makati at dusk

help the children of ulingan

A few months ago, together with some fellow bloggers, we visited "happy land" and my heart was broken seeing the plight of those unfortunate kids who had to make a living scavenging from garbage and exposed to the deadly fumes of ulingan.

Sitio Ulingan is a temporary resettlement area of the people from Smokey Mountain (Manila's old dumpsite), which is now home to a small community. The "ulingan people" are making a living making charcoals aside from scavenging garbage from nearby dump sites to make ends meet. 

"Sitio Ulingan defines poverty in a novel way. No one can ever know what real poverty is until one takes a glimpse into the everyday life of the Ulingan people." - Dennis Villegas

It is really heartbreaking to see the kids working at the charcoal pit instead of playing.  Thankfully, there is someone like Melissa Villa-Wilcox who co-founded Project PEARLS with her daughter to help alleviate the lives of underprivileged children in the Philippines.

Project PEARLS is a registered non-profit organization in the State of California. Its mission is to help underprivileged children in the Philippines to have a better life by giving them PEARLS: PEACE. EDUCATION. ASPIRATION. RESPECT. LOVE. SMILE.

And they have been doing a great job helping the kids at Ulingan.About 2 months ago they had their first Ulingan outreach program with Photo Kalye and distributed goods to the kids.  To show how amazing this group, they had another outreach program 2 weeks after that and gave boots to the kids. And just recently Project PEARLS had another outreach program at Ulingan and i believe that Ms. Melissa is planning to build a better daycare center for the kids of Ulingan!!! woot! woot!

"She has big dreams for the children of Ulingan. But this special lady knows how to make her dreams reality.
Congrats Melissa for the wonderful job you do together with your volunteers and PhotoKalye." - Sidney Snoeck

You can help too and make this dream a reality.  Please support or give donation to Project PEARLS. You can join their page on facebook here. or give your donations here.

star wars lego

I spied these cute stormtrooper starwars lego display at the SM megamall last night, during their 3 day madness sale :)  

super cute lego star wars figure of princess leia, luke skywalker, han solo, chewbacca, c3po, and r2d2 (apologies for the grainy pictures i was using my camera phone.)

PS. if you havent heard or  check out the 3day sale at ortigas area, you still have a chance to get up to 50% discounts till sunday... but do expect heavy traffic too ... aside from megamall, robinsons galleria and other malls at ortigas are conducting their 3 days sale. 

ang pagbabalik ng batibot

Yehey! our beloved Batibot program is back!!!! We grew up watching pong pagong, kiko matsing, kuya bodjie, ate sienna, and the rest like manang bola and i am estatic with this news that TV5 is bringing them back.

so let ya all sing with me in this classic  batibot theme song

Pagmulat ng mata,
Langit nakatawa
Sa batibot,
Sa batibot
Tayo nang magpunta
Tuklasin sa batibot
Ang tuwa, ang saya

Doon sa batibot
Tayo na, tayo na
Mga bata sa batibot
Maliksi, masigla. (2x)

Dali, sundan natin
Ang ngiti ng araw
Doon sa batibot (2x)

Tayo nang magpunta
Tuklasin sa batibot
Ang tuwa, ang saya

Doon sa batibot
Tayo na, tayo na
Mga bata sa batibot
Maliksi, masigla. (2x)


Photo Source : Batibot returns after 2 decades!

galleon andalucia

Galleon Andalucia is a replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon which plied the Manila-Acapulco route centuries ago. The name of the ship, Andalucia, refers to the land of the galleon's birth. Andalusia, located at the south of Central Madrid, with Barcelona in the northeast is region to 3 million inhabitants. It is here where they lay the keel and raised the masts of the galleon, between Punta Umbria and Huelva.

Galleon Andalucia arrived at Pier 13 on the South Harbor in Manila on October 6, and left on the 9th enroute to Cebu. Galleon Andalucia will dock at Cebu waters on October 13. The arrival of the galleon Andalucia was the highlight of the 1st Día Del Galeón Festival being hosted by the Philippines under UNESCO which declared October 8 as Galleon Day to commemorate the beginnings of world trade and cross-cultural exchange.

Built by the Nao Victoria Foundation of Spain under the design of Seville Ignacio Fernandez Vial, a historic shipbuilder; the galleon Andalucia is 51 meters long, comprising of 6 decks with a usable floor area of 320 square meters, 3 masts with seven sails, and about 40 feet in height.

The ship's body is made of iroko wood, oak and pine fiberglass and polyester resin, cast iron, wrought iron and galvanized iron nails. Two engines of 350hp each assist the galleon during port arrivals and departures, as well as during bad weathers and wind mis-directions. 170 tons of concrete and iron served as the ship's ballast and stabilizers in the bottom deck.

Source: Aboard the Galleon Andalucia

UPDATE: Galleon Andalucia will be open to the public at Cebu City's Pier 1 from October 14-18, 2010. The visits will be coordinated by the Provincial Government of Cebu. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. For more information, e-mail bessfrancia@yahoo.com

manila scramble

Yes! its so yummy and i am sooo glad that scramble is back! when i was a kid, i really enjoyed buying this sweet street food after classes or just for snack, i know not so healthy but this scramble is a must snack for us then :)

to those who doesn't know, scramble is pink in color (which i think made it more yummylicious to kids eyes hehehe). scramble is sweetened shaved ice served in a paper or plastic cup, a scoop of powdered milk and a drizzle of chocolate syrup, and eaten with a wooden popsicle stick.

and yes they are back in the streets of manila, well technically not a street food anymore because found this being sold at the mall, specifically at robinson's place malate... and i guess i'm not the only one who missed scramble because this little stall has always a long line but definitely worth having a taste of scramble again :)

before you can buy it at 3pesos or 5 pesos, this one called manila scramble is being sold at Php 7(small), Php 10 (medium) and Php 17 (large) and you can have additional toppings for 4 pesos. i had mine without extra toppings - just plain old school scramble taste and yes they taste like the way it used to be :)

boracay: blue water

boracay: relax

boracay is synonymous with fun and relaxation, here you can have your fun under the sun and have a massage by the beach as well :)

boracay: kids

children will always be kids, and even this kid at heart cant resist playing in the sand... specially boracay white powdery sand :)

boracay: natural lines