the Earth-bound adventures of the Lost and Found

unfortunately, i didn't get to go to any tourist spots because from early morning till night we were at the office, trying to grasp the fundamentals of environmental economics and resource valuation, from thursday till sunday. the only time i was outdoors was when we did fieldwork at snake island in honda bay, and when we did a Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) survey last monday in puerto princesa's coastal barangays. i was EXHAUSTED. to top it off, when i got home yesterday, i couldn't find my house keys so instead of resting, i decided to do some errands until my landlord could drop by and open the door for me. well, at least i got to eat at ima's gulay bar (great vegetarian restaurant. i asked the owner if she wanted me to feature the place because i was so happy with the food), kamarikutan, and the viet ville. snake island was BEAUTIUL. we used the place as a case study because some investors are planning to put up a "world-class resort" on the island. but really,...

first published in Destination Cebu September 2004, click here for photos We might as well have been in an adventure movie. We had booked one of Planet Action Adventure’s Action Tours in Moalboal, a town about three hours southwest of Cebu City. But the skies warned of rain, and the waves at the beach were banging against the rocks. Still, we were all set for canyoning at Montañeza Falls in Malabuyoc—rapelling down a 30-m waterfall and then taking a dip at the hot spring afterwards. The five of us—a Filipino, a Filipino-Canadian, a Canadian, a Japanese, and our German guide—all climbed into the specially-designed action truck and braced ourselves for the trip. The rural scenery was relaxing: verdant rice fields, shady trees, huts with children waving from the windows. Matutinao River, where the famous Kawasan Falls drop, was an inviting blue. But our destination was still about an hour away, and in an Action Tour, anything can happen. And it did. When we got to Malabuyoc, the river w...

UPDATE just got back from a week-long trip to iloilo-roxas- panay-kalibo - boracay - tangalan for work. that's three provinces in eight days. went to the old buswang magrove eco park in kalibo. walked from station 2 to station 1 and back at least four times in boracay, by myself. visited the tangalan marine sanctuary and falls. sang unlimited videoke on my last night, danced in a bar, and drank the most alcohol i've probably had in my whole life (a jar of margarita and 3 shots of tequila in boracay and i don't know how many glasses of gold eagle beer in tangalan--but i STILL didn't get drunk or get a hangover. wonder when that will happen). woke up early every day to sit by the beach and look for good photos, on the last day even catching the sun just as it rose. but just in case you get any glamorous ideas about my life, the rest of the time i was working--even on a sunday =P will be posting photos and articles from the trip when i get the time. picked up at least th...

first published on September 11, 2004 in Sun.Star Weekend Cebu under lost and found column#10 I have never been a people person. At parties, I would find a deserted corner and read. Everyone took me for a nerd. At family gatherings, I used to hide in my journal, writing about loneliness, as everybody caught up on each other’s lives. After some years most people knew enough to leave me to myself. In truth, I just didn’t know HOW to talk to people. I could passionately discuss religion, philosophy, science—even love—but share about my own life, my own feelings? All the words would fly out of my brain. The only person I knew how to talk to was myself. I did it so well that at any given time, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and how I wanted to live it. Principles, priorities, values, goals—my inner map was always clear. Work was the top priority, of course, because it would get me to where I wanted to be; responsibility was the prime virtue. Meeting deadlines ...

We just went to Eden for Papa's birthday, but the party (and the late cake and gift) was the sunday after, just before i left. so in the end, papa still got some sort of birthday surprise. the lunch was at the new tenant's, a pizza place, with the pastor and the choir. I'm also including here some more bikini pix for mama (haha. the other pair because the blue one was stolen) from when i went to badian island resort. i still have to scan my other pix at that beautiful, beautiful resort.

Just some of the "nature" things I love about Davao, all photos taken during my last trip, from August 18 to 29. No pictures of beaches here because the only resort I went to was Eden , at the foot of Mt. Apo, on Papa's birthday. Didn't print a lot of pictures from there, though. Too expensive =P But they have a pool there with a view of the Davao Gulf and the city and the mountain. We swam around 4p.m., just as the fog was settling down. Pictures of the orchids i took at the last minute, just as the agro fair was closing. That's why the lighting is perfect--the sun was really low in the sky by then. Thanks to The Valley, an orchid store in Tacurong(?), that let me take photos of their plants. By that time, they were the only stall that had orchids on display. Yes, I missed the floriculture exhibit and landscaping contest =(

Indak-indak sa Kadalanan, Aug. 21, 2004. Unfortunately, i wasn't able to go to the other events =P in fact, i was only on the streets for about 5 hours in the afternoon during the streetdancing. So instead of me telling you about the festival, check out the official Kadayawan website . Or you can read some things i wrote about it in my journal at 4 a.m. hehe.

i'm finally done! this is what i've been doing today. finished drawing and coloring the last cartoons and put the text into the lay-out. lay-out's a bit cramped and weird, but i hope you get the flow. can't say i didn't do my best getting everything to fit. i'm posting the tagalog version here. we have a cebuano version, too =) this will be distributed in small poster size to our partner communities in cebu, bohol, western visayas (negros occ and panay) and eastern visayas (the leyte and samar provinces). and maybe northern mindanao and palawan. that is, if we get a budget for printing, or even just ink for the printer =P pathetic huh? we used to have monthly posters. now we've decided to make it quarterly. visit the ELAC website if you want to help our cause (we welcome donations!). hmmmm... now how do i make the picture bigger?