Gardening - Filipino Style

One of the things that I miss most about the states is working around my house, and especially in the garden.  Knowing that the Philippines was full sunshine and rain, I was excited to try my hand at gardening in a plant friendly environment.  I started planting about a month and a half ago, and the garden got off to a stellar start. I began with 4 cucumber and 3 squash seeds.  They all sprouted within 3 days, and I thought to myself, "This is awesome!  We're going to have a kick ass garden."  Little did a realize how much a snail can eat in an evening.  At this point, our garden is more of a snail feeding ground than a viable space for growing vegetables.  I've had more than 7 starts decimated overnight by snails.  With each new feeding, my hope sinks and frustrations rise.

I finally wisened up and employed the help of some of the locals.  I found some old screen that I've used to protect my starts, started seeds in pots before transplanting and have gone on a snail hunt each night before bed.  I now how 4 well established cucumbers (1 of which is flowering), 1 flowering squash plant, 3 eggplants, 8 comote (sweet potato), 2 malangay, and 1 papay growing in my little garden.  In pots, I have 2 cherry tomatoes (barely hanging on), sweet basil, lemon basil, and oregano.  Still in starter pots are:  9 lettuce starts, 5 tomatoes, 4 eggplant, 2 bell pepper, and 2 cantaloupe.  All of the plants look healthy, and I, once again, am hopeful that I'll produce something to eat in the near future.

Once established, I've noticed a whole new set of predators to productive plant growth.  My cherry tomatoes have battled spider mites and mold, a thyme plant died, our corriander is barely hanging on, and the sun and snails were tearing through the basil.  I've since switched location of my potted plants and spray with detergent water, and everything is looking healthy.  Wish me luck.

Found...Hiking in the Philippines

Well, it took us 3 months, but we finally found a spot that actually felt like hiking.  Thanks to our colleagues and veteran teachers who showed us the way.

Mt. Batulauo lies to the southwest of Brent, not too far past Tagaytay.  You wouldn't think that you were entering a wilderness area upon arrival as you park next to a sari-sari and along a paved road.  Continuing up the road for about 1.5 miles it begins to narrow as you enter and leave a small nameless village.  Eventually, you leave the trikes and jeepneys behind and find yourself on a single track trail, that follows Batulauo's ridgeline.  The first glimpse of the mountain range is stunning and it's hard to imagine that in a few short hours you'll be at the top.  



Leaving after work on a Friday, allowed us to reach camp just as the sun was shining its last rays upon Earth.  This created a beautiful backdrop for our scramble to get camp set-up, dinner served and baby in bed.  All went well, aside from an angled tent, and we were having beverages around a smoldering campfire before we knew it.

Now, I must remind myself and everyone else that what is beautiful in the Philippines may be considered devastating in developed worlds.  The views were magnificent and the air was relatively clear, but trash lined the trail and our views were of clear-cut forests.

Up before sunrise, we decided to hike the final mile or so to the peak 10, the highest point in the range.  With Rosemary semi-crying on our backs we made it to the top.  We were greeted with intermittent 360' views as the clouds passed right through us, literally.  It was a beautiful site, one in which I will never forget.

After enjoying the summit for a few minutes, we hiked back to camp, packed up and walked out in order to get to a basketball game.  Unfortunately, we arrived to a car that was missing our binoculars which put a bit of a damper on our trip, but we left refreshed and excited about what the rest of the Philippines had to offer.

Hiking thank you, and we will find you again.

Enchanting Siquijor

The island of Siquijor, in the Visayas region of the Philippines, is known for its shamans that will cast a spell upon you.  Well, I was definitely caught in one of those spells while on this majestic island.  From the scuba diving to coral churches, I was impressed with every turn.

Our trip started with a relatively easy commute to our resort.  Our flight left Manila at 7am, we arrived in Dumaguate at 8:15am with a driver waiting for us upon our arrival whom shuttled us to our ferry which left at 10:30.  The ferry (GL Express), although small and cramped, was a smooth ride and we arrived in Siquijor port at about 11:45.  Again, a driver was waiting for us at the port and shuttled us to the Coco Grove Beach Resort, after a short stop at the liquor store of course, where we would stay for the next 4 nights.


Arriving at our destination before 1pm made it feel like we gained a day of vacation time.  The Coco Grove Resort is by far the nicest beach resort that I have ever stayed at, and it was about $75 a night.  We were greated with a chalkboard sign and sweet tea welcoming us to the resort.  After a short introduction, we were escorted to our room which was an immaculate beach bungalow tucked behind a coconut grove.  We were set a little away from the beach, but the ocean was visible from our porch and the trees provided excellent shade.

Just cooling off

The rest of our first day was spent swimming in the beach side pool and strolling the beach for shells and other creatures.  That night we had dinner with a group of friends (thanks Leightons and Lefebvres) that happened to be staying at the same hotel, and we celebrated Priscilla's birthday.  Our meals were quite tasty: a blackened chicken for me, and Anna had a seared mahi-mahi, and we both enjoyed a couple of cocktails to kick off our vacation.

Our private marine sanctuary

Sunsets, Sunsets, Sunsets Everywhere

 

Day 2 included a boat trip to Apo Island to snorkel with loggerhead turtles.  We boarded a yacht at about 8:30 am and headed off.  The seas were calm and the views beautiful as we entered Apo Bay.  

Dolphins joined us to and from Apo Island

You don't even need a mask it's so clear

The only problem was that our engine died about a kilometer from our destination so a small boat had to shuttle us to the island.  This process took about 1/2 hour and once we finally arrived at our snorkeling destination there was only 1/2 hour left to swim with the turtles.  Anna and I taking turns left us with only about 15 minutes a piece, but it was amazing swimming with century old creatures that were truly graceful underwater.    The snorkel rush was due to a lunch awaiting us at Coco Sunset resort which although was short on food, tasted great.  After lunch we loaded back up and went to our second snorkel destination.  Again, we only had 1/2 hour to snorkel, but again the snorkeling was amazing.  So many fish, coral, and other life that left my mind agape.   

Everyone's ready to see some turtles

We left Apo Island as the sun was setting providing a stunning view in the distance.

Fairwell Apo

We decided to explore the island a bit on our third day.  So, we walked outside and hired a trike for the day for a cost of 1000php (about $22).  Although this was a little expensive, it was 1/2 of what the hotel charged for a tour of the island.  We asked the driver to take us up to the top of Bandila-an Mountain.     

Um..Where are the steps

  This was amazing.  The ride up the mountain led us through small barangays where the local shamans reside along with large tracts of forest.  As we approached the top, our driver asked us to get out and walk for a bit, as the road was to slick with moss to pass.  A bit bewildered, we did as asked and enjoyed the quiet and fresh air so much that we continued our walk for another 1/2 hour or so until we reached the summit.  Once there, we gingerly ascended a rickety, stair-missing tower to soak in an unabated 360 degree view of the island.   

Seeing water in every direction reminded me of where we live and the beauty that it holds.

Shane's blown away

On our way down the mountain we stopped at a butterfly farm, and met the first eco-conscious person of our stay.  He had a beautiful farm overlooking the valley and ocean below, and was trying to reestablish a dwindling butterfly population.  Along with his procreating efforts, he also was working to inform local farmers of the harms of pesticide use on their crops.  All 3 of us loved the butterflies fluttering by and around our heads.  We also were able to hold a stick bug...they're stronger than they look. 

Rosemary's Dinner Playmate

YUM!! ($4)

We enjoyed a simple lunch in Siquijor town after checking out the coral stone church and bell tower.  After lunch we strolled through the bustling downtown, and enjoyed the energy of this small city.  All 3 of us were worn out once we returned to our hotel, and ended the day with a quick swim and dinner at a restaurant just outside the hotel grounds (about 1/2 the price of the hotel food).

Po-o River

Enjoying a natural pedicure

That's me and Rosemary at bottom left

Having enjoyed our trike ride so much the previous day, we hired our same driver for day 4.  We decided to go around to the opposite side of the island, stopping at a 400 year old enchanted banyan tree, a waterfall, and an art camp.  

Coral Church Lazi

We enjoyed the waterfall and banyan tree with feet eating fish, but the day wasn't quite as enjoyable as the previous day's journey.

We did get a chance to view some beautiful rice field along the way.

 The highlight of my day however, was my first Philippine diving adventure.  After having not been diving for over 10 years, I was a bit nervous at first, but quickly eased into the underwater world.  This was the most amazing dive of my life.  The colors of the fish and corals were otherwordly.  Some of the highlights of the trip were: ghost shrimp, sweet lips, loggerhead, immature eel, ghost pipe fish, puffer fish, feather coral, and granulated sea stars.  I surfaced with a renewed vigor to continue diving and exploring the natural beauty of the seas around us.  The girls enjoyed more time splashing in the water and watching the sunset as I dove.

We were treated to a spectacular sunset each night

Chocolate Drop

Sometimes a foot cleaning station is just more fun

Our final 1/2 day on the island was spent snorkeling and swimming in the hotel pool.  We left the resort thinking that we should have stayed another night or two.  Everything that we did while on the island of Siquijor left us spellbound and we yearned for more...maybe the shamans of Siquijor really do exist.

A view of Siquijor as we left

Enjoying the waters with my girl

7 Lakes of San Pablo

Last weekend we decided to treat ourselves to a little getaway, and we headed down to the 7 lakes of San Pablo.  We had heard about these lakes during our orientation week and were craving a little bit of nature, so decided to take a chance.  It turned out to be an amazing trip.

The drive down to San Pablo only took about an hour and a half, and we were immediately pleased with our hotel of choice.  We stayed at the Casa San Pablo located just before the PureGold and about 10 minutes from Lake Sampacloc.  Upon arrival, they sat us down for a 4 course lunch including: grilled tilapia, beef stew(caldereta?), a delicious eggplant salad (ensaladang talong), fried pork (lechon kawali), rice, and a purple yam dessert (ube halay).  Each dish was excellent, but our favorites were the tilapia and ensaladan talong.  They served a fresh comote tea along with lunch.

Lunch

Junk garden at the hotel

  

Once we'd finished our lunch, we headed out to find some lakes.  We really had no idea where we were going as the maps that we were using were pretty lousy, but we thought we'd be able to find them.  We assumed (wrongly) that the lakes would be marked...we should've known better.

Lake Palakpakin

I love the matching trike.

A little church on the rim of Palakpakin

Anyway, the drive out of San Pablo was easy and we eventually saw a sign for Bunot Lake. After driving to the end of a dirt road and catching only a glimpse of the lake with no seeming public access we turned around and decided to look for the next lake.  We came upon signs pointing towards Palakpakin Lake and Mojicap Lake so we turned and hoped for the best.  The first lake that we came to as Palakpakin and we found a little pull-out overlooking the lake to enjoy the view from.  We ended up following a path down to the lake shore, but it ran into someone's home so we didn't stay for long.  Palakpakin is pretty enough, but there doesn't seem to be any access and it heavily farmed. 

  Mohicap Lake was our favorite by far.  While looking for a good viewpoint, a very nice unsuspecting women who was preparing supper for her family offered up her husband/friend to walk us down to the water's edge.  Once there, he hailed another gentleman and the next thing we knew we were on a  banca, a small bamboo raft, touring a pristine lake filled with herons, gulls, and egrets, and surrounded by beautifully lush mountains.  It was the most peaceful scene we'd been a part of since our move to the Philippines.  Despite the language barrier, we had fun and garnered some information with our guides, and Rosemary was completely content dragging her toes in the water.

As we returned back to shore, Rosemary was a hit with the local family...The kids just kept coming out of this small home.  There were at least 7 kids that greeted us upon our return from the lake tour.

 

Rosemary Enjoying our ride on Mojicap Lake. This was our favorite.  

After seeing 3 of the lakes (I count Bunot even though we just got a glimpse from the road), we headed back to our place.  We were greeted with a very nice dinner, consisting of: fish soup (not great), chicken curry (delicious), BBQ Pork (good), rice, and flan (I could've had 12) for dessert.  We sat in our room with the windows open and listened to the heavy rainfall as we drank a glass of wine to finish off a very pleasant day.

The following day began with a free breakfast including: garlic rice, chorizo, heavily salted and fried whole fish, eggs and bananas.  Of course, there was coffee and juice as well.  The fish was a little too much to handle, but everything else was good enough to fuel us for the day.

On day 2, we headed to the twin lakes of Pandin and Yambo.  Pandin is the most touristy lake and the women running the rafts along the shoreline know it.  It's about a 30 minute walk from the parking area to Pandin, and I chose to hire a guide (50 pesos) to help support the local kids. A torrential downpour joined us about 10 minutes into our walk, and we decided to wait it out under a falling down steel fence.  After about 5 minutes of waiting and seeing a small river form on our trail, we decided to forge ahead despite the rain.  Once you got used to the rain, it was quite refreshing and added to our trip.  As we approached the lake, a women greeted us offering some shelter and a boat ride.  They tried to charge us 500 pesos for a ride, compared with our 140 from the night before, but it didn't seem worth it.   This would be an excellent activity with a group of family or friends, but not for just the three of us.  If you are with a group, you have the option to purchase a meal with your boat ride, which would make the whole thing very enjoyable.  Pandin Lake is clean and swimmable and the surrounding area is beautiful.

View of Yambo

On our way back from Yambo - Pandin in the background

In lieu of the boat ride, we chose to hike to the next lake, Yambo Lake.  We asked our guide to take us, and it was an easy 15 minutes walk up the crater rim to a nice little overlook.  Yambo might be the most pristine of the lakes that we saw, simply because there is little access and few fisherman.  We weren't able to walk to water's edge, but the view from the rim was beautiful.  I highly suggested this short side trip to anyone visiting the area.

The last lake that we saw was the largest, most polluted, closest to town, and hardest to get to lake.  I'm not sure why, but finding Sampoloc Lake was extremely difficult despite it being only 10 minutes from our hotel.  Four u-turns and a few swear words later, we eventually made it to the advertised boardwalk.  According to the map, the boardwalk surrounded the lake, but in reality it was about 100 meters long with a road going the rest of the way.  After some bird watching and lunch eating (snack provided by the hotel: vegetarian pancit and fried bananas) we decided to drive around the lake.  This proved to be a great decision as we passed by local fisherman, using rod and reel none-the-less, karaoke singers with an empty hand of Jose Cuervo, chickens darting across the road, and fallen trees.  The opposite end of the lake provided a nice view of the terribly out-of-place mosque.

All in all, our trip to the 7 Lakes  of San Pablo was well worth the time and money.  Not only did we see some of the Philippine's natural beauty, we also got a good dose of culture as we passed through each village.