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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Fung Yu
Contributor

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 2.5Mb each.

THE fireworks started at exactly 7 p.m. in SM Mall of Asia, a usual weekend occurrence, except this time, I was watching it from the waters of Manila Bay, aboard the cruise ship 7107 Island Cruises while partaking our sumptuous 10-course dinner buffet. Seeing the fireworks display from afar, I noticed that the lights reflecting by the surrounding waters. The sight was kaleidoscopic.

The invitation for the Corregidor cruise came from 7107 Island Cruise, the only Filipino owned interisland cruise company that seeks to redefine travel in the Philippines. The ship currently offers cruise within the tourism triangle of Subic, Coron and Boracay.

Docked at Pier 13 in South Harbor, Manila; the ship, formerly Coco Explorer 2 from Danish-owned C&C Travel was originally built in 1968. Fully renovated in 1990 from keel to mast to fulfill international standards, all cabins are made from fire-secure material including an extensive sprinkler-system installed throughout ship.

I arrived around 3 p.m. that day to an already short queue of equally excited passengers. Upon boarding, and right after being led to my assigned cabin, I immediately set out to explore the features and amenities of the ship.

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AT the start of the year, festivals in the country open with the “mother of Philippine festivals:” the Ati-Atihan in Kalibo, Aklan.

INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Alex Villafania and production specialist Edzelle Pena and I were witnessed to the Ati-Atihan festival. For six days, we roamed Aklan and visited Caticlan, Boracay, Kalibo and Batan.

But three days before our flight, a plane mishap was reported in Caticlan airport, which affected operations in the airport. Our trip, however, was smooth and we landed safely despite the windy weather. From the airport, we were ushered to a jetty port, where we boarded a 30-seater boat or “banca.”

The boat braved the big waves. After 15 minutes, we got to the famous Boracay island. This seven-kilometer island has been famous since its discovery in the 1970s. But it was my first time to have set foot on its pristine white sand.

The fine white sand felt like talc powder. Maybe, that’s the reason why many tourists, mostly Europeans and Koreans, love the island. Since it was a January, a cold breeze gave us the chills. Yet tourists were there. I saw footprints on the white sand, sand castles and people taking a dip in the blue-green waters of Boracay.

I saw locals braiding hair of tourists. There were also a lot of tattoo shops and little stores selling all kinds of merchandise. Boracay is increasingly becoming a commercial district because of the presence of a mall and branded stores.

Still, small art shops abound in Boracay. While walking along the beach, we spotted a sculpted dolphin on the sand. There were also sculptures and paintings sold in the island. Inspired by the seascape of Boracay, artists there were selling shirts inspired by the island. We also saw hand-painted shirts being sold.

For a first-timer like me, capturing the sunset was on the top of my list. Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy that day.

After two days, we went back to Caticlan and boarded a van going to Kalibo. We paid P100 each for that ride. There are other modes of transportation like the jeepney and bus.

The trip from Caticlan to Kalibo took two hours. We encountered traffic in the town of Makato. On our way, we saw locals –young and old –dressed in their colorful costumes dancing to the beat of the drums. Apparently, the town of Makato was celebrating its own Ati-Atihan festival ahead of Kalibo.

When we arrived in Kalibo, we felt a very warm welcome. The spirit of the festival can already be felt, as the tribes began dancing and beating their drums even before the actual festival cum contest on January 17.

As we strolled around town, we noticed Aetas selling charms near a grocery store. I talked to one of them and learned that the charms were parts of a tree used to cure illnesses or to protect people from the “aswang.” Up to this day, there are still a few people who believe in the existence of this mythical creature in Filipino folklore. Aswangs are especially popular in Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo, which are neighboring provinces of Aklan.

On our third day in Aklan, we together with lawyer Sonny Regalado, a native of Batan, traveled for about two hours from Kalibo to Batan to find out more about the “Code of Kalantiaw.” The municipality of Batan is home of the shrine of Datu Kalantiaw who was believed to have promulgated the Code of Kalantiaw in 1433. However, in 2004, the National Historical Institute (NHI) has declared that the code had no valid historical basis. Hence, the NHI pulled out from the shrine.

Wandering in Aklan for six days taught me how a festival like the Ati-Atihan can give color to a simple life in the province.

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

MAKATI CITY, Philippines — Good news to Makati commuters.

Taxi drivers who abuse their passengers will be apprehended, according to Makati city mayor Jejomar Binay who ordered the re-launch of the “Oplan Isnaberong Tsuper” this holiday season.

According to the Makati City local government website, Binay ordered both the Makati Police and the Department of Public Safety to help protect Makati’s constituents from taxi drivers who refuse passengers and even charge extra fare.

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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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Editor’s note: You can also read this story on Talk of the Town on the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

I am Dino Alberto E. Subingsubing, 44, a communication specialist working with a non-government organization (NGO) health project. Married with three kids, I’m just your regular working dude — except that I’ve been a regular bicycle commuter for the past 15 years.

Yup, I bike to work three to four days a week from Novaliches (where I live) to TM Kalaw (where I work). Let’s see…that would be about 20 kilometers one way. It takes me one and a half hours of leisurely cycling along my regular bike route, which covers Quirino Highway, Mindanao Avenue, C5, North Avenue, Agham Road, Quezon Boulevard, España, Earnshaw, Legarda / Mendiola, Ayala Bridge, Taft Avenue and TM Kalaw (where my office is located).

That would be 40 kilometers in a day, 160 kilometers in a week, 640 kilometers in a month, 7,680 kilometers in a year. Imagine how it translates into the number of calories burned!

Translated in the amount of money saved in terms of transportation fare, that would be about P150 a day, or P600 a week, or P2,400 a month and P28,800 a year. Imagine what you could buy with that.

I really didn’t start out a hardcore bike commuter. In fact, I only learned to ride a bike in 1992. But the appeal of being able to travel at your own pace, being free to choose your own route at will and not getting stuck in traffic gridlock made me choose biking as my ideal commuting mode.

The decision to bike to work (and almost everywhere) came at a time when I turned by all things ecological and environment-friendly — organic backyard gardening, home birth and Lamaze birthing techniques (two out of my three children were born at home, with my partner being assisted in childbirth by a health center midwife), traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and eating lower on the food chain (vegetarianism and macrobiotic diets).

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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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TACLOBAN CITY — If you’re in Tacloban and would like to have a quick tour of the historical and religious places of interest in the city and its environs, just hop on the “Icot-Icot” vehicle.

Vicente Labro of the Inquirer Visayas writes about the “Icot-Icot” rides that will provide you a three-hour guided tour of Tacloban and some nearby towns at affordable rates.

Excerpt:

Launched in September 2007, the Icot-Icot tour was first operated on weekends, says Nelieta Baguna, head of the Leyte Tourism and Investment Promotion Canter.

A brainchild of Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, the “Icot-Icot” tour was conceived to provide visitors, and even the locals, an opportunity to visit tourist destinations in the city and nearby towns through a group tour.

The term “Icot-icot” came from the Tagalog word “ikot-ikot,” which means going around, and from the governor’s nickname, “Icot.”

Baguna says the local government decided to make the tour available on weekdays due to the growing demand.

The tour fee is P100 for the morning trip and P150 for the afternoon trip because this would include a visit to a bucolic farm resort in Babatngon, Leyte. The fee already includes the ride, tour guide and the entrance fees at the Sto. Niño Shrine and at the farm resort.

The “Icot-Icot” vehicle, actually a multicab that can accommodate around 10 persons, leaves the RTR Plaza in Tacloban City at 9 o’clock for the morning trip and 2 o’clock for the afternoon tour.

By Izah Morales

BEFORE the sun painted the sky with orange and indigo hues, my companions Liberty, Maya, Red, Jing, Eden and I found ourselves stuck in traffic as we approached Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). The cab driver told us that almost every household in Kuala Lumpur owned a vehicle, which explained the traffic jams.

Sitting for almost an hour and a half reminded me of how this trip from the Pan Pacific Hotel to KLCC was like going from Calamba City to Makati City. Finally, the cab driver dropped us in front of the famous Petronas Twin Towers, which was the world’s tallest building from 1998 until 2004 when Taipei 101 claimed the title of being the tallest building.

From the Petronas Twin Towers, we headed to the Raja Chulan Station, KL’s monorail. Paying RM 1.60 (approximately P15), Maya and I were off to Maharajalela Station, where Petaling Street was just a few meters walk while the others went to Bukit Bintang.

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