When I think about our side-trip in Capones, a small island in San Antonio, Zambales, I think about those massive waves which perpetually rocked our boat and made the ride bumpy, not to mention scary. The journey from Nagsasa to the island of Capones usually takes an hour but it took us longer than that because of those nasty waves. We had a hard time docking on the...

Continue Reading

There's a monkey near the entrance of Katibawasan Falls. Tourists are advised to stay two meters away from this monkey. He's probably a grumpy monkey who doesn't like visitors. This monkey is chained to a tree nearby. He's used to seeing guests going and leaving the falls that he barely gives them a look anymore. He looked like he's comfortable being chained, which was kind of sad because...

Continue Reading

Mountains. For most people, they're just an elevated mass of land on the earth's surface; but for some, their value transcends from being a product of geological activity to an incredible work of nature. It doesn't take an extensive psychological study to understand why some adventurous souls are drawn to them. Although a few people might be wondering what makes climbing fun or addicting. Clearly, there's some satisfaction...

Continue Reading

The town where I grew up is small and languid and everyone knows almost anyone. It's called Looc, which in our dialect means 'strangle'. No, don't judge us just yet. We certainly don't strangle strangers. On the contrary, we smooch and welcome visitors with open arms. In other words, we're loving and friendly people. The name 'Looc' is believed to have originated from a local legend about a...

Continue Reading

I'm a sucker for shrimp. It's my favorite food. I'd die without it. It's the first thing I look for every time I dine out at a certain destination outside town. So when I found it on the menu at J&A Fishpen in Camiguin, I forced my travel buddies into ordering it. They couldn't say no, not after noticing that I was holding a table knife. Kidding. What...

Continue Reading

I don't usually go to church to attend mass (don't tell my folks about this). Not that I'm an atheist or agnostic. I believe in God, I pray before eating, sleeping or before leaving the house. Just like a good Christian. But going to church on Sundays is something I rarely do. In fact, I only go to the holy house when I'm out of town and I...

Continue Reading