More Mendez, Cavite planning pics

flower garden
view from the japanese-style prayer room

bamboo trees

japanese inspired room
flowers -

coffee beans

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Organic Overnight

bahay kubo
swan lake?? nyehe
culturing mushrooms

My officemates and I went to the Women’s Center and Ecology Farm in Mendez, Cavite for an overnight planning session last February 7 to 8.

According to the brief backgrounder on the venue, the farm is almost self-contained, generating methane gas from animal farm wastes, getting water using a windmill, and recycling water for farm maintenance (Hence, Pantene is not allowed, only herbal soaps and shampoos are to be used for bathing. This made us wonder whether the water we were drinking that morning was the recycled version of the water we used to take a bath).

The 2.3 hectare property has two English-type buildings that were constructed using recycled materials from St. Scholastica’s school in Manila. It has vegetable gardens, a tree house, butterfly cage, bahay kubo (nipa hut) and an orchard. The staff serves only organically grown, farm cooked food. After a whole day of healthy eating (including organic pechay salad and mushroom burger), I wanted to head out to McDonalds to buy a quarterpounder.

My Favorite Travel Quotes

Travelling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it." -Cesare Pavese

"Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone." -The Dhammapada

"I think that wherever your journey takes you, there are new gods waiting there, with divine patience -- and laughter." -Susan M. Watkins

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." –- Henry Miller

"We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and the untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey."

"Experience, travel - these are as education in themselves," - Euripides

"Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection." - Lawrence Durrell

Nostalgic in summer

Every time summer draws near, I can’t help but feel nostalgic about the past trips I took. With 7,107 islands to boast of, it will certainly take you years to explore the whole Philippine archipelago. This country, poor, battered and chaotic as it may appear, is certainly not lacking in natural resources and riches. I realized this during a trip to Sentosa Island in Singapore, the first time I saw a man-made beach. Looking at bikini-clad girls and boys in skimpy trunks frolicking in the water, I actually felt pity for them – wallowing in fake sand and fake seawater. They looked as if they were reveling in the best beach in the world when where I come from, people in the provinces have the luxury of making a choice between plunging in a majestic waterfall or taking a dip in the cerulean sea.

If you want a good mix of sun (with a beautiful sunset to boot), powdery white sand (that never gets too hot like most beach sands do), clear waters teeming with fishes, fun activities (in the water and in the island – snorkeling, island hopping, diving, jet skiing, horseback riding, golf, biking, spelunking, sandcastle viewing, beach parties are just some that comes to mind), and amenities (from backpacker budgets to first class requirements), then Boracay Island is for you.

But if you want to enjoy snorkeling in peace, head off to what is known as the last frontier – Palawan. Here, you have tons of choices..you can go to limestone laden El Nido islands, or Honda bay island, or Coco Loco Island. I can’t seem to find the exact words to describe these places right now, but will surely write my experiences in the future, including how we were able to spend only P10,000 (including airfare and photo developing expenses) for the whole one-week explore-Palawan-on-a-budget trip with my friends. The above photos were the ones I took during our 2001 trip-- 1) Lagen Island -- one of the two exclusive resorts in El Nido. Obviously, we did not stay here, I just took a photo, he-he 2) Limestone island formations while onboard the boat, still in El Nido 3) Sunset on luli (lulubog lilitaw) island, one of the many that can be found in Honda Bay...that's Armi striking a wrestler pose while carrying the bag of garbage we patiently picked up 4) Still on luli island 5) El Nido again....(the Boracay Pic links were taken from the Phil tourism site)

more thaiglish

photos courtesy of hayley