DA BAR Exhibit Finds

 

1. Honey from stingless bees (Tetragonula biroi). The bees are much smaller and very different looking from the bees we more commonly know. The honey also tastes a little sour.

 



 

2. Chickpea cookies and bars from the Benguet State University. Delicious and healthy.

3. Processed Katmon products. No idea how they taste like. Products on display were strictly for display.

Traffic to the max!

One factor that diminishes the quality of life in our country is the poor state of our transport network and system.

It is simply unacceptable that we have to bear with monstrous traffic as though it is an  inescapable  fact of life.

Perpetually bad traffic is a reflection of bad governance and we must hold our leaders accountable for that.

Hoya pimenteliana

One plant resource of which the Philippines happen to have a great variety of is the Hoya. Sadly though most of us are not aware of this fact and thus do not know what to make of this advantage.

Hoyas have beautiful flowers albeit small and some even have a pleasant fragrance. If only we put our minds to it, it is possible to build an industry around this plant.

Gardeners can develop potting mediums and even flower inducers while enthusiasts and scientists can maybe try to improve the plant by coming up with varieties with bigger and more fragrant flowers. Then there are also our craftsmen who can design plant containers and trainers to better display the Hoya.

It is my hope that the Hoya can become a signature plant in every Filipino home and garden.

Train on wheels or is it a bus pretending to be a train?

During the Science and Technology Week held at the Mall of Asia and which was organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), I had a chance to try out the Hybrid Road Train being developed by the DOST.

I am all for a mass transport system but I wonder if with this train the DOST is on the right track. Will it be as affordable, fast, efficient and comfortable as a real train?

It is still in the prototype stage and there are many issues that are evidently crying to be resolved such as the noise of the engine, air conditioning, not to mention where to ultimately run it for real.

I asked a staff what is the key development that they have introduced in their creation and he told me that it is the engine that can run on diesel and electricity.

I am all for a modern, rapid mass transport system and I welcome all efforts to achieve this objective. Still when I tried this transport, I can not help think that this train is really a bus.

The green elephant

I wonder how many people appreciate this green elephant standing mutely in a concrete urban jungle.

Most people take its presence for granted but will they miss it when it disappears or is taken away?

This elephant topiary caught my eye because so far this is the closest to the idea of a 3-D Letras y Figuras object which I hope can be adapted by our local governments to artfully and creatively spell out the names of our towns, cities and provinces.

If we can do this, we can have a distinctive landscape feature in our country unique only to us.

Anyare na sa Mercy and Compassion?

Yumayaman daw ang Pilipinas pero parang tumitindi lalo ang kahirapan. Parang napansin ko lang mas marami yata ngayon ang mga taong kakalat kalat at ginawa na lang tirahan ang lansangan.

Sa isip ng maraming tao, tungkulin ng gobyerno na kumalinga sa mga mahihirap. Sa isang banda tama ito, pero tayong mga mamamayan rin ay may responsibilidad sa ating kapwa. Hindi tayo dapat basta na lang magbulag bulagan. Ipakita natin kung anong pagkalinga ang dapat ibigay ng pamahalaan sa mga nadedehado sa lipunan.

Soap tattoo

While making soap one day, I made an accidental discovery - soap tattooing.

After I made a batch of soap, I wrapped it in paper for maturing and using a ball pen, I wrote on the outside of the paper the date when I made the soap. When I unwrapped the soap some days later, I found that the date that I wrote on the paper had also seeped through the paper and onto the soap surface.

I have never seen a soap with an imprinted image on it yet. I do not know why other soap makers, industrial or artisanal have not tried it before (or I have not looked as widely)  but I think this accidental discovery is certainly worth pursuing.

One other thing that I learned in making soap - it may be easy to make but not as easy to sell. But this is really more of a business marketing challenge.

People Power for a better transport system

We have a right to an efficient  mass transportation system that is fast, adequate and convenient. Why we have not achieved such is statement about the kind of government and the level of public power that we have.

But transportation is such a vital matter in our life as a people and individuals. We should not leave this matter to government alone. We should all get involved and demand for a better transportation instead of making do with the decrepit and inadequate modes that we have.

An inefficient, inconvenient and inadequate transportation imposed on us is oppression and only we the people can relieve ourselves of this by being angry and making our voices heard.

People power should not be used to bring down a despot. It should also be used to build our country.

Cool 'cuyapo'

This tub was once filled with with cloudy bath water and teemed with mosquito larvae.

Following a tip from a gardener who is into biocontrol I introduced the plant called cuyapo into the tub and put in feeder fishes in the water. In a few days the water cleared up and the mosquito larvae disappeared.

My guess is that the cuyapo roots clean the water making it easy for the fishes to spot the larvae.

As we try to find ways to control mosquitos, especially the diseases carrying kind, using this combination of cuyapo and larvae eating fishes might be more effective than ovicidal trap being pushed by the Department of Science and Technology.

Changing signature

I find my current signature boring and so I want to change it. Problem though is that doing so may not be as easy as it seems. I have to get two official ids with my new signature. But to get those ids, I have to show the issuing offices ids with my new signatures.  Catch 22