Sunday, June 27, 2010

Full Moon Nesting

The energy of the full moon tonight is pulling me to make an inspiration board for our future home. As mentioned in a previous post, M and I will be making our biggest investment of our lives by purchasing land property here in Palawan. Finally, huge spaces & fertile soil to cultivate and create into a farm & home. It's nesting time once again!

Here are some images- design pegs & DIY projects that are on my to-do list for this nesting project.

I love these affirmations/inspiration found in Etsy. Hang these notes anywhere in the house or at your work space to gently remind you of what your real priorities are in life.


This is a modern DIY woven lamp from Poppytalk, one of my fave sites ever for all things beautiful & handmade. I've already challenged M to make some because the materials are all very simple and available at the hardware store.

[Going a little offtrack here, but...] Did you know that M makes the yummiest homemade peanut butter? "Better than Skippy!", he says. He's taken a liking into DIY projects too, and I want to package it just like these below for gifts or orders. Imagine all the products we can make from farm produce? Endless possibilities!


It would be nice to have some artworks all over the place. I must convince my older brother- contemporary artist, Gino Tioseco, to make more works for me! He was recently commissioned by the H20 Boutique Hotel to paint 40 pieces adorned all over their walls. Then again, Santi and I can always paint them myself.

I've always wanted a blue-hued spacious bathroom with my most coveted bathtub. So, here's one lovely photo of my dream come alive...


 And tiles made from this healing mandala pattern!

What crazy things do you do when the moon is full?

Tomorrow I shall post about our family's Full Moon Dinner and Moonbathing. For now, I need to sleep :P

Goodnight, Moon!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Nature's Alarm Clock

Choosing to live amidst a natural setting gives you delightful surprises each day. Here was mine one fine, chirpy morning...



This is the red-tailed squirrel, endemic to Palawan. There are sightings of them everywhere here especially during the early hours of the morning. According to my nanny, this is the female squirrel looking for a mate and communicating by its loud distinctive chirps. I hear that loud and clear!

The bantay (houseguard) of our landlady caught 2 of these creatures and caged them by his little kubo (hut). I take pity in them and a little voice in me wants to set them free. I read, after all, that they are already in the endangered species list. A clearer, close up photo with more info on their species here and here.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Pinky Promise?


These are some of Santi's favorite reads. I have started collecting Dr. Seuss books for him because the books are quite amusing to read out loud, even for myself. I like how the rhymes roll out of my tongue. Over and over again he asks me to read to him many times during the day. There are times when I get tired and tell him, "OK, this is going to be the last story now, pinky promise?"

I wasn't really sure if he was able to fully understand the concept because I have just introduced it recently. But he would grab my finger with his and comply each time. But today he saw this photo on one of the books...



...and said, "Mom, I want cake!"
I replied, "OK, I will buy you cake tonight."
Santi pulls out his finger and says, "Pinky promise?"

My heart takes a dip and melts! :*

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Living Green

One of the reasons why we moved to Puerto Princesa was so that my family can live healthier, gearing towards a more sustainable life. Quite a goal, but doable if you ask me. So many people have done it. Why can't we? Living away from the city chaos makes it so much easier. No traffic in the city saves you time. Almost no shopping saves you money. We have drastically decreased our shopping here because there really are no malls. Less shopping = less junk = less trash. That is environment-friendly too!

So, by living here in Palawan, we are saving time, money, the earth and our health. We live in one of the greenest places in the world. When it rains here, there is no flooding. All the trees and mangroves help suck the rainwater. Singapore maybe a first-world country but they recently got hit by the floods just like how Manila was when Ondoy happened. Makes you think twice about where to live, doesn't it?

And to make our lives even greener, M and I want to do organic farming. We are in the process of acquiring land in Bacungan which is 25 minutes north of Puerto Princesa city. The plan is to turn that place into our very own farm, eventually live there, eat our own produce and possibly supply neighbors too. But first, we need to educate ourselves and will start a customized 8-week course at Bountiful Harvest soon.


Meet Jinky & Simon Gill of Bountiful Harvest. They are one of the pioneers of organic farming here in Puerto Princesa. Simon of Bountiful Harvest was the consultant of Aloha House when they first started their operations. Both organic farms have been supplying the city (restaurants and individual homes) with their fresh organic produce every week. What I particularly like about Bountiful Harvest is that they deliver if your place is within their route. Another cookie point for the couple is that they are so friendly and very easy to talk to.

M and I are looking forward to get our hands dirty. We will be working on the farm all day from 9 am to 5 pm for 8 consecutive Saturdays. We have requested for a customized schedule because M has work during the week. The course fee is P800 per day per person which includes lunch and 2 snacks. You can imagine the meals to be healthy fresh from their farm. I have requested for raw vegetarian cuisine while M wants that organic pork on his plate! The course fee is very reasonable considering you will be learning survival skills that will be useful for a lifetime (and help the next generations too!)

This is where we will get our hands on training
The organic pigs M is dying to eat!
Goats raised up high so they can collect their manure for fertilizer
Stay tuned for more stories on the farm.

Bountiful Harvest
Brgy. Sicsican, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Jinky Gill 0917-8492911

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