What does it mean for the heaven and earth to praise God? Have you ever wondered what Psalm 69:34 mean?
Psalm 69:34 "Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them"
Well, I have never really thought about it too. I always assumed it was just a metaphor for the grandeur of God's creation. And maybe it is. But last Monday, my sister shared a video that gave that verse a totally different perspective for me.
Now, before I share the video with you, I would like to give you a little background about the speaker. Louie Giglio (pronounced GIG-leo) is the pastor of Passion City Church, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Chris Tomlin, who composed and sang the song How Great is Our God is a worship leader of the same church. After watching a number of Louie's videos, I know enough about him to say that he is a lover of Science. But more than Science, he is a lover of God. And he combines these two passions in his messages to explain the greatness of the Lord.
Watch this 14-min video until the end and worship the Lord with the stars and the whales.
Now if you want to watch more of Louie's explanation of God's greatness, then watch this other video. It's 42-min long but I tell you it's not boring at all. My 7-year old son watched the entire thing and laughed at all the right parts.
Watch and meet the God of the universe. And put that problem you've been worrying about into God's perspective. How great is our God.
Last week, I had the privilege of being invited to try Kiwa Korean Grill Dining in Solaire. Kiwa claims to be the only Korean fine dining barbecue restaurant in South East Asia so it's definitely worth visiting.
The word "Kiwa" refers to a roof tile that is used in traditional Korean homes. The owners wanted the restaurant to be a place for shelter, comfort and relaxation. And I must say, the beautiful interiors will certainly give you that relaxing vibe. Kiwa is owned by Dr. David Shim, CEO of Solaire Korea and his associates.
Entrance to Kiwa
These Korean bears are probably as big as Dawn. They welcome guests at the foyer.
The hallway leading to the main dining area. Behind these walls are private dining rooms.
Kiwa has 8 private dining rooms that can accommodate anywhere from 8 to 48 persons.
This photo taken from my iPhone surely does not justify the beauty of the place. I promise you, it's amazing!
Our table with the beautiful bay view
Kiwa promises fresh ingredients. They only use the best available grade A+ Wagyu beef from Japan and those that are USDA. They follow strict 5-star hotel sanitation regulations which is a great comfort when you're eating in a restaurant that serves raw food. The quality of the meals and the top-notch service easily justify the average cost per person starting from P800 for rice sets, P1,500 for lunch sets and P3,000 for the full course menu. I must say though that the servings are quite generous. I was already pretty full with the appetizers alone.
So now, I present to you some photos of our fabulous meal.
Haemui Pajeon
Platter of scallop sashimi, steamed shrimp, salmon sashimi, steamed octopus and marinated tomato
Tomato-Yangsangchu Salad
Seasoned seafood in a whole tomato salad
My favorite appetizer! The Pumpkin Salad. Mashed pumpkin with assorted nuts. I will surely be back for this.
Baebaek Kimchi
Rolled white kimchi inside a whole pear. The server cuts the pear up in front of you as soon as they serve it. How beautiful is that?
Haemui Pajeon
Pancake mixed with seafood, spring onion and assorted vegetable with spicy soy sauce and sesame oil on the side
Japchae
And now the main course! They serve the pork first followed by the beef. I am not a meat person so it's worth mentioning that I had double servings of the beef! It melts in your mouth and I love how they marinated it very well. Wrapping it in various vegetable leaves, true to Korean barbecue style, makes the dish quite healthy (or maybe I'm just trying to convince myself!)
Seasoned Pork Belly
Yang Neyom Gal BI
Grilled marinated beef with Kiwa's special sauce
Another thing that sets Kiwa apart from the many Korean barbecue places in Manila is that it's smoke-free! You read that right - smoke-free! The grillers practically inhale all the smoke so they do not stick to your clothes. You can head back to the office without smelling like your lunch.
Check out this video I took while we were grilling the beef. Notice the smoke is going to the sides and does not go up.
Finally, the dessert! If you like red beans, you will love this. It's like Halo Halo but mostly red beans. I love love love it!
Kiwa is having their grand opening on January 28 and will be serving more items on the menu and will be adding lunch sets in the P500 to P700 range. It's a great place for dates (go during sunset!), business meetings, and with the family. The kids will enjoy watching the meat get cooked in front of them.
Thank you, Mish, for inviting us. It was wonderful dining experience. I will be back very soon.
Last year was pretty successful for me health-wise. I ran regularly (finally hitting 10k!)and started sleeping a lot earlier than my usual 12am. One of the best tools that helped me achieve my goal was my Fitbit Flex.
Fitbit has a number of activity-monitoring devices that can fit your individual needs.
I decided to get the Fitbit Flex since it has interchangeable straps so it's a lot more versatile fashion-wise.
They even have Tory Burch designs with gold hardware that has been on my wish list ever since I saw them last December.
There is an application that you may download to your smart phones in order to track your progress. The bracelet also has light indicators that will let you know how much you've progressed towards your daily goal.
The Fitbit Flex tracks your steps for the day. I have set my goal to the standard 10,000 steps since studies have shown that walking at least 10,000 steps daily will allow you to reap tons of health benefits. An article in LiveScience says "One study found that women who increased their step count to nearly 10,000 steps a day reduced their blood pressure after 24 weeks. Another study of overweight women found that walking 10,000 steps a day improved their glucose levels."
On top of monitoring your activity, the Fitbit Flex also monitors your sleep and tells you how many hours of deep sleep you've had for the night. This motivated me to sleep earlier to achieve more 8 hours of deep sleep.
Here are some snapshots of my Fitbit tracker on my smart phone. You can see how many steps you've taken and which days you achieved your goal. The sleep tracker is also an awesome way to see what your average bedtime is and how you can do better.
To make fitness fun, you may also sync with friends and compete against each other on a daily or weekly race. You would even be able to monitor how much steps your friends have been taking on a 7-day summary.
I got my Fitbit Flex from Singapore since it was not readily available in Manila last year. The good news is that Fitbit is now available in any Digital Walker store in the Philippines. Do check it out!
Choose the Fitbit that fits your lifestyle and aim for a healthier you this 2016!
There has been so much talk on Marie Kondo's book on tidying the past weeks within my circle of friends. I guess this comes naturally after receiving tons of Christmas gifts and realizing you have no more space to store them. So when Tin invited us to join them in a garage sale, I did not hesitate! Tidy up and sell the things that no longer 'spark joy', as Marie Kondo puts it. Who knows? They may very well spark joy for others.
Join us this Saturday, January 23, 2016, at the Corinthian Gardens Clubhouse from 8am to 1pm as we sell pre-loved, barely used and even brand new toys, clothes, and all other treasures. Some of the sellers have posted the items that they will be selling online and people are already getting first dibs at them. Do come early and even invite your helpers and drivers. There is definitely something for everyone!
Here are some of the items that you will find from the various sellers on that day. Search #ClosetCleanoutSale2016 on Instagram to see more.
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