Rush Love Not

These are some of those good and a-must-read books that really encourage a lot and give more insights on how to deal with life in terms of dating, love and sex. Maturity comes here accompanied by open-mindedness character that certainly, reading and understanding of these books become so unfathomable. These really help more to become happily single. There are no pressures. Waiting for the ''right thing at the right time' ^^;

I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris

He wrote this book when he was only 21. Are you tired of the game? Been dumped? Waiting for a call that doesn’t come? Have you ever wondered, Isn’t there a better way? Most people have an opinion about "that book about not dating." Some love it; others despise it. I'd encourage you not to assume you know what it says without having read it.

Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris

He wrote Boy Meets Girl the year after he was married. It answers many of the questions that were raised by his first book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. This book offers an alternative: an intentional, God-pleasing game plan for finding a future spouse.

Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is) by Joshua Harris

Lust isn't just a guy problem - it's a human problem. And unless we honestly confront it, lust will destroy our relationships and our lives. Joshua calls a generation bombarded with images of sexual sin back to the freedom and joy of holiness. This "PG-rated" book - straightforward without being graphic - speaks to those entrenched in lust or just flirting with temptation. Honestly sharing his own struggles, Joshua exposes lust's tactics and helps readers create a personal plan for fighting back.

Lies Young Women Believe by Danah Gresh & Nancy Leigh DeMoss

This popular book will give girls aged 13-19 the tools they need to identify where their lives and beliefs are off course - the result of buying into Satan's lies about God, guys, media, and more. Based on surveys of over 1000 young women, the authors speak to teenage girls about the top lies they believe. It isn't enough to identify these lies, however. The authors are well-equipped to lead young women in the skills and the truths of Scripture that overcome those lies. 

And the Bride Wore White by Dannah Gresh

This book teaches "How-to-wait" skills. Each chapter begins with a narrative of Dannah's young love life, taken from her own teenage journals. She transparently shares her struggles and successes, her moments of pain followed by healing and the moments of triumph. This story-line grips the young reader while they learn statistically proven risk-reduction factors. The end result is usable "how-to-say-no" skills that can reduce the risk of a young woman's heart being broken by sexual sin.

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"Never rush in love for it never runs out. Let love be the one to knock at your door, so by the time you start to fall, you know that your feeling is for sure."

Love has its ups and downs, its twists and turns. Love leaves you pain, teaches you until you learn and even if love takes so long, it always takes you to where you belong.

Women listen to music because they are in love. Men listen to music because they want to fall in love.

Some people don't get any respect at all because they are asking for the respect they deserve.

Love is not about finding the right person, but creating the right relationship. It's not about how much love you have in the beginning but how much love you build till the end, because love is all there is. 

Traffic. The black spell that makes commuters forget they are in love.

It's better to lose your pride with someone you love, rather than lose that someone with your useless pride.

It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good too to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money cannot buy!

It's amazing how one person can bring you so much happiness and pain in your life. Maybe it's really love knocking when he can make you so happy that you forget all the pains. So don't forget all the happiness when he breaks your heart.

Some flowers grow best in the sun; others do well in the shade. God plants us where we grow best and gives us loved ones to grow with.

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..in everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - Thessalonians 5:18

‎"If someone comes into your life and leaves an impression that can't be erased or ignored, that's a person you need to hold on to."

whatever happens in your life,
whatever your pain is, there will
always be sunshine after the rain. TRUST GOD! :]

aint about how fast i get there... its the climb ;]

Psalm 16:7-8: 'I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.'

‎"Loving someone might be TRIAL and ERROR but not EXPERIMENTAL"

If your heart's not in it for real
PLEASE DON'T TRY TO FAKE WHAT YOU DON'T FEEL
If love's already gone
IT'S NOT FAIR TO LEAD ME ON
Cause I would give the whole world for you
Anything you ask of me I'd do
But I won't ask you to stay
I'd rather walk away
If your heart's not in it...

Sometimes, it can be painful when God comes in and rearrange my life.
But I believe that.... God's answers are wiser than my prayer.. :)

I thank those who abandoned me, because they taught me to be independent.
I thank those who toppled me, because they solidified my stance.
I thank those who accused me, because they reminded me of my inadequacy.
I thank those who opposed me, because they made me more vigilant.
I thank those who were frank with me, because they are my true friends.

I thank God for allowing adversity to befall upon me, for that is the only path for spiritual growth and maturity.

In My Mind

In every search for reality, for truth and honesty; there is always an accompanying doubt behind. It can never be so apparent, evident and plain yet quite perceptible. It could bring a very hollow feeling, so sad delusions that in time you will know what lies beyond. However, this hope could just wane if you are too much concealed with what are just exposed. Seeing is also believing, hearing is something and feeling is everything. It would not keep you from being too overwhelmed yet it designs so much uncertainly that often leads to blindness. You know in yourself that there can never be unison but still a kindle of hope is lighted that brings flames of contentment. It is a matter of acceptance and that you will be held captivated by just a shadow of your wholeness so preserved for a beloved. It is the thought of nothing is real; everything is just moving around in circles, no directions, and will just pop like bubbles. 

Living a simple life and achieving simple dreams are the most fulfilling jobs in the world. These may not yield similar fantasies with what others are experiencing in life yet you know that a normal way of living like gazing stars up there wishing someone is listening to a heart speak is like heaven. Every little drop of rain brings so much pleasure in you accompanied by drizzles of encouragement of your surroundings. God’s creations are bliss whispering winds telling stories through a language of love. A nature of someone to feel so concerned with somebody is indeed a true wonderful gift from Jesus Christ. It is so amazing if you get tangled with what life brings such that it no longer matter how sorrowful your life would be. A thought of making someone happy, with own simple ways is a great achievement one cannot exchange for any material things. The love you bestowed which is returned would also be one of those cherished moments captured in life’s dazzled photography. Everyone is dreaming, weaving memories in mind may it be sad or happy and rumpling pieces of learning as it takes away to newer horizons. 

Loving is life. It needs to get nurtured, nourished, cultured, and molded into certain delineations through spice of surprises. Whilst it may be so unpredictable when feelings is to talk about, still it is so certain that we can manipulate how to bend with. Just so learning to accept how things are presented indirectly should be thy carried manner. Wishing and hoping someday, everything will be laid clear without doubts, confusions and wondering. Time is boundless to a listening heart, concerned mind and thoughtful souls humming the songs of life.

"If ever there is tomorrow that we're not really together. There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. My heart will always be with you."

Learn Something From Them

So, hm.. if you come to Korea, you know how to act right then. :) Thanks Simon & Martina!

Hm.. this is a wow to know.. :D

Korean nationalism is awesome~ and oh that's the point.. :] respect from a viewer here in the Philippines

How To's Of My Yum Yes!

Since I mentioned Chusoek in my previous post and "songpyeon" is one of the foods associated with this occasion, I decided to find good videos, which will help ease my curiosity about how they are made. These are the videos of some of my would-be favorite foods like Ddeokggochi, Songpyeon and one faveee Filipino dessert. I enjoyed watching these and hope I can find this Korean frozen flour somewhere here in our country one day then try it. :D

courtesy of Maangchi.com

How to Make Korean Rice Cake (Songpyeon)

Ingredients:

Frozen rice flour, salt, water, sesame seeds, sesame oil, dried and skinned mung beans, brown sugar, white sugar, pine needles, mugwort powder (ssook garu in Korean), strawberry Jell-o powder.

Make the dough:

1. Prepare a package of rice powder (2 lbs) usually sold frozen at a Korean grocery store. Just before using it, you must thaw it until the powder is at room temperature.
2. Put rice powder through a sifter to make the powder fine.Tip: If your rice powder is very fine, you can skip sifting. If your rice powder is coarse, you may have to grind it with a food processor or coffee grinder before sifting.
3. Prepare 3 stainless bowls and put 1 cup of finely sifted rice powder into the each bowl. (Bowl A, B, and C)
4. Boil 2 cups of water for your rice dough.
5. Bowl A (white songpyeon): add a pinch of salt and 3 tbs of boiling water and mix it with a wooden spoon. (it’ll be too hot if you use your hands at first) Knead the rice dough for about 5 minutes. Put the dough into a plastic bag and set it aside.
6. Bowl B (pink songpyeon): add a pinch of salt, a pinch of strawberry Jell-o powder, and 3 tbs of boiling water. Mix it with a wooden spoon and knead the rice dough for about 5 minutes. Put the dough into a plastic bag and set it aside.
7. Bowl C (green songpyeon): add a pinch of salt, 1 ts of ssookgaru (mugwort power) and 3.5 tbs boiling water. Mix it with a wooden spoon and knead the rice dough for about 5 minutes. Put the dough into a plastic bag and set it aside.Tip: You will need to add 3.5 tbs of water because of  the 1 ts of ssookgaru.

Make the filling:

Roasted sesame seeds powder filling:

1. Grind ¼ cup of roasted sesame seeds using a coffee grinder for 15-20 seconds.

2. Transfer the ground sesame powder into a small bowl and mix it with ¼ cup of brown sugar and a pinch of salt.Tip: if you grind too long, the powder will become sticky from the oil in the seeds.

Mung bean powder filling:

1. Wash and drain ¼ cup of dried and skinned mung beans and put them in a pot with a thick bottom.

2. Add ¼ cup of water and a pinch of salt to the pot and simmer it for 30 minutes.Tip: Be sure not to burn it – simmer over the lowest heat.

3. Open the pot and use your wooden spoon to crush the beans into fine powder.Tip: if you make more than ¼ cup of mung bean powder, you may have to use your grinder or food processor to grind it finely.

4. Transfer the crushed mung bean powder into a small bowl or container and wait until it cools down.

5. Add ¼ cup of white sugar and mix it. That’s it!

How to make songpyeon?

1. Break off a piece of rice dough about 1 inch in diameter and roll it between your palms to make a rice ball. Then press your thumb in the center of the ball to make it shaped like a cup.
2. Fill the cup with either sesame filling or mung bean filling using a small spoon, and seal it using your thumb and index fingers.
3. Place all the raw rice cakes (songpyeon) on a plate.
4. Wash your pine needles thoroughly with a little dish soap. Towel dry them.
5. Put some water (4 cups) into a steamer and boil it. When it starts boiling, place a damp cotton cloth on the bottom of the steamer tray.
6. Make a bed of pine needles on the wet cloth and put the raw songpyeon on top. Put more pine needles on top of the songpyeon, too.Tip: Pine needles stop the songpyeon from sticking together and give them a good flavor.
7. Steam it for 25 minutes over medium high heat.
8. Prepare some cold water in a large bowl, and drop in a little sesame oil.
9. Dump your steamed songpyeon into to the cold water and quickly remove pine needles. Take them out, put them on a plate to serve.

How to make Korean Snack : Skewered Sticky Rice Cakes (떡꼬치) Ddeokggochi

I have seen this food in several times in some Korean Drama series and I would love to try eating someday or maybe try making it one day. It looks so yummy and cool to eat, hm.. maybe :]

How to make Filipino Style Mango Float (Graham Cake)

Ingredients:
* Graham Crackers
* 2 All Purpose Cream
* 1 Condense Milk
* 2 Whole Sweet and Ripe Mango ( Cut into thin wide strips)

How To Make Graham Cake With Mango:

1) Mix the all purpose cream and condense milk in a bowl and set it aside.
2) Place graham crackers at the bottom of baking pan you will use. Those graham crackers will serve as the cake's crust.
3). Pour the already mixed all purpose cream and condense milk into the graham and layer it with mangoes cut into thin wide strips.
4) Repeat the procedure 2 and 3 until your baking pan is full.
5). Put good amount of mango on top of it. Decorate it if you want.
6). Refrigerate it for at least 12 hours or for one day so the mixture contemplates well. Enjoy.

..can't get enough of mangoes.. ilove mangoes~

Reflections On 9/11

courtesy of CNN

Chuseok: How Important?

What are the advantages or good effects of having celebrations of family get-together to a person? 

In our country, we do not have this kind of special event since Filipinos do it every Christmas season where the whole family gather together or reunite to celebrate the occasion. It is very known to me that countries like USA and South Korea have this traditional holiday they call “Thanksgiving Day”, which is considered also as a family gathering or reunion with their love ones and relatives. Modern Koreans call it Chuseok (추석), the Korean Thanksgiving Day. It is originally known as Hangawi (한가위, from archaic Korean for "the ides of August"), is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. According to an internet post, like many other harvest festivals, it is held around the Autumn Equinox. Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food such as songpyeon and rice wines such as sindoju and dongdongju as a celebration of the good harvest. Chuseok is the time of the year when Seoul is empty and everything is calm and tranquil in the city.

songpyeon

The difference of this thanksgiving celebration with regular family gathering seasons is that they respect and give thanks for all the blessings they are getting from the agricultural resources in their country. Eloquently, on Chuseok, there is a mass exodus of Koreans as they return to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of their ancestors. Koreans celebrate their Chuseok this year on September 11 - 13. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They also often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors, which Filipinos do during the 1st day of November. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors. 

In my opinion, it is important that a busy person should have a time to get back to his family if working away from them as to make bonding. Family time is one of those things that a person should give more attention. With today’s busy lifestyle, many parents and grandparents want to spend more "quality" time with their children or grandchildren. But what is quality time? "Quality time" is time spent doing an activity that is meaningful to the parent and child. It is time when family members really get to know each other. Quality time is spent focusing attention on the other person and sharing thoughts and feelings.

Spending time with our children can be fun and educational for us and for them. Much of the child's basic learning takes place in the many informal situations that occur daily in the life of the family. These informal/formal occasions for learning include all the times the family members are together doing ordinary things, such as getting dressed, talking over the day’s happenings, dealing with problems, interacting with people outside the family, taking baths, eating, and so forth. 

The activity does need not be costly, but rather one that satisfies both the parent and the child. 

Jumping Board Game: Korea

Children need to know they are loved unconditionally. The cry of children today is, "Love me for who I am, not what I do. Love me for being who I am, even when I am naughty, not winning, placing, and showing". That does not mean that you have to approve of everything the child does. What it does mean however, is that even though the child misbehaves, we still love and accept the child and provide support, this points for the parents whose children are away from them to work or study. 

Children learn about families from the time they spend in their own families. They learn about birth and caring for another person when a new baby comes home from the hospital. They learn about loss when a family member dies. They learn about marriage and relationships by watching their mothers and fathers interact. By living in a family, children learn to share, how to stand up for their own rights, and how to love another person. 

We help children develop positive self-esteem by communicating the value we feel for the child. Words of encouragement and love help provide children with the courage to try new things without worrying excessively about not being able to do them. 

Children learn about trust at home from their parents. They learn trust from being trusted. When we trust the child to accomplish a task on his or her own, the child learns that he or she can do the task.

In summary, it is best for a person to take a vacation, take all effort to go back to his hometown and spend quality time with their family as it get them to know their family’s clan members more. Also, it is so relaxing seeing good nature spots and breath fresh air you can only enjoy in the province.