The difficult task in my life is trying to wake someone up every morning of the week when the person doesn’t seem to want to wake up. When I use to live in the States I had changed the entire clock that was in our home one hour advance. I also change their watch and the clock in their car. I had to figure ahead of time how to make this person wake up on time when they needed to go to school or work. I remember when the person finally woke up I had to pretend the time was correct. They never found out when they went to work and their boss was surprised why he/she was at work early. The person found out the clock was one hour ahead of time. I had to adjust the clock again to another thirty minutes ahead. I can’t figure this out you know you need to be responsible for your time. When you get older you need to set your own responsibilities and priorities in your life. You can’t depend on someone to wake you up every time. I was always taught in school when I grew...

I use to drink soda, but not anymore. I had limited my soda intake and concentrated in trying other drinks to be healthier and give a bit of spice in my life. My goal was to try different makers that sold Kombucha in my area. I found out Kombucha is not sold in the grocery store like when I had visit the States last year.  I did more research and found out I can purchase them online. I have been trying other brands from when I left California last June 2019. I would like to share with you I have discovered and based on what they products are compared to your country. I was able to purchase Rev Live Kombucha sold in Shopee they make it locally in Sikatuna Village,  Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.   Rev Live Kombucha flavor comes in original, blueberry, goji berries and cranberry flavor Each bottle are sold for PHP 90.00 ($1.80) for 300 ml. Shopee: Cheesecake35 This is made locally in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines Kombucha Sp...

Sometimes in life you need to spend time with your parents to have a date to make them feel special. Be patient to teach your mom how to post a picture in her Facebook as you’ve taught her too many times and for some reason every time you see her she can’t seem to remember. You slowly teach her how to do it step by step until she finally reaches to understanding everything. You spend the day to complete her to do list that has been written in a piece of paper. Today my mom wanted to eat Japanese at Omakase Restaurant located in Greenhills Shopping Mall. She thought she can order the same bento box she usually orders. This is the previous bento box from last year: Bento Box from last year you can have grilled salmon with steak in your meal. They had made a lot of changes in their menu and their menu is also new. In every bento box dessert is include chose of green tea or vanilla ice cream. Bento box only has one single main dish...

In every corner in Greenhills Shopping Mall there are so many milk tea branches selling milk tea. Alishan at the Alley was just recently open in Greenhills Shopping Mall located Ground Floor O Square 2 Greenhills. It was produced fromTaiwan. You may find more about it on their Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/AlishanatTheAlley/ This time I decided to try purple yam from Alishan at the taste is really yummy and can try bits and pieces of the purple yam that comes with custard pudding and boba pearl in milk tea. Menu   Note : Drinking too milk tea is not healthy for you although it is alright to drink it once in a while just not everyday.

When we come home from work, school from the outside we always change into our pambahay clothes. Pambahay means clothes to be worn inside the house if you have visited the Philippines you will notice most female are wearing duster that look like this: Men are wearing muscle shirt or sando with shorts since the weather is hot they tend to wear these type of clothing. The most common is white sando worn most of the time. They also wear this type of clothing when they go to sleep. They call it pantulog (sleep). Most female don’t wear duster when they sleep sometime you will see them wearing pajama if they have air conditioner in their room. Some wear long t-shirt type of duster when they sleep.

Once every two weeks we eat Filipino chicken curry cooked at home by our cook. Tonight was the night we had eaten this dish and I was able to ask our cook for the recipe: Filipino Chicken Curry Recipe : Ingredients : 3/4 Kg - Chicken (any part) 1/2 - Onion (chopped) 1 - Tsp Garlic (mined) 2 Cups - Pure Gata (coconut milk) 1 - Small Bell Pepper (diced) 1 - Carrot - (cubed) 1 - Large Potato (cubed) Curry Note : Curry powder is salty just use little amount of the following : Patis - Depend on your taste Chicken broth cube - Depend on your taste Step 1 : Saute onion and garlic in a little amount of cooking oil Tip : Too much cooking oil adds fats when you add the gata (coconut milk) Add chicken and gata Simmer and wait till the gata has thicken Add potato, carrot, bell pepper Add patis and chicken broth cube to your taste Cook for 10 to 15 minutes NOT SPONSORED. Subscribe @ Carmina Lifestyle YouTube Channel  a place to look, discover and...

Coupon on the Sunday newspaper was so popular when I was growing up in California. We would run out in the driveway to get our newspaper and check out all the coupons we can use on an upcoming sale. We would cut up the ones we needed and discard the ones in the recycling bin. After many years has passed cutting coupons in the Sunday paper was no longer the trend people would receive coupon through email from promotion in certain stores we had subscribed from. Years later everything became paperless and when you enter a grocery store they would give you a print out on a coupon of certain product you have recently purchased. You would become a member of the Entertainment Coupon Book that comes with lots of coupons in restaurant, hotel, car service and etc. Now our coupons comes from our phone that you can just get by giving out your phone number and register it at the store. Sometimes the store requires a card to become a member to get a discount from the store...

Feeling over whelmed from medical expenses and planning to visit the Philippines because your Medicare doesn’t cover some general check up from your new employer. No matter what the reason there are a lot of people having their general check up from different hospital and it is great when you have family or relatives who have connections inside and they know which doctor they can recommend to treat you in what you need to be check up on. I live with people who are doctors of some sort and I also have relatives who are also having access because they work in different hospitals. We need something and we feel there is something wrong with us they can refer us to someone to see in what type of illness we have. Everyone goes to the basic with the general check up and having their labortory work done to see what kind of health they are in. Some people just want to make sure before they travel away from home that their illness is alright because to prevent something happen...

Getting your eye examinations in different country are expensive and most people doesn’t have it covered where they live. Most people who come to visit the Philippines they make sure they stop by the stores that sells eye glasses that are free of charge as long you will purchase the products from them. There is always a doctor on duty who can do eye examination on your eyes. It is best to bring your reading glasses to check the lens to know what your grade on your lens. The stores always have promotional in purchasing their product. The best part there are places you can get your new pair of reading glasses on the same day you have made a visit. I have family members who purchase eye glasses frame from where they live and just buy the lens for their eye glasses this way they spend less. They also buy sunglasses and put grade on them this way they save more money. Just like any where when you reach a certain age you need lasik surgery most people are not covered w...

Dental Care in the States or European countries is expensive and when you reach the retirement age your coverage doesn’t provide what you need. I have relatives who come to the Philippines to have their dental care. They say it is inexpensive compared to the prices they are being charge for their service. When you decided to have your dental checkup, it is best to stay in the Philippines at least between one to two months all procedure takes time to process especially if you are planning to get new dentures or implants on your teeth. Always ask your closest family and relatives to schedule you an appointment this way when you have arrived you can already be seen by the dentist. It is best to bring along your x-ray from where you live this way the dentist can overlook and see what needs to be done during your visit. It also saves time and money. On based on my experience I had a relative who was just visiting for two weeks, and she needed her dentures repaired. It...

Time to think of retirement that will come in handy as we aged and we have a family of our own we want to think ahead how well we can support ourselves when the time comes. When you have reached 65 years old when your work has replace you with someone much younger than you. How will you cope paying off your debts that has over piled as you keep paying your expenses? You still have children in school and you need to save up for the future, but the life in America is not easy as we have a difficult surviving pay our daily expenses. There are people who move further away from the city where they say, the living expenses are more inexpensive and be able to save up for the future of their children and their retirement. There are some people who are not willing to move themselves they feel comfortable in what they have already adapted themselves. All I can say it is up to you what you want to change your life. People say I am lucky because I have already thought too...

Long days never end when there are so many things going on with your life. You don’t know how far your day will take when you only see the clock it is already late and you’re too tired to reply back to a message you have read. You just send them a short message and your mind is so tired you have message the wrong words or doesn’t make any sense. To your friends they understand when you’re all caught up and your mind is drifted to hit the sack after a long day of work. You no longer tell them what a day you had to give time for your friend to rest up themselves to go to bed. You don’t want to tell them all the drama that has been going on your life. You just keep it to yourself. Everyone has a long day from work or at home no matter where the location it takes place we need time for our body to get well rested for the next day. How much sleep does a person need? Newborn – 16 to 20 hours per day Age 1 to 4 years old – 11 to 12 hours per day Age 5 an...

I feel helpless when someone keeps complaining about someone when it doesn’t have to do with them. Even though you explain to that person they all get caught up on what someone is wearing when they take a picture. I feel helpless when you hear someone complain how the person they know is wearing teenager clothes at their age not realizing it is the new trend and it doesn’t matter what age you are to wear that certain outfit. I feel helpless when you hear someone complain when the person has so many different wardrobes when they take pictures at the beach, but when you think of it she is the same way. I can’t understand between friendships you need to complete with each other what you post online why it has to matter what your friend wore. I feel like running away from the person because all she does is complain something that has nothing to do with me. Or it has nothing to do with her. I feel like telling the person she needs to grow up and stop acting like a tee...

Running out of things to say to your friend as you chat with her everyday and notice what she tells you are something you’ve heard before. You don’t want to be rude to tell her you have heard the story before from her. Does this ever happen to you? What happens when you start to lose interest in talking to someone? For some reason I end up turning away from my phone and move on to things going on in my real life back to my daily routine as we do other things than staying online and wait till someone response on the other end of the world. Once she replies and tells me something new that is when I am there to respond to what something new she has to tell me. Sometimes people leave their Facebook messenger on even not knowing they are still online or they don’t bother telling the person they have been away. Not like when I use to use Yahoo Messenger it automatic inform you that the person is away. It gives you notice ahead of time. Probably I am not the only wh...

When in doubt you don’t feel lazy making sushi but make it the original way just like in a Japanese Restaurant. You need a lot of patience in making this recipe. California Maki Recipe : Ingredients : 1 - Package Imitation Crab meat Stick 1 - Cucumber (peel, remove seeds and cut thinly lengthwise) 3 - Pieces Ripe Mango 3 - Pieces Ripe Avocado 3 - Packages Korean Roasted Seaweed Sheet Bamboo Mat Japanese Rice Rice Vinegar Step 1 : Cook Japanese rice in the rice cooker for every one cup of rice is equivalent to one cup and 1/4 cup of water Step 2 : Remove all plastic from imitation crab meat stick  Set aside Step 3 : Slice mango from the middle from each side of the seed long way slice thinly long stripes Set aside on a plate Step 4 : Peel cucumber and slice in the center Remove the seeds by scraping with a spoon  Slice long strips Set aside on a plate Step 5 : Once Japanese rice is cook remove from rice coo...

The best part living in the Philippines when you get lazy you can order food online through the following: Food Panda Grab Express Lala Food The other fast food chain provides delivery when you call through landline or through their website or through an application. Whatever the reason it is we love ordering food online this way we save gas and pay only a minimum fee having it delivered to our own home. I was asking my friends who live in a different country if they do the same and they said, no. So sad they pick up their food in person as a take away or some people call it take out. Some food chain have discount if you download an application called, Booky or Metrodeal this way you get to save more money when you do plan to eat out or have it delivered. There are other food chains like Shakey’s Pizza when you purchase a super card. Buy one pizza and the other one is free. That is why they say, Filipino people love to eat there is always room for mer...

Soju Carmina is my name is what my best friend calls me. I had mentioned to her to find this Tropical Soju Tock Soda made in Korea that became my favorite. Unfortunately, they don’t carry where she lives. I was telling her come and fly to the Philippines or to Korea to try and see if what I said was true. We like to watch a lot of Korean shows, and we see them drinking soju in a Korean barbecue where they grill up their own food. Or we see them at a bar and at home with group of friends. They drink it not from a bottle more in a shot glass. Opps! I drank it wrong I had poured it into a long glass and drank it slowly like a water. It is best served refrigerated not with ice. Too bad I drank it with ice since it was no longer cold when I drank it at the beach. Where to purchase Tropical Soju Tock Soda in the Philippines? Walter Mart Robinsons Supermarket I was too lazy to go out and found out they sell in Lazada at Laz Mart Philippines. They ship fast I had o...

Every once in a while we get a haircut sometimes we keep the same style or we decided to make new changes the way we look. Sometimes we are happy with the new look or we are not happy with our new style. Just like having a new pair of shoes we need to wear them out until it feels comfortable. Having a new hair cut is the same way we need to let it grow into us before we feel we are comfortable in our new hair cut. Sometimes we go to a new barbershop or we go to the same every time we need a new hair cut. What happen when we decide to get a haircut and the person who usually cut your hair is no longer working at the hair salon or barbershop? You end up having someone else cut your hair and you are afraid your hair might look really bad or you may be happy with it. As you are seating down getting your haircut you are staying awake the whole time to make sure you still have hair on your head. Today, I decided to get my first haircut for the New Year and it has...