Jungle is gone (for now)

Everyday Life,

I don\’t know whether Avida management responded to a collective call for landscaping maintenance in ASNU or if they really had grass-cutting scheduled last week, but I was happy to see this on my last visit:

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Freshly cut grass in Phases 1-3 of Avida Settings Nuvali.

According to the roving guard, Phase 4 is still a construction zone, so they concentrated on the first 3 areas for now.

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Hope the grass stays trimmed, especially since we can only expect more rains (lush greens) in the coming months!

Jungle alert: grass everywhere!

Life in Nuvali Philippines Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living

Visited a Celena unit in Avida Settings Nuvali Phase 4 last week, and was surprised to be greeted by wild vines inside the unit!
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This was turned over clean and with a visible perimeter in January 2012.  Six months after, it\’s overrun with grass and vines, literally looking like a jungle.

\"Avida

I asked the ASNU admin re: grass cutting in the village, and was advised that not all areas have been turned over to them for maintenance, so they can only remind/call the attention of the existing landscaping service provider when certain areas remain unkempt.  Also, Avida\’s responsibility only extends to trimming grasses on sidewalks and vacant lots that haven\’t been turned over to owners.

I think this policy can be amended to include all vacant lots regardless of status, if only for the safety of existing residents (we recently heard stories of snakes combing the village grasses).  To date there are still no association dues in Avida Settings Nuvali, however, so we residents are actually in no position to be so demanding.

My own area has overgrown cogon, and we just decided to be proactive about it and replace it with manageable groundcovers ourselves:

\"Avida

\"Avida

In a few months, hopefully, we\’ll have blooming peanut shrubs instead of wayward cogon covering the sidewalks, much like the one shown below:
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If I had the budget, I\’d plant frog grass– which supposedly never grows high and therefore has zero maintenance — on all sidewalks and frontage of vacant lots in the village.  This was actually an idea I heard from my friend\’s dad, who sits as board director of another residential/farming community in Silang  (bulk of their budget really goes to grass-cutting).  Not only will it maintain the visual and safety standards of a premier subdivision, but it will also cut down on grass-cutting costs and save money for the community in the long run.  We\’d also be doing future homeowners a favor– I remember it took considerable effort to uproot all the cogon on my lot before building could start.

Wet Nuvali

Life in Nuvali Philippines

My new fave thing to spot in Nuvali: rainclouds.
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Been seeing a lot of them lately– visible lines dividing the sky between sunny blue and rainy gray:
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\"Around

We only have two seasons in the Philippines– summer and rainy season — and although most prefer the former for its offer of beaches and outdoor-perfect activities, there\’s also a lot to cherish when the rains start coming.

The other day, for example, I smelled one of my favorite smells: wet, freshly cut grass.

🙂

Thank You, for the gifts of nature!

 

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Sharing below some pics I took along Nuvali Boulevard after a downpour:
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\"Around

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Wet and with plenty of puddles, but very much flood-free.

Two new Lakeside developments in Nuvali

Life in Nuvali Philippines

\"Solenad

Rode the water taxi in Nuvali for the first time in April 2012, and saw up close two new structures under construction around the lake.

First spotted the Kukun Hotel, one of the many new branches of the Ayala hotel brand.  It\’s located right across One Evotech (Convergys).
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\"Solenad

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New structure #2 is the Monochrome Events Place:
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On another note, my mom attended a Real Estate conference recently, where an Ayala spokesperson proudly beamed that Nuvali\’s original 10-year-plan has been remarkably fast-tracked, now nearing 60% completion.

Good to know that there\’s still 40% left to develop, but there is also that worrying tug of \”I don\’t want progress to end soon!\” 😛

Once Ayala\’s developer hand exits Nuvali, it will really fall on our shoulders — Nuvali residents and investors — to start the more laborious work of community-building.

Look up

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Have you looked up lately?

How lovely to always be in awe.

To look up, smell the smells, take it all in.

There is a greater world around us, bigger and more marvelous than the world of Me-Myself-I.

Weekend market to start in Nuvali

Life in Nuvali Philippines,

I love markets and have always wished for authentic flea markets in the Philippines — those that offered real bargains and rare finds (as opposed to tiangge staples or imported goods at inflated prices). At one point I even considered setting up a car boot in the Ortigas area, just to organize the community and get into the recycle/reuse habit.

Got this announcement about a new weekend market to start in Nuvali, and was admittedly hopeful when I read the product line up:

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Join us every weekend at the NUVALI Transport Terminal and enjoy a variety of products offered by our merchants at our Weekend Fiesta Market!

Specialty Food
Dielle\’s Honey – locally produced honey and honey wine
Bigasan – brown and organic rice
Regional Products – souvenir products from Baguio, Bicol, Pampanga, Laguna, Cebu, and Bulacan

Fresh Produce/Vegetables
Healthy Flocks – native chicken and brown eggs
Kitchen Herbs – salad greens and gourmet vegetables
Robinson\’s – all season fruits and health and wellness products

Plants
Marise Joyce Garden – landscaping services and fruit trees
Cynpol Garden – orchids
Sardo\’s Garden – ornamental plants
Satara – native products
Fiameta\’s Plants – garden accessories
Yam Halamanan – aquatic plants and fish

Dry/Crafts
Hotel Line – world class discounted cutlery
Banig – buli, buri, and banig novelties
Habi – hand-woven products

 

It\’s still not the ideal market I had in mind, but looks promising that they\’re offering regional products.  What got me most excited, though, was the list of plant merchants.  I\’ve been scouring the web and local garden shops for nice planters and have yet to find anything I liked… fingers-crossed the Nuvali market is successful and attracts a good mix of sellers to come in later on!

Won\’t be able to check it out this weekend, but please share pics and comments if you get to go. 🙂

Rain cloud!

Life in Nuvali Philippines

\"Sta.

Can you see it?

So lovely.

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Taken along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay road.  That\’s Mt. Makiling towering above the AUP fields on the right.

what gets you out of bed in the morning?

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What is the mountain of my life? It’s not money.

Is this why I’m not rich?

No amount of brainwashing will make me endure slaving over money. I wish I could’ve been wired otherwise. I see ambition on friends’ faces and hearts and used to wonder if I felt envious, but my truth is not in that space. I know with certainty that I don’t belong there, and that I will have to start really believing that when we do what we love, we are most successful and consequently, most rewarded (i.e. the money will come).

From an essay I read today:

…when a person is working in the area of his of her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss.

In Spanish, instead of asking someone you just met “What’s your work?” or “What do you do?”, the question is “A que te dedicas?” — To what are you dedicated?

The romantic in me would gladly volunteer “LOVE” as the answer, or maybe it would make more sense to answer with specific people to love …

But beyond this abstract motivation, what does get us out of bed in the morning? Is it to pay bills, to work to provide for our family, to put food on the table? Is it to count the hours until we get to go home and rest again, ready for the next day? Is it so we can meet up with friends after work, to unwind and watch a movie with our loved one, or to go on facebook and chismis the day away? Is it to pray and be accountable for our time and talents?

What’s your honest answer? Why did you get out of bed this morning?

It might not be the same reason tomorrow.

Climb your mountain, he will climb his, you meet at the top.

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Rilke said this about love and lovers:

When I turned 26 I started asking for specific gifts for my birthday — romantic wishes, if you will — and for two years I was on a winning streak. I became a firm believer of “Ask and you shall receive,” just as much as “Be careful what you ask for.”

Time came when my birthday wish took on a more serious tone. I felt I was finally ready to plant seeds (some people call it “settle down”)– and immediately the reply was “He will find you by something you put out there.”

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Rilke’s full quote / context here: