Foot and Fire

DHSBNHS’ 75th Founding Year Revisiting our alma mater through Gabaldon Buildings By Gerlie M. Uy Have you visited your alma mater lately? If so, your eyes had surely feasted on the newly-painted old buildings of the school, and such a visual feast surely turned into walking back to the memory lane. This happened to me twice this year when I requested for my high school diploma in August and saw the main building of Dona Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School and then later in October when I accompanied my mother who is a current PTA officer to a meeting and saw the HE (Home Economics) building. The latter is located behind the main building so I haven’t noticed it the first time. What are Gabaldon Buildings? The Gabaldon buildings are school buildings built under the authority of Act 1801 of 1907 or what is called as Gabaldon Law as it was authored by then Philippine Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon. The said law appropriated P1 million for the construction of modern pub...

Paradiso del Sur in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental may not have white sand and blue shores but it can surely provide some salty fix for Negrenses looking for a place to swim. They have pools but I prefer the saltwaters.  I recalled that when we were just kids, my parents would organize a beach picnic for the family. Paradiso was not yet born then. We enjoyed swimming in the old-timer beach properties just close to Paradiso like Bulubitoon beach, Balangigay, and Canonoy. But honestly, today I can't imagine why I really loved playing in the beach given the numbers of jellyfish and rocky areas.

  Who is not having fun when one has a camera these days? A phone cam at that. Well, when in a nature resort, document the nature. I had fun taking my selfie in between sleeping and eating at the Graceland View Resort located at Murcia, Negros Occidental, just diverging from the road leading to Mambukal.  Peace and quiet is yours here if you are lucky enough not to be with a million other picnickers. And I just got lucky! Here, I am sharing with you the flowers and plants I came to retreat with last weekend.   The yellow Gumamela. I'm not sure if this can go to Hibiscus tea. ***

  I had a serene time with nature when I went with the group of my sister on a picnic at Graceland View Resort located near the Don Bosco summer or retreat house in Murcia, Negros Occidental and just a few distance away from the renowned Mambukal Resort. Graceland has a 5.5ft and 4 ft high pool which is overlooking the forests and the hills below it as well as the skies above it. It pays to mention that the water is sourced from the spring, so it entails that the waters one bathe in is cold and mineral-laden. On the left side, one can observe the flying bats of Mambukal later in the day while on the right side, one can observe the structures of Campuestuhan, another mountain concept resort located n Bacolod City.    One can stay overnight or do daytime picnic only, a welcome change to a very touristy atmosphere at the Mambukal resort. If one is raring for a rest and a place to relax, read books and just eat, Graceland is a place to be. Around the resort ar...

This coming 20 September, the 360.org will be leading a strike to protest the establishment of coal mining in my province, Negros Occidental. Please join 360.org to show your support to this initiative.  I am sharing to you the email sent to me by 360.org which may spark your desire to do something for our province, Negros Occidental. In Germany, they are closing coal mines and shifts to renewable energy.  Hi Gerlie, I'm Krishna Ariola, and I'm a 21-year old climate activist from the Philippines. For decades, my province has been caught in a tug-of-war between coal and renewable energy. I'm writing to ask you to join me and millions around the world to strike for the climate this September. Find your local climate strike  or  organise one.  if there isn't one near you The story of the struggle against coal in my province Negros Occidental started the same year I was born, in 1997. 4 proposed coal plants, countless mobilizations, a...

  It was January 2016 when we went to Bantug Lake Ranch in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines to have the photo shoot of a friend's pet dogs be taken. It was more memorable for me because the last time I had a pet dog was when I was in kindergarten. We lost the dog after she followed us and we did not take another pet after her. But when a cousin stayed with us, she had a spoiled dog whom she brings tootsie roll chocolates so that we hated the dog for the special treat that should have been allotted to us. We spanked the dog when my cousin is not around while the dog sneers at us all the time.  Enough with the flooding memories. In short, at the time of the shoot, it was a very comforting and exhilarating moment for me to get close to big dogs given that I don't ever trust their big mouths and fangs. Plus during that time, I was in distress and was thinking of my father who was diagnosed with cancer in November the past year.   *** That year,...

  Nestled for several meters from the highway, this ruin is a little intriguing when one is heading to Isabela, Negros Occidental and coming from La Castellana so that one day, I and a friend decided to stop by and take a look.  That was two years ago. Nothing grand is left actually, just columns and pillars and some steps as well as vines growing around it but it pays to drop by and see for yourself before everything collapses.  No horror stories, just remnants of an old mansion of Isabela. Perhaps, the past affluence of Negros Occidental is far and wide that it extends to Isabela, not just Silay City or Bago City. Next time you go to Isabela, don't forget to drop by because there are things that need our attention that need no travel so far. Happy side tripping!!!     Vines of flowers will be great addition to this site.    ***   From afar, big trees are extending their arms. ***     A very rural ...

Slowfood Italy member Dr. Jo is the owner of Rapha Valley nestled in one of the pineapple-growing plateaus of the municipality of Don Salvador Benedicto. We went there to hear his lecture and taste the food served there. As I can gather, Dr. Jo advocates traditional way cooking/preparing food, organic and non-gmo vegetables and etc, and healing through natural food. Take every 9am and 3pm Coco water plus 7leaves oregano malungay Or Coco water 7 leaves oregano turmeric Or 3 stalks of lemon grass per glass - hulum overnight then pukpukon then drain sa katsa Or Coco plus cocomeat malunggay leaves Turmeric with cocomeat - soak overnight turmeric overnight and pound to get 30cc one shot. Turmeric to be absorbed by body, should be taken with oil. Choose variety of turmeric, not bitter taste when bitten. Recommends to Use mortar and pestle to follow the natural rhythm but can use blender for those not seeking cure. Guayabano 25leaves of guayabano into liters Guayaba...

Perfect TIme (Inspired by our 3 to 4 PM visit at Stone Peak, DSB, Negros Occidental) By Gerlie M. Uy 2.27.19 From here, you are all gorgeous: I can see the tip of your nose, And the fine line of your foot. In between, your body curves with vividness, your dotting greenish moles fading. I can't look at you with this clarity When I came to see you at first The sun could blind then and it did well. Then someone wanted me to like you By prettifying your face with terracotta hues but clearly it's not the essence of you, And I couldn't even get inside you. You were saying something to me Through the  hovering eagle or hawk or through the humming breeze but I miserably couldn't hear you; Our world was full of people then And I opted to run away fast to escape. It's not you, it's me. With that break-up line, we parted. I thought that explains how we ended, But I was all wrong. Now I am back to you when the sun is gently up And the dottin...

I thought I have eaten and seen everything in our backyards but I was wrong. It was the first time I tasted raspberry and I picked it fresh from the shrub growing at the La Carlota City Pavillon in Sitio Guintubdan, Brgy. Ara-al where the  cold spring and tall falls are located. Aside from the mulberries, I was lucky to have picked raspberries on the third week of January this year.

One of the admirable traits of this house is its being built for a fairy tale, wherein the goddess of a verdant forest has to remain true to her environment despite her being placed by her circumstance in an urban setting called a subdivision in the heart of Bacolod City. Only a child by heart can appreciate this house made to dance with and among nature. Visit and delight yourself with a house made of stones to withstand the typhoon, open-walled in some areas to welcome the air, glass windows to let the light come in, growing pine trees along the winding stairway design so as not to cut the same, a semi-underground amphitheater with stone walls, walls with colorful paintings, vines occupying the floors, a hilltop view on top of the roof. Endless.    While this is not a museum or ecological site or a sanctuary, they are all like that for a home actually habited by people. Yes, there are residents there. Of course, the admirable fact is that the house is also ...

If one wants to take a cold dip which is as cold as an iced water, Tuburan sang Guintubdan is the highly recommended place. Cold, freezing, running and with rushing waters, Guintubdan spring waters is located at Sitio Guintubdan, Brgy. Ara-al, La Carlota City, just a smooth 20 minutes from the city proper. Below are my latest photos of the coldest water ever (of course, because it was rainy season when we went there!)  *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

The park called Rafael M. Salas Park and Nature Center is part of Bago City already. It is located on  a higher altitude than the pavilion of La Carlota City. With pines and fogs, it felt like Baguio City or Tagaytay when we visited the place. It was a quick survey of the place.  Here are my quick photos from my phone. *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***