Reminiscing About Antipolo Earth Fest 2011: Earth Cafe

Earth Fest 2011 wasn't all about workshops, concerts and shopping. As you, dear readers, probably expect from me, it's one huge hunger game wherein Lakapati and I and our enzymes emerged as happy victors. Mother Earth is the only planet in this universe that grows mouth-watering provisions like vegetables, fruits and chocolates, hence, we earthlings have a reason to celebrate unceasingly.

And so we stuffed ourseves silly with goodies from Earth Cafe throughout our stay in Pinto Art Museum. Lakapati had been egging me to try Laya's 6-meal course of living food, but the P1,000 tag price made the raw foodist angel and meat-loving devil perch on each shoulder for so long until I officially missed the chance to experience their offering. If my memory serves me right, interested parties must confirm before 18:00. Now that both Earth Cafe and Laya had closed operations as Chef Ricci and his wife Irene had moved to the United States, you have no idea how regret tastes like.

So I shall attempt to move on by looking back. This gastronomic experience, I recall, was the last delightful feast I gifted myself before my decision to end my beautiful-yet-harmful friendship with red meat days later. It was the start I needed. Truly, the earth's abundance never tasted this good!

Spicy eggplant puree with cilantro pesto

Thai tomato basil soup with lime cilantro cream

Grilled veggies sandwich

Coconut & cashew-crusted tofu in ginger honey with organic red rice

Grilled spice-crusted free-range chicken strips with Asian-style slaw in ginger soy dressing

Me and my iced honey soy latte

 

 Honey soy latte

Dark chocolate with black pepper tart

Cashew mango kesong puti spring rolls with table cream cheese dip

Also, the cafe served green smoothies! Too bad we have no photos to prove it.

Aside from these, we also feasted on Marie Gonzalez of Kitchen Revolution's samples during her demo that Sunday. To my surprise, me and my big smile made a cameo apperance on her recollection how the Earth Fest went! Check this out!

Photos by Lakapati Basa.

Reminiscing About Antipolo Earth Fest 2011: Qi Gong

My best friend Lakapati never had a hard time persuading me to spend the weekend in the highlands to celebrate the Earth Day(s) last year. And I wasn't being the typical kaladkarin best friend ha. After making a quick scan of the parade of talks, workshops, concerts and merchants that await us in Pinto Art Museum, I was immediately consumed with immense excitement and thirst for new learning. They had me at zumba, yoga and qi gong.

If my [poor] memory serves me right, we both arrived in the museum Saturday morning right after the yoga workshop. Zumba class followed  next, but I found myself marveling at the revamped artspace. I went looking for the artifacts that used to stand here and there and I took it upon myself to describe to Lakapati its erstwhile appearance during my first visit in 2009. Change is always good and I'm so grateful how the curator and the other people behind it made sure it was splendid.

The following day, we were very early and got lucky to catch the qi gong demo. I wasn't really sure how it was different from tai chi, but I was convinced regular practice can help balance the chi, calm this restless mind of mine and...and...and tap the hard-to-reach realms of awareness so I can reach my full potential (ok, I got that from Google search).

The demo begins!

Qi Gong with the master, Mrs. Henrietta S.M. Rosana

The Qi Gong group in Antipolo performed to the soothing music during the demo, then invited us to follow their example. They made us stretch our arms, reach the lower limbs and make formations in slow motion. All those while we align our movements with our breaths. It sounded like yoga, it looked like tai chi and it felt like both combined. There were challenging poses that made me embrace fear again for my weak knees, but my mind fought such  negative thoughts. I was so distracted that I hardly noticed Lakapati documenting my practice. Where did my cam-readiness go?

Although I prefer fast-paced dancing for workouts, I find this qi gong session equally enjoyable. I actually broke into beads of sweat and felt stretched and thirsty afterwards.

It's been a year since I had this lovely experience and I feel bad that I had no chance to do a follow-up. I remember how my yogini best friend Grace raved how yin yoga (slow) complemented her ashtanga yoga (active) practice and how it helped her open her hips and other body parts. I imagine qi gong would promise the same benefit. Now where to take qi gong classes?

All photos by Lakapati.