beaching in BINOGAWAN

 Photo by Franklin Robedizo

 Binogawan Shoreline

Binogawan is a quaint barangay in the town of San Policarpo, province of Eastern Samar. Just like the other 16 barangays, it is abundantly blessed with the beauty of nature. Facing the Pacific Ocean, it is a window to a whole new world of azure skies, cool breeze, blue waters and cold waves gently lapping and kissing the stretch of white sand that is now becoming the favorite vacay spot of tourists from near and far.

But don't raise your hopes and expectations just yet. Binogawan is not your Boracay type of beach fun. It is stripped with restos, shops and required accomodation that other known resorts have. There is however Binogawan Beach Resort owned by a local (who made it big overseas) and a foreign partner. It has well-appointed rooms for overnight (or a couple of days) stay. Weddings, birthdays and social functions can now be done at the resort, giving the community a choice from the traditional and customary social venues.

What really makes Binogawan a must-go all year round destination is the charm of its own. Nipa and bamboo cottages are scattered along the shoreline owned and operated by the locals, of familiar smiles and pastoral bonds. It come cheap with a view of paradise.

Binogawan beachgoers do not usually hit the beach and bask in the warmth of the sun, except of course for vacationing tourists from other parts of the world. People converge to share stories and laughter, dig in to whatever food they put on the table and get drowsy with booze and the orange burst of the setting sun. Binogawan beach is undoubtedly a meeting place, a watering hole of sorts, and a picnic point for families, friends as well as new-found acquaintances.

It is more of a 'story' place, a hub of rousing laughter and a place where new memories are made.

Binogawan beach is perfect as it is. Vast, free, and still 'unharmed' by the mad dash of 'uber' commercialization. And  yes, beach lovers scantily clad in bikinis sashaying in straw hats and aviator shades are not welcome in Binogawan beach. 

At least, not now. 

Not yet.

 Photo by Josie Argetsinger 

Josie's Tropical Beach Resort

 Photo by Josie Argetsinger

Photo by Binogawan Beach Resort 

Gateway to paradise. Bougainvillas in bloom

 Photo by Binogawan Beach Resort

Beach Perfect

 Photo by Binogawan Beach Resort

 Ready for some action

 Photo by Josie Argetsinger

Patch of heaven on earth

Biyahera's turn a-beachin'

'The only paradise is paradise lost'

- Marcel Proust

ILOILO (gastronomically speaking)

You first taste the food with your eyes more than any other of your senses. 

Presenting some of my favorite hunger busters in Iloilo.

 Seafoods' fare @ Tatoy's ( 5 minutes away from Iloilo Airport)

Halo-halo, Korean style. An iceless bed of diced ripe mango, pineapple and strawberry topped with a generous serving of ice cream, wafer stick and biscuit.

@ Ice Spot, Robinson's Mall

Korean waffle with chopped pecan nuts, blueberries and strawberries 

served with tangy yogurt (Ice Spot, Robinson's Mall)

 Fruity Croinuts (that's what the bakeshop calls it). A double-decker of croissant and donut filled with pineapple, mango or strawberry jam. Warning: this is not for the weak of heart. It is sugary-sweet and with a quarter of a piece, you get a taste of heaven without entering the gates of hell (JD Bakery)

 

Molo soup with chicken meat. Ultimate comfort food even during summer. Brings back happy memories of childhood, The aroma alone is to die for. Hands down, my favorite of 'em all

'There is one thing more exasperating 

than a wife who can cook and won't, 

and that's a wife who can't cook and will'

~Robert Frost

 
 

SUMMERTIME (It's more fun in the Philippines)

I feel the summer creepin' in and i hate the city once again.

This could be the mantra of  fun and sun-loving peeps waiting to take a dip in pools and white-sand beaches that the Philippines is famous for.

The days are longer and the nights are shorter. Temperature's rising and vacays have been planned and booked all over the country. From the surf  capital in Mindanao to the world-class beaches in the Visayas and the quaint, rugged landscapes and  meadows in the north. Ours is a vacation paradise like no other.

Don't expect the TV networks to produce new shows this time of year. After all, everybody's gearing to get out for some adventure and explore new places fit for selfies and groupies. Nobody's going to raise the survey bars for the networks this time around.

People are heeding to the beach. Ready to be kissed by the sun and make the most out of this season while it lasts. Climate change could take in drizzles in no time.

Every backpacker has a destination spot in mind and so do I.

This is PARADISE...

In solitude. Picardo Beach, Dolores, Eastern Samar

GOD's little wonders. Japitan Beach, Dolores, Eastern samar

View of the Pacific. Binogawan Beach, San Policarpo, Eastern Samar

fruit of life

 

Communing w/ nature. Josie's Beach Resort

Binogawan, San Policarpo, Eastern Samar

'Write about winter in summer'

-Annie Dillard

NAGALAND (of paper charmers & italian sodas)

Rarely a sip of soda (softdrinks as we Filipinos call it) in this English-themed diner and bar at the ground floor of Nagaland, one of Camarines Sur's many-a-thriving hotels located at the heart of Naga City.

The diner will not satisfy your whim for a soda. Not your ordinary canned sugary favorite anyway. It has better in mind. An array of original concoctions of fruity-flavored Italian soda mixes that you'd surely drown to the last drop. It's a bit pricier but who cares, it's new, it's fresh and tastefully done. A way lot better than your fave one..

And the food, not on your ordinary run of the mill menu too. It comes with poached salmons and cream dories smothered with buttery strawberry sauce. Madness at its best. 

Quaint, unassuming but at the same time a world of its own. Just sitting and killing time at the corner table, you'd be transported to another plane of existence not of your own. For a moment, you feel you're somewhere in the English countryside doing what they (the English) do best, enjoying the food and everything around with an attitude, 'proper' attitude.

And did I say that every table is adorned with paper charmer centerpieces? Shaped in hearts and  'not moving' pinwheels of different colors, they're bunched together in a bottle half-full of sand and stones. 

Cheesy but very well thought of.  

                                                                           

                                                                               

                                                      

The good man suffers but to gain

And every virtue springs from pain

As aromatic plants bestow

No spicy fragrance while they grow

But crushed or trodden to the ground

Diffuse their balmy sweets around

-Oliver Goldsmith

 

WATERFRONT (lahug) INDULGENCE

 WATERFRONT Hotel and Casino (Lahug, Cebu)

It is expensive, and I don't want to know. It could make me penniless in no time. I am just lucky enough that all my stays here are FREE. Comes with the job.

The rooms are superbly appointed. The service, impeccable. And there's UNO, the ultimate buffet dining experience. The food, oh the food...it is what the likes of Chef Extraordinaire, food critic and internationally known author Anthony Bourdain could die for. 

It is luxury at its best. Just lounging in one of the lobby tables sipping a cup of coffee or Waterfront's bestseller watermelon smoothie will give you the feeling of being 'in' it.

And if you want to indulge and throw in some money, you can head to the casino or have your cash stripped at the duty free shop. Just remember to present your passport before paying for the Lacoste purses and shirts, Marc Jacobs perfumes and luxuriously sinful wide array of dark chocolates the hotel has to offer.

So, indulge while you still can.
 

'I always thought I could be treated like a star'

-Madonna

Photo credits: flickr.com

christmasing in DAGUPAN

Dagupan's Star Plaza Hotel @ Christmas time. 

Be a child once more.

He who has not Christmas in his heart 

will never find it under a tree. 

 ~Roy L. Smith

 

AHEAD OF TIME

I am not an urban rat. Never have been. Never will be. I’m a country girl at heart. To survive the city life and the dog-eat-dog world that comes with it for so long now is still a mystery, until now. I don't know how I did it and why.

It could be that I have to make a living so I have to sacrifice the very soul of me- my peace and quiet, my own paradise.

Few years ago, in a quaint countryside, I found my home and  found serenity in a place stripped with the comfort and glaring lights of city life. In a place where I wake up every morning to the chirping of the birds and the beauty of sunrise peeking through the imperfection of my window sill.

There, where the way of living is unhurried, laidback, calm, and free of the alarmist nature of mankind. For a moment, the world shuts down on me and my work and whatever I do that stresses me out take a backseat. My angry nerves surrender to the world around me. The place does me real good. Always.

There, in a house we lovingly built. All seven hundred bamboo poles of it, surrounded by 'kalipayan plants', fire trees and a century old Narra tree. 

I am not an urban rat. I am an artist. A lover of nature and the beauty that this world has yet to offer. I am a realist, but I find time to satisfy the yearning of my heart for poetry, inspiration and life.

I  am living a LIFE, but I can live without it. What I cannot do is live without my HEART.

I’m older, tired and sometimes, wasted. I’m tired biting other dogs’ tail but I could still be some local politicians feline. I’m ready to retire and be tucked away in that place i dreamed to be.

ANYTIME…

 'Home is the place you grow up wanting to leave 
and grow old wanting to go back to'

-John Ed Pearce

 

BANGON BOHOL

The clergy wore purple vestments. The church adorned as such, hiding its cracks. The first of four candles was lit. The  first Sunday of Advent was hailed and celebrated by a throng of faithful gathered on a sunny morning at the St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

Weeks after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated the province, the cathedral, partly-damaged by the strong tremor is once again fulfilling its purpose – a cradle of hope and cornerstone of faith for humanity.

With renewed vigor and kindred spirit, Boholanos are slowly getting back to their feet. They  have not much time to sulk. Humbled, they realized that they are far more luckier and better off than the victims of  super typhoon Yolanda. In an instant, they stopped complaining about their ravaged houses and collapsed bridges. Their loss is nothing compared to those whose lives are now just part of Yolanda’s death toll.

Foreign and local aid  to the home of the Sandugo Festival and now, pulverized centuries-old churches are not as much as what Eastern Visayas is getting and receiving. The attention to the quake-stricken region has waned. Help, even  construction materials for damaged houses don’t come easy. But the people of Bohol are moving on and moving forward. Their ingenuity is at work to the fullest. They have started rebuilding their future and what’s left of their homes and lives. Modest houses made of ‘sawali’  (bamboo strips) are now taking over Bohol’s countryside landscape.

And the local government is glad.  Very glad in fact, that the national media has been taken off their back. For a time, they were worried of what has to become of Bohol’s tourism industry especially with the ‘sensationalized’ reporting on sinkholes that sent shivers to foreign and local tourists alike. 

But oftentimes, trials are the best opportunities to harness every bit of potential. Today, curiosity drives tourists even more to the famed chocolate hills.  Who would ever have imagined that its core would reveal  shells, white sand, limestone and other sea minerals. Bohol, many now say is undeniably a giant coral reef.

In his homily, the priest urged the faithful to take the tragedy as an opportunity to renew their faith. An opportunity to be of service to others. To be thankful of blessings big and small and to spend each moment on earth as if it is the last day of their lives.

Advent after all, is the  preparation for the second coming of Christ.

"When life knocks you to your knees, and it will, get up! If it knocks you to your knees again, as it will, 

then, it is the best position to pray"

 ~ Ethel Barrymore

BORACAY (in the eyes of a first-timer)

 

Much has been said and much has been written about Boracay, the premier tourist destination in the country. That tiny speck of island surrounded by pristine blue waters at the tip of Panay. 

According to Wikipedia,  Boracay derived it's name from the word 'boray' which means white

cotton, an obvious reference to its sugary and powdery stretch of white sand. It was once known as Buracay before the spaniards came to conquer the Filipino race.

The place is everywhere. It is all over the glossy pages of travel and lifestyle magazines. It is in the mind of every sun and sea-loving human being, regardless of language and race.  Not surprisingly, Boracay has already bagged numerous awards and recognitions from various international tourist and travel organizations.

As a first-timer, the place is what it seemed and expected to be. Tourists from all over the world strutting their wares in a paradise like no other. The beachfront bursting with noise, half-naked bodies, and  dizzying variation of music genre being played by the seemingly endless line of restos and bars facing the sea. It is madness in  its purest form.

Boracay is home both of the mundane and over- the-top accomodation known to man. Many Boracay lovers are on tight budget but some hotels and resorts are definitely not for the faint of heart.... and pocket.

Take Discovery Shores. An exclusive paradise for the uber rich. It comes with a heavy price tag. But at the end of the day, every currency spent is all worth it.

The once rice-producing island is now flooded with over 360 resorts and establishments. Boracay which was once acquired ( a big part of it) by a local judge from a nearby town is now raking in millions of revenues for the province of Aklan in particular and for the Philippines in general.

Not bad  for the piece of heaven and original home of the Ati-Tribe that has seen its own version of better days  from copra-making, raising goats, tending  lands and simply, enjoying and living LIFE to the FULLEST.

'The most important things in life
are not things'

-Anthony D' Angelo