Bacolod & Talisay Adventure!

Car trip!!

As we rode the car, our driver told us about the places we were passing. As we headed toward our destination, we passed by big big big big lands of sugar canes. It went from baby sugar canes to teen sugar canes to adult sugar canes. When we neared the mountain area, we arrived at MAMBUKAL.

We were greeted by the sweet chirps of different birds and the warm sunlight as we jumped out of our car. After writing down our names and paying the fee of 20 pesos each, we made a decision within 2 minutes whether or not we should walk around or ride the car. We looked at the map of the whole place it seemed fairly large. But the majority of walking won and we started our adventure on foot. Plus, I wanted to get my steps to 10,000 everyday :D.

I took a photo of the map and stayed at the front for navigation. Good thing for the big trees we weren’t being cooked by the sun. We kept walking until we reached the Boating Lagoon. On our left, we saw the butterfly sanctuary and a CAUTION! sign that said “BOILING MUD AREA…… DO. NOT. GO. BEYOND. THIS. POINT.” To be honest,  there were no periods after every word, I just wanted to make it more dramatic. But just saying we didn’t see any boiling mud anywhere.

Anyways, we continued path through this bridge. Before I continue, I just want to mention a little fellah that we met along the way which I call Billy and he’s a brown dog which kept us company and followed us a long way.

We then climbed up this (not so) steep mountain while eating apples to keep us going. I took a glimpse at our map and saw that we were passing by the Family Cottages. After just taking a few more steps, we saw the Hot Sulfur Spring. We decided to check it out for awhile. The water was too low for us to swim but if you looked closely, you would notice the water was boiling in some of the areas. We left this place and noticed some more signs of Hot Boiling Mud followed by nothing we found.

When we finally reached the falls our main destination, we bought some corn first. As we walked up the stairs to sign our names, we were stopped because my sisters were too young and weren’t allowed to go to the falls. One of the men told us that we could take a route to see the seven falls at the top. We said, “sure we could try that”. We called our car which compared to how long we walked came pretty quick. One of the guides rode at the back as he told us our directions on where to go. We exited Mambuka and took this route. It was terrible, they said that it would be fast. The road seemed endless. And, it became more and more steep and rocky. He only told us that it would take about 30 minutes to go up. This was very inconvenient for us because we thought it was going to be quick, we had young children with us, we had other places to go to soon and the road was dangerous and we had no space to turn around. We had no choice but to venture forward. Another thing that came our way was when we thought we arrived at the seven falls thing, he told us that we still had 15 minutes of walking left! We canceled the whole thing and turned around. It was too dangerous especially since we had small kids with us. So, if you have kids and you aren’t prepared for a rocky path I don’t suggest going this way at all. Just don’t go this way because it’s very inconvenient and time-consuming. We dropped our guide of when we reached the bottom and paid him 100 pesos.

Cockpit Arena

This is one of the sites that we passed by. Our driver explained that it was really famous in Bacolod and that how it worked was that two people would bring their roosters and let them fight. This Cockfight is actually a blood sport between two cocks which was first witnessed and documented by Antonio Pigaffeta (Mangellan’s chroniclers) in the Philippines in 1951. Also, there were some cockfights that happened in London too!

Lunch Time

Finally, we got to eat! We decided to eat at Jollibee at the Burgos Street. When we told the lady at the counter that we wanted chicken, we received very surprising news. She told us it was going to take 40 minutes (40!!) for our order! We canceled because 40 minutes is just too much! Our driver then suggested this place called Maskkara. We entered the airconditioned room and ordered some Chicken inasal and barbecue. It tasted delicious!

Campuestohan

As we rode up and paid an entrance fee to Campuestohan, it looked so fun! There were different pools, different kinds of zip lining, ice cream, restaurants, a big shoe, Anchors away or Vikings as you may call it and many other activities. Remember this, when you are going to zip line, you will need an adult older than 18 to sign a wwaiverto allow you to do it. Anyways, we did Vikings which is a boat that sways on both sides and you get that weird tummy feeling. It’s really fun. It’s also 30 pesos each. Also, if you are planning to do the zip line you might have to wait for awhile because they have very little equipment so when a person zip lines to one side, they have to bring it back. Anyways, we did a load of activities before being pooped and decided to head back to the car.

The Ruins

A castle like building appeared in our view as the fog (there’s wasn’t any fog but just pretend, okay?) started to clear. It wasn’t built and the walls made of concrete to be darkened by old age perphaps? We’ll get to the story soon.

The Real Story:

A Japanese man built this big mansion because he was making a headquarters in the Philippines. This mansion had the most finest furnitures, chinawares, and decorative items. But, the guerilla fighters of the Philippines didn’t liked the idea of the headquarters and burnt it down. All the wood components of the house was burnt and it became ruined. The End.

My Story:

There was this rich man who decided to make a very grand mansion for the people of the world with his wife. They even made a grand garden for anyone who wanted fresh fruit and vegetables. But, one day ninjas was envious of this rich man because…. because… umm… because they were envious! And, one day they decided to burn it down and steal all the treasures inside. When the ninjas looked for the rich man and his wife and child, they couldn’t find them until now. The end.

My Mom’s Story:

There was this rich man from England who was making a beautiful mansion with his wife. They were staying at a small hut when they suddenly died and the construction never finished. The End.

Thanks for reading this!

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

My (super cool) Experience of Archery

Start by stretching towards the ceiling.

I started out by learning the types of bows:

1. Long Bow
2. Recurve Bow
3. Compound Bow
4. Crossbow

I was handed a recurve bow. I stared at it and realised I’ve never actually tried shooting a real arrow with a real bow. 

The first few things I did in my 2 hour lesson was learning my positioning, how to hold the bow and other necessary rules and regulations.

The rule that you need to know that you should always obey is:

NEVER DRY FIRE.

In case you don’t know what that means…… Dry fire is when you pull the string of the bow when there is no arrow. Two things will happen when you do this, your bow limbs break in half and second, the limbs will fling backwards and it will most likely hit your face. So, remember NEVER DRY FIRE.

Before shooting out an arrow, I tied a side quiver (which is the small bag where you place your arrows) to my waist.

I held my stance, put my arrow in, lifted my bow up, pulled the arrow back just until the point my fingers (holding the arrow) touched my face, took one breath in and made my shot. It landed downwards, hitting nothing. I tried it a second time and I hit two centi meters from the bullseye. I repeated and repeated until I finally got the hang of it. My coach was right there beside me helping whenever I did a mistake or when my positioning was wrong.

Soon enough, my coach brought out a score sheet and started counting my arrow shots and points. Each game consisted of six arrows. 

The first round I shot, I scored 18 points. 

Then 21. Then 35. Then 39x. Wa-wa-wait, let me explain what it means when you get an x beside you point. So, when you are shooting at the target, there are different points for different places that you’ve shot at. The numbering goes from 10 in the middle and when going outwards to the other rings gets lower and lower. At the bullseye or ten, there are 2 rings. When you shoot the first ring or inner ring of the 10, you add an x to the number on your scoresheet or just x.

After a 15 minute break, a did a second game where I got a total of 254 points from the six rounds. 

As I shot my last arrow towards my target, I felt like Katniss Everydeen. I used the technique given to me by my coach and used my concentrate and blocked everyone around me (not in fb, in real life) for a few seconds which I suggest you should do. 

Also, you should keep in mind, when you are competing with others, you aren’t going to be judged by how quickly you shoot. So, when practicing you should take a deep breath and rest for a couple a counts.

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

Day 1: Trip Going to Danjugan (part 1)

Day 01:

I wake up at 5:00 am because the time to meet the Danjugan members and other kids going to the camp was around 6:30 am. I reached for my phone to check if I had any messages. Five. Five messages sent around the time of 3:00 – 4:30 am. I wondered who it could be as I unlocked my phone. They were all from my dad. And it read, “Don’t go anymore” “Too dangerous” “Don’t go” and so on. To be honest, my eyes watered a little there because just yesterday I arrived to Bacolod after a 10 – 11 hour trip. I was exhausted and now I have to go all the way back home. That would be another 10 – 11 hours. I called my dad in hopes of changing his mind…… It didn’t work. Apparently, the Danjugan camp sent out an email to all the parents which included some warnings because of the terrorist attack in Cebu which occurred a week before. A week ago. The farthest I got to have permission to go was to allow me and my tita to just meet everyone at the meeting point and get to say hi to everyone. I decided to leave my bag back at the hotel while we headed out.

We were dropped in front of an animal conservation park where we saw a big white bus and some adults around it. As I walked to the bus, I saw that it was nearly full already. Heh, I thought I was the first to get here. We were approached by one of the staff (I guess you could say) members. We made an explanation of why couldn’t come and also kinda “deviced” a plan to change my dad’s mind. Our first step was to call him. I talked to my dad for awhile explaining that I was at the meeting point and that I really wanted to go (still didn’t work). Apparently, my dad thought that a lot of the kids cancelled out like me because of the attack (a week ago). But, no. It was just me who was planning to cancel and reschedule. After my second failed attempt to convince my dad (I was so close), I passed my phone down to Kuya Kenneth (staff member). 6:15. Time was quickly passing and the bus was going to leave soon. Kuya Ken explained all the safety measures (like there were police guards in the mainland and on the island) to my dad and that pretty much did the tipping point(ish). By the way, a few days before the Danjugan Camp, the parents are requested to go to this parent conference where they explain everything (even the safety measures). Unfortunately, my parents missed the meeting which prevented them from knowing this sort of information (about safety and other, XD). Finally, we finished our quest and I could go!!

I boarded the bus only to run out again as I remembered I left my bag at the hotel!! I talked to my tita and kuya Ken. Kuya Ken brought one of the vans to the hotel where I ran and grabbed my bag. We headed back to the bus. We were about 10 minutes late. Everyone was waiting just for me. I took my seat at the back of the seat drivers seat. It was a single chair. I was happy, since I didn’t actually know anyone and I was sort of shy at the moment. My tita rode in a van right behind us. It was announced that we had 3 hours to go. Yay. _-_

Aside from the fact that nearly every kids here came with either a friend or sibling (unlike me all alone), It was so quite. Probably 1/4 of the kids in the bus were asleep while most were just quite and others you could hear the whispers. I tried listening to music on my phone but, for some reason, my phone wasn’t working. I was left with no music but earphones in my ears. I talked to kuya Kenneth and Tito Jay for awhile but the rest of the trip I just stared outside my window which showed me different views of trees and seas. There was some stopovers for anyone who wanted to go to the bathroom or buy some snacks. Also, sometime in our trip, I heard someone playing the ukulele with the song Riptide. Some joined in, it also helped to pass the time quickly.

We then arrived at a port. The ground was bumpy. And, we started to unload all the bags. I thought everyone was just going to bring a small back pack (as I did). I was wrong. I was the only one with one small bag. Everyone else brought a luggage. I was wondering what they were bringing and what I should have brought. Well, it was too late to go back now. Right?

Anyways, what we did next was go to a small bridge which seemed to be getting narrower and narrower the further we went. When we finally reached the end, we saw two boats waiting. I rode onto the first boat with around 11 other kids. Unfortunately, the boat didn’t have any cover on top like the second boat. Someone offered a jacket to me as the sun was scorching, everyone seemed really nice. It was a good thing that in the middle of our boat journey, the clouds decided to spare us a bit and provided us some shade from the sun. Anyways talking about our surroundings, the water was so clear. Some of the places (on the water on the boat) that we passed you could see that there were corals boasting with life.

After one last gust of wind came, the island came into view and then before we knew it, we started disembarking the boat with our bags. We were immediately greeted by some of the staff. They were all smiling as we greeted back.

The island. It’s beautiful.

(to be continued)

~ L.O.A.S.H

Montag Living Museum: Bringing Back the Past

We traveled to the Motag Living Musem in Malay, Aklan, the Philippines on a very fine day. Today, you will go on a very special adventure with me back into the past. Ready? Yes. Yes, you are.

Pricing | Opening and Closing Hours

So before we start our trip, I should let you guys know the details to get in first. You’ll have to pay for your ticket so the following will be the list of prices and package deals:

Adult —> ₱700

Child —> ₱300

Babies are free

Family ticket (which consists of two adults and two children) —> ₱1,600

Student with ID —> ₱500

So…… those are the prices you may as a well know the opening and closing hour ^__^ which are:

Opening days are on: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Close days are on: Monday

Save the dates!!!!

By the way, the best way to enjoy all the fun interactivity in this living museum, I suggest wearing some sort of flip flop or slippers. And, make sure you prepare yourself to get messy. Cause, it can get messy. Real messy.

Our Adventure Begins…

From Wells to Faucets: “Hmm….”

Once we paid our entrance fee, our guide showed us a to a deep well which kids would visit every day to get water for washing dishes and clothes. This was the contribution of the kids for their parents in their chores. My siblings and I each took turns bringing the bucket (which was basically a bamboo cut in half connected to a loooong stick with string) up with water from the bottom of the well. It was quite heavy. But, can you imagine that, compared to the present, kids had to run up the hills or wherever these wells were placed and bring the bucket (A.K.A bamboo cut in half) back to their homes nearly every day. Nowadays, we could just walk to our faucets and twist that handle to make water (which seems to flow forever) flow and flow and flow. Back then, they would appreciate the water more as it was hard work but now some people just let their water run on. The schedule for most kids was before they went to school they would get a bucket of water and run back home, then, at the end of the day after school, they would go back to the well and bring back some water home. This was a good training, right? Although, some people still get their water this way, the “hard” way. Would you want to bring this piece of history back and spread it around??

Showers and Toilets: “Could I have some privacy, please?”

We were then brought to the showers that they used to use before. It was a medium size stall with no door. There was this big pot which had a big scoop made of bamboo. The scoop looked like the ones we use to scoop up some soup. That was pretty much it. I liked the simplicity it had.

Now onto the toilets….  It was a small hut with a hole on the floor. The hole went deep down where they would you know poo and pee. Heh. Personally, I did not enjoy the simplicity in this one, on the other, hand because I was utterly shaken. But, did you know, that even in Taiwan this is how their toilets are? Anyways, apparently, it’s better to poo while squatting. And, I’ve even encountered a toilet like this in France, once! Heh, I was confused when I first saw these. My mind was filling up with questions like: “Why?” “What does it expect me to do?” “Do I still have to go to the bathroom? Eh.”. I refused to go to the toilet for a while, hahaha. Would you want these toilets to be everywhere? At least in France, they had a choice of whether you wanted to squat or sit. But in Taiwan, it seemed as if all the public toilet stalls were already occupied by this type of toilet. At least you get to defecate better?

Shampoo, Condition, Deodorant: “Healthy and Organic”

I was struck by the scent of their shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant. Do you want to know what they use? Yes. Yes, you do. Their shampoo was just pure coconut oil, it has the best texture ever. I think you should try it! WAIT! I know you should try it. It’s amazing how this community in the museum and most people from the past use this before. This is very healthy to nourish your scalp. BTW, the coconut oil comes from coconuts.

Next, their conditioner was just as simple as the coconut oil. What they used was a type of leaf called Maria Maria. My nose melted from the sweet scent of it. I could literally smell 24 hours and 365 days. I didn’t want to leave it. All they did was mash up the delicate leaves in their hands and apply it to the hair. Simple.

Last but not least, deodorant!!!! Even back then people’s armpits smelt so here comes the life saver. To make this you will need Coconut oil + coconut shredded meat + Maria Maria = Happy armpits. Yay.

I’m actually considering converting all of my shampoos, conditioners, and deodorant (which I don’t know the last I used) into homemade natural and safe products rather than these chemically very good smelling products on the market. Care to join me? You can literally buy coconut oil at your local drugstore (well, most of the time). I’ll report back to you guys if my hair has changed by the coconut oil… Or, you could test it out and report back to me. That works too.

Hous- er, Bahay Kubo: “Bahay Kubo is house in Tagalog (language lesson!!!)”

 Since they used only materials that are local, the house was constructed of bamboo. THE WHOLE HOUSE!!! Their walls were cut in half pounded bamboo to make it look straight and wall like. While their flooring was cut up straight line pieces of a bamboo all tied together. Just look at the pictures if you have zero clues as to what I am describing, please.

Inside the house: “DUN DUN DUN!! YAY!”

We were greeted by an elder woman who was smoking hand made tobacco. She was smoking tobacco while making tobacco sticks. I watched as she rolled up something like leaves in a paper thingy. That was tobacco. But, what you need to know is that their humungous farms of tobacco were replaced by a hotel. A hotel! That hotel is located in Boracay and is called Fairways.

Anyways, their bed is just a mat on the floor. The bigger the family = the bigger the mat. What I enjoyed discovering was their baby crib. No, it wasn’t a square basket made of bamboo (which I’m thinking of now sounds pretty cool). It was a big cloth connect to a string connected to the ceiling. What was cool about this, was that if the child or baby peed, all they had to do was pull the cloth a bit down so that the part of the cloth that contained the pee would go around and the baby would be laying on dry cloth without ever needing to get out or any hassle. *Pants* Y-you g-g-get that right??? Hopefully, that means yes.

Pillowssss. The cotton that they use is straight from the tree. It’s

The Kitchen: “Mm. My favorite place.”

I love food. How about you?

Their kitchen it connected to their dining area. I’d describe their kitchen as a small rectangular area with the view of the farm. We’ll get there. Patience. Anyways, they place their pots of a small firewood area which they light with some fire. Their ref is a small pot. This confused me. A pot? Really? What does this do? It was a metal pot so maybe it helped to keep cold things cold and hot things hot? The cover of their small, small (, small, small) fridge was made of bamboo. I guess they don’t store things for long. Or, they don’t hide things (like chocolate) in there as there is barely enough space for a bowl of porridge to fit.

Their cups were bamboo. All they had to do was cup a portion of the bamboo then *BAM* cup. Next, their spoon and forks. You might have guessed, bamboo was the material used to make the spoon and forks. Okay, literally everything was made of bamboo. Except for the fridge. Which I’m still contemplating about….

Just got home! Time to drinkkkk! 

I mean juice, guys.

Just outside the Bahay Kubo, our guide showed us some sugar cane plants which she explained that whenever someone came home or someone was just thirsty, all they had to do was bite into the sugar cane and sweet juice came out.  I didn’t get to try it there. But, I’ve tried thiis before. And, I have a few words to share… IT… WAS….. DA……BEST. (Yes, I know I said “DA” not “The ” ~_~, lol). The juice is like so mouth watering. Even though I’m not so fond with the sugar cane juice (for some reason my tongue won’t accept the taste…) I’m in love with eating it. But, you can’t swallow it, BTW. You just chew it, take in the juice and spit it out. Try it some time. It’s an adventure itself

Rice. Rice. Rice: “It’s hard work, dudes…”

Before we get into the rice, lemme say that I rode a carabao! It was so cool. I kinda felt like it was just a 10x bigger doggie, haha. No, they didn’t have those seats that are usually attached to a horse. Anyways, just to mention, it was quite the struggle hanging on to the carabao with hopes of not falling into his poop and pee. It was all worthwhile though. It was a good thing we had our guide to help us with the carabao because I’m 100% sure our guide saved me from his poop. 100%  sure, guys. Funny thing is that 2 seconds before I made the decision to ride, it pooped….. big time. Just a bit of extra info on the carabao because he was awesome: His name is Daiwao and he is 6 years old. He weighs up to 500 kilos. I wonder what he eats.

Time to RICE (suppose to be spice…. get it? heh.) up the partttteeeeyyyy. I had to.

Every year, before, they only got to plant and harvest 1 time a year. Now, they plant and harvest 3 times a year. But, whilst (cool word) our guide explained all this, what went on in my head was “JUST 3 times a year?!”. But, the work can be tedious at times and it’s difficult.

Anyways, have you ever tried planting rice plants? They have to plant one at a time. I tried it. My feet sank into the muddy waters. It felt like I was in quicksand. I went towards the woman who was planting the rice and she handed me a few plants. I carefully placed one plant at a time into the mud while wet soil seeped into my nails. “She does this all by herself?” I ask myself every now and then. We shouldn’t waste rice. There’s hard work behind rice.

More on Rice

That’s not all! In a separate area of the rice farm, was the rice crops which were already ready for picking which they individually cut up the rice and place in a basket. The next step is to dry everything up. Then, we separated the rice from the husks by stepping on it on top of a small elevated floor with small holes on the floor. While the rice fell down, the wind helped to carry away the dead and empty rice from the full rice.

Our adventure was such a great time. I enjoyed finding more about our history. The work that we’ve put into this day was what they usually do everyday before and sometimes now. Did I mention that the only reason as to why this farm doesn’t get any machines for plowing and other is because they don’t want to replace their farmers? This is a very good example for a healthy and happy community which all works together. You should visit! You’ll enjoy ^__^

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis. Yes. The colorful lights in the sky. Just one of God’s many surprising creations.

Aurora, such an alluring name, after all, it is latin for the Roman goddess of dawn and sunrise. But, aside from its name, there are so many fascinating facts about this greenish sometimes blue and red skylights. Did you know you could find these colors on Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, too!? Well, yes, it’s true! Let’s go to space to see them.

Okay, okay. Let’s slow down a bit.

If you want to see these lights without leaving earth, the best places would be north America or Europe. And according to Service Borealis, these Aurora Borealis collisions between electrically charged particles released from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide with gasses such as oxygen and nitrogen.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Dying Paradises of the Philippines

The Philippine waters are usually full of beautiful fish and colorful, live corals. Taking a look back it can change your views on a lot of things. You could have discovered a variety of different colors, shapes, and sizes. There were such a great amount of schools (of fish) you could see as you swam around and had your sunset walks. Everything might have looked great on the outside with shimmering light blue water which seemed so perfect you couldn’t believe your eyes. But, the real story is within. You can’t always see what’s happening on the outside so we have to really dive in and find out. And, while there are many other beautiful utopias (^_~), we will be concentrating on the Philippines waters.

Philippines waters: Some are protected… Some aren’t

Because of the Philippines bountiful amount of marine life, 100 scientists have claimed it (the Philippines) to be the world’s “center of marine biodiversity”. That is a pretty great achievement. So that means 100 different people (that are scientist!!) have all agreed on the fact that the Philippines is full on boasting with underwater sea creature…… cool! And, if you go scuba diving, in some areas, you would feel like you were just transported into a new world. We need to learn to take care of this.

Intro to the Coral Triangle: Underwater heaven 

Did you know that the Philippines is part of the Coral Triangle? This (the coral triangle) is a marine area stretching far across six countries which are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor – Leste and Solomon Islands. Others say that it’s nearly the size half of America.Anyways, the Coral triangle is mostly famous for its astonishing amount of corals ranging from 500 to 600 different species of reef – building corals.But, that is not all! This (slightly broken) triangle supports, nurtures, and maintains more than 2000 species of reef fish!! It was on 2007 that the WWF started its Coral Triangle Program. The WWF has taken up the challenge to protect the Coral Triangle and develop sustainable solutions to help the inhabitants of the region. With the help of the USAID, the Conservation Internation, The Nature Conservancy, and the WWF are all working together on policy, fisheries management, marine protected areas and climate change adaption.

Donsol bay: Sneak peak of the biggest fish in the world

Also, the biggest fish swims within the 2000 species of reef fish.This fish is called the whale shark! If you haven’t heard of one or seen one you could watch (the awesome film) Finding Dory. And, yes, this type of fish is called a whale shark. If you want to see and swim with these big fishes, you could go on an adventure to Donsol bay which is also connected with the Coral Triangle. This is one of the many Paradises of the Philippines where you could go to enjoy the bar, hotel, restaurant and more! And, don’t worry….. Whale Sharks, the biggest fish in the world, eats the tiniest living organism in the ocean…. you are safe (most likely) just follow the rules and regulations of not touching them, riding them and chasing them (there is still more). Also, these creatures are very gentle and curious (so they will most likely try to approach you) but you should avoid making any physical contact with the oils on your skin may harm the Whale Shark. And, the good thing about this bay is that it is a marine protected area and that is why you could only snorkel with the Sharks (fish, remember they are fish). Although there is another place called Oslob (in Cebu) where you could find these fish but I advise not to go because it is a huge tourist attraction which has destroyed most of the forms of environmental awareness.

Also, if you are planning to visit, the beach is alluring.

Tubbataha Reef

The Tubbataha Reef is one of the 240 protected areas in the Philippines. It is located at the center of the Sulu Sea. This reef was once a very peaceful, filled with color and life area but it is currently suffering from overfishing, exploitation, and destruction. When other fishing grounds started declining of its fishes, sailors went to Tubbuataha in hopes of more fish in their motorized boats. Some of the problems that evolved over time (very quickly), was that the sailors started using (very, very bad) techniques for fishing like utilizing cyanide (extremely toxic salts that contain anion CN⁻) and dynamite fishing (the practice of using explosives to kill schools of fish). Also, because the boats they (the sailors who started filling up the Tubbataha Reef) used were motorized which polluted the reef with a lot of oil.

Dynamite fishing === Bad…. just bad

This was too much. Explosions?!? This is illegal.

The decision was made with the help of some scuba divers and environmentalists who campaigned to turn the Tubbataha Reef into a national marine park. On August 11, 1988, with the aid of the President, Corazon Aquino, the Proclamation no. 306 was signed, which helped the establishment of 2 (not 1 but 2) Tubbatha reefs into a national marine park of 82,000 acres. Because of this (big) step, Philippines had just done a first time for declaring a marine area into a national park. This national marine park was then being properly taken care of by rangers sent by the Presidential Task Force.

Throughout their (the rangers) early years of protecting the park, they had a few problems. One of their struggles were that in 1996, sliding and shifting sand caused the unstableness of the rangers wooden structure tents. They overcame their problems (yay!) and the marine park rangers are now settled in a styrofoam-reinforced concrete structure. Their location is found on the Southeast Islet on the Tubbataha’s North Atoll. And, they have got their cool equipment with them such as patrol boats, utility boats, radars, radio communications, geo-positioning system (GPS) units, and basic research equipment. 24 hours/7 days a week is the times that the natural park is being guarded by (armed) rangers.

There are plans made by the World Wildlife Fund (or WWF) to make a modernized ranger station that was announced during the 25th anniversary of the Tubbataha’s Reef’s national park declaration in 2013. And, as the WWF says, legendary heroes need great hideouts – Batman had his Batcave, Darth Vader had two Death Stars and Voltes V had Camp Big Falcon.WWF, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park boasts of unparalleled biodiversity levels. Over 360 hard coral and 600 fish species inhabit the park, which continuously seeds the Sulu Sea with life!!! And, this reef is also a UNESCO World Heritage.This means that this park was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a special cultural or physical significance.

Future “bat cave” envisioned by the WWF

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just wanted to say thank you to the rangers that are helping guard the Tubataha Reef against exploitation. Thank you for caring about our environment here in the Philippines. Because of the rangers that make it their job to watch on a daily basis, the Tubataha Reef is properly being taken care of. Also, thank you to the strong campaign composed of scuba divers and environmentalist (people who really cared and spent time in the ocean) who made it possible for this reef to be protected and noticed, more!

Trivia: Did you know that on the back of the 1000 pesos bill you could spot the Tubbataha? Now you know!

 

Going there: “Are we there (the national water park) yet?” 

If you are planning to visit this heaven, you will have to take a plane ride to Puerto Princesa. Then from there, it will take about 10 hours to get to the park from Puerto Princesa. That’s a pretty long time but I am absolutely sure that it will be worth the time that was taken. Maybe you could bring some board games or books on your 10-hour trip. Also, the best times to go there would be around mid-March until mid-June…. the waters are calmer at those times. You could also check this, http://www.gopalawan.travel/travel-info/tubbataha-reefs-natural-park, website for more info to book.

Coron: Almost got destroyed by Nickelodeon

“Excitement is something that could blind people from seeing the true about how it could destroy life.” ~ L.O.A.S.H

This was a direct quote from me ^_~. When I wrote “Excitements” I was referring to the one that Nickelodeon was planning to set up. Just recently, Nickelodeon made the plan and announced that they were going to make an underwater theme park in Coron. For me, this sounded so fun I mean I love theme parks but what it also sounded like was that this park was going to be the very thing that would destroy Coron.

In case you haven’t heard of Coron I will be giving you guys a “short” introduction about it. In Palawan, Coron is a first class municipality (a city or town that has corporate status and local government). It’s beach and waters are usually quite and calm. The view is spectacular and the water seems to be crystal clear. After 742 steps of hard – earned sweat, you could watch the sunset in a beautiful angle.

Anyways, proceeding about the theme park. There was a report on January 13-14 where Nickelodeon retracted from building the park because…

 

That was all just a glimpse of what is happening here in the Philippines. There so many people and netizens who are trying to bring a change and help. The Philippines has helped countless people in providing them food and livelihood. But, recently due to the overheating and climate change, more and more fish are dying and more and more people are having a difficult time. Before, if you were to be catching fish you would just take a few hours and barely exert any hard work and your boat would be overflowing with fish. But now, the workload would be longer, harder and less fish would be brought home. This affects all of us. For example, in the market, since it’s become more difficult to catch seafood, the prices will be raised.  We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

National Symbols of the Philippines

Let’s learn the national symbols of the Philippines. Yay.

National Flower:

The national flower of the Philippines is the Sampaguita. It’s mostly adorned for its simplicity and scent. If you smell it….. you’ll be amazed. This flower symbolizes purity, simplicity, and humility. When you have the chance to spot it, you will notice that it’s petals are all white and it really does look simple (yet surprisingly gorgeous). Also, as a fun fact, this flower was declared the Philippines national flower by Governor-General Frank Murphy (an American) in 1934.

 

Name check:

Common Filipino Name:

Sampaguita

Common English Name:

Arabian Jasmine
Asian Jasmine
Asiatic Jasmine
Sacred Jasmine
Sambac Jasmine

Batonic name:

Jasminum Sambac

 

National Bird:

The national bird of the Philippines is the Philippine eagle. I personally find this bird very stunning. Do you like eagles [I do ~_~]? On July 4, 1995, under the proclamation No. 615, the 12th president of the Philippines, Fidel V. Ramos, declared the Philippine eagle the Philippines national bird. And, the reason to why this bird was “the chosen one” was because of its size and rarity. Let’s emphasize the rarity a little because you should know that the national bird of the Philippines is critically endangered!

 

Just 2 questions that are popping in my head:

Why wouldn’t they choose the Philippine Maya bird which seems to be commonly found in the Philippines? What happens if don’t have the power to properly take care of our national bird (which is critically endangered)!?

National Animal:

CARABAOOOOOOOOOO.

The national animal is the carabao. If it wasn’t that obvious with my random outbursts up there, the carabao is the national animal of the Philippines. Until this day, the carabao is still being very helpful in the rice fields. I had an opportunity once to ride one. It was so cooool. Anyways, the carabao symbolizes strength, power, efficiency, perseverance, and most of all,  hardwork.

National Tree:

I love trees.

The national tree of the Philippines is called Nara. It was declared and given the honor of becoming the Philippines national tree on February 1, 1934, by Governor-General Frank Murphy, too. Remember I mentioned above that  Governor-General Frank Murphy was an American (just a trivia). And, while you will need a permit to cut down this tree (with many other types of trees), here are a few uses that the Narra tree is used and could be used for:

• Decorations
• Furniture Projects
• (And, apparently) keys
• Shade ~_^ (You know…. when it gets hot)

The uses of the (Narra) tree’s flower is:

• Honey source

The use of the (Narra) tree’s leaves is:

• Shampoo
• Waxing
• Polish Brass and Copper

National Language:

The national language of the Philippines is Tagalog and Filipino. According to Rappler, Filipino was declared the Philippines’ national language when the President, Manuel L. Quezon, spoke on air using this language with Executive Order No. 134 issued on December 30, 1937. So, this became the national language nearly eighty years ago. If we run through time and go from 1937 to 2012, the president, Benigno Aquino III, addressed the nation in Filipino. If you are interested in checking out the video, which was posted on youtube, you could search up this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5odo4Szfwgw

National Fish:

This is an unofficial national symbol of the Philippines but I just wanted to let you guys know the national fish.

It is Bangus. If you’ve eaten this before…… you’ll know that it has the best taste a fish could have. This isn’t an official national symbol because it hasn’t been through law or declaration.

National flag:

White. Red. Blue. Sun. Stars.

This flag represents liberty, equality, and fraternity. According to the wiki, the blue stripe on the flag stands for peace, truth, and justice(!); the red stripe on the flag stands for patriotism and valor. Unity, freedom, people’s democracy, and sovereignty are what the golden sun at the center of the white triangle stands for. The three stars that go around the golden stars are supposedly the representation of the 3 MAJOR islands where the beginning of the revolution began. The three main islands are Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. There are so many words describing just the colors and shapes than what meets the eye (hopefully that makes sense).

The original proclamation explains the meaning of the flag in the following:

And finally it was resolved unanimously that this Nation, already independent from today should use the same flag which it has used, whose shape and colors are described in the attached drawing rendering realistically the three aforementioned forces representing the white triangle as the distinctive symbol of the famed Society of the Katipunan, which through the blood compact impelled the masses to rise in revolt; the three stars representing the three principal islands of this Archipelago — Luzon, Mindanao, and Panay (Visayas) in which the revolutionary movement broke out; the sun indicating the gigantic steps taken by the children of this country on the road to progress and civilization; the eight rays symbolizing the eight provinces of the Philippines,^[a] and the colors of blue, red and white commemorating the flag of the United States of North America as a manifestation of our profound gratitude towards this Great Nation for its disinterested protection which it lends us, and continues to lend us. And, carrying this flag, I unfurl it before the gentlemen assembled here—[List of names of the delegates]—and we all solemnly swear to acknowledge and defend it to the last drop of our blood.

National anthem:

The Philippines national anthem is called Lupang Hinirang. The English translation of Lupang Hinirang is Chosen Land. Beautiful. The whole anthem (which I got from the wiki) will be down below just in case you would like to learn it, memorize it or sing it.

Bayang magiliw, perlas ng silanganan.
Alab ng puso, sa dibdib mo’y buhay.
Lupang hinirang, duyan ka ng magiting
Sa manlulupig, di ka pasisiil.

Sa dagat at bundok, sa simoy at
sa langit mong bughaw,
may dilag ang tula at awit
sa paglayang minamahal.

Ang kislap ng watawat mo’y
tagumpay na nagniningning.
Ang bituin at araw niya
kailan pa may di magdidilim.

Lupa ng araw, ng lualhati’t pagsinta,
buhay ay langit sa piling mo.
Aming ligaya na pag may mang-aapi,
ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo.

The english version of this anthem is:

 

Land of the morning
Child of the sun returning
With fervor burning
Thee do our souls adore.

Land dear and holy,
Cradle of noble heroes,
Ne’er shall invaders
Trample thy sacred shores.

Ever within thy skies and through thy clouds
And o’er thy hills and seas;
Do we behold thy radiance, feel the throb
Of glorious liberty.

Thy banner dear to all hearts
Its sun and stars alright,
Oh, never shall its shining fields
Be dimmed by tyrants might.

 

So those are a mix of some of the official and unofficial national symbols of the Philippines. I really enjoyed writing about this because it opened up some much more information and facts that I’ve never known. I used to look at the Philippine flag and nothing would really come to me but researching and learning what it really means that every inch of that flag and all the colors mean different things has really change my perspective. I hope that what you’ve learned today has interested you.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

L.O.A.S.H’s Guide to (nearly) Everything: How to Predict the… FUTURE!

So, as said in the title, today I will be teaching you “How to Predict the… FUTURE!” with the help of prior knowledge. Oh, you know, predicting the future would just be extremely cool part to add to your skill set.

Let’s start.

To predict someone from saying or doing stuff or something that will happen, we will have to observe. For example:

“HEY, I TOLD YOU WE WERE IN A HURRY!” Will shouts as soon as he sees Max. “WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG?! YOU WERE DAYDREAMING AGAIN, WEREN’T YOU?! Don’t you remember that I told you that he has very important customers today!? I’m really considering firing you!”

From what Will is saying, you will notice that he is mad and shouting a lot. To predict the future in this situation, this is what you will have to think like (well, at least similar to this):

 

Step 1:

Identify and check the details from the text:

Will shouts at Max and even threatens him.

Step 2:

Use prior knowledge:

Workers, like Max, will tend to carry out their bosses’ instructions, especially when scolded.

Step 3:

Prediction time:

Max will run back to the restaurant and start working and serving customers.

Step 4:

Verification:

So after you’ve made your prediction, you should verify and check.

---

 

Wasn’t that fun? So you could use this technique to try to predict the future. With more practice the better! So below I will be giving you guy a text for you to read and before proceeding to the answer, think of an answer yourself first.

Percy Jackson (in case you don’t know him he is a fictional character who is known as a demigod, a hero and usually spends his time hunting and fighting monsters. His powers include: controlling water, making hurricanes and breathing underwater) was sleeping on a ship going on a short journey. Suddenly, when the ship was nearly to their destination, rain started to pour, merciless and sudden, and fill the ship! All of a sudden it began to….

So comment down below on what you think happened! Thanks for reading this! And, remember Identification of details from the text, the use of prior knowledge and finally your prediction. 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Do Fish Feel Pain?

Would you still go fishing for fun if fish could scream in pain and cry? Would you still go fishing for fun if you knew fish could feel pain? I’ve come by quite a few articles mentioning that fish do not feel pain as they do not have enough brain power. Would you believe this? 

Lynne Sneddon is a researcher working at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh who believes that fish, in fact, do feel pain. She also mentioned that they have quite a similar stress response when compared to humans. Dr. Sneddon has then come to the conclusion that when a hook impales their lip or mouth it causes them to feel pain because of the destruction of tissue. Okay, fine, maybe destruction was an over reaction but seriously I think it would be weird if a fish wouldn’t feel anything even though they are being hooked.

Let’s get science-y.

Since Dr. Sneddon knew that even though she and her team discovered the same receptors that mammals have that warn the brain of things that could harm them in a trout it wouldn’t be enough. It’s proof, but not strong enough evidence. She then took it to step two. Dr. Sneddon experimented on a trout by injecting the fish with damaging substances. Dr. Sneddon then claimed that the fish, after three hours, started to perform in an anomalous behavior.

Even with these findings, it took some convincing. Fortunately, a corporation which is known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals immediately took in the research and even mentioned that it’s really unfortunate as people cannot see it’s obvious that fish feel pain.

Do you believe that they feel pain? But what draws people to believe that they have no brain, like Professor James D. Rose and Bruno (Mars, just kidding) Broughton (biologist and scientific advisor), is that they believe that they “technically don’t have a brain”.

Pick your side and comment down below! I think that fish do feel pain, by the way, even though they don’t have the capacity to scream in agony (although this would be weird).

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H