Tuesday, April 20, 2004

The Seamless 15-Minute About Half a Kilometer Elevated Walk in Makati Business District

The Seamless 15-Minute About Half a Kilometer Elevated Walk in Makati Business District

Have you tried this? Get out of the Ayala MRT terminal and enter at the SM gate leading to the new SM Makati. Your elevated walk starts the moment you step out of the MRT. You weave in at the Glorietta Complex (the former QUAD) and connect again to the parking across the bus terminal. Cross Makati Avenue and it's a non-stop walk up to Salcedo St. near the Makati Medical Center.

Perfect for a lunch break exercise. Complete it in less than 15 minutes one way unless you get drawn to the Makati working class you meet along the way. Major attractions are the new Glorietta Mall, the Enterprise Building and the Paseo de Roxas crossing.

How far is the distance? I got this report:

“The new elevated walkway running along Greenbelt 4/Ayala Museum connecting to the Glorietta is about 1,355 m from the corner of Dela Rosa/Legazpi toLandmark. The stretch from Landmark leading to the Ayala Center Terminal is 100m to the bottom of the stairs. It's hard to give a figure up to Park Square 1, since there are several possible routes.

  1. If you decide to go through Landmark and cross to Glorietta, take the main mall between Glorietta 2 and Glorietta 3 ("Makati Mall"), turn right and walk along the edge of the Activity Center, and then turn right again at the main mall of Glorietta 1 leading to the cinema ticket lobby, then cross to Park Square1, then that would be a distance of approximately 280m.
  2.  If you take the walkway all the way to the terminal, walk along West Drive, cross to Goldcrest and walk along Park Square Drive, then cross South Drive from Abenson to the arcade of Park Square 1 (fronting Perfect Pitch), that would be about 425m (including the stretch of walkway from Landmark down to the terminal. Estimated length of the stretch of walkway along Dela Rosa from the corner of Legazpi to the current end near Herrera is about 680m."


Catch you at the elevated walk. Also worth considering the 400 M Moro Lorenzo indoor gym at the Ateneo Loyola Heights Campus.

http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?US=0&collid=226079670103&page=1&sort_order=1

Thursday, April 08, 2004

How Safe is the Water Out There in the Wilderness?

Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2001 10:26:55 -0000
How Safe is the Water Out There in the Wilderness?

It happens to even the prepared climber that the safe water we bring runs out leaving us with no choice but to drink from the available water source in the wilderness.

To the critical ones, the drinking the water from the wilderness is considered fatal especially so if this is not filtered or boiled. For your peace of mind, what you can do is take a sample of the water and have it tested for contaminants. Remember to identify where it was taken and when so you can share the results with fellow climbers. (Much like remembering the snake or the dog when bitten by them.)

When you reach the Metropolis, have it tested for:

  1. Water Potability
  2. Total Platecount and Coliform Testing
  3. Comprehensive Micro testing

You will know if the water you drank will cause your trouble.

Testing however comes with a fee:
Water potability test is P 300.00, coliform is P 980.00 and
microtesting is P 3,000.

For microbiological testing

  1. Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) * -FTI Compound, Taguig, Tel. 823 8071 to 82 loc. 2188, 2189
  2. UP-Natural Sciences Research Institute, Southeast corner Quirino & Roces Ave, UP Campus, Diliman QC, Tel. 920 5301 to 99 loc.
  3. 6803 SGS * - Don Tim Bldg 5468 South Luzon Expressway Makati Tel. 817 6231

* also for chemical testing

For chemical testing

  1. Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC) - Ateneo Campus, Katipunan Av. QC, Tel. 924 4587, 924 4601 to 20 loc 2921
  2. UP-Institute of Chemistry CS Bldg., Diliman QC, Tel 920 5432, 920 5301 to 99 loc. 6546


We hope that someday, someone prime moves this initiative to test the water at source as a service to the climbing community. He could be working at these institutions, a scholar, a technical student or a simple hobbyist. A club and a company or the government can sponsor. What about a grant?

Sample application:

  1. Is Halcon water really safe?
  2.  Is the Pulag water source from Camp 2 pure?
  3. Can we drink the water from the Papaya River in Tarak?
  4. What about Banahaw? In the Daguldol camp site?
  5. What is the level of contamination in the Maculot water source?
  6. In Famy?
  7. Where do you get water in Makiling? In Cristobal?
  8. In your own homes and watering holes?


07nov01

Tuesday, April 06, 2004

The Outdoors in a New Light

The Outdoors in a New Light

When you escape to the outdoors and relish the experience, you wish the moment can linger a little more. Photography comes in to capture the light.

That's the message I picked up viewing about a hundred of slides presented by PALMC president and workshop lecturer Banny Hermanos in the MFPI Creative Outdoors Photography Workshop held last 3 April at the PAL Learning Center in Padre Faura.

Taken by no less than the lecturer himself, the slides dramatize graphically the module of the workshop: the basics on the principles of photography and creative effective compositions.

Banny pointed out the principles using his works in finding the center of interest; recognizing the graphic elements of design as line, shape, form, pattern, texture and color and using the visual elements of balance, proportion, scale, content, rhythm and repetition. In words, they seem overwhelming, in pictures, they are breathtaking.

On behalf of the handful of participants who showed up for the free show, we can only be grateful. Seeing the slides of Banny is already in itself a treat. When in time we ourselves create better compositions from the techniques shared, we will appreciate even more this creating the light workshop.

tochs@excite.com 6 April 2004