Have a good day. Count your blessings. And pass or share this to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.
Noche Buena
When it comes to Christmas, no one celebrates it better than the Filipinos. The Philippines is known for celebrating the longest Christmas season in the world.
The best celebration happened during Noche Buena. After the midnight mass on Christmas Eve everyone’s looking forward to this event. Noche Buena is a grand family dinner and a hearty feast full of delicious Filipino food such as lechon, pancit, ham, queso de bola, and a lot more. This has also been a favorite family tradition in the Philippines where family members are expected to be together, even sans the sumptous feasts.
#NicGoesOnlineChristmasTrivia
Daily Harvest: A Life Saved by Gardening
On a recent trip home to Davao, I was lucky to find time to escape commitments in the city and have some brief R&R with friends. We drove to Baguio district, where I met Mang Sandro Gaitano. He apparently brews some of the best coffee in this part of town
Mang Sandro organically grows his own Robusta and Arabica beans. He then handpicks, de-pulps, roasts, and grinds them, resulting in some delightful coffee that probably tastes better than your favorite coffee shop brew. I had a chance to chat with him a bit, and I’ve since reflected on his story.
Mang Sandro’s coffee
Mang Sandro sells a freshly brewed cup for only ten pesos. You can enjoy this with a breathtaking view of Davao City from his porch where you’ll occasionally feel a cool breeze pass through.
Aside from this cozy environment, your coffee can go with free bananas from Mang Sandro’s garden, depending on availability. There are also guavas from his yard and wild berries surrounding his house, and you can pick them yourselves.
If you loved Mang Sandro’s coffee (and surely you will), you can take home a small pack for 100 pesos or one kilo for 350 pesos.
Mang Sandro’s turning point
Together with his monkey Nicolas Cage (who derives his name from being cooped up in a cage), Mang Sandro enjoys a simple and pleasant life that’s far from what he was living more than two decades ago.
Mang Sandro actually once suffered from drug addiction. His family almost gave up on him after his countless promises of changing, which remained unfulfilled for a long time.
The turning point for Mang Sandro came when he faced a life-threatening illness. With newfound motivation and a stronger resolve for a drug-free life, Mang Sandro went back to the land left to him by his parents. There, he worked on rehabilitating himself and starting anew.
Mang Sandro has been clean for more than 20 years now.
These days, he spends most of his time tending to his garden, planting bananas, cacao trees, and durian. He also attends gardening and coffee processing seminars to further expand his knowledge.
He’s also been recognized for his organic gardening efforts. With the earnings from his own garden and the few guests who visit his house for coffee, he is able to earn a living and support himself.
Hats off to you, Mang Sandro. And thank you for sharing your story with me. You are a true testament that we can turn our lives around even in simple ways, like finding joy in our daily harvest.
Adtu ta sa Laswitan!
A few days ago, I had a chance to reconnect with an old friend who’s an avid traveler. I was pleased to hear about one of her recent trips, a short getaway to Laswitan in Cortes, Surigao del Sur. This coastal attraction is apparently fast becoming a popular tourist destination, and her recommendation piqued my interest.
Huge rocks protect visitors from the waves that crashes through the shores. A typical view in Laswitan. (video courtesy of Diane Suelto)
It’s been many years since I last visited this part of Mindanao. They didn’t have paved roads then, but I’d already heard accounts of pristine coastline and dramatic rock formations. As my friend showed me photos of her visit to Laswitan Lagoon, I couldn’t help but get excited. It seemed like a perfect marriage of seaside thrills and soothing calmness, depending on the people present. For thousands of years, waves have been crashing into those rocks and molding them, carving out the lagoon into what it is today. I could imagine the poetry of it, the story being told by those rocks.
As my friend showed me more photos and videos, she reminded me that Laswitan had recently reopened to the public after going through some restoration. Prior to this, tourists were leaving all kinds of trash that included candy wrappers, paper, plastic utensils, diapers, and more. She was proud of the local government and visitors for turning this place around. It’s apparently been a team effort.
She also mentioned that while roads are much better now, there’s still a bit of a rough stretch left, a good six kilometers. I sure won’t be bringing a sedan when I visit. In fact, I might just take the whole family and load up on some adventure equipment. Nearby Lanuza town has apparently been developed into a surf spot, so I’m sure my children will love that.
It’s really encouraging to hear these developments of what were once no-name towns. Who knows what we’ll find in these parts of Mindanao in 10, 20 years?
Nanay Estelita, a National Treasure
The art and the patience of weaving from indigenous material is slowly disappearing. The masters are fading into old age and one can only hope that their next generation offsprings will continue their craft. They are treasures we want to keep and skills we hope will be with us forever. Here is a story of one such national treasure.
Estelita Bantilan, 85 years old, is one of the Philippine’s treasured national artists. She is a B’laan master banig (mat) weaver from Upper Lasang, Sapo Masla, Malapatan, Sarangani Province. She has been making banig since she was 10 years old. She learned how to weave banigs from her mother, who also learned the skill from her own mother.
Nanay Estelita uses indigenous materials found around the area where she lives in making banig. Buli, the main material used for weaving, is harvested from the many buli plants scattered around her house. The dyes used for coloring are from plant and rock pigments, which are harvested by her husband from the nearby forest.
Weaving one Banig used to take one month to complete because working on it can only be done during early morning and very late in the afternoon, when it is not hot. Heat, Nanay Estelita explained, makes the buli impliable. Upper Lasang didn’t have electricity until last year, so Nanay Estelita could not work at night. Now that they have electricity, she is able to weave at night and production time got down to two weeks.
Even though she is already 85 years old, Nanay Estelita is still very active. She works on her garden when not weaving. When asked what’s her secret for long life, with a big bright smile, she said “happiness.”
Monito-Monita: A Season of Gift-Giving in the Philippines
When it comes to Christmas, no one celebrates it better than the Filipinos. The Philippines is known for celebrating the longest Christmas season in the world.
Gift giving is vey common during the season. And speaking of gifts, Filipinos takes an another adaptation of Secret Santa into a fun-filled practice called “Monito Monita” or Kris Kringle.
This is a typical template of how it is usually done:
- Form a group from your class, family, neighborhood or office
- Write down your name in a small piece of paper and place it in a bowl or a box.
- Take turns in picking a piece of paper from the box. Never reveal your “Monito” or “Monita” until the last day of your Christmas party. For those who picked their own name, you can return your name in the box and pick another one.
- Decide on the schedule of your Monito Monita. You can make it on a daily basis, weekly basis or every other day.
- For daily or weekly Monito Monita, gifts usually given are at around 5 pesos to 50 pesos.
- The last Monito Monita is reserved for more expensive gifts.
- Choose a weekly theme for your exchange gift. Themes makes your monito monita exciting.
- Arrange where you would leave and pick up your Monito Monita gifts. The most logical suggestion is under your office’s or classroom’s Christmas Tree.