Kulitis in my Smoothies

Organic kulitis in the backyard

 I did not plant this, they just grow in the garden and they grow abundantly when I started to take really good care of them. Kulitis provides a wonderful healthy ingredient to my green smoothie.

One day, I took a half day leave from the office and decided to eat my lunch at home. My cousin served fried tuna and ginataang mongo - yummy! I was famished but had to stop myself as I looked at the unfamiliar green leafy veggie in my ginataang monggo. I asked her what it was and she said, “that is kulitis.” Kulitis, what? Right, it’s the plant that I kept on pulling from my small garden thinking it was a grass. Yes kulitis for me was just a perennial, annoying grass that grows anywhere that has soil. Oh boy, was I wrong!

Greens: Kulitis, Sweet basil, Orange mint, Gynura procumbens

Fruits: A little portion of pineapple, mango, avocado and guyabano

Superfoods: Spirulina, Maca, Camu camu berry and Cacao nibs

I initially only used romaine lettuce in my green smoothie. But romaine lettuce is a bit pricey and sometimes unavailable, I had to substitute it with cheap but equally (or more) nutritious greens. Also, the experts are saying we should not use the same leafy veggie in our green smoothie for longer than a week – we need to substitute it with something else. Anyway, I alternate romaine lettuce with kangkong (swamp cabbage), pechay, bok choy, camote tops, saluyot and alugbati. When I learned that kulitis is edible, I took special interest in growing them and grow them, I did! I grow them because I want to stock up on green leafy veggies at home for my green smoothies. So now nothing beats having my own fresh (yes, super fresh!) greens in the backyard, I have them when I need them. Awesome!

My 10 Favorite Books

Tagging friends to post their 10 favorite books is a game making the rounds on Facebook and making social media more fun these days, BUT none of my friends has tagged me yet, maybe they think books are only for intellectuals? LOL. 

Some of the books I own and treasure

 I don’t claim to be intelligent but I do have a share of books that I like and I have some at home  that date back to my glorious High School days, some I have read a couple of times. I was a voracious reader as a teenager but the stuff I read were mostly novels and magazines. I practically grew up with Mills and Boon and Barbara Cartland - ahhh, those romantic stories about Royals and Aristocrats, Castles and Palaces, of Kings and Queens, Dukes and Duchess, of Earls and Countesses, that kept me awake all night and made me dream of them in my sleep! How I enjoyed reading those books and fantasizing about my own prince, the perfect man I’d meet and marry some day.  Oh I did not meet a prince nor did I marry the perfect man, but who did? LOL.

 I don’t have my Mills and Boon anymore, nor do I have my Barbara Cartland books but I still keep many of the books that brought lessons, happiness and meaning to my existence, books that kept me company when I was sad, alone or just wanted to relax. My collections include novels, magazines, self-help, business, Christian, and even reference books. Some of the books I like were written by lesser known authors but I like them anyway.

I don’t want to limit myself to 10 books, but the game says only 10. So, here are my 10 favorite books (in no particular order).

1.       Living, Loving and Learning – Leo F. Buscaglia

2.       God wrote a Book – James Mcdonald

3.       The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

4.       Couplehood – Paul Reiser

5.       Five people you meet in heaven – Mitch Albom

6.       Mom and Me and Mom – Maya Angelou

7.       The Alchemist – Paulo Coello

8.       You’ve Got What It Takes – Wesley Harris

9.       The Heart of Healing – Ardy Roberto

10.   The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey

Three of these books are in e-book format but I'd still one day would like to get a hard copy. E-books are a dime a dozen these days rendering them easy to get, easy to discard. I can hardly finish a book in e-book format. I don't know, but for me, reading a hardcover or a paperback book is different in a way and owning one is classic. The feel of turning a physical page is a joy in itself. Physically seeing books in my shelf evokes a proprietary feeling that I don't get with e-books. I don't connect with e-books, but for some strange, nostalgic reason I do feel a great connection with hardcovers and paperbacks. I am not saying I don't like e-books, I do. They're handy, they're cheap, they're easy to acquire. All I am saying is, I prefer printed books, I like them that way, they are beautiful to look at. I feel happy to see them sitting peacefully and comfortably in my bookshelf, a constant reminder of the joys I get from reading and for learning new things and for taking me to places I have never been to and possibly will never be :)

Luli Island, Puerto Princesa City

This is a long overdue blog post :)

I visited Puerto Princesa on September 8, 2013 on business (yeah, almost a year ago!). And the short trip to LuLi Island was part of that business. LuLi is the easiest to go to since it is one of the closest islands to Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. It is also one of the stopover islands that people visit as part of the famous Honda Bay tour.

At LuLi Island, Honda Bay, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

LuLi is actually just an islet. It’s not big enough to be called an island. It boasts of a long stretch of fine pinkish white sand that you only get to see on low tide. That’s why it’s called LuLi. Lu for Lulubog (part of the islet sort of “sinks” during high tide) and Li for Lilitaw (part of the islet appears during low tide).

The stretch of soft and fine, pinkish white sand that disappears during high tide

Luli's own boat

You can still see the cottages during high tide but you'll have to wade in water if you want to go there

LuLi has clear blue water perfect for snorkeling and swimming. At the time of our visit, activities in the resort were fish feeding, diving, banana boat riding and kayaking.  Swimming was fun because you get to swim with the fishes! And if you want to meet Nemo, the life guards and staff would just be too happy to introduce you to not just one, but two Nemos!

The diving board was something I did not expect to try. But the adventurous in me took over and I braved the almost 8 feet springboard. Yes, I jumped! I am not a good swimmer but I was confident to go for it because lifeguards were around, haha! Hmmm, and I think I'd do it again ;)

There, I did it!

 At the time of our visit, the restaurant was not fully operational, and so, food choices were limited. But no problem, we did not go there to eat, we went there to see LuLi, and yes, to swim!

 

Luli's Restaurant stands proud in the middle of the islet

 
By the way, the restaurant offers Kakanin ni Jillian (these are native delicacies) and they were really, really good!

I call these kakanin the green and purple suman, so tasty!