Smart Grandma of 73 goes around in Smart Car, Cebu, Philippines

Smart Car Cebu at Elicon House & Cafe

Driving the Smart Car around Cebu is great especially with Cebu's narrow streets and few parking areas. To illustrate the efficiency of parking a Smart Car, here it is parked right in front of the sidewalk at Elicon House and Cafe at P. del Rosario St.

Smart Car Cebu

The Smart Car was first manufactured in 1998 in France and Germany.  It has been widely distributed in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. In the Philippines, there are a few units running in Manila and Cebu.

In a small city like Cebu, the Smart Car would be the ideal car. The traffic congestion in Cebu is worsening by the day and we can do our part to improve it by driving smaller and fuel efficient cars.

The rocket stove : A Christmas Gift of Self-Reliance in Cooking

It is Christmas time again, and we decided to give our staff a generative gift- one that can improve one's life, help our planet, provoke a new way of thinking or trigger  a change of behavior in others.

For our company, this year, we chose to share the gift of self-reliance in cooking through the Rocket Stove. What is a rocket stove? The 'rocket stove' is an innovative, fuel-efficient stove design that significantly reduces smoke production and can be manufactured by local stove builders. (rocketstove.org)  Thanks to the design of Dr. Larry Winiarski and Aprovecho Research Center, we improvised our own home made version.

The Rocket Stove Principle:

We call our version The KGZ Rocket Stove because we developed it through the Kamagayan Green Zone Project (An Urban Permaculture Project located in Barangay Kamagayan , P.del Rosario St. Cebu City, Philippines, Funded by Mayflower Realty, Inc and its affiliate companies: Elicon House, West Gorodo Hotel, Mayflower Inn, Gelato Eliseo and Katunggan Permaculture Adventure Farm).

Our own maintenance team cut the parts for the chimney, combustion chamber and accesories, while the gift recipients will assemble the stove.

The housing for the combustion chamber is made from recycled tin roof.
We cut a hole to accomodate the wood chamber.

We used two pcs of c purlins as wood chamber and attached a 31/2 pipe as chimney.

We insulated the sides with wood ash and will try out dolomite.

The KZ Rocket stove with its accessories- pot skirt and extenders, pot ring, wood grill and ashtray.

Testing the KGZ Rocket stove.

1 1/2 cup rice cooked in about 10-15 minutes.

Ropes Course in Taboan

In an English speaking nursery school in Cebu....

Teacher: (showing the picture of a rope)  Children, what do we do with a rope?

Child:  Answers excitedly---- " Ba-aton"

Taboan is a great school. Yesterday, I enrolled in a ropes course. There are many kinds of ropes that you can see in the market. Some are new abaca ropes. Some are nylon ropes. Some are recycled nylon ropes. Others are slightly used ropes.

ABACA ROPES

NYLON ROPES

ABACA ROPES

MIXED ABACA/NYLON ROPES

Recycled Cook stoves

Another interesting example of the Pinoy ingenuity that can be seen in Taboan are the recycled cook stoves. These are made from recycled tin sheets and made into improvised wood burning cook stoves.  Although they are not very fuel efficient, they are a great help to the Pinoy kitchen especially with the skyrocketing cost of liquified petroleum gas.

Recycled Gas Lamps or Lamparas

If you were born in the 60's and 70's and attended town fiestas, I'm sure you can remember how the night vendors use to light their kariton with lamparas.

Another great find in Taboan Market is the Lampara. One can use gas or used oil. It is made out of recycled bottles and cans.

Small lamparas

Nice design!

Philippine brooms

Mama: Hoy badlungon kang anaka ka, bunalan tikaw ron ug silhig!!!
Anak: Unsa mang klase sa silhig?  Tukog?  Lanot?  o Bagiou?.... aw naa pay usa ma, plastic???....


On my recent trip to Taboan, I was able to see the three kinds of traditional  brooms that are still being used here in the Philippines.

First, is the silhig tukog. It is made out of the sticks in the palm fronds. It is a very tedious process because each stick is individually removed and then tied up into fist size bundles. Next the sticks are cut and trimmed so they are of the same length.

SILHIG NGA TUKOG

The second type of broom is the silhig nga lanot. It is made of the dried buli tree trunks. After the trunks are dried they are beaten or "ti-ti-on" until they look like thick strands and then tied to a handle, usually a small bamboo pole. Some lanot brooms are dyed red or green. A buli  tree actually gets to sacrifice its life so that we can sweep our floors.

SILHIG NGA LANOT

The third kind of broom is the Bagiou broom. It is also known as the Tambo Walis as it is made of a grass that grows in the Bagiou area, called Tambo. The grass is dried and then tied together to a wooden handle and then decorated with plastic Bagiou signs. It is a cultural icon in Bagiou.

SILHIG NGA BAGIOU

Household coconut products

The coconut tree has been called a miracle tree. It has so many products. In Taboan, one can find the household coconut products that we have been using for decades and are fast losing their value in our very Western-modernized and energy dependent culture. 

But since Peak oil has come and many global economies are collapsing, these humble coconut products will once again regain its rightful place in every Filipino household.

Silhig nga tukog before it is cut and trimmed.

Long before electric floor polishers were invented, we have been using coconut husk to polish our floors and the wax we used was the oil from the kinagud nga sapal . Now many young people have not seen this favorite household cleaning tool. They can hardly relate to the statement that their haircut is just like the BUNOT.

What are these? Coco coir ! It is used as a growing material for plants. It can also be used as garden mulch, playground flooring, fire starter, and pot scrubber.

Buwad Heaven

Teacher:  What is the national fish of the Philippines?

Student: Clue Mam?

Teacher: O sige, starts with the Letter B.

Student: Aaah, Buwad mam!!!

Indeed, Buwad seems to be the national fish of the Filipinos, especially the Cebuanos. Nothing beats a hearty breakfast of pinikas nga buwad, binatil nga itlog, sinangag nga bahaw nga kan-on and suka nga bisaya.

Buwad here

Buwad there

Buwad everywhere

Ask a Filipino living overseas what they want to eat the most-- the answer would be BUWAD... because, they cannot cook it in their homes without risking an eviction notice from their landlord or a community protest from their neighbors. 

Walay makalupig sa lasa sa buwad, that's why even if hypertension is the number one killer in the Philippines, Buwad is still on the top of the Pinoy staple food.

If the Pinoy where asked- what would heaven be like?

It is a place called Buwad Heaven- all you can eat without affecting your blood pressure.

Recycled tin products

Today, I went to Taboan because I was looking for recycled tin cans that I could use to make a rocket stove. Taboan is the tinsmith district of Cebu. If you need anything to be customized for your kitchen or for a special project, Taboan is the place for you.


There are many stores there that manufacture tin products from recycled tin sheets. Here are the interesting recycled tin products that they make:

These are giant tansans used as food containers for animals- mostly for ducks, chickens, and pigs.

 plant watering containers

The ones at the back are tin can stoves.

 barbecue grills

kitchen sinks

more kitchen sinks and pails

Recycled tire products

 Piles of discarded exterior tires become a child's playground while awaiting their reincarnation.

They are categorized by size in order to determine the most appropriate recycling use.

In Tabaon, there are piles of exterior rubber tires piled up for recycling. I was able to see the process and the range of products produced from these discarded bus tires.

 The tires are cut into layers. First, they remove the external treaded layer.

Next, they cut the tires based on the design of the product.

The tire products include: plant containers, chicken houses, and floor mats.

Plant containers are made from the exterior treaded part of the tire, fastened with two wires, with a bottom cover with drain hole. Then each one is painted a bright red or green. They are great plant containers because they do not break.

Chicken house made of recycled tires.

Floor mats made out of recycled tires.