The first thing I did, as soon as I alighted from the bus, was to visit Vigan's famous Calle Crisologo, the setting of many Filipino period films.
Vigan in Ilocos Sur is two bus hours away from Laoag. There is no direct flight from Cebu to Vigan. In fact there are connecting flights from Cebu to Laoag (Cebu-Manila-Laoag). Although all that traveling was taxing, when I arrived in Vigan, I felt relaxed because of the languid pace of the city.
There is something about not having an itinerary, there was no pressure on me to see every tourist spot, or sample every local delicacy. I never forgot even for an instant that I was there on vacation to forget for awhile the cares of the office.
Traveling alone is to me like meditating --- you learn to focus your mind, discipline your senses and live in the moment.
T'was the holiday season and there was time for a long break from the office. I decided to head north of the Philippines which I've never been and was curious to know. I ended up at the Laoag International Airport near midnight. Alone in a strange place, I felt thrilled and afraid. This was certainly more exciting than just hibernating at home.
Have you ever been on a journey alone in a new place where you don't speak the native language, you don't know anyone and had to sleep in five different lodging houses? I've been there, done that !
On a journey of self-discovery from Laoag to Vigan in northern Luzon, I have slept in various lodging accommodations, ranging from the basic Php300 room to the "luxurious" Php3,000 suite. It was worth the experience.
I again dropped by Dumaguete on my way to Siquijor island.
Here's a glimpse of the environment friendly huts of Sidlakang Negros and eateries by the sea.
I so love the vibe of the place and the sea breeze at Rizal Boulevard.
Did you know that, of all the provinces in the Philippines, Negros island comes close to Cebu in terms of topography, ICT facilities, creative bent, geographic location and potential for economic success ?
If there is going to be a newly emerged BPO destination after Cebu, it will be Negros Island.
I tagged along with a group of retirees, female senior citizens, on tour at Bohol Bee Farm. I found their enjoyment of life infectious. They joked about their short memory, arthritis, their sexual atrophy and I laughed along with them :-)
These are the moments when I am glad I'm not married with children or I'd have ended up like Elizabeth Gilbert in her memoir "Eat, Pray, Love." She cried every night because she didn't want to be married anymore. What people call a conventional married life felt like a trap to her.. Thank God I don't have her problems...
It's almost All Souls' Day so I might as well talk of the columbarium.
I ambled down this morning from Tops for my morning exercise and saw this in Busay. Considering how beautiful the place is (architecture and landscape included), I decided to walk around. It certainly is clean, breezy, and peaceful there and definitely environment friendly.
A columbarium is a place for the respectful and public storage of cinerary urns (i.e., urns holding a deceased’s cremated remains). The term comes from the Latin columba (dove) and originally referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons.
Cremation of the dead and the columbarium are not very popular in the Philippines. However, it is currently an acceptable interment for Christians. Being a pragmatic person, I prefer the columbarium over the cemetery. Cremation is not just cheap, it is also hygienic.
I’m staying home today to avoid unnecessary expenses. I guess I should stay home on weekends for the rest of the year (except December, of course). I’m saving up for something big.
To entertain myself, I reread my books…most of which are non-fiction. These are the kind of books that make me appreciate the comforts I am currently enjoying. I get this warm, fuzzy, secure feeling while reading the sufferings of the protagonists in the stories. In some pages, however, I get agitated or feel gagged and suffocated from reading a graphic description of a painful experience… it often induced me to get out of the house and travel or indulge myself.
The main characters in these true stories lived in intolerant, narrow-minded societies and went through physical, emotional, and mental torture. Yet, because of the strength of their spirit and faith, they survived unimaginable violence and atrocities.
It is interesting to discover how these protagonists overcame their miserable situation. Common tactic applied by these people is to stop or numb “feeling” in order to lessen their pain whether physical, emotional or psychological. I didn’t know you can do that just by using your mind. This is used effectively by the characters in the book “This Blinding Absence of Light” and “Stolen Lives.”
These stories remind me of a study made by a group of psychologists on why people have vices. They said that they can easily pinpoint people who are unhappy with their situation by their answers to these five questions: Do you take drugs?, Do you drink (alcohol)?, Do you smoke?, Do you binge? How often? Their explanation is that the first two vices numb our feelings and blunt our senses. The last two vices fill a void or try to replace something unpleasant. It is a way to escape.
”If you truly enjoy or find pleasure in your present situation you would want all your five senses sharp and alert in order to fully savor the experience.”
I am an asthmatic who is trying to exercise by walking all over Cebu and, more recently, by ambling in picturesque places within the Philippines and Asia. I blog as a way to track my progress. Along the way I take photographs of anything I find interesting.
I hope to someday sell a few of these photos to pay for site maintenance.
Thank you for visiting.
