Mama Nadine and Asnais work on their "Go Veg" art.

Last Thursday at 2pm, the Coco Printing Shop started to fill-up with children and parents. It was the day when  our in-house artist, George, gave painting lessons  to interested guests and afterwards he also made them paint  their own shirts. For the painting lessons, George taught the eager participants various techniques  and styles in painting as well as the right combination of colors and then afterwards, he let them  try what they learned on paper.

Mama Jane and Ivy paints a portrait of a dog

After a while, around 11 children and parents started to paint their own shirt. They chose their own designs and images and with the help of George and his assistants, painted them on their shirts.

One of the youngest gets a little help from an artist

George is a very good artist and patient teacher. Aside from printing shirts, he also does  henna and permanent body tattoos. George also does portraiture and can do your portraits on canvass. When in Coco Beach, just drop by his shop and you can also get a meaningful souvenir to bring back home with you.

Rasmus, Helle and Old enjoying the fresh coconut

The Christiansen family visited Coco Beach Island Resort and had a week of relaxation and activities. Parents Ole & Helle and children Rasmus & Maria were all first timers to the Resort. A good friend of the Christiansen family who had  been here before recommended Coco Beach for their holiday vacation.
 
While here Coco beach, the Christiansens did a lot of snorkeling and enjoyed the beautiful marine life of Puerto Galera. They also went  water skiing and wake boarding. A day before they left Coco Beach, they decided to try the most daring and exciting activity in the resort…Pick your own Coconut.

(left) Rasmus proudly presents his coconut and (right) Helle coming down from climbing half-way up the tree

Although it was Ole’s idea  to do this, he had to skip picking his own coconut due to a slight injury he had while doing the water sports. But the rest of the family went ahead anyway. Helle was the first to do the climb but gave up as she was half-way  up the coconut tree. The Coco staff still gave her a big hand for a good try. Rasmus,  who was very strong and athletic was able to climb the 20-meter high coconut tree in less than a minute and was able to pick his own coconut.
 
According to Christiansen family, they really enjoyed their holiday at Coco Beach where they found the place very beautiful  and the staff very friendly and accommodating and with all the activities that they did, their vacation  was  really worth it.

Trekking Mt. Baclayan

Danish couple Freddie and Grethe are on their 3rd visit here at Coco beach while their daughter Lotte is on her 2nd time here.
 
Freddie and Grethe are in their late 50’s but they are still very healthy and strong and looking great. Everyday, they would walk from Coco Beach to the town of Puerto Galera  with Lotte and would take the boat ride back to the resort.

Lotte and Freddie gives candies to the children

Last Tuesday, they decided to trek the 3 kms long, 2 hours trekking in Mt. Baclayan to  one of the Mangyan settlements  there located approximately  1600 feet high (above sea level).  With mountain guide Edwin, they started the trek from Muelle.  Along the way, Edwin told them of the  history of the Mangyans and the seven tribes that make up this indigenous group. He also gave them a short but informative lecture on the flora and fauna of Mt. Baclayan which the family thoroughly enjoyed. Half-way up, they had a short rest stop while  enjoying the beautiful scenery overlooking Puerto Galera.

Grethe shopping for souvenirs

Then after another hour or so of  trekking they reached the Mangyan Settlement. There, they gave cookies and candies to the children and students who were are practicing their graduation songs. They also bought some native products which provides income and assistance to the Mangyans.

Admiring the fantastic view from Baclayan

The Olsens’ journey ended up in one more Mangyan Village where they ate typical Mangyan food prepared by the villagers like sweet potato, cassava, boiled banana (saba), native fern salad (pako), gabi and buko juice.
 
According to the family, they really love the Philippines, specially the Coco Beach. And they will definitely be back  again.

BBC visits the Philippines

BBC correspondent Rajan Datar made a visit to the Philippine islands and came up with these three videos.

The first is from a local teacher who shares his five free things to do in Manila which are (1) visit the cathedrals of Manila, (2) Arroceros Forest Park, (3) Malls or Mall of Asia, (4) watch the Manila Bay sunset along Roxas Blvd., and (5) Dampa Paluto. Find out why these are free and worth trying at BBC- fast:track: Global Minds

The second video asks “What is the Filipino factor?”. For this, Rajan visits the Queen City of the South, Cebu. And the third installment of their visit shows correspondent Carmen Roberts go island hopping in a week and see how many islands she’s visited over the 7,107 beautiful islands of the Philippines!

Video 1: fast:track: Global Minds
Video 2: fast:track visits the Philippines
Video 3: fast:track goes island hopping