00:00What's up, OG? I'm Jeff. Welcome to Duun Baler, our keyless gated sanctuary. Tala!
00:20Hi, my name is Ken Lacinto. I'm 44 years old from Philippines. I'm a campground operator in Canada.
00:27And, hey OG, my name is Jeff. I'm also 44 years old and I'm also a campground operator in Canada, and I am from Canada.
00:37We started coming to Baler in 2013. We had traveled to some other surfing destinations as well.
00:43We visited La Union. We also visited Chiargao.
00:47But there was something about Baler, and not that the locals weren't unfriendly, but just the locals in Baler are just next level.
00:54They're just really stoked on surfing and stoked to have everybody out in the water with them.
01:00Just really laid back. Everyone seems to just love life around here. Everyone's really happy and content and upbeat.
01:07The whole vibe around Baler is unique.
01:10We started coming back year after year. Eventually, we were married right just steps away here on Sapang Beach.
01:18And the opportunity came up to purchase this place, and we couldn't let it go.
01:24We went on a cruise ship in 2010 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
01:34After a year and a half, long distance, just emails because we don't have Skype that time yet.
01:42Yeah, it wasn't a thing yet. I came to visit.
01:452011.
01:47We had a great time. Every year, I started coming back once or twice.
01:51One time, we stayed for six months, and we traveled over to Southeast Asia.
01:56And then all over the Philippines as well.
02:01I got my visa, supposed to be working in Canada that time in 2014, but they denied me.
02:10We ended up getting married here on Sapang Beach, 100 meters away from where we are now.
02:15So the design with Duon Baler, we wanted to keep it very minimalistic, sticking with the provincial life.
02:27We didn't want to overcomplicate things with the build.
02:30We wanted to build something that we could maintain and sustain.
02:35And should any problems arise, we could technically fix them with our own hands.
02:40Another important part of the design was we wanted a lot of open space.
02:43A lot of people design with the intent to bring the outdoors inside.
02:48We wanted to make people go outdoors.
02:51We wanted to have that feeling where you want to be outside.
02:55You don't want to be cooped up inside.
02:57And even the interior of the rooms are minimalistic.
02:59We don't have TVs.
03:01We want you to spend your time outside.
03:03Getting back to the provincial life, bahay kubo is so traditional in the Philippines.
03:08It really exaggerates that provincial life.
03:10So that was our first purchase, was a prefab bahay kubo.
03:15From the get-go, we were having the community involved with the build from the very beginning.
03:21Because there's 16 guys carrying our future home.
03:24So it's like bayanihan in the Philippines.
03:27It's like the culture, the old school culture.
03:29It was pretty neat to see.
03:37Jeff designed our gate.
03:40With the two helpers, the carpenters.
03:43And then we welded it so it's going to have rollers in it.
03:49Yeah, so it's a sliding gate.
03:51It's a sliding gate.
03:53Just a simple design with bamboo because we got a lot of bamboos.
03:58So we have an outdoor dining space.
04:02Jeff and I built that table as well.
04:05It's inspired in our campground as well because we eat outside all the time.
04:10And then our bahay kubo, which is the only air-conditioned in here because it gets so hot.
04:17There's no insulation inside the room.
04:20Of course, with the outdoor area where we like to sit and enjoy morning coffee.
04:25Again, keeping with being outside and airflow, we built an outdoor kitchen.
04:29Fully functional kitchen.
04:31Double gas burner stove.
04:33We have a large sink.
04:35And a full-size fridge.
04:36And then moving to the back of the kubo, we have a three-piece outdoor washroom.
04:43So we have a rain shower.
04:48And then moving towards this way, of course, we have the yoga kubo that's great to just stretch out in.
04:56Read a book.
04:58Relax.
05:00Play music.
05:02And then at night, it turns into a cinema.
05:03So you can jam out to some karaoke, which is a Filipino favorite.
05:10Then as we proceed through the yard, we will be adding some gardens, some vegetable gardens next year.
05:16However, we just didn't have any time to get there this year.
05:29And then in the back, we have the ay kubo.
05:33It's a loft style.
05:47There's two double beds in there, sleeps four adults.
05:57And we've also added a three-piece bathroom on that one.
06:00We made the shower out of bamboo, so kind of funky little bamboo shower.
06:05Toilet back there, and then again in the lavatory.
06:16We have our chicken coop.
06:18And then at the bottom of that, we have our composting.
06:22Garbage is really difficult here in Aurora.
06:24So we're trying to keep our garbage as minimal, minimum as we can.
06:32After all those composts got breaked down, we have our own fertilizer for our plants.
06:44The lot size is 300 square meters.
06:48Our bahay kubo is 10 square meters.
06:53The yoga kubo is 16 square meters.
06:57And our ay kubo is 16 square meters as well.
07:02The majority of the materials are sustainable, so we have wood, bamboo, and nipa.
07:09We did have to incorporate a little bit of concrete, but wherever we could, we wanted to use bamboo, wood, or nipa.
07:16The wood has some issues with bokok, but we tried to minimize that by again using the borax bath.
07:23And then we used the coconut husks to line the path.
07:28Those are just what we got from the beach.
07:32Oh, we have buho.
07:34Jeff and I hand weave it one by one, so it's 1,800 pieces, all in all.
07:42And then this concrete wall that we had, it's supposed to be buho as well, but they have a concrete in here.
07:50So yeah, we just make the design like that. It's easier for us.
07:56And then we also had to bring in 40 dump trucks, 30 of tambak, so a mixture of sand and gravel, to backfill.
08:06And then we topped it with 10 dump trucks of sand, because if you'll notice, the neighbors, they're about a meter below us.
08:14And storm surge, a few of the typhoons, the water has actually come up to the front of this property.
08:20So we also want her to be about a foot, foot and a half above the road, so that was important to us.
08:25My favorite area is the 8th buho, because Jeff built it.
08:30And it's so comfortable in there. It's really chill. On the night time, it's really cool.
08:35It's pretty cozy in there. I like it in there. And of course...
08:39It's also set back from...
08:41You made it. We made it, so yeah.
08:44And it's set back from the road too, so it's a little bit quieter.
08:46My favorite spot is the yoga kubo, just because I like, I always grew up, I like lying on the floor and stretching out on the floor.
08:55So it's just a nice space to kind of stretch out, relax, read a book and still be outside.
09:04Maybe, I don't know.
09:05Maybe this year or next year, we're going to put some more, like a herb garden.
09:11We wanted to have like a rosemary and thyme, so we're not going to buy it in the market.
09:16Those things that it's going to be really difficult to find.
09:19And then more plants, more fruit trees, and we're going to have a garden.
09:25Definitely a lot of vegetables next year.
09:27We do have a few fruit trees already.
09:29We have mango, avocado, we have banana, guayabano.
09:34Most of our plants that it's in here are like from our neighbors and some of it comes from our carpenter.
09:42Yeah. So the only plant we don't have right now, we don't have a lot of it.
09:47But we have a lot of it.
09:48It's from our neighbors and some of it comes from our carpenter.
09:53Yeah. So the only plant we bought that you see here is the bougainvillea at the front.
09:59Because every time we drive past the bougainvillea, Kenneth's always saying, I need a bougainvillea.
10:04So I was at the market one day and I saw the bougainvillea and I didn't want to hear about the bougainvillea anymore.
10:10So I put it in my bicycle basket and pedaled it home.
10:14Yeah, we filter all our own water. We have a Berkey water filter.
10:17So we pull water right from our deep well and then we put it through the Berkey.
10:22And then we may or may not put a pool in.
10:25We have the ocean already, so I don't think we need a pool.
10:37It's a learning process. It's nice to learn different things every day.
10:41We're learning more about each other.
10:43Exactly.
10:44Working together so closely, I think it also gave us a little more patience with each other.
10:50Yeah.
10:52I think one of the largest takeaways is though, if you really want to do something and if you have a dream, you just have to go for it.
10:58Yeah.
11:00It's amazing what you can learn as you go rather than sitting back and waiting for the right moment.
11:04There's never going to be the right moment.
11:06Today is the right moment.
11:08Today is the right moment.
11:09I would suggest to anybody thinking of following their dreams, just start. Starting is the hardest part of it.
11:16The first step is the hardest part, but after that, it's going to be…
11:20And not every day has been fun. We stopped saying that it's a hard day. We started saying it's a challenging day.
11:27Yeah, it's a challenging day.
11:29You can find us on duunbaler.com. You can also find us on Facebook, backslash duunbaler.
11:37You can find us on Insta, at duunbaler as well. And of course, you can find us on Airbnb.
11:42Airbnb, backslash H, backslash duunbaler.
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