Everyday Life

E-taxicle in Nuvali

Everyday Life

Spotted in Avida Settings two days ago:

\"E-transport

E-SaVe Transport Systems, Inc. is \”a 100% Filipino owned, Partner Company of Manila Autogas\”:

We design, manufacture and market electric vehicles that are eco-friendly, viable, and sustainable. Our Vision is to be a globally competitive manufacturer of electric vehicles.

Looking at the the E-Save transport product line, I\’m guessing this one\’s an E-save tricycle, a.k.a. an e-taxicle:

Benefits of the E-Save Tricycle

* Eco-Friendly
o We say \”ZENN\”!
o Zero Emissions. Will not pollute the air.
o No Noise. Will not add irritating noise pollution either.
* Viable
o Bigger capacity compared to regular tricycles allows for extra passengers. This translates to added income per trip.
o The \”Advertising Fin\” also has potential for marketing income.
o Recharging costs is 33% that of regular tricycle refueling.
* Sustainable
o Allows easy maintenance and quick battery service.

\"E-transport

Glad to see Nuvali\’s not too loyal to all things green and also embraces the spirit of the true blue! ;p

A quick search shows that Ateneo de Manila University, through the Ateneo Environmental Management Coalition, started using E-trikes on campus in December 2009:

Details:
1. Pilot Run: 7 Dec – 18 Dec 2009 and from 6 Jan – 22 Jan 2010, Mondays to Fridays, from 6am – 8pm, maximum of 3 passengers per trip.

2. Fares: 7.50 pesos each with companion and 15.00 pesos for special/single

3. The e-Trikes will only operate within the Ateneo de Manila University campus.

4. Terminals will be the same as the regular tricycles.

5. December 7, Monday, first day, FREE RIDES ALL DAY FOR EVERYBODY!

Pictures of the launch on the Ateneo E-trike facebook page show the same blue taxicle I saw in Nuvali last Wednesday– \"\"

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Donated perhaps? Weaving through old wall posts, can assume the Ateneo E-trike campaign didn\’t make it past evaluation stage– wonder why… and wonder what we in Nuvali can learn from their experience.

THANK YOU show for my 30th, yay!

Everyday Life

Had my first one-man show at the twins’ bar in San Juan as a BIG THANK YOU for the 30 years that were, and for the 30,40,50,or more that will be 🙂

Was a night of many surprises, including many GOHs (guests of honor) who drove/flew in from all over.  Had a good starstruck moment when Tito Robert walked in with Hermes Alegre, one of my all-time favorite Filipino painters!

So great to be 30–I say THANK YOU, and everyone says THANK YOU back! Woohoo!!

I LOVE YOU, friends and family
xoxo


I like 30, I feel 30 🙂

December 15, 2010, Wednesday
Bardeli’s, San Juan

**************************************
WORKS SHOWN:
**************************************
Dead star
Dead star
Acrylic on paper

He who waits for us is just like us.
He who waits for us is just like us.
Acrylic on paper

"Every cry is an unknotting."
“Every cry is an unknotting.”
Acrylic on paper
*Quote by Crisi

We are just passing through
We are just passing through.
Acrylic on canvas

El Nido
El Nido

Acrylic on paper

behold the light in front of your teacher
Don’t be amazed by the light of your teacher, there is more.
Gouache on paper

meditation
Meditation
Gouache on paper

"Oh thou I!"
Oh Thou I!
Gouache on paper

embrace
Embrace
Gouache on paper

portrait - mom and dad (finished)
Mom and Dad
Acrylic on canvas

Kuy
Kuy
Acrylic on paper

to the house atop a hill
Jon
Acrylic on paper

sammy
Sammy
Acrylic on paper

self-portrait
Self-portrait
Acrylic on canvas

portraits
Pete bahu, 2003
Phil bahu, 2003
Oil pastel on paper

rendering of life drawing
Jae, 2010
Oil pastel on wood

Pachi
Pachi, 2010
Oil pastel on wood

xxoo
xxoo, 2010
Acrylic on paper

"Keep it Tight"
xoxo, 2009
Oil on canvas

roar
Newlyweds, 2009
Oil on canvas

sept27_42
Tree, 2003
Oil on canvas

flow
Falls, 2009
Oil on canvas

Sunset
Sunset, 2003
Oil on canvas

Einstein’s boat
Einstein’s boat, 2003
Pastel on paper

Fish series (collage)
Fish series, 2002-2010
be the fish

More pics of the thanksgiving show on facebook.

Other pics at gabisuncultured.blogpspot from my friend Gab, who said: “My friend celebrated her birthday with her first one-woman exhibit. And it wasn’t in an art gallery… it was in a bar. Kewl.”

Kewl na kewl! Salamat!

no birthday blues this year

Everyday Life

“He who waits for us is just like us.”
Acrylic on Paper, December 2010

Happy to say there are no birthday blues this year, I’ve crossed out about 22 items on my 30 before 30 list, and am really in a good place now. The sadness in the heart, so poignant a year ago, has passed:

Written on December 10, 2009, and sent into the future (now the present) through FutureMe.org.

Dear FutureMe,

bday blues again, this time the blues are more glaring, the cut is deeper..
been texting friends how this kind of sadness is new to me–i feel fear again, or for the first time..a lonely, emptying fear..
is this what love lost does to you?

i have bold plans to be in new york by may.. wonder where that yellow brick road will lead me.. openness, a healthy sense of self-identity, and a decisiveness to say no to things that have less relevance… am i ready for battle? i feel so sensitive, bagong skin, baby skin..tender to the touch and even to light…
what am i shying away from? love? pain? they go together right?

happy birthday jo, be well, be happy. you’ll be 30 soon. check your 30 before 30 list… !

hugs,
oh some sadness in the heart!

New York went by and well, went by.  Palawan also went by, and is still lingering.  Maybe for a much longer time.  Who’s to say?  Possibilities are endless. 🙂

All in all, such a blessing 2010 has been, for all its joys and pains.

Holding a BIG THANK YOU show on my birthday, and the work above is one of the few that have come out since Palawan.  Deep breaths and maybe chugs of beer as my works go on their first ever public display in 3 days…!

Will post pics of the rest after. 🙂

Nuvali at night

Everyday Life

\"nuvali
My parents and I wanted to see how Nuvali looked at night, so we drove around last Saturday to take a sneak peak…

Was pitch black after Solenad, boohoo!
\"nuvali

The guards said the lamp posts along Nuvali Boulevard have been installed and are due to be lit up anytime now…
\"nuvali

We knew there were residents already living in Avida Settings, so we expected that part to have more \”life\”…
\"nuvali

We drove around Phase 2, where there were signs of construction work, but nothing more.  Good thing the moon was out though.
\"nuvali

Treveia has yet to see its first resident, so understandably, there was no need to light up anything there:
\"nuvali

Am confident things will be literally brighter in Nuvali in a few months as more residents come in, but just the same I was very happy to see fireflies! Means the air is very very clean. 🙂 And also so happy to hear my favorite lullaby in abundance: crickets.

Hayyy can\’t wait to live there.

Yummy raw food feast and demo in the South

Food

What a way to get back to healthy eating–a fantastic raw food dinner buffet with friends and new friends!

Last Saturday was the sequel to Platter Penny, a Raw Dinner-Demo-Fundraiser for Bahay Kalipay scholars, and I decidedly drove all the way to Paranaque to start eating healthily again.
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The week before, Daniw, one of the Platter Penny \”non-cooks\”, sent us the detailed menu for the night, and I got hungry just from reading it!

Menu for Platter Penny Goes South

DRINK: Cooling ginger lemonade

APPETIZER/S: Turnip rice vegetable nori rolls with teriyaki-miso sauce, Baba Ganoush

SOUP: miso soup

SALAD: oriental salad with sweet tahini sauce

MAIN:
tabouli
raw pasta marinara with non-meatballs

DESSERT: banana citrus parfait with coconut-chia cream topped with raw chocolate mousse and nuts

Daniw of Bahay Kalipay and Asha of Dahon Kusina are two lovely advocates of raw food in the Philippines, and last Saturday, they took turns giving us a demo on how to make raw veggie nori rolls and raw miso soup (it\’s just assembly!).
\"raw
…

Yummy raw food feast and demo in the SouthRead More »

\”The newest and most innovative wake park in the world\” coming in Nuvali!

Everyday Life,

\"Republic
And there\’s a wave pool, woohoo!!!

Republic Wake Park Nuvali is primed as \”the newest and most innovative wake park in the world\”– and it\’ll be right in our backyard!
\"Republic

Good or bad for Nuvali residents? At least we\’ll have easy access to a world-class sports facility that other people will still have to travel to…  🙂

This is wakepark#2 for the Villafuertes, who first put up CWC or CamSur Wakeboarding Complex in Bicol. As \”the first world-class watersports complex in the Philippines and in Asia,\” CWC has definitely succeeded in putting CamSur on the global adventure sports and tourism map:

CWC aims to bring cable skiing to a whole new level and attract watersports enthusiasts from all over the world with its top of the line facilities and relaxing environment. This six (6)-hectare complex, with its 6-point cable ski system, is sure to draw guests, riders and spectators by the thousands. Because of good weather conditions, cable skiing in the park can be done all year round.

Republic Wake Park Nuvali, on the other hand, will occupy part of a 50-hectare land-water-air sports and recreation area in the southern part of Nuvali intended to encourage an active lifestyle for its residents (and pretty much to draw in the crowd). Apart from the Wake Park, it will also have a Skate Park and Wave Rider.

Coming just in time for summer, YEY!

Edit as of August 2011:  Republic Wakepark is opening its doors on October 26, 2011. Here\’s the announcement from the Republic Wakepark Facebook Page:  

Heads-up, guys: REPUBL1C WAKEPARK, NUVALI will officially open on OCTOBER 26th, 2011. The Philippine Wakeboard Nationals will also be on October 26th-29th at REPUBL1C WAKEPARK, NUVALI. We would like to apologize for the delay of the opening due to the delay of construction brought by the recent typhoons. We will be announcing REPUBL1C WAKEPARK’s Yearly & Monthly Rates by end of August.

Thanks to mach000 for posting the video link on skyscrapercity.

For those who want to make sure they\’re first to get updates, keep checking Republic Wake Park\’s website: republ1cwakepark.com and facebook group. Not much info now, but more to come for sure.

Do you know what a coconut apple is?

Farming and Gardening Food Sustainable Living

My friend Cris told me she opened up a coconut at home today and along with extremely rich coco oil, it had a soft whitish mass inside.  A quick search told her it was actually a coconut apple:

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(Image from Fresh Greenery)

I\’ve never seen anything like this before, but turns out it\’s widely eaten in Latin America and India.

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(Image from Niya\’s World)

Angel Nunez from Belize writes:

When a coconut falls to the ground, it is already mature and partly green and brown. This coconut has the potentials of growing into a new plant. Shortly, in the presence of moisture, air and sunlight, this nut will break a small shoot with miniature leaves. Soon it will break roots which will feed water to the developing plant.

However, before the roots shoot, the plant uses the coconut water inside the nut. It is at this early stage that a white spongy material grows inside the nut to provide nutrients to the plant before the roots sprout. This white spongy material is the coconut apple. To enjoy a juicy sweet apple you need to cut open the nut at the right stage just before the roots are too long or the apple will be dry and tough and will no longer be sweet.

Anyone knows what this is called in Tagalog?

Never pictured a coconut sprouting, even if my friend Cris always tells me they make good indoor plants and are everywhere in Ponderosa (sa tabi-tabi lang daw)….!

Here\’s a good visual of a coconut sprout from Niya\’s World:
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Interesting stuff!! Will be planting coconut sprouts in Nuvali for sure, or at the very least in Tagaytay!

More on coconut apples and coconut sprouts here:
Niya\’s World
Fresh Greenery
Ever Heard of Coconut Apples? by Angel Nunez

Vegetable juicing (research)

Food

\"carrot
Read today that carrot juice is the best vegetable juice for daily consumption.  We swayed against juicing carrots a long time ago because they stained our juicer, but I guess we\’ll have to love those orange stains from now on!

More info on juicing from TheMedicineHut.com:

Juicing – short intro to juicing
Vegetable juices – lists different pros and cons of each vegetable in relation to juicing
Fruit juices – lists pros and cons for fruits
10 Biggest Rules of Juicing from DrinkRawJuice.com – good basic tips, like using a hand juicer for citrus (an auto juicer will also juice the seeds–a big no no!)

raw food menu planning (research)

Food

\"raw
Some sites for future study, summary, and testing!  Excited to see which ones will work best using Philippine ingredients:

WeLikeItRaw.com – repost of David Wolfe\’s All-Raw Diet Weekly for Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons
Daily menu from RawFoodExplained.com – comprehensive raw menu good for 4 weeks
The Ultimate Raw Diet by Dr. Stanley S. Bass – strict step-by-step meal plan for one week
GiveItToMeRaw.com – short discussion on top daily raw menus
e-how.com – short essay with tips on planning your raw food menu