Markus + Micah

Of course, we have to talk about eggs

Did you all have an awesome Easter holiday, friends? My very best wishes! It was really lovely for us. It was my first Easter in Germany actually, but more on that next time. I have an important job today:

I want to be the Easter Bunny, albeit a tad late, and deliver great news to Betty, Michelle, Rebecca, and Brad – your eggs are now pawikan!

Please meet your pawikan hatchlings:

My first snow fall in Germany

Snow announced April’s arrival. As if a heavenly baker started sifting powdered sugar from above, I noticed the small, feathery snow flakes descending from outside our window.

I wondered if time slowed down because I could see each dot swaying, suspended in the air for a moment, and carried off by the wind somewhere. This is my first snow here, have I told you that? And I did not expect it to be like this.

How to make your own sunshine, not a Harry Potter spell

It’s been gray three days in a row, and this gets to me rapidly, so I thought I would quickly list things that make me smile, apart from nice pink trees:

Micah’s Spring kitchen

If you follow us on Instagram, you would have seen on our daily stories how much I am enjoying cooking this season. Is it me or does Spring make everything taste better?

Crisp, fresh, and vibrant, there is plenty to love in the produce here. Our fridge cannot be any fuller! The strawberries are plump, scented, and incredibly affordable. I cannot dream hard enough for the same prices to appear in The Phillipines.

We have green sea turtles for Sean!

Some exciting news: Sean’s nest adopted for his grandson Leo surprised us by revealing themselves as the endangered green sea turtles. This is the first time we saw these babies at the hatchery. Aren’t they the cutest thing ever?

We got the news and photos this morning and I could not wait to share it with you, especially with Sean. Many thanks again for supporting the turtles! With hope, these green sea turtles will survive and roam the seas for the next 70 years or more!

Beautiful things, beautiful weekend

Let me just get this out of my chest:

Why are these cherry blossoms so pretty? How is this legal? It is as if the gods ate cotton candy and these soft, delicate blooms are the crumbs that fell from the heavens.

My brain, literally, can’t process it.

We walked at a nearby park yesterday and it was pink everywhere. For a change, I was not the only one taking photos of flowers!

Everytime I see these cherry blossoms, a flood of joy rushes through my body. They are so freaking beautiful!

Crushing hard on Spring

On our way back from the Turkish store, I saw this beautiful tree filled with white blossoms, majestic and regale, that I abruptly stopped walking and started raving – loudly, it seems, because other people on the street stopped and looked up, too.

They must think I am crazy because a tree blooming in spring is nothing but normal to them, but my heart literally stopped and I thought it was the most gorgeous thing ever.

Also, I am Asian so I am allowed to be mesmerized by the season.

Look, our hatchery is on national media!

We bring about what we think about, says the law of attraction. Well, all of you must have been thinking great thoughts about our community hatchery because the Pag-asa Pawikan Protection and Conservation Center just got featured on GMA News, one of the biggest national media outlets in The Philippines.

In behalf of the sea turtles, thank you

We vividly remember the first time we posted about our turtle advocacy last season. We weren’t sure if it was the right thing to do. Your blog friendship is more than enough for us and we didn’t know if asking for donations for the turtles crosses a line.

But Markus said, “This is about the turtles and not about us. This is a sincere grassroots project and it is not fair to take their right to support a great cause. They can decide how to take action. All we can do is speak for the turtles.”

Thank you for helping us make it the Year of the Turtle

Inspiring, empowering, humbling. These come to mind when reflecting on this year’s pawikan breeding season in our community hatchery in Pag-asa, Bagac, Bataan. The sea turtles, the hatchery and the volunteers, and the community did so well!

From around 120 nests on our first season, we have over 320 now. That is almost 8,000 eggs before, jumping to around 27,000 today. Over 300% increase! Some days, we released 500 hatchlings at a time, others over 700!