17

My husband and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary at the start of June by treating ourselves to a short beach trip to Subic in Zambales. This was the view from our room. That white wake near the bottom was from a jet ski that had just passed by.

Rookery

Nami Resort in Boracay is located on Diniwid Beach, on the other side of the island from the inundated White Beach and Willy's Rock which I posted the last two Sundays. The cottages are built on the side of a cliff, and though the walk down to the beach doesn't look easy, the view from the rooms must be fantastic.

Willy's Rock

This volcanic rock formation with a Marian grotto near the shoreline in Boracay is nicknamed Willy's Rock because it stands in front of Willy's Beach Club Hotel, one of the island's pioneering resorts (established in 1975, long before Boracay became a byword for summer beach vacations). I've seen pictures of it fully exposed, but during high tide in the southwest monsoon season, it's a wet walk to get to the rock.
  And what do people do when they get to Willy's Rock? Why, take souvenir photos of themselves, of course!

The guard on a hill

The town of Bantay in Ilocos Sur is best known for its 1590 church and bell tower, which was also the site of a battle fought by the revolutionary Diego Silang and his men against the troops of the Spanish colonial government in 1763.
  Named St. Augustine Church, after the Augustinian friars who established the parish, the church is also the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity.
  The bell tower stands on top of a hill some distance away from the church.
  Tourists are allowed up the tower (using some scarily rickety stairs), where the guide will invariably point out that the historic bell was used in the filming of the popular local action fantasy movie Ang Panday (The Blacksmith). Unfortunately, I can no longer remember if he was referring to the 1980 film starring the late Fernando Poe Jr. or the 2009 and 2011 films starring Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr.
  According to an Ilokano friend, the word bantay means "hill" in their language. The word also exists in Tagalog, where it means "guard" or "to guard," which is also appropriate because the tower has commanding views of the town, the not-so-distant West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), and the distant Cordillera mountain range.

Hazards

Back in November, I posted a photo of the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos, Ilocos Norte. This is the reason why a lighthouse is needed in the area—nothing but cliffs and rocks all along the coast.
  Well, okay, goats too. The rocks are hazardous to ships, and the goats are hazardous to drivers. The local government of Burgos ought to put goat crossing signs in their stretch of the Pan-Philippine Highway.

Island view

One of the resorts on the Blue Lagoon side of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte is the Kapuluan Vista Resort. Its designer used traditional nipa for the roof, and also used stone, wood and bamboo lavishly in its interiors.
  Unfortunately, the beach right in front of Kapuluan Vista isn't very nice. It is narrow and rocky, the water is full of seaweeds, and Blue Lagoon is several hundred meters up the muddy road. The name of the resort is apt, though, with beautiful views of the small islands just offshore.
  Though we didn't stay at Kapuluan Vista when we were in Pagudpud, someone had recommended their restaurant to us, so we decided to go there for lunch.
  We were not disappointed. Kapuluan Vista has its own organic herb and vegetable garden, so we chose dishes which make full use of that fact. The lightly-seasoned fresh tuna ceviche was wonderful, the garden salad was a delightful combination of textures and flavors, and the tacos were buried under the crunchiest lettuce. There was one thing our friend forgot to tell us, though: the servings are huge! Since we also ordered empanadas, we ended up doggie-bagging more than half of our order.

East and west

The town of Pagudpud in the province of Ilocos Norte is gaining popularity as a beach vacation destination. However, its coastline is quite extensive and we found out, too late, that it is best to find out which direction the wind is blowing before choosing which beach to go to.
  Saud Beach is the most developed (relative only to the rest of the town, of course) and generates the most results when doing a Google search for "Pagudpud resorts." It faces west and, because we arrived just when the Southwest Monsoon (habagat) was about to start, the wind was blowing sand all over the place and the current was a little too strong for beach bums like us who only stay near the shore. The habagat season in the Philippines is from May to October (or thereabouts).
  During those months, it is better to stay at Blue Lagoon, which faces east. We drove the extra half hour needed to get there from Saud, and it was worth it. The water had the barest of ripples. During the Northeast Monsoon (amihan)—the other half of the year—this part of Pagudpud gets windy and the waters more turbulent, and it is better to stay in Saud.
  I wish we could have experienced Blue Lagoon in the middle of summer when it would not have been overcast. There is a reason why it got that name, after all.

The long and winding road

The Patapat Viaduct is an elevated, winding highway at the Northwestern tip of Luzon Island, which is the biggest island in the Philippines. The bridge weaves around coastal hills which mark one end of Luzon's Cordillera Mountain Range, and connects the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Cagayan Valley. The Patapat Viaduct needs a couple of viewing platforms along its 1.3 kilometer length, however, where tourists can safely stop to appreciate its construction, and enjoy the magnificent view of lush, steep hills and an utterly empty sea.

Bridges around the world: Sunday Bridges

Harnessing wind

The Bangui Wind Farm is the first of its kind in the Philippines. Its twenty turbines are arranged in a single row along a nine-kilometer stretch of shoreline in the town of Bangui in the province of Ilocos Norte, which is at the northwestern-most tip of the big island of Luzon.
  It has become such a popular tourist destination since its completion in 2008 that several bamboo and nipa huts offering refreshments, souvenirs (bamboo windmills, anyone?), and much-needed shade, have been erected on the beach where the dirt roads leading to the windmills end.

Mid-day impressions

At La Luz Beach Resort in San Juan, Batangas.
 
Cabanas for day-trippers. If you're willing to rough it, you can stay here overnight too, falling asleep to the sound of the waves. (We stayed in a beach-front air-conditioned room—we're wusses.)
 
Small rocks…

lead to a big rock at the end of the cove which make up the beaches of Laiya and Hugom. The big rock also marks the end of La Luz's property.
  Lady Jane. The bangka is the most common fishing boat and water transport in the country-archipelago that is the Philippines. It is an outrigger canoe, and the outriggers are usually made of bamboo. The roof is optional, and, for smaller boats, so is the engine.
  A floating platform for swimmers who have no fear of deep ocean water.

Will I recommend La Luz Beach Resort? I guess it depends on what kind of accommodations you like when at the beach. Me, I like to constantly feel that I am at the beach, not in a fancy hotel that can be in any city. When I walk out the room, I want to feel sand between my toes after a few steps. And I want to be able to walk around anywhere in my swimsuit, dripping wet and trailing sand, and not have to worry about messing up furniture or carpets. If that sounds like you too, then yes, I highly recommend La Luz.

Mountain life

Tam-awan Village in Baguio City is a replica of small Igorot village for people who have not and cannot travel into the interior of the Cordillera mountains.




Some of the huts in Tam-awan Village are not reconstructions though. A few are original Ifugao and Kalinga huts from the 1920s and 1950s which were transported and reconstructed on the site. In keeping with the beliefs of the Cordillera tribes, at least one bulol (rice god—see previous post) guards each of the huts.




The terrain of the lot where Tam-awan Village is located is also faithful to the mountainous locations of Cordillera tribal villages; so is its layout, which means walking up and down narrow mud and stone trails to get from one hut to another. Even with the support provided by intermittent bamboo rails, it is not easy when it has just rained and the short but steep trails are slippery.




Tam-awan Village has also become a center for contemporary Cordillera art, with exhibits all year round and art workshops which, like the village, help foster an understanding and appreciation of the Cordillera culture and heritage. A few of the huts are used as galleries and many artwork are also displayed in the café.




I liked many of the artwork displayed in Tam-awan Village's galleries, but what really caught my eye were these two moss-covered stone bulol in front of the café. I especially like the fertility goddess with a plant growing on her head.

Artist's paradise

Philippine National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto Cabrera, BenCab, settled in Baguio City in 1986 after living in London since 1969. His current home and studio is located a few kilometers away from the city, in the town of Tuba.




Beside his home is the BenCab Museum, a repository of the artist's varied collections, with one floor dedicated to exhibiting contemporary art by emerging Filipino artists.




BenCab's house and museum are located on the slopes of a ridge, at the bottom of which is a rocky stream, which he has harnessed to naturally water his garden and organic farm, and even to create a pond. Benguet's elevation, the stream and the ridge collude to create a perpetual fog in the area, and the sound of running water is the perfect background for an artist creating and a mortal appreciating.

The lake caused by selfishness

While most of our officemates slept off our delicious lunch back at Casa San Pablo, four of us decided to go on a drive around Lake Sampaloc (Tamarind). Though it is only one square kilometer, it is the largest of the seven interconnected freshwater crater lakes of San Pablo and is located right in the heart of the city.




Mount Banahaw looms over one side of the lake and there are many smaller hills all around it.




With overcrowded fish pens studding the lake, the overuse of commercial fish feed, and numerous makeshift huts without proper waste disposal systems on stilts along its shores, Lake Sampaloc is considered threatened and needs rehabilitation. The Friends of the Seven Lakes Foundation is working towards that and educating the communities around the lake, but I think that the city government of San Pablo also has to be stricter in implementing environmental and building laws in the areas around the lakes.




In case you're wondering about my title, it is based on the Legend of Lake Sampaloc.

My world, literally

The Western end of the Rizal Park is marked by a relief map of the Philippines in a pool of water. We're at the Southern end of the country—geographically, we'd be standing in the Celebes Sea, with Malaysia on the left and Indonesia to the right and back—and the islands nearest us are those of Sulu and Basilan, which are both part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. I wish I could have taken a photo from a higher vantage point, but unless I stood on the Light Rail Transit's track, this was as high as I could get. I was completely fascinated with the map as a child and I still am.

And That's My World!

City in a valley

A view of Marikina City and the mansion-like homes around the Capitol Hills Golf & Country Club under a bright blue noon sky filled with puffy little clouds. The city of Marikina is built in a valley between the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range and the ridge which marks the boundary of Quezon City. My father used to tell me how this fertile valley—a river runs its entire length—used to be nothing but rice fields. During the worst of our annual typhoons, the Marikina River always breaks its banks—good for paddy field agriculture but not for human settlements. In fact, Marikina City was one of the worst hit cities in Metro Manila during last year's devastating Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana).

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page and tour the skies of our beautiful world.

Finally!

I first posted a photo of this tiny blue and white bridge in the Loyola Heights campus of the Ateneo de Manila University for my 100th post way back in 2008. After two years, I finally took the time to cross it and find out if the greenhouse from my college days is still there. Though I've always remembered this bridge as being blue and white, I seem to remember that it had wooden floorboards back then. The sheet of metal that serves as its current flooring is so rusty that I almost didn't want to walk over it, for fear that it wouldn't be able to bear my weight. Curiosity won over safety. You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out what's on the other side, but I guess that it's only right to warn you that I was mighty disappointed. Oh well. At least the itch has been scratched and I also finally have a bridge for Louis' Sunday Bridges. Yay!

Bridges around the world: Sunday Bridges

I've blue and white, and Louis' Golden Gate Bridge is red—perfect for today. Happy 4th of July to all my American friends! Here, we celebrate it as Filipino-American Friendship Day.

D'oh!

On the second day of our recollection last week, the first prayer period was at 6:30 in the morning. So I finally woke up early enough to catch a sunrise. Only to discover that, from the highest point of the Loyola Retreat House (which was the second floor deck), the sunrise was behind the trees and over the next hill.

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page and tour the skies of our beautiful world.