Sleepless in Puerto

R is arriving 5:30A.M. on the earliest Cebu Pacific flight tomorrow.  

The kids and I have planned it.  Because we missed him SO SO SO much, we're heading straight to White Fence Country Cafe for some REAL crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy waffles, hash browns, pancakes, sausages.... 

By the way, they also have really GOOD pizza! 

Really good thin crust pizza happily served with Parmesan cheese and hot chili flakes!! (Their menu is online.)

But I digress. 

They've never been separated from him this long before.  It's been a record-breaking two months. This week the kids  had a countdown. 

And a "Welcome home, Daddy!" sign in the dining room! 

They'd probably sleep early tonight because we had a busy day in town - dentist appointment, piano lessons, math tutorials and grocery shopping.  We had an early dinner and were ready to sleep before 8:00p.m.  We said our prayers and they were knocked out by 8:30pm!  (Ah, if only every night would be like this! ). I enjoyed the quiet time doing some paperwork till about 11:30p.m..... then... N walked out of his room wiide awake.  He watched me work, and a few minutes later, E came out too.... 

So, at 1:15a.m., they're snacking on some cookies and milk while I pretend to sleep so they'll follow soon.  

At 1:45a.m., they are still hungry and are moving on to the cold taho that we bought this afternoon. 

I can still hear them discussing that in an hour, R will be leaving for NAIA 3.  In another hour or so, he will be boarding the plane on the way to us!  

They doublecheck their alarms and are still talking about biking with Daddy, and going to te beach with Daddy, watching.  X-Men and Maleficient with Daddy, and joking with Daddy, and laughing with Daddy....  

I have to sleep now. 

Destination: Palawan!

So, we've been gone for ten months.  

We had one major project before we left- we brought Trumpets Musical Theater to Palawan.  45 students signed up for a two-week workshop filled with learning theater techniques through play.  We even had 3 students who were sponsored by generous hearts from Manila!  A few days after the recital, we left for Manila.  

It was a work assignment that brought R back to the city, and of course, we went with him.   Despite our resistance, it was the best thing that could have happened when it did because we needed to be there for our family during the one time that we were needed the most, ever.  

We lived out of a few suitcases, knowing that we'd go back to get more of our things if we ended up relocating again.  Kids became restless.  Our dream life haunted us.  We were growing older way too fast and time was running out to make it happen. 

Patiently, we waited.  We kept nurturing our dream, one step at a time.  We percolated our ideas and expanded our network.  Then - we took a deep breath - took several deep breaths, clasped our hands and hearts together as one family, and got ready to free fall into the beautiful and bright abyss that would embrace us and launch us back into the bright sky, past the clouds towards the sun!!!! 

In other words, we decided to go back to Puerto Princesa. 

Amidst the house and car maintenance, settling back into our homeschooling routine, reconnecting with good friends, the universe is converging... Our prayers are being answered so generously, beyond our expectations and hope!  

Soon, we will really Be Home again. 

Love Affair With Nature

We've been sadly missing this annual February 14 event every year for various reasons.  Finally, this year, we deliberately made plans to join the citizens of Puerto Princesa City in planting mangroves along the coastline to express our love for nature --- in fact, our love for Puerto Princesa, which has been our home for the past three years.

Conveniently as well, Mangrove Ecosystems was Elise's lesson in her Science home school program for February.  So we had a stronger reason for participating!  We set off, along with another family, at 4:30A.M. to Pook Silangan in Barangay Tagburos, a small coastal fishing village.

When we got there, three priests just finished celebrating Holy Mass by the beach for a huge crowd.  

We hurriedly registered and got our mangrove seedlings.   They were packed in small black bags.  We proudly carried them over to the areas which were assigned for planting. 

As we walked towards the mangrove planting area, we saw many other people walking too.  We were all silent, overwhelmed by the dramatic sky, the cool breeze, the shadows and the rising sun.  This was indeed an expression of love for nature -- walking on the shore with family and friends at the break of dawn to do our part to save the coastline from eroding and eventually protecting them from storms and building a sturdy mangrove ecosystem.  So, we marched on. 

 

We found some marked spots and got some help with planting our seedlings.
 

 
The city government offices like the City Tourism Office and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources sent their staff and managers to plant and help out. Even the PNP and the Philippine Navy were there.

 

Private organizations were there too! 

Locals like us were lingering even after planting several seedlings.

Back at the beach, we caught a glimpse of Mayor Edward Hagedorn officiating a free mass wedding for about a hundred couples. 

     

Around the bend, some dancers were getting ready for the festivities..... 

We spent around an hour and a half there, feeling connected to the community.  We left Tagburos knowing that we helped saved the coastline by planting at least six or seven mangrove trees there. 

We love you, Puerto Princesa!

The Last of the Seedlings!

There were a few tomato and petchay seedlings that made it just before December.

But when the petchay leaves started to grow, they got eaten by something!  Probably a snail.  My mom said that sprinkling salt around the plant will prevent the snail from coming near. Too late! 

Here are my tomato plants now.   Despite the lack of attention when they were left home alone with just the natural climate for two weeks during the Christmas season, they still grew.  And with the loving care that I've been learning to give them, they are now very healthy!  Only three of them left, so please, grow, grow, grow and bear fruit soon!  

Grilled Squid at Nagtabon Beach

Above is a picture of one kilo of squid that was wrapped in foil and grilled over charcoal with no salt, nor pepper or any other seasoning --- just freshly caught from the sea a couple of hours ago.   Maybe the sea breeze blew the flavor of the sea to the squid.  It was cooked before we could tire frolicking in the waves. 

The best time to go to Nagtabon Beach is around March to September.  Otherwise, the waves get really wild and sweep you back and forth the shore, leaving you with little control.

 

If you plan to spend considerable time lounging on the sand, rub some insect repellant on yourself, as you might displace some sand mites (niknik) and they leave bite marks that last for weeks.  An effective remedy for itchiness is Calmoseptine (calamine + zinc oxide), which is generally used for diaper rash.  

Oh, but the sand is fine, without any sharp shells and corals.  Occasionally there are small pebbles.  It's the best kind of sand for letting kids make their own creations. 

Fish at San Jose Public Market

Mama gave us a three-level steamer last September when she visited.  Since then, I've just used it for steamed Lapu-Lapu, steamed carrots and steamed rice.

Last weekend, I decided to make frequent trips to the New Public Market of San Jose and learn about local fish from the fishmongers.  I will buy fish, steam them, and try them! Steamed fish is the best way to taste fish! 

The fishermen usually arrive at about 4:00P.M. with their day's catch, and the market will be alive and bustling with the noises of huge knives splitting large tuna, the grating of heavy pails and crates filled with ice and fish against the pavement and the banging of the aluminum trays against the weighing scales.  All the hype will die down after an hour, and the catch will last up to about noon the next day.   So off we went: Elise, Nacho and I. 

The fish section was wet.  But it was NOT smelly.  Elise said the air smelled a little sweet, like sweet smelling fish, good enough to eat. Nacho's eyes were wide open and he was talking nonstop about all the different shapes and colors of everything.

Saw some eel. Unagi!  Can't steam that.

Some "mulmol", sometimes called "loro" or parrot fish were available.  But they're endangered, so I did not have the heart to buy them.  Although I heard that when they are grilled over a charcoal fire, they are very tasty, and the the liver is especially delicious.  But then again, NO!  They are endangered!

Saw some "pagi" or mantarays. They are usually cooked in coconut milk, but I wasn't sure how.  Besides, I tasted some before and did not really love them...

Saw some "karatungan".  Looked like rock fish, but I was not sure.  The fish's back was covered with spines, which you have to pull out with tweezers as part of the preparation process. But the meat, they said, is very tender. I wasn't up to the spine-pulling preparation, so we skipped that. 

I asked the fishmonger what fish is good to steam, and she pointed to some "kanuping" or "isdang bato", and at P100 per kilo, two good sized ones found their way to my cutting board...

 ...and to our steamer, along with some ginger and leeks and all those good stuff.  Okra and tomatoes went on the first level of the steamer, and the rice went on the second level. A complete meal in one cooking appliance! 

The meat was so firm and tender.  The taste was so, so clean, with no aftertaste. The skin was thick, and it easily came off, I almost peeled it from the cooked fish. I suspect that this fish would also be good when skinned, filleted and used for fish 'n' chips or fish sticks, or with some sort of oyster sauce-shitake mushroom sauce. 

We enjoyed our simple meal with all the condiments!  Toyo (soy sauce), calamansi (Philippine lemon), siling labuyo (red chili pepper), suka (vinegar), and bagoong (fish paste)!

Coral Casualty

Nacho and I went to El Nido with some friends for a few days. Despite this casualty story, I had a tremendously great time. 


We only had one day to go island hopping, so we took a combo island hopping tour - a cross between Tour A (caves) and Tour B (beaches).   For some reason, I decided not to wear my aqua socks and was confident enough that my slippers will get me through some island hopping fun.  I did the tour before and some of my companions were in slippers and they were fine. The first of seven stops was Small Lagoon.  I alighted from our boat and took Nacho from the boatman. And we were off, swimming our way to the entrance of the Small Lagoon.


I did not anticipate the waves.   When we were last there, the water was calm.  My slippers slipped away from my feet and I managed to grab them before they were taken away by the current. With our new underwater camera strapped around my elbow, we continued.  I kicked again, and felt my leg scratch against something hard and sharp.  I went underwater and saw some black coral on my right.  I glanced at my leg, and noticed some jagged red scratches. Okay, not too serious.

Then a strong wave pushed us.  I slammed on the coral again with the same leg. Ugh. It hit he side of my lower shin. And THAT hurt.

As soon as we got to shallower water, I took a look at my leg.  It was, well, lightly lacerated with small 1cm cuts, some of them deep.  I had a few long scratches too.  I took a deep breath as it was freaking me out.  I heard that there were some reef sharks in El Nido, and I know that sharks are attracted to blood, and I knew that my cuts were bleeding, and there are reef sharks in some parts of Palawan... and my cuts were bleeding, and sharks were attracted to blood - this kept on going around in my head. Yikes. Paranoid.

I was determined to shake off all the bad vibes.  It was about 9:30a.m. and we still had the whole day. We enjoyed almost an hour of swimming, snorkeling, picture-taking, and just floating around.  But there were a lot of people going in and out of the lagoon, so we couldn't really enjoy the peace and quiet. Okay, we too were not exactly quiet.  But when Nacho and I were there with family last June, we had the whole place to ourselves for a while, and  were able to enjoy the water sounds and the bird sounds.

A friend aboard the boat lent me some Chinese medicine called Mopidick that came in a small bottle, and you just dab the liquid on to your cut.  It stung for a bit and then numbed the cuts.  I found out later that Mopidick is also good for burns, insect bites and other skin irritations. That night, I poured alcohol over the cuts.  Another friend shared with me some of her antibacterial cream before going home the next day.

But they still stung even after we got back from the trip!  Rene said that there are microorganisms in the corals, and when you cut yourself, these tiny things will be caught in your skin as well.  After a while, the cut could develop an infection. So, I cleaned them again, this time with some Hydrogen Peroxide, applied Betadine, then antibacterial Fucidin, covered the nine small ones with Band Aids and four large ones with gauze then took a tablet of Celestamine (just in case I get an allergic reaction).  With all those bandages, my leg looked much worse than it actually was - looked a bit exaggerated, actually.

A full 24 hours later, I removed all the bandages and voila, I got my scabs! Amazing how the body can fix itself.

Later, I discovered that those corals could really be dangerous and in some cases, fatal.  So, bring your hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial ointments and some Band Aids the next time you go snorkeling!  Just in case!

And, by the way, I also learned that being stung by jellyfish is much more of a worry than being attacked by a reef shark.  Reef sharks are fearful of humans!  And for jellyfish, just bring vinegar!

Aloha House

We first chanced upon this place a few months ago when we were viewing some empty lots for sale at Santa Monica.  It was behind a 1,000 square meter lot along the main road.  As the sun already set, and the sky was getting dark, the place was closed.  I saw a small sign that herbs were for sale.  I made a mental note to myself to make this one of the places that we should visit soon.

The perfect opportunity came a few days ago when Mama and her sister, Tita Baby, visited us here in Palawan.  The Aloha House was right on Mitra Road on the way back from Baker's Hill, where we had lunch. 

We knocked on the gate and we were let in by a nice Cebuano speaking lady.

She led us right to the Farm Store.

There were bottles of molasses, virgin coconut oil, coconut-pineapple jam and pesto.  They even had brown, red and black organic rice.

There were also some crocheted goblet covers and necklaces made by the women.

Mama and Tita Baby shopped for a bit.

A small roundabout was in the center, surrounded by a see-saw and and some bouncing wooden animals, all set on a little pool of smooth white stones. Elise and Nacho noisily played and the lady had to ask them to tone it down, as the little orphan babies were napping.

We took a peek inside, and there were several cribs side by side where the children, some barely a year old, were stretching and yawning and napping. Aloha House is also an orphanage licensed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. 

Across the store was a cozy open living room where a friendly dog was sitting.

Behind the sofa were little cars made from small plastic water drums with wheels fastened to them.  They were linked together to form some sort of pull-train.  VERY CLEVER!!!

Another clever thing was a dog house with a small tunnel.

All these were overlooking a rolling garden of lettuce,

tomatoes, 

and gotocula! I got very excited when I saw gotocula, as Mama keeps a pot of these in her porch at home and eats about three leaves a day.  It helps her arthritis.  She gives them away to people whom she knows might need them for arthritis.  It is also known to sharpen memory.  Last year, when she found out I had joint pains in my hands, she gave me some, and since we have not tended to our garden in Manila, I found them all over the bermuda grass in our garden.  Here, a few days ago when they visited Lawiswis Organics in Irawan, she she asked for some.  So I have a pot of it sitting on some water in our balcony, waiting for me to plant them in a nice pot with some topsoil.  I now eat two to three leaves a day and my joint pains are gone!

I wandered to the back and found another rolling field full of vegetables and herbs and found out that they also sell fresh lettuce.

There were some training materials since Aloha House is also a center for training for sustainable agriculture. Some folks over from the Department of Agriculture even trained here.

They also sell cheese: cheddar, mozzarella and feta. Yum. They are building a creamery at the back and it is almost complete.  No wonder we saw some goats grazing on the grassy lot across the house. 

By this time, all I could think of was FRESH green salad with sweet red tomatoes tossed in some coco vinaigrette, sprinkled with feta cheese.  But we'll have to go back for that creamery.  When it's completed, we'll take another field trip.