tour of the fireflies

i've finally been able to join the tour of the fireflies!!! its my earth day contribution for this year :) a 42km "bike for clean air" ride from tiendesitas-ortigas- north on edsa-trinoma-QC circle-back to edsa-buendia-ayala-edsa-ortigas-back to tiendesitas.

at the starting line, different cycling groups converged at tiendesitas....



its a fun ride, so every year, some people come in costumes related to the environment. there were a lot girls wearing butterfly wings, people with leaves and flowers on their bikes and helmets...





and some really go all out like these guys....



there were a lot of kids and families there, too... we saw a foreign family with mom, kid and dad towing two more kids in a "trailer"


(here are the kids inside.... awww)


brave kids!



of course, my pedala guys were there - hihi....


people came out with all sorts of bikes...




we had a whole Padyak bike contingent...


and artist eng chan rode his self-made bamboo bike (complete with straw hat)- the frame is really made of actual bamboo


we had the washing machine bike displayed at the start/finish line too!

(this is where the clothes go)

(and here it is at work!)


i don't think i've ever seen our streets filled with this many bikers! there were over 5,ooo riders this year!


happy earth day!

p.s.

in relation to your alternative transportation (ferry) post, eng chan is also the artist who made those quirky bike racks around the up campus...

lapis


tuyo


kalabaw


the bike racks are part of the UP Padyak Project, which promotes biking as an alternative, more environment-friendly, and healthier means of transportation around the campus. they rent bikes out to UP students for a minimum donation of P500 per semester!

go biking!!! (my new advocacy :) )

artist's home

hey sis,

after our mall trip yesterday, i got the chance to hang out at an artist friend's home. you will love his place!

the front of a house has a large open space, with a stone water fountain and lush greens that lead to the front door....



it opens to a high ceiling space filled with eng chan's artworks, here's the living and kitchen room area....



the (HAPPY!) cloud sculpture hanging from the ceiling....


a large clock made from an old table...


coffee table made from old autoparts...


large floor lamp made from an old washing machine....



smaller floor lamps - a tall one made from a soup ladle, and a short one made from the round floating thing inside the toilet for flushing (and a vintage lamp)...



the dining room has a lamp made from an old tree root....


and eng's personal favorite (and mine too!), a lamp made from a plastic drum and recycled badminton shuttle cock canister covers.... love it!....


here's a view of the house from the large front porch window next to another of eng's sculptures.....



outdoor garden sculpture



don't you just love it?!? oh and i told him about our 2000 magnifying glasses.... hehe :)

i cannot wait to get my own space....