I just love how unique place names in Batanes are and how they make you pout your lips as they create sounds and stresses you never realized existed in a Filipino language: Kayvaluganan. Mahatao. Imnajbu. Ivana. The last place, which you pronounce with the stress in the first syllable (EE-va-na), is the last of the five (out… Continue reading A Tour of South Batan, Part Three: Ivana
Brgy. Imnajbu (pronounced im-nah-boo) in the municipality of Uyugan has a very cool name and one of the smallest populations in the Philippines — just over 100 people! Its rugged landscape is captivating, especially more so the day we went there, what with a signal no. 4 typhoon coming. Imnajbu has a lot of claims to fame for… Continue reading A Tour of South Batan, Part 2: Uyugan
Unlike the previous two days, when the sky had been as blue as any Philippine summer sky could be, our third day in Batanes foreboded rain. Signal no. 2 had been forecast the day before as typhoon Noul/Dodong was about to make landfall in northeastern Luzon. It was quite the perfect day, though, for touring: the overcast… Continue reading A Tour of South Batan, Part 1: Mahatao
Perilous roads make for grand views. It’s true for the Cordilleras; it’s also true for Sabtang. The southernmost part of Sabtang that we were able to reach during our tour was Brgy. Chavayan. Like Brgy. Savidug, it has traditional stone houses nestled between Sabtang’s green slopes and rugged coastline. Here, we were able to have… Continue reading Sabtang Island, Part 3: Morong Beach, and more on the vakul
When you tour Sabtang Island, you actually see only the eastern side of the island, one that is near the coast. After visiting the stone houses of Savidug, we took a long road to our next destination. Along the way, we stopped by a limestone kiln — essentially a hole in limestone-rich ground. They light the makeshift kiln up… Continue reading Sabtang Island, Part 2: On the way to the Chamantad-Tinyan Viewpoint
According to rumor (and the great thing about guesthouses is that everyone makes chika there), a famous Filipina actress who went to Batanes alone decided not to push through with her Sabtang tour because, uh, she was disappointed that no one had gone to her feeding program the previous day. There are two lessons to be learned from… Continue reading Sabtang Island, Part 1: The Savidug stone houses
A little story: My fears about meeting an accident right before my wedding came to a head when, to the surprise of everyone except me and my close friends, I fell into the gutter of a crowded but dimly-lit street — and sprained my foot. Now I like to run and hike, and I have done… Continue reading A Tour of North Batan, Part 2
Batan is considered the main island of the Batanes group. It has the most population, for it has the largest habitable and arable land area. The municipality of Basco is in north Batan. Our first day in Batanes was a tour of the northern part of Batan Island through BISUMI Travel and Tours. The trip packs… Continue reading A Tour of North Batan, Part 1
The temporary title of this blog post was, “How to take pictures of your Bohol day tour with a 50mm 1.8f manual focus lens,” because I may have destroyed my go-to 18-55mm zoom lens for good when I went to Sagada before Christmas. It’s really hard to shoot with a fast lens when traveling, but, as… Continue reading Bohol Island in a Day Tour
Ang Lakwatserang Guro 