Markus + Micah

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!

How not to spend the holiday season

At my parents’ house, before it all went down

‘Twas the most wonderful time of the year: We flew all our Christmas presents from Germany, spent Christmas Eve together with my family, had lots of nice food, and visited our elders on Christmas Day. The warmth of the holidays started to lift our spirits after crashing into The Philippines… until Markus had chills late on the 25th, followed by a high fever.

I cannot describe how I felt when I read the thermometer. Markus never gets sick randomly, in fact, he has never gotten ill since we met. I thought this could only mean one thing and my head immediately fell down the rabbit hole.

Our Amazing Race experience of traveling back to The Philippines during this pandemic

Micah and I made it to The Philippines! We have been here since December 1 and it honestly seems like a small miracle that it actually happened. If you have been wondering about our inactivity, this was mainly why. What follows is a recounting of our experience; if you are looking for official guidelines on how to travel to The Philippines during the pandemic you can find up-to-date advisories here.

After months of anxiety-inducing preparation that included almost not finding any more (remotely affordable) flights, not knowing if Micah’s new passport would arrive on time, uncertainty about even being able to travel to The Philippines from Germany after the emergence of the Omicron-Variant and countless smaller issues, it was almost time for us to fly out.

Who are you in another life?

In the book The Midnight Library, the main character explores alternative versions of her life, new realities only possible had she made different choices and pursued other paths. Isn’t it an interesting concept?

Who would you be if you decided on a different major, partner, hobby, or city? How different would your life be if you went for another opportunity where your life forked previously? How would your relationships look like if you chose the alternative? Would you even like this version of yourself?