Mystical Marinduque

Holy Week 2010

For most city dwellers, Holy Week is a breather, a chance to step back and reflect on personal stuff. Some opt to party with friends, some go camping, others stay home.Others just cannot wait to make use of the few days of nonwork to venture into something new.

I choose to reflect, meditate, travel, take part on a festival and hit the beach all in one. Which is really new to me. Usually I travel during nonholiday days and every Holy Week, I just choose to stay at home, load up on my movie download,  or surf the internet till kingdom come. Well sometimes I spend the Holy Week with my friends too.

 it's really at the center. photo from here

But time off with friends usually entail tried and tested paths to resort towns and just enjoy. But this year is quite different as I choose to be at the center of a popular  festival called Moriones Festival in Marinduque. Yes, that festival we usually read from our fourth grade history books. And I am excited. This is Holy Week "sibika at kultura" style.

Why Marinduque? Yes Marinduque is considered obscure. The island doesn't have a mall. But what's nice or interesting other than the festival is that, the island is coincidentally located at the center of the Philippines. Mind you, the island province is also heartshaped. This fact after mentioning it to my close friends on this travel led to endless pa-witty (trying hard to be witty) quips on wishing or hoping that maybe we can finally find our soulmate or the next love of our lives in the heart of the nation. Yes frivolous and utterly whimsical, but who knows?

the heart of the Philippines Marinduque is not called that just because. The island province is really shaped like a heart. Now doesn't this remind you of your Science class. Where's the left ventricle? the right ventricle? hehe. Photo from here

So after finishing a deadline I worked on hours before the trip and hitting send on my mail, I am blogging this to regroup my mind all together after an entire day of writing away and sitting infront of my PC. So pardon the endless stream of consciousness.

And let us remember Holy Week and its essence, reflect, retreat, rejuvinate and on Sunday celebrate! I will try to update this blog once I hit Moriones-land. =)

food and travel articles

Aside from the currently airing Judy Ann Santos medical drama Habang May Buhay , (and power-pointing and drafting treatments for upcoming programs) here are some of the stuff i wrote - food and travel articles for Yummy magazine...and writing these almost felt like writing for pleasure, it's almost like a hobby!

Writing for food is fun, plus I've always loved to cook. My father loves to cook but our family's cooking consists of following the time tested family recipes of native Pinoy food. My mom bakes well too and she knows the fancy brownies and cakes recipes while I stuck to simple recipes like salads, some pasta and desserts. But writing for yummy meant delving into all aspects of food by the balls. haha. or what i meant was sampling or even (yes!) preparing fancy global food. The tip here is recognizing and using spices. I believe they make or break a recipe. Or they make dishes distinct from one continental fare to another. Like putting paprika makes recipes more Middle Eastern, and basil and rosemary more Italian. Though I'm not an expert yet but let me say I know my bouillabaisse from my seafood chowder. 

check these out:
Best Local Food Blogs 1
Best Local Food Blogs 2 
Best Local Food Blogs 3 
General's Lechon
21 Plates Restaurant
Sweet Sally Desserts
Taste Traveling
and interview with French Cooking Chef Laura Calder

And in March, we will go juicy! yum

The Greatest Romance

I read this book as a reference to this new thing I am working on.The Sketching Backpacker. What a nice concept. This book was published in 2007, way before I even had the tiniest idea that I will experience backpacking someday. 2008 was the last time I experienced backpacking and I didn't even have a decent camera then. What I had are a hundred misadventures with a fellow traveler Jerik and meeting so many people from around the world.

I salute this book for a very simple and solitary activity while traveling - sketching. Seriously, one has those spells of just staring at nothingness and listening to music. But sometimes one must be able to stretch not only his creativity but his muscles as well, right? But Robert captures his experience through his sketches. To each his own.Robert had romance with his charcoal and paper. I have romance with meeting people along the way and sharing bottles of beer with them.

Okay so if I were to make a story out of this, Robert would have sketched a beautiful face who will become his soulmate. Haha. Actually I am brewing the best travel romance yet...inspired by my November 2008 travel to Singapore-Malaysia.And through listening to fellow travelers about travel romance. And that new romance flick from Star Cinema? I have this feeling that it is a travel romance flick. Hmmmm. Not to be fazed.

But seriously, I'm even more inspired to go to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Beijing because of the book.

Dream Destinations in 2010
1. Visayas Region Philippines
2. Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam-Laos

3. Beijing
4. India-Sri Lanka-Nepal
5. Batanes

Top Destinations in this lifetime

1. Egypt
2. Morocco
3. Prague
4. Japan
5. Europe (France, UK, Italy, Spain, the works)
6. Mexico
7. South America )Machhu Picchu, Peru


and basically what consists of the 7 wonders of the world, or 7 natural wonders. anything with history. anything that will keep me high.

i want to be high by seeing the world. its the greatest romance i'll have with the world. to travel it. i owe the world that much.

i want to be a seafarer or flight attendant. maybe ive chosen a wrong career path? i want to rob a bank.or sell my soul. or my body. we're daydreaming remember?

Ermita

Ermita was founded in the late 16th century. The name was taken from the Spanish word for "hermitage", after the fact that on this site was built a hermitage housing an image of the Virgin Mary known as the Nuestra Señora de Guia (Our Lady of Guidance). The hermitage has since evolved into Ermita Church, which has been rebuilt several times since the early 17th century.

Ermita gained renewed prominence during the American colonial period. It became known as the university district, containing the campuses of the University of the Philippines, the Ateneo de Manila, the Assumption College and the St. Paul College for girls. Dormitories for students also flourished in the area. The residential portion of Ermita was populated by American residents, who set up such establishments as the Army and Navy Club, and the University Club.

I vividly remember a book I read back in college, written by a favorite author, F. Sionil Jose called Ermita. The heroine Ermita Rojo, used to study in Assumption college. They used to have a house with durable blue tiles. And when Malate became a bohemian town in the 90's, I used to search for Ermita's mansion.

Wonder why Old Manila's "Forbes Park" became a seedy sex tourist spot that it is now? 

 During the 1945 Battle of Manila, Ermita was the scene of some of the most horrific massacres that occurred during the month of February, 1945. The wife and four children of future President Elpidio Quirino were murdered in Ermita, as was Supreme Court Associate Justice Anacleto Diaz. Between 68% to 85% of Ermita was destroyed during the Battle of Manila, with an estimated total of 100,000 Filipino civilians killed in the city itself. 

 And since then, affluent Pinoys left Ermita in shambles. Some chose to stay, while others fleed to Makati...a burgeoning business and affluent center. 

What happened to Ermita, is a microcosm of history. Time flies and some places get destroyed while new places are being built. 

(some photos from manilablog.com)