Coffee Unplugged & The Health Walk @ the 5th Balik Bukid Country Fair

Rick Jason O'Brewer at The Health Walk booth

* Yesterday, Coffee Unplugged and The Health Walk participated in the 5th Balik Bukid country fair for the first time! Everyone had a blast (including my multicab's rear tire)!

* The group has been planning to join this event for quite some time. Through the efforts of Kisig Lopez, owner of Satya Graha Cafe and Restaurant, we were able to join the event. Those who participated were OJ of Makiling Hillside Delicacies; Kisig and Angel of Satya Graha; Jason of Coffee Unplugged; and Maya of Malaya Eco Tours. Ashoka Indian Health Cuisine, Jus Right, Living Life Well, and Kaphe also sent promo materials to give away.

* Kisig, Jason, and I compiled the promo materials and put them in three hundred Health Walk Packs with free Health Walk Discount Cards to give away as part of our Mothers' Day promo. We started at around 12:30 pm on Friday and ended at 2 am the next day! Then we had to wake up at 3:30 am to set up at the fair. Jason and I picked up OJ at their house in Collegeville and then we met Kisig at Crossing. While driving in SLEX, my multicab got a flat (and shredded!) tire because our load was too heavy and I gambled not to put air in the van's tires. We had to wait for the maintenance truck to change the tire because I forgot to bring my toolbox! To add insult to injury, I got lost twice on the way to Sta. Elena which was very weird because I've been there several times! Probably my brain wasn't working anymore.

Photo by Gwyneth Williams

* Finally, we arrived at Sta. Elena Fun Farm, the venue for Balik Bukid, safe and sound. We made a lot of new friends while we were there. We were greeting people with an enthusiastic "Welcome to Los Banos...the Narnia of Laguna!" to those who came to our booth. It was Mothers' Day so my family was there to visit me. Some of my friends and batchmates from high school and college (Jenni and Mon; Gail and Ian), my teachers at UPOU, and permaculture classmates from Cabiokid (Gwyneth, Dhanny, and Django) were there as well along with Charlene Tan of the Good Food Community, a supporter of The Health Walk, and some Cafe Antonio customers who were curious to try our handmade coffees. 

* Much thanks to Jason for helping grind and brew the coffees. He was really putting so much effort grinding the coffee using the manual coffee mill. He even used the Aeropress when I was not in the booth. A true blue, CAntoneer and constant Coffee Unplugged brewer! Actually, it's our first time to serve espresso, cappuccino, and latte for Coffee Unplugged.

* Mucho thanks to the organizers of Balik Bukid for letting us join the event. We hope we can join again in the 6th Balik Bukid! More power to you guys!

* To the Health Walkers, let's volt-in ika nga ni Kisig! Gig lang ng gig!