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But why be against it in the first place? We say, start embracing it! There’s definitely no shortage of good things to appreciate during these sweltering months—case in point: fruit shakes and smoothies which seem to just have an extra dash of magic in them when enjoyed during this season. 

Whether you’re planning to stay in and cool down or take a trip to the beach, everything gets so much better when you have a delicious, healthy drink in hand. Need ideas for the best summer drinks that can quench your thirst? Get your juicers and blenders ready for the recipes below.

Remember those tasty coconut juices peddled by sidewalk vendors every weekend at the park? You can easily recreate those and add an extra twist to them with this Coco Twist Smoothie Recipe infused with mint leaves and real coconut meat! Bananas and mangoes give this healthy shake natural sweetness while the refreshing coconut water ties everything together. 

1 cup coconut water 

1 cup coconut meat 

1 piece ripe mango 

2 pieces banana (saba) 

5 pieces pechay 

8 pieces mint leaves 

3 cups ice cubes

1. Wash the pechay and mint leaves thoroughly. Cut the mango and remove the skin of the banana. 

2. Put all ingredients in the Breville blender jug and process through the smoothie function. 

3. Transfer the smoothie into the glass and serve. 

What’s a beach getaway without cradling a refreshing drink in your hand while sunbathing by the sand and waves? The Watermelon Lemonade is the perfect thirst-thirst quencher with its extra fizz while the Tropical Detox Smoothie is ideal for those who want something healthy but delicious still. 

0.5 piece Yellow Watermelon 

1 piece Lemon 

1 cup Soda Water 

1. Peel the watermelon and lemon. 

2. Process the fruits using the Breville Juicer 

236 ml Almond Milk 

236 g Pineapple 

1 cup Camote Tops 

1 piece Banana 

15 g Chia Chaff 

1. Freeze pineapple chunks and peeled bananas overnight. Chill the almond milk. 

2. Wash the camote tops thoroughly. 

3. Put all ingredients in the Breville blender jug and process through the smoothie function. 

4. Transfer the smoothie into the glass and serve. 

Who says you need to go out to have fun? The Dalanghita Mojito Mocktail Slush and Quick Quencher Juice will bring the glam of summer to your home with their refreshing flavor profiles! 

1 kg Dalanghita 

1 piece Cucumber 

1 pack Mint Leaves 

1 can Soda Water (Schweppes) 

1.5 cup Honey 

1.5 cup Ice Cubes 

1. Cut dalanghita into half, squeeze in dalanghita directly into the Breville blender through the citrus cone

2. Add the cucumber, mint leaves, honey, ice cubes and sparkling water and process through the smoothie function. 

3. Transfer the drink into a margarita or mojito glass. Garnish with sliced dalanghita and mint leaves. 

0.5 piece Pineapple 

35 g Squash, Local 

1 piece Cucumber 

1 piece Chayote 

1. Wash all of the ingredients thoroughly. Juice everything and enjoy! 

Chill and lay back with your friends while sipping on these juices that will chase your thirst away. 

One Pine Day Ingredients: 

2 piece Apple 

3 piece Celery Stalk 

1 piece Lemon 

15 g Herb, Parsley 

1. Wash all of the ingredients thoroughly and peel the lemon. 

2. Process all of the produce using the Breville Juicer. 

3. Pour it into a glass and serve. 

2 piece Pear 

1 piece Cucumber 

1 piece Lemon 

3 piece Celery Stalk 

1. Wash all of the produce thoroughly. Peel the lemon. 

2. Process all of the produce using the Breville Juicer. 

3. Pour it into a glass and serve! 

Of course, it’s always a good idea to enjoy drinks that you make on your own because you can easily customize the ingredients to suit your taste and health goals, too! Fortunately, you can now easily craft your own high-quality drinks with the help of equally top-tier kitchen partners like Breville’s Juicers and Blenders. Breville Philippines’ Kinetix Twist, for example, is a superstar of a blender that can be used to create velvety cocktails and smoother smoothies thanks to its innovative central blades that blend from top to bottom. The Juice Fountain Max, on the other hand, makes whole fruit juicing as easy as 1, 2, 3 with its unique juicing disk. It can even juice whole fruits and can extract up to 30 percent more juice and 70 percent more nutrients according to the National Measurement Institute (2003, 2011). 

Jazz up your summer and beat the heat with these tasty and healthy juices that you can make in a cinch. Looking for more recipe ideas? Visit FoodThinkers by Breville for some fresh inspiration! You can also check out their website to find more about their products or follow their official Facebook and Instagram channels.

12. Seven First Kisses

13. The Boy Next Door

14. We Broke Up

15. One Sunny Day

16. Queen of the Ring

17. Secret Queen Makers

18. Last-Minute Romance

19. Welcome to Wedding Hell

20. Once Upon a Small Town

21. The Island

22. Birthcare Center

23. The Fabulous

Thurs = Maundy Thursday 

Fri = Good Friday 

Sat = Easter Saturday 

Sun = Easter Sunday 

Mon = Easter Monday 

Easter in Norway is almost a week-long holiday so many people are taking advantage of this opportunity to take off from their work and spend their entire Holy Week with their friends and family by visiting their mountain cabins or traveling abroad. This means that shopping malls and restaurants’ offers are limited, half of the restaurants in Oslo will be closed and the majority of the shops are closed. So when I was planning for our Oslo Norway trip, I made sure that we will be in Oslo before Maundy Thursday. 

Day 1 in Oslo Norway 

Our 5 Days in Stockholm Sweden have finally come to an end. On our fifth day in Stockholm, we woke up early for our morning train ride. There are so many ways to travel from Stockholm to Oslo, you can choose bus, train, airplane or drive your own car. We chose the SJ train because the central station is already in the city so less travel time. In fact, we just walk from Generator Stockholm to Stockholm Central Station, it is a long walk but doable if you want to save on transportation. 

Walking to the train station with luggage is not a problem because it was early morning so there were no people and the road was not busy yet. We had breakfast at McDonalds and went to our boarding gate. There are limited chairs so no need to be really early. Travel time is more or less 6 hours so we had our lunch on the train too. 

Read: Traveling to Oslo Norway from Stockholm Sweden 

We took a taxi from Oslo Central Station to Cochs Pensjonat since it is 1.7km away. This was our accommodation for 4 days and 3 nights. Even though this hotel is already old, I like this accommodation because of the strategic location, it is near the train station, tourist spots, cafes, restaurants, convenience stores, and even supermarkets. 

Since we have our own kitchenette, kitchenware, and fridge, we were able to save money on food. After check-in, we dashed to REMA to buy our food, drinks, and some pasalubong since my husband will be going back to the Philippines already after our Oslo Trip. Keep in mind that stores in Norway are closed on Sundays and holidays. After grocery, we prepared for dinner and rested so we have energy for our DIY Walking Tour in Oslo. 

When I was planning this Scandinavian Trip, I planned to purchase Oslo Pass so we can save money but after our experience with Stockholm Pass and when I learned that not all attractions and museums will be open on Easter, I decided not to avail of the Oslo Pass. But this doesn’t mean that we did not enjoy our trip because there are still tourist spots that we can visit and we chose the FREE tourist spots. Hehehe! I mentioned before that our accommodation is near Royal Palace so that was our first stop for our walking tour. 

The Royal Palace Park 

The Royal Palace 

Karl Johans Gate 

University of Oslo Building 

National Theater 

Stortinget 

Oslo Cathedral 

Oslo Central Station 

Tiger 

Oslo Opera House 

Akershus Castle 

Akershus Fortress 

Read: Day 2 in Oslo Norway 

Day 3 in Norway 

Our third day is another walking tour, we just planned to visit Vigeland Sculpture Park but since we still have the energy to walk, we visited other tourist spots. We had late lunch at Asian Box. 

Frogner Park 

Vigeland Sculpture Park 

Oslo City Hall 

Nobel Peace Center 

Aker Brygge Wharf 

Last day in Oslo and vacation is already over, my husband will travel back to the Philippines while my son and I will stay in my mom’s place. You can travel to Trondheim from Oslo via air, sea, land, and rail. We usually travel by plane but for a change, we chose the train so we don’t need to ride different transportations. If we chose an airplane, we still need to ride a train, plane, and bus just to reach the Ferry Boat Terminal. 

Travel time is 7 hours but I have no regrets because if you travel by train, no check-in is needed, and no luggage allowance. The train ride is more comfortable and relaxing because you have more legroom and you can enjoy the scenery. Our train ride is like a feast in the eyes, Oslo to Trondheim is indeed a scenic journey. So if you are not in a hurry, try riding a train too so you will enjoy Norway’s nature. 

Our Scandinavian Trip has finally come to an end and I was glad that we were able to pursue this trip. This was our first time traveling to 3 countries in one trip and our longest family vacation so far. I am thankful for the experience because I don’t know when we can do it again. 

Even though I did not plan anything, yesterday we had a Day Trip to Stugudalen and as usual, I will blog about that next time. Flashback Friday, so I’m just going to reminisce about our past Holy Week trip. Our Scandinavian trip, started in Elverum Norway, next is Copenhagen, Denmark and our third stop is Stockholm Sweden. There are different ways to travel to Sweden from Denmark, we can drive, we can fly, or we can take the bus or train. This time we chose train because I wanted to experience traveling to another country via train. Travel time is only 5 hours and 20 minutes so it is still time and cost-efficient. 

We took a taxi from Stockholm Central Train Station to reach Generator Stockholm Hotel because according to the map, it is almost 1 km away from the station. This hotel is also near Arlanda Express, restaurants, and some tourist spots. There is no guest kitchen but they have a restaurant, cafe, and bar. A convenience store is just in front of the hotel and there are restaurants within the area so you won’t starve.

Since we arrived late on our first day, we no longer have time to roam around. We just went out for dinner after our check-in and we immediately went back to our hotel to sleep. 

I have limited time in planning for our Scandinavian trip so I have no itinerary for Stockholm Sweden. Just like in Copenhagen, we availed of the Stockholm Pass, which includes free admission to 45 popular tourist spots and free use of tourist buses and tourist boats. The sightseeing card includes Stockholm Pass Guidebook, which I also use to plan for our next day's trip. 

We took the first boat trip to Drottningholm Palace and the first boat trip too to go back to Stockholm City Hall. The travel time is one hour per way. The place is big so if you want to maximize the trip, you need to take the first and last boat trip. But since we wanted to explore other places, we went back early. We did not bother to check the Stockholm City Hall since we wanted to avail the Stockholm Panorama Bus Tour. This tour gave us an idea of what to see and what to do in Stockholm Sweden. 

Our Stockholm Pass includes the free tourist bus but unfortunately, the bus did not arrive on time and we waited for over an hour. We wasted a lot of time waiting for the complimentary bus and we couldn't wait anymore so we just took a taxi so we can start our tour. At this moment, iniisip ko na sana hindi na lang ako nag-avail ng Stockholm Pass kung mapapagastos din naman pala kami sa taxi. And because of that, we only visited two tourist spots, Vasa Museum and Skansen. 

Skansen is an open-air museum and it is also big so we haven’t explored the whole place but we still enjoy our time in this museum. But if you have kids in tow, it is better to spend more time here so you can also join different activities for kids. 

Day 4 was our last chance to explore Stockholm and we did not want to waste it anymore so we decided not to take the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus. It was a good decision because we were able to do a lot of activities.

You can travel to Oslo Norway from Stockholm Sweden via car, plane, bus, or train. We chose the SJ train again, unfortunately, there are only two train schedules so we chose the morning schedule which is 9:10AM. Travel time is around 6 hours. Since we’ve been walking a lot for the last few days, we did not take a taxi anymore and we just walked from Generator Stockholm to Stockholm Central Station with our luggage in tow. We had breakfast at McDonalds and went to the boarding gate to wait for our train.

Sweden is the first country where we did not use any cash, we just use our credit cards for everything even for the paid comfort rooms. For our Free Stockholm Tour, we gave different currencies for tips since the tour guide accepts any currencies. 

Vallersund Gård or Vallersund Farm was an old coastal trading center but since 1981, it is known as a Camphill Village. This place was based on Rudolf Steiner and Karl König’s “Anthroposophy” (wisdom of human being). The village’s main goal is to have a community where people can realize their full potential and feel that they are needed in this world. People with and without special needs form this housing community, they work together on the farm, vegetable gardens, workshops, and do household chores. There is a workshop here for people with disabilities between 18 and 25 years old. 

This place is like a self-sufficient community because they plant and harvest their own crops. They take care of farm animals like cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens. They pick flowers and herbs which they dry and prepare to produce tasty products. They also have a bakery where they baked pieces of bread and pastries. And lastly, they have their own weaving mill where they weave textile products. You can buy their products at their shop. I already blogged about this place, five years ago so you can read more information here. 

Just like in Austrått, there are so many things that you can do in Vallersund Farm. If you like hiking or climbing mountains, then visit the Unite Hope Angel or Angel of Peace. This angel was sculptured by Lehna Edwall, a Swedish artist. This project began in the year 2005 and its goal is to spread love, light and hope to all mankind. The first seven Unite Hope Angels were simultaneously set up in different countries such as Australia, Canada, Mali, Peru, Russia, and Vanuatu. The angel that you see in Vallersund is the 13th angel, you can read about our hiking experience here. 

Five years ago, we had already seen this windmill at Vallersund Gård but we were already exhausted after climbing the mountain just to see the Unite Hope Angel so we did not bother to check the windmill view. But last month, we revisited this place and were able to see the beautiful view from the other side. 

I don’t like hiking so my mom tried to persuade me that this is worth a hike and she even said, na hindi lahat nakakakita ng windmill. But I immediately told her na meron kami windmill sa Ilocos. Hehehe! Anyway, these windmills supply energy throughout Vallersund Gård. From afar, you can see the bridge and islets.

Read: 4 Days Trip in Vigan, Laoag, and Pagudpud 

We made a quick stopover to take a picture of Jøssund Bridge. This is a single suspension bridge that was built in 1939 in replacement of the 1907 old bridge. This place is a favorite fishing spot for both Norwegians and tourists during summer days. You can catch saithe, kelp, and salmon. 

 

On our way home, we noticed some street art and according to my mom, it was painted by a famous artist. As per my research, it was painted by Asbjørn Rødberg, all paintings have a local coastal culture theme.