Road to Healthy - Last update

My goodness we finally reached the last of my Road to Healthy 2013! Let’s recap how I did in the last 4 months, shall we?

September

Goal: Exercise 4-5 times a week

Verdict: Fail! Unfortunately, this month was awfully busy hence the lack of exercise. I did get to do it 2-3 times a week at most but I knew I could’ve done better. There were a lot of family gatherings then plus I got ill a few times but I know it’s no excuse!  

October

Goal: Eat healthier

Verdict: Happy to say that I've succeeded. I was able to incorporate a lot of fruits in my diet and less on the carbs. The results are staggering. However, because of the festivities I fell off the wagon but I've promised myself to get back to it once all the holidays are done.

November

Goal: Complete my 50 book challenge

Verdict: Every year I try to read 50 books and kept failing. I think of all the years, 2013 was the least I've read (boohoo!) however I am not discourage if anything I am more keen to do it again next year and hope I will succeed.

2013 Reading Challenge

Jcel has read 13 books toward her goal of 50 books.

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13 of 50 (26%)

view books

*oh the shame! Only 13 books out my 50 goal :(

December

Goal: Give DIY gifts

Verdict: Ha! I researched and all but I still didn't get to do it. There simply was not enough time! Work was crazy before Christmas… nonetheless I was able to budget my shopping and still gave good gifts. Well at least none of them said anything bad yet. LOL

So yeah that wraps up my Road to Healthy, it was a fun ride! I did think that I have become generally healthier especially with my eating habits and guess what people have noticed the physical change. Happy to announce that currently I have lost 10lbs. HURRAH! Clothes are fitting a lot better which also helps with being financially healthy because you know what they say “it’s cheaper to lose weight than to keep buying clothes that will fit”

I hope you enjoyed my journey as much as I did and who knows maybe I will keep it up to 2014.

See you next year!!!

jCel♥

[Book-It] Christmas Gift Guide 2013

Sadly I haven’t been able to read much this year but nonetheless here's a list of the books I’ve been eyeing on for me and for giving as presents. Here’s this year’s Book Gift Guide:

As with my previous book guide, there should always be a Mitch Albom book and just as well because he just released a new one, hurrah!!! I am a fan of all his previous books so I’m sure this will not disappoint.

This book won the Best Fiction of 2013 in Goodreads, ‘nuff said.

This one is for the Percy Jackson series fanatic as the new installment in the Heroes of Olympus just came out. Riordan's books is an excellent choice for teenage boys. 

This is a good gift for the young adults and a perfect book to start getting yourself into John Green’s writing. I’ve read 3 of his books and this one is my favorite by far.

One of my all time favorite book just came out with a new reprint version adorned in a super cute cover. This is perfect way to entice young readers to get into the classics.

This one is for those who want to give an inspirational book. Ann Voskamp’s style of writing is unusual but captivating, so full of description and passion.

I know it's only a few sleeps till Christmas but hopefully this post has helped those last minute shoppers, like me.  

Advcance Merry Christmas to all and hope you get to receive one of these awesome books in your gift stockings! :)

xoxo,

jCel

Let's Celebrate Jesus!

Christmas is nearing and yet because of all the catastrophic events that had happened it’s hard to say that this Christmas will be merry. As we all know the Philippines, particularly in Tacloban, Leyte was hit by super typhoon Yolanda which led to thousands of deaths. It was a devastating sight and heartbreaking to see my fellow Filipinos suffering. Nonetheless, I am grateful to all the people from different countries that willingly helped Visayas to get back on their feet [again]. I have witnessed that there is good in everyone and that we can be all united as ONE as long as we set aside our differences.

There are many circumstances in our lives that we wish we could avoid, but alas, we are limited to our very nature. We do not know what’s going to happen in the future no matter how many backup plans we have. The good news is God has given us HOPE when He sent His only Son to be born in a manger and gave his life on the cross for you and me. As long as we know WHO holds our future there’s always HOPE at every end of the dark tunnel of our lives.

Jesus said in Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Though bad situations hinder us from having a merry Christmas, we have to remember what the Lord Jesus Christ promised in His words. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us because He is with us always. In knowing this, it’s enough reason to be cheerful and joyful even when circumstances in our lives don’t seem to make sense.

Always, remember that Christmas is not about the gifts we receive, it’s not about how much you have in your bank account or whether there are or aren’t any food on the table for Noche Buena. Christmas is about celebrating JESUS and the hope that He brings. 

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

On behalf of MIXXED, Jcel and I wish you a very Merry Christmas! With your families and friends let us together celebrate the Hope of the world that is JESUS CHRIST! Let us Celebrate Jesus together for He is the true reason for this season! 

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!!

Blessings,

Bex

Road to Healthy - 2nd update

Well what do you know… my phone just alarmed that it’s time for me to do my Road to Healthy update today! Oh how time flies, it has been 4 months since my last update and also can you believe it's already September? I honestly feel like we've just started the year. BER months usually fly by extremely fast I think it is because everyone is excited about Christmas and New Year ahead, I know I am!

Anyway, let’s see how I did in the last 4 months.

May goal was to be emotionally healthy but before I go any further I just want to say, I tried. I really (really) tried but sadly – no pun intended – I did not cry. I watched every suggested movie but none of them brought me to tears in the slightest. So unfortunately I did not succeed in my May goal but I still plan to find a movie that will bring me to tears so I’m still open for suggestions.

For my June goal, I said I wanted to eat less junk food. And the verdict: SUCCESS! My junk food cravings have lessened dramatically. I initially thought this would be a toughie because I am big junkie and chocolates are my (sweetest) weakness. Nowadays I can go by weeks without them. Although I still succumb to a few cravings every now and then but unlike before I would -and could- eat chocolates everyday.  

July was the start of my brown rice journey and with this I started cooking again. The brown rice was initially a debacle at home since my brother refuses to eat it but I stood my ground and he no longer sees the difference now. I was extremely happy my family had joined my brown rice journey as it really much healthier plus the fact that I started cooking again is really great as I find that whenever I cook I tend to eat less (big plus!!!).

Now for August I aimed to exercise. This was something I was really hesitant about because I know myself and I am not an active person. But I told myself, I’m not going to get any healthier by just slouching on the couch so… lo and behold I am exercising (!) so much so that I've been doing it 2-3 times a week for the whole month of August. *Gives self a (big fat) pat on the back* I never thought I’d be able to make it but really hard work and motivation is all you need. I started by doing simple exercises, which you can freely find in YouTube (my saving grace!). At most my exercises are 10-15 minutes long but if I have time or energy I will push myself to a 30-45 exercise. I will not call them “workouts” because they are just simple movements to keep you active a.k.a sweaty. Plus the word “workout” puts in too much pressure for me hehe. So far I am really enjoying the exercises I found and it has become kind of an obsession looking out new routines to do. I think the key is to switch things up and make it as fun as possible. What I do is mix a bit of cardio, stretching and some Yoga every now and then. My favorites to watch in YouTube are Fitness Blender, Blogilates and Feel Fit.  

So now for my future Goals…

September

I wanted to push myself a little harder so for September I wanted to try and exercise at least 4-5 days a week. Nothing too extreme just simple exercises, unless of course I feel like doing more. But I think this should be a good next level goal in my being active.

October

For October I want to train myself to eating healthy that is not to say I will be converting my meals to Green juices. No, I am not up for that and I don’t plan to. I just want to cook healthier meals.

November

By this month I actually hope (and pray) I have completed my 50 books challenge. At the moment I am 38 books away so I need to double time my reading this BER months!

December

I don’t think I would be able to stop myself from eating this month because really December is the month of FEASTS! However I wanted to do something different this year and force myself to give out more personal, homemade gifts. Hopefully they will appreciate this more as this involves time, effort, creativity and LOVE –in other words I want to give them less pricey gifts ahaha

Let’s hope I will be able to keep this up and really if I can do it so can you and it is never too late to start being healthy!

Till my next update…

Ciao,

jCel♥

[TRAVEL] Splendid Taipei Series: Day 3

Ahhh the last day of our Taipei holiday, guess it’s bound to end some time. This time I will be writing up the blog post and Bex will take care of the video hopefully I’d be able to relay to you what happened as good as Bex did in the last 2 Taipei series. So shall we begin?

The first agenda for our Day 3 is to go to the much raved about Taipei Zoo which I am thoroughly excited about because I’ve never been to one before. 28 years on Earth and I’ve only recently stepped foot inside a zoo!

To get to there we have to take two train rides, one is specifically for Taipei Zoo and because we went on Chinese New Year holiday it was extremely crowded. Luckily for us, we are well-experienced train riders so we managed to squeeze ourselves in without problem.

As soon as we got out of the train we immediately queued up for the entrance tickets, which is okay since the line wasn’t that long. Once in, I could barely contain my excitement. Bex on the other hand, was a bit put off by the number of people as it was insanely crowded!

Now to say that the zoo is big is an understatement because it was said to be the largest zoo in Asia. My first zoo experience in the largest one in Asia, not too shabby I must say!

First we got to see was Bambi... I mean the Deer, later we found out that there are numerous kinds of deer in the Zoo as well as the monkeys. So eventually they became less interesting to see since to us they all look the same LOL There were soooooooo many animals and it’s pretty cool that you get to be really close to them. 

Bex found a bear-y good friend :D

Touring around the lower part of the zoo took us about 2-3 hours so eventually we kind of gave up walking plus our breakfast wasn’t heavy so we were getting kind of cranky by then. However the food area was packed so we couldn’t for the life of us manage to get food. We decided to go to the upper part of the zoo as from the map they provided there’s another food area so we figured we should try our luck. But before we left the lower part I begged Bex to let me see the Koala bears which she obliged. We queued up and went inside to look in the glass windows only to find that all the Koalas decided to hide so all we could see were trees, talk about epic fail! 

Look at the cheeky koala hiding from me!

Had to settle for this

We continued our walkathon because it’s the only way to get to the upper part. Bex wasn’t happy with this realization but alas there’s nothing she can do about it. We walked and walked for what seems like ages and finally got to the upper side. Along the way we got to see other load of animals and finally we found the food area. Only it was in front of the camels where I almost puked because of their odor. Not that I’m being fastidious but the smell was truly revolting. Bex, on the other hand, didn’t notice much as she was suffering from a cold that time so her nose was clogged – lucky!

Oh my bestfriend! The McStinker!

So proud of myself to had taken this beautiful pic 

*pat on the back*

We managed to find another place to eat our food, thank goodness! Bex said she’s too tired and since there are a lot of people we should go straight ahead to Maokong Gondola instead but eventually we ended up with a compromise of seeing just the animals from the Madagascar movie and then we can go. If you aren’t aware of the Madagascar animals they are Lion, Giraffe, Zebra and Hippo. Bex was on a mission to get it over with so she was wide-eyed looking for these animals. And after much walking she spotted the Giraffe! However to her disbelief they stink like no other! Her exact words were “Hmph! Bakit ang baho nila?!”(“Hmph! Why do they stink?!”) I just went hysterical. I couldn’t stop laughing at her reaction. Like it was the giraffes' fault they were smelly. Hahaha But she got herself together and took pictures and to our pleasant surprise, the zebras were just beside the giraffes – Jackpot! 

Bex's bestfriend! The Stinkatron!

The giraffe incident took away our moody feelings and we checked out other animals whilst looking out for the Lion and Hippo. We got to see other kinds of monkeys, bears, and the famous gorilla who was soooooooo boring. He literally just sat there and did nothing even when the kids were banging his walls. Eventually we got to see the Lion and they were beautiful. Obviously we only see them through glass windows but still it’s the closest I will get with Lions. The last stop was the Hippo but unfortunately they were renovating her place so we couldn't see the Hippo up-close but all is well because I’ve gotten my Madagascar family checked.

Nahla is looking for Simba!

Isn't he such an entertainer?!

No pic with the Hippo but we had one with Ms. Rhino

pretty much the gist?

By this time it started raining, we were lucky enough to be near the bus stop so we didn't get wet much. We had to queue for the bus going to Maokong Gondola which was a super long line I think we stood there waiting for about an hour before we got on the super retro bus.

The Maokong Gondola is more like a cable car ride than an actual gondola so it is a bit confusing. By the time we got there it was pouring rain so we were a little apprehensive to go in the cable car because... well... it’s a scary! But we don’t have much choice since we were there and we don't have any other way to get to Maokong, tough luck! So we just braced ourselves. Once in we were so nervous that we figured the only way to distract ourselves was to take videos and pictures as you will see below we weren't all that impressed nor were we happy with the ride especially we were in there with strangers who were oozing with excitement (insert sarcastic smile)

The “Gondola” ride took about an hour. I think it was longer because it was raining so the ride was sllooooww. But as soon as we got out of there it was raining heavily and as you can imagine we weren't psyched! Maokong is on top of a hill and is famously known for their teas which is quite fitting since we were tired, drenched with sweat and rain so a hot tea sounds just about right. Because it was raining heavily and we don’t have umbrellas we found the next best thing, raincoats!

  

We found a nice dinky teahouse across the Maokong station and decided to recollect our bearings. We ordered a pot of tea (each) and some chocolate cakes and stayed there for about an hour before we felt like we were ready to continue our journey. Unfortunately the rain didn’t stop and the bus ride back had a really long queue and so we took a taxi back to the city. Due to the crowd the taxi was taking in a lot of passengers to fill the car luckily I got to sit in the passenger seat so I don’t have to sit with strangers and as soon as I got settled in my seat I fell sound asleep. It was only when Bex was shaking me that I woke up because it was our stop.

When we got back to the city I was thinking of going back to the hotel but Bex said we should eat first so we went looked for Din Tai Fung because Bex wanted to eat there so badly. We got off at Daan station because that’s what HER research told her but we ended up walking for an hour or so before we got to Din Tai Fung. 

Later we found it was another station from Daan, needless to say I wasn't a happy bee all the more when we got to Din Tai Fung and found that there was a long line to get in but since we were there we decided to get a number and the waitress told us our table will be ready in an hour – Good luck! Fortunately I found a foot massage place nearby and we booked for 1 hour foot massage and it was truly the best decision we've made during the entire trip. I fell asleep and after the massage we couldn't feel our legs. It was uh-maze-zing!

Ultra jampacked Din Tai Fung!

Someone is not a happy bee!

Uh-maze-zing foot massage lead to this

The actual station for Din Tai Fung (insert face-palm)

When we got out of the massage place we only had to wait for another 5 mins before we got our table. By this time we were back to our normal selves and ordered as much food as possible. We really did have a good dinner there. The food was superb as well as the service. The waitress who took care of us was lovely and extremely nice. But we believed it was the foot massage that made everything better. It’s as if a black cloud has been lifted from us. We felt light and jolly again.

*Warning! Mouth-watering photos coming up*

After the wonderful dinner we decided to go to the night market because we still have money and we haven’t really bought any souvenirs yet. So we went to the Shilin Night Market in Jiantan station where we bought Taipei t-shirts for our families and some mochi and then called it a night.

This is the smile of someone who had a scrumptious 

dinner and relaxing foot massage

This is probably the longest day we’ve had during the whole trip. The zoo really took a lot of our energy plus we have been walking the whole time we were in Taipei so it was only right to get a foot massage during our last day.

All in all we had a lot of fun in our Taipei holiday but if we ever decided to go back it will definitely be more for shopping purposes. The things there are cheaper and some you cannot find in HK.

It’s sad to say goodbye to our Taipei series but don’t worry we have a few more travels lined up and will make sure to keep you all in the know.

Till our next holiday…

much love,

jCel♥

P.S Our Day 3 video is still in progress... will notify you all when its ready and uploaded on Youtube.