Baguio-Quezon

This is the woods that is threatened by destruction because of enterprising, greedy humans wanting to build more and more buildings in the city.

The trees here are only slightly older than I am. I remember back in grade school when the young pine trees were planted. Then year after year, I saw them grow together into what it is now: a beautiful piece of greenery near the city. It is relatively untouched because a wall surrounds it. But now, it is in danger of being converted into another cemented area. Won't the Department of Environment and Natural Resources do something about it? Mr. Atienza, is this going to be another Arroceros Forest Park?

Technorati tags: Baguio

Posted in: advocacy on Friday, May 30, 2008 at at 2:37 PM 3 comments  

Blogger and friend Mec with husband Jojo and son visited Baguio some time back and we met for dinner at Oh My Gulay. To cap the night off, Mec asked where we can have coffee and of course, I wondered how to make the coffee night different from the usual Starbucks night. The name Cordillera Coffee popped in my mind but I was a bit hesitant to invite them there because of the service (or rather lack of it) we encountered the last time. But there was no other place I can think of, so to SM we went.

There were some noticeable differences on this second visit to this Coffee shop. For one thing, they have removed the ghastly numbers taped onto the beautiful tables. Yes!

The paintings have also changed... but what is most noticeably different?

The service! They were alert, prompt and accommodating. What a nice change! Kudos, Cordillera Coffee Baguio team! Keep it up! We enjoyed the coffee and the service.

Technorati tags: Baguio
[photos courtesy of Mec]

Posted in: food on Monday, May 26, 2008 at at 6:05 PM 0 comments  

LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET—Watersheds in the Cordillera Administrative Region are courting an environmental disaster and the government is being urged to launch a major rescue operation to stop the further decline in the region’s forest cover and water resources.

Read on at the Inquirer.net


Technorati tags: Baguio

Posted in: environment on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at at 2:04 PM 0 comments  

We had one, stormy weekend in the North. It started raining early Saturday afternoon and gained strength at dusk. That night, the winds of typhoon Cosme howled and the rains lashed on the rooftops unabated. There was no electricity; good thing we had our emergency lights charged. But one thing we missed was having a good radio that can be battery-powered. That is now in my list of must-haves for this rainy season.

The following day, there was still no electricity. But instead of whining about it, we thought of doing something creative: play house! Good thing we had a tent so I set it up at the living room! My wife, Jo-Lo and I had fun staying in the tent reading books, chatting, and dozing off. Then come lunchtime, we prepared sumptious tinola! Yum yum.

Who said we can't have fun when it's raining outside and there's no electricity? :-)

Technorati tags: Baguio

Posted in: Baguio, weather on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at at 6:26 PM 0 comments  

There are two sides of the coin when it comes to tourism: on one hand it generates a much-needed livelihood for the enterprising folk; and in the other, there is always that possibility of having our natural resources become ravaged by human carelessness.

I have seen too many instances where the bad side is the norm.

Take my hometown of Baguio, for example. Just last year, I can simply go to the bus terminal and get a ticket for the next trip within the hour. It has been around three months now that I get a ticket for at least three hours later. That's even during the weekdays. In Baguio, you can see a lot of construction going on. The more recent area threatened by "human development" is the woods located near the Convention Center and UP. I have, in the 70s, seen these grounds planted with pine tree saplings and saw it grow into what it is today: a beautiful green area where trees stand tall and proud. The fight to preserve this piece of land is now threatened because the people don't know enough about what is going on (or do they simply not care?). While this land can be bought by the local government, mindless politicians would rather opt to pass bills giving them the power to buy cars for their private transportation over much-needed garbage trucks or preserving our natural heritage. Everybody, not just the people of Baguio, should be made aware of these things and we should take action to curb the practices of these people who have nothing in mind but making money and thinking about their own welfare.

Another case: Taytay Falls in Majayjay, Laguna. In the late 90s, me and my officemates were able to get a chance to visit this area as a weekend getaway. We had to trek for a couple of hours to reach the falls. And in the site itself was just a couple of campers enjoying the serene beauty of nature. But during that time, we were already walking on a dirt road that was bulldozed to create a road going directly to the descent to the falls. I am not against convenience and enjoyment of nature by everyone, but you should see the amount of garbage left by picnickers! Amidst the cool, clear waters are shampoo sachets, junk food plastics, and bags with various bottles and tin cans. Why can't people be more consious of their surroundings? Even Mt. Banahaw's holy grounds are not spared. Garbage is dumped between the rocks surrounding Sta. Lucia Falls.

We don't even have to look far. Right here in Manila is the Arroceros Forest Park which was being nurtured for over ten years and then in the change of mayorship, policies were suddenly overturned, trees were uprooted and we now have an eyesore of a Department of Education Building right inside the forest preserve. How ironic is that?!

But I still yearn for the time when Filipinos will know how lucky they are to have these gifts through learning and travel.

It is my fervent hope that, in getting the world's attention to our more popular natural resources that we will see how lucky our country truly is in having these riches and that a concerted effort will happen in keeping these places free of garbage and human destruction.

So please vote for our candidates to the New 7 Wonders of the Natural World. Vote to open our eyes to our natural wonders and widen our horizon to truly see these trees which give our oxygen to breathe on and our oceans that give us food for nourishment without expect nothing from us in return but respect.


Visit the New 7 Wonders of the World website and you get to vote for 7 candidates. 3 of these nominees are our own:

Chocolate Hills

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park

Tubbataha Reef

In order to vote, you need to input your e-mail address, then vote for your 7 Wonders. You can vote for a nominee only once! Voting ends on 31 Dec 2008. I will wait for a little longer to get more Philippine sites listed in there.

[cross-posted in watson.online/]
Technorati tags: Baguio

Posted in: advocacy on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at at 12:26 PM 0 comments  

Marbay is the place along downtown Session Road where you can have your fill of woodcrafts, native accessories, woven clothing and decor, and lots more. This section is just the ground floor and is right behind the Maharlika Livelihood Center which fronts Session Road.

When you're coming from Maharlika, the left side of the Marbay is a line of Tailoring Shops which specialize in uniforms of all sorts. Popular items are basketball jerseys and military gear. I took these shots when we were seated by a stool waiting for my pair of pants to be repaired.

These shops have been here for the longest time, and they still use sawing machines that are manually run using a pedal at the lower portion. We were also taught how to use such machines in Grade 6 Home Economics; my wife and I had lots of fun reminiscing about those good old days.




Technorati tags: Baguio

Posted in: on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at at 5:32 PM 0 comments  

I couldn't bear to leave the house with baby Jo-Lo still awake when it's time for me to go to Manila on Sunday nights, and so that's what happened last night, as is the custom, for me to tiptoe to the living room and pack my things there.

I thought it was just going to be one of those ordinary nights. But then I spied a couple of flying insects resembling dragonflies that were attracted to the living room lights. There was also a weak tapping and buzzing outside. I peeked through the curtain and what I saw looked like a scene from the Reaping. There was a horde of these insects trying to get in! Pretty soon, around 6 of them were flying about the living room.

That's when I realized that these were Mayflies. They come out on the first week of May, especially after a strong rain. They're a pretty harmless lot, and are even a pitiful sight because after their flying frenzy, they drop to the ground, many with wings detached, and they would crawl about until they die. Such is the life span of the Mayflies. Makes me wonder how the next generation survives.

I asked my wife to close the door for me so I can have the porch lights turned on until I get to the gate. Not that I was afraid, but the lights were attracting them and so I can leave the house without having them crawling all over my face.

Just when I thought I was past their maddening crowd, this lamppost right beside the gate was swarming with Mayflies! I zipped up my jacket, kept my mouth shut, and ran up the stairs to the road where I was going to hail a cab.

According to Wikipedia, the Mayfly is an important environment indicator. The presence of Mayflies mean that the water supply is clean. Thank goodness for that. Is this indicative of why I do not see Mayflies in Manila? Hmmm.
Technorati tags: Baguio, Mayflies

Posted in: mayflies on Monday, May 05, 2008 at at 9:15 PM 0 comments  

Bonifacio Street is by far one of the busiest thoroughfares in Baguio City, primarily because it is home to schools and students. Magsaysay Avenue also meets Bonifacio Street at the Baguio Center Mall, so traffic to and from La Trinidad adds to the buildup.

Saint Louis University also has its main gate at this street, so we frequent this road. We usually just walk from the gate all the way to Session Road when we were students. After doing it again some time back, I realized that it was quite a long walk! But back then, it was, shall we say, a more pleasant thing to do. These days, Bonifacio Street is so congested with people and vehicular traffic. Times are indeed changing.

My wife and I walked from SLU to Session Road. Along the way is another school, the Baguio Central University.
And then comes the Baguio Center Mall. In the 70s, this was a huge, vacant lot and was a jeepney terminal. It was not cemented and was of course, dusty on sunny days and muddy on the rainy season. But it had a character all its own. Street shows would be performed here with snakes and eggs and demonstrations of the effectiveness of herbal medicines they would be selling to the crowd, with their loudspeakers blaring and attracting quite a crowd. Today, this mall features a bowling alley at the top level. We played there a couple of times. I don't play bowling actually, but I do to humor my friends and I always end up with the lowest score. Oh well.

See the blackened building beyond? That's the University of Baguio campus. It had an unfortunate fire accident recently.

Our walk brings us to Malcolm Square, now commonly known as People's Park. Assemblies are done here.

The peach-colored building beyond was once a cinema. It's now a place for second-hand items. U-Need Grocery is one of the older stores in Baguio, though it was much bigger on the 70s and 80s. They even had a bakery where we bought our streamline cake, a favorite on birthdays. Today, the bakery is gone and half of the grocery store with it.

Not all businesses are falling on hard times, though. Pang Hoi, for example, had considerably increased its store space.

Technorati tags: Baguio

Posted in: Bonifacio Street on Friday, May 02, 2008 at at 5:11 PM 0 comments