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When I entered the house, the first thing that captured my eyes was the old wooden staircase on the right side of the ground floor, covered with red carpet. On the left side is the presidential table, with three armchairs. The management then provided mono-block chairs in front of the wide screen showing the history of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Then, the whole second floor was divided into different panels.
We stayed at Pabua’s Cottages for 1,500 pesos overnight. The room is wide, with its own clean rest and shower room, TV with cable, terrace, and three queen-sized beds. Since we were on a tight budget, we went to the market and bought our supplies. Cooked, served with happiness, and then rested. You can contact them at 09064152557 or 09173210449.
It is an annual festivities celebrated for the whole month of August to pay homage to their Patrol Saint - Senyor Bartolome whose feast day falls on the 24th of the mentioned month. Catbalogan City celebrated its more than 400 years of establishment as the capital of the whole island of Samar; from a small fishing village in 1616 to a promising city in Eastern Visayas. Most of all, this festival is an ongoing call for people to remain resilient despite the odds and to keep moving forward.
It is a century-old house in Silay City owned by Victor Fernandez Gaston, the eldest son of a prominent sugar baron Yves Leopold Germain Gaston and Prudencia Fernandez. It was built between 1897 and 1901, abandoned in the mid-1970s, repaired by the government, and inaugurated on October 6, 1990. Balay Negrense is just one of the century-old houses along Cinco de Noviembre Street, Silay City. This street is remarkable because of the historical value that transpires to the people. Its name is a Hiligaynon phrase; Negrense refers to the people living in the province of Negros and Balay or a House.
It is an old style of warm bath that uses a “Kawa” or a gigantic wok that serves as a bathtub. Instead of a heater, wood is used to create a fire to heat up the water and then sprinkled with ornamental and medicinal plants for a relaxing experience and fairer skin. La Escapo Mountain Resort is the perfect spot to experience this because of its geographical location. Kawa Hot Bath is prominent and one of the must-tried in Antique. Most mountain resorts offering this service are situated in Tuno, Municipality of Tibiao, 30 to 40 minutes travel from Culasi, Antique. Not only that, extreme water tubing can also be tried.
A lady named Apo Whang Od (locals pronounced it as Fang Od) is 103 years old and she's the oldest mambabatok from the Butbut tribe in Buscalan, Kalinga, Philippines. The tattoos on her skin prove how powerful she was during her time.
In this generation, most people think a tattoo has a negative connotation. It can even affect your career, regardless of the talent and education you may have. My eagerness to get inked started in October 2014 at the Philippine National Museum when I saw a portrait of an old lady with tribal tattoos all over her body. In National Geographic, several documentaries featured how significant tattoos and pierces were, especially for people in ancient times. Tattoos and pierces prove a tribe recognizes a person’s accomplishment, mostly in battles. There are several ways of tattooing worldwide, depending on their geographical feature and culture. In the Northern part of the Philippines, in Buscalan, Kalinga, they call it Batok. It is an ancient/tribal form of marking (tattooing) a warrior after successful combat or ladies who brought pride to the tribe.
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| An amazing view on the summit of Mt. Tabayoc. |
One of the most prominent mountains in Luzon is Mt. Tabayoc because it is the second highest mountain in Luzon (2842 MASL) and is one of the most preserved virgin forests in the Philippines, with a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. Your hiking experience will definitely be rewarded with the breathtaking beauty of the sea of clouds, an artistic view of the surrounding terraces, cool weather, a relaxing green ambience, and a life-changing tranquillity by the lake. Also, there are a lot of mouth-watering low-cost and fresh-harvest vegetables in the area.
Among the Bakun Trio mountains, Mt. Tenglawan is the most difficult to hike because of its long terrain and assault, although its trail class and technicalities can be placed to a moderate level. Also, this mountain has an amazing shape from afar. Based on how it looks and its shape, this giant can be compared to Mt. Guiting-guiting in Romblon.
This is a war tunnel used by the Japanese government and military officials as a defense, prison, garrison, and headquarters. It's a man-made tunnel created by the locals through forced labor. This tunnel is one of the tourist destinations situated in Ilagan City, Isabela. Aside from the historical tunnel, the Giant Butaka is an attraction that welcomes everyone who passes by the highway.
Lussok Cave is one of the prides of Apayao and the Cordillera region. This cave is composed of four chambers, with artistic limestone formations. Not only that, it offers a remarkable caving experience because of the spectacular sceneries that can only be seen in the small caverns. Also, did you know that the countless bats residing inside produces the most expensive fertilizer called "guano?" With our Lussok cave experience, I learned that motto: "kapag ang pumatak sayo malamig, that's Holy water, but if it's warm, that's holy sh_t."
I have been dreaming of visiting the Philippine National Museum since high school, but in 2015, that dream came into reality as they offered free admission for the whole month of October. I spent the whole day inside these historical buildings, from the Marikina Shoe Museum to the Museum of the Filipino People building.
It is one of the must-visit or best restaurants to dine if you are looking for exotic foods. I am not into cooking, but I love eating so I would like to share our amazing encounter with exotic foods at Balaw Balaw Restaurant in Angono, Rizal. This happened after enjoying the famous Higantes Festival; while our clothes were wet, we headed to this special restaurant.
Higantes Festival is an annual festivities held every November 23 in Angono, Rizal; its main purpose is to honor San Clemente, patron saint of the fishermen. His image is carried by male devotees during the procession, followed by the street dancers and participants. Higantes (Giants in English) is made up of paper mosaic handcrafted by the artistic minds of the people of Angono.
Animasola Island is one of the sun-drenched islets of Burias Group of Islands in San Pascual, Masbate. We travelled 3 hours via motorized banca from Alibijaban Island to witness its grandeur. It's true, it's a gigantic rock perched in the water that looks beautiful because of its unique formation curved by nature. Just the journey itself while crossing the sea, with the huge waves, was remarkable. Our motorized banca was like hopping on and off the huge waves. From afar, this islet looks ordinary, the same as with the islets we've visited, however, as we were getting nearer, the view was just astounding because of its unique formation.
This is an annual festival held in December in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. The festival features a competition of giant lanterns. Because of the popularity of the festival, the city has been nicknamed the "Christmas Capital of the Philippines". The first Giant Lantern Festival was held to honor President Manuel L. Quezon. At that time, Quezon made Arayat his rest area and converted Mount Arayat into a tourist resort. As a show of gratitude to Quezon, the people of San Fernando held a Christmas lantern contest to honor the first family. Quezon himself donated the prize for his lantern contest, which was personally awarded to the winner by First Lady Aurora Aragon Quezon -WikiPedia.org
This is a paradise with fine white sand beaches, amazing landscapes, crystal clear water, a vast diversity of underwater creatures, and many more. Let's accept the reality that when Boracay island was closed, the other comparable beaches were recognized - Maniwaya Island in Marinduque is one of those. The province of Marinduque is considered the heart of the Philippine archipelago and the neighbor of my hometown - Romblon. Gorgeous images of this island spread on social media which captured my interest.
Traveling to the best tourist attractions and destinations in the Philippines for the past twelve months is definitely rewarding. I was able to meet a lot of people from different provinces with different cultures and beliefs. The unique and explainable excitement that I feel every time I create my travel guide and itinerary always results in an exquisite experience. Thank you for all your support!
I have been planning to visit the historical and century-old churches in Pasig and the province of Rizal and the plan became a reality; today is the perfect day and the perfect season. It is my Visita Iglesia 2018 in a backpacking style. My itinerary started with the oldest church in Pasig, then the oldest Marian church in Cainta, St. John the Baptist in Taytay, and the stunning Tanay Church with Baroque architecture. And to close our good Friday adventure, we visited the gigantic Pililla Wind Farm, also in Rizal.
During our Mt. Kalisungan and Mt. Mabilog hikes, Bunga Twin Falls was our side trip and post-climb destination. The ambiance in the area is cool and relaxing because it is surrounded by trees, coconuts and other plants. Its name was derived from the "bunga" plant or "beetle nut" in English; that was many years ago when the area was still abundant with this plant. Today, this twin falls is definitely one of the summer destinations in Laguna.
