Philippines

Lake Sebu in Mindanao – Possibly One of the Philippines’ Most Exotic Destinations

May 24, 2014 by Bino 9 Comments

incredible sunset in lake sebu

The enchanting Lake Sebu, in the Allah Valley in South Cotabato, is a contender for the Philippines’ most exotic destination. The vibe here around one of Mindanao’s iconic lakes is quite unlike mainstream Filipino culture – from the unintelligible cacophony of the local language to the intriguing practice of horse fighting – it certainly is not like the Philippines that I am familiar with. And then there are the T’boli, the local tribes people best known for their colorful costumes who have a real knack for decoration and music and who fought very hard to preserve the traditions of their ancestral homeland. All this makes Lake Sebu a really beguiling destination which I had been longing to visit for years.

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Why the Philippines Will Always Be Home

March 20, 2014 by Bino 3 Comments

They often say that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. And while this adage is often used to describe the loss of a loved one or a state of being, it could very well pertain to the loss of a place or rather the dispossession – of that sense of place. In my case, it was that place that I’ve always known, the cliched “land of my birth” and the setting for the bulk of my life’s memories. The Philippines.

When I started my work overseas some 6 years ago, I was filled with utmost excitement at the thought of living in a new environment. Given that I was then at the early stages of what is to be a long-lasting stage of wanderlust, few things were more exciting personally than the opportunity to expose myself to a different culture, place and milieu. I thought that it would be like starting a new life.

Contrary to what is unfairly associated with people who leave, I’ve always had a fondness for the Philippines. The fact that I have been living elsewhere for a while now doesn’t change this fact. As a travel blogger, I probably should not be saying this but back then, the thought of traveling for leisure – whether in or out of the country – didn’t appeal that much to me. What is perhaps ironic is that I had not actually started exploring the Philippines extensively until I started living outside the country. In 2008 when I started working in Singapore, I had only been to Metro Manila where I grew up, a few surrounding provinces and Bacolod, because I have relatives there. I had not even been to Cebu.

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Hotel Review: South Palms Resort & the Longest Fine White Sand Beach in Panglao, Bohol

February 10, 2014 by Bino 4 Comments

When I finally got the chance to visit Bohol last week, I wanted to stay somewhere close to the best beaches of Panglao. After researching online, I came across South Palms Resort Panglao, which is a new property molded out of the former Bohol Beach Club. There were barely any pictures of the hotel available online but I decided to take the plunge anyway.

the pool at south palms resort panglao

South Palms Resort Panglao has inherited the top selling point of the Bohol Beach Club back then, which is the longest fine white sand beach in Panglao Island. Last year, a large chunk of the club was sold to a new owner and underwent several months of extensive refurbishment. The result of that is South Palms Resort, a new upscale accommodation option in Panglao Island.

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Bohol – Still an Island Paradise

February 5, 2014 by Bino 14 Comments

I arrived in Tagbilaran City, the capital of the central Philippine province of Bohol on a gloomy morning just before a signal #2 typhoon was about to hit the island. Not the coming storm nor the fact that a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the island only some 3.5 months back seemed to deter the throngs of people, mostly holiday-goers from coming. Prior to my trip, I had wondered myself whether I could still get a decent experience traveling around Bohol given the pictures I had previously seen of churches lying in rubble, impassable roads and landslides on the famed Chocolate Hills.

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Zamboanga: My Visit to the Latin City of Asia

April 3, 2013 by Bino 11 Comments

Perhaps it can be said that no other city in the Philippines piqued my curiosity as much as Zamboanga in the western tip of the island of Mindanao. There’s just so many things that differentiate it from the rest of the country. Nevertheless, I had to think twice about coming here. My main consideration was not really about the sights to see or the things to do but more about the reputation. As far as I can remember, newspaper datelines containing the name “Zamboanga” usually detail not so pleasant news. Not all of them paint an accurate picture of the city however – Zamboanga can actually be used to describe other points in the peninsula rather than just the city and most of those incidents that appeared in the papers actually did not occur in the city.

the zamboanga international airport

The city of Zamboanga is distinctive in a couple of things. First is their language – Chavacano. It’s an interesting Spanish-based creole that has mosly died off in other parts of the Philippines. In Zamboanga, it lives on and is commonly used in the public sphere. It was interesting to see the same print ads with the same celebrity endorsers that I often encounter in Manila but translated to the heavy Spanish slant that is Chavacano. The other thing about Zamboanga is of course, its proximity to the far reaches of the Philippines. By far reaches, I am referring to the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi; places that are only a few hundred miles away but seemingly a lot farther based on people’s perceptions. This means that the city is a melting pot of cultures, and the modernist cathedrals, temples and grand mosques in the downtown area attest to this. To a greater extent, Zamboanga of course also functions as a jumping point to Sabah, Malaysia, and as of this writing there are plans to re-start flights between the city and Sandakan in April.

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Ilocos Adventure Pt3: Stepping Back in Time in Vigan

February 6, 2013 by Bino 3 Comments

If there ever was a much awaited leg in my trip, this had to be it. For the longest time, I had wanted to visit Vigan – the Philippines’ own UNESCO World Heritage town. Vigan was a name that had captured my imagination. Like a town jumping out from the pages of a history book, Vigan is said to be the best example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia and I wanted to see for myself whether this is really the case. For some odd reason, I had my first exposure with these UNESCO World Heritage towns overseas, namely with Penang and Malacca in Malaysia and then with Luangprabang in Laos. Vigan was a destination that I had kept waiting for far too long.

From Laoag, we had set out early in the morning for Vigan, again stopping by some interesting sights along the way. But before heading south, we detoured east-ward towards Sarrat, which today is more known to be Ferdinand Marcos’ birthplace. The major landmark here is of course, the house where our ex-President was born. Though looking humble by today’s standards, it is certainly well-preserved. Parts of it were redone in brick while the second storey still retained the typical turn of the 20th century Filipino-style wooden panels. Admission here was free and we were treated to actual paraphernalia used by the former president as well as a peek into the actual room where he was born.

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Ilocos Adventure Pt2: From Laoag to Pagudpud

January 31, 2013 by Bino Leave a Comment

The second leg of my Ilocos trip took me from Laoag up to the the northernmost tip of the island of Luzon, stopping by the many interesting places in between. I had a different mindset about this leg. There is a strange and indescribable curiosity that one gets when going to a land’s end, as if one expects to find a pot of gold or the landscape dramatically changing. But I digress.

In all honesty, the entire landscape of Ilocos is quite different from what I am used to in Manila. There is a certain dryness in the land that accommodates what is probably the largest patch of “desert” in the Philippines, endless tobacco plantations as well as plenty of sun baked grass fields. This has translated to a landscape that is slightly different from the rest of the island and for this second leg of my Ilocos trip, I was able to visit some of these “quirks.”

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Ilocos Adventure Pt1: Laoag & Surrounds

January 20, 2013 by Bino 7 Comments

One of the places I’d always wanted to visit in the Philippines was the Ilocos Region. Impressive churches, colonial towns, the legacy of what is undoubtedly the country’s most “famous” president and the hometown of many national heroes; it has what is probably the most concentrated number of heritage architecture in the country. Over the Christmas holidays, I had the opportunity to have a change of pace for this journey up north.

A popular way to get here from Manila is by car, where it can take up to 11 hours drive. I chose to go by air instead – cutting the travel time by more than 90%. I landed in Laoag, the main air gateway into the Ilocos Region on a fiery hot December afternoon. Laoag International Airport is designated as such due to charter flights that land here from time to time. In fact, Laoag is almost equally as near to Taiwan than it is to Manila so it is no surprise that a lot of tourists from the neighbor up north come here for the weekends.

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