Come to Cam Sur!

Known to be the three months of Philippine summer, March, April and May, are the best time to visit one of the best places in this tropical country, Caramoan.  Located in the province of Camarines Sur, it is approximately 10-12 hours drive from Manila.

With a number of awesome islands to go to, and some side trips to squeeze in your tour,  you won't regret travelling to this part of the Bicol region considering that you will be able to see and feel how Survivor participants and production staffs felt when they shoot in Caramoan.

View images of the terrific islands and visitors thru Caramoan Paradise's Facebook page.

Enjoy the views!

And hey, seeing the islands first hand is really a different experience, message or call them NOW!

An Artist from the South

July 20, 2012

At the southeastern tip of Negros Island, me and my travel buddies found one remarkable artist.  I say he is remarkable since most of the materials he uses are those logs which are found scattered along their Barangay.

      

Confessing that he wasn’t able to finish his studies, he wants to make sure that he will be able to sustain the education of his kids with his craft / business. It is just unfortunate, that his customers are limited to those within their vicinity or those going to and from Apo Island. You will barely notice his store if you are not the type of person who looks around while walking. We did not even notice it the first time we passed by it. We just found his place on our way out from the Maluay – Malatapay Terminal (the terminal where we took a ride going to Apo Island).

This was just a piece of log before,  now it is a masterpiece

This artist has many to offer if he could only be given a chance to create and share his artworks to other people not just within Maluay but probably as a start off—within Negros… This could probably aid his family's finances and help him reach his dreams – his dreams to sustain his kids' education until they finish a degree.

Ilocos Sur: Tagudin (Bien's nostalgias and how this town got its name)

After 9 long hours, we then arrived at Bien’s hometown in Rizal, one of the 43 Baranggays in Tagudin.

While I was writing this post today, I asked Bien via SMS to confirm if he really grew up in Tagudin and asked when was the time he left his native land for a job in Manila. He then replied that yes he was born there and practically grew up in Tagudin but left his homeland in 1993 to find his luck in Manila.

I guess my friend also went down the memory lane as he also shared with me that sometime in 1988, he left Tagudin to visit Manila together with his mom and sister to watch his first movie “Kambal Tuko” (starring the cute little twins – Richard and Raymond Gutierrez) in Avenida.   What’s more “nostalgic” according to him was on their way back to Ilocos, he told me that it was his first time to eat Balot (A balut / balot is a fertilized duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)). He threw the cooked duckling in the highway hoping and praying that it would live again.  I really laughed out loud when I read his text message about it.  It just showed how “probinsyano” (someone from the province / outside of Manila,    

                                                      who is not used to city life) he was back then.

Being a Tagudinian, Bien studied at St Augustine School (built in 1910) where one of the first two sundials built in the country are located.  The other sundial stands across its Townhall.  These two timepieces were constructed in 1841 and 1848 by Father Juan Sorolla.  Amidst the modern times, these sundials are still accurate and reliable.

Tagudin,the first municipality right after the Amburayan Bridge traversing from Supiden, La Union, I may say has also been a great part of Philippine History.

But before dwelling on its significance in our country’s history, let me share with you how Tagudin got his name.

According to the locals, one day a Spaniard asked the name of the place from an old woman who was busy cleaning her yarn which she uses for weaving, (weaving or Tagud is one of the source of income in this municipality).  The old lady thought that he was asking the name of the tool where her yarn was placed and so she answered that it was Tagudan referring to the weaving apparatus.  He then wrote this in his notes.  Later on, he referred to his diary to refresh his memory but had read it as Tagudin.  So the place was then called Tagudin.

Ilocos Sur: Prologue

Tiring it may seem that coming from a 4pm-1am shift from the office I will be travelling northbound of Luzon but I was really looking forward in meeting my two friends and hit the road with them. 

Filipinos can sleep anywhere

Mau fetched me from the office earlier than the time we agreed.  Unfortunately, she waited for me for almost two hours.  At about three in the morning we already arrived at Partas Terminal where Bien was waiting for us.  It surprised us when we saw that there were so many passengers.  

Waiting for their numbers to be called

Some have already slept on the floor while some were patiently standing, falling in line and anticipating for their numbers to be called. 

Hoping to get a ride as soon as possible

My friends and I tried to be patient until I heard my stomach complaining being hungry.  I grab a cup of noodles and ate it along the roadside where we were seated. I did not really care anymore about what others will say or how much dust and pollution will i be eating too.

While I was eating, it dawned on me that the sun is almost up because it was past the hour of five.  Bien and I started to google locations and  contact numbers of other bus stations and luckily we were able to find one.

Dinakdakan and Pakbet Ilocano

Our bus left at about 6am and we took the chance to get some sleep during the travel.  

After three hours we had our first stop over and ate our breakfast: rice, Pakbet Ilocano and Dinakdakan.  Yes! You read it right! Rice and Viand for breakfast.  This is how we Filipinos usually have our breakfast and it is really a heavy one!

Pakbet or Pinakbet is a dish from the northern part of the Philippines.  It is actually one of the most popular Ilocano dish which is also being served in Manila. It uses bagoong (fermented fish or shrimp and salt)  as one of the main ingredient and various vegetables such as Talong (eggplant), Okra, Ampalaya (bitter melon). (Ilocano - this is how the people are referred to in Ilocos and most of the northern regions of the Philippines).

Dinakdakan is also one authentic Ilocano recipe; grilled pig's part (tounge, ear, liver) blended with the brain which is good to be dipped in vinegar.  This may also be blended with Mayonnaise.

So having this hearty meal, we went back to our bus, waited for it to resume our travel and slept along the way.

Ilocos At last! Our first stop was the hometown of Bien, Tagudin.

Location wise, Tagudin is the first of the 34 municipalities of Ilocos Sur. It is situated right after Amburayan Bridge.  It is connecting Baranggay Bio Tagudin and Baranggay Ipet, Sudipen, La union.

This bridge was inaugurated by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the commemoration of the 113^th martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal last December 30^, 2009 where she lead the national celebration in Ilocos Sur.

Now, where else could this bridge lead us to?  Find out in my next post.

Tanay, Rizal What's to expect for the rest of the year?

Here is Tanay's Calendar of Events for the rest of the year:

1. May 1-31     Flores de Mayo
2. May 1&31   Santacruzan
3. May 4          Holy Cross Feast
4. May 18&19 Mango Festival 
5. June 1          Choral competition
6. July 2           Dog Show
7. July 6-8        Boat Rowing Festival
8. Aug1-31      Tree Planting
9. Aug 3           Furniture Ugat Competition
10. Aug 10&12  Balagtasan & Sabayan Pagbikas
11. Aug 19         Bonsai Competition
12. Sept 29         Culinary Competition
13. Oct 3             Rakrakan Show
14. Oct 5&7       Mountain Climbing
15. Oct 11-12     Miss Tanay
16. Nov 2           Divine Mercy Pilgrimage
17. Nov 7-12      Hane Festival  (Street Dancing, Float Parade)
18. Dec 2            Lantern Festival
19. Dec 26          Balikbayan and OFW Get Together

You may contact Tanay Tourism Office at 4042296 for other information and assistance.

Daranak and Batlag Falls: a wonder I have yet to explore

In the BPO industry, holidays are but usual working days.  Hence, the long weekend that just happened (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, Easter Sunday, Valor Day (Araw ng Kagitingan),  were only ordinary days. Five days! Yup! Five days it is! So where was I? You guessed it right--- how intelligent of you---yeah, I was in the office until Saturday afternoon and was working from home on Araw ng Kagitingan. But hey! I managed to take one day off last Maundy Thursday and spent time with my family in Daranak Falls in Tanay, Rizal.

It was actually an invitation from my sister-in-law's auntie. We travelled 2 hours from Taytay going to Tanay passing by some parts of Rizal: Morong and Baras, a few of which I can remember.

We never expected that this place will be jam-packed with visitors. Until we came to the site and saw the number of people walking to and from the parking area of their vehicles and the main entrance of the resort to carry things they brought for their outing.  

This made me realized that Daranak Falls is still a well-liked summer get away for tourists, people from the neigboring towns and even for locals themselves.  It is probably due to the cheap entrance fee (Php 20.00 only) and accessibility to the site of the locals and nearby communities.

Cottages are available but were not enough to accommodate the number of visitors. For some, they were able to find conducive spots to place their foods and other stuffs. While, our group was also lucky to get a table which we got for free, good enough for our us to set our foods.

While Ghee Anne and I were grilling our foods (shrimp, eggplants, hotdogs, Tilapias, pork and chicken barbeques--- yes, we had this much food, not to mention, green mangoes, shrimp paste or "alamang" and other bulk of finger foods / chichirias) ---- ooops, that made me crave again!  These are the typical Filipino picnic foods I must say.   --- so, what was I suppose to say?  oh yeah, while these foods were being cooked, it came to our attention that there is another Falls --- it is the Batlag Falls.  There was a sign directing to Batlag which I think was further up Daranak Falls. Plans of going to Batlag have already entered into my mind, which should follow after I would find Daranak Falls because our place was far from the Falls itself.

It was past lunch when we arrived there and foods were cooked at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  We rested for awhile after our sumptous meal. We decided to take a look at Daranak Falls by groups so somebody will be able to take a look after our stuffs. It was my group who had the first chance to stroll away from our "kitchen and dinning table". 

Going to the spot, we passed by a long line of women going to the rest room. I actually had the experience of using the toilet but because of the long wait I have endure, I decided to use the "men's".  Though there were at least 3 or 4 cubicles for each "men" and "ladies" comfort rooms, it seems that it is not big enough for those who wanted to utilize it.  Apart from these rest rooms, there were also hosepipes available outside for those who are amenable to take their showers in public. The thing is, you would still need to use the comfort rooms to change your clothes.  A five-peso fee is also collected for using these rooms.  Note that there is also a hose of water placed outside the toilets' door, which make it an accident prone area.  A lady who just had her shower, dried herself  and put on her dry clothes was so unlucky to have slipped and fell on her butt right after she made her first step on her way out of the comfort room. Not so comforting at all eh?

Back to the Falls, we saw that there was a rope dividing one part of the basin to the bigger part of the water.  This delineates the shallow and deep part of the pool.  It is why most of the "swimmers" did not go beyond the rope.  They merely "dipped" their body in the water and stood there for as long as they want just to experience how it is to bathe in Daranak Falls.

Unfortunately, as I was starting the photoshoot, light rain was starting to drop, little by little by little, until there was no more opportunity to have the lens capture the scenery and the enjoyment of the people.

We had to go back to our place where we left our things so as to save them and ouselves too from getting wet. However, the rain was really unrelenting and it poured almost half equally how the Daranak Falls is gushing.  We then had to walk back to our van and jeepney carrying our belongings.  And yes of course--- we got wet! wet! wet! 

The rain stopped almost 5:00 in the afternoon and it saddened me that we have to leave because visitors are only allowed to stay until 5:00 pm.

It was really a different kind of experience but I promise that I will be back to further see the beauty of Daranak and Batlag Falls.