Sustainable Living

Melons and summer harvest

Life in Nuvali Philippines Farming and Gardening Food Sustainable Living,

Such sweet melons from Robinson’s Supermarket Nuvali!

We did a quick stop last night to restock on fruits at home and were surprised to find the fruit pile almost emptied out, but for melons and papayas (even bananas were sold out). Seems everyone had fruit salads over the Holy Week. Was glad for it though– I tend to skip the melon corner on a regular day because I can\’t blend them in my green smoothies (melons are best eaten alone). This batch was so sweet and delicious, I finished the whole thing in one sitting! Wasn\’t able to take a pic of the uncut melon, but it was of the yellow skin variety. Still have two white cantaloupes waiting on the kitchen counter, along with other summer fruits:

I had to go back for the bananas and mangoes this afternoon, but am happy to share that the squash above is from our own garden. 🙂 The plant grew out of our compost pit last year, so we moved it to a nice sunny spot, and voila– three months after, we harvested our first homegrown kalabasa!

Here\’s another happy leafy green that sprouted from a fallen seed:

Very thankful for the fertile Nuvali soil.

🙂

Back to homemaking

My Nuvali Home

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Spotted at the mall yesterday — chair leg covers! Didn\’t even realize these things existed. Bravo Daiso!

I haven\’t bought anything for the house in over three months, and I think every homebuilder can relate to this: there just comes a point when you want to put down the builder\’s hat and go back to everyday life. This happened for me in a very pronounced way — I quit the hardware store (byebye True Value) cold turkey last December and decided I would stop spending for home renovations or decor.

Yesterday I remembered something a friend shared years ago: once you have a house, you\’ll forever be renovating and restyling. So true. Little pick-me-uppers that don\’t hurt the pocket are a good way to get into the groove of being a homemaker once again… but this time I\’ll go at it slowly and remember to enjoy the process.

I think these leg warmers are a fun alternative to foam pads that come in uninspired white or black.

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Available at the Japan Home Store/Daiso.

Biking in Nuvali – my first trail

Life in Nuvali Philippines

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Had my first morning trail ride in Nuvali yesterday — was happy to discover a whole new world right under my nose!

A friend came to visit so we could go biking, which I took as doing 10K rounds around the village. Ten minutes into the ride and we reached the edge of Avida Settings, saw Elaro across the street, and casually decided to head for the Bird Sanctuary (neither of us had been there before).

Little did we know we\’d end up on an actual bike trail, and 2 hours later reach Venare via the uphill path behind Montecito.
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Was an adventure of a morning, what with both of us being first timers on any trail.

We entered the soil path between Elaro and Montecito and followed the signs that pointed to the bird sanctuary.
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Biking in Nuvali – my first trailRead More »

Yoga and dance in Nuvali – free classes ongoing

Life in Nuvali Philippines

Nuvali friends, we will soon have our very own yoga studio/healing space/juice bar so close to our homes!

I went to check out the site last Saturday — it\’s going to be located right above Yellow Cab in Solenad 1:

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Classes will start in March or April, but the good news is that they are already conducting free sessions every Tuesday morning at the Monochrome, the new events place right by the lake.

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I met Oudine Santos, one of the owners of Breathe, a few weeks back and her fitness vibe instantly rubbed off on me. That same day I took my bike out for a ride and definitively jumpstarted my fitness comeback.   Oudine was all warm and inviting about the Tuesday classes, so I was eager to give it a go this week.

It was Session#3, and my first attempt at Zumba. Until now my muscles are still (happily) complaining from the work out, but I\’d gladly do it again!

Was a great morning, what with this to greet us along with the happy smiles of about 25 participants:
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Side note: It really is such a gift to live within 5 minutes of this.

Also noted the juice bar component of Breathe, and as a raw food advocate, am mighty excited about this!
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Looking forward to next Tuesday\’s Yin Yoga, a less active form of yoga that involves prolonged stretching. My introduction to yoga was at a 3-day retreat in Palawan in 2011, where I learned that there are actually a number of different yoga practices.   Yin Yoga was one of those that I found enjoyable (we were holding our stretches by the beach!).  It \”targets the connective tissues, such as the ligaments, bones, and even the joints of the body.\”

Oudine gave a brief on the various yoga styles they\’ll be offering (Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha, Yin Yoga), and said they will eventually also offer other forms of dance, kids yoga, kids dance and pre natal and Sivananda yoga. You may email her at breatheph@gmail.com for more info.

Meanwhile, here\’s the list of yoga/dance packages for those interested to enroll already:

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Kanin Club – under renovation

Life in Nuvali Philippines

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Chanced upon this last Sunday, February 3, 2013. Kanin Club is one of my favorite eating places in the general Nuvali neighborhood (note: it\’s in Paseo de Sta. Rosa).  Sharing for everyone\’s info that they are currently closed and will resume operations on February 18, Monday .

Also saw this billboard for the new Paseo commercial center under construction:

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This is the one near the Paseo wet market or palengke.  There is another complex being built on the opposite end of the main Paseo block, with Shopwise as one of its locators.

Looks tall enough for a cinema right? Still keeping my fingers crossed…

Back in the groove of life

Life in Nuvali Philippines

February is quickly becoming productivity month. Seems everyone is \”in the zone\” and busily buzzing about. A friend put it simply: the Christmas magic is gone, and people are now getting into the groove of life again.

I also finally picked up the brush last week and wet the canvas.

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Haven\’t painted with oils since 2006 — it was admittedly quite a moment.  I guess it\’s also the pressure of the possibility of losing the creative space soon… so every day left in Nuvali has turned more precious. It still breaks my heart every time a buyer looks at the house.

Nuvali lakeside at night

Life in Nuvali Philippines,

Saw recent pics of a wedding held at The Monochrome Events Place in Nuvali — glad to know it\’s finally up and running!

Got to visit that area and spend a few minutes by the Nuvali lakeside sometime in December. Stopped and parked the car because I noticed the well-lit walkway fronting the events place– was happy to see people actually passing there at night.

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Hope you all had a lovely December!

Happy New Year, Nuvali friends and neighbors 🙂

Greening the roofdeck

My Nuvali Home

There\’s nothing like entertaining at home to raise the urgency of fixing up one\’s house.

My birthday\’s coming up and I\’ve already invited friends and family to come over for a housewarming/birthday barbecue, so I\’ve been pressured to finish a home project with which I\’ve been dillydallying: the roofdeck.

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This week, we greened the concrete floor surrounding the grass. The original plan was just to leave the concrete floor as is, unpainted and \”unfinished\”, to go with the industrial look of the rest of the house, but we had some cracking issues on the deck because of the exposure to rain and sun. Solution was to take out the cracking layer of pure concrete (puro), and apply flexibond plus elastomeric paint. I chose a garden green color to unify the grass and non-grass portions of the floor.

Next step is to put a wooden box to encase the soil, and then go furniture shopping.

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The grill is ready and waiting, and am happy to say that with the teak lounge chairs, the place is already coming together. Yay!

Updates from the Nov2012 ASNU homeowners’ assembly

Life in Nuvali Philippines,

\"ASNU

I got to attend the Avida Settings Nuvali Homeowners\’ General Assembly on November 25, 2012. Wish I could\’ve stayed longer– would\’ve been a perfect opportunity to interact with fellow homeowners and meet neighbors in the flesh. Imagine having over 1,600 families to get to know!  Hopefully can do that at the Christmas party.

The room was packed, with about 400 people in attendance (that\’s just 1/4 of the total Avida Settings Nuvali population), and also present were Ayala Property Management Corp. (APMC) and Avida Land personnel.

Here are the updates I got to pick up:

  • Avida Land Corp. will turnover the management of the village to the Homeowners\’ Association by January 2013, with certain deliverables, such as completion/upgrading of parks and green ribbons.
  • The annual budget to maintain the village was discussed by Engr. Vic Angeles, and this was used as the basis for coming up with a working figure for the monthly dues.
  • Avida Settings Nuvali association dues will start at P7.16/sqm/month effective January 2013

Other relevant points raised:

  • Nuvali developments–whether residential, commercial– pay Nuvali Estate dues to cover common areas such as Nuvali Boulevard, etc.   This is important because now we know that as part of ASNU, we are also paying regular dues for the management of Nuvail as a whole, and can therefore make demands/ask for accountability regarding the ways these dues are being used.  Next step now is to investigate who makes up the Nuvali administration team, and who we can write re specific concerns when needed.
  • I also found out that the non-potable water supply for the whole of Nuvali is not yet in place, and will take, more or less, another 5 years to develop.  This is unfortunate, especially since I redid the plumbing for my house to specifically accommodate the dual piping system in areas that were overlooked by my contractor.  Better to have the provisions in place, I know, but it\’s frustrating to find out it was a hollow effort and will remain one for the next 5 years.

If you got to attend the full briefing, please do share other updates I missed.

The latter part of the assembly was to organize volunteer committees, and ahead of time I already advised Engr. Vic to include me in the Community Relations/Education Committee.  I grew up in a friendly neighborhood in Quezon City (with about 400 households) and can vouch for the myriad benefits of knowing one\’s neighbors.  I would love to get involved and develop community programs or gatherings to foster dialogue on our shared interests, including such topics as green living, gardening, community sharing, solid waste management.  Admittedly I have very little information as to what programs are already in place, and am just very excited to get out there and join the discussion.  Avida Settings Nuvali has a huge population, and although there is a high possibility of coming across neighbors who will just disagree and discourage, there is also as big a chance of finding like minds, and together creating a thriving, engaging community.   🙂

Hello, neighbor.

Life in Nuvali Philippines

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Spotted this pretty bird on a fallen branch next to the house the other day. Such a welcome neighbor.

On a similar note, have been getting real next door neighbors of late, with long time empty units in Avida Settings Nuvali getting leased out. Although it would be nice to preserve the peace and quiet here, I also welcome the influx of full-time residents in the village, especially in my immediate surroundings.

Btw, I have a friend looking to rent in Ridgeview Estates– if you have a unit there and are interested to lease your home, please email johanna@metrorealty.ph.

Christmas is here :)

Life in Nuvali Philippines

Been thinking of how to invite the Christmas spirit into the house this year, especially since it\’s my first time to decorate my own home. Yesterday, had this idea to raid our garden in Tagaytay for twigs or whatnots that I could piece together, and went home with this:
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Told our caretaker to look for a nice sturdy branch that I could use as a tree… I\’m super happy it fit in the car. The green leaves / branches are from grown pine trees (they\’re not the pine needle variety, but I assume they\’re from the same family) — will wait to see how long they\’ll stay green, but the dried brown version also looks lovely.

Couldn\’t help but smile when I saw my \”tree\” peeping in from the lanai doors this morning:
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There\’s nothing like green and nature to make one smile a wide smile 🙂

Also thought to set aside the twigs from my longgan snack to use as Christmas decor. Any tips? Was thinking gold ribbon then stick to the wall hehe.
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Time to start wrapping gifts and painting Christmas cards and balls for the tree!

Composting — first attempt

Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living

Been dumping our wet kitchen waste in a compost pit at home…

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It\’s literally a hole we dug up and cover with soil when needed, to keep bugs at bay.

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Don\’t know if we should be adding anything to the mound, but decided to just go ahead and do it instead of over-researching it and ending up not doing anything (happens to me all the time!).

Anyone who composts here? Care to share your experience? 🙂