Traveling A–Z: Aklan

By VINCE G. LOPEZ

October 30, 2010, 7:47pm

Boracay and the Ati-atihan festival are among the top reasons tourists visit Aklan

Mention the place Aklan to anyone and the imagery of fine white sands quickly come to mind. Known as the gateway to one of the most popular destinations in the country, the province of Aklan is more than just white sands and clear blue waters.

With a fascinating festival to boot and bountiful natural wonders for all sorts of tourists, the province remains to be one of the most visited provinces in the Philippines.

Aklan may be known famous for its world-renowned beach but the province is considered to be a mountainous terrain. One of the most amazing features of Aklan is its 709 hectares of virgin forests to maintain the beauty of its mountainous surroundings.

As far as festivities are concerned, no one does it best than the people of Aklan who, for three days on the third week of January, leave it all out and party on the city streets of Kalibo for the famous Ati-atihan festival. The said festivity is considered to be “Queen of Philippine Festivals” where the celebration lasts for three days. The street party is characterized by the rhythmic dances of darkly painted performers holding the image of the Sto. Niño.

Unlike its counterparts, the Ati-Atihan festival street dancing parade allows anyone to join in and party with the rest of the representing tribes. From shell clad warriors, soot covered dancers and nipa-dressed foot soldiers, the parade turns in to a hodgepodge of personalities.

Locals, on the other hand, are one of the finest craftsmen in the country as Aklan is also considered as a land of expert weavers. The province is the biggest producer of Piña cloth that has been inspiring international designers for their fashion collection.

Fast facts

Local Dialect: Aklanon, Ilonggo

Festival: Ati-atihan Festival

Must See:

Boracay — The enticing white sands of the beach is irresistible for both local and international tourists complete with night parties.

Bakhawan Eco-Park — dubbed as the Philippines, most successful mangrove reforestation and considered to be one of the most scenic places to unwind in Aklan.

Batasan Point — known for its wealthy marine lives and is said to be the best stop over for scuba divers, snorkelers, cliff-board divers, excursionists, and nature enthusiast for province guests.

Ashram Balay-Pagduaw – known for its advocacy on finding spiritual peace with nature. The place is perfect for meditation, relaxation and retreats.

Ignito Cave — The cave is noted for its abundant deposit of guano from various species of bats & birds finding shelters inside the cave. The site is also the province’s longest and grandest cave

Hidden Paradise — The elevated location offers the best scenery to witness the panoramic view of sunset, mountains, rivers, seas and green fields within the province.

How to get there:

Aklan’s Caticlan and Kalibo Airport serves as the entry point for major airlines coming into Aklan as there are already daily flights scheduled to land in both airports. Traveling by sea is also possible with numerous ferries going to Caticlan from Manila while land travel is also possible via buses going to Mindanao.

Traveling A-Z: Romblon

By VINCE G. LOPEZ

October 20, 2010, 10:21am

Tinagong Dagat (Photo by Rudy Liwanag)

A private island, an exclusive resort and a surreal hidden sea are just among the wonderful features of Romblon’s untapped natural beauty.

More popularly known for its marble and often called Marble capital of the Philippines, the province is divided into three major islands which are Romblon, Tablas and Sibuyan Islands. Aside from its leading product which is the marble, Romblon’s raw features are perfect for travelers and adventurers wanting to discover a new getaway destination.

One of the most charming in the country lies only 30 minutes away from its main airport in Tablas.

Found on the tip of Tablas Island, Calatrava is home to one of the most exclusive yet cheapest private island in the country. Complete with white sands and refreshing clear blue waters, the private Dao Resort makes the dream island getaway come to life.

Next to Dao resort is an experience of a lifetime from a place hidden by medium sized rock formations called “Tinagong Dagat”. While on the other tip of Tablas Island is the world class Resort called Villa M in Buenavista bay, Looc. The resort is an exclusive getaway with regal treatment and amenities.

Fast facts:

Festivals:

Biniray Festival – a nine-day town fiesta held every January in honor of the patron saint of Romblon, the Sto. Niño.

Local dialect: Romblomanon

Must See:

Tinagong Dagat – a hidden sea in Calatrava waiting to be discovered by tourists and adventure- seeking locals.

Villa M- Swim, have a massage, walk through the seashore or simply enjoy the incomparable view of the sunset of this exclusive resort.

Mt. Guiting-Guiting –Romblon Island’s highest peak that has been attracting mountaineers for its abundant wildlife, plant species, and waterfalls.

Isla de Gallo -The coral reefs around the island, with its white sands, are well known as a great diving spot.

Cantingas River - Known for its enchanting vistas and as the dwelling place of the world’s smallest bats, the endangered wild cat called singalong and the toughest wood known as mangoco.

How to get there:
There are scheduled flights going to Tablas island at least once a week. The island can be reached via a transfer ferry from Batangas.

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Five Exclusive Spots in Asia Perfect for Skinny Dips

By MANILA BULLETIN ONLINE

November 2, 2010, 7:01pm

Summer is still months away but it is never too early to plan for a holiday especially when you have too many choices and activities in mind. But what will never change is the demand for lush shores and fresh air come summer.

Pools and beaches are the perfect and the most in demand place to be in the summer. But since most people will be going to these places, one would rather be alone and isolated in a peaceful island resort than be with rowdy crowds and noisy people during the summer.

The most luxurious places to be would be the ones that offer total privacy while still being afforded a relaxing and fun stay. And what would be more perfect than places that, with utmost privacy, could allow you the most luxurious dip without your bathing suits!

While Asia isn’t home to various pools, beaches and resorts that allow people to disrobe and enjoy the sun freely, there are some which offers total exclusivity where people can try bathing in the nude.

Here are the five places you can find in Asia that could give you this kind of satisfaction.

Phuket Pavilions, Thailand
You can take a plunge in a deep 40 x 13 foot infinity pool outside each Andaman Sea-facing villa at Phuket Pavilions where you’re promised a serene stay with staff delivering service without a sound. You can also enjoy poolside massages after you’ve taken that highly liberating and private dip.

River House, Sri Lanka
Wake up in the Menik Suite’s east-facing plunge pool as the sun rises over the coconut palms dappled across Sri Lanka’s River House. A three-hour drive south of Colombo’s international airport, you can stay in one of the five antique-filled rooms at this inland retreat on the Madhu River.

Banyan Tree Lijiang, China
Undress with abandonment inside the pool villas at Banyan Tree Lijiang with high Naxi tiled walls to cover you. Heated pools here are perfect for a good frolic.

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan
Take pleasure in this dense bamboo jungle and enjoy the privacy of each villa at Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan. All 42 thatched maxi-huts come with an outdoor shower that overlooks the river valley and a plunge pool that releases itself endlessly into the jungle’s steamy abyss.

Soneva Gili, Maldives
You’ll be left entirely alone here with your closest neighbor being at least 1,000 feet away. Butlers will only emerge when you call them and splashing around the Indian Ocean or even snorkeling naked would be a delight.

Source:
Yahoo! Travel

Traveling A-Z: Batangas

By VINCE G. LOPEZ

November 3, 2010, 11:35am

Batangas’ proximity to the metro endears the destination to the weekend warriors looking for a quick getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. Within two hours of land travel, tourists are already presented with a number of adventure options as well as sightseeing opportunities in the province.

Numerous resorts abound in the province as long stretches of fine sands offer a relaxing alternative to the fast-paced city life. Another enchanting site in the province is the magnificent Taal Volcano which continues to entice both local and foreign tourists.

Indeed, the province’s array of natural wonders is unlimited as Batangas‘Verde Island is considered to be the center of marine biodiversity in the world. Such a unique feature of the province makes it one of the most sought after dive sites in the country. Scuba divers here and abroad are fascinated with the colorful wonders underneath the pristine waters of Batangas.

The province also boasts of its historical and cultural sites. Tourists are invited to take a tour back in time with various towns offering different memorabilia and bits from the past.

A tour of the province’s natural wonders and heritage sites can be best enjoyed while sipping Batangas’ very own Kapeng Barako or chilling in the province’s fine sands with a shot of the spiked local cocktail known as Lambanog. From food, scenic beaches, and cultural wonders, Batangas is one destination in the Philippines that has managed to sustain the tourist’s interest in the province.

Fast facts:

Language: Tagalog

Festival:
Lechon Festival / Parada ng Lechon – the famous feast is held every 24th of June in the town of Balayan

What to See:

Laiya-Aplaya and Hugom Beaches – A stretch of white sand that is best known for its unique accommodations and affordable huts for beach lovers.

Taal Lake and Volcano – South Luzon’s centerpiece attraction for tourists, the magnificent view is also one of the country’s most unique trails for adventurous trekkers.

Verde Island Passage – known as an underwater wonderland with its spectacular reef formations and 300 coral species. Its underwater rock canyons host nearly 60 percent of the world’s shore fish species.

Taal Heritage Vista – As one of the most architecturally preserved provinces during the Spanish era, the village contains picturesque antique ancestral houses as well as majestic old churches.

Our Lady of Caysasay Church and Shrine – One of the architectural wonders in the province, which contains a 27-cm image of the Virgin of Caysasay, found in the waters of Batangas in 1603.

Basilica of San Martin de Tours – reputedly patterned after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and was constructed in 1856.

How to get there:

Going to Batangas is easy as there are buses that leave every hour from major bus terminals in the metropolis. Depending on the route, provincial buses pass through practically all the major cities in the province. Batangas Pier is one of the busiest and progressive piers in the country, which also serves as an entry point to the province from other destinations.

Shelter plan law eyed for passage

Cebu Daily News

URBAN poor groups in Cebu City voiced support for the city government's proposed shelter plan ordinance in a dialogue held yesterday.

The ordinance authored by Councilor Alvin Dizon is on its final reading in tomorrow's City Council session.

It seeks to provide more housing sites for the urban poor and affordable housing to middle income earners.

Marlene Paracuelles, president of the Alliance of Barangay Apas Community Association, Inc.(ABACA), said the ordinance will ensure decent homes for the urban poor.

The ordinance lays out the framework for housing starting next year until 2016.

Aside from urban poor groups, the forum was attended by officials from the National Housing Authority, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Pag-ibig, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and Social Housing Finance Corp..

Paz Turlao of the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor said she hopes that the Cebu City government can implement the ordinance and other programs for the urban poor community

The task: Housing a nation

Philippine Daily Inquirer

THIS REFERS to Anna Marie Karaos’ article “HUDCC-LGU partnerships.” (Inquirer, 9/5/10) I wish to extend my deepest appreciation of her insightful article which enumerated the challenges of housing a nation.

She correctly pointed out that the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) must also address the need to steer urban growth and development. As she noted, all housing programs and urban development thrusts will need the active participation of local government units.

I am deeply moved by Karaos’ challenge and confidence that I, as a former city mayor and now HUDCC chair, have excellent opportunities to do this. We are indeed drawing up housing and urban development programs with the LGUs in mind, so that they can better serve their constituents. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of LGUs will soon have a national framework to stand on as we are gearing up for the enactment into law of a National Land Use Plan (NLUP). I have written Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga, who chairs the NLUP Committee, that we will proactively participate in deliberations and consensus-building activities for this purpose.

We are retooling our own key shelter institutions to make them more responsive to the needs of LGUs engaging in housing and urban development and to ensure that LGUs would partner with our private sector stakeholders.
At the same time, I have challenged local chief executives to be more creative in addressing the needs of their low-salaried employees and constituents, specifically by tapping lands in their towns for housing projects. We are in the process of creating a lending window for LGUs that will fast-track the processing of loan applications of developers and home buyers.

Indeed the recurring problem of distant, off-city resettlement is something that we need to address. I have directed a re-assessment of government’s existing resettlement directions and practices in the hope that we can come up with an adequate and sound approach to reducing poverty and a more humane way to handle informal settlers. The results of this reassessment, as well as a new policy direction principally premised on in-city/near-city resettlements and an enhanced distant, off-city alternatives, will be discussed in a stakeholders forum that we will organize pretty soon. I will encourage Karaos, the urban poor groups, the NGOs and people’s organizations to participate in the forum so that relevant and responsive views can be considered in the formulation of a new policy direction.

I will look forward to more of Karaos’ insights and will rely on her continued support in calling civil society groups to partner with the public and private sectors for better housing and urban development programs.

—VICE PRESIDENT JEJOMAR BINAY
chair, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council

With Samsung, style comes to fore

By Raquel P. Gomez Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—There is a huge demand for more appealing consumer electronic products, such as notebooks. Consumers have lost their appetite for the usual thin box designs, and are looking for notebooks that feature industry-grade materials such as aluminum casing, pretty, colorful designs, and high quality work, even if the devices cost a tidy sum. Samsung addressed this demand when it introduced notebooks that rate high on both form and function. Samsung’s new pretty and elegant notebooks feature Intel’s latest Core i3 and Core i5 processors with Turbo Boost technology, discrete graphics of 512 MB to 1 GB capacity, and battery life that lasts up to 11 hours. The new notebooks—the 13.3-inch display Q330, 14-inch QX410, 14-inch SF410 and NF310 netbook—are intended for the upper mid-range to high-end market. The notebooks feature classy designs incorporating high-end metal finishes and eye-magnet appeal and colors. The QX410 has a silver metal chassis with a minimalist look. Its keyboard area has a metal feel to it that looks super neat. It has floating island keys, bar type grille speakers, oval-shaped tiny hardware buttons, and sub-dented multi-touch pad. Its LED HD screen appears borderless, with a wide panel gloss glass that runs from edge to edge. The slim 13.3-inch display R440 shares the same looks and appeal of the QX410, but on a smaller scale. Samsung’s innovative design called the “Shark” is evident on the 14-inch SF410 and NF310 netbook. These notebooks feature glossy sloping white and black finishes with protruding keyboard sides. When half opened, both notebooks look like the jaws of a shark. Samsung officials are confident that, even though the new notebooks do not come cheap, the products will be warmly received by consumers. According to Eric Sulit, head of IT Business for Samsung, the sale of the R480 notebooks has been positive. More dealers are now prominently displaying the Samsung notebooks in their stores, he said. Also, one advantage Samsung has over other notebook brands is its lower rate of return for repairs, said Bong Wan Kim, Samsung’s vice president for Information Technology. He said Samsung doesn’t outsource manufacturing of the notebooks to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) since the company has a dedicated manufacturing arm, which makes all Samsung devices. “Consumers are assured of the quality of Samsung products because we make most of the components,” Kim said. “We even supply other OEMs with Samsung electronic parts.” With a suggested retail price of P59,900, the QX410 features Intel Core i5 processor (2.66 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost and 3MB Cache), 4 GB DDR3 memory, 500 GB storage, Bluetooth 3.0, and 1 GB nVIDIA GeForce graphics card. For P51,900, a user may purchase the SF410, which features Intel Core i5 processor (2.5 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost, and 3 MB Cache), 4 GB DDR3 memory, 500 GB storage, Bluetooth 3.0, and 1 GB nVIDIA GeForce graphics card. Retailing at P44,900, the Q330 features Intel Core i5 processor (2.40 GHz and 3 MB Cache), 4 GB DDR3 memory, 500 GB storage, Bluetooth 3.0, and 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card. The NF310 netbook, which has a price tag of P25,900, features the Intel Atom Dual Core processor N550 (1.5 GHz, 1 MB cache, and 667 FSB), 2 GB DDR3 memory, 320 GB storage, 10.1 LED HD display, Bluetooth 3.0, and up to 11 hours of battery life. When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.