By Fung Yu

Author’s Note: This article uses virtual reality technology to provide an immersive experience. Click the images to view the 360-degree VRs. Adobe Flash 10 or higher is required. Average VR size is 2.3Mb each.

ANOTHER great dream is being unfolded in a little corner of space near the grounds of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Led by Art Valdez, the man behind the success of putting Filipinos on the summit of Mt. Everest, the new project will embark on a maritime adventure across the Philippine archipelago using a traditional wooden boat called the “balangay.”

The aim of this endeavor is to re-trace some of our ancestor’s journey in the Indo-Pacific during pre-colonial times in the effort to rekindle Filipino pride and spirit in the long forgotten maritime heritage.

First excavated in the late 1970s in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte by the National Museum, the balangay (also called ‘Butuan boat’), is a plank boat adjoined by carved-out planks edged through pins or dowels. Nine balangays were actually discovered. The first one was preserved and displayed in the excavation site, carbon-dated at year 320AD. The second was dated to 1250 and is now displayed in the National Museum. The third was moved to the Butuan Regional Museum for preservation works, while the remaining six balangays remained in their original waterlogged condition, and are yet to be excavated.

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IT was like seeing an army of ants climbing up a colony – only imagine it to be chaotic, more than a few stepping on heads and shoulders in order to touch a moving target.

In a predominantly Catholic country, religious festivities such as this are commonplace but the Feast of the Black Nazarene definitely stands out in terms of scale. This year’s estimates put the number of attendees by the millions.

During this day, the image of the Black Nazarene is paraded from Quiapo Church around Manila’s city streets and back. This year, though, the mass was held instead at the Quirino Grandstand (fronting Luneta or Rizal Park), followed by a procession leading to Quiapo Church.

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By Fung Yu

Author’s Note: This article uses virtual reality technology to provide an immersive experience. Adobe Flash 10 or higher is required to view the 360-degree VRs. Average VR size is 2.2Mb each.

I FIRST set foot on Sagada about 4 years ago, had so much fun and adventure then that I vowed to visit the place again. The opportunity came during the long December holidays. It was more of a sudden decision really, of packing your bags, leaving your thoughts and hopping on the bus the day after Christmas.

Sagada, known as Philippines’ shangri-la, is a rusty idyllic town near Bontoc, the provincial capital of Mountain Province in the Cordilleras. Located some 275 kilometers north of Manila and about 140 kilometers from Baguio City, it is a haven for adventurers. Famous for it’s centuries-old hanging coffins and burial caves, underground river and water falls, majestic sunrise and star-studded night skies, aromatic coffee Arabica and verdant rice terraces. At 1500 meters above sea level, Sagada boasts of cool breezy weather throughout the year. Dry season starts usually from December to May and wet season from June to November.

Even after 4 years, little has changed in Sagada. The whole place seems to be trapped in a time-warp with the locals keeping to their traditional way of life. The only notable transformations are the numerous inns and lodgings converted from residential homes, upgraded rest houses catering to more tourists with better amenities, and more dogs in the streets. Relatively crime-free and peaceful, with residents familiar with one another, only dogs are employed for house security; shifting from pet dogs in the morning to guard dogs at night.

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FILIPINO celebrity kids Paul Salas, Jane Oineza, Eliza Pineda, Kristel Fulgar and Micah Torre pick their favorite dinosaur and talk about lessons they learned from the Dinos Alive World Tour currently open to visitors at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, Philippines. Watch this video report of INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Izah Morales.

Fung Yu was recently in in Sagada, Mountain Province, where he was able to catch President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the First Family visiting one of the more popular tourist destinations in the country last week.

Watch these 3D shots taken by Yu.

Echo Valley

Hanging Coffins

Lumiang Cave

By Anna Valmero

HER love for drawing portraits and collecting photographs since childhood led to a business she now dubs a “stylistic preservation of portraits” on canvass.

As I was strolling Shang Ri-La Mall, I chanced upon the month-long Pinoy Pop Art exhibit showcasing 13 pop culture icons of the country painted on canvas.

“The exhibit aims to bring awareness to Filipinos 13 pop icons that can be emulated for their supremacy in their particular field and personal values,” says Bing Bernardo-Gaw, creative head and owner of Gallery 7 or “Art is Me,” the graphics design house that developed the exhibit.

The exhibit included Fernando Poe Jr., Efren “Bata” Reyes” Dolphy, Sharon Cuneta, Judy Ann Santos, The Apo Hiking Society, Gloria Diaz, Gary Valenciano, Michael V., Peque Gallaga, Parokya ni Edgar, Leah Salonga and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. Gaw said the they chose the 13 icons from a list of Filipino idols that can inspire Filipinos.

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“This is the best of them all.”

Thus said former UP president Jose Abueva himself when asked to describe this year’s lantern parade.

The annual Christmas event also became a fitting conclusion — the “climax,” says Abueva — to UP’s year-long centennial celebration.

“So many people are here,” he said, when I interviewed him while he was watching the parade from atop Quezon Hall, overlooking the Oblation statue.

“We are out to make it the best celebration because it’s our centennial year. This year, UP was proclaimed the national university and the amount of people here shows that UP is indeed the people’s university.”

All seven UP universities and 12 campuses were represented in this year’s centennial parade.

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I was aimlessly wandering around CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) when I sighted what seemed to be structures amid a clump of coconut trees. So I went further to explore what looked like a park, half-expecting to sit for a while in the shade.

What I found instead were bare-footed kids playing and later on people lying on cartons under the shade. And then it dawned on me that these people could be ACTUALLY living here. From afar, camouflaged by trees and foliage, I spotted makeshift tents. And more kids.

I tried making conversation with Joey and Jingjing — they won’t give me their surnames — and learn more about the people living there. They told me there are about 200 people who live in this park

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By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines– Singaporean adventurer and world-record holder Khoo Swee Chiow was in the Philippines to climb the second highest peak in Luzon, Mt. Pulag.

He also decided to visit Mountain Province’s Sagada, which is known for its “hanging coffins” and mummies.

It was Swee Chiow’s first time to explore the country despite having explored the world and set world records in the process.

“I would definitely go back and bring my family here,” Swee Chiow said.

An adventurer, Swee Chiow has scaled at least seven summits in the seven continents, conquered Mt. Everest twice, traveled to the North Pole without an oxygen, skied in the South Pole for 57 days, skated from Hanoi to Singapore for 94 days, cycled from Singapore to Beijing for 73 days, swam the Malacca strait and dived for 220 hours earning him the world’s record of doing the longest scuba dive.

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By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

MAKATI CITY, Philippines – Yes, delicious and healthy defines new dishes today.

Increasing healthier food alternatives has been the focus of Bubba Gump, said Chef Paul Abalan of Bubba Gump Makati.

Local fishes pompano, talakitok, labahita and maya-maya (Red Snapper) are now included in Bubba Gump’s local menu, he added, as he revealed that the seafood restaurant is now using more local varieties to make sure the fish will arrive fresh, not frozen at the restaurants.

“This helps us serve delicious and healthy dishes and allows us to use simple cooking methods like pan-searing and grilling which also preserves the juices intact in the fish—thus more nutrients for health eaters,” Abalan said.

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