I’m Ichay M. Bulaong. I hold a day job in the concrete jungle of Makati and live for weekends when I’m on or by the water in San Teodoro, Mabini, Batangas with my husband, Raul, (another corporate warrior) and our 2 daughters- Marina, 19, a film student, and Mariel, 13, who’s in 2nd year high.
My parents, Romy and Nenita Mendoza, instilled in my 5 siblings and me a profound love of nature and sports, spending weekends and summers in the beach or traveling around the Philippines, and engaging in various outdoor activities.
There’s been so much hype about global warming lately and my reaction has shifted from ignorance (carbon what?), to indifference (the destructive effects will not be felt by my generation), showing off (I’m now segregating my trash. Are you?), and resignation (I am just 1 person). But thanks to people like Al Gore and articles such as this who have translated a lot of the goobledygook into something I understand, I’ve realized the enormity of the climate problem and, most importantly, what I- one person- can do.
My family and I have a second home called Pugad in San Teodoro, Mabini, Batangas where we spend weekends and whenever we’re not at work or school. Pugad has become an integral part of our lives- our sanctuary, our little peace of heaven. Through the years, we have come to know the local residents- wonderful simple people who have welcomed us into their community- and we have always tried to “give back” to them in any way we can.
With Luntian Bags, I am able to fulfill 2 things- do my little bit for the environment AND run a livelihood program in San Teodoro as well. See this post.
I think I’m quite successful in my corporate world but sewing bags and selling retail are definitely not in my resume and starting Luntian Bags has been a challenge- braving Divisoria, a place I never frequented before, through rain or shine to buy materials (I used to follow my Mom’s maid like the blind till we got to the cacha place; I’m proud to say I can now venture to Divisoria on my own); making sense out of sewing patterns; dealing with mananahis who speak their own language (I now know what a bar tac is); and most of all, doing all this while running a company and raising 2 teenagers and a husband who acts like 1.
Many lessons have been learned- I’ve been tricked by a cacha vendor who sold me inferior material; once had 50% rejects due to printing smears; and for a while had no production because the mananahis can’t sew when it rains due to leaking roofs.
But corny as it may sound, this project has been adding so much passion into my life. I am not out to save the world but if I can make a bit of a difference, then I consider myself fulfilled. I am just one person.
You may contact me at ibulaong@gmail.com and/or (63-918) 914-0446.
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hi ichay– happy to “find” you again after soooo many years! and so much happier to realize you have found passion in what you do outside the corporate jungle. was actually brainstorming last year with one of my friends how to start a livelihood project for a community but have not found the time and extra energy to get away long enough from my “hospital jungle”… so happy for you! hopefully i’ll be able to find fulfillment being another person making a bit of a difference in some other way besides serving in the hospital…
Comment by melissa October 1, 2007 @ 4:22 pmMelissa, great hearing from you and talking to you, too, and thanks for your interest in my bags! I visited your blog- I enjoyed it very much
Comment by Ichay October 4, 2007 @ 2:52 amHi Ichay, Congratulations! You will surely make a big difference in this world. I salute you! Such a noble cause! I will try to help you as much as I can through spreading the word in any way I can. I have read too in DENR EMB (Environmental Management Bureau) the worsening problem of waste management in our country, so I have been trying to make an effort to do something in my own little way starting at home. We also mandated the hotels that we are managing to implement the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act which includes waste segregation.
Comment by Hermie October 4, 2007 @ 10:11 pmThanks, hermie, for the encouraging words
Comment by Ichay October 5, 2007 @ 2:52 amhi ichay! thanks for delivering the 6 bags yesterday (15th October 2007)..i love them and i’m sending some to my sister in Portland, OR and my friend in Las Vegas,NV.
I prefer the Large-sized Luntian Bags
Kudos!
Comment by boots saret-luna October 15, 2007 @ 9:45 pmMay, I’m so glad you love you the bags. Thanks for the order and keep them coming!
Comment by Ichay October 15, 2007 @ 11:00 pmHi Ms. Ich! The bags are great; the idea and the inspiration/ commitment behind it, the best!
I’ve emailed everyone on my mailing list and hope everyone who receives the link will lobby so that their companies order the corporate Christmas giveaways from you, as well.
Thanks for being an inspiration!
Comment by John Cuaycong October 16, 2007 @ 9:43 amThanks, John! And we miss you in the office!
Comment by Ichay October 17, 2007 @ 6:59 pmHi Ichay, I just saw the link to your blog from the Market Man. I think you have a very worthy project. I have bought the cacha bags of Rustan’s and Healthy Options so I can have one in my office and another one to leave in the car as my husband and I often go to the grocery during lunchtime (Glorietta is just a walkway away from our respective offices). I would like to spread the practice of NOT using plastic bags, and I would like to give them away for Xmas. How much is your minimum order to get a discount for bulk orders? Thanks and I wish you more successes.
Comment by ratacutie October 18, 2007 @ 5:10 pmhi, ichay! congrats with this great venture of saving the environment your way
what makes it even better is you’re helping a community in san teodoro.
anyway, i make and sell all-natural handmade soaps and i was thinking of giving your bag out for free to my customers who order and buy a certain quantity of my handmade soaps.
maybe we can work something out
Comment by BY NATURE October 18, 2007 @ 7:43 pmHi, BY NATURE. I just visited your site and wow I love your products! We should definitely work out something something. Just tell me what you think and I will, too. And your soaps are now in my radar for my own Christmas gifts
Thanks!
Comment by Ichay October 18, 2007 @ 8:01 pmi’m excited with just the thought!
will e-mail you now.
Comment by BY NATURE October 19, 2007 @ 8:02 amHey Ichay!
Comment by celina matias October 23, 2007 @ 8:22 pmCongratulations on your new project…Am interested to get some of these bags especially now that the holiday rush is just around the corner…don’t have your cell number…would appreciate if you can send it to me… Celina
Hello Ichay!!!!!
Comment by mae rhoades November 4, 2007 @ 10:38 amI applaud you for this challenging and worthy undertaking. You are truly making a HUGE difference in people’s lives. I want to support you on this and I will talk to Weng (sister) about ordering from you a bunch for gifts for her friends and my friends too. I will have her contact you about price and delivery. Congratulations!!! Anything I can do from here,just let me know….Mae
Thanks, Mae! Great to hear from you and thanks for the support
Comment by Ichay November 4, 2007 @ 8:49 pmhi ichay! i am so happy to discover your livelihood project! we also use cacha bags for our groceries here in Frankfurt, and i’ve thought to myself several times, the time will come when someone comes up with this idea in the Philippines. so i’m doubly happy to know it was you! congratulations, sis! good luck!
Comment by jon November 14, 2007 @ 10:11 pmHey bro! Great to hear from you and thanks! Hi to Tina and Joao
Comment by Ichay November 15, 2007 @ 6:47 amGreat job Ichay! Nice blog! Na-guilty tuloy ako cos my blog has walang katuturang travel and gimick… Anyway, your project is very very good. I shall do my best to promote it whenever i can. All the best.
Comment by Edmund VB Umali November 19, 2007 @ 2:03 pmThanks, Edmund!
Comment by Ichay November 19, 2007 @ 8:04 pmHi, Ichay!
I gave the bags i ordered from you last Christmas to my friends and family. In fact, your bag has traveled to Baguio now!
This is my way of supporting your project and my own little way of saving our planet.
Keep up the great job!
Comment by Miami Alciso-Cabansay January 3, 2008 @ 4:51 pmMiami, thanks for your support!
Comment by Ichay January 8, 2008 @ 3:37 amHi Ms. Ichay,
I’m Joseph Henry Interior Design student from PUP, I have watched you in a Sweet Life’s episode, it is about your luntian bags, I really like your project on saving our mother earth and at the same helping out fellow Filipinos. It would a pleasure for me to be a part of your team in doing that project. I can provide new designs for your new collection of luntian bags; I can do both manual drawings and computer works.
Comment by joseph henry January 10, 2008 @ 3:37 amMs. Ichay, I would like to hear from you if your office is still hiring for some talent and I’m willing to work in your team. I also insist if I can in touch with you in person so that I can show you samples of my work. You can contact me at watercolor1987@yahoo.com, 0919-3430079.
More powers to you and to your team. God bless…
hi miss ichay! got the bags today!they’re awesome!i’m so happy to have learned about you and your bags, of course. expect to hear from me soon…more orders!
thanks and God bless
nilds
Comment by nilda baguyo February 20, 2008 @ 5:03 amHi, Nilds. Glad to hear you like them
Cheers!
Comment by Ichay February 20, 2008 @ 6:01 pmHi Ichay! Glad to hear that you’re doing well. Fr. Resty spoke about you when he visited us a couple of years ago! Take care! Jhicky
Comment by Jhicky March 26, 2008 @ 12:12 pmDear Ichay,
Thank you so much for your dedication to both the livelihood program and the environment! The project is inspiring.
My husband I wanted to give our guests at our wedding a giveway that was meaningful and environmentally friendly (and not something that would be shoved into a dresser drawer afterwards). We decided to use the turtle bags as giveaways for our beach wedding in Boracay. The bags served as the perfect beach bag for the weekend and will serve as grocery bags in the future – the perfect sustainable gift for our guests!
Many thanks,
Comment by Andrea Del-Pan April 16, 2008 @ 8:59 amAndrea & Jaime
Hi Ms. Ichay, i was looking up the net for ur contact number. I was supposed to email you for an interview but i thought i lost ur email add. its just now that i found this site to contact. i emailed you as well already. I hope you can help me with my thesis which is an advocacy campaign on global warming. I am a student of UST-CFAD-Advertising. thanks -jerome
Comment by Jerome October 6, 2008 @ 7:11 pmI feel I have known you for years but truth is we have not really met except I believe I saw you from a distance from your in-laws’ wedding anniversary years back. I also asked for your contact number, remember? I am the other Mrs. Bulaong at UA&P and the ISM colleagues of Wyn Wyn and Hammett, your Anilao neighbors. Of course my husband Ben is the cousin of Raul’s dad. I now know why Cora and Totoy are so proud of Raul and Ichay!
I am interested in the idea of your bags as giveaways for my daughter’s wedding in LA. I hope she can afford it and say yes to the idea. HOW DO I GET TO SEE YOU AND THE BAGS?
Rosal Bulaong
Comment by Rosal Bulaong October 10, 2008 @ 5:28 pmHOPE I COULD BE OF HELP IN PROMOTING YOU BAGS! THAT WAY I COULD HELP MOTHER NATURE AND THOSE PEOPLE MAKING YOUR BAGS…
Comment by sloanne October 20, 2008 @ 1:57 amHi, Sloanne. Thanks for your offer! The best way for you to help is to buy the bags and promote to your friends. The more bags I sell, the more jobs my neighbors will have and the less plastic going around. Thanks!
Comment by Ichay October 20, 2008 @ 2:07 amHi Ichay and Marina,
i’ve never been adept at using wordpress.i think my thank you yesterday wasn’t posted.
Again, thank you so much for the complimentary bags. even just the card would have made my day. everything is online now and you’ve touched my heart w/ the handwritten notecard.it was the courier’s fault and not yours so nothing to be embarassed about.
Comment by orae January 8, 2009 @ 10:13 pmi really appreciate what you’re doing for mother earth and the pinoys as well.
i gave the 2 bags to our carpenter’s daughters. i am also sending 2 other bags to New York.
All the best for you and Luntian this 2009! God bless you.
i came across your bags in heart 2 heart and as a fan of reusable bags, im very interested! ill visit the echo store in serendra soon and hopefully will be carrying your bags to the grocery one of these days.
Comment by mrs lavendula April 22, 2009 @ 6:41 pmregandmitzi.wordpress.com
Hi Ichay! Ang bangis! mo talaga. As we were children in Matabungkay and Rallos as your adopted sister for a long time, her panganay according to Auntie Nita, until we fell in love with our teenage lovers who am not sure have transcended their teenhood at this time (joke), you were already extraordinarily perfect. Janelle told me of your bags last year pa but now, I really need them. As a health and well-being practitioner, our health products suppliers need your packaging! Many health product companies we endorse to our patients/clients are in need of them. Will detail the specs in my email to you. Take care, Ichay and am just so proud of you! Lissa
Comment by Lissa de Leon November 19, 2009 @ 6:00 am