Healthy Hearts on Valentine's Day

Despite our busier schedule that started this year, Papa Sez managed to consistently post updates on Insect Experts, Island Travel and Hubpages. It’s me who had been hibernating from the blogosphere, until the warmth I felt this past Valentine’s Day seemed to thaw my frozen blogging mode. I am now sharing how we spent the Hearts Day all for the sake of a “Healthier Heart and a Happier Us.”

“Us time” began when the school kids were off to school, and the younger ones were fed and bathed. We chose to wear clothes given by close relatives as Christmas present and ended up looking different from our usual selves…different in the positive sense I guess.

We wanted to do our morning walk, breathe fresh air and appreciate nature because all these energize the heart. So we decided to visit Pook ni Mariang Makiling where you can walk all you can, climb all you want and feel the cool breeze all day. You also have the option to swim all day in the Olympic-size pool, if you wish. This is a nature park at the foot of Mt. Makiling in Los Baños. We appreciated flowers that only bloom beautifully in the forest, the damselflies playing by the creek, the soothing sound of flowing water and of course the luscious greens all around. The surrounding is so inviting for a photo shoot session we seldom engage ourselves in.

There were also moments of reminiscing memories of Papa Sez doing his laps in the pool while I read a book on the side (poor me, I am not a swimmer). He even reenacted how he got wild Lantana camara flowers from a cliff in the same mountain just to offer me flowers during our second Valentine’s Day together, when funds are meager to pay for a classy bouquet. The flowers were very colorful and beautiful but the smell is…nevermind. It’s the thought that is so wonderful that I won’t tire thinking of over and over.

We got hungry and proceeded to a new restaurant that we thought would include healthy options in their menu. Unfortunately, we got hungry too soon that the first reastaurant we went to was not yet ready to serve lunch. This unfortunate event turned out to be fortunate for us because we stretched our mind to recalling this restaurant in Maahas, Los Baños, Laguna, that we visited with friends a few months back…The Herb Republic.

This restaurant offers only organically grown vegetables and meat from naturally grown chicken and pig that they themselves produced. Dishes are prepared with their finest herbs. Even the drinks are healthy as they are prepared without sugar and sweetened only by the herb called “Stivia.” All food in the menu are fresh and healthy and therefore good for the heart. We ordered the Herb Republic Salad, Basil Pesto Pasta, Mint Buko Lychee Cooler and Mint Watermelon Cooler. Hot Lemon Grass Tea was served as welcome drink.

Finally, home-bound after that heart-healthy lunch in a cozy hideout. We brought home ripe papayas and young coconuts or “buko” that we bought along the way…again for a healthy treat to be shared with the kids.

It was another Hearts Day celebration that is heart-warming and heart-healthy at the same time. My heart is beating fast as I look forward to the next.