Colors of Life

 Life is full of colors, either you have red lipstick or yellow skin, working in a green issue or blue carbon, a red republicans or blue democrat, or even as mix as purple. The concept of church-and-plaza in Leon, Nicaragua somewhat is a reflection to this. You can see people praying, playing, selling any kind of things, singing, begging, sightseeing and even protesting.
You have one ticket to ride for your life, so enjoy every color of it!



Host: jalan2liburan
Tema: Warna

Mindanao Trip:The Enchanting Surigao del Sur

First thing first, Travel Alert. Many people would rolled their eyes when you say that you're going to Surigao-Mindanao. Some will ask you why because it's considered as an NPA base and some just shrugging their head coz mindanao still equal to conflict (they think). I say, Mindanao is one of the place that got underrated only because it's neighboring provinces is in a conflict. Surigao has beautiful beautiful landscape and nature. You can just go anywhere and you will find river like the famous Lo Boc river in Bohol and also blue clear river where you can swim with fishes. This place is one undiscovered place for tourism and that what make it more nice. It's where the local goes or some place that only the locals knows. Here are some hidden secret of Surigao:

1. Enchanted River
Ok, this is not so hidden I guess. It's quite famous among the locals here. The enchanted river is a somewhat magical  place. I mean, where else you can find a river that has bright beautiful color (dark blue turns into bright green) plus the fact that this is only a river located quiet remote in the coast there in Hinatuan. The water is cool and you can do snorkle here. You can't see any corals but it still feels cool cos you'll be surrounded by cliff. They also have feeding frenzy for the fishes there. Guests should out of the pool for an hour every 8 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm (sorry i'm a bit forgot the exact time). During the feeding time they will played the Hinatuan National Anthem. Try to get there with a boat instead of habal-habal, the view is very enchanting!

2. Tip Does Beach
To be Honest with you, I don't know how to write the name of this place. It just sounds like that hehehe. Sorry po! It's one of the small island near Enchanted River. It got white sand, clear water, you can do snorkle and see some corals here. Best thing? not many people knows about it so it's like having your private beach. You can play  a cast away if you're there ;)

3. San Juan
I did  a short visit to Barangay San Juan. You can do island hopping there and also visit the abalone hatchery run by CERD and the community there. They can give you kinilaw also if you are in the mood for it!

I think the only challenge to go to this area is it's quite remote. From Butuan you still have to take Mangagoy bus and have 4 hour ride until reach Hinatuan. After that you still need to take habal-habal or rent boat to go there. It's quite worth the trip though so if you happen to be in the area, you definitely should pay a visit!

Mindanao Trip Part 2: Davao for a day

This trip happen because I have problem with my Mac. Apple choose to have service center only in a city which more or less central to everything around the, In Philippines they only have 3 which represent the big three section of this country: Luzon-Manila, Visayas-Cebu, and Mindanao-Davao.

I have no option beside to go to Davao for only two day and one night just to get my laptop fix. It was a trip that I did not expect to have but eventually it end quite sweet. Davao become my sweet escape after I lived in coastal families quite a while. It was one of the moment when you feel like you see lights and big buildings for your very first time hahaha..

What can you do when you only have 1 night in Davao?
1. Shopping experience
Ok, I hate to say it and it may sounds shallow but being the biggest Province in Mindanao Davao does offer you the tempted to go shopping. They have big malls here compare to any other provinces in Mindanao. The biggest is Mall Abreeza (where Mac has its service center) and of course they have SM and other malls also.

2. Jack's Ridge

Davao from the top

splash!

Don't lock yourself inside the mall for too long. Go to Jack's Ridge and you can have the city view from top. It's a park-and-restaurant if you are not going to have lunch there you can just pay for 20php. The place is quite beautiful, quite and peaceful during the day. I went there during day time just enjoy the scenery. There was not many people when I was there so I end up taking a nap in one of the benches. The breeze makes you feel sleepy *yes, am making excuse here*

happy or sad?

I almost forgot they have swimming pool also with colorful sliders. I think it must be cool sliding with the city view from above. Don't forget to bring your swimming suit when you want to try it!

3. Crocodile & Butterfly Park
From Jack's Ridge you can take taxi to Crocodile&Butterfly Park. The security guard can help you to call the cab. It will cost you a little more than 100. his park is actually consists of three part: The Crocodile Park, The Butterfly Park, and The Tribu Cultural Village. The entrance is 150php.

I did took the pic of live one but not good enough

This place is like a mini zoo. The name of the place explain the place perfectly (d'oh!) I personally think there's too many crocodiles in one place hahaha.. never big fan of this creature. If you not a big fan of crocodile they have other animals too, like tiger, snake, birds, ostrich, etc. Oh and they have freeding frenzy challange for guests who want to feed these cool animal.
Butterfly park is a walking distance from the crocodile Park. Do not go to this park when is about to close! Seriously, I was there at 5pm and I did not see any butterflies, totally my bad hahaha. But the oark itself is quite beautiful.
Tribu Cultural Village
For you who have big interest in culture and native tribe of Davao I think this place will be worth visit. They have the mini house of the Tribu Villager there with a mannequin of the tribe also. The restaurant serve Tribu food and they are actually really good.

It's quite spooky when you only alone

I really enjoy Davao although it's only one day trip. It's a friendly city, everything is on order and clean.  Taxi drivers are friendly and not trying to make you do 'city tour' even if you are stranger and do not know the area. You can find cheap and good food also here. It is said that Davao is typhoon free-area but the Pablo storm gives this province a quite of rain. Nonetheless, it's still safe. In terms of criminality, this province also famous for it's safety. It is said that it's safe for women to walk alone in the middle of the night and they do not have to be scared of harassment. I heard about the issue of dead squad like when one did something wrong, he/she will die the day after because it consider as a threat to the community. Not sure and not know whether it is right or not. All that I know is when you know is if you only want to traveling or just visiting this place everypne will be very helpful and friendly to you.
 I would love to go here again in the future, everyone said Samal Island is also a must visit when you're in the area.

Enjoy Davao!

Humanvironment

Human activities are the sources of environment degradation and preservation. These women are doing sea shell gleaning in abandon fishpond near their houses. Wetland has been converted into large area of aquaculture for the last 30 years. For these women, this means food security; when the sea is not friendly they will go here to collect shell for their family consumption. 

Host: Windy Ariestanty
Tema: Human

Coastal Village part 4: Barangay Tubajon

Tubajon from higher land

Barangay Tubajon located in Laguindingan,  Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro. One can take bus from Cagayan to Laguindingan then take the habal-habal to Tubajon. The Capitain Lady was super cool, she welcomes you with warm-hearted.

Tubajon is like a hidden gem. This place has beautiful beaches and great view. Here's the view from the fisherman boat :

This is near the Fish Sanctuary, as you can see the water is crystal clear you can see all the corals from there. The place has a relaxing beach also where you can just sit and have  a little picnic. 

Relaxing beach

Enough about its wonderful view, how about the community there? Sadly enough, the community live is not as wonderful as the panoramic scene. The community there have to struggle with uncertainty day to day. I life with a family who catch the fish using compressor. It broke my heart when Ate Gagang (the wife) explained, they don't have boat and they don't want to use the net because it means that they need to buy the gasoline for petramax and they dont have the money. The money that they have mostly spend for buying corn (they dont eat rice also since it's expensive) and to send their children to school. 

The greatest fear for this family is when the child or the husband got sick. It will costs them 3000 php just to get the ambulance come to their place. Thus, she said if one of the family member got serious illness she does not know what to do, 'seguro patay' (maybe he/she will die)

Seashell gleening

Sea urchin catchers

Ate Gagang contributes to the household income by working as a washing-labour but this is depends if there is fiesta or ceremony happened in the barangay. Besides, she also do shell gleaning or catch small fishes that hey sell 10 php in one plastic. They used to have tobacco and corn field but they don't have the money to maintain it so it's now idle. They got the land from the government. 

Relocation site Laguindingan

Soon Laguindingan will be famous in the Philippines since they plan to move the airport in Cagayan to Laguindingan. The social aspect from this is minimum 200 household has been relocated. Most of them work as a fisherman or in corn field. Some of them got better access to their work field some of them don't. Life is a mistery for all of us, but for coastal communities this mistery becomes their everyday life. They will not know tomorrow whether they will have good catch or maybe not at all. The house that they stayed does not have paper because they build it in government land. Not to mention they built it from the wood that they found in the sea thus government an come anytime and took their so-called house. They can be totally healthy and working but might be exhausted in few years beacuse of the risk that they go through every time they inhale the compressor. When you think about luxury, it does not always means fancy car or bling bling. Most of the times, it simply means you have something in your plate when you're hungry, being healthy and able to catch some fishes, and for Ate Gagang happiness is when she can serve her family and see that they are happy.

Happiness only real when shared - ITW

Coastal Village Part 3: Sitio Barobohay

Sitio Barobohay was my last coastal villages in Hinatuuan, Surigao del Sur. It is a sitio (maybe similar like a hamlet or RW in Indonesia). There are only 20 families lives in this place. The place itself is quite unique, it is located in a slope of a hill kind of, it's so remote and makes you think who has started living in this place?
This sitio is quite hidden; to get there you have to pass a bumpy roads, hills, bridges, and steep way to enter the sites.
Why is this area interesting for my research? well, as you can see (although maybe not so clear here),   there are more aquaculture compare to the land for housing. That means the surrounding environment has changed so much in the last 30-40 years. This changes somehow I assume would bring affect the the livelihood of its people surrounding. Thats basically what I want to see here. Did I get what I want? well, you're about to find out :)

there are some ponds that already abandoned

I stay with Nanay, she is a housewife/sitio activist/ community organizer. Her husband works in a fishpond, he own a small hut there. He stays there most of the time and rarely come home. They have four children, two of them in Manila (which is very common there when they grow up either go to big cities or work as a migrant worker) , one is married and lives nearby and one still living in the house. One interesting fact is this family used to own a fishpond but since they experienced failure in harvesting and the maintenance of fishpond costs them a great fortune they decided to sell it and her husband works as the watchman instead. They got their share around 20 % of the total harvest.


Ladies and gentleman let's now use our gender lenses to observe the situation in this Sitio. Yep, you can put your bra on your eyes if that helps :)

By saying gender lenses, I means let's see it from every possible point of view. Almost everyday, Nanay are occupied with the household chores starting with cleaning the house, gardening, washing, preparing food (although her husband seldom eat at the house), fetching water, sewing, and this just go on and on. You may think that this is a usual habit but try to ask a question on their economic resilience. I am not here against a housewife but I believe that one still need to maintain his/her economic resilience. This family income generates from the husband salary and luckily they have coconut share also (every 3 months). Food and daily need is their biggest expenses.

They are looking for libo'o, no matter how old they are-no matter how hard it is. Looks like fun?

So, what have changes in terms of environment related to gender issues? The development of aquaculture somehow limit women access towards their environment. Their activities might not give the family big bucks but you know what this actually more sustainable. The fact that they are still able to do something to support their family gives them a sense of pride, it helps them to gain their confidence and it surely more environment friendly. I dont really want to go through this debate of mangrove-or-aquaculture but I think whatever that is it should be environment friendly and can be accessed and benefited for men and women. Any macroeconomic policy that related to the environment and have a good intention on increasing 'people' income should have a positive impacts toward the grassroots community especially women.

Freshen up after a muddy exercise down in the mangroves. 

The Project Challenges: Titanic Syndrome

This post got nothing to do with a naked picture with a gorgeous necklace. Sorry to disappointing you. This post is about that moment when you think and believe that you get the best support gadget and well prepared for your trip totally believe that nothing can't go wrong and then all your believes collapse..at the same time.

The ultimate challenge:

 Before my departure, I got myself that silver fancy laptop. It costs me  a fortune but I risk it thinking that I will need a good laptop since my research work will be depend on it. I dont wanna be hassled with small problems that may arise from another laptop. Besides, I want a laptop that lasts longer. This is wht I thought; I thought this shiny thing is perfect. It could not and would not go wrong. C'mon it's the gem. 

A friend of mine remind me to have data back up, I still remember she said : Don't forget to buy CDs and burn everything and save copy of everything. Well I did, I did have the copy of the photos that I took in the field but I didn't put the effort to save copy all my paper and literature review and my draft report. Don't know why, but I believe they will be safe there. Ok, now you know yes am such an idiot.

This is what happened: Last week, I came back from the field to the town and want to transfer all my photos, the freakin laptop won't reboot!!! There you go, I was panicked as crazy. How, what, when, Sh*T!!

I took it to Davao, the nearest MacService in Mindanao. It was like 18 hour bus drive (round trip), I came to point where I can't feel my butt anymore. I had to leave my laptop there for a week the technician said. They didn't know what went wrong also.Just today they called me and feels like I got struck by thunder. My hard drive is no longer mounting (whatever that means), so they will get the new one and they cannot safe the data! There you go, my gem only lasts for 3 freakin months. 

the second challange:

I opened an account for my research allowance, the logic was this new account can withdraw a bit more than my regular one. Since I'll be taking from another country I know that they will charge you as big as $5 every time you withdraw. Si I think I am save, I might just take one or two times per month and that would be enough. Turn out this is not the case either. 

I have been living without atm for 2 months so I kinda run out of money. When I saw the atm machne in Davao, I ran and enter the card right away; then weird thing happened: it said that I entered the wrong identification number. I know I did not. To be honest, I didn't have money to go back that day, so I needed it badly. I kept trying until the third time.. and the next second it got blocked. Yes, people, my day was just perfaaaittttt!

I try to contact the Bank but they can't lift the block, I need to go home. That is not a option for me now, unfortunately. 

Actually, there are a lot of things happened during my 3 months here; I am done on my mourning and will list it down here just so I can laugh at it:

> I lost my umbrella, bad thing: I borrowed this umbrella from the donor office

>I lost my belt

>Someone stole my shoes

>I broke my bag (seems like I have to throw some of my clothes)

Sorry If I sounds like a lousy complainer but not really. I just feel the urge to write this, just to express my feeling.

Well, at least am having fun so far and all of this challenges still solvable. I am still here standing, smiling, and surviving. I don't know where all this positive vibes come from but what I am really really thankful is I got to meet so many nice people and the fact that they are all stranger but they treat you like sister. I still have that warm feeling that this is part of God's plan, as one of my best friends said; 'Eventually, it will all make sense'. I do believe on that. Life is still good..so good here cos am having pizza and ice cream now :)