the Earth-bound adventures of the Lost and Found

oh and please do check out my homepage =) my first major try at animation using imageready. jeneen

lost and found by Jeneen R. Garcia published June 24, 2006 Five weeks ago, I put my transient lifestyle on hold. I went home to Davao . Up until three days before I left, I was climbing Cebu ’s highest peak in a typhoon, reluctant to admit I needed to be moving along. How long would I stay? I don’t know, I told my friends. Most I didn’t even say goodbye to. Didn’t want to mess with goodbyes. Why are you going home, a close friend asked. I’m not really sure, I said. Tell me when you know, she said. At the airport, a smirking check-in attendant informed me my baggage was overweight. It didn’t help that a few seconds before I had arrogantly declared that I would NOT be checking in my bamboo flute, because they were sure to damage my stuff. I pleaded, I argued that I could find a way to reduce the weight, but he just smirked. Perhaps finally feeling the tension from moving out of both my office and boarding house at the same time, anxiously planning everything to s...

the greenie patch by Jeneen R. Garcia published on June 25, 2006     Hello again, kids! How’s school been so far? Do you know that way back in your grandparents’ time, the three most important subjects were called the “3R’s”? Yup! This stands for reading, ‘riting (writing), and ‘rithmetic (arithmetic or basic math).   You kids today are lucky because you get to learn not only these 3R’s, but other things, too, like how to use computers to do homework. But wait, there’s another set of 3R’s you definitely need to know.   Straight from Teacher Earth’s mouth, here are the 3R’s we need to learn by heart to keep our environment (and ourselves) healthy:   Reduce. This means using or buying less of the things that will just end up in your garbage can. What are these things, you ask? Why, practically everything! Anything with plastic and styro usually goes to the landfill. So when you’re at the mall with your parents, eat at a place that doesn’t use styro to serve food. ...

As promised in my preview summer album . March 30 and 31, 2006. Speedboat to Zaragosa Island, overnight at the luxurious Badian Suite of the Badian Island Resort & Spa , dive at Coral Garden.

As promised in my preview summer album . March 30, 2006. Trek and shoot at Kawasan falls, speedboat to Zaragosa Island (see next album).

As promised in my preview summer album . March 29, 2006. Dives in Pescador Island and Kasai Point, shoot around Basdiot and Basdaku beaches, dinner by the sea.

even at P150-180/kg, people still buy durian, locals and tourists alike. some more photos from my day with howie severino and the i-Witness team . catch the show on June 26, 2006 after midnight on GMA-7.

June 13, 2006. One of the things I've always wanted to do (and still hope to do) is make environmental documentaries . So when someone told me that multi-awarded environmental journalist Howie Severino was looking for a researcher on his I-Witness team, I emailed him asking if it was true. He said no, they weren't, but advised me to go to Manila and take the GMA exam, saying the Public Affairs department always needs people. That was in March. In the meantime, lots of things have happened, my plans in life have evolved and become more definite (to be explained in a journal entry...soon, i hope), and eventually I decided that I don't want to start a career in media just yet. Still, being the mentor that I believe Howie is at heart (who's always on the lookout for people to encourage to go into communication that matters), he asked if I wanted to come along on their shoot in Davao. Before 2pm, I was at a fruit stand at Magsaysay Park waiting for the van with the i-Witn...

As promised in my preview summer album . March 28, 2006. Trek to Nug-as forest, then snorkeling at Tingko Beach.

As promised in my preview summer album . March 27, 2006. Trek to Bugasok Falls, spelunking in Balay sa Agta cave, rappelling down to Usmad River, skimboarding pictorial at Lawis, visit at church, dinner at Alex Kafe. Visit www.argaotourism.com for more information on the ecotour. Some photos from the hundreds i took =P

As promised in my preview summer album - the third in the series. April 7 and 16, 2006. At the start and end of our palawan tour, we were in the city proper seeing the sights. From the crocodile breeding center, to the penal colony in iwahig, to the cool restaurants, to the mangrove islands of Honda Bay -- Puerto Princesa is not your typical city.

June 4, 2006. as usual, couldn't resist. would've been such a waste if i hadn't.

June 4, 2006 in Obrero. everyone else was somewhere else in the world, and so it was just us. my first time to attend lolo's birthday in probably a decade or more.

the greenie patch by Jeneen R. Garcia to be published on June 11, 2006     Have you ever been told that you’re too young to do anything important? Have you ever thought that you’re too little to make a difference in this world?   Kids, just look at nature and you’ll see that God made everyone and everything for SOMETHING.   Tiny animals that most people would call icky usually have the most important jobs in nature. Earthworms burrow into the soil, bringing in air and nutrients from the surface down to the roots of plants deep below the earth.   Ants, worms, fungi (mushrooms), and microorganisms are nature’s janitors or “decomposers”. Whenever plants, animals, or insects die, the little creatures get to work by breaking down dead things into microscopic bits. These bits become nutrients in the soil and air. Without decomposers, plants and other organisms would not get their nutrients. Plus, we would have lots of dead bodies to clean up--eww.   Many people a...

My second day in Davao -- Keesha and her nameless greatgrandmother. Made me miss ashley =(

Got an unexpected assignment to write about Palau on Asian Spirit's new Manila-Davao-Palau route, so happily I went on the 2-day, 3-night tour, especially since this country is supposed to be among the best dive spots in the world. June 1, 2006. On our second day, we went to Palau's famous Rock Islands in the state of Koror, some 70+ limestone islands that will remind you of how the Chocolate Hills must have looked millions of years ago. If you notice, the islands are similar to El Nido and Coron, except that these are closer together, rounded, and in shallower water. Of course, I was the first one off the boat at every snorkeling stop. The best thing there is that the marine life isn't scared of people, so you can see sharks at two feet deep! I was thankfully with two hard-core divers (course directors at that, meaning they train dive instructors), so after the tour, we still got THREE dives in -- a Japanese wreck dive, a cave dive (my first time for both), and a night di...

May 31, 2006. Got an unexpected assignment to write about Palau on Asian Spirit's new Manila-Davao-Palau route, so happily I went on the 2-day, 3-night tour, especially since this country is supposed to be among the best dive spots in the world. First day, I backed out from the dive =( because I had to look at the other tourist spots. And these are what I saw. You think these were worth missing the dives at the Blue Hole and Blue Corner?

As promised in my preview summer album - the second in the series. April 12 to 15, 2006. From climbing Ugong Rock and making cave music in Tagabinet, to paddling into the underground river, to sighting hanging snakes in a mangrove forest, to lying in the hammock with a cat and eating scrumptious adobo, to swimming under the full moon, Sabang was my absolutely perfect four-day vacation.

As promised in my preview summer album - the first in the series. April 9 to 11, 2006. From the 9-hour bus ride, to island-hopping on a cloudy day, to climbing the taraw (limestone cliff), to hanging out at Balay Tubai -- El Nido was an adventure few places can beat.