Green Communities

Really excited to go to this green party!

The Antipolo EarthFest 2011
will be a weekend-long celebration of our dear Mother Earth
through arts, music, wellness and wholeness.

It will be a gathering of like-minded people and groups who are willing to share with others
their time and energies, passions and advocacy, skills, wisdom and knowledge on environmental issues
and most importantly, solutions and ways to help build a more environmentally-aware and Earth-conscious lifestyle.

Look forward to the workshops, the green booths at the marketplace and delight of delights, will finally get to visit Pinto Gallery. Yay. Organizer Irene also says Cynthia Alexander will be playing at 2pm onwards on Sunday. 🙂

The Antipolo Earth Fest blog lists the following participants so far:

Clayton Horton of Greenpath Yoga
will be honoring us with his presence and doing a couple of yoga and meditation workshops for the weekend
Bhairavi Nihiltantra & Jim Tantranuevo
will be sharing with us their passion and wisdom about Tantra Yoga, Traditional Tribal Music, Culture & Chanting, and more!
Djotay Soluta from Bahay Kalipay
will be sharing with us his Healing Music and doing a Sound Healing workshop for us
SugarLeaf
The very kind folks at SugarLeaf will be joining us that weekend for a special Earth Talk on Healthy Living & Foods That Nourish and will also be selling organic products & superfoods!
WWF Philippines
WWF Philippines will be setting up a booth to educate and inform us all about important environmental issues and ways we can be part of the solution!
Palamuti ni Autumn
— beautiful hand-crafted necklaces, earrings, bracelets and more! Plus, cute handpainted Earth bags, too! All by one of the most talented, most creative 10-year-olds we know. <3
Ubots (one of our favorites!!)
— \”Ubots are robot charms welded from \”techno detritus\” (electronic & mechanical trash). UBots is a word sliced from the Filipino word \”Abubot\”, which means small decorative stuff, accessory or trinket; It also stands for \”Upcycled Robots\”.
It is more than a charm, it is a green inititative, a creative exercise in upcycling, & an appreciation of sentimental objects.\”
Cookie Jar!
— homemade cookie treats baked with love by one of the youngest homebaker we know. At 14, she bakes yummy cakes, cookies and other baked treats in between homework and Justin Bieber Youtube videos! ;p The Cookie Jar will be setting up a banig for young ones to frost and decorate their own cookies for the weekend as well!

I checked out Palamuti ni Autumn\’s site–they have interesting items. But I\’m especially curious about the Ubots!

More info on the Antipolo Earth Fest 2011 at www.antipoloearthfest.com, with activity schedules for the weekend, and also on the Antipolo Earth Fest 2011 facebook page.

A windy day in Nuvali

Life in Nuvali Philippinesvenare

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Got to visit Treveia and Venare last March 27 (Sunday), and it was so windy! Possibly the windiest I\’ve ever experienced in Nuvali!

I was standing on the viewing deck of Venare and had to hurry back inside the car because I was getting sand and dirt in my eyes from the blowing winds.

Oh land of the blowing winds, you will be home soon. Very exciting.

🙂

on being busy and still at once

Life in Nuvali Philippines

Been crazy busy but just sending a short note to touch base and let you know I\’m still alive 😛

Am in Bicol now with family, and it\’s becoming very trying to be fully present to them while my mind is elsewhere, worrying about the Estela launch (it\’s my new home and clothing shop–would love for you to to visit EstelaShop.com if you have time), pending real estate transactions, and permits etc. for my house construction (yes, we\’re still in the Pre-construction phase!! Talk about major delays, boooo! ). Now I can relate to people needing boundaries between work and personal life— I\’d like for lots of those please!! But no complaints. Just feel incredibly spent, and every morning I wake up feeling just as tired as the night before 🙁 My raw food diet helps tons though, so am glad for that. 🙂

Hope you get to do whatever it is that needs doing this week– whether it be for work, family, God or yourself (pwede ba all of the above? hehe). It\’s a very solemn and powerful time to lift up whatever worries and dreams are in our hearts– let\’s create the space to reconnect and just be still.

🙂

As an aside, here\’s the poster invite to the launch of EstelaShop.com on April 30, Saturday.. Hope to see you there!

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A peek into green Antipolo

Green Communities Green Design and Architecture Sustainable LivingAntipolo

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Enjoyed looking at these lovely Antipolo places with so much heart! $\":)\"$ They\’re from the album, \”This is the Beauty of our Neighborhood\”, by Kristine Garcia, who supplies organic produce via Emporium Antipolo. Met her at a very successful raw food workshop at Leaf Kitchen last Saturday.

She says:

There are actually three Antipolo destinations shown in these photos: Vieux Chalet, Pinto Garden Museum, & LAYA. Also in this album, we intend to show more places that you ought to check out in Antipolo.

Emporium Antipolo is an organic shop which operates as a homestore: we supply organic food provisions, basic commodities and other local, eco-friendly & healthy stuff.
You can see in the photos above a bunch of green-minded people who are working (together with more green-minded pals) to make Antipolo an Art & Wellness destination.

Seeing pics like these makes me think back to when Antipolo was on my shortlist for where to set up my home… The south and Tagaytay eventually won over Antipolo for the breezy weather, but wow, now that I\’m seeing lots of young artist-entrepreneurs in the Antipolo neighborhood, I\’m feeling a tinge of regret that I didn\’t give Antipolo a deeper look! And just look at those mudhouses in Pinto — exactly how i want my home to feel like– alive, organic, free form, with real traces that it was made by people\’s hands… haaaay… $\":)\"$

Join Kristine in her green adventures through Emporium Antipolo\’s facebook photos, where each album feels like a storybook! I love how she makes going organic so charming–just like her physical workspace below, which also sometimes serves as her daughter Katie\’s playground:

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Made with so much love. 🙂

Nuvali community–a birthing

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesCommunity

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There\’s an active thread on Nuvali on skyscrapercity.com, which has effectively attracted investors, residents, and practically anyone with a stake in Nuvali (whether current or future). It\’s a great resource for community building, and also a testament that the Nuvali vision of creating a new city is already unfolding: like-minded people are banding together and participating even before moving into that space.

A recent request was made by doodz (thank you!) for ideas to be suggested to Ayala management during an FGD, and the response was just overwhelming! Will consolidate and save them for another post, but suffice it to say that the Nuvali community is ready to engage. Yay.

It\’s also been quite a joy to feel as if I\’m already making friends with my future neighbors.

What makes a place truly home?

People.

🙂

If you\’re reading this, then it means you are part of Nuvali, whether by chance or choice. Get involved now:

SkyscraperCity.com Nuvali thread 1
SkyscraperCity.com Nuvali thread 2
Nuvali Community facebook page
Nuvali Community on yahoogroups

Image from photos8.com

traffic in Nuvali

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesTransportation

No more left turns to Nuvali from the Sta.Rosa-Tagaytay Road– everyone going to Nuvali now turns right on the Mamplasan road…
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…then makes a U-turn back towards the Nuvali main entrance. $\"Nuvali$

This was implemented to address the growing volume of cars entering Nuvali, but has actually caused more traffic on the two-lane \”highway\”, to the great chagrin of motorists, especially those just passing through and with no agenda in Nuvali and its commercial and retail areas. The Skyscrapercity Nuvali thread, for example, has Sta. Rosa stakeholders (current residents, Nuvali would-be residents and investors) holding the Ayalas accountable as developers with poor planning and foresight.

With the construction of more retail areas and attractions within Nuvali itself (Robinson\’s supermarket, True Value and a slew of restaurants in Solenad 2, the Fields, the Republic Wake Park), traffic is only bound to increase, and something else must be done asap to alleviate this bottleneck. Top off head, there\’s road expansion with a dedicated left-turning lane to Nuvali or maybe a rotonda. Great too if Mamplasan could just be made open to the public. Alternative entrances to Nuvali can also be explored via adjacent Greenfield roads or Silangan exit. Shuttle services from Paseo to Nuvali and back.

Wikipedia lists the typical bottleneck solutions, most of which go by the seemingly simple guideline: \”Congestion can be reduced by either increasing road capacity (supply), or by reducing traffic (demand).\” The US Department of Transportation also collated successful efforts to combat traffic bottlenecks throughout the US, but cautions that \”there are very few \’cookie cutter\’ solutions to everyday traffic problems. Differences in volumes, right of way, design, funding, and many other variables help decide what measures are best for which locations.\”

Any solutions for the Nuvali intersection you can think of?

Meet the Azkals in Nuvali on Jan23

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesSports, Nuvali Events

A must if you\’re a football fan!
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I hope I get to go– this is a great way to meet and show support for the boys of the Philippine National Football Team, who made Philippine football history during the AFF Suzuki Cup late last year:

Despite being the oldest national team in Asia, The Philippines has never had any significant success on the international stage and has never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup or the FIFA World Cup. The historical comeback of PHI National Team in the recent AFF Suzuki CUP 2010 Semi-Finals being the most defensive team in the tournament sparked an old flame to the hearts of numerous Filipinos and captured the eyes of the Football World.

(Source: azkalsunited.weebly.com)

The whole day event on January 23, Sunday, is from 10am to 5pm at the Treveia Clubhouse, but the boys will be there only from 11am to 3pm. That\’s a pretty long window to be lounging about and chitchatting, so I\’m hoping we\’ll see a few exhibition games. 🙂

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This is also an open house for Venare, so if you\’d like to check out what Nuvali has to offer, next Sunday would be a good time to do it.

Let me know if you can make it. Will probably be there before lunch til about 1pm– maybe I can give you a quick tour of Nuvali!

4 things to do when you’re in Nuvali

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesNuvali Events

Aside from feeding the koi at the lake, what else is there to do in Nuvali these days?
(Watch out for a separate post on the newest restaurants in Nuvali)

1. Family fun for everyone.

Enjoy the lake breeze, do some shopping or ride the water taxis.

Last Sunday I saw a lot of families on their weekend pasyal at the retail center of Nuvali, also known as Solenad.

There was a bazaar as part of the pre-Halloween festivities–so for those who love their retail therapy, there’s definitely shopping to be done. Am guessing we’ll see more of these weekend markets as Christmas approaches!

One of Nuvali’s thrusts centers on social interaction, and the 4-hectare lake is the main draw for families looking to enjoy the scenery and have quality time for almost next-to-nothing.

Those looking for more active activities can ride the water taxis around the lake for P30 per head…

…or choose to rent one of those cute Nuvali bikes for P60 per hour: $\"Solenad$

These are simple bicycles good for leisurely rides from Solenad until the EvoLiving Center, perfect for those cloudy afternoons! The smallest bikes they have are still too big for children though (unless they have incredibly long legs!)

2. Get eco-aware.

Learn about our environment and how we can do our part in taking care of it–as if you were on an educational field trip!

I’m not sure if the EvoLiving Center –the big white building at the end of the lake– gets the volume of visitors it deserves.

We checked out the exhibit area on the environmental vision of Nuvali and were wowed by the different features of this eco-city!

…

4 things to do when you’re in NuvaliRead More »

OUCH! Sta. Rosa gas and toll fare

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesTransportation

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Definitely one of the biggest adjustments I\’ll make in moving to the South is the added cost of gas and toll!

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I used to spend P500 for gas weekly and zero for toll fare. Compare that to this week, which saw at least five visits to Nuvali from Quezon City, and voila– I\’ve gone well over P1,500 for my transpo expenses in one week!

Must think of more efficient ways of traveling to and fro the city… hopefully I get to figure out the shuttle services within Nuvali itself, and from Paseo de Sta. Rosa to Makati and Ortigas.

a market-to-plate cooking day using organic food!

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesLife in Manila, Food and Dining in Nuvali

My friend Jhoey Hernandez of PinoyOrganics.com is holding a unique culinary tour in Alabang on Saturday, May 22, for sustainable cooking! Hope you and your green-minded friends can support her project:

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Are you a cooking mama, a foodie, an urban gardener wannabe or simply love learning new things? Dust off your basket and join us as Pinoy Organics launch its Market-to-Plate Tours in the South!

Pinoy Organics in partnership with Feed 5000

present

Market-to-Plate Tour Launch

MAY 22, 2010, SATURDAY

8AM – 2PM

Know your local producers in nearby weekend markets

Help us purchase our ingredients for our cooking demo

Meet the only certified organic local produce seller in the South

Meet a 70 year old woman who sells local produce from Batangas on weekends only

Know where to buy organic brown rice at market price in the South

Enjoy a local drink with more electrolytes than commercial sports drink

Visit Mom-Turn-Farmer who sells her sustainable foods from Cavite

and more!

Learn “How To Grow Your Own Herbs”

Kitchen Herbs 101

Growing Herbs

Propagation

And more practical tips about herbs!

Watch and learn from Chef Len Santos of Feed 5000 as she shows us how to use herbs via Cooking Demo, “Cooking with Herbs”. Bonus treat: we get to taste everything she’ll cook!

Watermelon, Mint and Kesong Puti Salad

Penne Vongole (with Flat Parsley and Dill)

Grilled Chicken and Mushroom Bruschetta

Pineapple Basil Shake

Lavender Flan

FEE: P 1,000/person only (inclusive of all materials and light lunch)

SCHEDULE

8:00 – 10:00 Market Tour

10:00 – 1:00 “Cooking with Herbs”, a cooking demo cum lunch by Chef Len of Feed 5000

1:00 – 2:00 “How to Grow Your Own Herbs”, an urban gardening workshop

The cooking demo and gardening workshop will be held at Feed 5000 Studio, 186 Luzon Drive, Ayala Alabang Village

To book your reservations, call +632 347 3975, text +63922 895 3975

or email us at pinoyorganics@gmail.com.

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green and politics– what’s the latest?

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesTourism & Development, Government in Nuvali

$\"\"$ I’ve made no secret about my support for Nicanor Perlas, who is neither my relative, family friend, nor ninong.

Glad to see others are recognizing the same:

Perlas best bet to solve water woes, survey shows (Inquirer, 23 March 2010) — Environmental groups EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace show the results of their “Green Electoral Initiative” (GEI) survey, which ranks the presidential candidates’ green value based on their platforms on clean water. Highest mark of 8.7 points (out of 10) goes to Nick Perlas. Sen. Jamby Madrigal is second with 7.8 points, followed by Gordon with 7.2 points.

P30,000 water system solution–Perlas (Inquirer Visayas, 16 March 2010) — Nick Perlas gives a solution to water problem for farms that costs P30,000, can be set up in three days, and can irrigate three to five hectares of farms.

Other news on politics and the green agenda:

Madrigal is ‘greenest’ presidential bet (Inquirer, 22 March 2010) — another question-based ranking of the presidential candidates, conducted by Agham-Youth, Earth Island Institute, Takder, Katribu, Lakbay-Cagayan Valley, and Computer Professionals Union. Basis for the rankings: green beans cadre or how pro-people and pro-environment their answers are to questions such as the re-commissioning of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, commercial logging, Mining Act of 1995, coal power plant, Visiting Forces Agreement, Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, cleanup of toxic wastes, and commercialization of genetically modified organisms.

WHY I’M SUPPORTING NICK:

Long before I knew of his decision to run for president, I’ve heard stellar things about Nick from my friend Jason Gonzales, who knows Nicky personally and who is also running for a government position in Iloilo City. Nicky, says Jason, is a renaissance man (who never sleeps because of everything he’s busy with!), brilliant at everything he does, which include farming, microfinance, meeting with global leaders and thinktanks, etc.. His website is www.nicanorperlas.com. Also visit Nick’s facebook page. Medyo mabigat, and you need to set aside time for the long texts, but well-worth the read. I’m sure you’ll find his writings engaging, or inspiring at the very least. He won an Alternative Nobel in 2003.

Last June, I met him for the first time during the Pag-asa workshop on creativity and love of country, and I decided right then and there that wow, I want him as my president, and not just that–I want to help campaign for him. I’ve always wanted to do something good for the Philippines, but Nicky and this window we’ve been given to help him have made me want to do not just good but GREAT things! He’s such a capable man– finally we have someone with real qualifications running for office!

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Everyone on Nick’s team is a volunteer! Just volunteer! Or spread the word about this brilliant and growing pulse among Pinoys called New Politics.

Nick is also raising funds, here’s a message from Gil Alonzo, a volunteer fundraiser:

Dear All,

We are happy to inform you that we have been steadily gathering funds to match the P500T Challenge Donation that would, in total, raise P1M in campaign funds.

As a result of all our efforts, we now have P128,039.10 Just today, we added P20T by selling a rundown car to the junk shop. If you have any old car beyond repair, or any other major recyclable/saleable items that you would like to donate, please do so. Nothing is so small that we wouldn’t accept. Remember 3-year old Lareessa, who was our first donor of a 1-peso donation!

New Politics is about new approaches to getting the best candidate into power. Although we de-emphasize money in our campaign to have Nick Perlas elected, we also need minimal resources for operations, rentals, food, transportation, communication and production of campaign materials.

If we raise the P500T, we will will be able to get the other P500T challenge donation. This might be so small compared to the campaign funds of other presidential candidates, but this will go a long way for us, as this will add more mobile ads, more tarps, more flyers in recycled paper using soya ink, and another month of electric jeepney rental.

We can make this happen. Donate now!

With love and gratitude,

GIL ALONZO
Nick Perlas Volunteer Fundraiser
Meet the Challenge Within: The 500T Challenge Fund

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bamboo jeepneys in leyte

Life in Nuvali PhilippinesTourism & Development, Government in Nuvali

NOTE: This site got hacked last month and boo that my back-up didn’t include the latest 4 posts (lesson learned: back-up everyday!). I’m resurrecting this third of four posts (original publish date: January 2010) from loose emails and saved drafts.

Look at these ingenious jeepneys spotted in Leyte!

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Got these pics in the email last January 2010 from Dorothy Llariza, who said they were passed along by an acquaintance from India. At first glance, friends and I were quick to dismiss these jeepneys as “surface green”–they use bamboo and other indigenous materials, but still have the same constitution as their CO2-guzzling cousin…. or so we thought.

An online search just now led me to the site of TOTI Eco, which as it turns out is another ingenious project by a local government official (and also the source of the pics doing the email circuit)!

Feeling the need for a low-cost, fuel-efficient, safe, and environmentally-friendly alternative mode of transportation (versus the accident-prone habal-habal, a motorbike usually overloaded with passengers), Tabontabon mayor Dr. Rustico Balderian created the Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry (TOTI) Eco cars, which proudly claim to be a revolution in transportation:

Important Points to Keep in Mind About a Bamboo Car vs. Vehicles of Steel
-Our bamboo cars run 100% on coco-biodiesel.
-90% made of bamboo.
-Bamboo is indigenous & renewable.
-Bamboo is stronger in tensile strength than steel.
-It takes 5 tons of ore to make 1 ton of steel plate.
-Consider the heat needed to process 5 tons of ore.
-Made by Tabontabon’s Out-of-School Youth

ECO 1
ECO1 can seat 20 people including the driver. It can run on ONE gallon of Biodiesel fuel for 8 hours. It can climb more than 20% grade. It is covered in banig the Filipino woven mat.

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ECO 2
ECO2 is made of bamboo, seats 8 passengers, and has a stereo with sound system. It also runs on one gallon of biodiesel fuel for 8 hours.

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Future Models
Other models in production include another vehicle made of bamboo…including the chassis.

Estimated cost of Eco1 amounts to P200,000. Not sure how this compares to the steel Sarao…

Other projects by Mayor Balderian include the production of shredders, boilers and bio-reactors for solid waste management (package cost is at P650,000) and livelihood projects that reuse plastic waste into slippers, bags and bricks.

More pictures can be seen on the TOTI Eco website.