Posts tagged with church
My parents had my sister, Tisay, baptized last October 30 in our maternal hometown in Bulacan. It was like a debut of sorts for her, since she’s now legally a part of the family, so my parents invited more than a hundred guests to a post-baptism lunch banquet of sorts.
A standard landscape snapshot of the Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bohol, taken from the viewdeck where all the other thousands of tourists take their snapshots
Our second day in Bohol was spent going around the usual tourist spots in the province. With just a day, we could only cover so much.
Our first destination was the world-famous Chocolate Hills, a two hour drive from Panglao Island. It started to drizzle while we were on the way to Carmen, Bohol where many of the hills are located. The hills, numbering more than a thousand, are actually spread over two other municipalities in the center of the island province. Named Chocolate Hills because of their Kisses-like shape and their brown color during the summer, they were apparently formed through thousands of years of tidal and land movements.
Thankfully, the skies cleared up a bit just as we arrived at the hill with the tourist view deck, just in time for a few snapshots. There were hundreds of local and foreign tourists, too. The hike up the hill can be very tiring. There is a zig-zag concrete ramp up the hill for those who can’t take hiking up a hundred or more steps straight up.
Along the highway from Tagbilaran to the Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bohol, a few hectares of tall mahogany trees make for a beautiful and serene route. Located in the town of Bilar, the trees were artificially planted as part of an environmental project in the 60's of then-President Carlos Garcia, himself a son of Bohol
The controversial coal-fired power plant sits along a bay with half a dozen marine sanctuaries and coral reserves
Masinloc may sound familiar to some of us, as the town plays host to a giant coal-fired power plant that was subject of a controversy a few years back, as the government was trying to privatize the facility and sold it to a dubious company.
Ironically, the town also hosts half a dozen coral reef sanctuaries and marine reserves along its coast, very near the power plant. I don’t know how they co-exist with each other, but when I asked an officer from the marine sanctuary office, he said the existence of the power plant has not affected the marine sanctuary.
Because of the town’s marine sanctuaries, Masinloc is also considered as having some of the few dive sites in Central Luzon. We were supposed to hop on a boat to one of the off-shore islands and visit one of the marine reserves and observe the giant clams sanctuary, but due to lack of time, we were just presented with a short video presentation of what the town has to offer in terms of eco-tourism.
Also in Masinloc is the San Andres Church built in the 1600′s and is considered one of the country’s few national cultural treasures. The baroque church features a white facade, made up most probably of coral stones. I’m not really into churches, so I don’t know how else to describe San Andres.
From Intramuros, we crossed Jones Bridge another time on foot, this time proceeding to Binondo, where pedestrians will be greeted by the Filipino-Chinese friendship arch at the starting end of Quintin Paredes St.
Upon descending form the Bridge from the Intramuros side of the Pasig, one shall be at Plaza Moraga, which according to this website, was the site of the first ice cream parlor in the Philippines (useless information, sorry). To your right, you will see Escolta, which as many of us might know, was once upon a time the premiere shopping and business center in Manila. That day, the entire place was just deserted.
We passed through the arch and walked along Quintin Paredes till we reached the end where a small plaza and a statue of Roman Ongpin can be found, and of course, where Binondo Church stands. There was a mass baptism going on at the church when we were there.
May 21, 2008. Continued from here. I had initially wanted to go around Cebu City by myself and just stroll around taking pictures downtown. Some people who know me know that such is my kind of thing. I just want to wander off by myself and take photos. I was discouraged from doing that, however, for my safety, apparently. Instead, my gracious hosts accompanied me in a chauffeur-driven car around Cebu City’s usual tourist destinations.
law student, national democracy activist, film school graduate, photography hobbyist