Silent Garden News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php Copyright 2010, The Silent Garden Team The Silent Garden Team en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 Sorry, we have Power Problems http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100312-183155
Unfortunately, Mindanao has big problems producing electrical power.
At this very moment the production is 50% below the power we need. This means, that we are cut off 8 hours and more per day.

In the evening and during the night you may hear the hum of the generators. Hmm, for those who have one.

President Arroyo has ordered Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to tap available power plants and embedded generators of the private sector in Mindanao and speed up the repair and completion of transmission projects in the area to remedy the power crisis in the South, according to local media on Friday.

In her memo, the President said the National Power Corp. (NPC) and Alto Power Management Corp. should resolve the additional 5.5- megawatt unit at the Southern Philippines Power Corp., a 50- megawatt bunker oil powered plant in Alabel, Sarangani province. She said the 100-MW Iligan Diesel Power Plant should resume operations.

The 4 power barges in Navotoas cannot be used because of disputes between bankers and owners.

We try to stay in contact. We now have a diesel power generator. But we do not know if SMART and GLOBE can transmit our messages.

We wish you a happy weekend.

]]> Visayan News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100312-183155 The Silent Garden Team Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:31:55 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=03&entry=entry100312-183155 Kiteboard Tour Asia - 4th stop over Bulabog Beach in Boracay http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100312-173348 4th stopover of KTA ( Kiteboardtour Asia) at Bulabog Beach in Boracay…

The start of the race course looked like a swarm of butterflies. Competitors at the start: Mallory de la Villemarque (North/Ion), Florian Daubos (Naish), Bobo Corniel (EH) und Robin Snuggs (Flexifoil/Ion)


Butterflies?


Like flying? Do it at windsurfasia.com


Like surfin'! Do it at windsurfasia.com
]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100312-173348 The Silent Garden Team Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:33:48 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=03&entry=entry100312-173348 Nicole is 18 ! http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100228-053327 Yesterday evening a wonderful birthday party had been celebrated at the Villa Caceres in Naga-City (Bicol).

But pictures say more than a thousand words...







]]> Editors Blog http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100228-053327 The Silent Garden Team Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:33:27 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100228-053327 Brown is beautiful http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100227-102305

Would you want to see these beautyful girls "whitened"?

Binay said beauty-product firms were “distorting the concept of beauty by pushing the use of whitening and other cosmetic products.”

While Caucasians would flock to our beaches to get a tan, he said, many Filipinos would use whitening products hoping to get a lighter complexion.

Read the full Inquirer article here!

Cosmetics firms had been selling their products by “subliminally promoting distaste” for our natural brown complexion, Binay said.

“Unfortunately, those who cannot afford the high-end [whitening] products resort to using inferior substitutes which contain toxic substances,” he added.

Read also here!

[Ed's note: We fully agree!]]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100227-102305 The Silent Garden Team Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:23:05 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100227-102305 Balangay in the Port of Benoni (Camiguin) http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100221-011931 Two Balangays could be seen recently in the port of Benoni, Camiguin Island.

The Balanghai or Balangay is the boat used for more than 2000 years by the Filipinos. It is this boat that gave the name to the Barangay, the smallest political entity in the Philippines.

The Balangay is large enough to transport all the people of a small rural Baranagay.



The Balangay is only found in the Philippines where a flotilla of such prehistoric wooden boat exists throughout the world. Nine specimens were discovered in 1976 in Butuan City, Agusan Del Norte, Mindanao and 3 of them have been excavated. Examination and extensive investigation reveals that the extant boats found in the excavation site date back to 320, 990 and 1250 AD.



For more information: See here!
]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100221-011931 The Silent Garden Team Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:19:31 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100221-011931 Extreme weather conditions in the Philippines http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100219-001256
Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino in Northern Luzon; Bulacan and Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon; Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, and Romblon in the Mimaropa area; Masbate in Bicol; and Antique, Guimaras and Negros Occidental in Western Visayas and the western coast of Mindanao are drying up.

On the east coast of Mindanao, the Caraga region is reportedly experiencing frequent rains and fears for flashfloods as rivers continue to swell.



See also our real-time weather maps
]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100219-001256 The Silent Garden Team Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:12:56 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100219-001256 Melai Cantiveros is the Winner of Pinoy Big Brother http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100214-012431 Melai Cantiveros was proclaimed the Big Winner during the "Big Date on the Big Night" of Pinoy Big Brother Double Up held earlier tonight, February 13, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.



The third season of Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) called "Clash of 2010" will start this summer.]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100214-012431 The Silent Garden Team Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:24:31 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100214-012431 Early summer in the Philippines http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100206-063740
The Amihan (northeast monsoon), bringing fresh air from the plateaus of the snowy region of Asia and the Himalaya, usually turns to Habagat (southwest monsoon), coming over the southwestern Pacific, in April or May.

See also our Climate page.

El Niño is the unusual warming of ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific and is characterized by below normal rainfall.


The weather bureau said it is expecting a long dry summer this year due to the prevailing El Niño. It also warned of the possibility of temperatures rising and staying at 36 degrees Celsius over several days during the summer season.

An official of the Department of Agriculture said that at least 23 provinces would be hard hit by El Niño in the coming months. The total agricultural production losses would be from P8 billion to P9 billion in a mild (El Niño), while damage in a severe dry spell could reach up to P20 billion

]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100206-063740 The Silent Garden Team Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:37:40 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100206-063740 South Phoenix Airways http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100205-060108 South Phoenix Airways will soon launch domestic flights between Iba, Zambales and Metro Manila
The airline is looking at a minimum of three daily flights, three times a week. The route will shorten travel between Metro Manila and Iba to only 20 minutes.

South Phoenix’s Scheduled Commuter Flight Operations utilize YS-11 sixty (60) seater Turbo-prop aircrafts based in Zamboanga city and caters to the country’s backdoor traffic (traders and Overseas Filiipino Workers) linking Southern Philippines to the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area) region.

The network today is composed of:

VISAYAS
Cebu, Bacolod, Kalibo, Dumaguete, Tagbilaran,

MINDANAO
Butuan, Bislig, Camiguin, Cotabato, Dipolog, Pagadian, Iligan, Jolo, Tawi-tawi

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
Labuan, Brunei, Sandakan and Sabah, Malaysia



See here for more information about South Phoenix Airways
]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100205-060108 The Silent Garden Team Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:01:08 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100205-060108 Cebu Pacific back in Caticlan ? http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100204-141922 Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) announced today in the Manila Bulletin that they resume Caticlan operations starting March 1, 2010, after an almost 7-month hiatus from flying to the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, the gateway to Boracay.

According to a CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) memo dated January 25, 2010, CEB aircraft can now take off both ways in the Godofredo Ramos Airport runway. In the event of unavoidable airport conditions, flights to Caticlan may still be diverted to Kalibo.

Starting March 1, 2010, CEB will gradually reintroduce its Caticlan flights into service, beginning with the transfer of four Manila-Kalibo and one Cebu-Kalibo flights to Caticlan.

The airline expects to resume full Caticlan operations by March 28, 2010, with 11 Manila-Caticlan Manila flights and 1 Cebu-Caticlan-Cebu flight daily. This gives CEB the most number of airline seats to and from Caticlan.

And when will SEAIR come back to Camiguin? ]]> Visayan News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100204-141922 The Silent Garden Team Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:19:22 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100204-141922 No milk today ... http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100204-060015 No milk today "?

No milk today, my love has gone away
The bottle stands forlorn, a symbol of the dawn
No milk today, it seems a common sight
But people passing by don't know the reason why
(...)

This is what we sing these days on Camiguin Island. Milk is out of stock everywhere! And cornflakes with milkpowder for breakfast is a bit dry...

Let's hope that the milkman finds again a ferry to Camiguin.]]> Editors Blog http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100204-060015 The Silent Garden Team Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:00:15 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100204-060015 Weak earthquake in Baguio http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100202-031931
The weak tremor happened around 5:20 a.m., with the center traced in San Manuel, Pangasinan, northeast of Dagupan City.

The quake which was tectonic in origin was also felt in Clark in Pampanga.

Phivolcs recorded no aftershocks or significant damaged caused by the quake. ]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100202-031931 The Silent Garden Team Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:19:31 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100202-031931 Thank you for visiting us http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100201-031828 silent-gardens.com website.

In January 2010 you have again been more than 1400 visitors every day.

You came from:
1 United States of America
2 Philippines
3 Switzerland
4 Australia
5 France
6 Japan
7 Germany
8 Sweden
9 Netherlands
10 Canada



]]> Editors Blog http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100201-031828 The Silent Garden Team Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:18:28 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100201-031828 3 tectonic earthquakes within 8 hours http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100201-010735
The first quake with a magnitude of 5.5 happened at midnight southeast of General Santos. The epicentre laid only 4km deep.

The second one with a magnitude of 3.7 shook one hour later in San Carlos (Pangasinan). Its epicentre was in depth of 141km.

And the third one happened at 7:25 in the morning again southeast of General Santos. It had a depth of 198km and a magnitude of 4.8.

Only the las earthquake could be felt in and around General Santos.
None of the quakes caused any damage.

The Philippines is prone to earthquake occurrences as well as volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its geographic location within the Pacific Ring of Fire.

]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100201-010735 The Silent Garden Team Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:07:35 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=02&entry=entry100201-010735 Two-year ban on tuna fishing http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100129-062545
On the one hand this ban should allow the tuna to partially recover from overfishing.

On the other hand, there will be over 100'000 fishermen without work in southern Mindanao. This ban may push General Santos City into deep social problems. General Santos City is the Philippines tuna capital.]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100129-062545 The Silent Garden Team Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:25:45 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=01&entry=entry100129-062545 Earthquake in Bicol Province http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100128-092846 Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100128-092846 The Silent Garden Team Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:28:46 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=01&entry=entry100128-092846 Fery full? Not always! http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100127-103049
Sorry, the ferry is full! Oh no, we have a ticket and have to go now!


Pinoys do not know the word IMPOSSIBLE.


And a last lift!


Done! Who said, that the ferry was full?


PS: We took another ferry...]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100127-103049 The Silent Garden Team Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:30:49 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=01&entry=entry100127-103049 New Disembarkation Card http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100113-142703 The Philippines Bureau of Immigration has introduced a new disembarkation card for international passengers.

The new card has was introduced on January 1st, 2010 and is called A/D card (arrival/departure card).
It seems, that this new card is machine-readable.

It also seems that not all airlines have yet received the new cards. Passengers of these airlines get the new card at NAIA, the International Airport of Manila.

As soon as we can get one of these new cards, we will publish a picture.
Meanwhile we have updated our visa page and publish the new visa extension fees.]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100113-142703 The Silent Garden Team Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:27:03 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=01&entry=entry100113-142703 Mayon Volcano http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100113-072928 PHIVOLCS today lowered Mayon's Alert from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2.

Main reasons are:


The lack of remarkable seismic events, such as harmonic tremors, suggests no active transport of magma to shallow levels.

The Mayon volcano returns to a deflated state, suggesting that no pressure build-up has taken place and reflect a general static condition of residual magma in the volcanic pipe and beneath the crater.

The decrease in concentration of SO2 gas emission indicates that no active magma intrusion is occurring beneath the volcanic edifice.

No ash ejections were observed since 29 December 2009. Steam emission was most of the time weak to moderate and white in color indicating considerable decrease in energy. Crater glow remained visible to the naked eye at night possibly due to the still-hot residual magma beneath the crater.

We therefore terminate our updates of Mayon volcano until new activity is reported.



]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100113-072928 The Silent Garden Team Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:29:28 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=01&entry=entry100113-072928 Mayon Volcano http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100111-131645
In their bulletins 24 to 29, PHIVOLCS found a steadily decrease of activity. There are still some tremors (4 to 6 in 24 hours) and one or two steam clouds per day.

The inhabitants are allowed to go back to their houses but Alert Level 3 is still maintained.

Falling lava rocks are still encountered and last night a glow of the lava dome in the crater could be seen.



If Mount Mayon calms down, the next active period would occur in June 2011. During the last decades this volcano showed increased activity in a 18 months rhythm.

But do as I do, believe only in the statistics you forged yourselves. :-u

We track all the volcanoes in the Philippines. For minor updates (activity without immediate danger) please see here: Philippines Volcanoes]]> Philippine News http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100111-131645 The Silent Garden Team Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:16:45 GMT http://www.silent-gardens.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=01&entry=entry100111-131645