Simply Belle

I just recently brought these pictures from Catanduanes taken during the CNA Typhoon Reming Relief Operation held last January. CNA means Catanduanes Net Association, an association of Catandunganons based on internet located all over the world. I am currently on the second year serving as a president of this association.

Upon realizing the magnitude of the damage in our province brought by the super typhoon Reming, I took bold initiative of seeking donations from Catandunganons and friends from all over the world. I also authorized the release of CNA emergency funds intended for typhoon victims in the province. I organized a concert in our local cafe featuring my daughters to help our own people in our barrio who lost their homes completely. I even went knocking at my in-laws and friend’s doorstep to seek monetary assistance when I found out one of my brothers lost his dwellings, too. I was desperate and driven.

The response was, as expected, favorable.I thanked God for the support that I received from our community, Parish Church of St Teresa of Avila in Nevada, kindhearted individuals from all over the nation, and from my own family. Through my blog, I would like to extend my warmest thanks and appreciation to all who supported us.

Out of the funds we collected, we were able to procure

sixty (60) sacks rice
ten (10) sacks sugar
seventy-one (71) boxes noodles
forty-two (42) boxes CDO cbeef
thirty (30) boxes sardines
two (2) bags plastic bags

Red Cross volunteers did the sorting and re-packing of the goods, each bag containing

three (3) kgs rice
three (3) sardines
five (5) noodles
two (2) sotanghon
two (2) cbeef
half kg sugar

One thousand one hundred twelve (1,112)bags of goods were processed. Red Cross did the actual damage assessment of the barrios that were selected to be the recipient of goods based on their criteria.

Ivan Arcilla, our CNA representative, supervised the whole proceedings excellently.

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Not only did I have fun photographing the breathtaking sceneries in the province, I was equally amused capturing the beautiful smiles of the children. The girl above is from remote mountainous place in San Miguel, Baras. I loved visiting her place because it is so peaceful and beautiful, which reminds me of the scenes in the movie, “Sounds of Music.” I promised her that I am going to send her this picture by mail and was so tickled about it. In this picture, she was eating “tubo ng niyog.”

Included in the next picture are my nephews Rap-Rap (middle) wearing blue shirt, and Jhonnie (barely showing) who is seated to the left of Rap-Rap. One of my goals is to supply these kids with games, books, and communication tools to hone their reading and writing skills at an early age.

The next three pictures were taken in Agban, Baras where one of my brother lives. For some reason, kids had a fascination about camera, they swarmed in around my friends like bees in no time. Glad, they left me alone. I was busy scouting the area in the hope of finding baby coconuts. Poor Bob and Elaine..they had to put up with those prying kids though they seemed to enjoy the attention they were getting.

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As requested for posting by my dear friend.

I enjoyed going to the beach in the early morning (5:30 AM)to avail of the catch of the day and to take photos of the beautiful Puraran sunrise. The above photos were taken when the fishermen were just getting back from their fishing trip.

While still in bed, half awake, I glanced at the sky through the window and saw this beautiful golden cloud formation. I got up quickly and walked out on the deck with my camera in tow.


I hung around for a while after I purchased the fish and took these last two photos. One good thing about digital camera, you can take as many pictures as you want and delete the ones you don’t like. If I get one good picture out of 10 shots, am a happy camper.

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My husband had been fishing offshore in Puraran and had had no luck. He was getting frustrated so I arranged a fishing trip for him with one of the local fishermen in the area. He left at 5:30 AM and came back with 3 huge dorados aka mahi-mahi after 3 hours. He said, dorado was fun to catch. It is a powerful and strong fish and dances on its tail on the surface when reeled.

We fixed several scrumptious dishes out of mahi-mahi. Mahi-mahi is wonderful just about any way you want to prepare it. Pan-fried mahi-mahi, coated with flour, was, by far, the best.

My Japanese friend who came with us on this trip fixed a sashimi dish out of fresh dorado. It was so good! She brought some seaweed wrappers, wasabi, and vinegar straight from the US to make some sushi dishes. It was surely a treat though my relatives were not brave enough to even try it unlike me who ate quite a bit and so was the male Japanese tourist. Yum! I didn’t realize fresh dorado makes good sashimi dish. Another equally sumptuous dish prepared by our driver was the pickled dorado. It is perfect for hours de ouvres.

As early as 5:30 AM, I would head down to the beach to wait for fresh catch of the day. I avoided freezing fish. To maintain the delicate flavor of newly caught saltwater fish, I had the fish clean and cook right away and I kept some in the refrigerator for dinner. Hmmm, fish tasted so much better. I just had to control my appetite for fear of gaining weight. All I did was eat, sleep, swim, and walk a little. I never lifted a finger in the house. My relations pampered us and did all the chores. Of course, I paid each one of them generously.

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Taken in Batalay beach. Before my arrival, I asked my brother to build me a hut and it took only a week to finish. We spent a great deal time boating in our inflatable boat to see the countryside. That is me in white blouse.

It has been 4 months since the super typhoon Reming ravaged our beautiful island.
Though it is starting to look beautiful and green but it will take a while for our vegetation to completely recover. This particular lot used to be covered with coconut trees loaded with baby coconuts. On this trip, I didn’t get to enjoy eating baby coconuts at all. Darn!

Batalay beach was where I spent half of my trip. This beach may not be as beautiful as Puraran beach because of the color of the sand but the water here is nice and calm and the bottom is gravelly. I didn’t have to worry about big waves. It is a gentle beach.

My village taken from atop.

The next 3 photos were taken near Puraran beach. We went further down Puraran in our rented van for sightseeing. Visited my brother who lived just several miles away. Too bad, the road isn’t completely paved,it would have cut our drving time by 2/3. On the other hand, I don’t really care if the road is paved or not because it will definitely bring a lot of changes to the province. I like it more laid back the way it is.

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While vacationing, I wandered off in the village of Puraran with my camera in tow. I took pictures that struck my fancy. The boy above caught my attention right away. He was wheeling a “kareton”, a toy made out of bamboo, which he used for transporting drinking water home.

You see how happy these kids were even with no wealth. Notice, one of them was shoeless? But, not for long as she will have her pair of sandals soon.

Out of curiosity, I followed these little kids and was amazed at my discovery…their beautiful hiding place. This is where the kids get their drinking water which they call untreated natural spring water. The moment they arrived at the scene, they made themselves comfortable by sitting on their favorite spots. I thought it was cute.

Isn’t this little girl cute? I love how I captured her beautiful smile in picture.

With all containers filled, she was getting ready to head back home, walking barefoot again on the loose gravel…just imagine that.

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