(Note: for more pictures, see Benette’s amazing photographs of our night)
Entering the Van Gogh is Bipolar Restaurant is akin to tum-tum-tumbling down the rabbit hole. The place is dimly-lit, full of knickknacks and mismatched furniture, resembling a cross between an antique shop and art studio. Leave your sanity — and shoes — at the door. Eccentrics, deviants, cuckoos, weirdos, idiots: welcome. You are with kindred souls.
I’d like to think of the Ifugao people of the Philippine Cordillera Region as an extremely stubborn, albeit ingenious, bunch. They, who insisted on planting rice at any cost, decided to carve rice fields into the mountains in the absence of plains. Two thousand years later, the Ifugao’s legacy lives on, immortalized in Bangko Sentral’s New Generation 20-peso banknotes released in 2010. Another recognition is the rice terraces’ inclusion in UNESCO’s List of World Heritage Sites in 1995, responsible for the continuous influx of tourists in the area.
The construction of the rice terraces is no mean feat. Each step represents a paddy surrounded by a wall made of stone and dried mud. Rows and rows of these paddies, each around 10 feet high, cover clusters of mountains from top to bottom. Our local guide tells me that ownership of each paddy is passed on from generation to generation. Affluence is measured by how many paddies, not tourist inns, a family owns.
While there are terraces scattered all over the Ifugao province, only 5 are included in the UNESCO list: Batad, Bangaan, Mayoyao, Hungduan, and Nagacadan. My main destination was the amphitheater-like terraces in the remote village of Batad, reachable after a 1 hour jeepney ride from the Banaue town proper followed by a ~1-2 hour trek downhill from the Batad Saddle. Below are pictures from my trip taken last 16-17 February 2013. (14 photos)
The north side of the Batad Rice Terraces. Each paddy is in a different stage of planting: some fields contain rice seedlings in the 3-5 leaf stage, some with plants mid-tillering, some empty.
Because of its large Chinese immigrant population, the Chinatown in Binondo, Manila has one of the most spectacular Lunar New Year celebrations in the country. Visitors flock Binondo for its dragon dances, fireworks displays, and wide selection of Chinese food. Red, an auspicious color during the New Year, takes center stage in both people’s clothing and street decorations. Last 10 February 2013, I visited Chinatown to participate in the revelry and sample Chinese fare. (50 photos)
Banners welcome visitors to the historic Manila Chinatown.
Last 19 January 2013, my high school friends and I met up at Café Ilang-Ilang at The Manila Hotel for dinner. As the conversation progressed into the night, we lost track of time and found ourselves the only patrons left as the staff prepared to close for the night. (5 photos taken with my iPad)
A waiter brings dirty dishes to the kitchen.
With 7107 islands, the Philippines’ maritime culture is as old as Filipino history itself. According to different migration theories, the first settlers arrived rowing boats; that tradition is still very much alive today. Collected below are pictures of people whose lives are intrinsically and irrevocably linked with water, taken from around the country within the last two years. (13 photos)
A barangay tanod at Brgy. San Lorenzo, San Pablo, Laguna patrols Lake Pandin on a boat.
Picturesque Lake Pandin in San Pablo, Laguna, viewed from two angles. Said to be the cleanest of San Pablo’s seven lakes, locals are constantly hounded by developers seeking to “improve” the site. With environmental preservation in mind, locals have refused offers and instead have formed their own tourism board as well as implemented zoning restrictions around the lake. Visitors can take a raft to the middle of the lake, manned by the locals, for a small fee.
The “Media Noche,” the feast on New Year’s Eve, is indubitably one of the most important family meals in the Philippines, rivaled only by the Christmas Eve meal in terms of grandeur and preparation. Last 31 December 2012, I took to the open-air street market of Camiling, Tarlac to witness the last minute rush of people shopping for ingredients. (25 photos)
Vendors hand out fresh produce in the Camiling street market.
Bahay ni Maria (Maria’s House) is a foster home for orphaned and abandoned elderly women in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines. Run by the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima, it exists entirely on charity. As the holidays approach, Bahay ni Maria sees an influx of visitors and donations. Below are portraits of some of its residents, many of whom are excited about the extra company. (13 photos)
Lola Cora posing for the camera.
Puerto Princesa, Palawan is a contradiction in itself. City and jungle in one, it manages to be touristy while remote. Due mainly in part to the Underground River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city averages 1200 to 1500 visitors a day. It remains to be seen whether this focus on tourism is environmentally sustainable but for now, Puerto Princesa IS the foremost eco-tourism destination in the country. (11 photos)
Boatmen preparing their boat at Honda Bay.
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