Puerto Princessa

Puerto Princessa is one of the two towns with an airport in the island-beach destination of Palawan. The city is said to be the cleanest city in the Philippines and I thought it had nice roads and little traffic jam (especially compared to more famous beach destination like Bali). In the three days we were there, we didn't go very far and just explored the beaches nearby and took guided tours to the "must see" destinations. It's nice that the place is not too famously beautiful that it becomes overcrowded with tourists. There's space, and there's quiet.
My favorite moments there were of standing ankle deep in the water, toes wriggling gently in the sand, soaking in the expansive view of the sea and the sky...

Alabang

An hour or two from Manilla is Anna's home in Alabang, which is the place where I rested on my first night in the Philippines. We stayed at home on the day after before traveling in the evening. The home is so spacey and cosy to the point that it lulls me to sleep whenever Shelina or anyone leaves me on my own. The gentle wind and after-rain smell also helps. I took a great liking to this traditional rocking chair - the hand rest is so long that it becomes the foot rest!



We spent some time chatting at the terrace. I feel that this house certainly invokes a lot of nostalgia for those who have lived and stayed in it. The air of the place somehow reminds me of my grandmother's home which has been long gone. The Spanish influenced architecture and walled courtyard garden makes me think of photographs of Casa Luis Barragán - I never thought that a garden that is walled up with plain concrete can lend such a 'soft' feeling to the place!

Philippines!

It's been a whiiiile since I travelled,
a while since I got off the net and the PS3,
and a while since I see a truly dark dark night sky.
Last week, I was finally able to take my first long break from the office to go to the Philippines and visit my sister and travel a bit with my colleagues to the island of Palawan. It feels refreshing to get out of Singapore's orderly tedium of life (and that cheesy MRT jingle: "Train is coming!"), and into the cacophonous mishmash of the Philippine street. Outside of the city, the lush green natural landscape is also a treat for the eye and soul. Ah... well! More on things later. Back to work tomorrow.


Young mangrove tree at Puerto Princessa, Palawan.

Travel for Work

They say that "all roads lead to Rome."
Well, the old adage has expired, and today it has been replaced with "all roads lead to China," - So! Here I am.

Cherry Blossoms of Ithaca

Spring came early this year! Or more like,
Spring came early just for me!



I was in Ithaca only for two weeks at the beginning of Aprul, but was lucky enough to see the cherry blossoms and magnolias bloom. We enjoyed having our own cherry blossom picnic lunch by Olin library, with pita and soups from Temple of Zeus. It's quite a privilege to be lazily sitting under the cherry trees, and I find it rather strange that most people don't take advantage of this beautiful location more often. If this was Japan, it'd be spot that one covets for days and nights before the peak blossoming day!

서울

Transit in Seoul on my way to the US. It was at the end of the winter season so it was VERY cold! Regardless, Seoul is elegant.

Distant landscapes

Glass stickers at Seoul Tower tells me that if I look far enough in that direction, I can see Roma!

Rombok Bete

This is a little story of how we got there together, some 20 of us taking an afternoon plunge at the waterfall...
On my last day in Mika, I want to go to the green stones waterfall (Rombok Ece) again. After teaching the year 12 English class, I asked one of them, Dara, if she would like to go to Lombok (I had heard the name from little kids, so they can't roll their 'r' s quite yet). She is confused. Lombok? (As in Pulau Lombok?)
Yes.
Eh?
Oooh...ok, Rombok!
Rombok means waterfall in the local language, Dayak.
While Lombok means the island Lombok, to the east of Bali.

According to her, there is another bigger waterfall at about more than an hour's walk from the school. The walk would takes us into the palm oil plantations and into a small stretch of jungle by the stream. "Oh, that sounds exciting!" I said. So we made an appointment to go there after lunch.

Well, I thought it was going to be fine and dandy, but apparently the teachers didn't think so. The kids technically can't go out of the school compound during the month before their final examination, and I can't go out unaccompanied. I stood in front of them for a while and kinda grinned, "It's going to be fine... they're grown up already!" Finally the let up on the note that we should return should I feel that the walk is too strenuous. At that time I was thinking: What could be more strenuous than that Cinque Terre walk uphill for 4 hours! Besides, Ithaca is uphill, day in and day out. It should be fine... except, should anything happen to them... I can't imagine what the consequences would be.

And so we went. We prayed before we set off.
At first it was nerve-wracking to cross the road... there is no light and the traffic is fast. Then there's a long stretch of villagey road. then finally... we got to the shadier plantations area.


It's quite scenic I must say... with the ferns growing on the pillar-like palms, and it's star-shaped fronds shading over us. Except... the heat was quite something. My friends was very kind to take my bag for me and held up the umbrella =P (me being the city bum)


Seems that the guys are more fond of the umbrella than the girls. It's the same umbrella that I've been dragging around Europe and Australia for the past 6 months! =D


Some people used broad leaves as substitute for umbrellas.


This is the stream above the waterfall.


One and a quarter hours later... we have arrived!
Needless to say, it was LOADS of fun splashing.




Hope to see you again!

MIKA discipline

Day in, day out. Wake up at 4:45. Morning hymns. 5:00 Line up for showers. 6:00 line up for breakfast. 7:00 School. 12:00 line up for lunch. 15:00 school finishes. Rest. 16:00 electives/afternoon shower. 18:00 Line up for dinner. 19:00 praise singing, then study time. 21:00 evening meeting, more singing, some more study. 22:00 lights out.



[above] Fish: the daily fare.
[below] Monday and Saturday electives: Clearing up the fields.



What can I say? After years of training to sit in front of a monitor screen and go click click click, I barely have the muscle to lift up the machete and start hacking at the bushes. So, seeing the kids do this, especially the ladies, is so coool! Although, hacking the bushes is increasingly becoming a lost art among the more 'city' kids who tend to just watch and chat and wait until the clock strikes 17:30... which is, time to take a shower! Oh well, got to cut them some slack!

Pasar tradisional Ngabang

Saturday morning outing to the market with MIKA teachers... with a box truck!

If you have followed this blog since its Roman days, you know that I have a soft spot in my heart for traditional marketplaces. The cacophony of sight and smell of these markets are really something that modern shopping experiences cannot beat!

Sayuran Pakis, edible young tips of forest ferns. Ferns are not farmed, mind you... so these are foraged vegetables. At Rp 5'000 (50 US cents) for three bunches, it's a deli deal.

Two types of wild forest fruits. The long one is sour but the round one is sweet: similar to longans.

P - O - R - K !

What the...?
Looks like blubbers of fat to me. It turns out to be
Jeroan - Chicken innards.

Dried spices and such.

Ngelamun...

Rombok Ece

When the students were on holiday, we took a short outing on one hot Saturday afternoon and played around by the stream there with the teachers and their families. Located right behind the SMP dorm the stream is a a shady jungle grove with gorgeous mossy green stones.






The story according to the students, as told to me by Pandu was this. There was once a boy named Ece. One day the teacher got so angry with him in class that he got punished. Bitter, perhaps, he ran off to the forest, and found this place. And that at least, is the rumor of how this place came to be known by students as Rombok Ece. The kids just refer this place to me as Rombok.

Gone Teaching

Who thought that with my patchy grammar, that I'd be capable of teaching grade 12 English... but I did! Luckily I was not teaching grammar, just reading comprehension and vocab. This is one of the class that I taught most frequently during the 2 weeks I was in MIKA. It makes me happy when the students have an eagerness to learn and ask questions. But most of the times... they just stare at me blankly. For example, after reviewing the various meanings to the word 'shoot,' I tried on one instance to tell the Panda joke (the only joke I can remember off the top of my head). They all laughed on the Panda bit, but at the end of the joke was met with a ten seconds of silent bewilderment... like... why would the Panda do that?


I also taught arts and crafts, which was a more merry affair with everybody getting involved in something. Above, is the year 10s who are orderly in doing their own thing. Below is the year 4 and 2s who have limited listening and sitting-still capabilities... a bit of a zoo to contend with. I guess they look kinda cute in stills.


In any case, being with them gives new meaning to one of my favorite Bible verses: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child." Probably I was like them too.


So. For some of you who missed the story... I went to Sekoah Kristen Makedonia (MIKA), a school in West Kalimantan for two weeks to help out with teaching English and KTK (Arts and Crafts). Over two weeks, I taught at least one lesson in every class from year 1 to 12, and I also did extras (night classes) for year 9 and 12 who are doing their national exam. The kids are mostly pretty sweet, sometimes hyperactive, dedicated folks. It has been fun, much more fun than I expected when I came. It's just unfortunately, what they have to face is a rather poorly written exam with spelling, grammar and numerical mistakes abound.
If only we can all do IB? hahaha. some of you might disagree.

Hortpark

A scientific research on vertical greenery by Singapore's NParks. A number of papers and two books have been published about this research, but I'm not going to go into details because you can find out the same thing just by googling "Hortpark" and "Vertical Green.

Compared to me... it's tall! 6 meters, to be precise.

The gruffiest wall. I like how they used the Rusellia plants here.

It's a live fuzzy soft thing.
Reminds me of the thing that that was growing HILC refrigerator at the end of the year... except that it was blue.
-.- Ewk. I had to take it out.
What was it anyway?

Twigs stuck on brownies.

Good thing that they experimented on the different systems because at least three of the 7 living walls have died or been entirely replaced. There's a picture on here and here of how it looked like originally.

Changi T3

The one green wall that is impossible to miss when visiting Singapore... The Changi Airport Terminal 3's 300-meter long green oasis/green tapestry/vertical garden/indoor landscaping (not sure what they officially call it). This system is a custom design-built system (as opposed to a pre-fab modular product) conceived by Tierra Design of Singapore, and last year it was honored with an award from ASLA.


When the wall was newly built and hasn't grown yet, you can see the service area behind it. But using a double plant support system, the wall quickly achieves a full-lush cover within two years. As you can see in the photo below, there is one climber at the front and one at the back. the plants in the front receives natural light and additional metal halide (?) lighting. While the plants at the back are shaded by the one at the front, so they are almost fully artificially lit.


When I first saw this back in 2008, I thought it's quite barren...
but over the years, it has definitely grown lush and gruffy --gruffy being my new favorite word to describe robust kind of leafy lushness. I definitely had enjoyed spending hours hanging out at the café nearby (for the free internet, really... but the airy greeny space sure puts me in just the right job-application mood. I wrote for and applied for some 10 jobs whilst being there!).