BORACAY Escapade Part 1

The beautiful island of Boracay has much to share to its guests and visitors. This island is not only for people who love to bask under the sun in white sand beaches and those who love to swim in the island's sparkling waters. It is also for those who love adventure ( like me ) as well. People who go to Boracay do not only enjoy the island's white sands and crystal blue waters; they also enjoy doing different activities in this enchanting island in the Philippines.

If you are one of those people who are thinking of visiting Boracay but do not know what it awaits you there, this article will give you an idea of what to expect in the island. Here are a few things you can do in Boracay Island.

BATANES - THE HIDDEN PARADISE ( Part 4 )

Batanes is rich with lessons for us tourists. Walking around the place, mingling with the Batanes folk one gets to look inward and reflect. One gets to think ----- it is  as if we are hurled back in time, when life was so simple and we did not have as much wants as today.... We get to envy the Batanes folk in leading such simple, self- sufficient lives, not dependent on others.

On my last day at the island.... here are the places where I went....

BATANES - THE HIDDEN PARADISE ( Part 3 )

Before coming here to Batanes---- I had no inkling at all that such a paradise existed in the Philippines. I was not prepared for what I would experienced. The beauty, ambience and the totally refreshing atmosphere of the place matched the amazing and breathtaking scenery I saw when I toured the island.

If you  want to escape the hustle and bustle of the overpopulated cities in the Philippines, Batanes is the perfect place.  Its distance from Luzon is an indication of what to expect. Being in Batanes is like being in another country in the sense that the sights are not the typical sunny, white sand beaches you usually see in the archipelago. Being there also feels like you are intruding in a secret place where majority of the towns have been untouched by the changing times.

BATANES - THE HIDDEN PARADISE ( Part 2 ) Home of the Winds

Ask a Filipino if he had been to Batanes. More often than not, his answer will be no. Due to the remoteness of Batanes from the capital city of Manila, not too many Filipinos have had the chance to visit this enchanting islands. Batanes is about 660kms from Manila but it is ONLY about 190kms from Taiwan.

Being in Batanes is like being in another country. The landscape and even the weather is very distinct from the rest of the country. A leisurely trek on the grassy hills rewards hikers a grand view of Basco Bay. Batanes is the place to commune with nature, to soak a few moments of solitude and to get away from the hustle and bustle of Manila. A refreshing contrast to other city centers, Basco ( capital of Batanes ) has neither a mall or Starbucks coffee shop ---- yet. The pseudo- commercial center is a small lane filled with tiny groceries , supplies stores and ukay-ukay stores. Only a couple of jeeps and automobiles exist here. Tricycles, bicycles and scooters are the main transport mode within the town.

BATANES - THE HIDDEN PARADISE ( Part 1 )

I love to travel the beautiful islands of our country because " nature tripping " has become one of my outlets. I dreamt of going to Batanes for the longest time. Having traveled to many countries in Asia,  I think Batanes outshines many tourist destinations.

So much has been said and written about Batanes. Opportunities for magnificent photographs abound. It is the dream destination of shutterbugs because anywhere you look at there is a perfect photograph just waiting to be captured. Almost half of Batanes is made up of hills and mountains enveloped in breathtaking seascape. Batanes holds such magical mystery.

Today --- let me take you to the beautiful place called Batanes.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

I finally got to visit Siem Reap with my friends, Ernie and Lulu Kamatoy , Roland and Maribel Sunga from Los Angeles, CA. We were lucky to arrive on the eve of the King's Birthday. They were on a 2 day holiday. I found out that cambodian food is coconut milk based, not spicy although most of their stuff were similar to the Thai food. You must try their Khmer Amok Fish which is very famous and their KARI.

They recommended another cambodian dish called TREY BOM POONG but it was already finished when we ordered it. We had our first taste of cambodian cooking in a restaurant cum bar called DEAD FISH.

Our first stop was to see ANGKOR WAT, the world's largest religious monument. It took us the almost 5 hours just to walk thru the whole place.

For lunch we dined in a restaurant near Angkor Wat called SOMOS SRAS SRANG. They served local khmer food.

In the afternoon we went back to the hotel to change clothes and walked to the river to watch the river boat race. While waiting for the boat race to start we went around the area and sampled all the food they were selling.

That evening we were able to go and see a cultural show. I noticed that some of their dances were very similar to our folk dance here. Like the " maglalatik dance " and they had their own version of the " tinikling " . But their movements were much slower and they put more emphasis on their hands and head movement.

Banteay Srei Temple, Angkor Wat

Banteay Srei ....is a beautiful 10th century Khmer temple complex dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor, it lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, North of Angkor Wat. Banteay Srei is built mainly of deep red sandstone, a material that lends itself to the elaborate wall carvings which are still well-preserved today. Banteay Srei means " Citadel of Women " and it is believed that the reliefs on this temple are so delicate that they could only have been carved by the hand of a woman. The relief carvings on the central buildings depict scenes from ancient Hindu myth.

In fact, the buildings are miniature in scale compare to the standards of Angkorian construction. The remarkable craving skills and the red sandstone medium have made the temple very popular with tourists, and is widely praised as the "jewel of Khmer art.”

Tonle Sap Lake and Fishing Village, Ang Kor Wat

For those which like a deep discovery of a country, one should not fail to take a tour of Ton Le Sap Fishing Village in Ang Kor Wat, Cambodia.The Tonle Sap is one of the most fish abundant lakes in the world and the silt deposits left behind by the annual floods have created fertile ground for agriculture. It’s no surprise that one of Asia’s greatest ancient civilizations developed near this lake and today much of Cambodia’s livelihood still depends on its output.

The village is friendly, smiles from everybody and waves and shouts of ‘bye bye’ from the children follow our boat as we make our way down the town’s "main street". There is heavy traffic here as long canoes serving as public buses, small family pirogues, and even the occasional large metal bowl serving as transportation for some the younger villagers all make their way around the village.

Bayon Temple, Angkor Wat

We stand before it stunned. It is like nothing else in the land. The Bayon is located in the center of the city of Angkor Thom 1500 meters (4921 feet) from the south gate. Enter tower of the Bayon is from the east.

Prasat Bayon was built in late 12th century to early 13th century, by the King Jayavarman VII, dedicated to BuddhistThe Bayon was built nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat. The basic structure and earliest part of the temple is not known. Since it was located at the centre of a royal city it seems possible that the Bayon would have originally been a temple-mountain conforming to the symbolism of a microcosm of Mount Meru. The middle part of the temple was extended during the second phase of building. The Bayon of today belong to the third and last phase of the art style.

Over 2000 large faces carved on the 54 tower give this temple its majestic character.

The faces with slightly curving lips, eyes placed in shadow by the lowered lids utter not a word and yet force you to guess much, wrote P Jennerat de Beerski in the 1920s. It is generally accepted that four faces on each of the tower are images of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and that they signify the omnipresence of the king. The characteristics of this faces - a broad forehead, downcast eyes, wild nostrils, thick lips that curl upwards slightly at the ends-combine to reflect the famous 'smile of Angkor'.