TravelswithCharie

Many of us have read Greg Mortenson's  Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time , his story about traveling in Pakistan and the profound effect it had on himself and the people he met along the way. Today more travelers are seeking to reach out to the communities they visit, whether as a family or as an individual, and to incorporate sightseeing or relaxing at a nearby beach resort with volunteer projects that match their interests.  There are opportunities in teaching English or arts and crafts, building schools or restoring a Tuscan village, working at an archaelogical dig or at an orphanage and studying the ecosystem, among others. Frommer's 500 Places Where You Can  Make A Difference lists various way to serve communities around the world along with detailed contact information and costs of meals and accommodations. Volunteer vacations may be short or long term depending on the traveler's requirements. But it may become in

The Strip, Las Vegas And now the much awaited list of places to go in 2010 from The New York Times is out and here are their top 10 picks: 1. Sri Lanka 2. Patagonia Wine Country 3. Seoul 4. Mysore 5. Copenhagen 6. Koh Kood 7. Damascus 8. Cesme 9. Antarctica 10. Leipzig Also making the list are Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Istanbul which is the 2010 European Capital of Culture, South Africa where the 2010 World Cup games will be held, and Shanghai, the site of Expo 2010. Frommer's and NY Times both include Copenhagen (the venue of the recently concluded Climate Change Conference) on their lists while Las Vegas appears on both the Lonely Planet and NY Times lists. It's interesting to note that the NY Times list of destinations has been pared down from 44 in 2009 to just 31 in 2010. It gives us more time to immerse ourselves in the cultures of these recommended destinations if we are lucky enough to see all of them in 2010. Happy travels! For the complete list of the

Louvre Museum, Paris Here are Frommer's picks of top destinations for 2010: Tunisia, Copenhagen, Hanoi, Santiago de Cuba, Abu Dhabi, Big Island Hawaii, Salta Province Argentina, Isles of Scilly, Melbourne, Florida Panhandle Beaches, Mexico City, Kerala in India. Frommer's readers voted Paris as their Reader Favorite for 2010. For more on this check the link below: http://www.frommers.com/trip_ideas/arts_and_culture/article.cfm?ideaID=ARTCULTURE&articleID=6469&t=Frommer%27s%20Top%20Destinations%202010 Happy New Year and may you have many fun travels in 2010! *    *    * Photos by Charie

The Philippines has the longest Christmas season in the world. It begins the end of September and lasts through January 6 (the feast of the Three Kings in the old calendar). Christmas songs are played over the airwaves and in malls and restaurants. Television shows remind viewers how many days are left till Christmas. On December 16 "simbang gabi" starts. People would rise in the early hours to attend mass at five in the morning. While it's warm in the Philippines, it gets slightly cooler in December. Outside the church vendors sell freshly made bibingka and puto bumbong *, perfect handwarmers unless you can't wait to eat these till you get home. Two of the most enduring symbols of Christmas in the islands are the nativity crèche and the parol (Christmas lantern). Many homes display their colorful parols outside their windows so passersby can admire the play of lights. In the old days, the parol was lighted by a candle. Churches have beautiful nativity scenes b

This video is all about a food journey in the Philippines. There are delicacies like diwal, lato and balut. There's an abundance of fresh seafoods like sweet prawns, talaba, pusit and bangus. And there are a number of local dishes like kare kare, pinakbet, pancit canton or bihon or malabon or sotanghon. I just love sweet mangoes and I'm lucky to have guavas, papayas, coconuts, and tiny bananas fluorish in my garden. For more on Philippine cuisine check out http://www.youtube.com/user/easypinoyfood. * * *

San Francisco is all decked out for the holidays. Under the tree at Nieman Marcus Victoria Secret "Give Her Sexy" Outdoor florist Macy's window Macy's window On Union Square * * * Photos by Charie

At Greenhills indoor flea market, you will find santos (religious statues), costume jewelry, authentic South Seas pearls, clothes, shoes, knock off branded handbags, Oriental furnishings, Christmas decorations, paintings, souvenirs and linens. There are stalls upon stalls of goods and you walk down narrow aisles teeming with shoppers who are at this moment doing their Christmas shopping. I was particulary interested in new costume jewelry trends and there are a variety of stones and glass beads on display. The latest is a headband made of shiny glass beads, a unique party accessory. I was pleased to find wood carvings and paintings at much more reasonable prices than elsewhere in the city, except in Divisoria which I have yet to check out. Weekends and holidays are the worst times to come though you can shop their night market during the holidays. Crowds notwithstanding, I plan to spend more time shopping for home furnishings at Greenhills after the holidays. * * * Photos by Charie