Glenn and I recently extended our "mode of exploration", usually including car, sail boat, SCUBA gear, or hiking boots, to bycicle saddle! An experience that definitely calls for more!

Preparing for our weekend get-away to Cebu we pondered the usual options: diving in the west, whale shark watching in the south, or island exploration in the north. Each of these options include a minimum of three hours in a bus... We simply didn't have it in us.

Instead, we decided to explore Olango Island, just off of Cebu. Not in a car and not by foot, but by bike! Through "bugobikers", a Cebu-based outdoor adventure organizer specializing on bike tours, we were quickly set up.

Sunday morning our guide Laurence picked us up from the hotel. Together we went to Mactan Island, where our bikes were already waiting for us. We plus our bikes boarded a small bangka over a narrow plank. (We thought we were brining special items on the boad... we changed our minds when we saw furniture pieces being loaded onto the boat!).

After a 15 minute boat ride we disembarked on Olango Island. What's great about the island is there are no cars allowed. The only motorized vehicles we had to bully with were motorcycles and trycicles.

Olango is a rather small island. It can be circumnavigated in less than 2 hours. Still, it's home to 25,000+ inhabitants. On top of the human head count, Olango is home to various bird species.

The Olango Wildlife Sanctuary, a 1,000ha area, is the summer residence for migratory birds, escaping the winters in their homes. Needless to say the Sanctuary is, at least once a year, an attraction for birdwatchers.

We had missed the migration season by a few weeks. Yet, we enjoyed walking out to sea to get closer to the mangrove-covered wetland, a perfect nesting place for birds. The tide was coming in so we waded through belly-high waters to reach the outlook.

After a refreshing coconut juice we paddled on along the well maintained asphalt road around the island. We stopped at a German-run resort for lunch and even dared to stick our heads underwater to explore the marine wildlife in the Mactan channel. Spoiled divers as we are we concluded this snorkel experience to be a great way to cool down.

From there we decided to bike along the roads less traveled. Slightly uneasy because he hasn't explored the area yet, Laurence prepared us we "might get lost". Well, it's an island.

We turned off road and found ourselves in the middle of small communities in the back of the island, away from the nice resorts facing Mactan Channel. Children greated us and chased our bikes. Clearly, not many bikers pass through here. We got a glimpse of a relaxed Sunday afternoon in the fishing communities.

25 kilometers later we were back at the pier, loading our bikes once more on a bangka. Our pick up received as back on the mainland and by 5pm, we were back at our hotel.

Our suggestion: if you really want to explore the Philippines (not the tourist hubs), go on a bike tour! You are faster than walking but slower than rushing through the place on a motorbike. It's a great exercise and a low carbon footprint activity!

The Cranberries Live in Manila

Ultra-short blond or black hair, petite-framed, big Doc Martens shoes. 20 years and six albums later, Dolores O'Riordan's appearance has changed quite a bit. Except for the Doc Martens, maybe, which stood in stark contrast to the black lace see-through bell-bottom pants and the bathrobe-like white coat she appeared in on stage. Reminders of the counter-culture?

Unchanged, for sure, is her distinctive voice, the identity of The Cranberries. Especially the songs of the older days, written to depicts and condemn political struggles in Northern Ireland at that time, brought out the unmistakably sound of The Cranberries.

I wondered more than once, how the band's motivation must have changed over the years. What stood out for me was the increased passion on stage with the older songs like Zombie. It felt like their roots were there and seem to rejuvenate while singing down memory lane.

Dolores dedicated one song to her daughter, whose 7th birthday it was today. She described her birth pains as: "Exactly seven years ago I was like WHOOOAA!" The crowd cheered! Go, mom!

Conquered: Mt. Pulag

Being the highest mountain in Luzon, Mt. Pulag had been on our “conquer list” for quite some time. We took the opportunity of a long weekend to do the sheer insane: drive our own car through Philippines’ Easter traffic, and approach Mt. Pulag’s 2,922-meter summit along the “Akiki” trail, more commonly dubbed the “killer” trail.

After a tiring 9-hour car ride, passing cross-bearing and self-flagellating people along the way, we arrived at the Mt. Pulag Visitor Center in Bokod, 2 hours north of Baguio. The National Park’s superintendent, Ma’am Mering, mumbled something about our late arrival. It was 5pm already and the sun was setting. Sorry Ma’am, trapik!

She quickly shoved us into a room where 60 people watched the mandatory video orientation on how to behave inside the park. No open fire, no spitting, no sh..ing, no yelling... Needless to say, we saw and heard all of the above anyway.

We registered and paid our fees. 200 Pesos per resident-head (a 100% price increase to the prices posted on various blogs) plus 100 Pesos environmental fee. Soon we were on our way to the Akiki Jump-off at the Ranger Station in Doacan, another 20 km down the muddy and winding mountain roads of Benguet Province.

We knew we were far from civilization when our GPS provided merely the most basic information such as “driving north” or worse “driving on road”. Sometimes we weren’t even so sure about the road. The pitch-black darkness added silently to the drama. So did the vegetable truck, broken down under its heavy cabbage load, and now blocking the one-lane road. Luckily, the repair was already well under way. People were busy replacing the flat tire with another flat tire. After a short chat with the locals about vegetable farming and marketing, we were on (or off?) the road again.

At 8pm we had finally reached the Akiki Jump-off station. Our guide and the Ranger had gone home by now. A memorandum stabled to the Ranger Station’s wooden door informed us about a 9pm to 5am curfew due to insurgencies. More drama!

In the beams of our headlights we boiled some pasta, poured ourselves a rum coke (no ice, obviously, but beggars are no choosers and neither are hikers), and curled up in our car for a bone-bending night’s rest.

The Day! After an energizing 6am cereal breakfast straight from the trunk of our car we went to meet our guide Narsie and the local Ranger Heron. Through text we had arranged an English-speaking guide and were not disappointed. The price negotiation took a while but we finally settled on 2,000 Pesos for a two day, one night “Akiki-Akiki” roundtrip.

The term "Akiki-Akiki" greeted us with a question-mark-intonation and a look of disbelieve from other hikers along the trail. Most take the longer Akiki route up the mountain, and then traverse over the peak down a 3-hour trail to Ambangeg.

At 7am, we started what we had researched to be a 10-hour hike. Destination: Saddle campsite, mere 500 meters below Mt. Pulag’s grassy summit. As it turned out, we beat the often-referenced time schedules from waypoint to waypoint by 30 minutes to an hour.

We reached the first campsite along Eddet River after a good hour hike. We crossed a steel hanging bridge, which made for some great photos. The first steep stretch of the trail, covering almost 600 altitude meters, led us through “Cowcountry”. While we saw only few cows, we saw quite a lot of their souvenirs along the trail, complete with swarms of flies.

Within 2 hours, we had reached “Marlboro Country”, referenced as a 3-hour leg. By now, we had caught up with the first group of 11 hikers, who had left the campsite at Eddet River that morning. “Mabilis kayo!” – “You are fast!” That’s what we heard more than once that day. Usually with what seemed like a self-explanatory look at our “long” legs. However, hiking is not about long speedy steps, but rather about a steady pace. Narsie, 4’9 tall and 46 years of age had no problem leading us. He once accompanied a 21-year old trail runner to the summit in only 3 hours!

From “Marlboro Country” it took us another hour through “Mossy Forest”, a cool and damp overgrown forest patch. It’s home to the last water source before the summit. A big group of about 15 people was busy cooking. We refilled all our water bottles and continued right away. By now, we felt the additional weight of water on our backs. Despite our heavy feet, we kept moving anticipating the run for good campground at the Saddle campsite. Jessie, a young Pinoy from the first group we met decided to join us. He was clearly frustrated with the slow pace of his ever stopping and snacking fellow hikers.

At 12:30pm we had reached the Grassland. The scenery suddenly changed. No more trees but shrubs and what Jessie called “miniature bamboo” all along the way. Clouds and heavy fog obstructed the view into the valley. Eyes to the ground, we covered the remaining hour to Saddle Camp, overtaking the third group of hikers along the way.

Being the first to reach the campsite, we got to chose what we considered to be the best spot for our tent. That is, away from the “latrines”, two sets of chest-high wooden walls surrounding an overflowing hole in the ground. Single raindrops quickly distracted us from thinking too much about our hygiene situation. For the better, I guess.

We pitched our tent. Only to find out the adhesive holding a plastic window in place had dissolved, leaving a gaping hole in the fly. Glenn skillfully re-attached the window with band aid. Just in time! For the next 5 hours the rain wouldn’t stop. My thoughts went out to all the remaining hikers on the trail who, by now, would be soaking wet. Dripping water on my face snapped me back to assess our own situation. The tent was leaking in every possible spot! The seam sealant had successfully rotted while in storage. More first aid tape...

The rain had drowned our idea of hiking to the summit to see the sunset. We merely managed to cook dinner (pasta, again) on the slow and heatless flame of our camping stove. At almost 3,000 meters, the air obviously does get thinner. Our bodies didn’t feel the effect of it though.

What they did feel was the uneven ground we had pitched our tent on, the broken air pads (precisely, here too, the rubber around the valve had rotted completely), and the low temperatures. A warm-weather creature by now, I struggled to warm up inside my sleeping bag. Ten degrees is just not comfortable. In our tent by 8pm we had a long night ahead of us! While tempted, we remembered that “sexual acts are discouraged” on the sacred grounds of Mt. Pulag, according to the orientation video. Bummer. Seems the message about keeping “man-made noises” to a minimum didn’t stick too well with our neighbors, playing their stereos.

Summit Day. Shortly after 5am we started our final summit approach. The trail was muddy but easy to navigate. From afar, we saw headlamps like distant fire flies swarming around Pulag’s summit. The moon was so bright, we almost didn’t need a lamp at all.

Finally! The “Sea of Clouds” which depicts every Mt. Pulag advertisement came into sight. A solid white cloud cover lingered around the rolling grassy hills of Mt. Pulag’s summit. At some parts, the wind started pushing the clouds over the ridgeline. The clouds spilled over the mountaintops like a waterfall. The moon was still full and bright, illuminating our tents at the campsite below. From up here they looked like colorful little marbles. The sun’s first beams painted reddish streaks along the dark sky. The moon quickly dropped as the sun came up from behind the clouds. What an amazing view!

After 45 minutes of appreciating nature’s wonders and picture taking, we started our descent to Saddle Campsite. Although we still had our return trip ahead of us, we already felt accomplished. Time for a cereal breakfast and freshly filtered coffee! Much to Narsie’s surprise who asked in disbelieve: “You are not cooking?” Nope.

We packed our wet tent and clothes and started our descent back the Akiki trail at 7:30am. Our fellow hikers waved us good-bye while preparing heavy breakfasts. Amazing, the ingredients and cooking utensils some hikers carry!

Tracing our steps back the Akiki trail was well worth it! The mountain looked completely different from what we had seen during our ascent. It would take another four hours before the fog and clouds would obstruct the view from this peak. At this early hour, we could see the ravines of the mountains, and in the far distance rice terraces carved into the steep slopes. Absolutely magnificent!

At around 11am, just like the day before, the first dark clouds started to move in. At noon, we had reached Eddet River. Sweaty and slightly sunburned (the downside of a missing cloud cover), we enjoyed a dip in the ice-cold stream!

If it wasn’t for this 30 minute break, we might have gotten back to the Ranger Station in time. At exactly 1:30pm, just like the day before, it started to rain. We sped up our pace for the last 15 minutes of the trail but we were soaked anyway when we reached Ranger Station at about 2pm.

Cold and shivering, we politely declined Heron’s wife’s invitation to rest and have a coffee at their house. We just wanted to change into dry clothes and get going back to Baguio before the dark. We gave Narsie a lift in our car which might have saved him around 2 hours of walking. When we dropped him off he cheerfully said good-bye and set off for another 1.5-hour hike up the mountain back to his house. Does he ever get tired?

SCOPE in the news

The SCOPE approach is spreading around the Philippines! Thanks to a heightened interest of government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the SCOPE Approach we get the opportunity to share our experiences in various regions.

The latest invitation brought Janina and Cris all the way to Samar, an island known for its dependence on agricultural and aqua-cultural resources, limited infrastructure, and exposure to typhoons.

At the same time I was able to share the mechanics of the "SCOPE Approach" - embedding small-scale producers into the value chain of local companies - with Program Development Officers (PDO) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

DSWD puts emphasize on training PDOs in identifying sustainable business models based on a SCOPE (or Value Chain) Approach. Yesterday's training session for PDOs from the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region III will be repeated for Cebu-based PDOs soon.

Mindoro and the hairy frogfish

It seems Mindoro has become part of our backyard. We've been there so many times we've lost count. Mindoro to us is a convenient weekend getaway. A beach and dive destination mere 3 hours away from our doorstep. With a 5:45am ferry service we can stay until Monday and still be in the office on time!

We've dived pretty much every dive site (except for the Verde Island passage which is on our to-do list for the next time we got here). We thought we've seen it all. We hadn't! Neither above water nor submerged!

Last weekend we decided to explore the bays farther away from Sabang Beach and its obvious "niche" clientele (however closer to the dive sites). This time we took the ferry to Tamaraw Beach! We stayed at Luca's, a simple but acceptable accommodation with exceptional Italien cuisine! I haven't had such a great (in size and taste) pizza in ages!

And more. We explored the nearby Mangyan Village which is being restored with the help of Ayla Foundation. Past the village is a waterfall. The trail is not difficult or hard to find. The drizzle, which turned into a heavy rainstorm at night, had turned it into a challenging mudslide. We managed and Glenn took a bath.

Rain and wind is a diver's biggest enemy (next to sharks, I guess). Not because one could get wet... but because the waves stir up the bottom of the ocean and visibility usually drops. We had adjusted our expectations accordingly. But wow! We were treated with some of the most unusual underwater creatures!

We saw two Cockatoo Waspfishs (if I can trust Google Image) hanging out right next to each other. They look like leaves and when they move they look a dead leave being brushed over the sandy bottom of the sea.

Next was a juvenile cuttlefish, trying hard to not be seen. Hard to imagine this 2-inch blob of purple something can grow into a rather massive cuttlefish.

Not as small as the pygmy seahorse but equally fragile in looks was the lonely seahorse we saw. Clinging its tail around the almost non-existing vegetation it kept its position in the current.
When my tank was almost down to 50 bar we heard the noise signal of our partner divers. They've obviously found something interesting! We tried to locate them... not easy underwater where the direction of sound is hard to identify.

Then we finally saw them and their excited faces (visible even under their masks)! They had found a hairy frog-fish! We've seen frog-fishes in different colors and sizes before. This one looked like a Rastafarian! His "hair" was literally floating in the current. It's amazing what lives below sea level! And it's amazing how a low expectation dive can turn out!

Selina's sixth birthday

I know, I know... Time always seems to "fly" when we look at our lives. But even more so when we look at our children (or nieces) grow up. Now Selina is six! I'm glad she is. She is smart and the older she gets the more I enjoy the interaction with her.

Glenn's and my gift to her obviously hit the spot! We got her a Lego Family "Dream House" and she assembled it completely over the weekend! Great!

Thanks to Skype and Whats App we were able to sing her happy birthday and talk to her vis-a-vis on her special day!

The next big occasion? Start of school, September 1st! I'll be there, for sure!

Happy Birthday, meine grosse Motte!

Yuengling Brewery

By national stereotype, beer instead of blood should be running through my veins. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of beer. I prefer wine. (Does that make me a bad German?) However, I appreciate a good beer when I get my hands on one. I sure did at “Yuengling Brewery - Americas Oldest Brewery” in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

I had seen Yuengling beer at the bar menus in the US before. I always wondered how to pronounce the name and therefore never ordered one. Now I know that Yuengling is the anglicized version of the German name Jüngling (young man). Of course! For the sake of sanity and blending into a non-German speaking environment, any “Umlaut” (the two funny dots on a’s, o’s or u’s) should be eliminated from a name!

I fully understand David Gottlob Jüngling’s name change as a necessity when he moved from Germany to the US to set up the “Eagle Brewery” in 1829. While David was happily brewing along, bestowing thousands of people with great bears for many years, his son and successor faced rather challenging times. More precisely, the Prohibition era.

In 1920, some “moral and health” lobbyists managed to establish a national alcohol ban in the US, further known as the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. No brewing, no transport, no sale, and for sure no consumption of alcohol! I wonder if the 13 years in which the Prohibition was enforced can be considered the darkest era of US history (from an indulgence perspective). It’s like banning cheese from the Swiss, wine from the French, pizza from the Italians, tulips from the Dutch, chocolate from the Belgium, and cars (and beer!) from the Germans!

I’m glad they kept the brewing going and the recipes expanding! After an interesting walk through the whole factory learning quite a bit about beer making, bottling, and shipping, we reach the long awaited “testing area”. Basically, a replica of a German Brauhaus with rustic wooden tables and benches. Wow, it almost felt like Germany! Except for the fact that our whole tour group, all obviously older than 21, had to present their IDs before tasting one (or two) of the many different beers.

My favorite was the Porter. A dark, rich, and full-flavored beer. As I said, I do enjoy a good beer if I can get one!

Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge

When I visited Hoover Dam for the first time, back in 2007, I remember the slow moving traffic over the dam wall. 18-wheelers, busses, cars... and in between tourists like me trying to snap a shot of the dam. I had exactly one minute to jump out of the tour bus, take my picture (while trying to not be run over), and be back in the vehicle. No parking, no stopping. It’s a main road connecting Nevada and Arizona, after all! It’s like stopping to take a picture at the A4 in Germany... Simply not a good idea.

This time around, I got to appreciate yet another engineering wonder which sprang up between 2005 and 2010. The “Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge”. Roughly 500 meters down from Hoover Dam, this magnificent 600 meter arch bridge bridges over what is known as the Black Canyon.

Again, I was absolutely fascinated how this bridge is not only a display of engineering genius but also esthetic. Despite its size, it beautifully blends into the nature and its surrounding. It builds an esthetic unit with the Hoover Dam. Two amazing structures built some 74 years apart. Just imagine the engineering advances! Computers, materials, technologies, experience...

The bridge not only connects Arizona and Nevada and relives Hoover Dam of its traffic jam. The sidewalk gives adventurous pedestrians (I guess the ones not suffering vertigo), and hobby photographers an unprecedented view of the Hoover Dam.

Others might take the opportunity to measure the bridge’s apparent height considering the battling forces of gravity and wind affecting a blob of spit during its downward travel... (Author’s note: Spit far out, otherwise your measurement object will travel under the bridge and you won’t see it hit the water or rock surface. Hold your glasses! Don’t lean too far over the railing! Consider wind speed! Never spit into the wind!).

Eurozone Meltdown

For the longest time I wasn't sure if I felt offended or amused by this Greek restaurant's "Eurozone Meltdown Special" here in Manila. Tax-exempt but receiving my salary in Euro, I have two hearts beating in my chest when I follow the news about the "Euro Crisis".

Now the new $173 billion bail out package for Greece has been signed off on. This money will safe the country of the Gyro (which ironically sounds an awful lot like "Euro") to default next month. And then?

Greece is supposed to trim it's current debt of 160% to its gross domestic product (GDP) to 121% by 2020. 120% government debt is what "International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank have deemed acceptable". Wow! Spending 120% more annually than you make is "acceptable" to be granted a huge bail out? My bank would throw me out the door laughing if my track record would spell: Currently, I spent 160% more money than I earn, I promise I'll only spend 120% more than I earn eight years from now, can I please get a loan? And, I don't really have a plan to a) curb my spending by 40% or b) how to get by trying to do so.

The monetary "stability" provided through this bailout is supposed to "give Greece space to improve its competitiveness" and "create growth for the Greek economy", according to Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

I'm not an economist so please excuse my blunt observations on the subject matter. I'm just wondering how a bailout, which keeps Greek from defaulting next month, is supposed to stimulate economic growth in a country which is in a recession for the fifth consecutive year. Just wondering out loud...

One of the government's great plans to be more financially lean is to write down 100 billion Euro "worth of Greek government bonds and swap existing debt for securities with lower interest rates, a deal that would result in losses of 53.5% of nominal value for the private sector." What a great business model! Invest here and receive a 50% value loss instantly! I'm not so sure whether this will provide the right incentives to trigger the desperately needed economic growth.

I made up my mind about Stavro's Euro Meltdown Special. I love it! The restaurant is successfully competing with at least ten other food choices in a prime location, attracts customers with a witty promo, and stays in business. Maybe something the Greek government could learn from.

Evanescence life in Manila!

Who says cool gigs don't stop by Manila? The Stone Temple Pilots,
Kylie Minogue during her sexy "Aphrodite Tour", and now Evanescence with opening act Bush - buy 1, get 2).

I missed Incubus due to travel which I deeply regret. That would have been just awesome!

Lined up are Avril Lavigne, The Cranberries, and Vertical Horizon.

Not too bad for the capital city of the Philippines, with no direct access road to the airport and airlines like Air France threatening to pull out due to the red tape by airport authorities. Given these obstacles I myself am already happy to be able to exit and enter this archipelago without further trouble (not throwing wasted time into the equation...).

Just imagine bands' considerations, bringing in all their stage equipment! I'm sure Amy from Evanescence wouldn't have wanted to find out her beautiful black piano is stuck at Customs because some of the crew didn't follow "local protocol".

The crowd at Araneta Coliseum was cheering when the piano was rolled on stage and the rock tunes became mellow and classic. The life Cello on stage together with Amy's incredible voice gave me goosebumps!

Bush's lead vocalist Gavin Rossdale was less subtle in turning the crowd on. During one of his songs he suddenly abandoned the stage, and started climbing up the lower and upper box of the stadium! The crowd was frantic and his bodyguards huffing (to keep up with him and the girls off his sweaty body!).

And then, he passed right by my friends Jeff, Tess, Maria and Joe, who all had to get up from their front seats to let him pass. Me, "behind the scene" in second row, had the best view and most importantly, the camera rolling!

Hoover Dam - An Engineering Wonder

Although I’m not an engineer (or maybe precisely for that reason) I am absolutely fascinated with “engineering wonders” like the Hoover Dam. I admire the vision, persistence, and execution of ideas that not only stand the test of time, but more so the test of natural forces.

Standing on top of the majestic Hoover Dam wall, I try to envision the area between Nevada and Arizona before it was build. A stream of water dividing the two US states, rocks and barren land all around, a place subject to nature’s whims of drought or flood.

Someone looked at those parameters in the first quarter of the 20st century and did not find them as hostile and inhabitable as I might have. They saw an opportunity to make the desert fertile, to feed the growing number of settlers flooding the west to cash in on its natural resources. Human benefits aside, I think the engineers saw a challenge to apply known, and develop new technologies to show the desert who is boss!

They sure did! For the next five years, from 1931 to 1936, the Hoover Dam was build. For two years, workers poured concrete eight hours a day to build the dam wall, which at its bottom is two soccer fields wide (appr. 100m). Amazingly, the dam wall is not connected to the surrounding rocks. Rather, it is jammed into them by the water pressure created through Lake Mead (which, by the way is named after civil irrigation engineer Elwood Mead who was commissioner during the planning and construction of the Boulder Canyon Project, which created the dam and lake). After completion of the wall, it took another six years to fill the dam with water.

During my recent trip to Hoover Dam I learned, to my surprise, that the dam’s main objective was not power generation but irrigation. Power generation is a welcomed by-product of the water-security objective. A side-effect that make the operation self-sustaining.

As we crawled into the belly of the dam, we saw the giant turbines. Most of them idle, as the water reservoir levels are rather low these days. Only if there is enough water in the lake, will it be channeled through the turbines to release the pressure and thereby generate power. In his decades long experience working at the dam, our guide had only once seen the floodgates open, spitting out excess water from both sides of the canyon without going through the turbines. Current energy treaties between the surrounding states expire in 2017.

The Society of Civil Engineering selected Hoover Dam as one of the seven “Modern Civil Engineering Wonders of the United States”. I can see why. I think it is also a wonder that the dam, at times, works in two time zones. Arizona does not change its clocks to daylight savings time. I want to see the dam’s time and work schedule for the months of March to November!