Got dragged (no, not literally) all the way up to San Juan, La Union last Tuesday to participate in SIFCare’s Earth Day activities which mostly entailed getting people to help clean up major waterways such as rivers and beaches. La Union is known for being the surfing capital of the Philippines, but do you also know that a lot of pawikans (sea turtles) come to their shores to lay eggs?
Yeap. Every year, hundreds of pawikan eggs are laid in the shores of San Juan La Union, and SIFCare’s CURMA (Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions) program makes sure that these eggs are sufficiently protected until they hatch and the baby pawikans find their way back to the sea.
I’ve only seen baby pawikans in photos, but I sure hope I could join CURMA volunteers the next time they’d release them into the ocean. For Earth Day, however, what we did was make sure the shores were free of waste that may be harmful not only to the sea creatures, but also to the residents living near the sea. The residents of Brgy. Ilocanos Norte in San Fernando, La Union got up early to participate in the beach cleanup activity, and it was nice to see even little kids following their mothers around to help.
Here’s hoping the locals will continue being proactive about cleaning their surroundings, because seriously, don’t we forget things like these all the time when we are so busy dealing with day-to-day activities? Still, it was very nice to see everyone get together for a worthwhile activity, however simple.
La Union is SUPER HOT these days (then again, where in the Philippines isn’t it hot, save for the Mountain Province?), so if you’re planning to go up there for some fun, make sure to hydrate yourself well. I’m serious. I was there two nights and a headache kept bothering me because of the heat.
Good thing I got treated to this view right here, because damn if that’s not a glorious sight to behold.
Saturday was a fun day for my sister and I. I started off attending Ms. Mina V. Esguerra’s book launch and signing at Powerbooks Greenbelt 3. Three of her books under Anvil Publishing’s SparkBooks imprint was launched that day, namely: Never Just Friends, The Harder We Fall, and Welcome to Envy Park. Since I already have an eBook copy of Never Just Friends–bought it on Smashwords as part of #SparkNA prep–(and well, because payday is five days away ><;;) I only bought the other two, and they are now sitting on my bed, waiting to be read. (That rhymed!)
It was nice to see a lot of fans lining up to get their books signed; I remember seeing something like this during a book fair about two years ago when Ricky Lee was having his book signing session at the SMX Convention in Pasay City. I would have bought the book Para Kay B and had it signed, but the place was too packed and busy and I couldn’t stay too long in a place like that. Good thing Mina’s signing was nice and intimate, and I got to chit-chat with a #SparkNA classmate, Six while waiting for the program to start.
(They had their #buqoYA launch that very same night as well, but I couldn’t come because…)
Avengers.
I’m not really one for lengthy film reviews, because when I really, really like a film (or anything/anyone else, for that matter) I just usually go KSHJKDSKLDHSJDKSJGDK and /CRIES INTO THE NIGHT, so–
All I could say is that my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed the film from beginning to end. There were times when I vocally questioned the things happening on-screen (forgive my ClinTasha heart), and times when I just wanted to scream “WHYYYYYYY?” but overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron dealt me an entertaining, action-packed two hours, and I wouldn’t hesitate it watching it again.
Here’s a snapshot of sis and I five minutes before previews started:
I think I’ll spend most of this weekend at home, however, because next week’s going to be plenty busy again. Besides, I have to keep my #SparkNa novella in check. I’m almost halfway there, but this is no time to snooze! 😛
