Zentraveler explores Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines.

Tagbilaran City Port

Approaching Bohol Island from the water your eyes take in the seascape with Tagbilaran City situated along the waterfront in the distant. You can use the city as a jumping off point while visiting the island of Bohol or exit point for your return trip. Depending on your schedule… often times it is good to check into your hotel, get oriented, do some last-minute shopping, and seek out some of the city sites.

Newport Oak Pension Inn

We found a brand new pension house named Newport Oak Pension Inn centrally located with privacy gate and located next to a large public swimming pool. The staff was friendly, rooms priced in the 1000 pesos range, were clean and we would definitely recommend The Newport Oak Pension Inn for your accommodations while staying in Tagbilaran City.

We headed out to a local shopping center, where we had dinner at the Bohol Bee Farm Restaurant, purchased some herbal teas to bring home, and just hung out people watching… which is not yet an Olympic Sport, but it should be. People of all sizes and descriptions were cruising along the mall as if they were on a mission. Later on I learned many of them were on a mission… after we tasted their homemade ice-cream I was definitely on a mission. I devoured a double-decker homemade cone of banana, mango ice-cream. Yum Yum!

Oasis Resort

The following day our hotel manager flagged down a motorized tricycle and we negotiated a trip to tour Panglao Island. We ate lunch at the Oasis Resort centrally located close to Alona Beach, photographed a vintage church named San Augustin, and took a stroll on the beachfront where we witnessed many dive shops, restaurants and businesses… many owned by foreigners. Alona Beach is very picturesque with white sand beaches as long as the eye can see with palm trees swaying in the breeze and local fishing boats anchored just off shore.

San Augustin Vintage Church

We returned the scenic route back to our hotel, freshened up and headed to the towns capital park surrounded by churches, historic city buildings, and many colorful tropical plants within the park.You can purchase tropical plants from local vendor stalls located at both ends of the park. The park is an excellent place to hangout and has many benches for sitting. While observing the different Filipino families and tourists moving around and about you could witness the small children running and screaming… trying to catch one of the many pigeons wandering around seeking your attention and looking for a handout.

Garden Cafe Restaurant

Just beyond the church we discovered a vintage western motif restaurant named Garden Cafe… complete with authentic western saddles, photos and relics of yesteryear. We sat in our booth and noticed a phone with a small sign: the waiters and waitresses are deaf, so after they bring you your menus simply pick up the phone call in your order and it will be delivered to your table asap. What a great asset to be able to help these special people to be gainfully employed in a high-end restaurant. Kudos to the owners and management…we need to see more examples of this in our travels.

The upstairs houses the restaurant /museum portion. Not only does it have a true Old West atmosphere but it even has mounted horse saddles that customers can climb on and take a ride. Country music fills the air and a customer truly feels like they are a part of the wild, wild west.

The food at the Garden Cafe is wonderful with the most extensive menu in the province. European, American, Chinese, and Filipino dishes blend together to meet the likes of all customers. A great dining experience highly recommended and should be on your to do list while visiting Tagbilaran City.

Alona Beach

So there you have it! Tagbilaran City has its own modern port and airport many points of interest, good restaurants close proximity to Panglao Island and Alona Beach and makes a great jumping off point for touring the rest of Bohol Island. What are you waiting for grasshopper book your Bohol Island trip today.

Alona Beach Restaurant Scene

QUOTE:”Camp out among the grass and gentians of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” — John Muir, Yosemite Valley, 1898

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: “What is adventure? If a lone wolf lifts his plaintive call into the moonlight near your campsite, you might call that adventure. While you’re sweating like a horse on a climb over a 12,000 foot pass, that could be adventure. When howling head winds press your lips against your teeth, you face a mighty struggle. When your pack grows heavy on your shoulders as your climb a 14,000 foot peak, you feel the adventure. When you suffer freezing temperatures and 20 inches of fresh powder on a hut to hut trip in the Rockies, that could be called adventure. But that’s not what makes an adventure. It’s your willingness to conquer it, and to present yourself at the doorstep of nature. That creates the experience. No more greater joy can come from life than to live inside a moment of adventure. It is the uncommon wilderness experience that gives your life expectation.”
– Frosty Wooldridge, Golden, Colorado

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE:Purchase an external drive and copy all of your photo images onto external drive so you have a backup system…your computer could crash and lose all of your photo images. Ugh!

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:It’s all in Zee travel, travel via the internet, travel with your imagination and like the Nike ad says: “JUST DO IT”. Get off the couch grasshopper and travel. It’s later than you think…. or is it?

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler on our mission on Earth!

Streaming Cosmic Energy

We could start with the simplistic question why are we here and what is our mission on earth! The simple answer is to create and expand our consciousness AND RETURN TO THE SOURCE.

Isn’t it interesting after attending 16 years of school, a multitude of seminars, and following many religions that no-one really spelled out our life’s mission. The Buddhists are fairly close, but they keep saying its all about karma and re-incarnation. To a degree this is true. They at least understand Enlightenment which can happen in an instant or a lifetime or not in this lifetime on earth…which literally means direct connection to the source.

The real story is this: each of us was born in the womb and the energy from the source supplied us with life until we were born and took our first breath. From birth we developed our learning from our parents, our teachers, and our peers, however less than one percent of the worlds 7 billion population have the foggiest idea of why they are here on this earth and what is their mission. With this in mind if we are rejected and can’t reach Enlightenment at the source then we are doomed to repeat the process, no-matter how many times, in different bodies until we get it right. The question is are we that dull, just slow learners, or just don’t know how to do it?

Cosmic energy is what holds everything together… including: all of the living things, all the planets and more. Our task while on this earth is to expand our consciousness by bringing in cosmic energy and creating… simply by using the cosmic manifest law…which states whatever you can think can happen.

While we are asleep we receive unconscious cosmic energy, enough to get up, take a shower, move our bodies and activate our brains. However this is not enough cosmic energy to be a great creator like Aristotle, Einstein, Benjamin Franklin or enough to reach Enlightenment like the great Buddha, Mother Teresa and others who understand the ultimate goal while living here on earth.

Your current understanding of cosmic energy is only enough to sustain a life of destruction, boredom, suffrage and general misery as most of the religions like to point out! That’s why we seek religion..there must be a way out of this mess.

We create our own heaven and hell, however if you can expand your consciousness you will be on a higher level of understanding and knowledge and operating on a much higher frequency energy grid.

What they don’t tell you is the how to! The how to expand consciousness is to meditate allowing cosmic energy to funnel down from the cosmos life force and enter the top of your head. As it travels through your body it cleanses all of your meridians and will keep you DISEASE FREE without any medicines and will also contribute to good mental health.

Cosmic energy is the life-force secret to all, therefore the more you meditate, the more cosmic energy you will receive … taking away all of your negative energy and rigid thinking, which will keep you even in death from returning to the source.

The Egyptians and many other civilizations including the Mayans, and Incas knew that if they could build pyramids according to a mathematical theory they could multiply the amount of cosmic energy a person would receive…thus a reason they spent fortunes to meditate to the cosmos while on earth and send their dead back to the source.

QUOTE:It’s the balance of energies in the cosmos that keeps us on our feet. We absorb these energies in the form of prana, the life force, and reach it to the various organs for them to work in unison. So our absorbing the energies from the cosmos keeps us physically alive. Any imbalance affects mental and physical health.

By learning to balancing these energies, we could derive maximum benefit from what is available to us in forms of vibrations in nature. A blend of these sounds and vibrations activates the chakras, the main energy centres in our body, thereby bringing about complete health and harmony between the cosmic vibrations and our chakras.credit: zeninspiritation

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW:: If you say that the ocean is infinite, it only means that the boundary of the ocean is unimaginable and not the ocean. The ocean contains imaginable water. Therefore, this cosmic energy in which the manifested world exists is infinite, but, imaginable. The cosmic energy along with its manifested world is imaginable. The boundary of imaginable cosmic energy means that the imaginable cosmic energy stops there and its source, the unimaginable God, starts. When you say that some line is the boundary of the ocean, it means that the water stops there and the soil starts from there. Therefore, we say that the soil is beyond the ocean. Similarly, the unimaginable God is beyond this cosmic energy. The boundary of cosmic energy indicates the ending point of the imaginable cosmic energy and the starting point of unimaginable God. Therefore, that point becomes unimaginable. credit: Anil Anthony

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE:Fill your body and soul with cosmic energy and you have achieved life’s secret.

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:The purpose of coming to the Earth Plane is to expand consciousness. You now have the formula for returning to the source,Enlightenment, universal god and more! What are you waiting for grasshopper? A cattle prod!!!

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler on health benefits of Parsley!

Health Benefits of Parsley

I used to think Parsley was just a decorative green on your plate in fancy restaurants until I attended a health seminar in a local health food store. The guest speaker was a food nutritionist and explained this little green plant was loaded with nutrients and has some amazing health benefits.

Parsley is native to the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe. While it has been cultivated for more than 2,000 years, parsley was used medicinally prior to being consumed as a food. The ancient Greeks held parsley to be sacred, using it to not only adorn victors of athletic contests, but also for decorating the tombs of the deceased. The practice of using parsley as a garnish actually has a long history that can be traced back to the civilization of the ancient Romans.

Though traditionally overlooked as just a garnish, parsley is a giant amongst other herbs in terms of health benefits, and in such small amounts too. Here are several reasons why a sprinkle of parsley can not only make your meals tastier, but also your body healthier.

Anti-Cancer
Studies show that myristicin, an organic compound found in the essential oil of parsley, not only inhibits tumor formation (especially in the lungs), but also activates the enzyme glutathione-S-transferase, which helps the molecule glutathione attach to, and fight against, oxidized molecules. Myristicin can also neutralize carcinogens like benzopyrene in cigarette smoke that can pass through the body, consequently fighting against colon and prostate cancer.

Antioxidants
Parsley is rich with an antioxidant arsenal that includes luteolin, a flavonoid that searches out and eradicates free radicals in the body that cause oxidative stress in cells. Luteolin also promotes carbohydrate metabolism and serves the body as an anti-inflammatory agent. Furthermore, two tablespoons of parsley contain 16% of the RDA of vitamin C and over 12% of the RDA of vitamin A – two powerful antioxidants.

Anti-Inflammatory
Along with luteolin, the vitamin C found in parsley serves as an effective anti-inflammatory agent within the body. When consumed regularly, they combat the onset of inflammatory disorders, such as osteoarthritis (the degeneration of joint cartilage and the underlying bone) and rheumatoid arthritis (a disease causing inflammation in the joints).

Healthy Immune System
The vitamin C and vitamin A found in parsley serve to strengthen the body’s immune system, though in different ways. Vitamin C is necessary for collagen, the main structural protein found in connective tissue. This essential nutrient will not only accelerate
the body’s ability to repair wounds, but also maintain healthy bones and teeth.

Vitamin A, on the other hand, fortifies the entry points into the human body, such as mucous membranes, the lining of the eyes, and respiratory, urinary and intestinal tracts. Moreover, lymphocytes, or white blood cells, rely on vitamin A to fight infection in the body.

A Healthy Heart Homocysteine, an amino acid that occurs in the body, threatens the body’s blood vessels when its levels become too high. Luckily, the folate (or vitamin B9) found in parsley helps convert homocysteine into harmless molecules. A regular garnish of parsley can help ward off cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, and atherosclerosis.

Vitamin K
Two tablespoons of parsley have a whopping 153% of the RDA of vitamin K, which is necessary for the synthesis of osteocalcin, a protein that strengthens the composition of our bones. Vitamin K also prevents calcium build-up in our tissue that can lead to atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Finally, the vitamin K found in parsley is essential for synthesizing sphingolipid, the fat needed to maintain the myelin sheath around our nerves, and therefore our nervous system as a whole. Research credits: health diaries.com

Disclaimer: This website is simply the writers views and is not an attempt to practice medicine or provide specific medical or health advice and should not be used to make a diagnosis or to replace or overrule a qualified health care provider’s judgment. None of the statements on Zentraveler are to be understood as a recommendation on how to treat any disease or health related condition. If you require medical or other assistance Zentraveler strongly encourages users to consult with a qualified health care professional.

QUOTE:”Parsley – The jewel of herbs, both in the pot and on the plate.” —Albert Stockli

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW:Parsley is useful as a digestive aid. Vitamin C in Parsley is also a powerful anti-inflammatory agent, which explains its usefulness in conditions such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. It helps to purify the blood and stimulate the bowels. For a natural breath freshener, try a sprig of parsley!

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE:Parsley …could be more valuable than a 4 leaf clover.

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:Eat your parsley Grasshopper… you want fresh breath don’t you!

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?