A Glimpse at the Beauties of Nasugbu at the Sugbuan Festival 2013

One of the major events at the Sugbuan Festival 2013 was the beauty pageant which included 35 candidates from different barangays vying for the title, Mutya ng Nasugbu. 

The talent portion...

Interpretative ethnic number 

A hot number and not the usual talent 

The event lasted until midnight and was jam-packed with people until the end which, sadly, I wasn't able to finish.

Kakanin Festival at the First Sugbuan 2013 in Nasugbu, Batangas

I was lucky to be part of a group of photographers who got invited to the 1st Sugbuan Festival held last Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 to witness and cover the three day big event. This is the first part of a series of posts that will be featuring the activities which took place.

As we arrived on the first day, we saw busy people from different barangays cooking and preparing their special kakanin (a sweet native delicacy usually made from coconut, rice and sugar) in time for the contest.
Everything was done on the spot and it was a new experience to see cooking the old fashioned way.

Grinding rice  

Extracting fresh coconut milk

Once all the ingredients are dissolved, they are placed in a big pan on low heat and must be continously mixed to avoid sticking and sometimes it takes an hour or so until it is cooked...not an easy task I must say.

Sometimes it takes two to mix the sticky and heavy mixture

And now for the finished products...

Suman con Mangga

  

Sweet sauces and toppings to add to your taste

An early visit from Hon. Mayor Charito Apacible to check on the preparations before the event proper.

It was a real feast for both the eyes and the tummy, I really got stuffed until I couldn't take in anymore.

Thanks to Mayor Apacible for not only spearheading this project, but also for being there as much as she can to support her people. Mabuhay ang Nasugbu!

Intramuros on a Carless Sunday

Intramuros is one place my family keeps on going back to every now and then. It is one of the tourist attractions especially for those who like to have a feel of the old Manila since this place is so rich with history and old beautiful architecture.

Just a bit of background and history...Intramuros is also commonly known as the "Walled City." During the Spanish colonization, its location was strategic being close to Manila Bay and the city had rich resources so it was declared to become the seat of the Spanish government. Walls were built around it during the 1600s to protect the city from foreign invasion.

Going up the wall

Wide space on top of the wall where you have a view of Manila and the city hall's clock tower.

My daughter posing at the end of an old canyon

There was a post I read by Carlos Celdran (tour guide, culture activist and artist) about a drive promoting "Intrumuros Pasyal Sunday" and it would be a carless Sunday as well so people could roam freely along Gen. Luna St. filled with vendors and artists, so we decided to take a look.

The first that we saw was an old tramcar. I wondered if it's working though.

Singing the blues along the street.

While I'm so used to going to this place during the day, it was also good to see it at night without the heat of the sun while the lights brighten up the old buildings and streets. It's just like walking back in time.

This was the small tiangge (market) with proudly Philippine made products. There were interesting novelty items that you wouldn't normally find in a shopping mall and local product specialties from the provinces.

On the way back to the car, there was an open air old film showing at the parking lot, pretty cool seeing a black and white movie from the 1960s. I remember watching this kind of movie during my childhood days.

 

I do hope that "Intramuros Pasyal Sunday" will be a continuous event and that more vendors, artists and patrons will be joining in the coming months with the goal of promoting Filipino art and culture.

A Mom's Days Off in Coron, Palawan

Three years back while still in the corporate life, an old officemate of mine showed her photos from Coron and those images stuck with me ever since.  Early summer of this year, I finally got the chance to take a break from my work-from-home routine which is basically juggling work and being a mom to three children, one still in his toddler years, all at the same time. My form of unwinding was having a couple of beers with a girlfriend neighbor at a sari-sari store or going to the mall to buy some groceries. So I finally decided to go on a well-deserved vacation to a place I've been wanting to see so much for the past three years. 

A roundtrip plane fare from/to Manila was P3,500 (around US$83 which could have been lower had we booked in December or probably availed of a promo) plus P5,200 (US$125) for accommodation at a B&B for 4 days/3 nights that already includes breakfast and two whole days of island hopping together with lunch. I asked a girlfriend of mine to join me since dear hubby will never allow me to go on my own. 

Day 1: The flight was only 35 minutes and then another 20 mins on the road to reach town. We just dropped off our bags at the B&B and hired a tricycle for P300 to Maquinit Hot Spring. Entrance is P150. It's the only known hot spring with salt water. The first dip was really hot, but after a few minutes your body starts to get accustomed to the 40-degree temperature and you start feeling relaxed. Going for a dip at night I guess is more ideal than during the day when the water is definitely hotter.

Day 2: Pick up was at 8:30 am for our first day of island hopping. Woke up at 4am so we could squeeze a side trip to Mt. Tapyas to catch the sunrise. It's 724 steps up. There were landing spots for resting but it still was a heart-pumping climb all the way up. Good thing we always brought bottled water with us. The view was definitely worth it.

The Cross of Mt. Tapyas

Went back to our B&B for breakfast and then off to the pier. After an hour and a half boat ride, we reached our first destination--Isla Bulog. 

Though a very small island, it had crystal clear water and a sandbar that connects to Two Seasons Resort. Tourists who are not guests of the Two Seasons are not allowed to go to their island. 

Had lunch at Banana Island eating fresh crabs, grilled squid, grilled chicken, and fish. After a filling lunch, we rested on the hammocks tied to coconut trees by the beach.

The last was Malcapuya where we did our first snorkeling. All the three beaches had beautiful picturesque beaches but Malcapuya stands out for me because of its powdery sand, beautiful corals and colorful fishes. At the end of the day, my color was that of a cooked lobster but I hardly noticed the heat on my skin. 

It was around 4pm when we left Malcapuya. The boat ride going back was a bit rougher and could scare the tourists a bit. The captain assured us that there was no danger since that was the "normal" ride for clear weather.

 Day 3: Second day of island hopping. The boat ride only took 20 minutes to reach our first stop--Kayangan Lake. 

From the shore you need to go up then down a steep and uneven rock stairway. After the first flight of stairs up, you get to rest at a landing with a great view and a tiny cave which of course was a perfect spot for picture taking. 

View of Coron Bay

The next flight of stairs was going down and one still needs to be careful not to slip or miss a step. The lake was well worth our panting. The water was deep blue in color which then means that it was very, very deep. In the shallow part, it was really clear; you could see the rocks and corals beneath. 

There was also a small cave in the lake with a very narrow entrance. Our guide then told us to take off our life vests so we could submerge underwater and look through a whole within the rock so he could take our picture. It sounded scary but we tried it anyway since we were already there. It was actually fun and I thought, "So this is how it feels to be like Dyesebel," (a local version of a mermaid myth) except that I felt more like a blow-fish (keeping all the air in my mouth, not wanting to let go) with the hair similar to that of a lion king floating around!

We went to CYC Beach, then two other sites for snorkeling which I forgot the names.  

Lastly, Barracuda Lake. You also have to go through a flight of narrow wooden stairs surrounded by great rock formations.  

After all the snorkeling the whole day, Barracuda Lake is the ideal place to rinse off all the salt water since its a fresh water lake. The only trouble is the dock was so narrow and short. There were a lot of tourists and divers with all their equipment passing through. It was really crowded so I went back to the boat instead and sat this one out. My friend who went snorkeling in the lake said the water was so clear and the rock formations were just simply awesome underwater.

Day 4: Leaving beautiful Coron and back to Manila.

Coron is a place for nature lovers and beach bums. But you have to be flexible because all islands don't have the normal comfort rooms with a flushing toilet, doors and a roof. There was even one where there were only three sides covering the toilet bowl (the two sides and the back--no front cover--no door) for both male/female. If you're not careful, then it's going to be a free show. The boats also had their own toilet if you don't mind your head sticking out while doing your thing. I never heard anyone complain about it though, probably because the beauty of the islands compensated for their lack of standard amenities. You also have to be ready to climb lots of stairs and boats. I only removed my rubber Velcro sandals when I was about to sleep. The bottled water was my best friend.

Food in the restaurants was expensive I'd say, ranging from 180 (chicken inasal+rice) while one viand would start at 250 and up. The restaurants offered mainly seafood and chicken. Pork and vegetables were a bit rare and were imported from Mindoro or Manila. Items for pasalubong were kasoy at P100 for a small pack (standard price was P150), still pricey considering this is where the kasoy from Antipolo comes from;  dried danggit at P90, best crispy danggit I've tried which I regret not having bought more; personalized keychains at P10; and T-shirts P130 and up.

The tricycle was the basic mode of transport for getting at P15, but if you need to hire one for a trip to Maquinit Hot Spring or need to be picked up to and from places during odd hours, contracting a roundtrip will cost you P200-P300.

Being on a joiner's tour package with both Filipinos and foreigners on both days, one of the tour guides would always tail us around wherever we went which actually irritated me a bit, and I thought that these guides just probably want a big, fat tip since we were both girls who probably looked dumb to them. I even told them to go check on the other tourists just to get them off our backs but that didn't stop them from tailing us. They came in very handy though as photographers, helping bring our stuff, and most importantly our life guard for snorkeling. Every time we went snorkeling, we'd hold on to the guide's floater tied to a rope hooped around his body while he paddled away with my camera in hand, pulling us like choo choo train. I didn't want to hang on to his floater at first since I knew how to swim but it was quite challenging snorkeling and taking pictures at the same time. I was no expert in the deep waters so I gave up and grabbed the floater. I finally found out that it was their standard procedure to really watch after tourists like us, without male companions or not with a big group, since we were the type who would typically get into trouble being only two girls. With all the care and service they've done for us, they never asked for tips which really surprised me compared to the other places I've been to where boatmen/guides would even ask for extra on top of the initial tip given. I am not the tip-giver type of tourist but this was definitely an exception.

Admiring the beauty of Coron made me reflect and thank its Maker, realizing again how great He really is to create such a beautiful place for us. Most times while admiring the sites, I would think of my family wishing they were there with me to enjoy the beauty of nature that I see. I would be a hypocrite to say that I didn't have fun. I really had a splendid time...it was after all a mom's days off.