Know more about the pearls and how fabulous nature’s creations are.

I instantly fell in love when I heard about its story.

And now, I share it to you all

Our Philippine National Gem: The South Sea Pearl

As the latest endeavor to mark the Philippines as a major design destination in Asia, Manila FAME invites Jewelmer to participate in the major sourcing event for lifestyle products, furniture, gifts, and fashion. The exposition will be held from March 14 to March 17, 2012 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the SMX Convention center.

Jewelmer will give attendees an opportunity to purchase their lustrous golden gems set in fine jewellery. Collections such as Stella and Lautitia will be on display alongside the quintessential Jewelmer golden strands and some very special archive pieces.

The company is in a unique position for collaboration with Manila FAME 2012. In 1993, President Fidel V. Ramos declared the Philippine South Sea pearl as the country’s National Gem, which is the perfect complement to an event to showcase the best of the talent, quality, craftsmanship, and creativity that the Philippines has to offer.

Jewelmer’s representatives will be at Booth DX20, located on the ground floor of the SMX Convention center. Manila FAME 2012 will run between 9:00am to 6:00pm from March 14 to March 17, 2012.

For more information, please visit www.jewelmer.com.

Apart from this, Jewelmer now resumes exclusive Educational Pearl talks.  I went to the island itself to discover how beautiful pearls are.  Better than diamonds I say because the Pearl sprouts on a very nice and happy environment, unlike diamonds who needs to be in excessive pressure to be grown.

Jewelmer Resumes Exclusive Educational Pearl

Newly harvested golden pearls.  Yes, I was there to witness this! *cries for joy*

Nature is beautiful

Have you ever wondered how to tell real pearls from plastic? What is the difference between freshwater and saltwater pearls? How can you assess the true value and quality of a pearl?

The country’s authority on pearls brings back The Exclusive Jewelmer Pearl Talk in three educational events, which will take place at three separate locations. The host venues in March include The Peninsula Manila hotel, Eastwood Mall and Resorts World.

Beyond the basic Pearl 101, an interesting mix of clients, media representatives, and friends attend the talks to reacquaint themselves with the straightforward facts of the complex nature of pearls. It is an interactive experience with the specialists at Jewelmer who are eager to share their knowledge about the most lustrous pearls in the world.

Jewelmer’s Exclusive Pearl Talk dates are as follows:

The Peninsula Manila Hotel

4:00 pm on March 13, 2012

Eastwood Mall

4:00 pm on March 15, 2012

Resorts Worls, Newport Mall

4:00 pm on March 16, 2012

Limited slots are available. Interested parties are invited to inquire at any Jewelmer boutiques or contact Tess Catedral at 0917.327.1025. For more information on Jewelmer, please visit www.jewelmer.com.

“The World Atlas of Coral Reefs, compiled by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), reported that 97 percent of reefs in the Philippines are under threat from destructive fishing techniques, including cyanide poisoning, over-fishing, or from deforestation and urbanization that result in harmful sediment spilling into the sea.” (source)

I was amazed by the beauty of Palawan and saddened at the same time that the Palawan seas are very vulnerable to many things. Our beaches here are absolutely amazing and I am very proud to be living in a country where there’s bounty of my favorite things – beach, sand, sea. I am just starting to discover its beauty, but then, it might be taken away from me? At the same time, I am touched at the people of Palawan who are now making a big effort to protect the Palawan seas through Save Palawan Seas Foundation.

On a lighter note, I really enjoyed my trip to Palawan. We went to the Flower Isand and we hiked a little, swam a little, sailed through rough seas with 3 meter waves (I’m exaggerating) but learned a lot.

We spent our first day traveling from Manila to Flower Island. We departed Manila via plane at 8am and reached Puerto Princessa airport an hour after.

We traveled 3.5 hrs from Puerto Princessa to Taytay.

We rode this overflowing jeepney on this long, winding, zig-zag road 😛

I KEED! haha 😛 I took this photo from our van and this is pretty common here in the Philippines especially in the provinces. It amazes me how the people above the jeepney’s roof could stay alive while passing through zig-zaggidy roads @_@ As for us, were in a comfortable van and I slept the entire time because I didn’t want to get car sick! Bonamin helped too!

The look of relief on my face when the 3.5 hour ride was over… thinking that I can now stretch my sexy legs that are about to get a tan! 😀 😛

From there, we rode a boat. What a 1 hour ride from Taytay Pier to Flower Island became a 2 hour sail because of the rough seas. Waves where at 2-3 meters high and it was quite a ride.

Gloomy weather. Manong kuya lowering down the plastic shield to protect us XD

serious waves ahead @_@

On a normal day though, the seas are usually calm and it would only take an hour or less to go to Flower Island from Taytay pier.  I kept on thinking the Tsunami in Japan somehow made the seas rougher everywhere.

At first I got really scared that the big waves would engulf us because I kept seeing huge waves ahead of us that made us tilt up and abruptly throw is down. But after feeling like I am riding a free roller-coaster ride, deep inside I was like “OMG that was so much FUN, let’s do it AGAIN!“

After that 2-hour boat ride, we finally arrived at our relaxing destination – Flower Island 🙂

Flower Island

It was just lovely being here. The long journey to reach this place was all worth it.

This is where we stayed. The house was mostly made of bamboo. Of course, they plant more bamboos to replace the ones they used.

These are photos around the Flower Island.

The Peak

The peak is a tower / lighthouse that is situated literally at the Peak of Flower Island.

It would take you 15-20 minutes to hike all the way up. Don’t worry, there’s a cemented path.

Going up the very steep path, you will be greeted with nature 🙂 Ola ^_^

There are bugs, spiders, snakes and even wild monkeys sometimes. They don’t kill anything here. They just let nature be.

 

After hiking for 20 minutes, you will see this <3 The Peak.

We went up the top-most portion of the tower and the sight was just beautiful

The scenery at the top actually reminded me of Greece, only better! Yes. And see that island.. it might be for sale. I want my own island too!

<

I CAN HAZ LONG LEGS!

If you’re afraid of heights, don’t worry about it, just go up the tower, you won’t regret it!

Catching the Sunset in Flower Island Palawan

I brought some of my gadgets with us and we were surprised that we didn’t feel the itch to open them. We just did nothing while waiting for the sun to go down.

When was the last time you did nothing at all?

Capturing the sunset with a self-portrait. An evidence that I’ve been here.Thanks by the way to the host of flower island for giving us the seashell necklace as a welcoming gift. 🙂

Meditation, Yoga and Qigong

I’m sure you might have heard of meditation and yoga, but you might not know what Qigong is.  Qigong is where you combine simple body movements, breathing and mental imagery that you can direct the flow of your body’s energy to prevent disease, build strength and advance spiritually.

I was so into the exercise that I didn’t bother taking photos like a good blogger should be. I have an excuse though, I think I really needed that session because I have been sick with cough for almost 2 months. After the exercise, I felt lighter on my chest and lungs. And when we went back in Manila, the cough is almost gone. I don’t know if it’s just mind over matter, or I just got hypnotized by the host’s directing voice… I don’t care. It worked for me 😛

The one who guided us throughout the exercise was the host of the island who was taught by an 83 year-old meditation / yoga guru. We weren’t able to meet her, but we are blessed to feel the extension of her teachings to the people in the island, who shared this with us. I feel graced to be able to calm my mind, be in the moment with nature, hearing the waves and the birds chirping… it brought peace in my mind. I also shared in our environmental debate after dinner that maybe, if all people meditate, we would have a more peaceful place. No one will get angry easily, people won’t get agitated by any irritants, and people might solve their problems better when they do this. It can even heal you mentally, emotionally and physically.

This shot was taken right before we did our meditation.

The dog’s name is Spigo (not sure of the spelling). On the background you will also see Estan – holler!

Photogenic Palawan

Since Palawan is very photogenic, me and Vince did a mini photoshoot. 😀

On Flower Island.

Sunset Haze

A Whirl of Clouds

Waiting…

Shadow and Sunset

Clouds, Sunset, Sky and Sea

No matter how hard I try to capture its beauty through my digital cameras, nothing beats seeing Palawan in person. If you think my photos are good (really? *blush*) you haven’t seen anything yet. Palawan is lovely. I am proud that it is a part of our country.

But you know what’s lovelier? – the story of the Golden Pearl. It’s like a fairy tale. And hearing this story moved me a lot. That will be on my next post on Palawan.

Do subscribe if you like this and share the love <3

Xoxo,

FlairCandy

P.S. I wrote this with my toes 😛

P.P.S Thank you to Jewelmer and Yehey for inviting me to this beautiful island. 🙂

Helpful Links:

Flower Island Official Website

More photos on my Flickr.

*photo credits to dkeats under creative commons license.

The 7,107 islands of the Philippines sit on what some consider the “center of global marine biodiversity”, and more dive enthusiasts are catching on.

With its abundance of wildlife, the Philippines is a biodiversity hotspot in its entirety, one of only a few countries in the world with such distinction. It is also one of six whose waters comprise the Coral Triangle, the richest collection of marine life anywhere on the planet.

Here, the world’s most diverse array of corals and reef fish – three-fourths of all coral species and over 2,000 varieties of fish, to be exact – populate the sea. There’s even more upon closer inspection, as the array of wildlife includes everything from dolphins to crustaceans, sea slugs to eels. The variety of creatures is simply staggering.

While it shares some of this wealth with its neighbors, the Philippines is wonder on its own. In fact, biologists have been finding new creatures here consistently in recent years, both those thought to exist only elsewhere in the world and entirely new species altogether.

Among the more noteworthy marine ambassadors of the Philippines are five species of pawikan (sea turtle) and Sorsogon’s enormous butanding (whale shark). But among macro photographers, the small and often strange critters wandering the sea garner the most attention and intrigue.

With much of the world’s marine biodiversity housed in the Philippines and the Coral Triangle, collaborative conservation efforts among stakeholders have fittingly stepped up. Challenges posed by pollution, dangerous fishing practices and climate change, among others, remain.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) puts the Philippines’ marine marvels on show this summer as it hosts the 1^st Philippine Dive Seafari. To headline familiarization tours at four of the country’s top dive spots – Anilao, Bohol, Samal Island and Coron – are top international underwater lensmen Bob Whorton, Robert Yin, Dave Allen and Alex Wu as well as our very own Gutsy Tuazon.

“With this event, we hope not only to establish the Philippines as a world-class marine macro photography destination, but to build appreciation for the beauty and fragility of marine life as well,” said Secretary Alberto A. Lim.

Sponsored in part by STI-Tanauan & Lipa, Acacia Resort in Anilao, Batangas, Davao Pearl Farm, Bohol Divers Lodge, Balicasag Dive Resort, Peacock Garden Resort in Baclayon, Bohol, Calamianes Expeditions, Davao Dive Guides Association Sonny Dizon of the Davao City Government, the 1^st Philippine Dive Seafari will run from April 25 to May 5, 2011.

I got soooo overwhelmed with what I saw on the Buyanihan site Today!

I must say, I am proud to endorse Buyanihan to you guys 🙂  Really, we work hard to give you the best deals

and for this year, we want you to have a splendid summer!

 

They don’t only have 1 deal for the summer, they have 13!!!

 

 

*Faints*

 

Can you imagine?

 

Gosh! plan your summer trip no guys I’m telling you, go bet these deals before they run out… Actually, I’m buying some!!! That Malapascua deal sounds good and the Boracay goodness… Oh, I haven’t been to Palawan yet… I WANT!!!

Friends! LET’S GO!!!

you check it out for yourselves guys 🙂

 

http://buyanihan.com

I <3 Buyanihan 🙂

Add us up on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest updates on the coolest deals in the Metro!

and of course, keep it here on FlairCandy.com

 

Last December 30, 2010, an Indonesian Barge towing 8,000 tons of coal became stranded here in the Philippines. To date, people are doing their efforts to repair the barge and time is of the essence because the continuous battery of rocks and currents are damaging the hull which may spill the unburnt coal. Unburnt coal present in marine environments will cause major damage to our beautiful seas.

Palawan is one of our most beautiful beaches in the country.  It is also a great diving spot for locals and tourists. It will be sad if our seas will be filled with oil.  Our seas also host thousands of unique marine life and you can just imagine what will happen if this disaster happens.

I am not entirely sure how we can help as they didn’t inform me how, but I know that spreading awareness is the first step to help prevent damage to our Palawan Seas.  If you have any suggestions, comment below.  I sure will update you guys for any developments regarding this.

More information about the Save Palawan Seas Foundation below.

*click on the photos to enlarge

SPSF, LGU’s, the PCGA and PCG join forces to aid stranded Indonesian vessel

The Save Palawan Seas Foundation (SPSF) in cooperation with local government units, private citizens of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Philippine Coast Guard have been attempting to aid stranded Indonesian barge Ivan Batam since it first entered a Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Taytay, Palawan last Tuesday, December 30, 2010.

Agus Priyanto, captain of the vessel towing over 8,000 metric tons of coal reported that they ran out of fuel en route to Batangas and had entered the waters of the marine sanctuary to seek shelter from rough waters. Fearing the adverse effects of prolonged exposure of coal on marine life, the foundation sold diesel to the vessel. Ivan Batam left the sanctuary and docked in a nearby island instead to await the arrival of more fuel from Manila.

On January 2, 2011, the barge was spotted temporarily grounded near the Southwest of Maytigued Island due to choppy waters. After being lent more fuel, they left the site the following day.

Members of LGU’s of Taytay Palawan, PCGA , PCG and SPSF spotted the tugboat anchored in a nearby island, apparently having left the barge and coal near Binatican Island, also a part of the marine sanctuary.

Unburnt coal, when present in marine environments in sufficient quantities, can cause abrasion, smothering, alteration of sediment texture and stability, reduced availability of light, and clogging of respiratory and feeding organs of marine life (Ahrens and Morrisey, 2005)[1]

Members of LGU’s of Taytay Palawan, PCGA , PCG and SPSF continue to monitor the situation closely because they are concerned by the potential environmental calamity should the barge be damaged and its cargo spilled onto the surrounding coral beds.

To date, a salvage team has gone to the site of the grounded barge to assess the situation. It appears that there has been some damage to the barge that would require minor repairs before it could be towed. Time is of the essence as it is feared that further delay would cause greater damage to the barge’s hull as the vessel is continuously battered by both current and rocks, which would cause the coal spill, endangering surrounding marine life.

Save Palawan Seas Foundation is a non-profit organization that works alongside LGU’s and the Philippine Coast Guard to vigilantly monitor the environmental situation in the province.

Anyway, with jewelries, I have a stand…

I always lose my mom’s expensive jewelries when I was a kid.  I would borrow a ring from her and next thing I know, I accidentally dropped it on the toilet and flushed it…

Long story short, I didn’t like jewelry much… the only ones I wear though are pearls!

High school and College… all my life I just wore pearls.  It’s simple enough yet elegant to look at.  I wore white pearls before.  This would complete my simple look.  Even though I don’t wear makeup, the pearls really bring out a glow in me and make me pretty and chic!

I am not really aware of the different kinds of pearls.  I don’t even know how to distinguish fake ones from the true pearls.  If you don’t know yet, pearls come from Oysters… yes, the ones you eat ^_^ nomnomnom…

Jewelmer has a Pearl Farm in a nice setting somewhere in Palawan.  I am just hoping to be brought there and see the magic myself…

Pearls tell a very intimate story of our country.  It just shows how rich our seas are and how abundant marine life is in the Philippines if only they are being taken cared of.  Jewelmer made sure to protect the environment and did their part in training other people as well how to take care of our seas as they can bear a very precious fruit.

The first time I saw Michelle that day, I noticed her gold pearls.  I never notice gold pearls before, it’s always the white I have always seen and used.  It looked really lovely on her and I can’t help but miss wearing pearls.  ‘Coz like before, I keep on losing my pear earings.

Anyway, the launch of the Jewelmer event at the Marquee mall was a great success.  Also, Jewelmer Ambassador Piolo Pascual was there as well with his mom.

I was star struck!  I am not a fan of him really but he had a very nice tan and a nice smile…  Also, on his way home, he drove his own car with his mom on the passenger seat… sweet ^_^

Pictures of the event:

These pictures are grabbed from KikayCorner.net

Jewelmer Lunch Album taken by Panasonic Lumix LZ10

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