The Rosemary challenge

I admit I am a trying hard urban farmer. But for some reason I can not say I am there yet. So far most of my attempts at raising plants have produced only so-so results. Still the little success that I get are enough for me to go on.

A recent challenge that I took on for myself is being able to grow the aromatic herb rosemary. I had tried to grow them before but my earlier attempts only ended up as failures. I know there is something that I am not doing right with this plant.

Hopefully this time, I will be able to get it right.

Kanin-baw

Sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, lahat na lang ay ginagawa ng ating mga kababayan para lang makakain ng husto. Pero kung minsan, ang kanilang imbento ay sumisikat at kinakain na rin kahit ng mga may kaya.

Kailan lang ay may narinig akong pangalan ng pagkain na bago sa akin - "kanin-baw". Akala ko kung ano ito pero ang ibig lang palang sabihin ay "kanin na may sabaw".

Hindi ko alam kung ano ang lasa ng kanin-baw na narinig ko, pero naisip ko, hindi nga masamang ideya kung may gumawa ng sosyal na version nito na masarap ang sabaw at maraming laman.

Baka nga ito ang sunod na maging patok na usong pagkain.

My favorite Mcdo moment

If I have to eat out for breakfast, my restaurant of choice is McDonalds. The place is clean and the service crew are all smiles and genuinely welcoming.

But like all fast food restaurants, the drawback for quick, convenient meals is the noise and the traffic of people coming and going.

Sometimes however, when it is early enough, I get a chance to eat in peace and quiet with the bonus of being given a complimentary newspaper that I get to read at leisure.

But this rarely happens and it is just like the calm before a storm. One by one, people trickle in and what was just earlier was silent like a library suddenly becomes noisy as a marketplace.

Still I am thankful for these rare precious moments.

The road to North Korea

picture taken from internet

When I was a student at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, I joined protest actions in defense of academic freedom. For me academic freedom is important not only  because it allows students to explore and pursue all ideas without fear or restraint but more important, it teaches us discernment and  how to make reason a powerful instrument and weapon in resolving issues and conflicts.

Most of the time, our protest actions were just within campus where we held forums, mini rallies or even concerts and street theatre. But sometimes we would foray out of the campus to shout our sentiment and outrage only to be violently dispersed by the military in slavish servitude to the dictator Marcos.

During those repressive times, protesting was not the safest thing to do. It required courage and  not just anger. But we stood up for what we believed was important not just for us but for everyone including those who will come after us.

It is thus with anger and disgust when I read about a group of student activists who ganged up on Budget Secretary Butz Abad who came to the UP School of Economics to explain his side on the Disbursement Acceleration Program that he created but parts of which were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

For me this is a serious breach of academic freedom and it was committed by the very students who
can march and rally to their hearts' content now instead of studying because of that very freedom.

When we invite somebody to our place, it is only expected that aside from giving him the basic courtesies paid to  a visitor, we take responsibility for his well being and safety. To do the opposite is dastardly and is actually called treachery. If we deem a person to be an enemy in the first place, then why invite that person at all?

True to form, the militant students who initially gloated about their ignominious accomplishment changed their tune and later claimed to have been the ones manhandled by the security escort of Sec. Abad as they defiantly refuse to apologize. Yet at the same time, they can claim that the period of sober debate is over for the Secretary.

Wrong. When people resort to lying to argue their cause the period of sober debate is not over. It is futile. University officials and even the student body have no choice but to throw the books at them and apply the necessary sanctions indicated .

Ironic that at the time that we mark the period of over four decades when we lost our freedom through martial law, the virus of authoritarianism manifests itself again in a most ugly manner, this time not from the powers that be but from aspiring tyrants of tomorrow who behave like they have acquired the monopoly on truth.

These youth, fortunately not that many, would like to make our country in the image of North Korea where they and only they will have the undisputed claim to what is right and true. They deserve to be properly educated.

No apology, no graduation.

Soda bottle bonsai

It is not the creative way these soda bottles had been turned into a sort of plastic bonsai that  made me interested in them.

What I would like to know is if with this craft, soda bottles can be turned into mini aquariums that can hold a small mosquito larvae eating fish.

In this way, these soda bottle bonsai crafts will not just be decorative but can also be used to help in the fight against mosquito borne diseases such as malaria and dengue.

If this idea works, it may even be more effective than the vaunted ovicidal trap developed and promoted by the Department of Science and Technology.

Philippine Hoyas

Among the gems of Philippine flora are our native and endemic hoyas. Hoyas have beautiful flowers and some of them are even scented and can perfume a garden.

When I first saw a hoya plant, I was not really interested since what I saw was a very viny specimen. But when I realized that the creeping nature of this plant can spawn a possible industry in making plant containers and trainers, I began to be interested and tried to learn more about it.

Now I have become an enthusiast and am thinking of collecting the many hoya varieties.. I wonder  how long will my enthusiasm last though.

I also have this idea of promoting the hoya as a signature plant of a Filipino garden or even as an indoor decorative plant. One nice thing about the hoyas is that they are supposed to be very hardy plants.

Letter to TRC

 

 

 

Dear Sir:

 

I was a recent participant in the four day TRC Breadmaking and Bakery Management Course and I would like to give you a feedback of my experience.

Although there is no question about the competence and skill of our training instructors, the extremely abbreviated mode of instruction makes the course  superficial and not much helpful for trainees who pay a steep enrollment price in the belief and hope of finding a livelihood opportunity. Even our trainor wondered out loud how he can realistically impart knowledge and skill gained over a long period of time in just four days.Yet without sufficient knowledge and skill, how can  we succeed in our chosen enterprise?

For me, given the time limitation, a remedial solution would have been through a well written and comprehensive material. But even in this area, the handout and resource material provided and offered for sale by the TRC are woefully insubstantial. I believe the TRC had been conducting the bread making seminar for a long time already yet the hand out material given us are just loose leaf xeroxed material quickly assembled for distribution.

The person selling TRC booklets told me that they make their booklets simple because many readers have a low reading capacity. I believe this mentality is wrong and unacceptable. An institution of learning should not condescend to the people but do its best to lift them to the necessary level of competence. Mediocrity should never be encouraged.

I am sad to think that the TRC have degenerated into a mere money making institution and it is not surprising that it was easily used as a conduit for corruption. I believe as the TRC have been attached to the DOST, its purpose and manner of pursuing its mandate to open livelihood opportunities for the people should be reexamined and new approaches considered. There is a culture and thinking at the TRC that must be changed.

I am hoping that you read this letter in a favorable light and usher in changes that can make the TRC more relevant and attuned to the public need.

Thank you and kind regards,


Super Moon

The super moon phenomenon occurs when the moon orbits very close to earth thereby appearing very large and brighter than usual.

It certainly is an astronomic event but some people believe that the closeness of the moon can have some dire effects on our planet such as causing very high tides that can trigger underwater landslides and earthquakes.

Hopefully the super moon that I saw yesterday will have no such unwelcome result. We have already so many calamities both natural and man made to deal with.

At the 10th DA Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Exhibit

I wish I can say that the exhibit was a huge success with many new things to see and discover. But sadly that is not the case. I felt let down by this exhibit that showed nothing but more of the same of what they had been showing from last year and the previous years before that. And to think that this forum was even participated in by the various state colleges and universities.

In the exhibit I saw several stalls that carried wines made from various local fruits and vegetables. I wish the makers of these wines success but frankly I do not see how these products can become marketable.

One reason why traditional grape wine is widely consumed is because it can be taken as an accompaniment to meals to enhance the eating pleasure. If that can be said for the locally made fruit wines then maybe, local wine makers should advertise that possibility to open a new market for their produce.

A novelty I found at the exhibit was the chicharon made from sea cucumber. They look like some kind of crispy giant worms but taste very much like the usual chicharon. Maybe because it was a novelty, it immediately sold out. Hopefully, in the next exhibit, there will be more novelties like this chicharon from Quezon Province which is called "kibit"

Dates to remember

Yesterday, August 6, 2014 was the 69th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima with the first ever atomic bomb used in war. Two days later, another atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki.

Commemoration activities mark these dates in Japan but it is not only the Japanese who should remember these dates. We members of the human race must also remember.

The atomic bomb ended not just the war but it also eroded national borders. Henceforth, all of us are joined together in the common objective of preventing a third explosion to ever occur or it will be the end of all of us.

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