Ideas for summer vacation: Thailand's on my mind!

Alright, summer is officially here and with that the need for a vacation and much respite. I say respite because traveling is indeed good for our health, both mentally and physically. It's my opinion that there's nothing that recharges our batteries and revives us mentally, as powerfully as a vacation does. I don't know about you but all that I have been thinking lately is how much I need a vacation....

What about you? Are you taking a vacation this summer? What are your plans? Some of you would be fortunate to travel abroad, expand your horizons. Maybe you just plan on going across the country and visit in a different state or you might have to find satisfaction in a vacation in your own state and its surroundings by visiting a nearby city.  If you can't go on a vacation at all, please consider a pleasant staycation if anything. There are probably a few things in your city that are worth discovering.

Anyway, whatever the case, I think that in most western countries the word vacation tends to present pictures of beach vacations as many of you are probably planning some beach vacations this summer. At least that's what most of us dream of after a long winter and as the most appropriate way to enjoy the warm and long summer days.

For me the word vacation quickly offers images of exotic and distant places. Yes I dream of seascapes too, but even more, of rich flavors (you should know by now how much I love to eat), of surroundings with beautiful and lush landscapes, and of strong cultural experiences.

There are quite a few travelers in my family starting with my parents, but my curiosity for certain places is credited to two of my older brothers especially the one that precedes me. From him I developped at an early age a passion for learning, discovering and researching places, memorizing facts and admiring pictures of places that I hope to one day make my vacation's destinations. The skills have served me well in planning some nice trips in the past or guiding others in their planning but I have yet to fulfill my dreams for making it to the destinations that top my list. One of them is Bangkok Thailand. 


 (Image of Suvarnabhumi airport).

( Image of Bangkok's skytrain that Dave mentions in his article below).


My friend Dave of Dave's Travel Corner is an experienced traveler and travel writer. Aware of my passion for Asia and my intense desire to visit Bangkok he has graced me with an article especially written for this blog and has kindly shared a few of his own pictures to use as illustrations. I placed the pictures where I saw fit but here's about Bangkok, in Dave's own words!

Bangkok Thailand

Bangkok is a city of energy, hustle and bustle, and sizzling temperatures most of the year to match the sizzle of the spicy Thai food.
Suvarnabhumi is the fairly new International airport and serves hundreds of flights a day - it is modern, convient and connected to the main part of Bangkok by a Skytrain. Without traffic a taxi ride will take about 25 minutes. Allow up to an hour if traffic is bad.

Bangkok tuk-tuk

There is no central Bangkok but the Chao Praya River is the center or 'lifeblood' of the city. Glistening golden temples line its river banks as well as some of the top rated hotels in the world including the historic Oriental Hotel and the more modern Peninsular. Nothing is more exotic than
taking a river cruise down this wide brown river, soaking in the sights, smells and sounds of this busy waterway.

The city has both a metro and a skytrain, both of which serve much of Bangkok's core districts. Top attractions include a number of temples, 

Golden- Mount- Praying.

the Grand Palace, markets and a plethora of shopping in world-class malls. Thai food has engrained itself in countries around the world, but nowhere do you find the quality of flavor and food than in Thailand and Bangkok is the hub of the culinary scene in the country.

Talin-Chan-Floating market.

Street food is almost everywhere, in some parts of the city street food is available 24 hours a day.

Smiles go a long way in the "land of the smiles". People are friendly and often willing to help out tourists.
For more information about Bangkok refer to Dave's Bangkok guide here: http://www.davestravelcorner.com/articles/bangkok/index.htm



So...what are your plans for this summer? Have you been to Bangkok? If yes, how do you like it compared to other places you've visited?What was your best vacation's destination?


N'na

Good Eat: Bahama Breeze's seafood paella & a little more...

Hello Everyone...
 I hope you all had a great week-end! I know I did...(smiles).My last post was about food and this one is about food as well. I do have a lot of other things I plan on sharing with you soon, very very soon so make sure to become a Follower and a subcriber if that's your first time here.

Even though I wrote about making beef brochettes in my last post, you should know if you are familiar with this blog, that I am more of a pescetarian and I very rarely eat meat. So true to my gastronomic passion I am talking today about seafood...seafood at....




I was in Atlanta recently celebrating my 10 years wedding anniversary and I finally had the chance to try a restaurant I have been wanting to try all the years I have lived around the Atlanta GA area. So after shopping at some stores on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw GA, my husband and I had a late lunch or early dinner, depends on how you see, at Bahama Breeze!


Have you ever eaten at the Bahama Breeze?
The setting is refreshing, relaxing, and very different from conventional restaurants.

 Under normal circumstances I would have had more pictures of the interior and I would have elaborated on the tropical setting, the fun music played by a Live artist outdoors and the fun tropical uniform the servers had on...but today I will just talk about food, maybe at my next visit there I will take more indoors pictures for our enjoyment. For now we are talking Good Eat!

My husband loves  Sweet Tea but even our server told him that their sweet tea are awful. Hubby insisted on having some Sweet Tea but soon decided to order the same thing I was having because it was amazingly delicious.My beverage was a refreshing and perfect Strawberry Lemonade! I love Sweet Tea but given the options I am more a lemonade person and I love Strawberry Lemonade because I find it to have more 'texture' than a regular lemonade or a Rapsberry lemonade!


Strawberry lemonade at the Bahama Breeze

 For appetizers I selected some broiled shrimps served in a buttery sauce with French bread for dipping. It was soooo gooood! Sorry I don't remember the exact name of my selection but here is what it looked like...

It was so gooood....

We completed our meal by sharing a Seafood Paella! I love love love Paella! I had many friends from Spain back in college so I naturally fell in love with Paella. It had been years since I had one and it was great to enjoy some this Saturday!

Seafood Paella from Bahama Breeze

Now, there's something I have to say about this...it's a seafood Paella and the original dish on the menu is made with a little bit of sausage in addition to the seafood. I do not eat sausages so I could request to replace the sausage with an extra something else. I simply asked for extra seafood!  The dish can be eaten with some hot sauce if one loves spicy food.I added a little Tabasco sauce that definitely gave this already delicious dish, an extra omp!
Well, that was it for my delicious meal at the pleasant, fun and relaxing Bahama Breeze!


Oh...You might have noticed...this Seafood Paella was served with oysters...I ate most of the oysters and only hours later did I realize that true to the myth oysters could be an aphrodisiac! Did you know that oysters are listed as one of the top aphrodisiac foods? I have been meaning to write a post about this for a while now, so today will be kind of an intro!!!

Have you noticed how in some movies two people would have a romantic moment eating some oysters...Did you watch the movie JUMPING THE BROOM? Do you remember the scene where in the kicthen Meagan Good is asked by the chef to taste some oysters...

 I believed the moment I watched this scene that the chef knew exactly what he was doing when he asked her to come in the kitchen to taste something for him...Well oyster as an aphrodisiac might be fact or fiction depending on how you see it! The scene I am referring to certainly tries to hold to the myth! If you have not seen the movie I will not spoil the fun so go watch it and come back and comment about it!


So...hint hint here: if you plan a romantic dinner with some very specific intentions...oysters should be on the menu...just saying...according to the myth...it's worth trying right?




We did more shopping after eating and funny enough at the end of the day I realized that I did not buy a single pair of shoes or even some new outfits. I checked in the hotel with bags of books...yes...crazy right? Bags of books! Waldenbooks had some sales and I splurged...on books...
I think a good meal, some good books and a nice comfy hotel suite are very simple and yet very pleasant ways to spend a relaxing week-end...humm that's not exactly all... but saying more would be beyond the scope of this blog!
All I can say is...beware of delicious Seafood Paella because according to the myth Oysters do come with side effects. The kind no men complain about...

Me personally I did not complain about this sweet peacefully room away from the kids and...

Hilton Hotel Atlanta GA

 I certainly did not complain about waking up to such a view...Hello ATL! Yeah...I know... the Bahamas could have been better but at least ATL got Bahama Breeze...

View from the Hilton Dowtown Atlanta

More about ATL in some of my upcoming posts. To be continued....

Do you like oysters? Did you know oyster to be considered an aphrodisiac?  Do you think it's true or do you think it's just a myth? Have you seen JUMPING THE BROOM? Any random comment on the movie?

N'na

Good Eat: Beef kabobs with yoghurt marinade and the blessings of a kitchen garden

Well it's almost holiday week-end and being pretty much grilling season I wanted to offer you all a little bit of grilling inspiration. I eat more seafood than I do meat and poultry once in a while I just like to eat some tender homemade brochettes! Lamb is my preferred meat but beef chunks are cheaper and more easily available so I am sharing below something you can cook on a budget and still have a diliiiiciouuus meal!!!
Everyone has their own way for making marinade or grilling etc so here's N'na's way!!!

                                            
It's so much fun to flavor dishes with fresh ingredients right there at my fingertips. The fresh herbs I selected here from my kitchen garden were thyme, oregano, rosemary and parsley. Read more about it the following link: http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/04/benefits-of-gardening-my-edible.html

Some of my ingredients from the kitchen cupboard: Ground cumin, cayenne pepper, white vinegar, salt, oil, dried parsley flakes, dried oregano powder, Cajun spice. I prefer using Apple cider vinegar for cooking but since I was out of ACV I just used the white vinegar!

                                                                  Add some  Yogurt.

Mix it all together

Store in a Ziploc bag and shake well and

Let it marinate and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or overnight.

Get your skewers ready, cut what the fruits or veggies you would use,

I used some tomatoes, onion and green pepper,

and make your brochettes

Time for the Grill!!!!

Remember to turn often!

To keep your meat from being dry mix a little bit of oil and crushed bouillon  cubes. I used something from West Africa called " Cube Maggi". Use a brush and brush the kabobs with the mixture.

Voila!!! Delicious brochettes!

It looks good doesn't it? It was delicious as well. We did serve them with rice and potatoes on that day but I enjoyed them just fine with nothing else!

Well have a nice week-end and hope this post gave you some new ideas for the next time you grill. If you haven't done it yet grow a kitchen garden and keep some potted herbs by your kitchen. They will always be useful and add some omp to your dishes!There is nothing like cooking or grilling with the flavor of fresh ingredients especially the ones you can have at your fingertips when you have a kitchen garden!

N'na

The benefits of exercising: Stretching

I remember that as a child stretching had to be done at the beginning of every

dance,Tae kwondo or gymnastic sessions I participated in. 


 I did not continue in those activities but stretching is a huge part of my daily routine because I soon realized that my body does not feel right unless I make time to stretch at least 15 mns a day upon waking up and stretch as often as needed as the day goes by.

You have probably noticed that, a lot of athlete regardless of the sports they play put a great emphasis on stretching before they start a practice, a game, or a competition etc.
No matter the diversity of sports and activity, stretching is a fundamental practice.


Because people who stretch benefit from more flexibility, stretching is often called flexibility training.
You will agree it takes flexibility for all these...

 

  let's be honest how can we do this unless we have trained our muscles to stretch and be that flexible? It takes training to do this and stretching is practiced with great seriousness to get to this level of flexibility... flexibility training!

You are probably very familiar with the show "Dancing with the stars". Do you realize that it takes professional dancers great flexibility to move as they do? Stretching is the big ingredient to their success that we don't see often. A lot of times we see images and videos of rehearsals, and the amazing performances but we don't see how much emphasis is put in stretching.


 I think  Edgar Degas' art could serve as an hint:





You can tell it takes great flexibility for this: . Yes dancers invest a great amount of time in stretching but if you are not very familiar with dancers I know the following images come more easily to mind ...


 So you might not be an athlete but you might be a big fan of an athletic team, I am sure you have seen your basketball team do something like  this before their games. .

Have you ever asked yourself why stretching is so important? A lot of people do not think much about it and today I wanted to give you some very good reasons to think more about it and to do it more often....
You do not have to be a professional athlete and you don't even have to like exercising to benefit from stretching.

I am a strong believer in stretching regardless of either you are in sports or not.
I truly believe that stretching and walking are the two most important physical activities for our bodies. To me all other form of exercises are complementary. I also see stretching as a great way to get the blood flowing and offer relaxation to my body.

I think our bodies were made to stretch, because we just don't feel right when we don't! I think stretching is natural for us and the more we do it the better we feel.
I mean ask even those creatures  stretching just come naturally for them. Stretching feels so gooood. Before we stretch we feel all tensed and rusty and then as we do it we go like uuuummm...and we feel much better afterward don't we?
 I see my dog Cotton stretches very often and it's amusing to watch how he would stretch himself and keep doing it until he is satisfy. Even he knows how good it feels to stretch!!!
Anyway, back to us humans...

Stretching makes you flexible, allowing your joints the ability to move through a full range of motion.
 Ask any ballet dancers or anyone in Martial Art they would tell you how important stretching is to accomplishing a full range of motion.

Most athletes might agree that the top 2 benefits of stretching are probably

·         Improved performance and decrease risk of injury

·         Reduced muscle soreness

Since stretching improves your flexibility you can better move through a greater range of motion.  Stretching decreases resistance in tissue structure making you less likely to get injured by exceeding tissue extensibility during an activity.

Stretching before and after exercising is always recommended because it reduces muscle soreness.  I certainly appreciate a stretch before and after a cycling class, it's a good thing instructors always make time to guide the students through some stretch.

There is actually about 7 different types of stretching. The one called slow static stretching is the one most people are familiar with. It's a stretch that requires a slow, gradual and controlled elongation of the muscle through the full range of motion. The stretch is held for 15-60 seconds in the furthest comfortable position!
Static stretching is the most common kind of stretching.

Besides those two benefits that stretching could offer athletes or non athletes alike, stretching can benefit you daily by:

·         Improving your posture.

·         Reducing the risk of low back pain because stretching promotes muscular relaxation. Muscular relaxation will reduce the accumulations of toxins, prevent muscle tightening and reduce or relieve fatigue.
A detail to keep in mind is that flexibility from hamstring, hip flexors, quadriceps and other muscles attached to the pelvic area reduce stress to the lower back.

Please watch the following short video for stretches that benefit your back's health! You can add to those benefits that stretching will help you to better enjoy any physical activity. After all it's easier to enjoy something when you are not too sore afterward or when you do not injure yourself in the process! It's also great that you can perform very efficiently thanks to a good stretch.



 But there's more to stretching that's beneficial regardless of the fact that one is in sport or not. Stretching is great and important because everyone can benefit from the way stretching relaxes both the mind and the body. I think it brings the mind to a heightened sense of well-being.
So as you can see, stretching is truly a key component not only to a successful and efficient fitness program but also to a better life and a better health the natural way.  Stretching comes naturally and without it we just don’t feel and move the best. Even if you do not exercise stretching should be part of your daily routine.



Other benefits of stretching in our daily lives:
Something very important to consider is that Stretching is important when you are traveling, as seating for long hours in a plane or car can provoke blood clotting which has been linked to some premature deaths. So whether you are traveling by plane or by car always make sure to get off your seat at least every 1-2 hours and stretch and move around some.

 The same advice is important for people working at their desks for long hours. The lack of energy flow and the muscle contractions you experience will leave your body tense, trap toxins which in turn will increase the risk for tension, back pain, strained eyes etc..

Stretching plays a big part in your overall health. Stretching provides many important benefits that cannot be achieved by any other exercise or activity. You might not be into sports and you might not even care about exercising but please by all means add stretching to you daily routine. Please          

Gift boxes, handmade cards and more

Picture of some recent gifts I designed! Will add more cards designs later on...

Enjoy but let me know what you think!

For questions and orders e-mail goodhealthdiva@gmail.com

A birthday gift ......

Handmade card by N'na

Box fully decorated by N'na

Some handmade gifts....

The handmade pouch contains an handmade necklace! The Flower is an handmade hair clip!

Below: A Welcome gift to welcome new neighbors in their new home! Did not get the chance to take the picturse in natural light because I was working till 1:30 am finishing it all for an early morning delivery:

Handmade card

Box fully decorated by N'na

A very special gift of Love!

Check http://www.beautyfullgifts.blogspot.com/ for more pictures!

 Let me know if I can serve you in any way with your cards, gift baskets and gift boxes needs for any occasion.

Contact goodhealthdiva@gmail.com

N'na