L.O.A.S.H’s Guide to (nearly) Everything: Arduino Color Lamp Mixer!

Quote of awesomeness: “Is not about creating an object. It is about creating a perspective.” ~ Albert Paley

Level of hardness: intermediate (You can do this!)

Heyyy!!!! Here’s another Arduino project for you!

For this project, you will need the following:

• 1x Arduino UNO Board
• 1x USB Cable Type A/B
• 1x Breadboard
• 1x RGB LED 
• 3x 220-Ohm Resistor
• 3x 10k-Ohm Resistor
• 3x Photoresistors
• 13x Jumper Wires

 

Step 1:

The first step is two connect your breadboard to your Arduino and it should look something like the photo above. Then, add your RGB LED to your breadboard. 

Step 2:

 

Next, you need to grab another wire and connect the other positive lane of the breadboard to the negative lane on the other side of the breadboard.

 

Step 3:

In this step, we will be placing the three 220-Ohm Resistors to three of the legs of the RGB LED. You will only be placing the resistors on the R, G and B of the RGB LED, this will leave you with one leg unconnected.

 

Step 4:

For this step, you will be needing four wires. Remember I told you that you were left with one leg of the RGB LED which isn’t connected? Well, it’s time to connect it now! Place one end of the wire to the remaining leg of the RGB LED then place the other end to the negative lane of the board. In the photo, the wire which I used for this connection is white.

With the other three wires, connect it to each of the 220-ohm resistors. Then, connect the other end of the wires to the Arduino 9, 19, and 11.

 

Step 5:

Let’s place the photo-resistors on the breadboard so that they cross the center divide from one side to the other. 

 

Step 6:

Now, connect the 10k-Ohm resistors to one side of the photo-resistors and the other side to the negative lane of the breadboard.

 

Step 7:

Taking three other wires, connect it between the photo-resistor and the 10k-Ohm resistor then connect the other end to the Analog In pins 0, 1, and 2 on the Arduino.

 

Step 8:

Going on the other side of the photo-resistor, connect each leg to the positive lane of the Arduino with three wires.

Your result should look something like this!

 

Step 9:

This is the final step! Connect your Arduino to your computer, fire up your Arduino and copy paste in the following code:

const int greenLEDPin = 9;
const int redLEDPin = 11;
const int blueLEDPin = 10;

const int redSensorPin = A0;
const int greenSensorPin = A1;
const int blueSensorPin = A2;

int redValue = 0;
int greenValue = 0;
int blueValue = 0;

int redSensorValue = 0;
int greenSensorValue = 0;
int blueSensorValue = 0;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);

pinMode(greenLEDPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(redLEDPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(blueLEDPin, OUTPUT);

}

void loop() {
redSensorValue = analogRead(redSensorPin);
delay(5);
greenSensorValue = analogRead(greenSensorPin);
delay(5);
blueSensorValue = analogRead(blueSensorPin);

Serial.print(“Raw Sensor Value \t Red: “);
Serial.print(redSensorValue);
Serial.print(“\t Green: “);
Serial.print(greenSensorValue);
Serial.print(“\t Blue: “);
Serial.print(blueSensorValue);

redValue = redSensorValue/4;
greenValue = greenSensorValue/4;
blueValue = blueSensorValue/4;

Serial.print(“Mapped Sensor Values \t Red: “);
Serial.print(redValue);
Serial.print(“\t Green: “);
Serial.print(greenValue);
Serial.print(“\t Blue: “);
Serial.println(blueValue);

analogWrite(redLEDPin, redValue);
analogWrite(greenLEDPin, greenValue);
analogWrite(blueLEDPin, blueValue);
}

 

Then watch as your RGD LED comes to life! It should change, mix and fade in different colours as the light around it changes, too! Awesome, right?? Yeah, it totally is.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

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 © Elizabeth Anne Villoria 

 

L.O.A.S.H’s Guide to (nearly) Everything: How to Make an Arduino Robot Arm

Level of hardness: Intermediate

I’m so excited!

This project is just extremely awesome and awe-spiring that I can’t wait for you guys to try it out!

We. Are. Going. To. Make. An. Arduino. Robot. Arm!!!!!! I know, I know super cool. Now, without further ado, let’s jump right into this project.

The following are what you will need to gather:

• 1x Arduino UNO Board
• 1x Breadboard
• 1x USB Cable Type A/B
• 2x Button
• 2x 10k-Ohm Resistor
• 3x Potentiometer
• 5x LED (A.K.A light-emitting diode, A.K.A miniature looking light bulb-ish)
• 5x 220 Ohm Resistor
• 20x Jumper Wires

Step 1:

First, let’s start by putting the potentiometers, the buttons, and the LED’s on our breadboard.

We will be placing 3 potentiometers, 2 buttons, and 5 LED’s. For your reference, the photo above can help. Yes, I did say 5 LED’s but I forgot to place the fifth LED in this photo, but you should put 5.

Here are some important basics to understand about an LED:

Cathode (-, shorter side)

Anode (+, longer side)

Step 2:

RESISTORS. Resistors. resistors.

Here, in this photo, I’ve put 5 LED’s

Place five of your 220 Ohm Resistors on each of the Anodes (+) sides of each of your LED’s and the other end of the resistor to the negative side lane on your breadboard which we will later connect to the GND on your Arduino board. I’ve placed another photo above showing where I’ve placed my 220 Ohm Resistors.

Here, I circled each of the legs (Anode side) which I connected my 220 Ohm Resistors to

Now, take both of your 10k-Ohm Resistors. You will have to place one side of your resistor to only one of the button’s leg. Do this for both buttons. Here is another picture but of the buttons and resistor placing.

We have finished placing all the resistors we will be needing in this project. You guys are doing an awesome job, btw!

Step 3:

This step will be really quick.

All we need to is get two jumper wires, first. Then, connect the Negative lane on your breadboard to your GND on your Arduino, and, the positive lane of on your breadboard to the 5V on your Arduino (you can find this right beside the GND, usually).

Here is the overview of everything so far

Done with this step. Great job!

Step 4:

For this step, you will be needing 5 of your jumper wires.

We will be connecting each of the LED’s on the breadboard onto the Arduino UNO board with your jumper wires.

Here is the first LED I connected. We will be connected the other leg (cathode, shorter side) of the LEDs to these numbers on the Arduino in order:

• 2
• 3
• 4
• 7
• 8

I will also be numbering the LEDs on the next photo so that it will be easier to know which we will be connecting to which.

This shows where I connected my jumper wires to the LEDs

We will connect:

• LED 1 to 2 on the Arduino board
• LED 2 to 3 on the Arduino board
• LED 3 to 4 on the Arduino board
• LED 4 to 7 on the Arduino board
• LED 5 to 8 on the Arduino board

Step 5:

I know that wiring could be a tedious job but it’s okay because I know you can do it.

Wiring is very important because it connects. It works as that bridge that can help cars go back and forth and connect with other cities. If you have a bulb and a power source you can’t just put it beside each other or clink it together to light the bulb up (even that would be super cool if that’s how easy it was), you need to connect it through wires. So, let’s continue? Yes.

In this step, we will be wiring the buttons and the potentiometers.

Here in this photo I got two jumper wires and connected one end to the remaining unconnected leg of the buttons and connected the other side of the jumper wire to the positive (+) lane on the breadboard

That was easy, wasn’t it?

We are nearly done!

Let’s start wiring the potentiometers now.

For the potentiometer, it’s going to be slightly harder.

In this photo, I’ve connected 3 jumper wires to the right side of the potentiometer then connected the other end of the wire to the Negative lane of the breadboard (A.K.A GND).

And, then, I got 3 more wires and connected it to the left side of my potentiometer then connected the other end to the Positive Lane on the breadboard.

I’ve added the numbers on top of each potentiometer so that it’s easier to understand how to connect it to the Arduino.

As you may see on the picture to your left, I’ve added 3 white jumper wires to each of the middles of the potentiometers because we will connect this to the Arduino Board. Connect potentiometer 1 to the A0 on the Arduino UNO Board | Connect potentiometer 2 to the A1 on the Arduino UNO Board | Connect Potentiometer 3 to the A3 on the Arduino UNO Board.

Step 6:

In this step, grab two more jumper wires and connect both ends of the lanes on each side of the breadboard to each other. I used the black and red wire here.

You will need to connect the Negative lanes on each side to each other and the Positive lane on each side to each other.

Tada! Next step.

Step 7:

Seeeeervoooo Moooootooooors.

We are nearing the last of our steps. KEEP GOING!

We will add the servo motors to our breadboard and I put mine side by side to each other.

I connected three jumper wires each for three of my servos, meaning 9 jumper wires in total.

About servo motors in Arduino:

• They usually have 3 plug pins (this is where I connected my jumper wires to)

Take a look at your servo motor. You will probably notice there are three colored wires. Each color represents 3 different things. The colors could actually be different sometimes but, as you see here, my colors are brown, red, and yellow.

• The brown is the Ground/Negative (-)
• The red is Positive (+) [This wire is usually located at the center of all the three wires]
• The yellow is the Signal

Your wires on your servo motors might be different and you might be thinking “WHAT!?!?” but it’s okay (that’s what I thought too) here is how you can compare it to mine to find the similarities:

• The Ground/Negative is usually | Black or Brown (in my case, it’s brown)
• The Positive is always Red
• The Signal can be either | Orange, Yellow, or White (in my case, it’s Yellow)

Better?

Awesome, let’s proceed.

These are what you need to connect with your Servos:

• Connect each of the GND/Negative (Black or brown wire) on each of your servo motors to the positive lane on your breadboard (I used a white jumper wire, check the photo above for reference)
• Connect each of the Positive (Red wire) on each of your servo motors to the negative lane on your breadboard (I used an orange jumper wire)
• Lastly, connect each of the signals (Orange, Yellow, or white wire) of your servo motors to: 5, 6, and, 9 on your Arduino

I know it’s a bit of a mess. But, there are three wires that you can find colored: 1x black & 2x green. These are the wires that connect to the Arduino

Step 8:

This is our last time! Congratulations!!!

Connect your Arduino to your computer, fire up the Arduino app on your computer, copy paste the code below and press Upload.

Now, the challenge whether you choose to accept it or not is to build your own robot arm out of cardboard or you can check this —-> here which was made by Ryan Chan. Shoutout to him, btw. I hope you enjoyed this! I certainly had an awesome time and I hope you did, too!

You can teach others and share your awesome knowledge on building an arduino robot arm, I give some bragging rights.

Thanks so much for reading!

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Tech Museum

Quote of awesomeness: “What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing” ~ Aristotle

YOU CAN BUILD ROBOTS… ROBOTS!

Okay, okay, let’s go back to the beginning.

<<<<<< reversing time <<<<<<

We went to this museum in San Jose at the heart of Silicon Valley called Tech Museum. You have to visit, go now, like I’m not joking. Joke. Finish this blog first. Anyways, this museum is made up of plenty of different things and we’re just about to dive into it any moment now.

Ticket Prices for Museum:

Adult: $24

Student/Senior 65+: $19

Child (3-17): $19

There is an Education IMAX center which is a separate payment and is excluded when you pay for the museum. But, if you would like to check out the IMAX (I haven’t gone to this one but it looks cool beans) there are different fees and combos you can check at their website The Tech.

 IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t lose your ticket and keep it ready to use because most of the machines, videos and most activities will need the barcode on your ticket to activate (awesome stuff)

Top Floor

ANN & JOHN DOERR PRESENT BODY WORLDS DECODED

Our first stop which we went to, was the top floor where one side was actual bodies where they are posing in a specific way and the skin isn’t there so all you can see is the muscle. Sure, it’s not the best site to see but these people (Eight of them here to be exact) donated they’re bodies for the sake of science and for us to learn, so while respecting them, let’s start learning more. This area had the actual heart, lungs and the even the nervous system. 

LEARNING HUBS

When you leave the BODY WORLDS DECODED part of the top floor, you will pass by 5 small hubs located at the sides. These hubs were addressing a few and specific major problems which also have videos in each hub consisting of the problem, solution and the impact. It was hard to watch especially for my younger sisters, Chloe and Beatrize, who learned how so many families and kids their ages, our ages, were in need of urgent help.

REBOOT REALITY: a digital experience lab

The other end was way cooler than my mind expected. There were stations of interactive VR which looked extremely fun. A VR is also known as Virtual Reality. It’s a headset which you place over your eyes and this amazing piece of technology transports you to a totally different universe, place or world. There was this one station where you lie down facing downward, wear the VR, and put your hands through these two sort of flap looking like thing which lays at your sides. Anyways, there is a display screen which shows everyone what the person who is riding and wearing the vp can see. He was transported to the clouds, over the buildings and transformed as……. a bird! The flap things I mentioned that were located at the sides of the person using it were his wings. He had to flap it to fly higher and when he didn’t flap he went lower, also her had to turn his body slightly to the left or vise versa when trying to dodge the buildings. It was also really funny to see. There were other stations of VR as well but everything was occupied, unfortunately for us. TIP: If you want to make sure you would have your turn at the VR stations I suggest booking online beforehand. But, if you do find yourself in this situation where you aren’t able to book it and the interactive VR’s are not available there is a small area where you can just check a VR and see some of our “future buildings”. 

INNOVATIONS IN HEALTH CARE

Once you zoom past then digital experience lab, there is a small hall which leads you to a section of innovations which have been created and games. There were about 5-6 large looking iPads on the walls and each had a problem and the solutions that were found. The five things which you had the option to select from was: 

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[For example the problem is vaccinations]

1. FIND YOUR WHY (This is the problem)

– There are plenty of kids and adults who are in need of vaccinations but they hurt right? 

2. IMAGINE (What the problem is and what needs to be changed)

– Yes, they are the most commonly used. But, did you know that 20% of the population fears needles (I certainly am part of this percent who gets the wobbly legs for needles) and avoid getting their supposedly rightfully needed vaccination? Also, there are about 1.3 million deaths each year caused by accidental needle sticks which causes infection to the person giving the shot. Terrible, I know. Another thing is these needles have to be stores in a cold place but this is a challenge for some areas around the world as electricity that could be relied on is lacking. So much requirements for this needle which most of our world’s population don’t enjoy to have.

3. CREATE

LUCKY for us, Mark Kendall (a biomedical engineer) has created a vaccination device which needles nor refrigerators don’t even come into the vocabulary. 

4. TEST

This invention is even more effective compared to the traditional shots, and it consisted of: a square, silicon Nanopatch which measures 1 Square cm, covered with 20,000 tiny spikes coated with vaccine. There is no pain and it’s way for efficient.

5. REFLECT AND SHARE

---

 

I give a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Mark Kendall because creating such a device as this is a tipping point for injections. And, I haven’t tried this silicon patch yet but I want to try to get my vaccination this way.

THE GAMES

OKAY, enough talk about needles and those stuff let’s talk more about the games they had!

Fuuuuuuun Fact: Dog’s sense of smell is over 10,000 times better than yours and they have 50 times more receptors than humans. And, we humans, detect odor chemicals in the air with these receptors. So, imagine having your sense of smell * 50, no wonder dogs have such sensitivity to the faintest smells.

Game #1: Sniff it out

I played this one game with my sister where you sniff from this hole and you have to identify what it is and choose your answer on the computer provided. It was funny because the deeper you went into the game the more intense it is. And, believe me when I say this, when you see your sibling or your friend or anyone repeatedly pressing on the button to release the smell, then, sniffing hard and bringing your nose closer on the scent and looking around with a Sherlock Holmes look while their nose turn slightly red from inhaling in too much just to distinct whether it was grass mixed bubblegum or popcorn, you can’t help but give out a good ‘ol laugh. It’s hilarious, really.

 Game #2: Surgery

I don’t exactly know why it’s called surgery but….oh well. This activity is played better with two people. On the table, each person would sit on the opposite side of each other while facing each other. Person No.1 would have the blocks on their side, while Person No.2 would have the instructions on how to build and what you will be building. There are a few choices you can pick from the instruction manual like: a skyscraper, a train, tower 1, and more. Basically, Person No.2 would just instruct Person No.1 using words and specifics. It is a fun game but can be challenging.

Game #3

This game consists of two challenges which you can pick from. The first one you have your blocks and a timer. You can have to build a house with a roof under an amount of seconds while closing you eyes. The second challenge is to make a building which has a weight of only 8oz. Don’t worry there is a small platform located at the side of the table where you place your building to measure the ounces. The challenge in this one is to only put one block on the pressure plate. It’s awesome especially if you’re practicing on balancing blocks on each piece.

THE LABS

[I’m going to add a story effect because it’s cooler that way]

You venture forward leaving the games behind and wonder how much longer the top floor has left, but it’s not like a bad thing because it’s just too fun. BUT THEN, you peer down on your watch or your phone and see the time veering towards lunch time. You look up and think to yourself “I’m not even that hungry anyway” but then another thought comes through your mind “I want to see the bottom floor of them museum” as you look to the lower ground and see the other activities which lies ahead. As all these things travel about in your mind, you find your feet suddenly stopping. Before you can complain there are bright colors and so much movement and motion which take place and distract you. You’ve just stopped at the lab. On your right, there are colors and machines which don’t seem familiar to you and a sign which says “living colors” also to your left you see a- your thoughts got interrupted once again but by someone else, “Hi!” A voice behind calls, you swerve around with a smile planted on your face and greet back [okay, story time over]….. we were greeted by yet another kind staff which showed us how to create these germs digitally which you can test and try out. There were about four more other stations which we’re occupied and we even programmed it like: When release red, turn into blue, or, when with stranger (like a germ which it isn’t familiar with) then turn fuzzy .

Bottom Floor

SPIES AND HACKS 

We first ran to this whole section which gave out a Spy and Hack type of vibe which really just temporarily blinded everything else around it once I saw it and stood out (in a good way) so we had to go to it first. 

a hidden message 

There are three steps which we carefully went through in order to the decipher the code given to us. The first one was called the Cardan Grille where we had to rotate the cylinder in order to find the hidden message. Once we found that, we went to the second step which is called Rail Fence where we moved the letter accordingly which matched from the hint we got from the Cardan Grille. Lastly, the Caesar Shift (It’s not a salad bowl), where you have to rotate the dial accordingly to the information you gathered from the Rail Fence. I’m not going to tell you what the message is because I’m not going to spoil the answer.

building robots

YOU CAN BUILD ROBOTS… ROBOTS!! To be frank, I enjoyed this the most because building robots is cooler than cool and funner than fun. It’s, in my opinion, both awe-spiring and very enjoyable. If you know how to make robots and do some programming you’re an awesome person, if you don’t know how you’re still very awesome. We were assisted by one of the staffs who joyfully showed us how to operate the whole system. We each had a portable source of power which were on wheels and which we placed our robot stuff on. First thing that we were taught was the input and output. We control our output with our input. An example, your switch is your input and an LED (Light-Emitting Diode) is your output. When you put your parts (the input and output) on the energy source and connect both the input and the output with [insert name of wiring connector] then your results would just be delighting, your LED would light up. Once we got down to the basics, we were given the independence of creating and adding more to our robot. And, the input and outputs didn’t consist of just ‘ol buttons and a few LED’s, there were a vast different kinds to pick from like: motors which spin around, distance sensors, and more. 

There are plenty more that is yet to be discovered such as the space section part where you can move a mars rover and go on a simulator which you move with two joysticks. I just have to say that going to this museum will give you a blast. I learned so much and at the same time had so much fun. This is the way to learn and it’s very effective. Yes, while books are good at giving information, museums such like these help as you can see the actual thing and the more interactive the more it helps to stick in your mind and aid in learning better and smarter.

Stay awe-spiring my awesome humans!

Yours truly,

L.O.A.SH

 

 

Ibajay Journey: Third day, A Wedding

The third day in this beautiful place

Our third day begins with some Longganisa and eggs. Excited, we left to the mangrove eco – park. One of the men, Denise, who works at the park called us. We went to him and he pointed to a bucket and told us he caught two mud – lobsters. Ate Aga picked it up, but we only saw one mud – lobster. We told him there was only one, then he said that the other men ate it. I was shocked, but after, he said it might have just been a crab. So, which really ate it? I guess we had to accept it. It affect us that much.

A wedding

Denise showed us another passage to enter the starting of the park because there will be a wedding. The wedding was starting in the afternoon but we have to be prepared. We can’t just walk through a wedding all muddy and stinky.

Shovel Time

Unfortunately, when we checked our traps nothing popped up. We left the traps behind and went to our first station. The first two mounds we dug with our hands and when we used the shovel, it kinda went terribly wrong because the mounds got clogged. The third one was going alright and deep but high tide was coming. A few minutes after, we started to pack up. Luckily, we hung our bags on a branch. The water was already on our knees. You could see some worms and other weird bugs floating around already.

Another Passage

We trudged under the bridge and through the mud where we could hear the music from the wedding. And, today we learned many different things from the local people who work in the park. They told us how they cut down the nipa and sell them for about 300 PHP per sack. It’s exciting learning about their culture here and because they stay here every day they know a lot of things about mangroves and mud lobster and other wildlife.

It’s beautiful how they take care of the land so much. They know how to find the right food. But, we need to make more people aware. And, not just aware but also care about these mangroves. Are you in?

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

I became a wizard at Harry Potter Studios

Hello, everybody! Ok so lets fast forward. Woke up, ate some breakfast, prepared, got my raincoat (it was raining hard out there) and left (of course with (aunt) Kristine and Saoirse).

Oh, I was so excited.

We were all scared we would miss us our 3:00 pm bus going to the Harry Potter. We didn’t, of course, thanks to our speed walk. There was a diversion on the bus which meant we had to get out of the first bus and ride the second bus. While waiting for our second bus, we bought our ticket at this booth which seemed to be decorated with harry potter pictures and stuff.

~~~~~ 1 YEAR LATER ~~~~

Just kidding.

Anyways, the bus (FINALLY) arrived and we were informed that it would take one hour to arrive at our destination. Fortunately for us, there was a Harry Potter film that showed inside the bus.

One hour later and we stepped off the bus. A sort of magical breeze blew in my face the moment we stepped out. A building came into view. The sign read The Making of Harry Potter. It was so cool. I ran up to the building, happily. I felt myself totally fan girling here.

Outside there was a ticket machine where we printed our tickets for the Harry Potter. We got two tickets and proceeded inside. Our first mission that came across all our minds was: Eat. Right Now…. It was quite convenient for us because as soon as entered, a coffee shop lit up in the distance. We ordered some cheese touts (which were basically bread and grilled cheese) and one caramel and chocolate cupcake.

We grabbed the food from the Pick-Up area and immediately lined up to enter the Studio Tour. I heard “Oooooh”s and “Ahhhhh”s the closer went to the big door leading to something quite interesting. Well, I would have predicted it was something AWESOME judging from all the “OOOOOH”s and “AHHHHH”S. But, anyway, while we were still waiting for our turn to enter, there was a display of Harry Potters room that lay under the stairs.  When it was our turn to get inside the room we all scurried in.

The host was talking about the movie and J.K. Rowling (the author). Do you know J.K Rowling? She started out unemployed and living a hard life then became a multimillionaire in five years! She’s best known for her series the Harry Potter. She actually first wrote about her first ideas on a piece of tissue on a train going to London in 1990.

Now, back to the present.

The host then asked which house everybody would like to be in. You could hear a few kids screaming Slytherin, nobody picked Hufflepuff, some picked Ravenclaw and finally, the rest picked Gryffindor. Yes, I chose Gryffindor. What would you choose?

We went inside a kind of movie house place, and the seats were perfect. They joked “Okay, everybody. We are going to play all the movies of Harry Potter back to back!”, and just in case you haven’t watched Harry Potter, it is about 2 hours and a few minutes each movie! I actually wouldn’t have minded if it weren’t a joke. Anyways, they played a short film where some parts were time-lapse of how the place was built and how long they took. I’d say it was pretty interesting.

When the film finished we went to the great big doors that would lead us to the Great Hall, and the person who opened it was one of the birthday celebrants in our group. Did you know that the Great Hall in Harry Potter is where they ate their food or made announcements in the movie? I can’t begin to describe how honored I was to be actually standing here.

Interesting/Awesome Fact: This (the hall and I guess the studio) has stood for about 10 years already

The table was filled with delicious food. I wanted to munch it all down. I know, I know I just ate but it looked all so good. But unfortunately for me, it was fake food.

We followed the guide who showed us all the clothes that the movie actors wore such as the robes and stuff. We saw all the special effect such as the green screen. Have you ever heard of the green screen? They use it in movies to make the backgrounds. For example, if you were to be flying away from a dragon on your magic broom stick, all you had to do was sit on a broom stick in front of a green screen. Once the perfect lighting is set on the green screen than just about anything you could imagine could become a reality.

One of my favorite parts of this studio was the hut of Hagrid. It looked exactly the same compared to the movie! Well, it actually is exactly the same because this was the same hut that they used in the movie!!

There was also all the faces of the small creatures (I think they were goblins) that were in the bank. They even showed us the snake looking door that led Harry Potter into the Chamber of Secrets. Every turn that you took would show another awesome thing from the movie. The room of Severus Snape was displayed and there was a pot that was being mixed with a rod that no one was holding……… magic?

We got a Harry Potter passport where we had to stamp into each page each place you go to, and there were even these small quizzes inside.

The other room we went to was the town place where Harry went to get his money, owl, and his wand in the first movie. In the town, there was the candy store where some of the candy would turn you blue or make your voice sound like an animal. I remembered in one of the Harry Potter films I watched I saw them eat some chocolates that could make you sound like a lion or a chicken.

The next room was the train that Harry rode to his first trip to Hogwarts! I never imagined it was beautiful. There was actual fog rising from the bottom of the train as if it were about to run off. I asked Kristine where nine and three-quarters were, and she said there is no such thing. Or is there?

We went through a tunnel, and I honestly wanted to scream ‘Nine and three-quarters!!’. I was scared passing through the wall would break my nose. I pass through quite well, no need to worry.

Outside, there was this place where you could take a picture of the flying car that Ron and his friends rode or the flying motorcycle where Hagrid rode with Harry to keep him safe. After this, I explored around.

Here are the places that I stamped on my harry potter passport:

Hogwarts Express (the train)

The Sets (The Great Hall)

Special Effects Area

Backlot

Creature Effects

Art and Graphics

Props

Costume

Last but not least…… The Studio Shop

Before we end this, I just want to talk about the Studio Shop. I honestly wanted to buy….. everything. There was hats, shirts, wands, jelly beans (in ALL flavors),  glasses (which looked the exact replica of Harry potters), wizard hats, keychains, necklaces and more. I just ended up looking around the shop for 30 minutes before leaving.

I had such a fun and amazing time on the actual set of Harry Potter. I think that you would enjoy it as well! If you would like to visit it, you could buy tickets at their site: Warner Bros Harry Potter.

~ L.O.A.S.H

Ibajay Journey: Second Day, Mangrove Exploration

Circa: JUNE 7, 2016

Second day

We went back to the park to check out our traps and the mangroves. This time, we came at 8:00 am. The sun was shining through the trees and the birds were chirping beautifully. We arrived at our trap site.

Did we catch any?

From afar we could see the trap was touched by something. The trap was deactivated, but by what? We walked down the muddy stairs and to the traps. One was under a bridge and the other was near the oldest tree. We got both the traps and checked them. We were able to peek through a small hole which was created for inserting the paddle. We saw a claw and an antenna. It was possible that it was just a crab, but I guess we’ll find out soon.

Frightened Creature

We slowly lifted the opening for the creature to get out. On the other end of the trap, we put a container to catch it. We didn’t know exactly how the attitude of this animal was. We prepared to catch it as a mix of excitement and curiosity took over. We surrounded our trap and waited patiently. Silence filled the air. You could probably hear a leaf fall from a mile away.

But, fortunately for us, slowly it came out. It meaning the mud – lobster. We closed the lid of the cylindrical container. The mud – lobster pushed the cover and was trying to claw its way up. Very intelligent animals, indeed. It stopped moving when I ventured toward the container it was in. I put a small stick in front of its face to see what it would do. It didn’t move but after a few seconds, it loudly tried to clamp it with both its claws.

Plot 2

After capturing the mud – lobsters we went back to our second plot. We measured the starting of the plot and went further inland. We noticed there were a lot of Nypas on one of the mounds. We studied how the other mounds were surrounded by other kinds of plants. We were trying to measure the other mounds on the other side but it was covered with Acanthuses and Nypa Fruticans. After measuring all the mounds visible, we went back to the old tree.

New Plot

Since we found some interesting things happening on this small piece of an island with the tree, we decided to make a plot there. The circumference of the whole island was 18 M 77. We wanted to look at the mud – lobster better so we decided to let it go for awhile. Scared it would run, we tied a small piece of string to its body creating a leash. It looked pretty funny, leashing a lobster. After realizing they are actually very, very slow we just unleashed them. We barricaded their surroundings with small logs and pieces of stick we found lying around, even an old boot. The biggest mud – lobster kept escaping and trying to get into one of the holes. They both stopped moving so we put them back into their containers.

Traps

We decided the best idea was to set up the traps in the same mound to check if more than one lobster lived in it. After setting up the traps, and nearly catching some mudskippers, we rested on top of one of the open bridges. This bridge wasn’t completely finished so the sides had no railings yet. We spotted a medium-sized jellyfish that got itself tangled up in the vines. It was beautiful and after few minutes untangled. The cool breeze was passing as I stared through the binoculars. I could barely make out the sweet songs of the birds anymore. The sun started to fall and the night was filled with partying crickets.

Night Sky

It’s been two hours since we left the trap and made a decision to check them out. We steadily made out our way with some flashlights. The ants started to appear everywhere, we could barely touch the railings for support. There was this one time when we found five ants all tearing up one ant. It was crazy. We did our nocturnal prospection for maybe 45 minutes. We went back and forth quietly trying to spot some mud – lobsters burrowing away. On our way out we closed all our lights and stared into the sky. All the stars were out, and the moon was like a shimmering diamond. We told each other stories and left back to go home.

THUNDER!!

We’ve finished freshening up and we were just laying around studying. We could see the flashes of lightning through our window. There was no after sound with the lightning in a long time. The silence in the air was occupied by the sound of the aircon. All of a sudden a loud boom came screaming through my ears. I jumped, accidentally pulling off my earphones with it. We all looked at each other, surprised. The ground shook for me, it felt so close by. It was past 9:00 pm so we decided to sleep already.

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

My Journey at Ibajay Begins….

So, here we go. We are about to dive into this adventure I took a while back. Get ready!!

Circa: JUNE 6, 2016

Arrival at Ibajay, Panay

Our journey finally begins as we arrived in Ibajay, Panay at 6:00 pm. Me, Kuya Garrett and ate Aga went to our room and cleaned up our baggage. After preparing our backpacks with some of the survival and mangrove equipment needs such as :

Flashlight
First Aid Kit
Lunch
Bandana
Measuring tape
Ribbon
Binoculars
Old newspapers (for press drying the leaves from Mangroves)
And more….
we ate our dinner and hit the snooze button.

Start of our field work

Around 5:00 am we ate our breakfast and headed straight to the Ibajay Mangrove Eco – Park where we waited for our guide. There were a lot of different kinds of mangroves it was sometimes difficult to tell apart. You really needed to check the bark, leaves, texture, color, fruits, and flowers. We would even use our newspapers to dry and identify them while we had our guide around. While walking through the park I found a few of the 28 kinds of trees :

1. Avicennia Alba / Marina / Officinalis / Rumphiana
5. Acanthus Ebracteate / ilicifolius / Volubilis
6. Aegiceras corniculatum
7. Bruguiera Parviflora
8. Ceriops Decandra / Tagal
9. Pemphis Acidula
10. S. Alba / Caseolaris
11. Xylocarpus Granatum / Moluccensis
12. And exploring more…
We went deeper into the park and went to explore the ground and get our hands dirty. We started to plot ten by ten meters square for our stations. Each station we would measure how big the mounds were, the circumference and the height. We have now created two stations and are planning on hitting 5 stations. Each side of the square we would use an app, altimeter, to find out the coordinates and the degrees. Measuring the plot would, sometimes, get us stabbed by the Acanthus Ebracteate, This plant was very sharp and you can find almost everywhere around or on top of the mound.

Mounds and Mud – lobsters

Mounds are like big lumps of soil which are made by mud – lobsters. You can find these mounds almost everywhere near the mangrove trees or the saline environment. The biggest mound we’ve measured had a circumference of 14 meters, which was pretty large.

Looks pretty cool, right?

Some of the mounds are all clumped together, we called these condos. When we open up these ‘condos’ there would be dozens of holes leading somewhere deep. We couldn’t even reach the bottom, the mud – lobsters are really good at making mounds. The mud – lobsters use their claws to burrow a mound. They are called engineers sometimes. When mounds are created it also helps the soil. People usually see these mounds as useless lumps on the ground, but actually, it provides homes for special snakes, ants, crabs, spiders and other animals. Mud – lobsters are very timid and nocturnal creatures so it is low probability to see one.

 

Some Rain

On the second plot, we started to hear some thunder. We hurried up our business before everything started to pour. We didn’t have time to measure any mounds because the hard rain started. We ran up the stairs to the nipa hut where we ate some snacks. Our research did say that the mud – lobster come out when it’s raining so me and ate Aga went to look at some of the mounds.

Blue Water

The rain somehow changed the color of the river to blue. Awhile ago it was murky green now it was just light clear blue. I wanted to get a sample but I didn’t find time to get any. We didn’t know why it changed the color. We were thinking maybe when the fresh water and the salt water mixed it did some things and changed color? I still need to research on that

Damaged Mounds

We came up with an idea to conduct an experiment and see if the mud lobsters repair their damaged homes. We started to shovel up open the tunnels from the mounds which were really deep. We never reached the bottom but opened up everything. The next spot we dug up was near the biggest in width tree which was a 750-year-old Avicenna Rumphiana.

High Tide

We all decided to check our second station and start doing our measurement again. Everything was covered with water, all the small plants. The water was so high up our knees we couldn’t find the path we were in awhile ago. We decided to do our studies of our second plot in a few hours.

Starfish

While waiting for the tide to lower down a notch we swam in the beach. Not one single fish did I see. The water we swam in was clear. No corals. No fish. No seaweed. Nothing. We started to swim further from shore. There, in the middle of nowhere, a blue starfish with small spikes on top. We picked it up and I noticed one of its arms were missing. It must have been washed here by the tide. But, it was awesome that a starfish out of, so far, a clear sea just popped up here.

Setting up traps

After cleaning ourselves up we walked back to the eco – park. Finally, the tide calmed down and we could do more field work. We went to the spot where we opened a hole to see the progress. We raced back to the scene where we shoveled the mounds. Amazed, the mounds were covered with fresh mud. They say that this creature only does their work at night because they are nocturnal. This time, we planned to trap the mud – lobster with a snare trap. Luckily, we had a few which were made of bamboo. We put two snare traps in two holes which were in the area of the oldest mangrove.

Snare Trap

A snare trap is bamboo contraption which was designed to lure in animals and trap them. This is the trap that was set up to catch them in the park.

Fiddler Crabs

While the others were setting up the snare trap, I and my brother looked for some fiddler crabs. The fiddler crabs (color: red, blue and gray) which were hiding under the soil were fast. We caught two each. One of them had a big claw and the others were spotty. We put them in a small plastic container to identify them later. Our guide said that the light red one was the female, while the fiddler with the large claw was a male. The crabs with the one big claw are the ones who fight for the female and gain their territories. If you stay quite and watch carefully you could find two crabs fight with their large claw. Their claw is the size of their body. While I held them captive I was watching what they would do when their just not bothered. The female crab was using its small claws to like scratch her eye.

There are about 100 species of the genus Uca. We have 5 in the mangrove park. I did identify it to be a genus Uca but not the exact species.

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

 

In Danjugan, Day 3: What Bird is that?

APRIL 20, 2017 | DAY 3

5:30 – 7:00 am

Our wake up call was thirty minutes earlier than our normal routine and we all started to prepare. My roommates and I changed quickly and then headed down to meet up with the others. As all the colored groups assembled, we headed out team by team into the limestone forest. We went our normal route to one of the beaches as we were getting hyped for the day.

Apparently, we were doing bird watching! It was a really fun adventure. Each team was handed three pages of different birds each. We spotted a few migratory birds in the distance which seemed to be lounging on top of a branch. As we walked near the end of the beach, we started to play these learning games. Before the answers were revealed, we were given chances to guess the answer to their questions about birds. This also helped teams to earn more points and really just have fun. A few of the questions asked were:”

Q: “How many species of birds are found on Danjugan Island?”

A: “72 species are found on the island”

Q: “Which bird sounds like a witch laughing?”

A: “Umm, Philippine Cuckoo Dove?”

Everyone was putting their ideas and asking their questions and really learning. As questions about which bird was this or that came up, everyone stared intently at their laminated papers of bird species. There was a time when one of the AL’s asked which birds had a yellow body and black tail me and another camper both screamed “BLACK-NAPED ORIOLE!”. Just in case you were wondering, the number of points earned for this question was 1000 and I couldn’t help but try. We got it correctly and I and the other camper split it into 500 each for our teams.

This is what the pages of birds species they handed out.

A bird that stuck to my mind as we went on with our interactive lesson was the bird called Olive-backed Sunbird. It was a small but beautiful bird. The male (olive-backed) Sunbird had a shiny bluish breast which was used to attract the female birds. Did you know that male birds are sometimes way more attractive compared to the female birds? An example of a certain type of bird compared with its opposite sex is the following:

   

[Disclaimer: I do NOT own these photos.]

The bird on the right is the male while the bird on the left is female. According to Scientific American, it was Charles Darwin who “developed much of the theory that helps explain this. He proposed that traits promoting survival in individuals are favored by the process of natural selection, whereas traits that help the individuals of just one sex (usually the males) compete for mates are favored by sexual selection. Sexual selection is responsible for many of the features unique to one sex in a given species. These features can be divided into two general categories: those acting as weapons that allow males to fight for access to females (antlers on deer, for example) and those acting as ornaments that attract the attention of females, such as long tails on birds”.

So long story short, some males have the different burst of colors and other features to use as weapons against other males to access female birds and attract female birds to mate.

Another activity we did was identify different species of birds according to their sound! As the AL grabbed her phone out and started to play a bird sound, the beach seemed to hush as all the campers huddled around trying to remember what kind of bird it was. This was fairly hard as we’ve gotten a few birds mixed up. I forgot to mention, but last night, we were also learning the bird sounds and which bird it matched to. Another thing we learned was the anatomy of a bird.

After we finished spotting birds and trying to name them as they swooped by us, we headed back to the camp to enjoy some breakfast.

7:30 – 9:00 am

After eating our breakfast, we all just relaxed for about 15 minutes as we played some board games and talked about we learned and other things.

We then started our lecture about Climate Change and Renewable Energy. Did you know that in 2015, it was recorded as the hottest year? Did you know that 2016 is recorded as the hottest year in history? And, did you know that 2017 is set to be the hottest year next? You’ve probably heard it all. The climate change is getting worse. Our Ice Caps are melting. Our polar bears losing their homes. Beach fronts and other cities are starting to sink. Heat waves are taking people’s lives. This has been a major problem for a long time.

Did you know that the kids and plenty of other people and families have to wear a mask as they live their lives in Beijing? Below are pictures from an article written by Mashable where they wrote about Beijing such as:

When Sean Gallagher first visited Beijing in 2005, they simply called it “fog.”

The British photographer, who has lived in Asia for the past decade, noticed that very few people in Beijing truly considered the city’s notorious air pollution much of an issue.

That attitude shifted in 2006 when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics and the city’s choking pollution became an issue in the Chinese press.

“It entered people’s consciousness, but wasn’t something people took action to protect themselves against,” Gallagher said.

Nine years later, they wear the mask.”…….

 

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At least the Chinese government is taking this seriously and making changes like they “banned new coal-fired power plants in major cities” and China’s renewable energy is doing great.

Yes, this is just one of the many problems that are occurring. Another example is what is happening in India. There have been so many heat waves that have victimized thousands of people. In 2010, 1300 lives were gone. In 2013, 1500 lives were taken. In 2015, another heat wave came and took 2,500 lives more. Also, there are “tens of millions of Indian lives” that are in poverty which also puts about 1.3 billion people (a quarter of India’s population) who doesn’t have electricity and lives on less than $1.25 a day to have no air – conditioner (which is seen as middle-class luxury) and struggle in finding a way to survive through the terrible heat (Waldman).

Before continuing, I shared to the camp my own experience of the Yolanda Typhoon which some say was the effect of climate change. We had to barricade our windows as the wind kept hitting it and composing these loud shaky sounds which made us worry about our windows breaking. We also had to go through about 1 month of brown out which was hard as we took turns at night to fan each other and help exchange flashlights and candles to navigate our way through the house at night. One thing which I was utterly terrified about was our neighborhoods restaurant’s roof flew off. The roof was big and strong and destroyed a couple of houses just a couple blocks from our house. If you looked down when you go outside, you could see leaves or smithereens of rocks going around in small circles which just showed the directions the winds were moving, which seemed to be everywhere.

Other campers told their experiences as well. We then went on from the drastic changes the earth has gone through and climate changes and tipping points to renewable energy.

We all raised our hands as we tried guessing and explaining the different types of renewable energy and what we know about them. What is “Renewable Energy” or “Green Energy” you might ask. Well, it’s energy which is generated from natural sources such as the sun, the wind, water or hydro, the rain, the tides, and geothermal heat. The good thing about renewable energy compared to coal is that it won’t deplete or run out and (AND) it’s naturally replenished.

As you may have heard, there are already many different types of renewable energy such as:

• Solar
• Wind Power
• Hydroelectric Energy (Energy from Water)
• Biomass (Energy from Plants)
• Geothermal Power

I feel that we all are competent to save our world and restoring it back to it’s healthier self. If we all and try to do our part even if it’s just a little (such as spreading the word or not littering) we could make a difference.

9:30 – 12:00

After learning more on climate change and renewable energy, each group was given a piece of manila paper and some crayons. We were going to draw down what we loved most or enjoy about mother nature. We put a line to divide the paper for four people in our group (just like everyone else). When we all finished our assignment, each group showed their drawing to their teammate. Each group was quietly explaining why we drew what we drew to each other. My idea was to draw a tree because I’ve grown up loving trees and walking through them in the quiet and beautiful forests. I also love how trees help to make air and have shelters for birds and other animals and look magnificent. Then, I added a saw next to a tree and the money sign. For the last requirement, I drew a sign that showed no plastic and no deforestation. All the other campers did an amazing job, too! Another camper from another group color drew a group of fish, cyanide, and trash (like plastic) being thrown in the water and then to protect these awesome creatures were MPA or MSA areas which are also known as Marine Protected (or Secured) Area.

After this, we were all then handed another sheet of Manila paper and told to draw a symbol. A symbol of mother nature. Or, just nature.

As everyone sat on their separate tables with their group, we all seemed to be thinking. Four minds for each group were just quite for like two minutes just wondering what would be a good idea.

Eventually, the cabana was filled with excited talk about what their project would be. In my team (the white group, YEAH!), we made up the idea to draw a big shield with trees, fish, animals, and even a mountain to fill some of the space up. Outside the shield, we put smoke, cyanide and other things that affect nature. When everyone else finished, each group was supposed to show the drawing that we made as a well as an explanation about it. As our turn came up, we had this small debate going on about who would talk about it. I immediately got the paper and held it up so that I would be the holder and not the speaker. Eventually, we coordinated into all speaking up a little. We told everyone we wanted these things inside the shield to be protected and everything outside to be stopped or lessened. Another camper from another group color actually told the ALs to give us some extra points because of the inspiration for the shield idea.

We refueled our minds with some snacks that they handed out like puto.

After this, we prepared for a little island exploration and ventured into the limestone forest.

12:30 – 5:00 pm

L. U. N. C. H. Party lunch!!! We were celebrating one of the campers birthdays! I was surprised haha. A cake came in and everyone started singing. After getting a slice and some spaghetti.

Before I tell you what happened next, I just need to say I was innocent. I was not the culprit and I don’t know how I got dragged into this. I was just sitting there with my cake eating and having a happy life when one of my friends smudged a cake on my face. I paused for awhile trying to understand the situation. I laughed before standing up and getting ready to get them back. Then, a few of my other friends targeted me and I just got them back. Hahaha. It was a good moment and time.

We were actually given a 2 hour “free time”. We had the choices to just hanging out with other, kayak, swim and others. A few campers chose to do some snorkeling and I decided to do some kayaking with some friends. An AL had to accompany us because of the recent spottings of boxed jellyfish. I rowed around the Morey lagoon looking at the bottom to find some urchins. We even saw some fire corals! I nearly bumped into a few things but eventually, I decided to go back to shore because the sun just wouldn’t stop heating us up.

After awhile, we may have regretted the decision in not joining the group of campers who recently left to snorkel. The first group which left used the boat to get to their destination. As we just sat on the beach wondering what to do, we saw a few campers with an AL who were about to swim somewhere. We asked if we could join them and they gladly waited for us. We quickly changed, got our snorkel and swam. We swam all the way to the boat. Then, we swam all the way to the other campers who were pretty far from the boat. They were surprised to see us but then we all started looking down into the deep ocean to look for some sea creatures.

We got so lucky!! There were about 20 big and long barracudas below us! It wasn’t that close don’t worry. It looked amazing they kept swimming back and forth all together. Did you know that it’s safer to be around barracudas when they are in a group rather when they are just alone? It’s because when a barracuda is alone, they feel more insecure and uneasy which makes them attack more easily when they get scared.

More minutes pass and I realized I was the only girl left in the water with the other guys and a few ALs. We took one last look at the barracudas and a few underwater shots and swam back to the boat.

5:00 – 6:30 pm

We sat down in the dining cabana as our swimming attire slowly dripped all its water out and eventually dried up. We did another lesson but this time on mangroves for about 30 minutes. FACTS:

FACTS:

Q: “Why are Mangroves important?”

A: Mangroves are home to small fish and crustaceans. And, did you know that they help in calming the waters when strong waves come in and also reduce the impact from tsunamis? They even help stop erosions from happening on the shoreline, too! Mangroves pretty much are our shield against tsunamis, storms and help save lives and properties. While doing all these things, mangroves also work as a home to different animals and provide wood, fruits, seafood, medicine, and fiber.

We learned more about how they help and how important they are.

Everyone went back to their cabanas to change or prepare to go to the beach because we were going to have an activity!

The first game they asked us a question “who’s good at running or who likes to run and tag?”. One of my friends raised her hand. This game was a demonstration of silt and soil. All the other campers were silt and the It (my friend who volunteered to be the tagger) was supposed to touch us. We were given a measured big space where were suppose to run to the other side without being tagged. If we were to be tagged, then we would have to stop at our place (not moving) and try to move our arms join the tagger (but in the place we got tagged). The only person who would get to run and the tag was the It. This game was so fun and we did the second round trying to implement a good strategy. We let everyone run first and while the It is distracted with the people who first ran, we would try to run all the way to the other side. Works like a charm.

The next activity we did was in the water. And, it had TEAMWORK in it. Wait, song intermission:

“What’s gonna work? Teammmmm Workkk!!!”

What’s gonna work? Teammm Work!!!”

To those who know where this is from, You’re AWESOME! But, to those who don’t know this song, You’re Still AWESOME!!

Now, getting back to what we did…. Each group went together and the tallest went to the back and the shortest at the front (which is me). We were only three because one of our teammates wasn’t feeling so good. While we were in the water, each group had to cling on to each other in a line with the legs and had to row using their arms. We did a few races and it was tiring but really enjoyable. A few more ecology games and we started to head back to the camp after a few sunset shot.

6:30 – 10:00 pm

We were all excited to finally have a (one bucket of water) shower! When we finished showering and changed into much more comfy clothes, we waited for dinner. Some of us were just resting in our cabanas, playing some guitar, singing and talking.

After some dinner, we closed all the lights and everyone quietly looked down at the lagoon. We spotted some Bioluminescent Algae! It was glowing. Every time a fish moved, it touched the algae and made it illuminate. These algae are widespread on the surface of the water and produce a blue and green light when moved or disturbed by motion, just what the fish was doing! They produce a flash of blue-green light whenever the water they are living in is disturbed by motion.

We had a long and amazing day which everyone enjoyed. I’m looking forward to tomorrow! We learned so much today 🙂

(to be continued)

~ L.O.A.S.H

 

DIY: 2 Types of Slime

The first slime is a simple recipe and all you will be needing is:

• Glue
• Liquid Detergent
• Food Coloring (optional)

Follow the steps (or try experimenting (with small portions at first)):

1. Put an amount of glue
2. Comparing back to the glue that you’ve just put, add small amounts of liquid detergent at a time while mixing. Eventually, you’ll start to see you slime form! Yes, it will be slightly sticky and wet but you have to keep squishing it and turning it inside out to dry and make it form. But, if it’s too sticky, then you should add more detergent.
3. Then, add in your food coloring if you want too.

 

The next recipe is just fluffy slime.

For this, follow the recipe above, but before adding the liquid detergent, add some shaving cream. You should squirt less than 1/4 amount comparing to the glue. Not too much. Also, mix it in well with the glue before adding the detergent. This fluffy slime recipe has worked so well for me and I hope you enjoy it!

Yes, sometimes it will be difficult and you’ll make some mistakes like too watery or something else but just keep trying.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

In Danjugan, Day 1: Exploration of the Island (part 2)

Day 1 (again):

Where was I? Oh, yeah…

We reached our destination! Yay. We were assigned to drop our bags over at one of the tables before anything. I remember one of the first things that we were all told was about the eco toilet (which the place where you do the number 2). Btw, it was already lunch. Time to eatttt. The other kids went into the dining area already while I took a quick glimpse of the place. When I decided to join the rest I went up the small bamboo steps up to the dining area which was hovering over (with the aid of some concrete) the Moray Lagoon. The water was so clear and blue. Also, the reason to why the Lagoon had a Moray in it was because if you looked at the water you could see Moray Eels. They can look scary sometimes but also they made the water look lively if that makes sense.

As I stared at the dining area, I had no idea where to sit. Most of the tables were taken and I didn’t know where to sit. Also, I didn’t plan on sitting alone. And as I’ve mentioned before, most who came were with a relative or friend so they had a person to eat with.

I gathered my strength and decided to take a seat with a table that had 3 occupied seats. I said “hi” and we started to have a good conversation. In just a few minutes we all became friends.

While everyone finished their remaining lunch, one of the camp directors started introducing all the other camp members which we call ALs. Apparently, we were gonna be split up into four teams. Each team would be lead by one adult leader (or AL). All the AL’s each took turns in introducing themselves and their background about where they came from and why they’re in the camp. There was one scientist who came from Germany and who was going to teach us about fish and corals.

Also, we were told that for the answers that we got correct or for the behavior or actions that we did right we would get points for our teams. And of course, with being late or others our points could go down. Once we finished acquainting with our teams and AL’s, we all went out of the dining cabana and made a circle. Apparently, we were going to say our name and a dance. It went one way around the circle. When it reached my turn like everyone else, I shouted “LIBI!” and did this awkward dance move which everyone then shouted “LIBI!” and the same move. This was just a fun way to acquaint ourselves with everyone.

There are actually four cabanas for all the campers. Two are for the girls and two are for the boys. One of the main rules is that no boys allowed in the girl’s cabana and vise versa. There were about 5 girls in my cabana while there was about 7 in the other girl’s cabana.

When we finished preparing ourselves for swimming and trekking, we heard our call (KUUUUUWEEEEE (which is a bird call which came from one of the ALs)).

Most of the things you would hear (from the Camp Director) when all the campers gathered are “look at me if you could hear me” or “clap twice if you could hear me“. These were some of the ways to gather the attention when everyone was being loud.

Anyways, back to the learning center. We were briefed about the island and the different beaches and lagoons. At this point, there were a few questions in which you could earn a few points from. We were also briefed about first aid and other things to be aware of while we do our trek. We were ready. We were instructed to bring our snorkel, other gear (if you have any), waterproof bag (if you need for things you want to bring which you don’t want to get wet), water bottle, sunscreen and insect repellent. If you forgot to bring your snorkel gear (just like me ;D) don’t worry! You could rent a snorkel or any other gear at one of the gear stall area on the island. All you have to do is sign your name and Tadaaa!

Because each team had its separate color (in my case, color white), we had to wrap a different color per team on the snorkel. We then headed out team by team. While passing one of the bridges, we saw big sea urchins at the bottom. Wanna know why they were hanging out there? Well, above the bridge is a bat cave. And, the bat cave goes all the way down. The urchins liked the bat poop. Mmmm.

We passed by turtle beach and typhoon beach. And, after waiting for the other teams at some sort of bar (rehydrating ourselves with some water), we swam to the beach reaching one of the far rafts with the ALs and our teams.

Good thing for the tapes wrapped our snorkels when the others were still snorkeling you could still identify which ones were part of your team. We were shown the different corals and fishes. It seemed to explode with colors! It was beautiful.

We made our way back with a sunset trek. The sky was orange and the light slowly made its way down. Our night ended with some dinner and finally a bath! Even though it’s only one bucket per person, I agree that it’s a good amount to use. Here’s the tip, use the tabo twice to wash away the sand and wet your hair, then shampoo and soap, then another wash. Done! You’ll probably have some leftovers.

Just before sleeping, we all sat around in a circle at the dining area after pushing away the chairs and tables to the side. One of the ALs told us that this was our community building and that it will be one of the only times we’ll be doing it. As we sat down in a circle, we shared what we enjoyed throughout the day and something we liked to build in our community. On a sheet of Manila Paper, a circle was drawn. Inside the circle, we would throw out ideas we would like to have in our community, an example, trust or respect for others.

The picture above is the paper that we all made. In our community, we had the power of choice, the power of two feet, and the power of experts. Inside our community, we wrote down words we wanted for our Danjugan community. As you may see above, we wanted positivity, trust, support, friendship respect, understanding for each other in our Danjugan family.

After this, we went to our cabanas and slept. Well, the truth is I talked to my roommates (cabana mates) before sleeping. We were having a small debate whether or not we should leave the chips in the cabana. Laziness kinda went around and we decided to leave the food in the room.

We put our mosquito nets properly around our mattresses and finally slept. 😉

(to be continued)

~ L.O.A.S.H