Pabellon Pilipinas 1

What started out as a simple doodle turned out to be an exercise in design. Here, a simple rectangular module is clad in folded metal sunshades as an attempt to create a design emblematic of and adaptive in the country.

The mod 60's graphic pattern appearing like stylized banderitas - traditional of Filipino fiestas envelop a glazed building within. Treated as pixels in the country's colors, each unit form a stylized outstretched bird soaring upward. This "skin" gives texture to the box.

Following the diagonal geometries, openings have been defines in the corners.  Raising the entire structure on stilts hark to the vernacular bahay kubo as a way to elevate living quarters from the ground, away from flooding and pests. 

An angular ramp direct entry into the interiors.

Bayan ng Balayan

HCS-Diwa Ng Batangan's meeting set in the charming Sixto Lopez House at Balayan, Batangas.

Charming old houses, a cultural treasure for a church, and a special cemetery complete with colonial retaining walls and mortuary chapel.

Balayan is one of Batangas' heritage wonderlands and one that even rivals the nearby Historic Town of Taal. 

Bicol Backpacking 2011 - Day 3

Last day before going back to Manila. Spent early morning at Old Albay for breakfast and admiring the imposing San Gregorio Magno Cathedral with the mighty Mayon looming in the background. Afterwards we ventured a little uphill to the neighboring town of Daraga for one final stop before me and my travel buddies were to part ways - them going further south into Sorsogon and me journeying back to Naga and then Manila in the evening.

Daraga is a quaint town whose claim to fame is having the most photographed man-made structure in Bicol - the ruins of Cagsawa. Unknown to most visitors to the town though is that the current church built to replace that of Cagsawa built on top of a hill offer more charm not to mention a similarly breathtaking view of Mayon. Offering a unique vantage which overlooks Mayon, Lignon Hill, Legazpi city, and the gulf beyond - the church appears like a mighty sentinel. Recently plastered with lime, the facade of the church of Nuestra Senora dela Porteria (Our Lady of the Gate) gleams in the morning sun. Festooned with Baroque carvings and massive Salomonica columns, the church is the latest addition to Albay's list of National Cultural Treasures.

Already awed by this enobling church, a surprise in the belltower awaited us. Guided by Ana Lorilla who oversees the restoration efforts, we were granted access to see the baptistry. Closed to the public in preparation for more intensive repair, the baptistry is damp and heavy moss growth endanger the space. Although in disrepair, its hard not to be bowled over the intricacies of its decoration with carvings adoring its pilasters, the vaulted ceiling, and the mismatched floor tiles of blue and white china. 



Spending the better part of the morning in Daraga church made it the highlight of the entire trip for in this spot we took in the spectacle of 2 Daragang Magayons - the church and Mayon volcano. 

For lunch before we parted ways, we dined in style at Cena Una - a restaurant in a restored ancestral house in suburban Daraga where we feasted on swanky fare with local twists. 

After a slight bit of pasalubong shopping, I bade the two off and went my own way back to Naga. Completing my earlier promise of paying homage to Ina - the lady of Penafrancia, I finished the trip with a side trip to the old Penfrancia shrine where I heard mass and to the Basilica where I lit candles in thanksgiving. The ritual gave a meaningful end to this trip to Bicol. 

By that time it were just mere days before we ring in the new year 2012 and I was thankful to the brim for having this trip to end the year of travels with. 2011 has truly been spectacular with new destinations visited and new boundaries crossed. The sight of Mayon and a slew of colonial churches that I have visited further enriched my year and hopefully the coming 2012 will offer much more.

Bicol Backpacking 2011 - Day 2

Our first night in Bicolandia was spent in Legazpi city with the mighty Mayon looming in the horizon. At dawn, I ventured to the Embarcadero where friends told me gives a spectacular view of the mountain and the city sprawled below it with the breakwater in the foreground. True enough, the morning sun painted the city and the mountain in a glorious light. Thank God, this is the first time Ive seen Mayon in full light and as locals would have it - a good omen for the day to have a view of the mountain without any clouds blocking its form.

The day's itinerary was a trip to Albay's northern towns starting in Tabaco city where we again make our way down south back to Legazpi passing by the towns of Malilipot, Bacacay, and Santo Domingo (Lib-og). Tabaco city was a true delight with one of the province's cultural treasures - the centuries old San Juan Bautista church, the old Smith & Bell house, and their octagonal mortuary chapel touted to be one of the country's finest. The church is made of volcanic stones and complete a charming plaza streetscape fronting their old city hall. Though not among the most ornate facades Ive seen, Tabaco's church was elegant leaning more on the side of solidity. The bellfry standing detached nearby is inversely decorated with highly ornate carvings in the niches and medallions.



The old Smith & Bell House which prominently straddles a corner is spectacularly preserved, and feature wrap-around windows of capiz with filleted corners. The mortuary chapel which we visited after a brief lunch was the highlight of the town. Octagonal in shape and sitting regally in the middle of the old cemetery grounds, the mortuary chapel feature well-preserved exteriors and rather unusual inscriptions above its main portal.

A similar mortuary chapel this time in the town of Malilipot provided a foil to the one in Tabaco. Heavily overgrown with foliage but with visible details worth noticing still intact, the mortuary chapel of Malilipot feature walls of the old chapel and an archway of what was once the cemetery gate. Further into the town is the church whose recent plastering have made any details (if any) invisible. Noteworthy is the wide expanse surrounding the church where one could view the mountain ranges of Bacacay from a distance.

Bacacay offered the highlight of this trip with not just an old church but an older church ruins right beside each other. The old church was simple, unassuming, but elegant. Its interiors renovated in the 60's give it a Mod feel but have inexplicably aged quite well. The bellfry beside the church offered expansive views of the town and the Misibis bay. The town plaza is a true haven with open fields and lush acacia arbors. Truly that trip gave us a sense of the rural Albay - laid back and relaxed.

Our last stop for the day was the town of Santo Domingo but problems in transportation options and the approaching dusk led us to cancel that stop and instead head back earlier to Legazpi for a night out. On waiting for a Legazpi-bound bus, we stumbled on an old masonry bridge with rustling waters on the river underneath. Looking so tempting and the sweltering heat taking its toll on us, we went down and took a dip.


Back in Legazpi, we dined and chilled under the stars beside the bay at Embarcadero.

Bicol Backpacking 2011 - Part 1

2011 has been an incredibly liberating year personally and though the prospects of my first overseas trip eluded my meager means, Luzon still offered some wonders that I needed to experience. As the bang to my yearend, I set aside the Christmas break 2011 for a backpacking trip to Bicol. Up till then Lucena has been the southernmost point of mainland Luzon that I have visited and its hightime, I went far beyond that mark. The experience of travelling to Bicol via the resurrected Bicol Express train system, the sight of the majestic Mayon, and them old churches which I love were going to be the highlight of the trip. Armed with web research, a modest budget, a backpack, and a camera for memories, this Bicolandia trip took me and two of the most intrepid travellers I know (Joven and JM) to 2 of the region's provinces - Camarines Sur and Albay.

Starting the trip off on style was the ride to the Bicol Express trains, recently ressurected and plying the Manila-Naga route. Though bumpy at best, the experience of chugging along the steel rails en route to Bicolandia on sleeper cabins made the 12-hour travel comfortable and memorable. Upon arrival in Naga in the morning, succumbing to temptation for kitsch, a token shot of myself below the Naga signboard at the platform cannot be passed up.

While enjoying breakfast in downtown Naga, we perused and reviewed our itinerary of the day. Heavily underestimating the width and breadth of the places we were to visit, the itinerary we drew beforehand where we were supposed to traverse CamSur to Albay via its northern borders fell apart. The first lesson Prepare to be surprised. So insteadof journeying from Naga to Sagnay where we were to cross over to Albay via Tiwi we geared up for a simple CamSur Visita Iglesia to the towns of the Partido (an area now being proposed to eat into CamSur to form a new province to be called Nueva Camarines) starting farther up in Lagonoy and going downward to San Jose, Goa and Tigaon.



But before we were to journey on, we briefly enjoyed some sights in downtown Naga like their charming plazas (Plaza Rizal & Plaza Quince Martires) to their Metropolitan Cathedral and Holy Rosary Seminary. Stately and imposing the cathedral indeed had the trappings of a proper house of worship; and the adjacent Holy Rosary Seminary with its arcaded portico is arguably one of the country's most charming brick edifice. Now pressed for time as the morning was wearing off, we carried on to our itinerary with a personal vow to finish the trip with a visit to Naga's most important pilgrimage site - the Basilica of Penafrancia.

Greeted by rains our journey into the old Partido de Camarines offered our next backpacking surprise not knowing that our first destination offered yet another one. The church of Lagonoy is a charming church, framed by the Caramoan mountains in the background and set apart from the town plaza via a large fenced field - the vista reminding one of Nagcarlan's cemetery chapel. What destroyed this destination however is a ginormous red parol right smack center of the facade - its size severely outsizing and obstructing the church. As what Joven and JM enthuses, this bad decorating choice may have been a homage to Vietnam or even a nod to Communism (extreme Liberation Theology perhaps?). Whatever the intention was, however good-willed, it doesnt take an expert to see that it was a step in the wrong direction. One hopes that aside from ill-considered renovation projects, our colonial churches be saved from bad decorating choices as well.

Like a whiff of fresh air, the next stop San Jose offered a more refreshing sight not to mention a shelter from the ensuing rains. The church is ornate and elegantly decorated, no outlandish lantern in sight, its aged stone walls now plastered with but still showing the original details of its exteriors. Carrying on this elegance to the interiors, the altar and ceilings was kept original and uncluttered. 

With no signs that the rains were relenting, we carried on to Goa - a town we hoped would be as spiced as its namesake in exotic India. Goa's church was simple and elegant its facade best viewed from the wide green promenade fronting it, but the approaching dusk, unrelenting rains and the prospect of dropping Tigaon's church from our itinerary looming we didnt even bother checking out the interiors and immediately left. 

Riding the bus which will take us back to Naga, we resigned ourselves to foregoing even a brief stop at Tigaon. 3 out of 4 aint bad we said to ourselves, consoled that we had a brief view of the peach-colored church en route to Lagonoy earlier; but as if like serendipity, the bus had a pitstop at Tigaon's poblacion right across the church to pick up passengers. With camera in hand, we scampered out the bus to have a quick picture. Completing the 4 churches we earlier planned to visit, this leg of the trip, surprises included was complete.




Upon arrival in Naga that evening, we decided that instead of staying the night at Naga, that we should carry on the trip and have our first night at Legazpi city instead. The prospect of waking up to a view of Mayon cannot be passed up so catching the last bus to Legazpi was key. This night journey into Albay, I cannot help but find at least the faintest view of Mayon's silhouette in the horizon, and somewhere in the town of Camalig, the unmistakable black triangle in the horizon revealed herself for the first time.

Sa Birhen! Sa Birhen! IGMP2011

Grand Marian Procession 2011
December 4, 2011
Plaza Roma, Intramuros, Manila

Rain or shine, one of Manila's grandest gathering will go on. If anything, the rains gave a whiff of freshness after months of sweltering heat. Blessings and more blessings for years to come.

Sa Birhen!

Pista sa Angono 2011

Angono + Morong + Binangonan, Rizal 
November 19, 2011

After that culture overload at last month's Malabon tour, I decided to do revisit my original plan to do one such trip every month. Now, while wandering alone guided only by internet research have been rewarding enough in many of my outings, being toured by someone in the know has always been much more insighttful. For November, I wanted to revisit an initial trip my friends did of Angono. While scheduling conflicts makes me unable to visit in time for the climactic fiesta of frenzied water pelting and riotous higantes dancing, a trip some days prior offered a more relaxed - not to mention dry experience. Joined with an old classmate - Gian, an friend, artist, and true blue Angono native, we wandered aimlessly through the town exploring its hidden charms and unexpected treasures.

We start the trip off in Angono to go somewhere off the town - two towns away in fact to a church (I love old churches) that has captured my fascination even only from pictures. The church of Saint Jerome in the town of Morong is a sight to behold.Like the Santa Maria of Ilocos Sur and UNESCO fame, this too sits on a lofty perch atop a hill overlooking the town. As if not contented with the elevation, the church's architecture is tall and majestic - as what Gian enthuses something that looks like a trophy. True enough the church has no other like it in the country. It is graceful, elegant, and heavily ornamented. For this first stop alone, I have to comment that the trip has already been rewarding. Interiors-wise, its is simple and bare, a complete 180 from its facade. The facade will want you to go inside, but as if like a neat trick the interiors will force you to be contemplative and somber.

After Morong, we faced a dilemma of whether to venture further down the road to the towns of Baras and Tanay where research tells me have a spectacular colonial church each as well, but since lunch time is passing and Angono still beckons with activities in the afternoon, we decided to instead do a visit to Santa Ursula in Binangonan on the way back. The church is old and charming but was obviously a downer compared to the one in Morong. That Baroque wonder was a tough act to follow indeed. From here on we ventured back to Angono to have lunch at the legendary Balaw-Balaw.

Im no stranger to the culinary delights of Balaw-Balaw but I was honestly more interested about the art and ambience of the place more than anything. It was a nice lunch of pakbet, crispy itik and balaw-balaw rice downed by an exotic drink of coconut meat and grenadines eerily called "Gayuma". After a purchase of a miniature higante - this trip's token pasalubong, Gian and I wandered up the halls of the gallery above the restaurantwhere he explains stories about certain artifacts. Interesting is the display of the "puso" and the paper roosters which play a role in the town's Easter Salubong practice. It is also here that we see the initial prep work done to the family's higantes army which were being readied for the fiesta a few days from now.

A tricycle ride further into the town center brought us to Barangay Poblacion Itaas where the eminent sons of Angono - Maestro Lucio San Pedro and Carlos "Botong" Francisco hail from. Lining the walls of the main street were replicas of Botong's murals and where a snippet to Maestro Lucio's immortal lullaby "Sa Ugoy Ng Duyan" can be viewed by the public. In preparation for the fiesta the streets are lined with arches of bamboo where families hang boughs of trinkets which hark to a tradition of hanging tools of a family's trade. So when an arch feature fishing nets and boat implements, it can be deduced that the family derive its livelihood from fishing. A charming tradition which is now being phased out in favor of random ornaments which will double up as christmas buntings during the Christmas season, they light up the streets come night time as well.

In this street is the parish church as well where prep for the 6th day novena is being readied. A new addition Gian tells me is the retablo mayor which upon closer inspection feature subtle refernces to Angono's religious history. Such as the bamboos being held together by clumps of the kamuning shrub - a traditional decoration of the pagoda during the fiesta parade's fluvial leg and the fronds of the alagaw herb which feature prominently on Holy Week church rites. When illuminated, the retable glows in a pale green light - shining and shimmering with typical Baroque filigree and ornaments.

From the church we venture back to the municipio where the Parehadoras streetdancing parade was nearing its end. the parehadoras are the ladies garbed in tradional sayas and bakya armed with the fisherman's oar which accompany the parade of San Clemente and the higantes. As a finishing activity, hot-air lanterns were released to the skies by the crowd to the delight of the everyone. It is here that we were reminded of the coming Centennial year of Botong Francisco's birth in 2012 which promises to be a a year of celebration and merryment for the town.

As nighttime falls on the town, Gian and I proceeded to the Reyes home - where the old bust image of San Clemente caught by a fisherman through his nets in olden days are put up for public veneration. Owing to this bust image, this image is lovingly referred to as San Clementeng Putol. After a light dinner of puto bumbong and a local tea, we attended the novena mass capped off with a lively paagaw in the church patio to the tune of a live band.



It is here with the drumbeats still beating in our ears, I thanked Gian for a day well spent before I ventured back to Manila. Relaxed but not left wanting for the cultural experience I was searching for, this day trip to Angono and its vicinity was a complete 180 from my initial trip during the fiesta 2 years back. Leaving full of insight, I promised that this will not be my last.

On to the next.