Boxes at The Marketplace by the Government Center seems like an out-of-the-way destination for anyone seeking some evening action. At daytime, the restaurants and bars at Boxes look lonely and too quiet for a fun-loving barkada, but you ain’t seen nothing yet until you go there and see for yourself. The place comes alive […]
Category: Lifestyle
The seven-hour non-airconditioned bus ride from Bacolod to our next-door neighbor was fatigue-inducing but rewarding when the diverse country scene rolled by. Sugarcane fields are juxtaposed with the steep rocky mountainside. Hidden bends unveil breathtaking cliffs and the blue Tanon Strait beyond. Bamboo-and-nipa huts perch on road edges cheek by cheek with concrete residences creating […]
When the handle of my binangon flew off, I knew whom to call. The neighborhood pamandayan to the rescue! What is a Filipino household without the all-purpose knife that can cut down a tree, open a coconut, and peel an unripe jackfruit for ginat-an nga munggo? The binangon is a tool so essential for a […]
It was the topic of salt that brought me to Pulupandan and unearthed another industry – from the salt of the earth to the earth itself. Here’s Earth calling the potters of Brgy. Utod. One of the potters who showed me around was the very helpful Kagawad Roy Veraguas. He is a salt producer for […]
Tucked away by the side of the highway leading into Bago City from Bacolod are seven hectares of coastal land converted into saltbeds. You won’t miss these wide patches of grids dotted by windmills. Yet, a lot of people do. Nondescript and hidden partially by tall wild grass along the road, the salt beds blend […]
The sea is calm, the sun not so hot at 9:30 in the morning while we crossed the sea to get to the group of islands know as Islas de Gigantes. Wispy white clouds hovered above hiding the blue of the sky of Carles. Inday Nancy bobbed rhythmically as the waves slapped a lullaby on […]
Susan is in. A baby has its back to her, its face serene and innocent. It won’t be long when the baby screams in pain as had the baby before it, and all the other babies before have had. For generations, the manoghilot has been the go-to medicine man, or woman, for babies, toddlers and […]
FOR the first time in many years, I wake up to the sound of an orchestra playing. A thousand crickets are making beautiful rhythmic music at 5:30 in the morning. In my spacious, tastefully-appointed, purple-themed casita, I lay quietly for a while before throwing off the purple wool blanket to thrust my feet into the […]
My first visit to Balay Bato had a rocky start. No sooner had I put a foot on a rock and told Rusty Binas, the owner, that one needs to be a mountaineer (to climb up and down his stairs) when I slipped and would have had a nasty fall had I not held onto […]
One day, in October last year, Carol Khia decided to take care of some rescued dogs that her friend Teresa Japsay kept in her residence. These dogs were then under the care of an animal rescue organization but since the organization’s resources were meager, Ms. Japsay had to make do with what she had. Ms. […]
