Photo by Ann. Edited by owbEe.
Cavite, Philippines. December 2009.

7107 Islands wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

May you all have Love, Good Health, Abundance and Good Fortune! ♥

Photos by Ann. Edited by owbEe.
Cavite, Philippines. December 2009.

Christmas in the Philippines is a very colorful, bright and happy occasion. Why you may ask? Well, if you haven’t been to the Philippines you might have not seen a parol yet. Parol, which is also called Philippine Christmas lantern, is a star-shaped lantern traditionally made from bamboo and colorful Japanese paper.

Filipinos usually hang their parols together with other Christmas ornaments as early as September until January.

The parol signifies the star that guided the Three Kings in their journey to Bethlehem. It also symbolizes the hope and goodwill of the Filipinos.

Photo by owbEe.
California, USA. December 2008.

Pasko (Christmas) is just three days away. And what do we usually think of in this time of the year? Gift-giving!

It is a common tradition to do gift-giving or what we call as monito-monita or Kris Kringle during Christmas. Everyone in a group randomly picks from a bowl of names and anonymously gives a gift to the person he/she picks during the Christmas party.

And like what the title says, gift in Filipino is called regalo.

Photos by Kevin Tatco.
Ateneo de Manila University. September 2009.

Bayanihan is a Filipino term taken from the word bayan, referring to a nation, town or community. The whole term bayanihan refers to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective. The process involves literally carrying the house to its new location…by putting bamboo poles forming a strong frame to lift the stilts from the ground and carrying the whole house with the men positioned at the ends of each pole. – Wikipedia

Two days ago, typhoon Ondoy (International code name: Ketsana) brought a month’s worth of rainfall to Metro Manila and nearby areas in just a few hours, causing severe flooding which resulted in the loss of many lives and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

In this time of great need, we witness many people joining hands to help those in need, such as the relief operation done by students and faculty in Ateneo. It is great to know that even in this day and age when we no longer experience helping our neighbors by literally carrying their entire houses, we can still feel the essence of bayanihan at its very best.

NOTE TO ALL

Let us all help the victims of typhoon Ondoy through our prayers and donations. You can send out your donations to Philippine National Red Cross and World Food Programme. You can also help by volunteering and donating to several relief operation sites in Quezon City, Manila, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Makati, Taguig, Pasay, San Juan, Fairview, Alabang, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Baguio, Bulacan, Cagayan, Cavite, Batangas, Cebu, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Davao, and Zamboanga. For the list of local and international locations please click here. Thank you!

“A little act of kindness can save a lot of lives.”

Photo by Kat.
Basilica de San Martin de Tours. Taal, Batangas. September 2006.

Photo by owbEe.
Munting Buhangin. Nasugbu, Batangas. March 2007.

The Coconut Tree is probably the most useful tree in the world. It is considered to be “The Tree of Life” for the endless list of products and by-products you get from its parts.

The Philippines is considered to be the top producer of coconut in the world.

Here are some of the products you can get out of this coconut tree:

• Buko (young coconut) – used in making buko pie, buko juice, buko pandan.
• Niyog (mature coconut)
• Bukayo – a sweetened shredded coconut meat. To learn more about this panghimagas (dessert) click here.
• Nata de coco – a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food product produced by the bacterial fermentation of coconut water. “Nata de coco” comes from Spanish “Cream of Coconut.” Learn more…
• Latik – caramelized coconut milk with sugar. Learn more…
• Macapuno – sport coconut. Learn more…
• Gata (coconut milk) – a sweet, milky white cooking base derived from the meat of a mature coconut.
• Sorbetes – a uniquely Filipino-style ice cream. Learn more…
• Copra – dried coconut meat that has a high oil content. Learn more…
• Tuba – coconut toddy that has a stinging bittersweet taste. Learn more…
• Lambanog – wine made from coconut. A by-product of tuba. Learn more…
• Walis tingting – midrib broom. Photos…
• Bunot – dried half coconut shells with husks used to buff floors. Photos…

Do you know any other product aside from the ones that I’ve mentioned?

]]> http://7107islands.tehlove.org/2009/08/14/puno-ng-buhay-tree-of-life/feed/ 0 http://7107islands.tehlove.org/2009/08/06/first-post/ http://7107islands.tehlove.org/2009/08/06/first-post/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:06:27 +0000 owbEe http://7107islands.isgreat.org/?p=1

Welcome to 7107 Islands!

After a lot of problems I have encountered while editing this site,  7107 Islands is now up and running!

This is my first time to make a site dedicated to my beloved country–The Philippines.

As you may have noticed, it doesn’t have any content as of the moment since I just created it today. I’m still tinkering with this layout. It’s really pretty, right? I can’t wait to put a lot of photos here.

Anyway, if you want to know more of this site, do visit the About page located at the top navigation bar.