It’s too crowded. It’s overhyped. It’s too commercialized. It’s just one huge tourist trap.

With the 1000H roro that I was to take from Caticlan to Roxas in Mindoro having engine trouble and the schedule postponed, I found myself paying the EXORBITANT environmental and terminal fees imposed on travelers in order to have a glimpse of the supposed charms of paradise that is Boracay. With just less than a few hours for the 1400H roro, I made a lightning sidetrip to this fabled island.

In the Visayas, Iloilo is one of the provinces with many colonial era churches. What better way to spend a few hours before my trip to Kalibo that afternoon than with visiting two of these?

The first time I saw a photo of the church of Cabatuan and I was immediately drawn to it. Its impressive and imposing. An architectural achievement. Its squat but massive twin belfries flanks a simple facade built along neo-classic lines. Finished in 1866, it is one of the biggest churches in Panay.

This is the best batchoy I have ever tasted! I silently exclaimed mindful of the other customers in the airconditioned branch of Deco’s in La Paz, Iloilo. It must be the hunger and weariness of lugging my things while walking a good distance in downtown Iloilo City. Bernie, who met me at the pier took me here when I said that I want to have a good batchoy in La Paz. Its sahog of entrails, chicharon and scallions are plentiful and its broth very delectable.

Believe it or not, with only few hours in Bacolod, I opted to visit Henry Sy’s new pilgrimage center, SM City Bacolod, instead. Yeah, I passed by San Sebastian Cathedral, that beautiful old colonial era edifice but didn’t bring with me my camera. Not that I’m a big fan of malls, where I just find the offerings generic and nothing special, I was more intrigued by its architecture. From the shoe box style of which these brand of malls started with, it has been liberated and updated with light, airy and spacious designs.

Four hours across the north Negros highway and I was reliving memories of more than a decade ago passing this very artery going back and forth Cebu and Bacolod during vacations at my best friends place. I can vividly remember the ancestral houses of Silay with its imposing 1930s church along the road. Or how I am always captivated with the massive Mt. Mandalagan, a pemament fixture in the Negros landscape, lording it over the land.

After three weeks vacation at my home province in Cebu, I was again on the road for the trip back to Makati. I’ve been looking forward to make this trip not only because I will finally be able to visit the provinces beyond Iloilo as well as pass by Mindoro but also to come back, albeit briefly, San Carlos City in Negros.

Just go out into the great wide world! Summer is here! With the temperature boiling in hot hot polluted Manila, what better way to douse out the sizzle than going places: cooling off in Baguio, getting bummed at the thousands of beaches across the country, going at long last to that edge of the earth wonder in some remote barrio in the archipelago or just visit ones roots and get acquainted again with childhood friends and cousins.

The ritual is akin to ancient death rites where the body of the village chief is bathed, smoked and prepared for the afterlife. Paete, a lakeshore town in Laguna is famed for its woodcarving industry even before the Spanish era. The town’s woodcarvers have graced the various grand churches, houses and museums here and abroad.

During Holy Week, the town becomes one of Filipino Catholic folk religion’s pilgrimage areas, although not many know it.

Amidst the backdrop of Makati’s high rise towers, a rich religious tradition has survived. Done yearly at the periphery of the country’s financial district, the almost 80 year old Senakulo (Cenacle) has been played out in the vicinities of what is now Brgy. Pio del Pilar alternating in Evangelista and Washington Sts.

The week prior to Holy Week, the street is blocked, to the chagrin of drivers and commuters, and a big stage is set up.

Infanta is balmy and refreshing with its long coastline and beautiful blue beaches that the long and drawing ride from Makati to Siniloan via Sta. Cruz on public transport, taking almost 6 hours to negotiate is easily forgotten. The familiar smell of the sea and its salty breeze hits you instantly as the jeepney I took wound down to the coast.

Armand invited me last week for a slideshow of photographs that will be featured in time for the Holy Week. Spanning a good three summers of documenting the rituals and practices around Quezon, Laguna and Makati City, thirty photos comprise this work. You can view it at pinoycentric.com.