It takes a village...

If it takes a village to educate a child, according to the next and first female president of the United States Hilllary Clinton in a book she earlier wrote with the same title, I believe this principle should also be applied in solving the many big problems that affect us today.

People should understand that it is they who make society work and so they should not simply sit by as they expect the government to make things easy for them. Unfortunately, this thinking is encouraged by politicians so they can keep their hold on power.

The village or the barangay is where the building of the nation begins. And in this, all the people must get involved.

"Adik" Crafts

 

 

Although I am all for recycling and up-cycling, I am not really a fan of turning discarded packaging and other waste material into decorative items. For me, this is just delaying the discarded material's trip to its final resting place - the garbage heap.

 

For lack of a better term, I call this proclivity of some people to turn trash into decorative items as "adik-crafts" because I associate this activity with mostly prisoners and drug addicts undergoing rehab.

 

Not that I am being judgmental or being biased against it. In fact, I am completely neutral. If it helps people pass away time, earn a little income or even turn a new leaf  I am happy for them.

 

I am hoping though that aside from working on the decorative aspect, practical uses can be found for these waste materials.

 

In the case of PET water bottles, I have noted three worthwhile uses one of which I found very practical.

 

These are:

1. PET mini  aquarium to hold a small fish that feeds on mosquito larvae. This may help minimize mosquito population especially the disease carrying kind. (see picture)

 

2. PET salted egg maker. Simply cut the top part of 5-6 liter water bottle. Put fresh chicken eggs and submerge in supersaturated salt solution. Put weight on eggs to keep each egg under the solution for about two weeks. After two weeks, remove egg from the solution and boil in a pot of fresh water till cooked.

 

 

 

3. Plastic bag closer. This idea I find very neat and useful because it makes it easy to close tight a plastic bag after getting a portion of its contents.

 

 

 

Of course there are many other ideas out there, but for me these three are good enough.



A Vigan reprise

Calesas in front of the Quirino house

 It was really to Laoag and Pagudpod where I wanted to go. But due to limited time and just thinking of the long hours of going there and back, I ended up just going to Vigan.

This is my second time to go there but I was happy to be back and find that none of its old world charm was lost on me.

This time however, instead of doing the tourist thing, I went to the public market to look for unusual items that may not be common to those not from there.

The food section of the Vigan City market is situated on the second floor of the market building unlike most markets in the country I know.

Two uncommon things I found there were the 'balicutia' which is a kind of candy made from sugarcane but which is also used as a sweetener. I am sure there are other ways of using it as a cooking ingredient. It is also sold as a souvenir food item and  I was planning to buy some but at the last minute, I forgot to do so.

the balicutia- sugar candies cum sweetener

The other item that I saw for the first time is the sea weed called 'gamet' which to me looked similar to the Japanese 'nori' but less well preserved and presented. I wanted to try it but I do not know what to do with it. I was told to steep it in hot water and add it as a salad ingredient. But at P90  per sheet smaller than a bond paper, I decided that I will just try to sample it in a restaurant that serves it. That opportunity has not come yet.

Gamet - a food item from the sea

Vigan is as beautiful in the morning as it is at night. But actually it is the relative calm and quiet that draws me to it. I hope the influx of motor vehicles and wanton development will not change it.

What I noticed about Vigan though is that there is no memorably pleasant aroma that will stay in my mind and remind me of my visit there. How nice it would have been if Vigan has more odoriferous flora adorning its streets to match its old world ambience. What permeates the air in a part of the city is the greasy smell of Jollibee fried chicken cooking.

I hope the city people will realize that hiring a professional and top caliber gardener and cityscaper can only make their place more beautiful and tourist worthy.

two vendors selling kakanins, mostly rice based

Partido MnD

Now that the term of PNoy is almost over, I hope his Matuwid na Daan advocacy will continue.

Critics of PNoy sneer at Matuwid na Daan when they find fault in PNoy and his officials. What they do not understand, fail to see or refuse to see is that Matuwid na Daan is an ideal that we, all of us should strive for in our government because there is no other way.

For this reason, I believe Matuwid na Daan should even be turned into a political party to become an instrument for nation building instead of treating political parties just  as vehicles for personal ambition.

Principled remnants of the Liberal Party which is now almost decimated by defection of its members to the camp of the new President elect can be the core founders and members of this new Party.

When a house  has been so badly eaten and weakened by termites, it is just more practical to raze it to the ground and simply build a new one.