Garden of Elmer Gimmick

I told myself that I would not do any work this weekend, and that's exactly what happened. With some mountaineering buddies, trooped off to very far away Bulacan to hang out at Elmer's Kubo. Elmer's family runs a landscaping concern and this spot in Bulacan is where they have their nursery of impressive palm trees and koi fish. Would you believe that koi cost 70,000 a fish? I think it's crazy.

Elmer's Kubo isn't really a Kubo in that there's a dining hall area and a kitchen extension. It's more of a chill out house. We arrived Saturday night and watched Keeana Reeves win the finale of Pinoy Big Brother, after which it was pigging-out. Ruffles, Doritos and Onion Dip, pancit malabon, lechon manok, dark chocolate, asti, beer and red wine. Come to think of it, I think it's pretty amazing that I didn't get a stomach ache. I think it was coz I was mentally prepared for this one. Chatted til 5:30 in the morning. Running joke of the evening was that if you want a girl to fall madly in love with you, forget about giving flowers or chocolates. You should volunteer to clean her refrigerator. Spoken by a friend based on real-life experience.

After breakfast (at 930, yeah we woke up then), it was just more hanging around reading magazines till the trip home. The original plan was for some of us to go biking the morning to Subic from Bulacan (yeah right, diba). We passed by Razon's on McArthur Highway and they really have very soft and tasty puto (though im not into the butter brand topping), and a super yummy halo-halo which they're famous for.



The 45 peso concoction contains only a few ingredients but I think that that is the secret to its tastiness (ice, lecheflan, evaporated milk, macapuno, and a little banana). The whole thing is positive drowned in evaporated milk, I suspect, so that's why its so tasty. And it's just 45 bucks! If one goes to Bulacan you got to pass by here and get your halo-halo. It was particularly great coz the afternoon was so hot.

It was baboy weekend. I was allowed though, 'coz 1) it was yummy and fun and I deserved it, and 2) I'm practically gonna swim everyday this week! That's part of the reason exercising is fun. . .

summer

The blog has a new look, thanks Maf.

What is odd though is that I don't bike, though I have a bunch of friends who keep on bugging me to do so. I have a bike helmet just over a year old gathering some dust in a drawer.

Every other verb on the site description, I do: these days biased towards swimming and reading. I haven't climbed a mountain since late October.

Summer is on everyone's mind these days. School is out, and the holy week is approaching. Since our family is moving out to a new place this April, there are no grand productions / major outings lined up. We'd all be presumably too busy (and out of disposable cash!) to do any of those. There have been some invitations to go to beaches nearby, but I've got this slight aversion now to just pile into a car and take off to the nearest nature spot (whether beach, mountain, or forest).

No matter how careful you are, as an eco-tourist, you're gonna be making a dent on these environments. Environments are not destroyed just by loggers with chainsaws. They're also affected by people who bake in the sun while ordering their fruit shakes. Mind you, I've got nothing (much) against this type of consumption, 'coz I've done that sort of thing myself. But if you're going to be heading out this summer and going to Bora(cay), Bohol, Palawan, wherever, you got to realize the impact you make.

I've told myself that if ever I go to a mountain this summer, I want it to be in the context of a clean-up climb. Same thing if I visit a beach or a dive spot. Since, inevitably, I'll be "leaving a trace", I want to already give something back, if only to achieve balance in this place that I'm visiting. A tourist/traveller is a powerful thing.

There's a big brother / big sister climb coming up some time this summer, and I'm thinking of doing this again. I did this last year, and essentially climbers go to remote communities (in the mountains) to give them some books and school supplies. It's nice if you're a mountaineer to do this. This is your small niche in helping out education in the country. But people who aren't into climbing can also join in. Some of the people who tried this out for the first time ended up taking BMC (Basic Mountaineering Courses) the rest of the year. This year, there's a climb May 13-14 in Abra. I will put in more information about this project the succeeding weeks.

It's April 1. That means it's Jess Lopez's birthday. He'll be topping the bar in a few years like Len and Joan? Stranger things have happened. He he.

Things to do this Summer

Hi. Are you guys feeling that your brains are rotting from too much work in the office? Do you yearn for some sort of stimulation, whether intellectual, physical, or social? Then perhaps you should try one of the activities listed below. The information has all come to me at the same time, and I'm lumping them all together.

1. Critical Social Theory Group

a gathering of individuals who will read texts and talk about social theory. suggested first text will be paulo virilio's ground zero. gatherings will start mid-April. generally open to all interested individuals. the group is informally based in Ateneo. to sign up in the mailing list, head for badrabbit.blogspot.com

2. Underwater Hockey

for the underwater hockey blurb, I'll just paste the SMS that a friend forwarded to me. i've tried intro last year, and it's quite fun, especially if you like water and competition. more formal hockey school starts sometime mid-April as well.

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Hey, wanna try UNDERWATER HOCKEY? Sign up for ur FREE INTRO on Mar 25 or Apr 1 at Ultra 1-4 pm. Just pay pool fee P150. Limited Slots only. Reserve now! Call/Txt Nikki: 0917-8902330. Xtreme fun guaranteed! :)

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3. Groupe de Conversation en Français

Avril 8, brunch, La Vista, environ 1030.
un petit groupe de personnes qui veulent pratiquer et ameliorer le Français, avec la connaissance au moins du Français de base. :) E-mail si vous êtes intéressé