A Day in Sagada: Fishing, Pot Making and Remembering the Departed with Bonfires

I was all alone the last time I went to Sagada. It was the All Souls’ Day break of 2008, a very spontaneous decision to explore Sagada by myself. I left Manila at 10 in the evening of the Halloween and took the 11 hour Cable Tour bus to Bontoc. I reached Sagada before noon and went to Residential Lodge, my home in Sagada. I am an adopted son of Sagada by the way (so as Benj... Read More

Touring El Nido in Two Days

This is the day three and four travelogue of the five-day trip to El Nido. After a day of diving, Ate Claudia and I were not yet through with our rendezvous. There were so much to see and so much to do in the waters of Bacuit Bay but we need to maximize the limited time left for us to explore and appreciate El Nido, this time by discovering its lagoons, beaches, caves, islands and... Read More

Diving in El Nido

This is the day two travelogue of the five-day trip to El Nido. El Nido may not have the challenging wrecks of Coron or as diverse as Apo Reef and Tubbataha, but being a marine protected area with numerous dive spots that offer great nature diving, El Nido is definitely worth diving! A starfish rests on a rock underneath (Olympus Tough 8000) El Nido’s Bacuit Bay has more... Read More

En Route to El Nido

This is the day one travelogue of the five-day trip to El Nido. The Tubbataha June 2010 plan was shelved for some reasons. But it didn’t stall our plan to pursue our backup trip. The equally enchanting El Nido, also in Palawan. Helicopter Island, El Nido El Nido, a protected area, is a town in northern mainland Palawan, 238 kilometers from Puerto Princesa and considered as... Read More

Apo Reef and Pandan Island on a Budget (A DIY guide)

The weather that night was the same when we went to Culebra Island in Pangasinan on the last week of May – rainy with thunderstorms and there were no stars at sight. The government weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA) already announced the official start of summer a few days ago, but  still there were no hesitations.... Read More

Sunburned at Culebra Island

Who says summer is already over? Not for beach people like us (Anj, BJ, Donna, Grace, Jonard and me). The gloomy forecast and scattered city showers didn’t stop us on our planned beach bumming up north. This time at Culebra Island, Pangasinan’s secret jewel. Culebra Island Culebra (Colibra) Island or formerly Camaso Island is a tiny island off the coast of Barangay Tambobong... Read More

A Walk Through Philippine Postal Heritage

Not everybody knows that the very first stamp in Asia was issued in the Philippines on February 1, 1854. Some carries a genuine error in printing the word “corros” rather than “correos”, which are valued by avid stamp collectors due to its rarity. I assume, very rare also knows that the world’s first stamp that featured basketball was also issued in... Read More

Good Morning Sunrise at Mt. Pulag

The most beautiful sunrise I have ever witnessed! February 22, 2009, at 0300H, my group left Camp 2 of Mt. Pulag for a two-hours trek to its summit. We all braved the dark trail and freezing cold. At 0500H, before sunrise, we were the first to reach the summit. Waiting for sunrise over the sea of clouds. We waited some time as the sun started painting the sky with its magnificent... Read More