THE FLORES de Mayo, a Catholic festival held in May, is celebrated extravagantly at Barangay Bungahan in Cuenca, Batangas.
Video interviews of Let Javier and Cornalia Marasigan conducted by INQUIRER.net multimedia specialist Erika Tapalla. Video taken by Eribelle Tapalla.
CAGAYAN VALLEY, Philippines–View from the Faro de Cabo de Engano, one of the major Spanish lighthouses built in the late 1800s, which is also home to the century-old Franciscan seminary.
The lighthouse at Cape Engano, located on Palaul island in Sta. Ana, is 120 meters above sea level.
Photo taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia and sent through her mobile phone.
By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net
WOULD you cross a 120-meter long bridge hanging 180 feet above the ground? Would you take the risk of sliding for 14 seconds across a zipline?
Never did it cross my mind that I would be doing an extreme adventure of a lifetime which I only get to watch on reality TV shows such as “Fear Factor,” “Survivor,” and “Amazing Race.” Until Acer Philippines brought different media organizations together for its Acer Media Summer Power Fest 2008: The Extreme South Expedition.
On May 23 at around 1:20 p.m. we left the Centennial Domestic Airport. Stratus, cumulus and cirrus clouds took away my one hour and twenty minutes of boredom as they formed different animals that decorated the blue sky. A signage with these words, “Welcome to the City of Friendship: Cagayan de Oro,” greeted us as we arrived at the Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro.
IT’S tough enough participating in an “Amazing Race”-like competition, but how about making your way through those challenges while sending real-time updates via your mobile phone (or, in this case, your BlackBerry)?
“Team Leader Leo, cash holder, decides anew not to buy water even after requests from teammates. Just one more hour & we can eat, drink free (Editor’s note: Actual Twitter post has no period due to 140-character limit.).”
This is the latest in the almost blow-by-blow account at twitter.com/talesofthenomad of the Acer Media Challenge 2008 now ongoing in Cagayan de Oro, sent from the field by one of the race participants, INQUIRER.net executive editor Leo Magno, using his BlackBerry.
As you can see, you can also follow the action via the Twitter badge we have here at Tales of the Nomad.
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
HOW can you determine if a certain place has not been explored yet? You can Google it. I did that and found some travel websites and some online forums that had basic information about the place. But when I got to a Wikipedia entry, I was surprised that it only had a short description about Bantayan island. It included a short description of its location, the population, and the different towns on the island.
Perhaps one travel website was right. Bantayan island is one of the “best kept secrets” of Cebu province. One possible explanation is that it takes half a day to get there, if you’re coming from Cebu City.
To get there, you have to travel from the city to Hagnaya wharf in San Remigo, where roro boats are docked. We went there using hired vans (I was sent there to cover an event of the Government Service Insurance System). The roro (a boat that can carry vehicles and people) ride took another hour to get to the Santa Fe dock.
Here’s a video I took of the roro vessel.
By Candice Montenegro, Contributor
INQUIRER.net
I’M not very fond of horses (or animals for that matter), so horseback riding isn’t usually part of my Baguio itinerary. However, on my recent trip to Baguio, I figured that I had to try it just for the sake of saying that I went horseback riding, so I did just that.
I found myself in Shalan ni Kabadjo, a small horseback riding place inside Camp John Hay, where we were staying. It was small, unlike other famous horseback riding spots like Wright Park. A small sign hung on a post showing their rates — P350 for an hour and P200 for half an hour.
Benjamin Ngo-Ay, the manager of Shalan, was nice enough to show me around and tell me about their riding path. He said that Shalan gets a lot of customers during the summer (especially around April) and over the holidays.
Here’s a video I took.
INQUIRER.NET reporter Erwin Oliva gives a quick tour of a roro (roll-on, roll-off) vessel, a boat that can carry vehicles across islands.
It took at least an hour to get from Hagnaya wharf to the town of Sante Fe on Bantayan island.
By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net
THE FRESH, cool, and crisp air of the province welcomed us as we were on our way to Nagcarlan, Laguna. Away from the towers in the metro, our eyes were refreshed by the greens of the trees and farmlands. Long trips can make your legs numb but it can make your brain wander in a wilderness of thoughts and daydreams.
Numbness went away when we started exercising our legs and feet for a walk to the underground cemetery in Barangay Bambang, Nagcarlan, Laguna. Though All Souls’ Day is in November, people visit the graveyard because it belongs to the list of our country’s National Historical Landmarks.
The brick and stone walls and iron-gate gave the feel of baroque architecture. As we went towards the old chapel, the tour guide talked about how the underground cemetery became a national landmark. She said the crypt below the chapel served as a secret meeting place of the Katipuneros during the Spanish rule. It was believed that the pact of Biac na Bato was first planned in the said area.
Here’s a video we took of the underground cemetery.
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
SINGAPORE–No, it’s not your regular Ferris wheel ride. You won’t be able to feel the wind blowing at your face. Instead of gondolas suspended from the rim, it comes with capsules that could carry more people. It says one capsule could carry as much as 28 people.
The Singapore Flyer is currently the world’s highest observation wheel. It is 165 meters high from the ground — about 30 meters higher than the London Eye, with a diameter of 150 meters.
The first time I saw the Singapore Flyer, it looked much like the London Eye from afar. I almost had my chance to ride the London Eye several years ago.
After an afternoon session with a key executive here, Oracle Corp. decided to take the visiting Southeast Asian journalists for a ride — a unique one. Most of us were first-timers. So everyone brought their digital still or video camera to document this 30-minute ride.
INQUIRER.NET executive editor Leo Magno goes to the highest point in the state of Illinois at the viewdeck of the Sears Tower, 1,353 feet from street level (the building itself is 1,451 feet high, 1,730 feet if the antenna is included). Magno visits the restroom at the skydeck which, according to Sears, is the highest restroom in the world from street level, excluding restrooms inside airplanes flying overhead at 30,000 feet.
Video taken in Chicago, Illinois.
