GOING GREEN

Farming in small spaces is now possible thanks to NFT systems.

The nutrient film technique (NFT) is a widely used hydroponic method for production of vegetable crops. It is especially applicable to green leafy crops, such as lettuce and basil, and is even in use for growing starter tubers for potato farming. The basis of the NFT method is a network of shallow trays that contain plants and deliver a continuous flow of a nutrient solution over the enclosed plant roots.


Although hydroponic farming is not so that common yet in Manila, Philippines there is a supply store that sells built-in NFT systems.  If interested, please email at nifty_nft@gmail.com .

A Day At Grace Island

Ambulong, San Jose, Mindoro
Nov. 11, 2011

We arrived at Grace Island around 11am. We were supposed to be fetch around 7am at sikatuna hotel but ended up getting fetched around 9:30am. Since the waves were kinda strong at sikatuna, we were forced to ride the boat at camanauit port which is around 4km from sikatuna beach. Estimated tricycle ride time is around 10 mins. And we paid P70 fare for 4 pax.

The boat travel time to grace island is 1 hour. Fortunately, the weather was fine and the water was perfect for sailing. After an hour, we saw Grace Island from afar and the site was so apealing. Grace Island doesnt have a website yet and it seems an unexplored place for travelers in San Jose. We only learned about G. I. In San Jose airport. But it is much nicer in real life than in the poster.

What to expect: when we arrived the island, we were greeted by its friendly staffs - Daphne and Jess with welcome drinks. Then they made a short orientation about the activities on the island. You can take a swim in front of your cottage. The cottages are floating on top of the seawater. How cool is that! they also have tree houses on the side of the mountain and villas which are still under construction.

Pros: Lots of activities available. Water activities like boating, canoe, kayak, jetski, fishing are available for a reasonable price. They have bike rentals if you like to tour the island. They have a mini zoo with monkeys, eagle, falcon, and pythons. They also have basketball courts and badminton is also available. We got a free island tour but the beach is not quite swimmable coz of the corals and rocks.

Cons: Overnight cottages only have e.fans (no a/c) since the island is only powered by genset which starts at 6pm until morning. The rest of the day no power so better full charge your gadgets before coming here. Water is scarce so you only have mini portalets in your cottages. Shower rooms and CRs are at the hillside treehouses. NO Cellphone signals esp. For Sun subscriber.
When making reservations, Please make sure that you are talking to the staff on the island as sometimes the nos. Available are cp nos of staffs stationed in Manila. We experienced some problems re: transport and food due to poor coordination with the "right staffs".

They dont have restaurant on the island so you have to inform them the day before if you want them to perpare meals for you. Better to bring along food/snacks just in case.

In fairness, the staffs were quite helpful to us and cooked for us a hearty yummy dinner of inihaw na samaral and sinigang na lapu-lapu. Service is personalize - a plus factor for this resort.

The island is still undergoing construction but most likely, after a year or so, Grace Island will become one of the tourist destinations in San Jose, Mindoro. From a high of 5 stars, I give it 2.5 stars.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

A Day in Sikatuna Beach

San Jose, Mindoro
Nov. 10, 2011

After 40 minutes, we arrived San Jose, Mindoro around 7am. Sikatuna is an old beachfront hotel. It is the favorite place to hold seminars and meetings. When we stayed, there was a scheduled DOH and Integrated Bar of the Phils. seminar here. The sands at Sikatuna is powdery black so even if I'm a beach lover, i didnt find it inviting to swim at all.

Pros: They have a restaurant that practically serves everything. They also have a bakeshop if you like cakes and pastries. Must try are their Blueberry cheesecake and brazo de mercedes. For breakfast, try their tapa with egg and coffee. At lunch, You may want to try a native mindoro dish named chicken binacol. It is like chicken tinola with young coconut meat. Food prices are reasonable. Staffs are friendly, accomodating and honest. When i paid our food bill, i wasnt able to count my change. It just so happened that i was shortchanged for around 300 bucks but the staffs honestly returned the money to me.

Cons: Dont expect high standard rooms like developed beaches in boracay or bohol. The have plain a/c rooms with tv. Just enough for sleeping. Rooms also have toilet and bath but no hot shower. Water is strong so no problem in this aspect. You may experience short power outtages from time to time but power comes back shortly.

San Jose, Mindoro has a long way to go when it comes to tourism. From a high of 5 stars, i give Sikatuna 3 stars not for its accomodation but for its honest service.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

GOING TO SAN JOSE, MINDORO

We're planning a trip to Mindoro sometime November this year.  Got the tickets already bound to San Jose, Mindoro.  But problem is, we still dont have a hotel.  This trip was actually one of those out-of-planned trips, which one usually gets while staying in front of the computer and waiting for a promo fare to wherever.  Don't ask me why on earth did I landed getting a ticket bound to San Jose, coz I don't know either.  Just hoping that something good will come out from this trip.

If you have travelled to San Jose, Mindoro before, really need some suggestions re: places to stay together with the family.  Looking at a not-so-expensive hotel, but should be near the beach, and "hopes high" has a swimming pool too for the kids...

Travel Insurance Has An Advantage

I frequently travel with my family to relax and unwind.  The Philippines is such a beautiful country, blessed with 7,100 islands, each place having to boast off great sceneries and historical landmarks. We frequently travel by Air, and I always encounter during my on-line bookings the so-called Travel Insurance Policy.  For Airlines offering budget fares, Travel Insurance is an option of a passenger.

So is Travel Insurance important?  A standard travel insurance policy will cover all the unexpected events that can occur while away from home. Example, Emergency Medical Assistance, Medical Evacuation, Hospitalization Benefits and sometimes can even cover even your Personal Belongings/Luggages which maybe accidentally lost in transit.

On my next travel, I'll seriously consider getting a Travel Insurance Policy.

Bad Experience at La Carmela de Boracay

Just got back from a trip to Boracay and stayed at La Carmela de Boracay Resort Hotel.
On my arrival, the hotel staffs read the hotel policies, which, one of them would be that "no hotel personnel may enter the guests rooms without the guests authorization."


The next day when we were going out for breakfast at their restaurant, I told my husband that I forgot to bring the food stubs and it was in our room.  So he went back, and he was surprised to see a man --- hotel maintenance guy who is about to leave our room.  So my husband asked him, why did he entered our room.  The man replied that he was asked to check the room since we were already checking out.  My husband told him that we were not checking out and he asked him who gave him the permission to enter the room. So this guy apparently reasoned out that he was advised to check Room 210 but he thought that it was Room 215????... Would you buy that? This reasoning was so unsound and so illogical that only leads to the conclusion that hotel is not really safe at all.

When we discussed this matter at the reception desk, aside from the apologies, all they could say was that we just check if we lost anything.  Huh??? How are we supposed to know if something was missing at that time.  Our stuffs were out of our bags and so hard to know if we lost anything at all.  Worst hadn't we caught this guy in the act, and lost something, we could have blamed it to others.

They call it accident, we call this "INTRUSION".  Maybe the management should do some background check to all their staffs as well, especially if they have access to keys to the rooms.  Until you do this, your hotel guests' security is compromised.  To think that we are willing to pay for thousands of pesos for a so-called "better accomodation" and all you get is this.  To the Lady Hotel Manager --- Apologies accepted but we will never return to your hotel again.

SMART... Simply Unbelievable

I've been a postpaid subscriber of Smart Communications for the past 4 years or so. Signal hasn't been a problem since it's one of the biggest Telco in the Philippines backed-up by its sister company - PLDT.

I am at Smart Wireless Center, Festival Mall Alabang just now to get my new phone for retention. They temporarily transferred to the 4th floor since their shop is under construction. So there is no aircon but just huge industrial fans cooling down the place. What a nightmare it has been to be waiting on cue for the last 2 hours or so and not yet being served as of this writing.

What's even worst is that the guards have not been so attentive that I've been cut on cue twice. They say that they have talked to someone already and just went back. But of course, that's beside the point right? They should have categorize the cueing system not just by payment, sales, or technical, but they should have added retention, returning clients and so.

It's fine to wait in line as long as it's moving and that you never get cut off. Maybe Smart should understand that their business is service oriented and that they should find ways to make customers happy whether via their signal or connection, loyalty rewards or simply via good customer service at their very own shop.


"Sent via BlackBerry from Smart"