Almost hidden, Anuplig Falls is the reward from a long trek

I was in the NORTH. Up at the coasts of Cagayan and the Ilocos Norte provinces when I was again invited to be part of Lakbay Norte’s 2011 edition, Leg 2, visiting several new and interesting spots as well as reacquainted with some old sites. The day didn’t look good. Overcast. The sky a boring white with no features. But we arrived in Adams, Ilocos Norte’s last town up north, remote and secluded in the last stands of the mighty Cordilleras before terminating at Pasaleng Bay.

Media persons with us who took the dip

At a moderate pace, we passed along the road following the river then crossed the spillway to a rugged trail. From residential houses to farmlands, pasture and eventually to the forest line along rolling hills.

The trail wasn’t really difficult, with no steep ascents and descents except near the river where the waterfall is just part of the water system.

It can be tiring though but the beautiful view of forest covered mountains, farmlands and interesting flora and occasional insects crossing our path made it less of a labor.

After an hour, we were finally near our destination and the cries of excitement just made our pace faster with me trying to dart, nevermind if the trail has become too rugged with tree roots making it a bit challenging. But we persevered.

Closer view of Anuplig Falls

Bloggers and media trekking to Anuplig Falls

The water is cold but just welcome as it cools the hot body from all the trekking. This is what I like about Anuplig Falls. Ensconced in a cul de sac of a stony wall the cascade just pours and pours, thunderous from a distance. And after the initial amazement, the water, lapping at one’s feet and lower legs become inviting.

The area is forested and adds to the coolness of the river. My companions were diving and jumping in the water while I was busy taking images. After an hour, it was time to go. Up to the trailhead where it can be difficult to walk the trail, hanging vines and weak branches.

But the beauty of it all? Anuplig Falls stays in your memory. Something that can be retrieved when work’s get tougher or gets into ones nerves. When the call of the wild makes you smile and decide, I should go there again, soon…

Trendy high quality and high fashion bags made from discarded tarpaulin that GK Sooc families make as a livelihood as displayed at PJ Aranador's Nautilus Boutique at D'Mall, Boracay Island.

What Project Zero is all about. CLICK TO ENLARGE

A former scavenger in Manduriao’s dump in Iloilo province, Ate Hermie, together with other 66 families now reside in the PLDT-Smart Amazing GK Village, in Sooc, Arevalo District, or GK Sooc for short. This is one of PLDT-Smart and Gawad Kalinga Foundation’s project sites and a hub for their newfound livelihood.

“When we started our partnership with Gawad Kalinga, we gave homes to several families in Sooc but did not stop there. We did not just build homes, we helped them build livelihood,” said Darwin Flores, Smart’s Senior Manager for Community Partnerships.

International designer PJ Aranador, left; GK Sooc residents who made the bags, right during launch night last 18 April

A model shows off one of the bags

Just imagine, all of Smart’s discarded billboard and banner tarpaulin advertisements around the country shipped to Iloilo and stored in two huge warehouses. With the trainings select GK Sooc inhabitants got and the guidance given by PJ, they have transformed these into fashionalable evening bags, purses, knapsacks, pouches, and small handbags. All under PJ’s Nautilus line.

And the good thing? Tourists and locals can buy these at PJ Arañador’s hip lifestyle boutique at the popular D’Mall. You not only get a trendy high quality, high fashion bag designed by PJ, who is of international caliber, you also get to help GK Sooc families earn an honest living as well as save the environment.

These bags are currently available at Nautilus in D’Mall, Station 2, Boracay Island and will also be available soon in GKonomics’s showrooms nationwide. Check out GK Sooc’s Facebook page.

Finally conquered Apayao! (in dark blue)

Rainy days almost nipped my trip to the province of Apayao, one of two provinces that remained to be visited. Until yesterday, Wednesday.

It was sort of a difficult journey. Me and my friend, Eric, another avid traveler who is a good HR practitioner, were supposed to go there a few days ago but due to time constraints, have to just pass by Junction Luna, the main entry point to Pudtol, Apayao. If it weren’t for the sunny day that happened last Tuesday, I would have just resigned myself to visit the province some other time.

But then, the Fates smiled. Even if it rained in some portions and some parts of the road were terrible.

Will be posting more about this trip soon. For the meantime, I’m quite ecstatic that I’ve finally, after so many years and months, visited this northern province.

Siquijor better prepare. Targeting a May visit, if my schedule permits.

Map generated through Lakbayan.

Geo tagged posts of Langyaw.com in Google Maps, CLICK TO GO TO MAP.

I’m now implementing geotagging of posts here in Langyaw.com!!!

No more scouring the countless pages for topics or blog posts. No more searching for particular province destinations or posts. It’s here, the big map of blog posts. Zoom in or out. Click on a marker and instantly shown a thumbnail image and a quick summary of a particular post.

Not sure of what to do in a particular province? Just zoom in on the map and posts, if available, for that particular province will be marked. Easy isn’t it? Now, go to the big map page and discover.

Note that I’m still adding up posts as of this time.

What’s better is that it has electronic circuitry that is loaded with biometric and other important info. With this, passport problems should be minimized if not eliminated totally compared to my previous green passport.

It’s really a cinch to apply for this new passport and better that I did it in Cebu which has less people queuing up. Now, where should I travel?

The new Philippine tourism slogan unveiled today by the Department of Tourism

Why the Philippines? Because it’s more fun in the Philippines!” -DOT Sec. Mon Jimenez

Its more than a mouthful compared with the more short and catchy slogans of our Asian neighbors, but the new tourism slogan, which was designed by advertising firm, BBDO Guerrero | Proximity Philippines (BBDO was also the one behind the successful WOW Philippines a few years back), unveiled this morning by the Department of Tourism’s secretary, Mon Jimenez, is, well, interesting and good with the official Twitter hashtag #1ForFun:

It’s more fun in the Philippines

Just minutes after the announcement, #itsmorefuninthePhilippines and #1ForFun were trending in the country and my Tweetdeck timeline was scrolling down fast with friends’s tweets.

And what about the logo? Its simple, colorful and way better than the controversial Pilipinas kay Ganda unveiled last year which was more childish and, allegedly plagiarized from another country’s tourism design. I do love the map design which, from a distance, looks like a pixelized version but upon closer inspection is actually a section of a banig, native woven mat. It does say something about our culture and traditions symbolized in the briefest way possible without losing its significance.

It is just attractive, colorful and beautiful. Something that I’m sure Pinoys and most travel bloggers will support.

Now that the slogan has been unveiled and advertising plans put in place, I just hope that we go beyond sloganeering. First and foremost, the government should get their focus and mobilize to address the following:

• Infrastructure. We should make our tourism sites accessible as possible. Is the programmed P140B+ economic building stimulus fund include tourism revitalization and support?
• Cut down red tape, streamline tourism related tax issues  and apply standardized but tourist friendly rates.
• Train people and communities to be tourist friendly but at the same time protective what they have in their midst. I’ve come across many communities that have many heritage treasures but they don’t know its potential for their town.
• and so many things that we still have to address in order to reach the planned 10 million visitors.

There’s still a long way to go and I do hope we do our part as well. The slogan is already reflective of what we are as Filipinos and what we have in our country and let’s do make it happen.

A passenger at Cagayan de Oro's Agora terminal

I was laying on my bed, staring into the ceiling, looking at nothing. But my mind was elsewhere, ruminating, pondering. Where will I go? What will I do? What new things to discover this year, 2012? Such wide open questions but not immediately needing answers.

Of course, I need to finish off all three provinces that I still haven’t visited: Zamboanga Sibugay, Apayao and Siquijor. That’s definite. To finally and proudly say I’ve done it!. How many Filipinos have just done the feat? Ivan About Town is one that I know of. And I’m very much confident that there’s a few more.

Boatman heading to Pilar in Camotes

Indonesia end to end was also one of the options. Let’s just see. But lately, especially in the last few months of 2011, I’ve been thinking of doing month long stays in remote places to better appreciate these less visited areas: Batanes, some small islands in Palawan, Sibutu…

While I had a great travel year in 2011, it is but natural to expect that this year will even be better. But does that mean more foreign destinations? More trips locally? Or go for something different? I’ve been to most places in the country, I think, a better mileage than many travel bloggers out there. But for me, most tourist places are becoming tourist traps and are boring and festivals are becoming templates of each other.

Well, let’s just see. The best travels I had were those that were spur of the moment than planned. Where the adrenaline rush was seeing a piece of beautiful architecture for the first time, swimming in a not so discovered strip of beach in some remote islets. Where the sense of awe was profound, like when coming face to face with the remaining four pillars of the oldest mosque in the country in far off Simunul.

Let 2012 just unfold naturally and I’m sure I will always be on the road to somewhere.

The Marina Bay Sands and Art Museum in Singapore

The year 2011 is coming to a close and it’s time to look back and assess how my travels went during the year. Below are my top 10 reasons why I can proudly say that this year is MY YEAR OF TRAVEL!

Christ Church, Melaka, Malaysia

1 International travel
I didn’t expect that for this year alone, I was in three countries of which two, I got to travel twice. Airphil Express invited me for their maiden flight from Cebu to Hongkong and later Malaysia and Singapore for a cruising tour. It was a good opportunity to visit again these countries after a long while.

Later in the year, I got invited by a hostel in Singapore to visit their country plus a sidetrip to Melaka, all in the space of 10 days. It wasn’t enough though but it was an opportunity to know these two countries better.

A tamaraw in a sanctuary in Mindoro Occidental

2 Just 3 provinces more to go
I entered 2011 with just six provinces in the Philippines that I haven’t visited: Basilan, Mindoro Occidental, Biliran, Siquijor, Apayao and Zamboanga Sibugay. At the close of the year, only three remains with the first three in the list conquered! Unfortunately, it was the lack of time that hindered me from completing all, not even giving me a chance to drop by Zamboanga Sibugay when I was in Zamboanga City early this month. Next year, I will finish all these.

Jetski at Tubigon, Bohol

3 Its business plus leisure
What I do like about my work is that it affords me to go to places for business that can also be considered as leisure. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone. Early this year, I was in Tubigon, Bohol for a web design and photography client and, really, I was also enjoying the place, the sea and swimming.

The same reason that I was able to explore Calayan Island, Catanduanes, Mindoro Occidental and Maitum. These all started with some work related function and ended up as a leisure trip.

Caniwara Cove as seen from Nagudungan Hill in Calayan

Monkeys at Bongao Peak, Tawitawi. CLICK TO ENLARGE

4 Calayan + Tawitawi + Maitum + Palaui
Who would have thought that I will visit, finally, the Calayan group of islands in the Babuyanes! For decades, I’ve been wishing to go to these remote places. If not for Smart’s assignment of covering their activities there, I wouldn’t have visited it this year! And, oh, the memorable experiences and beautiful sceneries!

Surprisingly, I was able to visit Tawitawi twice this year, in a space of two weeks, after nearly a decade of first stepping on its shores. The second visit was a bit brief but it didn’t stop me from climbing Bongao Peak. When I came back for the third time, it was quite exciting with a sail to Simunul for the oldest mosque as well as spending a night at the police station was quite memorable.

Lastly, I was quite impressed with beautiful Maitum with its many tourism spots. Upon the invitation of Ms. Beth, LGU accountant, I came back a second time and went with them hiking, exploring waterfalls, caves and meeting native Tbolis.

My Lakbay Norte trip in January made my dreams come true with a trip to Sta. Ana in Cagayan. Of course, rugged Palaui Island with its lone lighthouse was in my bucketlist.

5 Travel photography workshop and blogging talks
I would want to consider it as giving back to the community when I was resource person for travel blogging and travel photography in some blogging and speaking events this year. First, there was the Cebu Blog Camp followed by the Blog and Soul Session. Then the traveling duo of the SoleSisters invited me to talk about travel photography at ROX. Spark 2011 also had me to talk about doing personal photography projects too.

In another development, I got invited by UP Film Institute to handle a short course on Travel Photography which I did early this year. This is my first and am looking for more schedules next year.

Windsurfers in Boracay

6 I came to love Boracay
Last year, I was asked by CNN Go to write about Boracay’s International Funboard Cup. This year, the organizers invited me to cover the event. Those few days in the island changed my perception, as one large tourist trap to one that I’ve come to love for its beauty and uniqueness as a travel destination. It will always be a place that I will always look forward to.

Pearl Ambassador

7 Ang Langyaw is a Pearl Ambassador
It’s a great honor to be conferred as a Pearl Ambassador, an environmental advocate of the seas, by Jewelmer together with two other bloggers. This puts us in the league of celebrities like Piolo Pascual, ahem, ahem, to cite.

A visit to their pearl farm in Palawan this year was an eye opener. Despite located in a remote and pristine area, the effects of global warming and climate change coupled with man’s greed and callousness is terribly alarming. Thus, the need to be concerned about our current state of the environment.

This is an honor with a deep responsibility and I’m thankful for Jewelmer for including me as one of their select ambassadors.

SoloFlightEd headstanding in Hongkong

8 Traveling and meeting other travel bloggers
It’s always a great thing to meet other travel bloggers either during meetups or travels together. In Hongkong, I was with SoloFlightEd who gamely posed for my camera doing head stands in several locations from as high as Ngong Ping to the MTR to the Walk of the Stars.

In Singapore, I was able to have coffee, and finally meet Solitary Wanderer and Ron, the other half of Flipn’Travels. Lost Boy Lloyd during the Blog and Soul talk, and several others, too many to mention. I’m hoping to meet more next year.

Pila article in Space Magazine

9 Travel writing and photography assignments and being published
I continue to be published with Space, Smile, Mabuhay, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (for the Calayan series)… these are just some of the publications where I saw my travel writing and photography work printed.

This is in addition to the international exhibitions, especially the highly regarded Noorderlicht Photo Festival and foreign publications like Geo (Germany) where my photography has also been shown.

Not to be forgotten, it was also heartwarming to see myself being featured in print as a travel blogger, a different kind of feeling. As for TV shows, unfortunately, I have to decline some guestings due to schedule conflicts. Maybe next year.

10 Traveling with my hun
With one ending early this year, another sprouted and meeting this beautiful person was one of the reasons that my travels have again been meaningful especially that both of you are together enjoying the food, the scenery and everything that happens during travel.

There you have it, the top 10 reasons why 2011 is my year of travel! Hoping to have a better and bigger year in 2012.

First off, I finally ticked off three of the remaining six provinces that I haven’t visited yet in the country. These are Basilan, visited for a few hours only while I was in Zamboanga City enroute to Tawitawi the following day; Biliran where I stayed overnight enroute to Daraga, Albay from Ormoc and Mindoro Occidental when I flew in and stayed for two nights going around their tourist spot.

Still to be visited, and I’m sure I will finish these next year are Apayao, Zamboanga Sibugay and Siquijor. I was supposed to go to Siquijor before the end of the year but never made it.

Another beautiful trip was finally visiting Babuyanes! I really loved that place especially Calayan’s unspoilt coves and beaches. Even reaching and leaving the place was memorable.

In the next post, I will be detailing more about my 2011 travel highlights.

Get your Philippine travel grade at Lakbayan.

My cancelled passport.

It was just a few months ago that my old passport was given an extension as I needed to fly to Singapore for a blogging trip. Before the said extension was approved, I was told to renew my passport ASAP even if the validity of the extended date is still two years from now. Also, wanting to have a brown e-passport, I had reason to go to the new DFA Visayas office in Mandaue City.

At the DFA atrium where people wait for their numbers to be called.

While the whole renewal process is just less than 1.5 hours, getting the priority number was more of a chore unlike in DFA Manila where one can set an online appointment.

Below are some points that I have observed during this passport renewal process two days ago:

• DFA Cebu office has already transferred to Mandaue City. It’s now infront of Gaisano Pacific Mall.
• be there as early as 4Am when the line is still shorter. Shorter line means you get to have those first few twenty numbers assuring you of finishing before lunch.
• Always be attentive especially when the guards start to give out the priority numbers else you’ll get farther numbers. The crowd can get excited and some will try to get infront of others.
• Once you get the priority number, DFA Mandaue will start processing applications only at 9AM. Either you go home and come back or just spend time at the Jollibee branch a few meters from the DFA office.
• DFA starts processing at 9AM but will call out minors first. If you have minor applicants, this is better as you can hand in your papers early than the rest. No priority numbers needed.
• Regular processing via priority numbers will then commence so just listen once your number is called. The rest is smooth and you’ll finish soon enough.

To avoid hassle free application processing, make sure all requirements are at hand. Photocopiers as well as LBC courier are also present inside the DFA so no need to look for copiers outside the building or arranging for a courier delivery of passports.