first place in Palawan that I've wished to see was of course the Underground River but my special child couldn't possibly go there so I forgot the whole idea and just decided to have a city tour, anyway, there could be rains or typhoon in August, I've thought. Learning about that, my daughter gave me a birthday gift in advance to possibly have a day tour in Dos Palmas and I and my companions were so happy we could at least go there.

A week before the flight to Palawan, I saw my Tiens network marketing upline at the office where we get our family's supplements, and she sat beside me, perhaps because I seldom see her these days. I was looking at the Medical Information Form of PAL for my special child so she learned that we will be going to Palawan the following week. She said her Goddaughter is a manager of Inland Tours in Palawan, called her up and let me talk to her.

After that day, I had several conversations on the phone with Jackie, the manager of Inland Tours who persistently encouraged me to see the Underground River until it was just a few days left before our flight. We discussed possible ways to bring my special child but not inside the cave like me on the first shift and my husband on the next shift inside the cave but I told her the tour to the Underground River would still be impossible since it was just a few days from our flight and I and my two adult companions didn't have permits yet. She said August is not a peak season so we could still get permits.

August 23 was already full, according to Jackie, so the day of our tour to the Underground River fell on my birthday, August 24. The weather was great in Palawan. I've wanted to appreciate nature on this day and God allowed me to see one of His most beautiful creations. It was so clear to me that this was His birthday gift to me. There is a cathedral inside the Underground River, and my wish to at least pass by a cathedral was also fulfilled.



The following day was the Dos Palmas Day Tour. It was a Sunday. I wasn't inside the church but I felt closer to God through the sound of the waves and the wind touching my face. The feeling was so calming and all I could say was "Thank You Lord!".

Let Mali Stay in Philippines

Elephant Mali has stayed in the Philippines' Manila Zoo for 36 years after she was brought to this country when she was 3 years old. She is now 39 years old and if she was brought up in the wild or in the forest, she would have just one more year to live. But since she was under domestication in the zoo, she can live longer, and can even possibly live till 75 years old.

The newly elected mayor of Manila, Mayor Erap Estrada, has wonderful plans for Mali and the whole Manila Zoo. A new foot gear for Mali is of course on the list. and the upgrading of her habitat, with the possible inclusion of "friends".

Transferring Mali will just subject her to stress and might not even reach the destination alive. For 36 years, she has adapted to a life with a lot of people around. She has heard the laughter of children who had fed her with fruits or vegetables. Just like my special child on the photo who is blind and has cerebral palsy, but kept laughing while feeding Mali because she could feel the "sucking air" from the snout of Mali to get the banana from her hand. Mali surely has a happy soul because she had made so many people happy, even those with disabilities.

A Better Life

If you were one of those who enjoyed life to the fullest, this post might be for you. I was also one of those people, so I might be speaking for myself but at any rate what I will share can give you a new insight or simply serve as a reminder.

I’ve enjoyed my life to the fullest because I have danced, sang as much as I could, and best of all, I’ve eaten any food I’ve wanted. What I enjoyed the most was those bonding moments with my children, eating burgers or fried chicken as well as French fries and doughnuts. It is always a good feeling to think about those times.

Indeed some good things never last because my children whom I spent those beautiful moments are adults now and are enjoying their own lives. I am now in this phase where I have to attend to myself and get rid of the bad effects of most of the foods I have enjoyed. Though I am always young at heart, I have to accept that my body is not that young. Toxins from the food I ate and from the modern environment have accumulated in my body. Because of that, cancer cells have grown for sure, everyone my age has a number of those cells, and my killer cells are continuously fighting with them.

Who will win in the battle between the cancer cells and the killer cells depends on me. My whole immune system will need my help, to choose only the food they need, and cut the food supply of cancer cells like sugar, meat and toxins, not only from the food and environment but also from my emotions like anger. I had a good life in the past but trying my best to keep my body as young as my spirit can give me a better life. And because I chose to have a better life, I bought the tools I will need like a juicer and some health gadgets.

I am now enjoying this new phase in my life because I discover new recipes, some I created on my own, and I feel closer to God because I eat the food He created just for people, in its natural form. I eat a lot of raw vegetable salad, drink the juices from raw vegetables even from cassava. I’ve discovered a food for snack by steaming the pulp from the juiced cassava just for 5 minutes and sprinkling the steamed pulp with muscovado.

When I asked God where to get the cure for dreadful diseases during my conversation with Him in June 2001, He said the cures are abundant and I knew at that time He was referring to the plants around us. Later I also realized that sunshine of course is abundant and just 15 to 20 minutes exposure at the right time, from 9:30 to 10 o’clock in the morning is sufficient.

My husband and I were also blessed by a special child a year after my conversation with God, and this child who will be 11 years old next month, gives us now a natural way to exercise and sweat out the toxins in our body. What more can I ask from God?

Mixing Opposites

I thought I won't be able to describe what I've been doing the past days, but i just figured out what exactly I was doing. The activities involved were focused on the house and the garden. How it started has really nothing to do with the house because I just wanted a better internet connection and a new router was waiting to be installed. However, there were also cables and computer hardware that were no longer needed so the connections should be cleared from them also. So it took movement of tables and clearing some spaces before the router was installed.

It took days for the whole activity to be completed because it was not as simple as I thought. It was not easy to satisfy my third eye. Until I noticed it would be satisfied only when there was a mix of opposites, like the router on the antique looking console table, which was moved from the space dividing the living room and the dining room.

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In the living room, the hard wood dominated the area since it had a big wooden center table and there were electronic equipments also so the whole area just looked "hard". It needed to be balanced by objects that would suggest softness, like more throw pillows and a carpet, or stuffed toys. So I moved out the big center table creating more space. I placed a wood slab on the floor to create a natural look balancing the electronic equipments in the area, and introduced a carpet and additional throw pillows. It was hard to get an unbudgeted small sized carpet so I practically had no choice, I just thought that the tan color of the design will neutralize the other colors in the area while the red background symbolizes fire, which will balance the presence of too much wood (based on the Five Elements theory in Feng Shui). It was nice to notice our pet cats in the area once in a while because they balance the presence of the animal stuffed toys and figurines.

The activity forced me to take some time out from my highly technical home based job. Through the activity I was enjoying some of my hobbies.

Mixing the opposites is just about balancing - the hard with soft, modern with antique, natural with electronics or synthetic, or a technical job with an artistic hobby. Life is like that, it has to follow the simple law of Yin and Yang, and all will be well.

Once again, God placed me in this awesome situation. Thank you Lord!

Alternative Health Care and PNAAP

In the past, “alternative health care” was not an easy topic to discuss. Some believed that those alternative methodologies should still be proven with clinical studies. Until that was done, nothing could replace what was considered as the conventional and therefore right way of treating the sick, and that was the Western Medicine way.

Western Medicine however, always start with symptoms. Now that any information is just a fingertip away, caring for one's health from the time a baby is born is also a fingertip away. Now is the time when “symptoms” should pertain to signs of imbalances instead of signs of illnesses that can already be serious.

Perhaps the term “alternative” was used to also refer to therapies or tools that can address imbalances aside from herbs used as medicines, so as not to create confusion. So whatever is not “Western Medicine” is “Alternative Medicine”, and that includes all the Oriental medicine philosophies such as Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM which is really a traditional medicine as its name implies.

The concept of Yin and Yang in TCM is a clear indication of its main principle of balancing a person's well-being to sustain the latter’s normal state. Both Yin and Yang have “windows” or “bridges” to the other side so that transition can easily take place to achieve the required balance. Both “Western” and “Alternative” medicines should also have windows or bridges with clear boundaries and a common objective of maintaining a person's wellness.

The Philippines National Association of Acupoint Practitioners or PNAAP envisions to serve as a bridge from an alternative health care methodology to Western Medicine or even vice versa. This was made possible with PNAAP's initial partnership with a big company that manufactures high quality and state-of-the-art health gadgets, in addition to well researched and traditional supplements that were proven effective for thousands of years in TCM. These supplements can complement not only the health gadgets but also a number of medicines prescribed by Western Medicine practitioners. Such big company is Tiens Biotech Group, the manufacturer of a comb-like Balance Apparatus for Biological Physical Electricity that won awards 8 times in international expositions of invention held in United States, France, Switzerland and Singapore. Another health gadget with invention awards from the same company is the Acupoint Treasure Healthcare Apparatus also known as “Tong Bao”, which functions like a “needleless acupuncture” capable of stimulating meridian acupoints, until a balanced state of a person is achieved, hence preventing the onset of illnesses.

To be in line with the philosophies behind the tools or health gadgets PNAAP has adopted, PNAAP has also embraced TCM as its underlying philosophy, appreciating the theories of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements as effective means of assessing imbalances in their early stages before any physiological diagnosis can be made. A curriculum was designed by PNAAP to standardize the practice of Acupoint Therapy using needleless acupuncture or other modernized acupuncture gadgets in the Philippines, and bridge the gap between the practice and Western Medicine.

PNAAP was founded by Dr. Josefina Ponciano-Albis, an OB-Gynecologist in Medical City and headed by some Western Medicine practitioners who are also currently Acupoint Health Therapy Practitioners and who themselves are recipients of astounding health benefits of their own practice. To promote safe practice in conducts of Acupoint Health Therapy Practitioners, PNAAP also aims to design and implement high standard Code of Ethics, and promotes strong adherence to it by its members.

A “Certified Acupoint Therapist” or “Certified Acupoint Practitioner” who graduated from PNAAP should now be able to discuss about “alternative health care” with confidence. He or she should strive to identify what exactly caused a person’s imbalance and perform the corresponding acupoint therapies required, adhering to PNAAP’s Standard of Practice and Code of Ethics, which include guidelines on when to refer a patient to the Western Medical Practitioner. He or she should also know by heart, Tiens’ Technical specification of each health product and gadget before using them. Last but not least, his or her personal satisfaction is derived from helping other people to stay healthy. The financial reward is never the motivating factor and thus remains only as a reward.

A Tribute

Today, March 26, is the first death anniversary of my mother-in-law, and if ever there are tributes for her left undone or messages left unsaid, I guess this is the best time. The last time she was still able to see the people around her, she looked at me when I called her to check if she was alright, and that was her last gaze to a person.

As days and months went by, I've been trying to analyze if that last gaze meant something, and unexpectedly, I found a lot of meanings.

"Mamang" was always described as a plain housewife, but as the priest during her eulogy said, being a housewife is a very noble vocation. In Mamang's case, I could describe her as the "President of a Corporation" consisting of her offspring and their offspring. She sees to it that everyone in this "corporation" is doing well, and would announce to the world that they are indeed doing well, a recognition every employee would always wanted to hear from his or her bosses or employers. It is not only that quality that can make her a "best boss", she was also a servant leader, another quality of a good boss, because she always checks what each person "in her corporation" needs, and would offer her services to fulfill that need.

For some, and that included me, the services she would like to offer were most of the time exaggerated because she always thought she could do them all. A special child I adopted brought us closer, but also became a reason for occasional misunderstanding between us. That was because she would always claim she was capable of taking care of such child, while I consistently claimed that a caregiver is indispensable.



To make my story short, I am now taking care of this special child, with my husband's help because this child has grown tall, but no caregiver, and I have no intentions of getting the services of a regular caregiver at least in the next one or two years. Beyond that, I can't tell because my husband and are are no longer young, but I believe this activity of caring for our special child kept us stronger and more conscious and responsible for our health. At the time this special child was born, my bone density was at the boundary of normal and osteopenic, but ten years had passed and it is now high normal.

My mother-in-law's last gaze was meaningful because it made me realize that her statements in the past were not exaggerations because she had experienced them all and she knew she was capable of doing them, moreso because she had performed them out of love. Saying "sorry" without being enlightened doesn't seem right, but now that I've realized a lot and learned from Mamang, I'd like to say I'm sorry for those times I misunderstood her.



Today is also "Holy Tuesday", or the second day of Holy Week. We are reminded how Jesus Christ was misunderstood and persecuted. He died on the cross to save the whole world. It makes me think now that from every death, some people will find enlightenment and salvation. Jesus Christ sacrificed on the cross to start it all, and His death will continue to save mankind.

As The Deer

As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship Thee

You alone are my Strength and Shield, to You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee

You’re my Friend and You are my Brother even though You are a King
I love You more than any other so much more than anything

Oh You alone are my Strength and Shield, to You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee

This is one of my favorite psalms and I've always wanted to sing this. Singing the alto part makes my singing even more heartfelt and meaningful.

Overwhelming Blessings

Whenever I meditate about the things that are happening in my life today, I realize that there are overwhelming blessings coming one after another. Overwhelming because I couldn't single out who to thank or what caused a good thing to happen.

Perhaps I just came to the point where I'd like to count my blessings, instead of counting my disappointments. Life has been difficult, but it bore good fruits I didn't even think I deserved. These fruits didn't include money that will make us live comfortably, but they contained tastes of peace and contentment.

Though I don't have the luxury of time even to pray everyday, I like to pray whenever I can. I wasn't like that in the past so I think that is a sign that I am now ready to recognize my blessings.