narra and the treefarms part one

before i continue my story i'd like to thank everyone who has commented so far, i really appreciate it. it's really nice to know you are enjoying my stories and i hope all is well in your lives too.

let's see, where was i...right right, balut.

we went to narra the next day. we first dropped of our stuff at the resort we were gonna stay at and then drove to the tree farms. our driver mike (puerto) got a little too exited and the van got stuck in mud. but we were already on the road leading up to the property (see picture right) so we just walked the rest. the property is divided into gardens, named after family members. the older gardens already have trees, others have been cleaned and burned down (see picture left) and some are still jungle. you're probably wondering why the hell it's a good thing to burn down a perfectly functioning piece of jungle. well i've also asked that question and it just has to be done. when you want to plant trees you need land, so the trees that are already on the property have to go. the caretakers first clear the property by cutting down everything and collecting the wood they can use. the rest is burned down (which is also good for the soil). the thing is that if you buy a property and don't do anything with it, there's a big chance that your trees will be burnt down anyway due to illegal char coaling which is a source of income over there. what about the animals? there are no animals. it's not a home for monkeys or rare birds or anything, it's not that type of jungle. just trees and probably lots of insects. so if you were thinking about going all greenpeace on me than don't bother!

the caretakers live on the property with their families. they've built their houses themselves (which i find quite amazing) and use everything they can find to turn it into a home. with the money they earn, they buy things and food they can't make themselves in the village nearby. they buy baby chicks they can keep and fish to put in the fishpond, which they've also built themselves.

i felt right at home there. the people were so sweet and there was nothing but nature and overwhelming tranquility. no tv, no computers, it was very nice to get away from the world and just chill. and walk. a lot of walking...

when we arrived the first day, we had lunch at guillermo's place, who is the head-caretaker. his wife makes the best calamansi juice ever! (calamansi is a fruit that grows on the farm, it's like a tiny lime and very refreshing).

above some pics in and around their house

the architect (guy with the red hat) also came with us that day to look at the land and see the opportunities and get some ideas. he was very excited, so it was very cool to see him talking about the things that he thought were possible to do. my new blogo on top is a 360 degrees view from the highest point, where the house will be located, so it will have a view of most of the gardens around it and the gorgeous mountains at the back. we walked around on the property most of the day to see some of the gardens and what their status was.

a little devil looking tree thingy, opening in the fence, a homemade ladder (no i didn't try it out)

click on the left one, trees, trees and...

...more trees, the brown spot is where the house will be (the tiny cottage in the middle is a resting spot), a resting spot with a small nursery next to it

a water pump and a house, the thing left of the house is the toilet, which has to be flushed with a bucket of water (that happens a lot in the philippines outside of the cities and there's almost never toilet paper). while typing this i'm kinda wondering how it's built, i mean it's not hooked up to a sewer system, because there isn't one, so like you know...where does everything go...? i'll try to figure it out next time i visit, since i'd like to build my own house in the middle of nowhere someday and my current knowledge about how to actually do this is very much non existing...

jade found this website in singapore where people post stuff they give away for free. so she thought hey, let's send some stuff to the elementary school in narra. she asked the principal for a list of things he needed for the school and even though he was very ashamed to ask for so much, he gave the list to them and jade and my dad collected almost everything on it. they sent it to the school a while back and knowing we would be coming to narra, the teachers invited us to visit their school and have lunch the next day to show their gratitude and appreciation. we first went into town to get the kids some cookies, juice, pencils and notebooks. when the van drove up to the school, a couple of girls pointed and starting running to the rest of the kids. we got out and there where kids everywhere around us, holding paper flags on sticks saying 'welcome to our school' and greeting us (they do this by taking your hand and placing it on their foreheads, to show you respect). i was completely overwhelmed. (here left my dad and a couple of kids) there was a stage we had to sit on and the teachers did some speeches, some kids performed dances and the principal gave my dad and jade a certificate of appreciation. after that we walked around in the school and had lunch. i was very impressed and it was really, really cool!

the banner on stage, little boy and kids dancing

more dancing, a classroom and this is how most kids usually stare at me...

we drove to estrella falls after lunch. it's a waterfall near estrella, like the name says, and you can chill out and picnick or take a nice dip in the (freezing) water

the waterfall, next the other side (so you see this when you stand in front of the waterfall and turn right) a wild monkey who jumped at me afer i did my monkey impression (like this: woohoohaahaahaa) i ran away scared, haha, crazy monkey

i think you need to click on the picture on the right, it's me swimming near the waterfall, just to show you how big it is and that i'm really not a dork for swimming with a tire around my waist ok, heavy stream...the other two pics are of a random road on the way back to the resort.

i'll go on next time. today is 'national day parade singapore', a national holiday that celibrates singapore's independance and i still need to take a shower and get ready...

i finally went to the singapore zoo, put i will post about that when i finish the philippines stuff. my brother sent me my us passport (thanks btw!) so all i need to do now to get ready for new zealand is get an xray, arrange health insurance and get some id-photos. and wait for it to be approved obviously. and also read about new zealand. i also booked a flight to indonesia. i'm leaving august 16th and i'll return a month later or sooner, don't know yet. i'm flying to padang, a city in west sumatra. i wanted to go somewhere different, since most people always go to java and i've been reading a lot about sumatra and i'm very excited (and a little bit scared about going alone and not knowing anything or anyone there but f*ck it, i'll get over it). i'm staying at a homestay the first three night and after that...? i still have a week to figure everything out and plan some stuff.

in the meantime i'm still chilling in singapore. i went to a very awesome drum&bass party last week and to the girlsnight at the gayclub where i met an incredibly cute girl, but i'm not gonna tell you anything (i might jinx it). my grandmother went back home this week, so now it's just me, jade, dad and chie jade's cousin. ok, i really need to get going. how's everything back home? and how is the not-smoking in public places thing turning out?