Monthly Archives: May 2016

Comparing broth at Pho Viet and Pho Cali

I included these pics with my reviews

I included these pics with my reviews

I just posted reviews on Yelp for Pho Viet and Pho Cali.  I was bummed  Pho Viet changed their broth recipe.  it’s still good, it’s just no longer so intense and delicious that I crave it.  I gave both restaurants 4 stars. I wrote: “The staff at Pho Viet were formerly at Pho Cali on Wickham Road, where I dined weekly 2008 – 2015. When Pho Viet opened, I saw my favorite pho and tom yum soups were made by the same cook. I knew and liked the staff, so Pho Viet became my new favorite place.

 Pho Viet is back to their original dark flavorful broth so they're back to being the fave!

Pho Viet is back to their original dark flavorful broth so they’re back to being the fave!

In March 2016 I noticed the broth recipe changed. It went from a deep brown color and intensely flavored spicy, beefy broth to a light and mild flavor. I asked about it each time, thinking it was a lighter chicken broth in error. It wasn’t, diners had complained about the sodium, I was told. I returned to Pho Cali today and their pho broth and tom yum soup were both as intensely flavored as ever. Their prices are comparable, their stir fry, rice and noodle dishes comparable, but I go for the pho and tom yum. And for them, it has to be Pho Cali. For anything else, Pho Viet is my choice because it’s good food at a fair price and I know everyone there.”

UPDATE 6-8-16: Pho Viet is back to their original dark flavorful broth so they’re back to being the fave! 

Andrea D’s reviews on Yelp
My Yelp review for Pho Bolsa in Palm Bay, FL 
Andreahug’s reviews on TripAdvisor.com

 

The June 2016 Horizons is now online, here are the horoscopes

The June Horizons is now online at http://horizonsmagazine.com/mags_online/6-16-Issue.pdf.  As of  2016, we are honored to have nationally known Maya White doing the monthly horoscopes. Maya White is a Master Destination Astrologer and one of only 90 people in the world certified in Astro*Carto*Graphy, a specialized branch of astrology which helps people find their perfect place on earth for love, prosperity, and personal growth.

Maya White

Maya White

Visit Maya’s website and for an introduction to Maya White, read here http://horizonsmagazine.com/blog/introducing-horizons-new-astrologer-maya-white/  Contact her and ask what she might do for you.  Here are the June 2016 horoscopes:

 

Continue reading

Help a stranger or keep your distance?

A Facebook friend wrote on the Palm Bay Crime Watch page that a young woman knocked on her door, said she was a neighbor’s daughter locked out and asked for a ride to her mom’s work to get the key.  Mom of course not “at work,” she caught on that she might be being set up for a robbery. She dropped the woman off and returned home. So, how do you know when to help a stranger and when to keep a distance? There’s always a fine line, isn’t there, between wanting to do the right thing and be a good samaritan, yet stay safe and leave people to the consequences of the choices they made before they knocked on your door. You have to ask yourself, “Why does this person have no one but a random stranger to ask for help? Where are their friends, or anyone else who knows them?” Sure, maybe it’s “Jesus in disguise” (isn’t everyone?) but who knows what lesson this particular “Jesus” may have in store for you today?  What determines how you will respond? These are good soul searching questions to ask yourself while keeping your doors locked.   Continue reading

Questions for Wayne Dyer’s 10 Secrets For Success and Inner Peace

A friend reminded me of Wayne Dyer’s book 10 Secrets For Success and Inner Peace, Here are some questions. I love answering questions like these because it helps me know who I really am and what I really believe.  After you’ve answered the self discovery questions, here are the 10 secrets. http://www.slideshare.net/…/10-secrets-of-successful-life     Continue reading

Divorce or make hot and sour soup?

A client had been waiting to tell her husband she wanted a divorce. They had no problems but she was bored and no longer felt the love. We talked for a year then I didn’t hear from her until tonight. She said we’d ended our last call discussing how to make hot and sour soup and I’d given her a link to the recipe from my website. She’d spent the last year perfecting her hot and sour soup and getting unexpectedly jazzed about cooking. And her husband? They’re fine. She didn’t necessarily need a divorce. She just needed a change of focus, she just needed to reignite a passion to reconnect with her soul. From that connected place, everything she looked at appeared differently and she realized she was living heaven on earth.

RECIPE: Andrea’s Hot and Sour Soup

Memorial Day Retreat May 27-29, 2016 Yoga Shakti Mission in Palm Bay, FL

Beginning 4:00pm today Friday, May 27 there is a Memorial Day Retreat this weekend at the Yoga Shakti Mission in Palm Bay, FL with Mokshapriya Shakti.
Theme: Compare the teachings of Patanjali’s Yoga Darshan and the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Both scriptures will be studied and the message of each will be meditated upon.  Picture above: The Durga Temple

REGISTRATION: $130 per person or $190 for families
WHEN: 4 pm on Friday May 22nd until 2 pm on Sunday May 24th.
WHERE: Yogashakti Mission 3895 Hield Road, Palm Bay FL 32907. (321) 725-4024
MEALS: Delicious and wholesome home-cooked vegetarian meals will be served each day.
WHAT TO BRING: Sleeping pad or blankets, sheets, loose comfortable clothes, towel, yoga mat, pen and notebook.
E-MAIL: yogashaktipalmbay@gmail.com to register or call 321-725-4024
Visit http://yogashakti.org

Digestion is like building a campfire

As I get older, I make it a point to keep active with physical tasks and to eat light to be fuel efficient.  At 64 I have no health problems. I take no medication, do little caffeine and no alcohol. When my system is overloaded, it’s not just that I can pack on extra pounds, it’s that my body is the vehicle that allows me to move around in this world.  The fuel I put into it determines how easily and how long I can do that.  When I use food like I use firewood – adding to the fire only the amount of wood that is needed when it is needed – the more easily it is converted to fuel for me, and the more efficiently it burns.  This fuel is what I use to feed ALL of my biological processes – everything, for all organs and body parts, so it’s important.    Continue reading

I react to an old trigger

I experienced an interesting exercise yesterday watching myself react to old triggers. A pal and I were driving when I spotted a former friend walking north on Emerson Drive. I knew who it was from a block away by the walk, by the clothes. As I passed him, he had a look that I recognized well. He looked completely luded out.  I did a U turn and passed him again. He was sitting under a tree in someone’s yard.  He looked straight toward me and I’ve seen that face enough to know it well. Bipolar, most who know him haven’t seen the down side, they see only the up moods, the faux charm, the manic “on” personality. I saw both for 2 years.  My first thought was he needs to not be walking around like that. My second thought was, “it’s not my job to know what he should be doing.” I went home and thought no more about it.  Later, as I was gardening in the front yard, I found myself glancing up the street and at my driveway. I began to feel uneasy. Back in the day he’d spook me by watching just out of sight. He holds grudges for years and plots payback. It doesn’t matter if there’s a monster in the bushes or if I only think there’s a monster in the bushes;  either way, for peace of mind I should get out of the bushes. I went inside and thought no more about it.  I woke at 3:00am and walked outside for a nighttime stroll around the hood.  As I neared the street, however, I felt uneasy.  I didn’t feel safe walking around in the dark. I wondered if my former friend had been by. For a year he lived across the street at his mom’s, who was my friend for 20 years. For that year I stopped walking at night. He now lives a mile south, so it’s still on his radar. He’d been out walking — when he hates to walk — and he was looking in a bad way. Not what I’d want to run into and certainly not alone in the middle of the night. He’s a troubled individual. I hope he gets the help he needs. And if I feel in danger, I need to look within and see what it is in me that is attracting those thoughts and what I can learn from it. And as always, I trust in God and tie my camel.
monster in bushes quote

Mild winter = mild hurricane season

We’ve had a mild winter again this year. It’s a sign we will not have active hurricanes hit in our area and, if they do, it won’t be major. Remember that when the seasons starts, doesn’t matter how many they say are forming, it never fails. Do NOT be alarmed if they forecast an active hurricane season. While that may mean a lot of storms forming, it does NOT mean they are around long or that they even make landfall. If they do, it does NOT mean they make landfall near you. If they make landfall near you, it does NOT mean it causes you or anyone you know big physical or financial loss or damage. Just remember these things are as true as anything the meteorologists say.

RELATED: The phases of the moon drive hurricane behavior
RELATED: Mandatory evacuation, surviving Hurricane Frances, being the Vision Keeper
Andrea’s experiences with hurricanes and tropical storms
Be a vision keeper during the hurricanes
The phases of the moon drive hurricane behavior
Don’t add to the fear about hurricanes
Remember an active hurricane season doesn’t mean any will make landfall
I emailed news stations about a no cost plan for viewers to help with the hurricanes; global coherence
My Facebook posts for the Hurricane Matthew timeline
 

Being the Observer allows you to put on new glasses

eyeglasses natureWhen I first got glasses, I was surprised and delighted to see the individual leaves on trees, I could see the birds in the branches, the bunnies at the side of the road, the butterfly on the walk. An entire new world opened up, a world that had been there all along but unseen by me. I could hear others talk about it, I could imagine it but I didn’t actually experience it. Once my vision was corrected, I could see everything in front of me clearly. It literally expanded my world. I became interested in macro photography, photographing nature close up. It let me experience a world I’d previously been unaware of. I was shocked at how full this new world was, huge communities of plants and animals I had no idea were there before, all in constant communication. A thriving world, parallel to mine, was suddenly opened to me that put my entire life into perspective. Having a spiritual awakening is like that. Awakening in consciousness simply means a broadening of perception, a deepening in realization of a larger world around you than you were previously aware of. Some of these are subtle worlds that you encounter only as you become increasingly still and quiet. Don’t be envious when others describe what they experience. Everyone’s happening is different. Don’t feel you have to compete with the exaggerated claims of friends. You’ll learn the more you see, the less you feel the need to speak of it.  Oh everyone does at first, but with time and practice you learn that as the silent Observer, you experience something that is unavailable to one who thinks and speaks. The act of forming words and speaking them drops you out of the state of consciousness that is available to the Observer. The Observer state can happen spontaneously, and is also the result of successful meditation. My daily practice allows me enter the Observer state twice a day, bringing me back to center.  From that center, the world I find myself in is wildly multidimensional and expressive, rich and immensely fulfilling.

RELATED: Andrea’s Meditation Process and links