Philippine Travel Notes

This topic started with this article This is St. Nick, right?! Ah there are three in this country! Our first town named San Nicolas is way up in Ilocos Norte. I call that town a “suburb at a crossroad” and I wonder why it is not a city yet. It soon will be, I predict! A very progressive town, every time I pass by it, something new seems to have sprung open! Going down to the southern province of Ilocos is another town named San Nicolas, in the province of Pangasinan. It is a town of waterfalls and soldier history as it is in a mountainous area leading up to the Caraballos and that big dam over at San Roque. Lastly, there is another town named San Nicolas down in the province of Batangas. Ah this town is divided in two – one part is on mainland, just below Tagaytay, while the other part is actually the southwestern half of Taal Volcano! Simply, this town is the least known way to cross and go up the crater ridge or crater lake of Taal Volcano. Everyone passes via Talisay but from here, ...

This topic started with this article San Narciso. There are only two towns with this name and though they are in Regions 3 and 4 respectively, they’re in opposite directions from the metropolis. First is the town of San Narciso in Zambales. If you have not been there yet, better pack now and go! This is an interesting place. I would usually pass by this town on my way to Potipot, but one time I checked it out and whoa! The beach is clean and good with good resorts and a good crowd of surfers. Yep, there is a part of the beach where waves ram strong into the sand. Though easily tiring, its nice playing by those little big crashing waves hehe! Roaming around town itself is a nice leisurely stroll. The church looks nice and there is that marine school that makes the town center jolly full of people! Now, the other San Narciso, is a town in the province of Quezon. Ah this quaint elongated town is also water bound as it faces the Ragay Gulf in what is called the Bondoc Peninsula. Have you h...

This topic started with this article San Miguel. Yes, that is St. Michael and there are 7 towns named so! Yes Miggy my friend, unlike you, none of them was named after the beer! BUT who knows what was in the minds of those who named these towns to be so hehe! Let’s start off with San Miguel in the province of Bulacan (Region 3). You should know that this town is interesting both for its past and its present. Past: this is the place of “Biak Na Bato” prominently a big part of the country’s history. Present: this is a suburban town where many a metro manila worker could be coming from. Past-and-present: go driving around town to see some old houses still preserved to this day – that’s why many call this town “the Vigan of Bulacan”; the Sibul Springs – good then, still a bit good now; Madlum River and the caves, still a bit worth it; stone craft – this place got famous for the limestone that people had to quarry the benefits from dear earth, and now the residents are clamoring that it be ...

This topic started with this article San Mateo. There are two towns that bear the name of St. Matthew (that’s the anglicized name of San Mateo). One is in the province of Isabela by the border and corner with Ifugao province. Yep yep, this is the rice central of the province and yes the mongo (mung bean) too! And of course, the salted egg capital of the province that is uniquely not red but a little bit on the peach to sometimes orange coat – which we all know is because they don’t use dye or food color but the “atsuete” plant! Hmm, tastes good with tapa and tomatoes and puto and even longganisa! The other San Mateo in the province of Rizal (Region 4A is more urban than the former since it’s the town just after Marikina on your way to Montalban (Rodriguez) where you find the great Avilon Zoo. This San Mateo is basically a suburb and cannot be boasting of (or about) anything than being home to thousands of middle-income families who cannot afford erecting their houses closer to the midd...

Have you seen a purple chick, blue chick or pink chick? Well, I did! And here they are! Even in every color you can imagine! Those are live chicks. Yes live, as in alive! And they are all for sale to excited kids who visit the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando City in Pampanga. We all know no chicken on earth can come in such "wonderful" colors, right? Thus, the poor little dears must have been spray-painted or submerged in dye, whatever. In any case, how cruel. Why color them? Obviously to make them more attarctive to kids who will want them as "pets" (a.k.a "toys"). Who is selling these poor little chicks? A woman who even sleeps at the very facade of said historic cathedral! Why is she there? Beats me! She is Sick (in the head, that is)! And parents who buy those chicks for their children are no better. Hmm, the business of doing business in these our times...

"With Car Caring"? Just how do they do it? They hug them, caress them and cuddle them? That while you pray inside the Sta. Clara Monastery in QC! Lovely! Haaay the interesting English signs of our times.

This topic started with this article There are three San Manuels and be careful with going to these towns. Make sure you identify where you are headed since they are all northbound destinations from the Metropolis. Let’s start from the left. San Manuel is the northernmost town of the province of Tarlac (Region 3 – Central Luzon). This is an agricultural town that boasts of ampalaya (bitter melon or momordica charantia) and all its derivative products. However, just three towns in between is another San Manuel, this time in the northwestern tip of the province of Pangasinan. Yep, this is that town where you find the big San Roque Dam. And who does not know about Butao Spring Resort hehe! This San Manuel is the rice granary of the province! Yet further up northeast and beyond the Caraballo and the Cordillera mountains is another town of the same name, San Manuel in the province of Isabela (Region 2). This town formerly called Callang was named San Manuel in 1952. Being relatively flatlan...

This topic started with this article There are four towns in the Philippines named San Luis. First, the town of San Luis in Pampanga is a historic one. It has a big ancient church and all its 17 barangays are named after saints! The boss of the HUKBALAHAP movement purportedly is from this town and in the early times (actually until now) this is the domain of the Elizalde businesses! Far to the east still in this region is another town of San Luis in the province of Aurora and one of its biggest actually. There are springs, falls, beaches and a beautiful bay. This is the resort town that welcomes you on your way to Baler. Our 3rd San Luis is a town in the province of Batangas and is also a resort town with diving facilities though not very popular on the list of people from the metropolis. Then there is the landlocked town of San Luis far down south in the province of Agusan Del Sur (Region 13 – Caraga). Hop in there for genuine tribal rituals during the planting and harvest seasons. Ra...