Video of our Bantay Pawikan Activity 2008

Our valiant attempt to document our turtle release activity in an MTV format



We released the turtle hatchlings on the sandy beaches of Morong one cloudy Saturday morning. Two days fresh from being hatched, these marine turtles will start their journey in the rough waters, with no training, no briefing, no preparation, armed only with that instinct to survive and deal with whatever is out there in the wild.

Considered endangered, most of these turtles will not live to see maturity - the numbers are depressing, only 1% will make it.

Which is why the efforts of Bantay Pawikan to enhance the survival of the turtles are pretty much admirable.

One can help by adopting a Pawikan for a minimal fee of 200 – funds go to maintenance of the turtle hatchery. The fee gives the sponsor the hands-on experience of releasing his “baby”.

It is fascinating to note that should, by a matter of luck or skill, these turtles survive, they will be coming back to these very beaches to lay eggs and begin another cycle.

No matter where the waves of life would bring them, no matter how far the corners of the world they would wander, Mother Nature will beckon them to come back when the time comes. But that won’t happen until after 50 years.

In the meantime all I can do, I suppose, is wish that my babies would make it out there.

Turtles and humans, I guess, have a lot in common.

No matter how arduous or how far or how long the journey is, there will come a time when they all come home

2009 Tribute Video

Posted a video tribute to the wonderful and wacky adventures I've had in 2009.
It had definitely been a roller coaster ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F0ZYI25Q9U

Looking forward to what 2010 has in store for me..

Forever Young

It's my birthday..
Can't help but feel a little bit anxious that I'm getting older. So as if to appease myself I am singing this song.


Forever Young by Alphaville

Let's dance in style, lets dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men


Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders we're getting in tune
The music's played by the madman

Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever Forever young

Some are like water, some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
Sooner or later they all will be gone
Why don't they stay young

It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fading horse
Youth is like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever

So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams are swinging out of the blue
We let them come true

Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever forever forever

Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever

Tokyo Drift ... 4th time

It’s officially my 6th day here in Tokyo on my fourth visit. 365 days ago I would not have imagined being here much less have the opportunity to visit here 4 times in a span of one year. The difficulty to hire a suitable environment, health and safety person in our Japan office gave me the chance to support the site.

There are so many things I am thankful about being in Tokyo. It has given me yet another perspective of the world. For some reason there is something admirable about this place.. the discipline, the order, the persistence of the people. There is something hauntingly structured in the minute details of their actions..

And yet I can’t help but feel that they are trapped in an imaginary prison. Like their individual freedom and sense of identity is bottled by rigid norms and expectations.

Or then again this could just be my perception.

Ramblings in Beijing

November 10, 2009

It snowed in Beijing on my last day. Perhaps a fitting tribute to my five-day stay here. I’ve been to China many times but it was my first time in Beijing. I had the chance to finally see the Great wall and I’m immensely grateful that Jazz, a good friend since High school days, who’s based in China’s capital, was gracious to tour me around. The man-made structure looming atop the jagged mountains was indeed a testament of man’s incredible power and ingenuity. I am guilty to admit though that while I had a intimate moment with the wall, the most unforgettable part of that visit was actually the toboggan ride on the way down.

I didn’t explore much of the city. Partly because am tired. And partly because there’s that part of me that wanted to explore the city once again on another time.

I love my job (though I am inclined to believe am a bit underpaid for it) because it affords me to travel and visit remote sites and get a glimpse of the world from another perspective. At times like this I get to be humbled because it makes me realize how my world seemed non-existent from another part of the planet.

My mind rambles as I get to see the world from a different lens. I get bothered by the fact that people here go on with their daily lives without an acknowledgement of the existence of a Supreme Being. Am I considered lucky to have been given the privilege to be aware of His existence. Or maybe I am the one deluded. For convincing myself into thinking that there’s a supreme being so that I won’t feel alone, so that there would be purpose on the daily things that we would.

There are so many questions and journeys like this in a foreign place makes me ponder more about life, about existence, about destiny.
Sometimes I get to thinking that ignorance might be bliss.

Shanghai Solar Eclipse Video Tribute

Made this video as a tribute to Team Shanghai of UP Astronomical Society that set foot in a foreign land to document the longest Total Solar Eclipse of our lifetime. The overcast spoiled what otherwise would have been a spectacular view of the corona. On the other hand it felt surreal experiencing 5 min and 58 seconds of darkness in the middle of the morning. Go Team Shanghai ! I miss all of you!

Cartoon Strip of the Day

I love this guy.. He is sooo hilarious.. Check out Abstruse Goose

http://abstrusegoose.com/41