Comments on: Alula – A fruit Basket from Tawi-Tawi, courtesy of Len Cabili

By: LizCuy

LizCuy — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 04:35:39 +0000

Hahaha, yes! Chris is my cousin and Len is my baby sister. I am a big fan and I have told my husband and two sons that if I ever saw you in person, I would muster the courage to go up to you for an autograph and a photo. I was at The Maarte Fair and hoped to see you or Mrs MM there.
Len gave me two Alulas from her trip. She told me to regularly wipe them with coconut oil as a conditioner- the oil will soften the leaves and make them pliable (and less prone to breaking/tearing); and also make them have a nice sheen.

By: Chrisb

Chrisb — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 06:16:25 +0000

Yey! Aren’t her designs just spectacular? Len is my first cousin :-) and if you didn’t know, her sister Lizzie is a longtime reader and fan of MarketManila!

By: Mimi

Mimi — Sat, 24 Sep 2016 14:22:46 +0000

My sister recently gifted me a Filip + Inna blouse from the Maarte fair. Quality linen and handmade stitching. A year ago, we had a pinukpok (abaca silk) barong made from a local designer in Sto Domingo, Albay and quality was great too. It is awesome that handmade fabrics are making a comeback and more people appreciate their value.

By: ConnieC

ConnieC — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 11:43:05 +0000

Too bad these attractive baskets don’t last long and cannot be preserved. Still they are far far better than the very ordinary and non biodegradable plastic bags that clog drainage systems or end up in garbage patches in our oceans.

By: Shan

Shan — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 08:32:37 +0000

I had quite a similar basket bought in Iloilo years back. It didn’t stayed long though. :(

By: millet

millet — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 03:31:38 +0000

oh, they’re all over the streets of jolo and bongao at this time, usually filled with lanzones and mangosteen. they’re prettier when the leaves are still green, but I’ve had two blouses stained by them. i wish there was a way to preserve them, but the leaves tend to crumble when they’ve dried out (once i thought about having them sprayed with gold paint or even bronzed, like a baby’s first shoes!). or maybe part of its appeal is its ordinariness and its temporariness.

By: ConnieC

ConnieC — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 22:04:55 +0000

Perhaps if we knew what happens to our plastic waste after we use them , we would do more recycling if not ban them all together if that is possible.

The Pacific Ocean which holds more than half of the planet’s free water, also unfortunately holds a lot of the planet’s garbage. A combination of oceanic and atmospheric currents create garbage patches much of it is not biodegradable.

The idea of the so called “garbage patch” conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. It is actually almost entirely made up of a concentration of tiny bits of plastic, called “microplastics.” Imagine a patch as an area which looks more like cloudy soup. This happens after the sun breaks down the plastics into these microbeads.

Some of the larger plastic debris from The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, end up in atolls where birds mistake them for food and end up killing them. The microplastics which also absorb toxic substances along the way end up in the ocean floor where fish and other marine life also feed on them and eventually make it to our dinner tables. Scientists recently found out fish actually like microplastics and get “addicted” to them.

For a perspective: “The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program has estimated that it would take 67 ships one year to clean up less than one percent of the North Pacific Ocean.”

https://nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

Avoiding plastic cups, bags, etc is not all. From face wash, beauty products we slather on our faces from Clinique, Dermalogica, Elizabeth Arden, Ella Bache, Neutrogena, Shiseido, etc, even toothpaste, search the ingredients list for plastic microbeads — often labeled as ‘polyethlene’. For garments, try to buy natural fibers like cotton. Plastic-based thread from polyester, acrylic and nylon also are considered microplastics. Their fibres make their way into stormwater and to the ocean.

So there, just so we know.

By: cumin

cumin — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 11:48:57 +0000

Very ingenious, MM. And thanks for pointing us to Filip + Inna, gorgeous products.

Diane, those plastic “bonsai” are eye-catching, no? Sometimes I see sidewalk vendors cut these while waiting for customers. When these first came out a few years ago, I was told prisoners made them as an income-generating project.

By: Dianne

Dianne — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 06:42:08 +0000

those plastic soda bottles fashioned into artificial bonsai ;)

By: farida

farida — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 16:51:09 +0000

In relation to what Edda Blue mentioned, there are seniors in the Southeast somewhere, I read this on FB, who are recycling plastic bags. They are crocheting them into mats for the homeless. Isn’t that something?!. Hmm, we must be a country, Philippines, that uses so much plastic. Although, some cities, like Mandaue, are starting to do away with them. There is a short video of how these plastics can affect our environment. I think this is sponsored by the City if Mandaue. I feel I should save it and show it around my town.