21 Jun, 2008
I Live in an Archipelago
Posted by teacherjulie @ 5:46 am
Shelved under Environment, Interesting tidbits, Philippines, Photo Hunters, Snapshots


Every Saturday, participants post photos based on a theme. The heme for this Saturday, June 21, 3008 is WATER.

I live in an archipelago of 7,107 islands whose number varies if it is a low tide or a high tide. I haven’t been around the different islands although I have many, many photos that tell stories about water and how it is being polluted and how is scarce here in our country even if we are surrounded by so much water. By scarce I mean we only have water flowing out of our faucets from 2pm – 9pm daily and only from the faucet outside and not from those in the bathrooms inside the house. Pathetic.

My homeschooling children blowing paper boats for a Science lesson.

That is my daughter Tania, looking at Subic Bay. I can’t for the life of me appreciate the view with those towering steels up ahead. To say that the water is now polluted is an understatement. The Americans who helped develop this place must be turning in their graves if they could see what has been done to the waters and decades-old trees that they helped preserved when they still had naval facilities here. My father used to work here with the SRF, Ship Repair Facilities and they were called the SRF Tigers :)

Blue starfish that can be seen through clear waters from this dive site called Dive Solana. Have been here twice.

Zambales

We sometimes pass by this place on the way to my parents house, 201 kilometers away, one way, whenever we get the chance to visit.

Where one can ride a boat to go see the dolphins and whale sharks

Photo above is in Baclayon, Bohol, one of the finest tourist destinations here in the Philippines. Bike in the background is hubby’s. Boats on the other side will take you to see dolphins and whale sharks playing in the waters.

This is a tribal group (which I am not sure from what tribe) whose small boats ran alongside big barges and ships to beg for money. How? People will throw money and they will either catch it using the woven sacks they are holding or dive and retrieve it under water. What is it? Most of the times, coins.Yes, such is their lives.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 5:46 am and is filed under Environment, Interesting tidbits, Philippines, Photo Hunters, Snapshots. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Permalink | 58 Comments
21 Jun, 2008 @ 6:49 am
snapcatch said:

great catch for the photohunt theme, mine’s up too hope you can drop by.

21 Jun, 2008 @ 6:59 am
Leslie said:

My goodness, that was an interesting post. ANd great photos too! :)

21 Jun, 2008 @ 6:59 am
ellen b said:

I’ve always enjoyed living by bodies of water. Your areas are beautiful. enjoy…

21 Jun, 2008 @ 9:44 am
jmb said:

What a terrible state of affairs for you. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to have such a poor limited water system. You must be constantly thinking about it. These are really interesting photos Julie. Have a great weekend.

21 Jun, 2008 @ 10:14 am
expatraveler said:

wow – what an amazing area!

21 Jun, 2008 @ 11:06 am
Rach (Heart of Rachel) said:

These are excellent photos for the theme. I remember Yohan had a science experiment using paper boats.

I went to Zambales when I was in grade school. I was fascinated with shells that move. That was the only place I saw so many shells with “inhabitants”. :)

I would love to go to Bohol in the near future. I would love to see Whale Sharks up close.

21 Jun, 2008 @ 11:08 am
Carver said:

Julie this was an excellent post. The pictures are so lovely and the problems are so terrible. I know it must be so hard to be surrounded by water but due to pollution not have enough. Very sad situation.

21 Jun, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Yen said:

Great shots! Like the first one!

21 Jun, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
marcia @ joyismygoal said:

oh those are sweet each one but i esp like the first one

21 Jun, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Barbara H. said:

That’s sad about the water being scarce and polluted. The photo of the starfish through the water is so pretty.

21 Jun, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
Randi said:

Great shots and an interesting post.

21 Jun, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
Leslie said:

I was fascinated reading about water in your post today. Excellent photos and narrative! :D

21 Jun, 2008 @ 2:26 pm
Emmyrose said:

Nice sets of pictures. Nicely done and great shots too.

Happy weekend!

21 Jun, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
eastcoastlife said:

Water from 2pm to 9pm only!? Gosh. You need lots of pails or containers to save the water for cooking and washing! *gulp*

21 Jun, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
Pat said:

Wow – beautiful photos! It is just a shame about the pollution. I have been in Morocco many summers where the water is controlled for certain times during the day. I could not imagine living like that all of the time but I suppose you have to get used to it.

Have a great weekend!

21 Jun, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
Sandy said:

What a wonderful place to live….except for polllution. Love your photos.

21 Jun, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
Patricia (Pollywog Creek) said:

What an interesting post, Julie. I am sorry to hear about the shortage and pollution of the water, though. We have water restrictions here, but nothing like what you have. I cannot imagine not having running water 24/7. (((((Hugs)))))

21 Jun, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
photomommy said:

Great photos!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

21 Jun, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
JC said:

Great shots. We aren’t doing our environment any favors, that’s for sure…

Good, thought provoking post!

21 Jun, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
sassy mom said:

I Love the pics. teacher julie!

Happy weekend!

22 Jun, 2008 @ 12:24 am
Karen of Sillymonkeez said:

I love the photo of your daughter looking out at the water. Thank you for taking the time to share these photos and to tell us about your home.

22 Jun, 2008 @ 1:25 am
Carin said:

Julie you live in a wonderful place. Thanks for sharing these lovely photo’s.

What are those steel things in the distance?

22 Jun, 2008 @ 1:33 am
annamanila said:

I love best the photos of the paperboats and the starfish. Tania’s picture too. Btw, do you know I won a bet because of Tania? hahaha Ask Chats about it.

22 Jun, 2008 @ 3:27 am
Sue said:

Great pics, and what a fun science lesson :)

22 Jun, 2008 @ 2:50 pm
SnoopyTheGoon said:

Great water shots!

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely day!

22 Jun, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
Lynn said:

Julie, I love that blue starfish!

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:37 am
julie said:

Thanks.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:40 am
julie said:

Thanks, Leslie :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:41 am
julie said:

Thanks Ellen, these are a bit far from where we live but we try to go visit these when we can :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:44 am
julie said:

So true, JMB, we have to rush home from work (good thing I am just out 3 days/week) so that we can still get our supply. We have lots of big containers. Problem with this is really population and a lot of illegal connections by the shanties living on the other side of the village.Sigh.

Thank you.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:45 am
julie said:

Thanks, ET :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:50 am
julie said:

Rachel, ay so true, one of the photos I featured too for the PH, the one with the crab, sa Zambales din yun.

I hope you would be able to go visit Bohol. The one where you can ride the boats is Baclayon, where my late FIL was parish priest and he also built a school there. Hubby’s relatives are Boholanos.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:53 am
julie said:

SO true Carver, re our water supply,there is also a problem wit so many people and so little water to distribute. Not to mention the illegal connections made by the shanties on the other side of the village where we live.

Thanks.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:54 am
julie said:

Thanks, Yen.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:56 am
julie said:

Thanks, Marcia :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 10:59 am
julie said:

Thanks, Barbara. You know we always have to rush home to be able to get our supplies. Most of the time we get home after 8pmdue to rush hour. Sometimes my daughter who goes home ahead of us does this chores but it takes time away from her studying her lessons.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 11:01 am
julie said:

Thanks, Randi :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:02 pm
julie said:

Thanks you, Leslie :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
julie said:

Thanks,Emmyrose :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
julie said:

ECL, we do have a lot of containers and pails. We have been experiencing this for years and through it all, I must say that the children learned to conserve water. If its any consolation at all. So very third world.

thanks :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
julie said:

Yes, Pat, we have gotten used to it and if its any consolation, the children know the importance of water and know how to conserve water.

Thanks :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:46 pm
julie said:

yes, Sandy, pollution is not only due to population but due to greed too.

Thanks.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
julie said:

We are used to it Patricia but still it is quite a nuisance at times.If its any consolation, the children have learned how to conserve water and learn how to value water.

thanks.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
julie said:

Thanks for the visit too :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
julie said:

Thanks JC :)

By the way I read up on the tutorial page you had in the post.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
julie said:

Thanks, Salen :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
julie said:

Thanks too for visiting and congratulations on signing up for the PPP :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
julie said:

Thanks Carin.

I do not know what those things are, not sure if there are oil deposits there, but I think not. These are mostly foreign companies exploiting out waters and why the government allows them to do so is way beyond me.

23 Jun, 2008 @ 1:01 pm
julie said:

Oh, you have to tell me about that AM :) Ano kaya yun? Tinanong mo about her parentage? :D

23 Jun, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
julie said:

Thanks, Sue :)

23 Jun, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
julie said:

Thanks STG :)

24 Jun, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
raqgold said:

oh dive solana :D kelan kaya kami makakabalik dun? hubby wants to try bohol next time.

25 Jun, 2008 @ 2:08 am
Weng said:

thanks for the tour, julie! i’ve always wanted to go to bohol. sana matuloy din someday. :) i make paper boats for abby…and paper planes, too. hee hee.

26 Jun, 2008 @ 9:16 am
lei said:

hopped here. ganda po ng blog mo, interesting and worth reading. link po kita ha. thanks. :)

29 Jun, 2008 @ 11:15 am
julie said:

Raq, there are a lot of Germans in Bohol and some of them are staying there for good na.

You will love it there, the province of my hubby.His relatives live in Tagbilaran and the beautiful island of Panglao.

29 Jun, 2008 @ 11:20 am
julie said:

Thanks, Weng. Haven’t been there since 2003. Much as I want to, we don’t have anyone to mind the house. Tsaka expensive (sa fare) because there are 5 of us who will travel :)

No problem with the place to stay since MIL has an almost empty house there and hubby’s paternal relatives have a huge, almost empty too, house in Panglao.

29 Jun, 2008 @ 11:22 am
julie said:

Thanks, Lei. Hope you can come back to visit again :)

1 Nov, 2008 @ 12:06 am
teacherjulie.com » Blue Waters of Zambales said:

[...] have already written in another Photo Hunt post (water) about the Philippines being an archipelago with 7,107 islands, surrounded by water. Island [...]

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