Archive for the ‘ places of worship ’ Category

North Luzon Road Trip

By altumviditur on April 26, 2010

Two days after arriving from Davao, I packed for a road trip to the North. I’ve been saying that there are two places that I want to visit again, Camsur and Ilocos Norte, particularly Vigan and Blue Lagoon. Since my sister and her husband, an avid photographer, have not been to Pagudpud, we started driving North at midnight of April 01, Holy Thursday, even if we’re not able to book a room in Pagudpud.

Of course, it’s a long drive there so we had to stop for rest rooms and food. We had breakfast at Tropical Hut Total, in Apalit Pampanga. Caught the sunrise somewhere in Tarlac, ate merienda at McDonald’s San Fernando La Union, and reached Vigan just in time for lunch. We took a couple of shots of the Plaza and the Cathedral, ate Vigan Empanada then headed back to our journey. I was asleep most of the time, maybe because I was catching up on sleep since Davao. We got to Bangui Windmills a little before sunset. The Bangui Windmills were awesome!!!

After taking hundreds of shots of the windmills, we continued our long journey to Pagudpud. We went straight to Blue Lagoon with the help of “Susan”, our Satellite Navigation System. It was a long and super dark drive to Blue Lagoon. It’s the side of a mountain and most of the route had no lamp posts. But of course, at the end of the tunnel, there’s light. Party lights, actually. We could see the resorts in Blue Lagoon from afar.

Fish eye shot by Amrei Dizon

www.amreidizon.com

I was a little disappointed to see how much the place has changed, there’s too many people, traffic was heavy, too many resorts and huts and cottages and activities by the shore. And this was around 7 PM, maybe I would appreciate the place better when the sun rises the next day.

Since all resorts were fully booked, we went ahead and booked a room at a ‘home stay’ place at Wally’s World. It’s the last home in the area, right before Kapuluan Beach Resort. Since we just arrived and Wally’s World did not prepare food for walk ins, we ate at Kapuluan Beach Resort, where I saw Bebe Gandanghari and Earl Ignacio. I had my picture taken with Bebe.

We stayed a whole day and two nights at Wally’s World before we started driving again. On the way back to Vigan, we took photos of the roads, the mountains and the seas. We went to Cape Bojeador to see it beautiful Spanish structure. We stoped at Shorestop Inn and Restaurant in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, for Merienda then straight to the Marcos Musueum in Batac. We also passed by Sta. Monica Church in Sarrat, and of course, tried out Batac Empanada in Riverside Empanadaan. Since it’s already getting late, we called a resort on our way so we can rest for the night. We saw a resort’s ad in a gas station and it looked really pretty. Lucky for us, it still has a room available for us. The resort is Playa Tropical, a pretty Bali-inspired resort hidden in Currimao.

We had breakfast at Playa Tropical then headed back to Vigan to eat empanada, buy souvenirs and pasalubong and take some last photos. We were to get dinner at Isdaan in Tarlac but since it’s Sunday of the long weekend-holiday, the place was jam-packed. The orders were on hold! It’s ok, we’ll try it next time.

Though we’re not able to get to the other destinations that I’ve been to the first time I visited Pagudpud, like the Patapat Bridge and the Aqueduct, I still enjoyed everything about Ilocos Norte! I think I still want to go back again, maybe on a peak season, for a change.

Sultan Mosque, Arab Street, Singapore

By altumviditur on November 30, 2009

Masjid Sultan is the Malay for Sultan Mosque. It is located in the Kampong Glam District of Singapore.

Masjid Sultan or the Sultan Mosque in Arab Street, Singapore

We never heard of the Sultan Mosque nor the Arab Street until out last night in our March trip to Singapore. We came late for our flight the night before that the plane left us in the airport. Giving us an extra day to explore some more places in Singapore.

beautiful golden dome

Though we had to rebook and pay double, we enjoyed the beautiful sights in Arab Street. The Sultan Mosque is surely the crowning glory of the district. It is a big mosque with a golden dome and intricate architecture. It is surrounded by different stores and food shops so a trip there will be very filling in the eyes and the tummy!

intricate architecture

We did not ask if we could go inside to see the mosque but the building’s facade design alone is already beautiful. Visit the Masjid Sultan in Arab Street to see how beautiful this mosque really is.

view from the main road

The Manila Cathedral, Intramuros Manila

By altumviditur on September 1, 2009

We went to Intramuros on National Heroes Day and our first stop was the Manila Cathedral.

Manila Cathedral by Amrei Dizon

The present building is the sixth to rise on the site since 1581. Previous structures were destroyed by either fire or earthquake. Rebuilt in 1958 with Fernando Ocampo as architect, the cathedral incorporated the stone carvings and rosette windows of the old cathedral. Stained glass windows celebrating the Christianization of the Philippines light up its clerestory. Mosaic artwork decorate three of its side chapels.

Source: http://www.intramurosadministration.com/mcathedral.htm

Some architectural details of the cathedral that I shot from the outside (we did not go inside the church):

Manila Cathedral door

arch on top of the door

Manila Cathedral

After taking some photos at the Manila Cathedral, we crossed over the road and directly in front or the cathedral is Plaza Roma.

Black Magic Mary in Siquijor

By altumviditur on July 5, 2009

In Siquijor is a statue of Sta. Rita de Siquijor also labeled as the Black Magic Mary, because of the black magic myths in its location and its dress which resembles the Virgin Mary’s dress, only black. But we were not able to get an account of the real reason why the statue is called as such. So we pursued to see the statue hoping to find an answer. This was one of the highlights of our Siquijor trip.

Salmo Responsorio

It was only last year that we went to Dumaguete and made a side trip to Siquijor.

One of the things that made Siquijor a famous place in the Philippines is the myth of sorcery and black magic in the island. No one has proven this to be true, but in the 90’s, local TV channels would show several features of such myths in the island.

Sta. Maria Church Bell Tower

One of the things that got us interested to visit Siquijor was a photo we received from a friend, a statue of a saint, wearing all black, holding a small skull and an inverted crucifix:

Sta. Rita de Siquijor

A spooky feeling came over me when I saw the photo. But it’s even spookier to be face to face with the statue in person.

Sta. Rita de Siquijor in a glass encasement

The statue is inside a glass encasement in the Church of Sta. Maria. The big church would be filled with patrons at mass. Most churches would hold mass on Saturdays, but that Saturday at Sta. Maria, it was strangely empty and quiet.

a painting on the wall of the church then

a view of the church now

Inside Sta. Maria Church

the altar

Sta. Rita is at the right side of the altar. It looked spooky, because of its fierce look on its eyes and black clothes. Add the small skull on her hand. The crucifix, however, was not inverted anymore. We heard that Sta. Rita hanged herself and that she was full of grief, that’s why she’s wearing black. But she could have just been a nun, it looked to me that the dress she’s wearing was what nuns wear in the olden days. But there was no one in the church that we could ask about Sta. Rita de Siquijor’s story.

view from the podium

After visiting the Sta. Maria church to see Sta. Rita de Siquijor, we moved to the town of Lazi to see the St. Isidore Church and Lazi Convent. In the convent, we saw a priest who just finished a mass at the church and was crossing the road to get to the convent. We approached him and learning that we were tourists on the island, he invited us over to the convent to take a tour. We had a long chat, and he even told us of some stories about the town and the convent. While chatting, we hoped that he would know something about Sta. Rita de Siquijor. But the priest, who have been in Lazi for a few years, and who knew a lot about the convent, the town, and the whole island, knew nothing about Sta. Rita de Siquijor.

the face of Sta. Rita de Siquijor

So for the whole time that we were in Siquijor, and the months after, we did not know a thing about Sta. Rita de Siquijor, and why she was holding a skull and a crucifix. It was only recently that I was able to find articles about the controversial statue. Most of the writings said that she, Sta. Rita, was a nun and that her forehead was pierced by a crown of thorns. The wound the piercing created was said to have bled for 15 years until she died. And that the controversial statue that is in Siquijor was stolen from the church years ago but recovered in the neighboring island of Bohol. A lot of articles would feature Sta. Rita de Siquijor’s photos, but would only recount about the life of Sta. Rita, (aka Sta. Rita de Cascia) the Italian Augustinian Saint, who also holds a crucifix, wears black, but does not have a fierce look on her eyes.

Sta. Rita de Cascia (from wikipedia)

But there’s nothing about Sta. Rita de Siquijor, the one that holds a skull. Maybe that is why the statue remains to be controversial until this day.

skull and crucifix

Siquijor Island

By altumviditur on December 7, 2008

From Dumaguete City, we boarded a fastcraft boat to Siquijor. I was amazed how clean Siquijor was! The pier is connecting to a white beach not too far away, and the water’s very clear, and the breakwater wall too!

Siquijor Island, Negros Oriental - view from the pier

We were picked up by a van arranged by Hotel Agripino, our lodging in Salagdoong Beach. Before getting to Hotel Agripino, we decided to stop at the mangrove sanctuary.

It was like a scene from the old Shake, Rattle and Roll movies. A group of friends on a van driving along narrow dirt roads in Siquijor. The way to our hotel was refreshing with lots of trees, farm animals and old houses. It was quiet and no one seemed to be around. Everyone’s probably inside their houses. At one point in our trip, our van bumped on something hard. We stopped and the driver got off to check. We were joking that this would be the part where Alma Moreno would appear out of nowhere and give us a fierce look. Of course you’ve seen that Alma Moreno was one of the more famous aswangs in the old Regal Films.

Our driver found nothing under the van, not a big rock or a log, that may have caused the bump. Nothing behind us too. So we carried on.

After about 15 minutes, we reached a dead end — a cemented road that seemed to be leading to a private resort or hacienda. So we turned back. On the same spot, we bumped on something again, so our driver, and Gian, got off and checked on it. Again, nothing. Now this would be the part where a man carrying fire woods on his shoulder would approach us and say “kung ako sa inyo, wag na kayong tumuloy”. Or the time where we would yell “Gian, Gian! Sa likod mo, sakay na, dali!” And Manilyn Reynes would come running towards us, holding a crucifix on her hands, and asking for help. Only that the sun was up high and it wasn’t even noon yet. And our imaginations were wild, and we watched too much TV when we were young.

So for another 10 minutes or so, we drove through where we came from until finally, we found the mangrove sanctuary! We stayed there for a while to explore the place and saw the big treehouse in the middle of growing mangroves.

Then we headed to our hotel to drop off our things and grab a quick lunch. After lunch, we went to town to visit Sta. Maria Church to see Sta. Rita de Siquijor, then went for a fun swim at the Cambugahay Falls, and visited St. Isidore Church and Lazi Convent. Then tried one of Siquijor’s treats – the torta, which is a custard cake that’s said to be made with two whole eggs per cake. We got back to our hotel in time for dinner.

Sta. Rita de Siquijor

The next day, we got up early (around 7 AM) and ordered breakfast from the resort that was sent down to our cottage in front of the beach. It was very cold due to the morning breeze and the slight drizzle. But we still enjoyed every minute of it. Then it’s time for us to go back to Dumaguete to catch our afternoon flight.

We packed our bags and the van brought us to the pier. As it was Dumaguete’s Town Fiesta that day, and a Monday, so most folks from Siquijor were going to Dumaguete, that’s why the morning trips were all fully booked. And we were only able to booked a 1PM trip. So as not to waste time, we went around the area and took photos of the Siquijor Church, and had lunch at the nearby eateries. And my friends enjoyed the inexpensive crabs and other seafood dishes!

We boarded the boat later than expected because of ticketing issues, but were able to get to Dumaguete in time for our flight, with two hours left to pick up our orders at Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries. And to witness the town fiesta parade, that caused too much traffic. Lucky for us, we got on the airport on time, though we did not have time to go to the market for other pasalubong. But still, it’s all good!

Because the Philippines has more than 7,000 islands!

By altumviditur on November 10, 2008

I have always loved traveling.

When I was younger, I wished I was I Traveler, remember that show on Discovery Channel?

And now that I am older, I work my arse off in OTs, save up, and well, travel. I thought I’ve been to a lot of places. But hey, the Philippines has more than 7000 beautiful islands. Who am I to say that I have traveled?

Traveling the Philippines

I love traveling. I wanted to be able to travel my whole country, much simpler than wanting to travel the whole world. I also want to do that — travel the world. But I’m starting in my country. We have a saying, wag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan, in English, don’t be a stranger is your own land.

Traveling the world educates the traveler about different cultures, races, languages, flora, fauna, arts, and a whole lot of different wonders. But I can learn some of that in my own country too, the Philippines, that has more than 7,000 islands, which probably means more than 7,000 beaches, more than 7,000 festivals, more than 7,000 sunsets, dishes, arts, and a whole lot of different wonders too, I’m sure.

Have you heard about the best Lechon in the world, according to Anthony Bourdain? Have you seen the Masskara Festival? Have you been to Sagada? Try trekking the famous Ifugao Rice Terraces, and you’ll be met by a big falls below.

Have you heard about our famous beaches like Boracay, Palawan, the Hundred Islands? How about Caramoan where a Survivor franchise shot an entire edition? Caramoan Peninsula has finer sands than Boracay, really.

How about a beautfiul beach that intersects a mini-river, with pine-like trees surrounding them? That beautiful beach is the Anawangin Cove. A cove that’s a result of a massive volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo on 1991. And did you know that the Mt. Pinatubo’s scenery right now is equally amazing? And both are only in Luzon, in a small part of Zambales in particular, remember, there are 7,000 islands in the Philippines.

I think you should start packing your bags now. Do not forget your camera!

Content Source: Traveling the Philippines – Bukisa.com (reposted)