How to Get Rid of Stomach Troubles When Traveling is Also How You Stay Healthy During Travels

Kpopselca

I travel around locally for time to time and I know how bowel movement can be a problem. Especially if you have to leave so early in the morning, like 4 am. This means you have to get up earlier to prepare, like 2 or 3 am?

Early in the morning is when your body works to eliminate food you had the previous days. Natural body detox and waste elimination are often at their peaks at 5 am. So, if you wake up earlier---say at 2 am---and try to relieve yourself in the comfort room, waste elimination may not be that productive. Why? Because most bodies are programmed to eliminate waste at 5, 6 or 7 in the morning. At 2 am, the digestive system is still "asleep," as it were, although the systems of our body never sleep.

So you go out at 3 am because you have to be at the meeting place before departure, which is 4 am. At this time, your digestive system is just "waking up."

Or, if you have a car, you start hitting the road at 4 am. So, one or two hours after, you may start feeling like going to the restroom. If you're like me, stopping over a gas station with clean restrooms (there are plenty along SLEX or NLEX where gas stations exist with fast food chains and grocery stores) and using the toilet is not a problem. I have used a  lot of them with excitement. But most people are not comfy with that. They'd rather suffer the discomfort of restraining their bowel movement, which takes away all the joy of traveling.

To avoid this, here are my tips:

1. Eat lots of green leafy vegetables and fibrous fruits the day (better if 2 days) before traveling, particularly during lunch and supper. And remember to eat fruits first before meals. It's very important.

Don't eat any meat or fish. About an hour after meals, drink lots of water (but NOT cold water). You'd find that the following day, at 5 am, you'd have a smooth bowel movement. That would happen about two times that morning. So you can be free of bowel-movement worries during travels.

2. Better if you always drink warm water the day before, or something a little bit hotter. But not too hot.

See how tips 1 and 2 will keep you healthy if you make them a lifestyle?

3.  Arrange for a 5 am departure instead of an earlier time if you are traveling with others. The most comfy travel is 7 or 8 am. You can wake up at 4.30 am and have plenty of time to allow for bowel movement.

4. Avoid eating lakatan banana. Over ripe latundan banana is good the day before.

5. Develop the habit of doing water therapy first thing each time you wake up in the morning. This helps loosen stool and ease up bowel movement---if you had a good green leafy diet the day before. If you have this habit, then you have less worries during travels. It'll also keep you healthy.

6. During travel, refrain from eating  or drinking too much. Chewing gums will cause air to be trapped in your tummy and bloat it. That gives you a feeling of more urgency to run to the CR pronto.

7. Don't indulge in eating during travels. Eat just enough. Drink just enough. Sprite or 7-Up helps stop bowel movement a bit.

8. Be careful what you eat during travels. It's not the time to try strange food dishes or drinks. Make sure to eat in a clean place serving clean food.

9. Make sure the water you drink is purified.

10. Avoid eating fibrous food during travel.

If the above tips aren't possible and you really have to break some of them, then I strongly advice you to always be equipped with at least 2 rolls of tissue paper and a small bottle of alcohol. And keep them handy (don't place them in your luggage placed in the back trunk of the car).

The first place I look for when traveling is a nice and clean restroom with abundant water. If worse comes to worse, then you have to make do with what's available, no matter how messy. I have trained myself to be ready for this. So I always take 2 rolls of tissue paper with me and a small bottle of alcohol. I keep them in my belt bag.

With hotels (or any accommodation), I always look for four things:

1. Air-conditioned room
2. Clean bathroom and toilet
3. Plenty of water
4. Fire escape

If these are not available, I have plans B and C ready. Just devise any contingency plans. It's all up to you. Definitely, never stay in a hotel with no fire escape. As for the toilet, look for a fastfood store nearby with nice CR.

PROJECT 8 BLOG: About an Ordinary But Must-See Place You Won't Forget

PLACES. Project 8 in Quezon City has become a favorite shortcut route among lots of motorists. If you're heading toward the North (like NLEX) from the South and you want to bypass heavy traffic in Balintawak, Camachili, and the toll gate there, you may try passing through Project 8.

Before I continue, congratulate me for reaching this 100th blog article for Choy's Cut! I know this calls for a celebration, so I give you this special FREE article on Project 8.

Now, back to the article. As I was saying..

Oh yeah. Or, if you're coming from Manila or the South and you want to be connected to Quirino Highway or Novaliches fast, you can try going through Project 8 via Congressional or Mindanao Avenues. You can do this either through the back of SM North or the intersection of Congressional Avenue and EDSA.

So, no wonder even public buses going to Novaliches through C5 pass through Project for a quicker route and lesser traffic.

So, I decided to create a blog on Project 8, the place where I spent most of my childhood and teenage life (and where I now live) after transferring from La Loma where I also spent some years of my early life. Since a lot of people from various localities pass by this area daily, probably they ought to know something a bit special about the place. It's nothing luxurious or exclusive, but Project 8 is definitely something to experience.

I've always kept the place dear to my heart because I have a lot of fond memories here--the adventures of childhood, boy scouting, teenage years, college life, my parents, being a young professional, a married guy raising a family, and more. Most of my contemporaries here have gone to live somewhere else and I'm among the few original settlers left--and it happens that I'm a blogger--so I thought I should create a blog on it for residents, passers-by, and Project 8 future generations.

And growing up in this area, I've always imagined some mysteries surrounding it, probably from the tales I heard from old folks here when I was a kid. There's always a kid in me and it often shows up on my blogs. Particularly, I find the river snaking through the area most mysterious because it has been there since the place used to be a hilly wilderness frequented by Katipuneros in the 1800s.

So, I also decided to place some mystery stories on the blog on a special page. To add to the mystery fun, try to locate it if you can.

Boating and Fish Feeding at Nuvali

Relaxing during the boat ride.

Recently we had a clan trip (we were 16 in all) to Tagaytay City for a break. But before going to Tagaytay, we dropped by Nuvali for a boat ride and fish feeding. Again, before we did that, we celebrated my niece's birthday by eating snacks at the Nuvali parking lot--something new to me. We had pancit noodles, fish fillet, ice cream and cake.

Then we had the boat ride and fish feeding. The boat ride was wonderful and feeding the fish was stress-relieving. The boat was motorized so all we had to do was sit and enjoy the scenery--and got splashed with water. Fish feeding was at the dock area.

Feeding the fish. They rushed and crowded
wherever the feeds were thrown.

At Tagaytay (our favorite vacation venue), I and my dear wife had an adventurous walking trek to enjoy the cool morning and delightful sunlight. Well, before that (the day before) the afternoon was amazingly cool (a welcome change from the hot afternoons in Manila) and the night was pleasantly cold. We had dinner at a nearby Jollibee fast food store on its second floor where the cold wind gave us a tremendous chill. It was wonderful when the fact was it was the middle of a hot summer in the Philippines.

Then back at the resort hotel, the kids went for a night hike exploring the surroundings while I and my wife looked for a good program to watch on the cable TV, enjoying the cold air-conditioning and posh beds. Later on the kids had midnight snacks while I was too tired to do anything but fall asleep.

Eating snacks on the loft of our hotel room.

Early in the morning (that's when I and my wife did the adventure trek), I did some martial arts shadow boxing after our brisk walk.

Want to Try Basic Snorkeling?

animo.dlsu-usg.com

One summer day of 1980 (I was in third year college) we tried snorkeling out on the coasts of Bagac, Bataan. From the National Power Corporation rest houses we rode a private jeep to the Bagac beach with some food and snacks, and of course, our goggles. The water was fine--blue and crystal clear--and you'd be surprised at the white sand on the shore. Not so white though, but it was white.

After testing the cool waters that morning (about 9 am), we swam  to chest deep waters and started our snorkeling. I was surprised that at chest deep we saw corals and fish and the other colorful under water sea life of Bagac. None of us were expert divers then but we took some tips from the native divers in the area who did deep sea dives organically--without scuba gears.

And I was so fascinated! At once, I wanted to be like that--being able to dive deeply with just raw fresh oxygen in my lungs. I think I did mention somewhere here on my blog (or was it on my other blog?) that I once dreamed of being a Philippine Navy sailor.

So we wore our goggles and breathed deeply to reserve enough oxygen in our lungs and dived. It was difficult trying to stay under water because sea water made you easily float. But a trick I learned was to keep your feet and legs up so your body would tilt down from head to waist and stay underwater, enjoying the unique sights. Then just keep kicking your feet to push your self further down, aided by the your hands now and then. At that shallow level, we already marveled at the world underneath.

What more if you were deep-sea diving?

The small colorful fish were just a grab away from us but your arm grab could never outdo the speed at which they swam away. Then they would stay just outside your grab and then come close again, as if daring you to try another grab.

At lunch time we had kinilaw na dilis, paksiw na isda, and rice and then we went back snorkeling. It was addicting. We had bread and peanut butter for snacks. It was a simple picnic. Then at 3 pm when we felt the waves were beginning to rise and strengthen, we decided to call it a day.

Eco Farm Batangas

I think it was 5 years ago when we went to Eco Farm in Sto. Tomas, Batangas for an overnight Lent retreat. Not that I observe Lent, but in my post about the trip in one of my blogs, I said, "Lent should be a time for fun and celebration because when Jesus died, it was access for us to heaven for eternity!" or something to that effect. So, we had so much fun that time.

Eco Farm is a real farm where fruit trees and other plants abound. We didn't have time to explore the whole place but what we saw was impressive enough, especially the rambutan trees. There were also 3 small mansions (two of which have bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and bathrooms), which were our accommodations actually, the kiddy and adult pools, the orchard, sprawling lawns where I conducted a treasure hunt, picnic area, a common dining on the ground floor, a video room near the pool, and the native huts.

Eco Farm is ideal for family, church or company outing. It is both far enough from town to enjoy peace and quiet and near enough to access commercial establishments easily for anything you need to buy. From Makati it's probably just 45 minutes. I hope we go back there one vacation time.

In the morning, the cool quiet surroundings were perfect (cool even in April!) for Word meditation and a round of martial arts workout. It was fun just staying by the picnic sheds near the pool all morning and afternoon, munching on food and chatting about life, reminiscing the past, having lots of laughter, and watching the kids play. Everything was like a poem and a song.

If you want to make inquiries or book the place, just Google it by typing Eco Farm Batangas. You'd see a mobile phone contact number. Last time I Googled it, this was the result:

Santa Maria, Santo Tomas, Lalawigan ng Batangas
0917 831 6609

Double check just in case.

Why I Can't Forget that Cavite Trip in 1993 [2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indang,_Cavite

In February 1993, we were back to Indang, Cavite. This time we were armed with the makeshift surveying equipment Eddie, the engineer, made using a compass and chart of angles and degrees on an illustration board plus a long line and measuring tape in meters. We hoped it'd work and we were all excited to find out.

We left Project 8 early in the morning with Carlo, Eddie's nephew, and arrived there at almost lunch time. But we had stopped by barangay Talaba in Bacoor to buy some talaba (oysters) and tahong (shells). In the afternoon, we mixed some cement and sand to make our own mortar markers or muhon to mark boundaries with as we subdivide the property. Carlo and I did this the whole afternoon with Eddie as supervisor. Of course, with a lot of laughter.

About late in the afternoon, Eddie and I visited the community market where fresh fish and beef were sold, as well as a lot of farming implements, like bolos. I sampled some of the bolos and sickles and pondered about buying some. I love bladed things. Later, we bought choice beef and vegetables for our Nilagang Baka lunch for the next day. Eddie promised me the best Nilagang Baka I've ever tasted! We planned to have a picnic at the coconut plantation.

Then, for supper, we grilled the tahong and talaba. Being a February (and because Indang was near Tagaytay), the night was very cold and the grilled seafoods we were enjoying were just perfect--as well as the fire we grilled it on. We had lots of fun stories and laughter as the night deepened, and later at 9 pm, we decided to go up the veranda or lanai on the second floor to view the street vicinity. In Indang, at that time we were there, 9 pm looked like 12 midnight because the streets were dark, quiet and deserted. The silence was deafening, so we shared lots more stories and laughter to break the silence.

I thought the night was lovely, with plenty of stars in the sky!

Eddie and Carlo remembered the good old days when they had enjoyed leisure times at the veranda or balcony with old relatives, especially Eddie's parents--Carlo's grandparents. Carlo remembered how they would watch town parades from the veranda and how often he was picked to be among the participants in the Sagala or prosisyon (religious parade of the town's princes and princesses).

Then, suddenly, a huge bat flew overhead and swiftly glided past houses. "Is that a bat or a manananggal?" I asked, joking. "It seems as big as a human." Eddie and Carlo agreed. Later, the bat flew under a roof eave just a few meters from us and disappeared quickly. It was amazing how a giant bat like that could quickly disappear into a small hole in the roof's ceiling. That was when Eddie started telling us about the mystery of the old church in Indang...

[To be continued here]

To enjoy more mysteries in e-book forms, visit my friend's MTrackers Blog through this link!

La Traviesa: Beautiful and Romantic Even with a Signal 3 Typhoon

La Traviesa: Pools and Clubhouse

We went to La Traviesa early December in 2014 for an overnight trip. My sister and niece had booked earlier so there was no way we could cancel the trip even if Metro Manila was then threatened by a super typhoon. Weathermen could not pinpoint where exactly landfall was going to be--the Visayas or Metro Manila.

Went to Tagaytay for a Choy's Cut: Tips for a Delightful Trip

My clan was asking what place was best to spend the season of Lent in. So I gave them my Choy's Cut--Tagaytay, the summer capital of Southern Luzon, especially at Lent. Well, actually, my older sis had been planning for it so I just played along. Seriously, if you want good rustic mountain scenes, good chow, and good health, Tagaytay's one of the places to go to.

We went to Residence Inn and Tagaytay Royale Country Club, two of my favorites. The first is a mini zoo with zipline and souvenir shops while the country club has lots of sports facilities to offer. I preferred running at 5.30 am on the road that fronted the hotel instead. The cool mountain breeze that brushed against your face hinted at the quality of air your lungs were getting.

Earlier before that, the Lord and I had a good talk, he doing most of the talking. He stressed how the Kingdom was small as a mustard seed that strangely grew into a tree. And then I and my clan had breakfast. But the day before this was the real moment of excitement!