Uber Random: 2012

Monday, 3 December 2012

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

Here is this week's entry for the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge with the theme of "Reflections":

Click to enlarge. (Limited to your browser window.)

This is a mirror in the middle of a fountain in front of the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco. I think that might be the Hotel Paris in the background on the left. Such a beautiful place!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me

Welcome back to The Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Tuesdays! Haven't done this in a while. Thought I'd try to get into blogging more frequently so I'm check my list of blogs about blogs again for inspiration. These are always fun. I love books so much!!!

Here are ten books I'd like to get for Christmas:

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Green

Here is my photo collage for this week's WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge theme of green:

Friday, 16 November 2012

International Day: Canada!

Hello! Bonjour!

The school that our organization is affiliated with had an International Day. The students and teachers are from a variety of countries so each year they have a mini Folklorama. We know some of the Canadian teachers so we were asked to help with the Canada booth. It's funny how one becomes that much more patriotic when one leaves one's county. Vive Le Canada!

Flags to represent the student body.

Davao City Cultural Challenge

Last weekend some friends of ours took us on a Cultural Challenge of Davao City. Claire is originally from New Zealand (and worked with my husband a decade ago! Small world!) and has lived in Davao for three and a half years. Juvy is Filippina and went to school with Claire in New Zealand. They work together now.

Here we are with Juvy! We started at a bakery in the Bankerohan market.

All Saints' Day

November 1st is All Saints' Day and is a special holiday in the Philippines. Most people will have the day off work to remember their dead loved ones. Families will gather at grave sites for the whole day. Even staying over night.

All Saints' Day, sponsored by Pepsi!

A Morning at the Bankerohan Public Market in Davao City

Thursday morning we we went to the Bankerohan Public Market for the first time. Our wonderful new friends Beth and Kurt were our guides. Here are some shots or our day.

This is the trike we took to get to the market.

Here is the open part of the market. Most of the fruit and veg is out like this.

Driving in Manila

Driving around Manila is an adventure. It's not at all like traffic back home.

Jeepneys are a very common means of transportation.

We got into the city around midnight and even at that time there was one point where it ground to a halt. During the day it is insane. A few days ago we got stuck mid-afternoon. I think it took us about forty-five minutes to travel about two kilometres.

I'm Writing From the Future!

I haven't written a post in a really long time. It's not that life has been boring or I haven't been making awesome food... rather I've been in a very different head space lately.

I won't be going into a lot of detail here, but basically my husband and I have moved to the Philippines to work for an NGO. My hope is to write about life out here on this blog. I've already photographed some awesome fruit that we've had!

The time difference has taken some getting used to. We are 13 hours ahead of "back home". So when I call my mom and dad it's like I'm calling from the future!

The flight over was interesting. We were in transit for a total of about 28 hour, of which we had brilliant sunlight for 22 hours. Here are a few travelling shots:

Leaving Manitoba

Recipe: Jam Jams

These are the best of cookies, these are the worst of cookies...

Jam Jam!

Generally speaking, I like to cook healthy food. It makes me feel good and is delicious. Some times, however, I like to eat things that are horrible for me. These cookies are that.

White flour gets processed by your body the same as refined white sugar and that is one of the worst things for you. These cookies are mostly white flour, sugar and butter. You cannot "healthify" these cookies by using alternative ingredients because they will not be the same at all. So here is to indulgence...

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Hands

Here are my photos for the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge:

Exchanging rings at our wedding ceremony

For some reason, hands make me think of our wedding...

Recipe: Better Than Breakfast Cookies

Due to popular demand (ok, five people on my personal Facebook page :P) here is my recipe for "Better Than Breakfast Cookies". They have no flour, no dairy, no egg, no oil and no refined sugar. That means they can easily be gluten-free and vegan friendly. (With a few tiny modifications.)

Top Ten Tuesday: Blogs/Sites You Read That AREN'T about Books

This week's theme for "Top Ten Tuesday" via "The Broke and the Bookish" isn't that difficult for me. I don't regularly read book-centric blogs. I visit goodreads a lot but that's different... So here are some fun blogs to check out...

1. Clay Baboons ~ A fellow Canadian girl! Yay! She tells funny stories and illustrates them with photos of clay figures that she makes. And once she gave some away.

2. I'd Like Cheese on My Entire Family AKA Da Cheeseblarg ~ This blog has original art that is often quite hilarious. She tells stories that are sometimes a bit sad but mostly with a lot of humour. She's really nice. And a little obsessed with Jason Segal. And narwhals. And llamas.

3. Raptitude ~ A fellow Winnipegger! This blog is more serious than the first two. I don't always agree complete with everything he writes, but he clearly is very intelligent and has really thought out what he writes about. Themes tend to run along the lines of life goals and trying to be a better, fuller person. Very well written.

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Blue

Blue is most people's favourite colour. Thanks to a recent discussion with my hubby I have a theory on that.

Here is my photo(s) for the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge:

Uber blue flowers

Hit the jump for my theory on why we like blue... (and for more blue pix)

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I'd Like To See On A Reality Show

This week's theme for "Top Ten Tuesday" via "The Broke and the Bookish" is extra challenging for me. I don't watch reality TV. I have seen some shows, but I mostly find them gratingly annoying. Picking ten of my favourite authors won't be difficult but what setting to put them in...

There was this one reality show that I did like. Actually, only the first season. Anyone remember "The Mole" from 2001? It was hosted by Anderson Cooper. The basic premise was that you ran around doing various spy missions to earn money for the winner's pot while one of the 'contestants' was actually a mole trying to screw up the missions and keep the pot lower. The first season was so fun! Everyone was having fun playing spies and the mole was actually really nice. :P The second season got all catty and uber competitive. Not as much fun.

So if I had to pick a real reality show, The Mole is the one I would pick. And the contestants?

Photos: Assiniboine Park on a Sunday Afternoon in Spring

Here are some photos from our walk through the Assiniboine Park today... (My hubby took a bunch of pics for his photo blog, too.)


Geese heading towards a small child with a bag of bread... ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Musings on How Tech is Changing Our Stuff and Society

This sounds like a topic more appropriate for my husband's blog Faceborg. He's the tech genius but I'm a geek, too. :)

We've all read about how the Internet is changing society and that seems to be the base of much of our innovative technology these days. It's all about the latest social media craze or app for your mobile device, right? But there are other changes happening that we are seeing but maybe not looking at where they might lead.

Reading on a train while moving very fast. ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused

Oh, look! Another fun weekly challenge! If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you'll know that I love photography. So a weekly photo challenge is my cup of tea. I also love tea.

I was reading Colonialist's Blog and noticed this WordPress challenge. Each Friday they will post a theme and you have until the next Friday to post your photo.

So here is my entry for this week:

"Bonnie being all blurry and fashionable in Venice." ~ Photo by Evan Falk

Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Quotes From Books

Here is my second episode of "Top Ten Tuesday" from The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is favourite quotes from books. As you can see form the title of the post.

1. “Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy {This is how I feel many days. }

Blogging from A to Z: Reflections

Ah! This was supposed to go up yesterday! I post on time, every day, for a month... but then can't make a one-off deadline. :P

Ok, so during the month of April, I took part in the "Blogging A to Z Challenge." We are asked to debrief at the end to give feed back to the creators. I noticed that some people did this the day after it ended and here I am a week later... I was busy, ok? Had an epic birthday weekend celebrating 3 family birthdays. Got one more coming up this next weekend. :)

Photos: Munson Park

Here is a quick photo post from a walk we took this evening...

Munson Park ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Top Ten Tuesday: Books You'd Like To See Made Into A Movie

Now that the epic Blogging from A to Z Challenge is over, my plan is to take a break form such a hectic blogging schedule. However, I don't want to totally lose momentum. Things got a little crazy at times but I did really enjoy it!

Part of my plan for keeping up with blogging regularly is to find other challenges to participate in. Maybe I'll do some personal ones, too, but group challenges are really fun!

Here is one I just found that sounds like something I could really get into: "Top Ten Tuesday" by The Broke and the Bookish. Lists about books. Perfect!!! (I discovered this weekly challenge on Colin D Smith's blog, another A to Z participant.)

Blogging from A to Z: Z

Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River, Zambia-Zimbabwe boarder. ~ Photo by Jenny Steinke

Blogging from A to Z: Y

"You Suck" by Christopher Moore ~ Photo courtesy of goodreads

Blogging from A to Z: X

Singapore! ~ Photo by Ronnela Mendoza

Blogging from A to Z: W

This is a pun ~ Photos by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: V

The Pope in Vatican City ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: U

Burj Khalifa ~ Photo by Raenice*

Blogging from A to Z: T

The Thief and the Cobbler ~ Image courtesy of IMDb

Blogging A to Z EXTRA: Spain

Again, the usual short blurbs I write for the A to Z Challenge would not do justice to this fascinating country.

Moorish architecture in Alhambra, Granada, Spain ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: S

A village in Switzerland ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: R

"The Road to Mars" by Eric Idle ~ image courtesy of goodreads

Blogging from A to Z: Q

Quince Tartinade! ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: P

"Paddle to the Amazon" by Don Starkell ~ image courtesy of goodreads

Blogging from A to Z: O

"Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene ~ image courtesy of goodreads.

Blogging from A to Z: N

A bike parkade in Amsterdam ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging A to Z EXTRA: Morocco

My regularly scheduled "M" country is Monaco, which is fascinating. But another place I'd really like to spend more time in is Morocco!

Moroccan mosaic ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: M

Our first view getting out of the train station in Monte Carlo, Monaco. ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: L

Liechtenstein countryside as seen from the train. ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Blogging from A to Z: K

Korea ~ Photo by Rachelle Dunlop

Blogging from A to Z: J

Waterfall in the Blue Mountains. That's me on the far right side. ~ Photo by Evan Falk

Blogging A to Z EXTRA: Italy

For the regularly scheduled "Blogging A to Z" post I picked India for "I". We have some friends that have spent some time there and I've really wanted to go there myself. However, there is another country that starts with "I" that I wanted to give a little more time to.