My Island Date

Exclusive dinner for two in Manila is hard to find.   There's traffic, a long waiting list, and a pricey corner table.  When you have tried almost every restaurant in Manila, it's time to change your "the usual" date plans.  

How about sitting on a small hut during low tide set on a long and white sand bar, drinking buko juice served by a fisherman on a banca, and just slowly watching the tides change?  How does that sound?

Picking the islands of Caramoan for the idea of an exclusive date came with bonuses and twists.  Twisty because getting in and out of the island is like joining an adventure race.  However,  paradise has it’s rewards which can only be revealed to the willing. Here’s an example taken from my notes during the trip:

 “Harry, our 15-footer commuter boat, carrying 50 plus tourists from Sabang Port, danced in the sea like a can of sardine thrown inside a washing machine.”

The islands of Caramoan is in a days journey. An hour plane ride, another hour for the land trip, a two hour boat ride, and finally a 15 minute land trip. 

But all the harshness of getting there is replaced by the fantastic island vibe of the locals, or from the people of CMC Villa Caramoan.  They just love the sight of tourists! The owner of the resort Coleen, the staff , the boatmen, and our tour guide is just plain happy to see us.  Their island vibes are just so addicting and very natural!

We also love the simplicity of Coleen's resort, and it is just how we want it to be. It's no fancy place, not even a view of the beach, but surrounded by lime cliffs, and in the morning it is so quiet you can hear old fashioned brooms or “walis ting-ting” cleaning the grounds while happy children playing. The smell of burnt leaves and the morning light slowly crawling in the surrounding cliffs were a bliss.

The staff of CMC Villa Caramoan beats any 5-star concierge service we've had. Try asking for anti-constipation pills in the middle of the night, they come rushing back and hands you a pack of Diatabs from the local drugstore. 


Have you had a personal tour guide? Maybe yes for a big group. How big was our group? It was only a husband and wife date-getaway, but we still had the luxury of having Edward with us like our personal butler. Edward carried with him everything like he has got this Swiss Knife of tricks. He carried lunch, cold water, and big, colored, fancy beach umbrellas to fashionably shade us in the gold and white sands of Caramoan. 

Oh Manang Tita, just before we leave for the islands everyday, hands to us freshly caught pan-fried Malasugui Tuna and tenderly cooked big red crabs in tomato sauce garnished with bell peppers prepared in heaven or in the resort’s kitchen. I can still smell the hot white rice I ate while hearing the waves play below our feet in our favorite beach in the universe, Manlawi Island. During low tide try running a meter dash in the endless, flat, powdery white sands (even autofocus of the camera got confused).

During high tide, fancy lunch in small huts on stilts while crystalline knee-deep waters tickle your toes. 

The last hours of our four-day date in the islands were spent inside a plane going back to Manila.  From the small window, I can already see taillights on the traffic below while heavy rains pour.  I recall writing this while the plane landed:

“Why swim in a sea of traffic when you can pick your own private hut in a low-tide white sandy beach?  Why stare at the “wait to be seated” sign in a crowded restaurant when you can have your own tour guide arrange everything for you so you have the whole day to stare at your wife while having the time of her life?”

Don’t you think it’s time for you to arrange a date in the islands for a change?  Guaranteed, your date will love it.  My island date did.

CMC Villa Caramoan, www.cmcvillacaramoan.com, 09178265336, 09999923949, look for Coleen Cordial         

A Day in the Life of a Taal Fisherman

For some people, Taal Volcano is just a small volcano in Batangas viewed from Tagaytay.  That makes sense, for the tourist.  But for a traveler looking for roads less traveled and personal experiences while taking home never been seen photos, steps to move away from the tourist populated area of Tagaytay will make one big difference.    


It is during these moving away decisions you'll find amazing details; and when magnified, unique stories come out that form a bigger and colorful picture.

This set puts me in a 6am journey from nets to boats, and fish pens to sunrise of Taal Lake.  I din't take the "boat ride to Taal" signage, but decided to visit a fishing village in Talisay, talk to a fisherman on break, then contracted him to an early morning ride the next day to see them in action.

Check out the little boat that exactly fits 2 people. I had to ride it with Arwin, my boat man for the morning. A php 200 bucks tip for Arwin while carrying 2 bodies of camera made my day and put my balls on fire (not the fear of getting wet, but the fear of treading water with 2 cameras).

I love fishing villages.  It's not only the colorful parked boats on the shoreline... 

...but also families of fishermen or people behind their drive...

...nets being dried, fishing lines being arranged, and the untangling of nets being prepared for the night. 

It is inside these villages that you'll also see the Pinoy's secret strength.  It's the fellowship and storytelling time under the tree after a day's work, or a night's catch.  While joining these under the tree sessions, I made few shots and already found myself immersed and inspired on how a simple-living fisher folk make ends meet by fishing.

The photos in this story support my favorite line... "Sometimes it's not the picture, but it's the experience taking it."  If you are still taking tours plucked from a pamphlet found in a hotel lobby, still sitting on a couch fiddling with the TV remote, and still afraid of getting wet, you are maybe missing half of your adventure life.

So for now, stay away from the guided tourist service, take a few steps back, and head to a place where your adventure sense takes you.  

Happy fishing everyone!

The Untold Church of Cebu

5:00 am, hotel bed side clock beaten because of snoozing.  6:30 am, decided to move, sipped last night's stale coffee, took few bites from the complimentary fruit platter, and went off to visit the rarely photographed 17th century Patrocinio de Sta. Maria Church in Boljoon, three hours from Cebu city.


The South Terminal of Cebu city is a good transport hub if you want to explore Cebu south by bus. Buses to Argao, Carcar, Oslob, etc. are all there. I took one going to Boljoon. Before boarding, I stood in the busy terminal looking for the "Series" bus company since the bellboy repeatedly said, "sir take Series bus para comfortable." Didn't find it so just took an ordinary bus and when I opened the window, saw a big bus with a logo "Ceres" passed by. Missed it.

Boljoon Church's introduction was cinematic. Her shape stood hidden from the different mountains facing Bohol Strait and slowly revealed itself while our bus went down the main coastal highway. Her sea-blasted and weather-faded white facade remarked by its 17th century baroque architecture, ages gracefully and separates itself from the renovated surroundings of the church.

The front lawns are massive. Once in a while, locals stay here for occasional gatherings before a procession for example, or just to hang out. Can't blame them, a view this good is definitely inviting. I took this opportunity to relax before hearing the 10am mass.  


Mass was celebrated in Cebuano, wherein English phrases was like a cold Coke in the desert. Once mass is over, Patrocinio de Sta. Maria of Boljoon is silent and empty. It is during these silent moments I like staying inside churches. The size of the interior was huge and highlighted by the different 17th century details like windows set on top of her wide pillars made of mortar and lime.  

Photographing Cebuano kids while hearing their voices and slippers echo inside the old church were definitely good notes to remember.

Weather once again played its teasing role. If mother nature decides not to open her robe today and throw buckets of rain, live with it. You will see here how I had a good time looking for shadows while rain poured outside, or while I walked inside the quarters of the church.  

The best part is meeting new friends like Bonie the "kampanero" or bell guardian, and Mateo the pedicab driver. Bonie lets me inside the 18th century bell tower separated from the main church. He told me different stories from how nitwits tried to take one of the really heavy bells. Beats any "Italian Job" sequel. "Pag gusto talaga, gagawan ng paraan" as Bonie said, or if willing, there's a way; and also the different times of the day he needed to sound the bell before mass starts as reminders for the locals.

Mateo on the other hand is the skillful (left hand on the handle bar and right hand pointing out to tell me “that’s Bohol and Siquijor island” while making sharp turns) pedicab driver who gave me a tour of the small roads that lead to the other barangays. But it was a guilt trip for me, why? Imagine this, Mateo must be in is 60s, peddling an all steel pedi cab and the heavy me as his passenger. He had fun that's what he said. Maybe it's because of the casual stops for a sweet banana and a soda near the town's plaza.

I needed to go back to the city and anticipate Cebu's traffic. A night stay could have been a good choice, but that's too much for my senses already. This time I caught a Ceres bus or the "Series", entered my cold, fragrant, and newly made-up hotel room, finished a freshly brewed coffee, and finished this story.


Our 7,107 islands has lots of "brochured" or canned tourist spots. But like what I tell my readers, always choose the road less traveled and think the opposite, trust your adventure and travel senses, ask around, and you'll see a place to feed your one of a kind "trip."


Cebu is not only about it's tapered hotels, dried mangoes, and over fed whale sharks in Oslob. It's also about the other untold churches waiting to be discovered and photographed!

An Endangered Lighthouse in Batangas

Faro de Punta de Malabrigo or Cape Malabrigo in Lobo, Batangas lands in my top three or trinity of epic lighthouses in the Philippines.  The other two, Cape Engano and Cape Bojeador, share a common impression with Cape Malabrigo... they all age beautifully, dramatically, and in an "endangered" way.

While Faro de Punta de Malabrigo is my secret hiding place in the South, it also holds a proof that our "endangered" lighthouses are aging beautifully.  Only few has discovered her even if she's only 2-3 hours drive from Manila via SLEX and Star Toll, then only an hour drive from Batangas City.  

Malabrigo Parola during sunset

Her grounds are amazing.  Since she's on a cliff facing the South islands of Mindoro and Verde Island, shadows from the rising and setting of the sun paint beautiful contrasts both inside and outside of the lighthouse.  A warm cup of Batangas Barako coffee while listening to Moby or Mandalay make patiently waiting for good light very relaxing.

Porch facing the Verde Island Passage

Not like other lighthouses, where noisy tourists are always part of the attraction, enjoying 

different kinds of flowers and trees populate the large lawn and provide all sorts of foregrounds from colorful to neutral hues.  These foregrounds make a good job in producing rare shots of the lighthouse.

  

Different vegetation found in the lighthouse grounds

Faro de Punta de Malabrigo's grounds does not only make her a one of a kind 18th century lighthouse, it is also an architectural testament of her era's details found in the doors, jalousies, and porch.  I am not an architect, but these details transported me back in time when she was still in her most pristine state.  Even the chosen colors of the bricks and doors, give a unique contrast against the color of her surroundings.

Spanish colonial style architecture

A careful turn of the door knob lets me in the quiet hallways where I can only hear my own breathing.  Slowly, they became as loud as my imagination of other entities looming together with my footsteps. It was clear that amounts of respects while using these hallways and windows are important.  

Blurry effect to simulate an 18th century feel

But when these bricks chip off and iron porch railings begin to rust, you see the real state of Faro de Punta de Malabrigo, or other "endangered" lighthouses in the Philippines.  While the Local Government Unit of Lobo, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Thompson family maintain and safeguard the lighthouse, it is also our duty as tourists to preserve a century old structure.  

Bricks chipping off need renovating in some quarters of the lighthouse

In 2006, the website Lighthouse News (http://lighthouse-news.com/2009/04/11/lighthouse-vandalized-during-film-shoot/) mentioned unauthorized filming by an independent filmmaker damaged portions of the Faro de Punta de Malabrigo lighthouse.  The website said:  "Film equipment dragged across the 100-year-old hardwood floors have left permanent deep gouges. Whatever was left of doors and windows original to the lighthouse have been torn open. Props had been randomly hammered into the 19th-century walls of limestone or hardwood."

Damaged windows by vandals

Here are my "nail" or bullet points on how to take care of our lighthouses as visitors:

A rusty nail used in a damaged wooden wall

• Move slow and no big groups inside.  Century old floors, railings, and walls are fragile. 
• Do not vandalize.  Only animals leave marks to claim territories.  
• When doors and gates are locked, caretaker is not there, do not enter.
• Apply "no take zone" rule.  Do not take any souvenirs (only pictures) since it is a National Historic Landmark.
• Know more about Philippine Coastguard's "Adopt a Lighthouse Program" if your organization likes to take part, like what the Thompson's did in Cape Malabrigo.
• Travel more and visit towns housing lighthouses to create more community based and sustainable tourism jobs.  

Old lighthouse fence to protect the lighthouse

So let our lighthouses age naturally, because from being classified as endangered establishments, they can soon be extinct if we don't do our part.  Our children and future generations may not be able to see them anymore.  

Aged jalousies that stand the test of time and weather