Childhood Christmas Memories

A Riddle of Time

       What is it that lives only a year; all the world celebrates on its birth, and near the end of its life, people are exchanging gifts and singing joyful songs?

         
I caught the eyes of my lovely little girl sparkling with excitement and awe.  

Hannah Blaze just turned four last May.

It is her first time to see colorful lights and shiny balls in silver, gold, red and blue; displayed in plenty at the mall.  I watched Blaze as she ran from Christmas tree to Christmas tree.

Christmas carols filled the air, I said to myself, “I was just like her 40 years ago.” Oh, it seems just yesterday.  I just allowed her to enjoy.  Keeping my eyes on her, I begun to miss my childhood days.

    
Those happy days at Mindoro, just remain a sweet memory in me.  Every year, our elder brothers and sisters would come from Manila to spend Christmas and New Year at home.  We have new toys from ate Lucy who happened to work at INCON, a factory that makes toys. We have new shoes, clothes and plenty of food.  It was a yearly family reunion during Holiday Season.  Tatay Floro would do necessary repairs to make the house ready, and Nanay Daring would buy new curtains and table cloth as she used to do every year.  So, as it was almost two weeks of vacation, we had good time walking together in barrio roads and visiting homes of our relatives.  We play basketballs, go swimming at the nearby shore, or play scrabble at times, which Nanay Daring excels in vocabulary.  It was fun time at night when we cook suman and roast chicken.

         Life grows, life goes. Now, I have  my own family and a home that loves the Lord and love each other. To  Honeylyn, my sweet wife, and to me, The Lord gave four kids.  Christine Mae, Niel Jabez, Hannah Blaze here, is our third child, and Hesham Uriel.

       

One calendar will once again be taken away, and another will fill its place. How nice it is to see our children grow.  Thank God for these children that He adds to our life.

      







              

Facinated with Super Kalan

Motivation to Work

Nov. 11, 2012

       There was a successive price increase of LPG on the year 2010.  So I was encouraged to set up a forced-air charcoal stove in our kitchen.  I enjoyed it so much, thinking of the considerably bigger amount that I was able to cut from our budget. Seeing that there are variety of models of charcoal stove, being sold in the market, I begun to venture on improving my own design.  Until one day near the end of 2010, a friend mentioned to me about syngas.  I immediately look it up in the internet. Beginning then, I guess I have exhausted every available design of any kind of syngas production projects, ranging from simple one to highly scientific.   My line is here in the most simple biomass gasifier cook stove.  I had been surfing on the wood-gas camp presentations.  There are close to a hundred different designs of cook stove which are called microgasifier.   This bunch of microgasifiers has two major classifications, namely: Gasifier Stove and Rocket Stove.

             Syngas is produced from combustion in an oxygen starved environment.  It is actually carbon mono oxide, which is combustible. That is why Gasifier Stove is originally operated by natural convection.  Its makers are in resistance to the use of blower.  The invention of it fascinated many.  The type I like most is the Lucia Stove. Although, cooking with it has something that is inconvenient the part of the user.  It is using wood pellets or wood chips as fuel.  Rocket Stove came into existence as a product of continuing effort to eliminate hassles encountered in the operation of the Gasifier Stove. Rocket Stove may be coined quasi gasifier, yet it is competitive, because it uses cheaper fuel (preparation wise), and easier to manage when cooking.   

 

          This is my questions: If these stoves are really fine alternative and cheaper than LPG and electric stoves, why is it that not so many homes are using these?  I engaged my self, in almost two years of experimentations and observations.  I found many factors that makes these stoves unfriendly to the user.  I made adjustments.             
          
           finally I come up wih two-burner stove design.   I thank the Lord for challenges and enjoyment there is, while doing this project. 







                 

Improved Biomass Cookstove

Biomass Cook Stove

           Developing an improved biomass cookstove has a long history in our kitchen. I first started on putting an over-the-roof propeller, empowering the blower for the wood stove. That was on the year 2005.  Then I saw my friend bought a charcoal stove with a built in electric blower.  I was so fascinated with it, specially that it cost P3,500.00.  I immediately constructed one for our own kitchen.  I designed it different from what I saw.  Its blower assembly is 12 volts powered, and the stove is not fully dependent on blower because it operates even during brown outs, and it is much cheaper in construction cost. This design was in use in or kitchen for over two years, until I heard about syngas.  My first venture of construction was on November 26, 2010 and for over a year, I literally worked on designing a model that can be in the market as an alternative to LPG fuelled stoves.  Daily am working on developing a perfect one.  If I am not cutting thin cans, I may be sketching a design or searching in the WEB.  My question is: If syngas is really an alternative to LPG, or even replacement to it, why is it that it is seldom found in use in the kitchens? So my goal is to construct a form, and see it being widely use in the Pilipino kitchen and being sold in the markets.  For that so long a time, I am still in the process of observations and adjustments. I could see that a design will come out to realize my goal.