There is so much to be thankful for this year. 

Family, friends, food, shelter, good health, new beginnings and love.

Take a moment, smile, inhaling every good and challenging blessings. 

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! 

XOXO,

Arni 

P.S.  I was captivated by the golden silhouette of the trees before sunset during a walk in the woods in La Vendee, France.

 Hello everyone! I've missed you all.  The last few days felt surreal. A reunion with siblings and spending as much time as I could with them, I'm glad to be back. After a 1 hour and 45 minute flight from Manila to Davao, Zepy of Travel Explore Beyond and I found ourselves, staring at the Durian fruit monument at Davao International Airport.  This impressive sculpture was done by Kublai P. Millan, a Filipino contemporary artist known for larger than life pieces who was born in Mindanao. Some of his works were featured in the Vatican Nativity in Rome, Italy.  He returned to his  homeland to dedicate his life sculpting with great emphasis on culture.   Davao City, the largest city in the island of Mindanao, Philippines, is the Durian capital of the country. Durian is well known for its extraordinary odor. Some say, "it tastes like heaven but it smells like hell."  I look forward to discovering how this intriguing fruit is really like.  I was impressed by the greenery surrounding the urban landscape. From the plane, the hilly landscape was breathtaking with lots of agricultural land and beautiful beaches. It is home to the highest mountain in the Philippines, Mt. Apo (which I dream to climb one day). It is a 2,954 meter high potentially active strato volcano that can be reached by a 2-3-day tough hike in the leech infested forest. It also served as a training ground for Philippine mountaineers who climbed Mount Everest. The weather in Davao is slightly cooler than the humid December climate in Manila, the air more fresh and a lot of adventurous activities to choose from.   The mountain backdrop and beaches on the horizon around this emerging city makes me want to stay a lot longer.

Hello everyone! Today, I'm  taking a plane on my way to a city called Davao.  

I've never been there before.  I'm traveling with my college best friend 

to explore this gem of a city in the South.

XOXO,

Arni

This is it.  Plane tickets- check. Luggage-check.  I'm on my way to the airport.  I haven't spent Christmas there for the last 10 years.  You see , I have been away for almost a decade.  I can count the number of times I've been there in one hand.  I'm heading home to go back to my roots and see family.

 I'm happy to have started this sojourn last year when I visited  the islands of Coron, Palawan.  This time I'm heading  Southeast traveling with my college best friend.

They say that " True friends are the ones who never leave your heart, even if they leave your life for awhile.  Even after years apart, you pick up with them right where you left off."   ---I think that's absolutely true!  Zepy of Travel Explore Beyond and I are of kindred spirits.  She has been my high school and college classmate, maid of honor when I got married, and one of my best best friends who  has always been there for me like  a sister.  After graduation, we started working together on a beach house re-design project.  At that time we were oblivious to our passion for adventure.Two years later, we reunited to go backpacking in the rice terraces of Banaue and caves of Sagada - just the two of us with no hotel bookings and no idea what the itinerary was.  This was during my first home visit alone as a Dubai expat.  This life changing trip  triggered our love for travel.  It opened doors to more adventures in both of our immediate futures. Over the years, she has explored every corner of the archipelago and the surrounding countries many times over.

I am so thrilled to have a blogger friend, Helen here today, author of Eat.Enjoy.Live as she shares with us today what gives her utmost joy..

Please don't ask me what my favourite book/author is because I just couldn't answer. I do have the top 5 books I think you should read though.

1. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
3. The 5 people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom.
4. The crimson petal and the white by Michael Faber.
5. The end of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas.

What is your favourite book?

Thanks Arni for letting me indulge my passion for books.

Don't forget to head over and say hello; Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Bloglovin', Pinterest.

The past decade, I spent all my life looking for that perfect feeling of home. This quest motivated me to start traveling. At a tender age of 4 when I grew fascinated by a book that my Mom gave me, the fire in my heart to leave my country burned so bright.  Somehow, I felt I didn't belong there.  It is a beautiful country to see as a tourist, but at a young age I felt like an alien. I  remember looking up at the night sky wondering if  before we were born,we were given a choice, maybe there was a mistake. There was something missing. So this search for home and peace, wherever that may be, became a distant goal.   

Happy thoughts for the weekend!

XOXO,

Arni

It's a late Halloween post.  We've decided to celebrate our costume theme party last Friday night so we could extend it till the wee hours of the weekend.  It was hilarious and I had great fun.  This was my first ever costume party.  I don't know what happened the past several years but I never really had any opportunity to celebrate this fun tradition. The only costume I've ever worn when I was a kid that I remember was a pirate costume but it wasn't for Halloween. 

Making up for those years, the Anime Girl is a costume I've always fantasized wearing.  I thought of seizing the day, because in a few years, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to wear such a costume anymore.  So while I still can, then why not?  

Have a great weekend to you all!

XOXO,

Arni

Last weekend,  we had a visitor from Lebanon who's here on business.  He had 5 hours  in the morning to spare, before his 5 PM afternoon flight back home.  Since he's staying not very far from the airport, we -( my husband and I) think it's sad to spend the remaining hours within the confines of a hotel room. He was already done with his shopping and has already been to all the malls in the city, so we picked him up for a different scenery.

What to Do in 5 hours?   Head off to the Big Red!

The Big Red is a 300ft high sand dune along Hatta Road. There are tourist stops on the right side opposite the gigantic dune.  Drive: 40 Minutes - 1 hour  from the Dubai Airport

When I don't have access to canvas, I paint on my face.  Though nowadays, when I discovered the BB Cream, thanks to Elle Sees,  I use less liquid foundation and more oil-free moisturizer with SPF 20.  Check out her blog for many beauty tips.   Today's post is mostly my travel essentials for a leisurely trip.  I' m starting to narrow down what I have to pack for an upcoming trip.  Much as I would like to carry everything in my organized makeup tray,  I always travel light, so I'd have to break it down to essentials. 

I miss jogging in this path

Calling all bloggers who might be interested to guest post.

Source

I just found out that I need to hop on a plane in a few weeks 

to attend my sister's wedding with an extended

Christmas holiday back home at the same time.

Theme of the blog post is:

"What Makes You Happy?"

I'll be featuring your blog posts on both

Design Gourmande & Travel Gourmande

during my absence. 

Deadline is on the 12th November 2012

For those interested, please email me at :

arniderivera@gmail.com

Thank you so much!

XOXO,

Arni

The once eyeglass-wearing man, my Clark Kent, transformed. He stopped wearing glasses (laser eye surgery).  Cape-less, wearing an engine behind his back (like a gigantic electric fan) holding on to a glider, he took off.

"Seriously?"  --  That was my first reaction when I first heard of Ice Land, followed by , "Why would they do that?"   My curiosity led me to look for it on Youtube. Thinking out loud, "No way.."  That evening, my husband returned home with entrance tickets for some deals he found on Cobone.  

I'm grateful for all the comments you leave everyday. I read through each of these messages and they always make me happy.  I will, however, make some changes henceforth. I hope you do understand if I don't reply to each comments on the comment form. My main reason is that I'm unable to manage it.   I have also realized that my comment replies may not even be seen,  as some may forget to check them back.  Instead, I'll return the visit and leave you a message on your blog or by email.   If you would like to reach me or for questions, please feel free to send me an email  arniderivera@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading Travel Gourmande.

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,

Arni

I'm getting forgetful lately.  Is it old age?  I hope not.

I forgot my wallet  inside a busy food court.  I went about my planned activities and drove to another place 10 km / 6 miles  away. Two hours later, when I was about to enter the supermarket,  my wallet was nowhere to be seen inside my huge bag. I hastily returned to the parking lot and sat in the car for the next 15 minutes searching around and retracing my steps. To cut the long story short, I drove back to the food court with a faint idea that that might be the last place where I left it.   I asked the man at the fast food counter if he had seen a small black leather wallet.  Luckily, I didn't sit far away and he pointed out that the nice young couple  sitting next to me that afternoon found and handed it over to the security control (all valuables in tact). That was a great relief because all identification cards (resident ID, driver's license, health cards etc) would have been a nightmare to re-apply.


This is the second time it happened to me.  I lost my work mobile phone once inside a cubicle in a public toilet at the mall.  The woman who found it, returned it to me.  Lesson learned: I should be more attentive and careful.  These experiences, however, strengthened my belief in the goodness of people.

Such a beautiful day!  I'm heading to the beach today. One of my goals this year is to seize the moment and appreciate the present.  Living in Dubai means a 20-minute drive to the nearest beach.   When was the last time I have been to this one?  I honestly can't remember.   It's such a shame that we have the beach within our reach and we never go.  Well it's never too late.

Three years ago, aboard the Dhow Cruise in Khasab, Oman  the second time around, I watched the dolphins play around and spent the afternoon snorkeling with colorful fish in clear azure waters 

Catching up with things we love to do this weekend in the middle of errands is just the right amount of dose of love we need,  giving ourselves a pat on the back after a tiring week.  Books + Coffee + Dark Chocolate porridge.    

Getting Lost in a Good Book - To those living in the UAE (Sharjah, Ajman, Dubai),  I've recently discovered  Readers Paradise, a book rental club that delivers book of your choice to your door step.  In this way, you can save money by renting up to 8 books which is equivalent to a price of 1 book. There are also books that you can purchase from them, signed by the authors.  I can't wait to try.

What are your plans this weekend?

On a personal note, 

I'm happy to have started running again, totally healed and bandage free.  

The painting I'm working on right now is shaping up and 

I'm surprising myself how it's turning out.  

Though I feel like I cannot stare or work at it for too long or I'll go insane, 

so in between chores and catching up with the book I'm reading,

food and music keep me company.

Happy Thursday!

XOXO,

Arni