Hungy for Haikyo!

Our annual pilgrimage just took off the other day. We visited churches in Tarlac and Pangasinan. I am meaning to blog about it and I hope to God that I get the focus and discipline to actually do it within the Lenten season, but first, I am excited to share my little side trip while on a pilgrimage. Actually, now that I think about it, I feel a little guilty about skipping a prayer and reflection session because ruins of an old church got me distracted.

It happened on our second stop,  St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Camiling, Tarlac. When I learned from the marker that the present church we were visiting is a replacement to the old one that burned in 1997, I immediately wondered what happened to the old church. This is the current St. Michael the Archangel Parish church.

While our parish priest was telling us to settle down, I felt the need to pee so I went out to look for the toilet. While walking, I realized the old church was literally just a stone's throw away from the present church as I stumbled upon its ruins. Then I got excited and forgot about the state of my urinary bladder. I immediately jumped in the first opening I saw.

The facade of the church is still intact and has its old grandeur, but there's really not much to see inside, still I indulged in capturing my first Haikyo exploration.

view from the Altar spot

view from the choir loft

I imagine this is where the portrait of the four evangelists were

the stained glass

the main door

There's something poignant and appealing about the decay of deserted spaces, it makes me think about the "how was" and "what ifs". The way nature reclaims a concrete structure is a profoundly beautiful reminder that nothing in this world is permanent. You may have once been a massive evidence of this nation's colonial past, but today and the coming days, you will slowly dissipate into oblivion.

once a sacred structure is now tainted with a public service graffiti

I tried to research about the cause of the fire, but I couldn't find anything substantial. I wish I asked around, but I was out of time and confident that I'd find about it online. I learned that parishioners tried to rebuild and restore the old church, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Instead, a construction of a new church took place, financed by former Marcos crony and San Miguel Corporation chairman, Danding Cojuangco. I guess restoring the orginal church back to its old glory using present technology would be too costly.

Bakit Ako Galit?

Para maiba naman, mag-boblog ako sa wikang Filipino. Ito'y napapanahon lamang dahil ngayon ay buwan ng aking Inang Wika, at ang mensahe na gusto kong iparating ay importante na maintindihan ng bawat Filipino (at dahil naaaliw din ako na paglaruan ang Translate Button ng blog ko hihihi).

Kung ikaw ay aking contact sa Facebook at Twitter, malamang mapapansin mo na nitong mga nakaraang araw, madalas akong magbahagi ng mga balita at komentaryo tungkol sa isyu ng anomalya sa paggamit ng Priority Development Assistance Fund (Pork Barrel). Marahil ay nagtataka ka dahil sa totoo lang, hindi ako mapolitikong tao, bagamat bukas ang aking tenga sa mga isyung panlipunan at sensitibo ako sa mga isyung pangkalusugan, kalikasan at edukasyon, hindi ako mahilig makialam sa politikal na aspeto ng mga bagay-bagay.  Ang isyu ng pangungurakot ay hindi na bago. Alam nating lahat na ito ay hindi lamang sa Pilipinas nangyayari, kundi sa bawat sulok ng mundo. Pero alam mo yung pakiramdam na meron kang kutob, alam mong me nangyayari, pero pag kapag nakumpirma na ang iyong hinala, ay talaga namang nakakapanggalaiti. Ang lumabas na report ng Commission On Audit, na detalyadong inilantad ang katiwalian ng mga mambabatas sa paggamit ng Pork Barrel ay talaga namang kahindik-hindik! Ang saklaw ng report ay maliit na halaga lamang kung tutuusin, humigit kumulang na anim na BILYONG piso (P6 B), sa maikling panahon (2007-2009). Isipin mo na lang kung ano pa ang ating matutuklasan kung hihimayin ng mga eksperto ang buong alokasyon simula ng naipasa ang batas ukol dito noong 1990 (P25B/year).

Ngayon bumalik tayo sa aking tanong. Bakit ako galit? Ako ay halos sampung taon nang nagtatrabaho, sumusweldo ako kada kinsenas, at bawat sweldo, malaking bahagi ang nakakaltas para sa Income Tax. Nakakahiya mang aminin, pero kung susumahin ko ang aking ibinayad na buwis sa loob ng sampung taon, mas malaki pa ito kesa sa naipon kong pera sa banko. Bukod pa dyan, dahil isa rin akong mamimili, ay nagbabayad din ako ng Value Added Tax sa bawat produkto at serbisyo na aking nakonsumo. Pero sa loob 10 taon, lahat ng lumabas na pera para sa tax ay parang walang kinahinatnan na maganda, as in wala akong maisip o makitang konkretong ebidensya. Hindi ko maramdaman na sumusulong o umuunlad ang ating bansa, palala ng palala ang kahirapan sa kabila ng report na consistent ang paglago ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas (ang pinakamataas sa Asia as of Q1 2013!). Sampung taon na akong nagcocommute papunta sa opisina at pauwi ng bahay, sa maikling panahon ng pagbibiyahe araw-araw ay nakikita ko ang ILAN sa mga problema ng ating bansa -mga sirang daan, mga batang namamalimos sa kalye, madumi at mabahong lansangan, milyung-milyong iskwater, at marami pang iba. Kung tutuusin, sheltered pa nga ako sa tunay na estado ng kahirapan (I have not seen the worst!). Sa halip, ang buwis na sana ay nalaan sa pagpapabuti ng buhay ng milyung-milyong Pilipino ay nawawaldas lamang sa kapritso ng mga hayup na magnanakaw at kanilang pamilya. Hindi ko maintindihan kung paano nila nasisimukra na magwaldas ng perang kinuha sa kaban ng bayan at mamuhay na pawang mga maharlika. Sigurado akong pamilyar ang mga ito sa kasaysayan ng mga Marcos, bakit kelangan ulitin ang kasaysayan? Bakit ba kung sino pa ang may pinag-aralan ay sila pang walang konsyensya, maari bang isama sa kurikulum iyon?

Ang isa pa sa nakakalungkot na bagay sa scam na ito ay pagkakaroon ng negatibong pagkakakilala sa mga NGO (Nongovernment Organization). Hindi nakakapagtaka na di masyadong nagtitiwala ang mga tao sa mga NGO. Ang mga NGO na tinutukoy sa nasabing scam ay pawang mga HUWAD, ang mga totoong NGO ay malinis ang layunin na ayusin at baguhin ang mundo. Ilan sa alam ko ay hindi tumatanggap ng donasyon galing sa mga korporasyon at gobyerno para makasigurado na walang conflict of interest.

Buwagin ang PDAF.

Ngayon, paano ba aayusin ang gulong ito? Ang sigaw ng taong bayan, i-scrap na ang Pork Barrel. Dahil ito naman talaga ang puno't dulo ng pangungurakot ng mga mambabatas, unang-una, ang trabaho nila ay gumawa ng batas, 'di nila kailangan ng ganong kalaking pondo. Naiintindihan ko ang mabuting layunin na bigyan ang kongreso ng kapangyarihan na matugunan ang pangangailangan ng mga distritong kanilang kinakatawanan, pero ito ay ideal lamang sa mga opisyal na may malinis at tapat na intensyon na magsilbi sa bayan. Pero sa totoo lang, halos imposible yatang mabuwag ang Pork Barrel. Unang-una, ang mga taong responsable sa pag-ammend ng batas ay sya ring mga taong sangkot sa katiwalian. Tapos ang Pangulo mismo ay hindi sang-ayon sa pagkabuwag ng sistema, sa kabila ng opisyal na pahayag na "Panahon na po upang i-abolish ang PDAF" pero ang totoo ay revision at renaming lang naman ang ibig nyang sabihin. Ayoko namang magpaka-negatibo pero kung gusto nating baguhin ang sistema, bakit 'di na lang buwagin ng tuluyan at gumawa ng panibagong sistema. Siguro kasi malaking trabaho, saka baka wala na ring tumakbo sa kongreso at senado, ang susunod na tatargetin ng mga buwaya ay kung saan madidivert yung budget, kung ma-centralize sa executive branch, naku dudumugin ang mga posisyon sa LGU!

Parusahan ang Maysala.

Samantala, wag din nating kalimutan na kelangan managot yung mga sangkot sa katiwalian lalo na yung mga paborito kong consistent na top 3 - Juan Ponce Enrile (my God, he's been a public servant since God knows when, I cannot imagine the amount of wealth he amassed, tsk tsk tsk!), Bong Revilla at Jingoy Estrada.

Ipasa ang FOI Bill.

The State recognizes the right of the people to information on matters of public concern, and adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest, subject to the procedures and limitations provided by this Act. This right is indispensable to the exercise of the right of the people and their organizations to effective and reasonable participation at all levels of social, political and economic decision-making (FOI sec. 2, Declaration of Policy).

Di ba napakaganda ng layunin ng batas na ito, kung bakit naman hindi naisulong. Halatang ayaw ng mga opisyal na ma-scrutinize ang mga "projects" at "transactions" nila. Ngayon, nararapat lang na maipasa ang FOI Bill, parang suntok sa buwan din ito katulad ng pag-abolish ng PDAF, pero siguro naman, mapipilitan na ang mga mambabatas na isulong ang batas na ito ngayon. Ayokong mawalan ng pag-asa.

Ngayon, kung ano man ang magiging resulta ng mga imbestigasyon at ammendments, sa tingin ko, ang pinaka-importanteng tungkulin ay nakasalalay sa taong bayan mismo.

Makialam.

“Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings.” - Helen Keller

Noong unang nilabas ng Inquirer ang expose sa Pork Barrel scam, ano kaya ang mangyayari kung walang nagreact, kung ang lahat ay busy sa kanikaniyang mundo. Malamang "business" as usual pa rin ang mga walanghiya. Isipin mo na lang, ilang rebolusyon na ang nangyari sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, simula sa himagsikan ng mga Katipunero? Masasabi ko naman na may mga pagbabagong ring naganap. Pero sa banda roon, nagsimula na ring magsawa ang mga tao. Kung matatandaan natin ang mga EDSA People Power na naganap (parang apat na yata), yung dalawa don ay tinangkang patalsikin si Gloria, pero sa dismaya nating lahat, walang nagyari. Kung anong liit nya, sya namang kapal ng mukha. Pero sa tingin ko, malaking bagay din na maraming nawalan ng gana sa pagprotesta. Bakit kamo, eh papatalsikin mo, tapos ganon di ang papalit, o baka mas masahol pa. Hindi ko masisisi kung maraming nawalan ng pakialam. Dahil para na lang tayong sirang plaka na paulit-ulit.

Aaminin ko na dati, isa ako sa mga walang pakialam. Pero nagpapasalamat ako na namulat ako ng maaga, hindi pa huli ang lahat. Malaki ang paniniwala ko na may pag-asa pang bumangon ang Pilipinas. Malaking tulong ang internet at social media sa pagmobilize ng mga tao. Sa oras na ito, mahigit walumpung libong netizens ang nagkumpirma na sasama sa malawakang protesta sa Luneta at iba parte ng bansa gaya ng Naga, Baguio, Iloilo, Cebu, atbp. Di gaya ng mga nakaraang People Power, ito ay nagsimula lamang sa palitan ng kuru-kuro sa Facebook, mga taong bayan na nagbabayad ng buwis at galit na rin sa sistema (obviously hindi ko alam ang buong kwento, basta hindi sya sinimulan ng anumang political group na may sariling agenda). Plano kong sumama, kahit na pakiramdam ko, malabong makinig ang mga kinauukulan (the legislative and executive branch seems to be firm in revising but keeping the Pork system), pero ang desisyon ng pagprotesta, para sa akin, ay isang paninindigan sa aking paniniwala.

Hindi ko sinasabing kinakailangang mamartsa ang bawat Pilipinong nagbabayad ng buwis, ang ibig kong sabihin, ang makialam ay sapat na, kahit pa nasa bahay lang. Yun bang, magbasa-basa lang tayo, intindihin ang nangyayari, paminsan-minsan mag-share sa social media, o kahit ipagdasal lang natin na maayos na ang lahat. Ang importante ay may pakialam tayo, kasi dito tayo matututo. Kung ang mahigit na 11 milyong Pilipino na hindi bumoboto ay may pakialam (myself included, I'm not gonna wash my hands, but NEVER AGAIN), malamang nakapaghalal tayo ng mas karapat-dapat na mga opisyal. Baka hindi ganito kalala ang sitwasyon ng corruption. Hanggang kelan tayo magrereklamo sa bulok na sistema? Di ba mas maganda na maging parte ng solusyon kesa reklamo lang ng reklamo. Nagsisimula lahat, sa pakikialam.

It's the effing golden age of information, nobody has the effing excuse to stay ignorant, silent and apathetic towards issues that will define our future!

Hindi ko alam kung ano ang mangyayari bukas, at least sana maging mapayapa, walang masaktan, walang umepal. Mas maganda kung makikinig ang Pangulo, sapagkat sa kanya na nanggaling, tayo ang boss!

Celebrating the 2nd Hane Festival of Tanay

Whenever I have the chance, I always tell how proud I am to be coming from a town rich of history and culture, and we don't just settle with existing traditions, we also create new ones. Last year, the municipality of Tanay initiated Hane Festival to celebrate the town's 405th founding anniversary. I was a little busy to attend or participate in any activities, which I truly regret, but I'm glad I was able to make time to check out the festivities this year.

The term hane by the way, is a confirmatory expression, synonymous to okay or right,  unique to Tanay. Like if you'd say, "let's go to the church together, okay?" we'd say "let's got to the church together, hane? "(sabay tayo magsimba, hane?). Or if you'd say, "you got the money I sent, right?" we'd say "you got the money I sent, hane?" (nakuka mo pinadala kong pera, hane?). 

So the festival spawned four days of fun-filled activities which started November and ended on November 12. Activities include fun runs, art exhibits, rock balancing exhibits, float parade, pageant contest, culinary contest, street dancing competition and a lot more. I was able to see the float/people parade and Agri/trade fair, on a fine Sunday morning.

The parade was participated by different government and non-government organizations and private businesses in the town. It was an eye-opener, some of the organizations I saw, I didn't know they exist here. There were also street dancers, military people and religious groups.

Some of the floats need some works, but that's okay, this tradition is only on its second year, give it more time and things will improve and get more sophisticated. It's just like the state of Cosplay when it was just starting to make a scene. The festival will definitely further develop the creativity of Tanayans.

I was amazed to see an armored vehicle. I never thought I'd ever see one in person, not that I want to. In fact the presence of the soldiers gave the event a chilly ambiance. At least that's how I felt when they passed our spot. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying I don't like them. I have high respect for people who sacrificed so much to protect their country.  I dunno, maybe it was the guns, their very serious demeanor and their association to the war. But yeah, in many ways, I really salute them.

After the parade,  my mom and I checked the Agri/trade Fair. It's a small bazaar featuring local products. Nothing really out of the ordinary here, just some furnittures, handicrafts, souvenirs, delicacies, organic vegetables and fruits. It was cool.

I was delighted to see eco-friendly products, handicrafts made from recycled papers and Water Lilies. The latter is much closer to home, literally because our place is hundreds of meters away from Laguna de Bay, and there are heaps of Water Lies back there. I actually saw a feature about it on TV before, but it was more fun to be able to see them in person my mom bought a pair of slippers and some head bands.

We also bought some organic vegetables, honey, fresh cow's milk and a sack of rice. Oh and a slice of halaya (purple yam) which was really good. I love the feeling of being able to support local producers like this. I wish I could encourage more people, not only from Tanay but all over the country and even the world to consume local products as much as possible. I mean, it's good for our health, good for the planet, and good for the economy. Think about it hane?

I definitely enjoyed my experience at the festival. It's such a shame that I didn't get to check out other activities, but I will definitely time for it next year.

Backpacking Bicol in 3 Days (Part 3)

Okay, I promised I'd post the last part of my adventures in Bicol before I embark on another trip, that trip is a day away, so here's the promise.

The first half of our last day in Bicol covers our exploration of Masbate City. One of the things that makes it hard for me to sit down and write something about the place is, well, there's nothing remarkable about it. Now that may be too harsh to say, but I guess it was mainly because we had very little time to really explore the place. The interesting destinations are so far from one another, had we caught the 12 o'clock  noon trip the other day from Sorsogon, I might have finished this series a long time ago. One thing I can tell though, being there doesn't feel like being away. Masbate City is pretty much, developed. No it doesn't have tall buildings, but it just feels like being in another town in Rizal or Cavite.

Our first stop is the Bituon beach resort, it's a private owned property, you have to check in as hotel guest to access the beachfront. But we have no plans to dip in the sea, we thought we'd just ask permission to take pictures and maybe see the sun rise, but  luck was on our side, there was no one security guard when we arrived, so we took the opportunity and trespassed the property (not cool hahaha).

The beach is nothing special, but a walk in the sand completes my trip :)

We  stayed there for about 15 minutes, when we left the premise, there was a security officer looking out, but we played it cool and acted as if we didn't do anything wrong (we just took some photos ferchrissake!) so he didn't bother to stop us. It was a graceful exit y'all! Then we checked the Rodeo Arena. Masbate is the rodeo capital of Philippines (even Asia probably). It wasn't the season when we visited, so it was just an empty space, I can only imagine the crowd and noise during the festival.

 

The next thing we checked is the Pawa Mangrove nature park. It's a mangrove plantation, huge and impressive, but after a while it gets boring and scary. I said boring because, there's nothing to see but mangroves. You can take a 1.3 km walk via foot bridge, and this is the scary part, it's made of bamboo, and it gives you this feeling it's ready to collapse with one false move. If I know how to swim, I'd take on the challenge of taking the board walk, but I don't know how to swim, none of my companions do, we have no life vest so at 200 meters, we decided to go back (wimps!).

One of my favorite part of the trip is the incidental stop to the Coastal Resource Management Interpretative Center (can that name get any longer?). Supposedly, the center serves as the hub for information, education, and activity center for coastal resource management and showcase Masbate's CRM experience and from which will radiate outreach activities promoting coastal resource management in general and in particular.The center includes key components such as reception and information counter, public exhibition area, activity teaching room and library*. The sad thing is, it didn't give that impression. The place looked unappreciated with only 3 tourists from Manila looking in. There was person who attended us, and I wished we met her earlier because she seems to be the only person knowledgeable about the city's places of interest. She told us the places to see but we no longer had the time to check them.

I discovered from my further research that this building used to be the old municipal hall of Masbate City

An old coastal logbook, I love archival stuff like this

We took a short stop at the church and the provincial capitol, after which, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for our departure. We came in more than an hour earlier than the scheduled trip, we cannot afford to miss this boat, I realized now that a lot of our time was spent waiting to depart *sigh*

So we were waiting and chatting, Che had an unplanned pedicure treatment (there are mobile manicurists roaming in the port!), suddenly an uncalled for preacher with a Bible on hand started preaching in front of the passengers. I put on my earphones, I was thinking he's one of those people preaching then soliciting money for "donation" for their foundation or something. I wasn't really listening to music, I was listening to the preacher, but I wanted to look like I'm not giving attention in case he started giving white envelopes, I'd pretend I didn't hear a thing and nobody would give me that conscience gripping stare. So he was telling people to repent because the end is near. He urge people to read the Bible and start getting on the right path. When he got to "the signs" (of apocalypse) part, a cynical man, who claimed to have no religion, started to interrupt him. He pointed out that those signs he talked about - the earthquakes, the super typhoons, wars, etc, had been happening even before the Bible existed. And then they bickered. In the end, they agreed to disagree. It was amusing. And then it was time to leave.

I would love to visit Masbate again someday, it deserve a second look. Next time I'd do more research and make sure everything is planned.

We were on our way back to Legaspi City, we made a short stop to the town of Daraga to check Our Lady of the Gate Church. It's one of the Baroque churches of the Philippines declared to be a national treasure. Another thing that makes this structure a prime tourist spot is the beautiful backdrop of Mt. Mayon (actually, it's on the side). Gorgeous!

We walked most of the time with our luggage on our backs. When we checked in at another hotel, we spent the next hours resting. We didn't go out till the sun start to set. It was when Mayon slowly showed it's tip to our delight. By night time, we met up Che's college friends Mars and ____ (OMG I forgot her name!). But she was with her kid who was so hyper, he probably ate more sugar than what I've hoarded from Starbucks this past few nights. Anyway, her mom was very generous to treat us for dinner and take us around the city. Legaspi is a nice city, and like what my friend told me, it would have been a really great place to settle to, if only the threat of the gorgeous volcano would banish.

This is one of the trip that where I really moved around. In 3 full days, I was in 6 towns, 3 provinces and two huge islands (my friend told me otherwise, but I insist on considering Luzon mainland, to be an island). One of the things I regret is not having the time to see my relatives in Legaspi. But then, this is definitely NOT my last visit in Bicol. There are more interesting places to explore. I'm sure I'll be back.

*source: http://rdurmiendo.brinkster.net/cds/db/admin2.asp?function=gendisp&tab=CDS__City&ID=191&orgid=158

Backpacking Bicol in 3 Days (part 2)

Hold on to each other, don't let go of one another! The BIO reminded us. We graciously followed and eagerly waited for the go signal. And finally he said GO! We jumped off and ducked our heads. Then I saw Keiko. OMG! He's huge! (I'm not really sure if Keiko's a he, but for lack of definite information, I will refer to it as he). My eyes opened wide with wonder as I watched him gently swim forward. I'm not the squealing type in wow moments like this (and I can't squeal under the water anyway) but all those time all I could think of was Oh my God, oh my God!!! Then something went wrong, the water started to get inside my snorkel. I tasted sea water! I panicked, and though I haven't seen Keiko's full body, I raised my head and remove my snorkel. I put it back my mouth and tried to fix its fitting when Janet saw me and asked if I was okay. I was okay but I felt something was wrong. I felt like my life vest was yanking me. I realized that I got separated from the group and I felt sad not being able to see Keiko's whole body, but I was more concerned of my safety. My snorkel disappointed me, why did the water get in? And now I'm so far away from the group, even though I have a life vest on, the waves are taking me away. Good thing Janet stayed with me and calmed me. Our boat soon approached us and we went back, with hope that we'll spot another whale shark.

And we did. This time, I was more composed. I tightened my snorkel and locked the leg strap of my life vest. It didn't take too long for the BIO to spot Keiko again, we were reminded once more to hold on to one another. When we jumped, I was calmer and I decided that if the water comes in again, I'll just have to hold my breath. If David Blaine could hold his breath for 17 minutes and 4 seconds under water, an average person like me can do it for a minute or two. My problem this time though, was not my snorkel, but other fans of Keiko (other tourists). I thought that only 6 people are allowed to swim with one whale shark, but this time we had to share Keiko with other groups. As we swim to chase Keiko, I saw a bunch of butts approaching, other swimmers were also chasing Keiko of course. I got worried that my face would bump into those butts. The prankster in me toyed with the idea of groping one of the butts just to scare the hell out of them, but my conscience reminded me that I may not only be sent back to the shore but I can also be charged with harassment, so I focused on my priority,  Keiko. Despite the struggle, I did see the whole body of the whale shark. So there goes Keiko again, this majestic giant finally showed his gentle entirety. I saw him swim forward, I saw his body move upward, like when a movie's ending credits roll. I was full of awe.

Photo of a Butanding grabbed from the DOT website

The third sighting was a quick one, swift and smooth and in fact I can't remember much what happened. But it was still Keiko for sure. The fourth sighting was another bummer for me. I got separated from the group again, this time, it was because Che let go of my hand. Good thing I was still with Janet or I would have ended up panicking again. Because I didn't see the fourth whale shark, I assumed he wasn't Keiko so I named him Mocchi. The BIO made a fifth sighting, but this time, none of us saw him, the shark got away too fast, we couldn't catch up. It think it was also Keiko.

The 6th and last sighting is Chastity. As my friend puts it, this was the most intimate whale shark encounter we've had. We had her all for our group and I felt like I was closer to her than Keiko. So close that I could have touched her, and I gotta admit, I was so tempted to hold on to her dorsal fin and let her tow me under water, but I remembered that I shouldn't be selfish. These gentle giants are supposed to go on with their usual business without having to deal with the threat we impose. So I watched her swim away from us, with wonder...

We didn't have underwater cam to record what happened on our whale shark interaction, I have no pictures of Keiko nor Chastity. But it was probably for the best. I doubt we'd get decent pictures when every sighting happened in a blast. I was just grateful to see those gentle giants.

My mates! Sam, Debbie, me and Janet. Photo stolen from backpackingpilipinas.blogspot.com

After the whale shark interaction, we set on our next destination --Masbate! Fr. Eric invited us for lunch, but we declined because we were trying to catch the 12:00 PM fastcraft trip to Masbate. Later on, I regret declining, we ended up missing the trip despite arriving earlier than 12. We had no choice but to wait for the next trip, which was 4PM. We were stuck in Pilar, Sorsogon for the next 4 hours. We had our lunch in a small eatery and then we bought our tickets for the 4:00 trip, after that, we were left to think what to do the whole time. A four hour wait time was too long. The good thing about the place is, I got a strong 3G signal, I was able to browse the mobile web. I decided to google Pilar Sorsogon to look for interesting places to check. Interestingly, I learned that the great film maker Lino Brocka was born there. Other than that, nothing else came up. Che and I decided to ask around, we were silly enough to think that Lino Brocka's house might still be erected in the place, but when we asked the town's people about it, they didn't even have any idea who Lino Brocka is. And that baffles me, I mean I know he passed away a long time ago, but he's one of the greatest Filipino film maker of our time, he's a national artist, how can they not know him? Anyway, we asked for sites to check, and this lady we asked answered 2 things - the court and the port. Nice *sarcastic tone alert*.

This is the court.

And this is the port, which is what we stared at for four hours.

We did find a church, small and barely polished, but still worth adding in our collection of Philippine churches. A mass was going on, it was a Sunday afternoon. I listened to the priest conduct his homily in Bicol language. I am amused at the fact that we have so many dialect here in the Philippines, when I hear people in the background speak in their native dialect, I can't help feeling I'm in another country.

Man, that was probably the longest 4 hours of my life, with nothing to do nor check, I started taking pcitures of stuff that made me ask "what's this?". Che and Janet were joking that I looked like some kind of an inspector with my photos.

I also attempted to do a dance dare for @theellenshow, but I proved to be gutless to actually do it (next time Ellen!). I'm glad I had friends to wait with. Janet was lucky enough to take a nap even while sitting, while Che and I were left to chat and banter one another. The whole time, we were joking that our friendship meter would drop low because we always disagree on so many issues. Oh our friendship is indeed is one of the wonders of the world! Having a smartphone was also a bliss, I got preoccupied with my Facebook and Twitter updates, I also got the chance to check what to see in our next destination, Masbate City.

At 15 minutes before 4, we were asked to board the boat. It was my first time to board a fastcraft ship, and boy I didn't know that it was a little cramp inside. I got a little claustrophobic when I settled to my seat, the first thing that I looked for was the emergency exit. All crazy things swarmed through my head --what if we hit another boat? What if our engine messed up? What if there's a fire? Where are the life vests? Oh my God, I'm gonna throw up! I am not a good first timer of such stuff, the negative scenarios always win over my mind. I wish I could think otherwise, but sometimes, I have no control on what pops into my brain. The good thing about it is, I prayed all throughout the 2 hour trip for a safe and sound arrival. And that was what we got, surprisingly, I didn't throw up. God is good after all.

We arrived at around 6:00 PM. We got a nice view of the dusk when we got off the ship. The first thing we looked for was a tourism flyer or anything similar, but we were unsuccessful to find one. We then scoured for an inn to spend the night. I was dying to take a bath! While walking, it was delightful to see bunch of old houses, but because it was almost night time, I didn't get decent pictures. We checked a couple of hotels before settling in to Sampaguita Inns, the room rates were far less expensive than the ones in Donsol, that alone said something about the tourism state of the city. After taking a bath, we decided to have a fine dine-in. We asked the hotel staff for a recommended local restaurant and popular tourist spots in the city. But they were clueless. When we asked for the interesting places I saw on Wikipedia, they had no idea what we were talking about. I find it really sad, when people are not aware of places of interest of their native land, I thought, what kind of pride do these people hold for their hometown? Maybe they weren't really homegrown of Masbate City, perhaps they just moved in a month ago, who knows. I saw a map of the province in a bulletin board, posted in the inn's cafeteria, with pictures of popular spots. We checked it out and asked some old men dining in. They were helpful in giving information, but we realized that most spots are situated very far from the city. We managed to learn two places to check for the very limited time we have the next day.

We headed out for a sumptuous dinner. The inn keeper did recommend a local restaurant whose name sounded "mainland", but it turned out to be "Minlan" or something like that (I forgot). The place didn't have a festive ambiance as I would have liked when going out for a food trip, but the grilled blue marlin was really good (it was the only thing I remembered). After dinner, we stopped at a local coffee house, whose name I also forgot, but it carries a tagline as "the coffe place to be". It's been a while since I've had coffee, and I'm sorry, but the coffee I tasted didn't live up to its tag line. I mean it's not bad, but definitely not something my palate can cherish.

To be continued...

Visita Iglesia 2012

Hey y'all, it's Holy Wednesday. Later on, there will be a procession around the town presenting the Passion of Christ. The observation of the Lenten season is big in our town. The next 3 days will be the most quiet ones in the year. One of the activities of our parish is the annual pilgrimage to 7 churches. I pledged to join since last year. This year, our pilgrim destination was the province of Cavite. We visited churches from the Diocese of Imus. My friend Nagi, who happened to be a homegrown of Cavite, joined our pilgrimage. Compared to last year, there were more pilgrims who joined this year. It's great that more people are getting involved in religious activities.

Our Lady of the Pillar, Imus Cavite

Our Lady of the Pillar Interior

Immaculate Concepcion Parish, Dasmarinas Cavite

Immaculate Concepcion Parish interior

Our Lady of La Salette Parish, Biga Cavite

Our Lady of La Salette parish interior

Our Lady of Knight Parish, Silang Cavite

Our Lady of Knight Parish interior

Ina ng Laging Saklolo (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) Parish, Tagaytay

Ina ng Laging Saklolo Parish interior

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Tagaytay

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish interior

We concluded our pilgrimage with a mass in our last church visit in St. Gregory the Great Parish in Indang, Cavite. 

St. Gregory the Great Parish

St. Gregory the Great parish interior

concluding the Stations of the Cross

When I selected the pictures to post, I suddenly realized I don't have much to say. Then I've had second thoughts whether I should blog about this or not. The whole pilgrimage was supposed to be a spiritual journey, but I gotta be honest, looking at what happened during the day, I feel like I failed my mission. I feel guilty, I feel like the whole pilgrimage itself had become more of an architectural and historical appreciation than an act of reflection and penance. I got distracted all the time, I laughed endlessly at the mishaps after mishaps I experienced while on the bus, I got critical of some disorderly proceedings of the pilgrimage and I barely listened to priest's homily.

Suddenly I am reminded just how flawed I am. Despite my honest desire to be a good disciple of Christ, I harbor ill thoughts towards other people. That's not to say I'm a wicked person wishing bad things for other people, no, but here's my dilemma -- when I am surrounded with complex and intellectual deep thinkers, I get intimated, but when I am surrounded with not so deep thinking people, I get extremely irritated. Irritated by stupid little things that radiate them, so I can't help but curse and trash those people, which is a bad waste of energy. I hate it when I hate, not a healthy feeling.


Everyday is a struggle to be a better person. This Lenten season, I reflect on all the awful things that I've done. Of course I know that God forgives, but it's not enough to just ask forgiveness, the act of repentance requires the commitment to correct the mistake, and I know that I say this on my everyday prayer, but I will try to be better. 


I hope y'all have a meaningful Holy Week.