A SHOT OF APPRECIATION

A CLICK ON THE SHORE - There is beauty everywhere as long as you know appreciation. It is felt in the heart because most beautiful ones are not seen. They cannot be captured by the most sophisticated cameras. They  cannot be recorded by the most advanced camcorders.They cannot be photo-shopped by the most technological software. They cannot be drawn by the most famous artist of these times.

They can only be felt in the heart.

Maricaban Island, just northwest of Puerto Galera Beach in Mindoro is a haven for nature lovers. If you love nature, you'll find beauty everywhere. (The author is taking snap on the islands near Puerto Galera. It is visible in the island's southern part).

FORGET ABOUT SINGAPORE

RAINBOW AT NIGHT - This is not in Singapore nor in Hong Kong but the bright colorful shower of lights reminds us the 1997 historic turnover of Hong Kong back to China after 100 years of British colonization. So I never wondered one of my dad's stamp collection from HK bears the image of Queen Elizabeth!

Every Sundays, you'll see families around the Philippines gather here at Rizal Park, the largest and the most famous leisure park in the country. The park is as large as the country of Vatican City.

NEWEST ATTRACTION

NEXT CITY? - Lasam is considered as the rice granary of the entire Western Cagayan thus produces the most luscious and aromatic "tinupig", a variety of glutinous rice cake charred in a burning-hot coal. Though the second youngest town of Cagayan Province, its leap into progress is inevitable.
I remember back in 2003 when I was still in secondary, our municipal mayor said "BAKA AGBALINTO PAYEN A CITY TI LASAM!" (maybe Lasam will become a city sooner!), conceived from his slogan "oneness to progress".

Lasam Resort is the newest attraction in town. An Olympic-sized pool offers a two 8-meter high slide to quench your thirst to plunge. Kids won't be out of place with its kids-friendly smaller pool. Landscape, modernized and natural!

FROM THE NORTHERNMOST POINT OF LUZON ISLAND

STANDING NORTH - Right here from the rocky edge where I stand, is probably the point of Luzon Island where the North Pole is nearest to it!

 

The Lakay - Lakay Rock Formation is a group of ancient rocks extending into the open sea resembling an old man ("lakay" is the Iloco term) from afar.

On the other side of this rock is a steep, very deep ravine part of the sea where huge and relentless waves eternally banging the old man's body. The old man has curse so you better keep silent while having him a visit!

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THE SAPPHIRE SKY

ONE LAST SHOT - As we drive back to Manila, I was fascinated with the emerald-blue sky cuddling with the cumulo-stratus clouds blended by the autumn-hued sunset. A perfect mix in the sky. The scene attracts my appreciation.

Greetings from the coast of Claveria, the cleanest and greenest town of Region II (Cagayan Valley, Philippines). Or should I say the cleanest, the greenest and the bluest?

THE CROC SWALLOWING THE SUN

BITING THE SUN - The silhouette of a giant crocodile seems fiercely tearing  the Midas sun into half as it sets. The scene is a common picturesque on that part of Babuyan Channel,  merging the potentially resource-rich South China sea on the west and the deep, blue Pacific ocean on the east.

THE WORLD'S TINIEST VOLCANO

A VISTA FROM ATOP - From the view deck of Potter's Ridge Hotel along Cavite-Batangas Highway, Tagaytay City, the panoramic view of Taal, the world's smallest volcano deserves an amateur shot.

The dormant volcano is sitting silently amid a freshwater lake. It has not erupted for long centuries that its large crater collected rainwater to form another lake, thus the monicker "A LAKE WITHIN A LAKE". So bizarre!

THE LOST PARADISE

RUSHING WATERS FROM A VOLCANO - This stream water cascades directly from the mountains of Banahaw. Its peak is an extinct volcano of long ago.

Whooshing downwards will lead to Liliw Resort, Laguna. The province is endowed with myriads of hot springs coming from the mountains of Banahaw, Makiling and some parts of Sierra Madre, the largest range in the Philippines. Though the province is hot spring-laden, the resort features a chain and series of mini falls with clear, running very cold water!

NO FALL IN BATAAN: JUST SUMMER

BRILLIANT SEASHORE SAILS - Colorful sailing boats pile up along the beaches of Morong, Bataan, a peninsular province surrounded by the prominent-sunset-endowed Manila Bay in the east and the rich but disputed South China Sea in the west.
April 9, 1942 was the "FALL OF BATAAN" to the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII. But April is not a fall but summer.

After about two-hour driving from Metro Manila, you'll find the non-murky and calm waters of Morong Beach. The water is very peculiar! At night, the water is hot, very suitable for night swimming. At moonlight, you can see the bottom of the sea. It's clear below.

THE LAND OF SMILING BEAUTY

CAGAYAN PROVINCE - TRIVIA
Cagayan is the northernmost part of Luzon mainland. Predominantly Ilocano, Itawes, Ybanag and Agtas (traditional tribesmen, yes still here they are!) thrive on its vast plains bounded by the mighty ranges of Sierra Madre  and Cordilleras to the east and west respectively. On the central of the plain snakes the enormous Cagayan river. It is where its namesake was derived. "Carayan", which means river in Ilocano dialect was later transformed to Cagayan, the land of smiling beauty. Topographically and economically, it does not lag behind other provinces in the country. The province is thus unique. (Below, the unspoiled coast of Claveria).

Listed below are just some of the spectacular and rarely or never-heard facts about Cagayan.

• The first and oldest humans in the country (Homo erectus) lived in Cagayan caves and plains, far older than the Tabon cavemen in Palawan.
• Fossils of mammoths, mastodon and other prehistoric creatures have been excavated in Callao Caves, the only known place in the country where they roamed long ago. (Remember the Ice Age when Luzon was still connected to Eurasia).
  
 

• The oldest catholic bell (the Sancta Maria forged in 1595) in the entire  Far East of the globe, just outside Europe can be found in the town of Camalaniugan, Cagayan.
• CNN lists Palaui Island located in its northeastern tip among the top 10 best beaches in the world, the only in Southeast Asia.
• Magapit  Bridge is the first and the oldest suspension bridge in Asia. It traverses the central part of Cagayan river.

                                         

• Tuguegarao, its capital city is also the regional capital of Cagayan Valley (Region II).
• Cagayan is the "Game Fishing Capital" of the Philippines due to the abundance of sailfish, swordfish, dolphins and other big catch within its waters.
• Cagayan, with Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Viscaya and Batanes collectively known as Cagayan Valley, is the "Tilapia Capital" of the Philippines.
• It is the 3rd largest province in terms of land area behind Palawan and Isabela.
• The largest and probably the last untouched, virgin forests in the country lie on the Sierra Madre de Cagayan.
  

• Ludong, a rare fish species sold at P5,000/kg is endemic only to the Philippines and can only be found in Cagayan river. Nowhere else.
• Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) is the largest port in northern Luzon and considered as the "Gateway to East Asia".
• Nueva Segovia (now Lallo, Cagayan) was among the three oldest dioceses in the Philippines created in 1595 during the Spanish Period (Nueva Caceres de Naga and Cebu being the other two).

So much for this. You will have plenty of never-heard real facts if you visit the place this summer.
P.S. It has more than 6 volcanoes. Some are submarine! (Sonnyboy P. Pacursa)

THE WILDERNESS OF THE NORTH

THE COLORS OF SUMMER - This is what the coast of Cagayan Province has to offer. A long stretch of shore covered with wild but colorful flowering lilies, hawthorns and lianas (a kind of vine). Your travel farther northward is worth the breathtaking experience.

THE SUNSET BEHIND THE CROC'S SNOUT

                                                                       
PACIFIC SUNSET - From the northwestern most tip of Cagayan Province lies the coastal paradise of the north, Claveria. This town is known for its mystical rock formations called Apo Lakay - Lakay (Great Old Man) facing the Babuyan Sea believed by the locals to chant good luck in fishing and at the same time curse anyone who blasphemed upon its existence.