Stylish Statement "Shearths"

I’m not a pure-blooded environmentalist especially if it means participating in clean-up up drives under the scorching sun. But hey, let me advocate the “save the Earth” cry the fashionista way. I’m impressed how the brilliant minds behind the Design Fusion Collection presented during this year’s Philippine Fashion Week, despite their prominent urban lifestyle had thought of streaking the event with environmentalism. Contrary to the intricate creations anticipated to be on the runway, models did the catwalk wearing simple round neck shirts with printed statements stirring environmental awareness. The colorful skirts/pants drew attention to the candid messages; accessories I guess are intentionally withdrawn from the look to convey that saving Mother Earth needs serious attention yet could be fun. Kudos to the designer/s for a significant campaign and impressive show; Filipino designers are truly creative individuals who’ll go places.

Now, who says that modern fashion is all craziness and that the runway could not be a venue for a worthwhile movement?


To view more of the Design Fusion Collection from the Philippine Fashion Week 2007 , click here

Earthdaytorial

Through Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, global warming and other environmental concerns finally managed to have a share of the spotlight and a chance to convey its message. Such issues are now placed on front page adjacent to, if not the banner story itself, without always being about oil spills and aftermaths of destructive typhoons. More related features and editorials are being published almost regularly rather than appearing to be mere page fillers. The subject also led to supporting researches/studies and programs were launched to respond to its call for proactive actions.

I don’t know if it’s just due to young age that I haven’t observed then but it seemed during when El Niño and La Niña phenomena occupy the front pages in mid to late 1990’s, most Filipinos (admittedly myself included) aren’t just as attentive to these issues and had contented ourselves with pictures of cracked patches of land and heavy rains. Today, we’re more involved. Just a couple of days ago, a national newspaper featured the opening of a bird’s sanctuary in Manila as the banner story while some of our major shopping malls had allotted 3 viewing times for that famous documentary in celebration of the Earth day.

“An Inconvenient Truth” may have already been successful in picking up the ears of us earthlings but I believe that its absolute fulfillment lies on our individual motivation to sustain eager consciousness of environmental concerns. The effects we are trying to counteract are problems accrued throughout decades and it wouldn’t take several once-a-year Earth days alone to resolve these; we could take advantage of everyday to do simple preventive and corrective acts. We do not need to be seen in tree planting or clean-up drives to be considered doing something – we know ourselves, we know what needs to be done, and we know what could be done. We’ve been educated of options; conservation and carbon offsetting being the modest I could do. If I may, let me usher you to square one: are you flicking that candy wrapper/cigar just anywhere now?

To the North! To the North! – A Travel Diary (Photo)

Front of PSJ Chapel

Pssst! Listen up, Mon!

Jonas, pa-experience lang ng sunset...

The official camera addicts

Go Doth! Flaunt it girl!

If it takes floating just to be in the shot, do it!

Aaaw...Look at these cute sea lion pups by the pool :-)

Rise and shine!


The irony of being at the reception prior departure :-P

Visit Philippines! Tara na, byahe tayo!

Our Lady of Charity Basilica (Agoo, La Union)

Gen McMahon and Mhel Bullock in..."Premonition". *The poor sunflower was twisted to face the camera* (Burnham Park, Baguio City)

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To the North! To the North! – A Travel Diary (Part 2)

Coming from La Union, we were ascending Marcos Highway by 2PM. *Time check brought to you by Mentos, The Fresh Maker (Thanks to Jing for the gum)*

As we were winding up, we noticed the dark sky atop the mountains which, as anticipated, was rain that welcomed us as we entered the city proper.

We had to snake through traffic for some time because a new flyover is being constructed. As we surveyed the area, Doth was busy with her phone verifying locations with a travel coordinator of the city.

Our first stop was Burnham Park to wait for the travel reps who shall escort us to our accommodation. Most of us got out of the bus to stretch and pee. As I hopped out of the bus, there was a taho vendor calling out and I was enticed to try the strawberry-flavored taho. Taho is a yogurt-like treat (although a little denser) made of soy and usually served hot. I grew up knowing only the typical taho which is topped with small sago (gooey pearls) and light syrup for flavor. The Baguio variant has small strawberry preserves. I must say that it was likewise good although mildly sweetened and my sweet tooth makes the regular flavor still a personal favorite.

I quickly sipped my purchase as we walked towards the nearest public toilet. It’s just one of the few around the park which were considered a significant undertaking of the Dept. of Tourism. It charges P5 when you are to pee but you get some tissue papers. We had the first of Baguio tap water when we washed our hands and brrrr…. it’s cold!

A variety of things are sold in the park. I was accustomed to seeing roving vendors only in marketplaces but Burnham’s different. You simply have to stay in a spot and vendors would stop by to offer you food, souvenirs, fruits, hats, sterling silver jewelries, even knives and toothbrushes! I was craving for grilled corn with butter but found only boiled ones.

I walked with Ms. Rina and Ms. Mhel by the boating lake. My last visit prior this was roughly 10 years ago; there were just regular roofed boats then. Now I noticed that there are big swan and croc boats already.

We got back to the bus and trailed behind our guide’s cab to the apartel. Our “all-knowing” driver made a stupid mistake of deviating from our guide hence we had to turn back at some part of the road.

5PM. After unloading our stuff and settling in our respective rooms, we got set for the market to buy ingredients for the night and the morrow’s meals. I was lying on bed having a headache but convinced myself that there’ll be no better chance to have a quick lesson of getting around especially that we are going on our own the following day. A Paracetamol tablet gave me the extra charge for the next 2 hours.

Eleven of us packed ourselves in a taxi; a few had gone ahead of us. I caught sight of our driver discreetly laughing with our jokes. Most of the people we saw rushing in the streets wear sweaters and jackets and we’re amused with the thought that we wrongly presumed that the residents are tolerant of the cool air. Some of us joked, “Hindi natin inakala, uso pala dito yung jacket no?” (We never thought jacket is a trend here)

Baguio is a busy metropolis especially with the presence of more big buildings (including the mall) which had been erected throughout the years. It is comparable to Manila minus the pollution and scorching heat.

We didn’t have a hard time making our way through the crowded marketplace. Our first buys are veggies for which Baguio is also famous. I just bought a few because I’m sure I’ll be buying many other pasalubong (take-home treats) in the duration of our stay. Then I started purchasing delicacies: chocolate crinkles, lengua de gato (thin milk-butter cookies), strawberry pastillas (chewy milk candies), and choco/milk-coated pinipig bars/flakes (pounded rice grains with a mild aroma). These could be bought at 3-5 packs/jars for a hundred. We were back in the apartel by 7:00.

The next morning, a group set early to the strawberry farm in La Trinidad Mountains which is less than an hour commute from the city while some others went back to the market. I joined neither of these because I was to meet Dennis (the champ featured in my previous blog, “Where Speaking Brought Me”. Since this full-fledged scholar said he still has classes, we agreed to meet by 10:30 at SM Baguio since their school is just nearby.

I was the last to leave the apartel. I took a taxi to the Botanical Garden which is not very far from there and I was among the earliest tourists for the garden wasn’t busy yet when I arrived. Of course you have a precise idea of what I found there so I’ll just mention a few highlights. There was a small art gallery where the works of Baguio Art Guild artists are displayed and most are for sale. By the pond are balanced rock forms where a narrow tip of a smaller rock is balanced vertically on a larger rock. Within the area are giant Ifugao statues portraying different life sets of these native people of the region. Sadly, I don’t own a digicam hence was not able to take pictures. *Calling kindhearted donors…*

In the early 90’s, there were 3 averaged-sized statues in the garden placed beside each other and one of it is headless . My uncle had to carry me to have my picture taken with my head on top of the headless statue. I can’t help but smile when I still found it there although one statue is missing and the other is now headless too.

Another taxi ride brought me to SM Baguio. I was there a few minutes before 10. The mall isn’t open yet so I just stood at the entrance. Ms. Rina had contacted me telling that they are checking out the apartel and the bus is about to leave. I got scared but more of disappointed (Note: We were originally told that I have until 12NN, then changed to 11AM). Fortunately, I had packed my things and bunched my bags together on our bed before I left. I texted Dennis to apologize for the last minute cancellation then flagged down a taxi to take me to Good Shepherd’s Convent where my officemates were heading to. “Series of Unfortunate Events” really, Dennis’ reply came just as I had locked the cab’s door. It said that their class was dismissed early and he’s on his way. It was similar to scenes from movies and TV series where a character had just left (usually for the airport) when the other came except of course, Den did not and need not chase after me! *lol*

On my way, I caught a glimpse of Wright Park and The Mansion. Another message from my officemates came in saying that they are in Mines View Park. It wasn’t long before I got reunited with them. There were a lot of stalls in the park. I did some more shopping and got wooden butterfly wall decors, knitted vests, and few more delicacies. I noticed that most Baguio vendors, even those in the downtown marketplace, are warm and good conversationalists. They know how to offer their goods and get along with customers’ jokes.

Mine’s View is also the place for gardening enthusiasts. A wide variety of garden plants and flowers are for sale at reasonable prices. There were colorful flowers and dainty dish gardens. Nomer had a shopping-spree of potted cacti! There are also booths for photo ops - one lends native Ifugao head dresses. Somewhere else, you could pose beside a big St. Bernard looking gentle and cute with its tongue sticking out and sleepy eyes.

Legs tired and pockets almost empty, we started our way home by almost lunchtime feeling a bit frustrated for being shortchanged of liberty to visit more places and do more activities but still, we’re glad for the break from our routine.

EPILOGUE

The fittest survivors reported for work the following day although we found it hard to actually work. A week after the trip, we still find ourselves laughing on our adventures but we have a unified vow of going back especially to Baguio to satisfy our longing for more fun.

I’m planning to go by myself soon and maybe try riding a horse in Wright Park or see what interesting finds I could get from the ukay-ukay (bargain sale).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The SBMA Administrator, for being the major sponsor a.k.a. financier …

Sir Jeff for the great bonding and the generous giveaways…

Doth, Jing and Jhong, Travel Planners and Reservation Coordinators…

Nomer, Kuya Jo and Kuya Mike, Official Photographers…

Manang Myrna and Manang Rosy, our diligent chefs, for the delicious meals and for being so-concerned of my being a vegetarian…

Glenn, for keeping us entertained with the out-of-this-world laugh...

Transportation Department, for finally settling a credible agreement but please have a ten-wheeler truck roll over the drivers; we failed to knock them unconscious and hurl them over Mine’s View Park – believe us, they’re monsters!

Puerto de San Juan and Medrano’s Apartel, for the outstanding customer service…

And for the bright coconut that conceived the idea of inventing the water heater!

To the North! To the North! – A Travel Diary (Part 1)

After a series of meetings, online searches, phone wars with our Transportation Dept., cancelled reservations, hunt for the most sought after signatories, and holidays I spent mostly by watching rented videos, the much aspired strategic planning of our office finally pushed through. Fact is, of the 3-day itinerary, only 1 hour was genuine planning session. *Cheers!*

April 10, 2007, Tuesday. We were at the assembly place before 2AM, but departure had been delayed as usual so I decided to visit the newly opened MiniStop^® nearby. I might have underestimated the shop as a convenience store but aside from being open 24 hrs, I didn’t expect to find glow in the dark stickers and out-of-the ordinary condoms! I find it amusing that next to flavors, manufacturers had ventured to texture. There were contoured condoms, dotted condoms and another I-forgot-what type…oh well, talk about an early morning discovery. Anyway, I just bought distilled water to formally conclude my visit.

We rolled from Subic Freeport at about 3:00AM aboard a company bus which is spacious for us thus even our personal stuff were on the seats. Few already gulped down Bonamines^®; good enough I brought extras that kept my fellows going. As expected, a chilly early morning travel was spent chatting or sleeping except for the big guys who rushed into getting the bottoms-up that early. They were tipsy halfway our first destination though none is violent, just naughty and noisy. We only had to stopover for breakfast somewhere just two hours more to La Union but we had some 6 other quick stops to let the other guys pee.


LA UNION

The sun is shining high when we entered the province of La Union located in the northern part of the country. Despite that I had passed through it for several times already (the last was when I went to Vigan in February), I have to admit that it’s just during this trip when I got interested with the place because La Union is a big province similar to Tarlac and it gets me impatient counting how many towns/municipalities we had passed by and yet we’re still within its bounds. You could doze off and you’ll wake up only to find you’re still within its realms *Sigh*

Since entering San Fernando City, almost everybody became keen navigating the way although nobody might have matched Ms. Jing who I think didn’t sleep throughout the trip and made a good job tracking the very informative signages all saying “Straight Ahead” – period.

Three left turns from the main road, we finally arrived at Puerto de San Juan Resort. What caught my attention initially was the theme park directly opposite the resort’s entrance. Unfortunately, it’s open during weekends only. The front area of the resort resembles a developed subdivision with units lining both sides of the way leading to the main hotel. Once parked, we stepped out of the bus and made a quick survey of the nearby surroundings. Doth and our boss took charge of the checking-in while few made a short visit to the small chapel adjacent the parking lot. Nomer and I took snapshots in front of the chapel with his hip camera.

We’re all settled before 10AM. Our unit has a sala, a kitchen, a common bathroom, and 2 bedrooms; I shared one with Nomer while the other was occupied by Jhong and Sir Jeff. The units across ours, such as the one occupied by the ladies, have no kitchen but has a larger receiving area and a bathroom in each of the 2 bedrooms. One bedroom has 2 double-deckers while the other has a big bed. Even so, our unit served as the headquarters where all our baons were stored and the meals were prepared (and consumed too!).

Turned the TV on… sandwiches for snack… pictures taken… *Bell ring* LUNCH IS SERVED! Few minutes rest after having our full, we lathered on the trusty sun block and strolled around. At the back of the main building are the swimming pools, a small playground, and not far from there is the beach. We sat a while on a roofed area with benches and a table while convincing ourselves not to risk braving the waves of the beach. Fact: La Union beaches are renowned for surfing, not for silly frolicking.

After which, we returned to our units to have our siesta. The upper deck of Ms. Jing’s bed was vacant so I slept there until Jhong awakened everybody to say that Sir Jeff decided to hold the strategic planning by 5PM.

I went back to our unit to wash my face and change for swimming. We returned to the benches overlooking the beach and had our planning sessions.

*** Silence. Meeting in Progress ***

The sun had set and we’re done. Next agendum: dinner. Our diligent manangs brought out the marinated meat to be char-grilled while most of us got ready to swim. I surprised err… shocked my officemates with my trunks. (Sorry guys. I myself was shocked when I first wore it in Villa Escudero last year; I failed to find my short-type trunks). So much with the bikini, we had a lot of fun bathing in the hot spring-warm pool and chasing the camera.

Shower…dinner…and pre-bedtime rites… I slept at about 11:30 after watching the final episode of “Princess Hours” while switching once every while to Fashion TV. Our aircon was set to low cool yet it was still very cold. The single comforter wasn’t just enough for us. Too good I brought with me my convertible pillow.

No much interesting activities the next morning. Just had our breakfast then packed our belongings and of course, made the most of our last chance for photo ops. I just bought four post cards of the resort since I haven’t found anything else very interesting in their souvenir shop.

By noontime we were moving back to San Fernando where we were supposed to visit few tourist spots in the area. Unfortunately, our drivers seemed to intend playing deaf to our navigators’ directions thus keeping us from getting to places. (Hang yourselves you mold-covered, stinking kill-joys! Grrr!)

The remaining place that we may visit before proceeding to our next destination was Agoo; still within La Union. We dropped by the small town’s museum and the curators were kind enough to let us in although it was actually closed for lunch break. Based on what I saw in the museum, I realized that Ilocos was among the provinces vastly influenced by Catholicism during the Spanish era. (Oh well, I wasn’t paying much attention in my history class) Enclosed in glass displays were priestly robes and religious images. However, my favorites were the “kalapiaw” or “aninga” (traditional raincoat made of nipa leaves) and a shelf full of dolls portraying Philippine folk dances.

Across the road and a stone’s throw from the museum stands the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity. I quickly read the front marker and learned that the edifice had already undergone major renovations yet it still has that ancient ambience. I joined my colleagues although I’m not a Catholic just to see what’s inside. Its dome was majestic and on the way out, I glanced up the choir balcony and saw a rather interesting pipe organ.

We’re having lunch while on our way to the next destination: Baguio City.


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