Picture Perfect Background With Governor's Islands

A travel is never a travel without souvenir pictures right? So if you happen to visit Pangasinan, Philippines never miss out Governor’s Islands and it can definitely give you a picture perfect background! You can even have a day camp picnic. There are only counted Islands that have facilities like viewing decks and picnic sheds but swimmers can also have a lot of fun here since bigger islands have beaches. So if you are looking for an ideal place to hang out, you can check this out!

Wonderful Display Of Nature At Coron, Palawan

This is Coron, Palawan….The pristine waters, the sand, beautiful contours of large rocks and blue skies. It is certainly another spark of splendor in the Philippines. Actually, almost all islands in Coron are composed of large granite rock formations. Here’s more, did you know that you can also find aquatic scenery of a Japanese sunken warships and it has been featured as one of the top notch scuba diving spot in the world by Forbes Traveler Magazine. As a matter of fact it has becoming more popular for the fascinating shipwreck diving experience that it offers. Some of its coastal areas are greatly covered with mangroves and for your information, it is also considered as the cleanest lake in the Philippines. The Kayangan Lake in Coron, Palawan is also perfect for your dream snorkeling and deep sea fishing. It is very nice that the townsfolk were able to preserve and maintain the wonderful and inspiring display of nature. Many of us are hopeful that this mode of goodness can be extended to the future generations. 

The Spectacular Zambales Beaches

The Philippines Zambales Coastlines has been popular for its sandy beaches, surrounding awesome natural beauty and serene air inspite of having some touch of civilization. If you are fond of discovering spectacular and well preserved coral reefs teemed with the great deep blue sea,then this is definitely the place for you. You can relax and calm your senses, heart and mind with the lush of its tropical environment. You can even have a leisure boat ride trip in the lovely islands. This is also an ideal place to have a retreat, Hatha Yoga exercise and meditation. More so, the thrilling yet inviting waves of the pristine sea is also perfect for surfers and water sports enthusiasts!
You can truly have an invigorating getaway with this haven of scenery, rediscover yourself and see how worthy it is to celebrate love and life! Linking one’s spirit to the gracious display of God-given nature. The Zambales Beaches certainly gives impression of oneness for the mountain, sea and provincial life. The oasis of coconut is indeed a very nice spot to take a pleasure walk.
Just for an added trivia, White Rock Zambales is a famous asian resort is highly certified as one of the best wow philippines beach resort and spa! It is also in Zambales where you can find the sheer beauty of Nagsawa Cove.

Cool Hats For A Hot Season!

Wondering how all these lovely hats are made? The farmers and vendors at Lucban,Quezon usually wears native hats and this also becomes a fever during the Pahiyas Festival. You can normally see tourists and townspeople wearing hats almost everywhere! This exhibits that Filipinos has the unique expertise in handicrafts. The details in each hat’s designs are superbly artistic. Strands of patience and passion plus big scores of love for work creates the brilliance of enchantment to these hat’s beauty! The stalls of fashionable native hats are so much attractive and that is why it definitely becomes a tourist spot where people take pictures surrounded with a perfect background of wonderful hats. The climate in Quezon are idyllic even during summer season. The hats in Lucban are not just for protection from the heat of sun or very mild showering of rain.These hats can also help one express respect in greeting someone. A person takes off the hat and courteously bow. The hats that are displayed these days are becoming more and more fashionable but the expression of respect for culture, people, nature and God remains in the hearts of every one. The lively colors of hats strongly signifies the lively culture that continuously lives on!

Lamps Of Hope For Mother Earth

Filipino people are intrinsically concerned of Mother Nature and in today’s generation where modernizations are being empowered in every country; there are still alliances of young blood who have not forgotten our direct link with nature. They have the awareness of the pain and suffering of planet earth just like a child who can sense the miseries of his mother. As a son or a daughter you don’t just watch your beloved mother in a miserable condition, you can not bear to hear her crying in anguish. You act to end the root cause of her agony. You will definitely think of ways to heal her wounded heart. Make her smile and let the glow of her eyes mirrors a genuine bliss. Kalikasan Southern Tagalog is aimed for proactive and progressive environmental protection efforts.

Art is a very effective tool to express one’s self more so, to reveal one’s heart and thoughts. It freed everyone and can definitely create a taste of liberation. This is the concept beyond the 2011 Earth Day Celebration of the Kalikasan Southern Tagalog coined as Kalikhasan 2011. It has been participated by earnest professors from the Department of Humanities, College of Arts and Science and various organizations such as UP PHOTOS, Infocus:Camera Guild, Forestry Society, AGHAM-YOUTH, ACHES, SAMAEKO, Karma Kolektib, UP Jammers Club, Artists Arrest and other allied members of the KALIKASAN-ST. It was also supported by the Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) and Integrated Development for Indigenous Peoples (IDPIP). This activity is established to be a yearly celebration of love and life as a devotion to save the Earth and serve the People. It is an ongoing call for all to rediscover our higher purpose in life.

The Kalikhasan Festival has utilized different arts and media and assortment of activities such as concert pointing out our role for stewardship, forum, face painting, lantern lightning, mural painting and photo exhibits. Our environment only mirrors our way of life. The degradation of our society or its progress is manifested by the way we treat each other in a humane or cruel way and this is applied to all living entities around us. Thank you for the enlightening vision of the Kalikasan Southern Tagalog for their inspirational artworks that served as lamps of hope for our Mother Earth.

The Vibrant Pahiyas Festival

The vibrant Pahiyas festival is celebrated every 15th of May. Colors, decors, fervors! This event features a contest for the Filipino arty houses that are spectacularly decorated with fruits, vegetables, grains plus assortment of embelishments from nature such as rice stalks, flowers, ferns, dried banaba leaves,talisay and branches. They even use coffee for more detailed textures. You can commonly see colorful rice wafers famous as kipping, these are actually rice doughs and are usually arranged into two or three layers imposing a chandelier look this is actually popular as aranya. They can eat the rice wafers like delightful rice chips after the competition for topnotch decorated houses. Many tourists visits Lucban, Quezon to witness the arty houses and fantastic parade of costumes.
The Pahiyas means precious offering and this festival has been a traditional expression of humility and gratitude to God and wishing for the people’s bountiful harvest in the coming seasons with the recognition of God as the Supreme Person. The sunshine, rain,wind, weather are all supremely controlled by God and He is the Supreme Source of everything. More so, this reminds everyone that we are dominated spirits and that we are nothing without God’s great mercy and empowerment.
This festival is also a remembrance of the legendary San Isidro Labrador who can magically plow the field after paying his obeisances to the Lord in the church during the 16th century. San Isidro Labrador offers his prayers having full faith to God as his friend and well wisher, he has tried to offer his farming as a devotional service to God. He practiced love for God with all his heart, mind and entire being in harmony with what Jesus has taught in his first and foremost commandment. He has tried to live a life pleasing to God. This also exhibits the thoughful potluck and hospitality among the townspeople. Farming is the main livelihood of the Lucban people and this feast of farmers creates a great bliss and excitement to all. There are smiles on everyone’s face and there’s a stationary spot that welcomes everyone who likes to dance and chant for peace accompanied with lively beat of instruments. The chanting for peace absolutely made the townspeople and tourists to rediscover the blissful nature in each of us and their eyes surely reflects oneness in love for God.

Natural Modishness: Pahiyas Costume Parade

This is the spectacular parade of costumes during the Pahiyas Festival, the costumes are made out of organic materials, native products especially the banig, abaka and of course the kipping or colorful rice wafers. The Philippines lakan and lakambini (Mister and Miss) genuinely smiles to all. The models graciously promotes the native products of Lucban, Quezon. The outfits are prolifically designed to entice tourists and townspeople with a great sense of appreciation for resourcefulness and creativity. It definitely exhibit that it is not actually the extravagance of clothing or materials that one wears but it is the inner beauty especially the heart that matters most. It is the inside such as one’s righteous outlook that creates extraordinary glow and grace to one’s splendor. This parade reflects the consistent harmony and realization of our direct connection with nature. That whatever labels and appearances we may have are all temporary but what is instilled in our hearts are eternal. Lucban, Quezon may have changed a lot considering the houses, the roads and the progress of education. However, the townspeople remains respectful of nature and embraces simple living with high thinking. I must say that they are highly disciplined in terms of environmental advocacy of not using plastics to any stores,shops and markets. They actually use recycled newspapers, bayong or native bags and baskets, just in case you need to buy tofu, meat or fish you have to bring your own container or else they won’t sell you anything no matter how much money you bring and offer to them.

The costume parade is not just a commercial thing but more so gives an impression of honor and dignity. The people has actually lived up with great principles in life passed on from one generation to the next. This is the extraordinary modishness that people have witnessed year after year.

Banaue, The Haven Of Rice Terraces

The 2,000 to 6,000 years old Terraces has been an agricultural and cultural icon of the Ifugao. The Indigenous small scale Ifugao Filipino farmers has amazingly carved this beautiful mountain landscape with least materials and equipments.
This picturesque exhibits the fragile collective steadiness of humankind to its environment. The Ifugao Rice Terraces are the most precious involvement of Philippine ancestors to human race. For two millenia that has been passed on from one generation to the next, the Ifugao Rice Terraces mirrors a continuing image of an ancient progress that definitely outshines diverse challenges and impediments masqueraded by modernization.
Consider the superiority of engineering with the advancement to complex irrigation systems, highly structured farming system and the incredible cautions for shaping the natural curve of hills and mountains into terraced pond fields. Getting in touch with an elevated altitude just to yield water from the forests and mountain tops. This work of wonders has also been a dramatic demonstration for a communal success and mirrors the power of collective movement for the benefit of everyone in the community, basically a cooperative approach.
Organic Ifugao farming includes offering their farming activities and the fruits of their labor to the Supreme Energy, God. The Hudhud is consists of narrative chants performed mainly by elder Ifugao women normally for the rice sowing season, at harvest time and at funeral wakes and rituals.

On the other side of the story, the awesome terraced landscape of grand splendor is now defenseless to social and economic changes. Many Ifugao youth of this new generation see farming as no more appealing. This has caused the erosions for some of the terraces. Yes, the tourism is good but Filipinos must be reminded that the Banaue Rice Terraces is not just all about the facade of fashion but rather a functional interaction between the human to environment.
May the erosions that has been happening to the once very stunning Banaue Rice Terraces alarms us all Filipinos that the occurrence of degradation to another extraordinary heritage only mirrors our own recklessness and ignorance of not having some empowerment to sense of history. The erosions of terraces are erosions of our harmonious relationship to nature and our failure to our duty of good stewardship to our environment. This may serve a wake up call for all of us.
The Banaue Rice Terraces is still an awesome place to visit with the richness of culture to discover but the inspiring ancestors and their extraordinary lives may move us to the preservation of its total beauty.