Endemik: Dito lang sa Pinas

The Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) is sponsoring the 2nd Philippine Bird Festival themed"Endemik: Dito lang sa Pinas" to focus attention on conserving endemic bird species of the Philippines, the bird watching hobby and responsible appreciation of nature.

The Philippine Bird Festival, the only one of its kind in the country, will be held on September 22 and 23at the Crossroad 77 Convenarium, Mother Ignacia Avenue corner Scout Reyes Street in Quezon City.The Bird Festival will feature exhibits by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and 14 participating conservation groups and social development foundations, screenings of the award winning entries of the 2006 oonrise Film Festival, free public lectures on bird watching and nature conservation, erchandise and an arts activity center for the young and the young at heart. WBCP members and Bird Festival Committee chair Alice Villa-Real said the project hopes to raise the bar of awareness about the unique bird life of the islands, promote ublic interest in conservation and encourage the creation of more urban parks and green spaces. Villa-Real said there are more than 570 species of birds in the Philippines, no fewer than 180 species are found only in the archipelago. "The endemic birds include the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker and the White-Eared Brown Dove which are present in a number of parks and wooded areas in the core of Metro Manila, " she added. Similar events take place throughout the world each year, attracting large numbers of birdwatchers, scientists and nature enthusiasts. In Asia, some of the well-known bird watching events are Malaysia's Fraser's Hill International Bird Race and the Singapore Bird Race and the annual Taipei International Birdwatching Fair in Taiwan. The idea for a Philippine Bird Festival was conceived by local birdwatching hobbyists in 2005 and has received support and encouragement from conservation organizations and the business sector since.




This year's participating exhibitors include: Conservation International, WWF-Philippines, Philippine Eagle Foundation, Katala Foundation, Haribon Foundation, Isla Biodiversity Conservation, Cebu Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Polillo Island Biodiversity Conservation, the Center for Environmental Awareness and Education (CEAE), the Children's Environmental Awareness and Action Foundation (CEAAF), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-NCR, the Protected Areas & Wildlife Bureau, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Casper and Friends Aviarty and Rescue Center, Kaakbay CDI, Winner Foundation, Miriam PEACE, Happy Earth, Philippine Nature Photographers, Province of Camarines Sur, and the Ecorescue Volunteers Foundation, The 2nd Philippine Bird Festival is sponsored by the Mirant Foundation, Energy Lounge, Soul Shop and the
Figaro Foundation.
Contact: Alice Villa-Real - 0917-5397861, pathway93@yahoo.com
Michael Lu - 0926-6902972, myckle@thenet.ph Website: http://www.birdwatch.ph/

Pampanga Tourism Video

Kudos to this Kapampangan production shwocasing their province's must-see places, must-taste phood and must-experience culture and festivals!




kinda made me hungry though I wish there are english subtitles at least. I can only understand a few words (i'm Tagalog so I'm a bit disadvantaged but i can understand Cebuano/Bisaya)

how i wish DOT people make good their marketing to bring in lots of tourists here while also develop tourism infrastructure.

wake up people!

am also looking for the video of Antique I always see on Living Asia Channel

Just another city survey

Union Bank of Switzerland released recently their annual research simply
titled "Prices and Earnings" that put (my) Manila as one of the cheapest places on earth beaten only by New Delhi(India), Buenos Aires(Argentina), Mumbai (India) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Having been to KL(as Kuala Lumpur's commonly called) and Mumbai in 2004, I agree with Mumbai's rank but not that of KL. I've experienced KL for a week and Mumbai for 3 weeks, and I can definitely tell it's more expensive in KL than in Manila, if you were to use the value of the dollar as a gauge (even with the peso appreciating against the dollar and the expanded VAT), in almost everything including food and transportation. I had a hard time shopping for things in KL since I know I can get the stuff here in Manila at a lower cost, even digital cameras at a time when KL was positioning to be the camera capital of Asia.

Regarding Mumbai, I found it almost equal to Bangkok, which I was able to visit twice, but ranked higher than Manila so there's a big question mark here. I found only mobile phone rates and LRT/airtrains more expensive in Bangkok than in Manila due to government subsidy (I see
some of you smiling).

Is it the method used that i didn't scrutinize? But then again this is just a survey. To rank all foreign cities I've been to it would be in this order: Singapore, KL, Manila, Bangkok, Mumbai.

There is also a table where they measured number of minutes of work before you earn enough to buy a Big Mac. Mumbai workers require less minutes than Manila's but that's only if you can really buy Big Macs there-- there's only McChicken! :)

In India, no beef; In KL, no pork.

Also in India, or in Mumbai at least, you have to wait for minutes to get your order since they don't like fast food (of which our country is one big fast food nation). No pre-cooking-- it's a culture thing. Everything needs to be cooked after you order. I found this out the hard way when I ordered McChicken and waited for quite a long time. I got impatient after a while so I followed it up but the McDonalds staff gave me free french fries just for waiting noticing I was foreigner too hungry to be patient.

So many things I learned mostly misconceptions of other people, Filipinos in general, about Incredible India: the land of extremes and cultural diversity!

I will blog about my India adventure one of these days as well as the still pending Bangkok, KL, and Singapore odysseys.

Quezon: Kinabuhayan Cafe: A Gateway to Mt. Banahaw

What began as a query about Manila Bay sunset cruise changed into visits of local orchidariums then morphed into stories of butterflies and tutubi (dragonflies) over at Explore Philippines yahoogroups featuring the usually incoherent tutubi (that's me) when JB announced the presence of a rare tonbo (Japanese for dragonfly) thriving on the mystic slopes of Mt. Banahaw that moneyed Nihon-jins willingly cough up easily a thousand dollars each.

Knowing that a writing workshop was earlier conducted at Kinabuhayan Cafe that JB co-owned, I opened the idea of conducting a photojournalism workshop for me to finally visit his place, trek the enchanting streams and forests of Mt Banahaw and the seminar itself akin to a 3-point shot in the game most Filipinos love.

It was intended to be just a joke, with a hidden power of suggestion, and surprisingly JB Nalang obliged and later admitted that it was the key that let loose his inhibition to again plug-in his Kinabuhayan Cafe to other Explore Philippines yahoogroups members to visit his place.

The Photojournalism workshop began to take shape with Ocs Alvarez of Summit Media invited to impart his gift to us newbies armed with "super kitlens-powered" DSLR cameras. Planning started last week of May, re-scheduled many times (i've lost count how many times it was) and finally finalized (redundant huh?) to be held on the fourth weekend of July.

Kinabuhayan, after reading so much about you, the flightless tutubi is finally arriving with large aperture eyes.

At the Glorietta, right on appointed time not so typical of Filipinos, Derrick, Joselle, Carrie with hyperactive son JM, Jing, Joan, Jessica, and the flightless tutubi met JB, his wife and daughter Isabella, Ocs and his wife Bel. We drove off to Dolores town in Quezon province encountering jinx early on with the blueboys of the MMDA but was ironed out after a brief "diplomatic stand-off."

Arriving at Kinabuhayan Cafe after less than two hours, the sight of a unique house designed by Jay Herrera, a familiar name on TV sometime ago, greeted us. Made up of bits and pieces of ordinary turned exraordinary components, it is by itself a work of art, transforming common everyday materials into artful why-didn't-i-think-of-that conversation starters. A pool table shares center stage with 3 tables for guests. Tiles demarcated by bamboo slats make up the floor and artworks adorn the walls including the windows.

Three open-air Nipa huts with country-style hammocks with loft plus a unique toilet with hot shower that gives a rainforest shower sort of feeling due to presence of plants and flowers. A white mosquito net completes the setup upon snooze time.

A tree house perched on a sampaloc tree stands at a corner while plants, flowers, and trees abound giving the impression that the place just grew out of a forest.








the toilet equipped with hot shower in a garden setting


everywhere you look lies a work of art


gourmet lunch with fern salad


Arroz a la Cubana for breakfast downed with kapeng barako




Ocs Alvarez of Summit Media with JB, Joan and Carrie.

An expensive hobby photography really is-- gastos lang yan!











wild berries, plants, trees and flowers abound

To be continued...

Related Posts:

Banahaw Trek, Kinabuhayan Cafe Day 2

The HARIBON FORUM

The HARIBON FORUM: How well do we know our world heritage sites?
When: 24 August, 2006 - 6:00pm
Where: Meralco Mini-Theater, Lopez Building, Meralco Center, Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City

World heritage according to the UNESCO means “our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations.” There are currently eight world heritage sites in the Philippines: the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park; the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park; the Rice Terraces in the Philippine Cordilleras; the Historic Town of Vigan in Ilocos Sur; and the four Baroque churches of Santo Tomas de Villanueva in Iloilo, San Augustin in Ilocos Norte, Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion in Ilocos Sur, and San Augustin in Manila.

One of the reasons why protecting the sites is of great importance is because inclusion in the World Heritage list benefits not only eco-tourism but also the environment in that area. We preserve these sites not only for our country's benefit but also for the rest of the world so they may learn our heritage. Join us as we gain perspectives on this issue and let us take you on an audio-visual tour of the different sites we proudly call our world heritage.

Entrance fees are P20 for students and P50 professionals/non-students. We request that you confirm your attendance by contacting Vyxz Vasquez at 434-4642 or 0927-3994997 or email advocacy@haribon.org.ph

Original post here.

The Fall of Fort San Antonio Abad and the Battle of Manila Bay

In 1898, The Spanish-American war broke out and spilled into the Philippines then a Spanish colony (this war was triggered by an explosion of the USS Maine while anchored in Havana blamed on the Spaniards but later investigations turned it was just an accident)

on the first of May of the same year American fleet sailed into Manila bay, engaged and sank floating antiques called the Spanish navy, marking the day the US became known as a naval power.

This day in history, the Americans, led by Admiral Dewey who's been blockading Manila since March, captured El Insigne y Siempre Leal Ciudad (Distinguished and Ever Loyal City) from the Spaniards.

Fateful day was marked by the bombardment of the Spanish bulwark, Fort San Antonio Abad whose walls are still visible within the walls of the present Central Bank complex near the Metropolitan Museum



details of the old wall



after capturing the said Fort, the Spaniards capitulated (later found out to be a mock battle for the Spaniards not to lose face should they surrender to the Filipinos)

picture of Fort Santiago entrance in Intramuros with the Spanish insignia and St. James (San Santiago)



Sadly, this is a day long forgotten by history-challenged Filipinos.

A few months later, the Philippine-American war broke out when America fulfilled their manifest destiny and turn their nation of the free into an empire enslaving the Philippines and killing about 200,000 Filipinos, mostly civilians, in their plan of benevolent assimilation.

Mayon Volcano: Photo of Daragang Magayon

The headlines today tell of trouble brewing in the Bicol peninsula where Mayon Volcano is exhibiting signs of restiveness and spewing sulfur and lava much to the delight of curious on-lookers looking for a dangerous thrill

Will just share photos i took last year when I went, on moments notice, to Legazpi City for undercover work for a day.

Yes, just for a day. But while on board a taxi from NAIA Terminal 2 I got a call ordering me to return to Legazpi the morrow and stayed there for 3 more days :(
oh well...

Cagsawa church belfry: what remained of the village of Cagsawa after the big explosion of 1814


mayon volcano 33,000 feet high in the sky: Isn't she really magayon?



using the extreme "telephoto" of my super P&S camera i got this picture of the crater



sorry, but that was just using digital zoom- something I rarely use. Born of my frustration not able to photograph the sight then.

Pics taken sometime last October 2005 when Mayon started acting up but manifested only now and waiting for an imminent explosion.

Here's a tip: when flying to L.A. i.e. Legazpi, Albay, request to be seated window side to the left and just wait for this view to appear outside your window. That's if the Daragang Magayon will show up.

Best time to see the almost perfect cone is early in the morning where no clouds will obstruct your view. Don't be like Wikimapia with this picture below



Up to a an adventure like Mayon Volcano crater trek? You my drive up to the now abandoned Mayon Resthouse, 1/3 of the way then trek uphill for 6 hours and another 5 hours downhill.

Related Posts:

Mt. Pinatubo Crater Trek
Taal Volcano

Bibingka Galapong

Definitely much better than the bibingka of the big city: Paete's bibingka made of galapong, young coconut, and salted egg cooked in clay pots with the top also heated as shown below:



the bibingka: serve hot with butter



bibingka vendor at the Paete public market near the national highway.



if you knew Paete to be just the town of carvings, lanzones, and moving saints during Holy Week, you're missing out on so many things.

One of these days, I'll blog about other uniquely Paete culinary inventions: minani, minanok, bibingkang hipon, ginataang santol with alamang et al. Will also look for recipes.

Other versions of bibingka include bibingkang abnoy of Pateros made from unfertilized duck eggs with rotten smell, bibingkang itlog (the less foul-smelling version in Laguna).

Famous restaurants/outlets selling bibingka are Aling Nena's Bibingka in Cubao, Quezon City, Ferino's Bibingka (the self-proclaimed best bibingka in the Philippines) and also the new Bibingkinitan food carts in malls.

Ice Age: Paete Edition

The Carving Capital of the Philippines annualy hold an ice carving contest on the 24th of July which is the day before the town fiesta.

San Santiago Apostol church with intricately carved facade showcasing Paetenian inherent gift in carving


church patio filled with color



over at the town plaza ICE AGE is beginning



men began chipping away several blocks of ice...



to form this one by joining several blocks



if you think those kibitzers were marvelling at the ice creations, you got it wrong. What they're really after were bottles of Emperador brandy already ice cold :)



three of the few I managed to photograph





Global warming doomsdayers must be telling the truth since just a few minutes when the gates were opened to the public to see the ice creations up close, they vanished rapidly. Not that they melted-- they ended up in mugs of on-lookers rooting for free ice!

Pictures taken with Canon Ixus 30, Photoshop used to blur background (something you can't do with a P&S camera but fairly easy on SLR). Black and white conversion using filters.