Category Archives: SPECIAL TOPICS

Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption (Maasin City, Southern Leyte)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

From Hilongos, Maasin City was just a further 37 kms.away, past the towns of Bato and Matalom. Doods and I finally reached city by 12:30 PM and Doods conveniently parked the car in front of the city’s Spanish-era Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption.  This church was started in 1771 by Jesuit Fr. Serapio Gonzalez, continued by Fr. Jose Paco from 1839 to 1852, destroyed by fire in 1884 and later rebuilt.  In 1968, the church was made into a cathedral and, in 1993, the cathedral was made a National Shrine by the National Historical Institute.

 Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption

Its simple, sparsely-decorated Early Renaissance façade has a semicircular arched main entrance flanked by narrow paired columns, a pediment with a centrally located a statued niche flanked by square windows and topped by a circular window.  On its right is a tall and slender 3-storey bell tower and surrounding the church is a fortification with quadrilateral bulwarks at the corners. Part of the fortification has been demolished to give way to a school. A bulwark on the western side of the site has the inscription “San Carlos Año de 1781.” Inside the cathedral are Spanish-era images and santos found in its altar and ceiling.

The cathedral’s interior

Peak Tram (Hong Kong)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Upon arrival at the Lower Peak Tram Terminus, we bought our tickets for the Peak Tram, a 1.352 km. funicular ride through upper Hong Kong that will take us  up to around 396 m. up the 522-m. high Victoria Peak, the highest peak in Hong Kong.

Lower Peak Tram Terminus

Opened in May 1888  for the exclusive use of the British Governor and Victoria Peak residents (the first mechanical public transport in Hong Kong), this historic service remains, to this day, the steepest funicular railway in the world.  The trams were originally steam-driven.  In 1926, an electric cable haulage system was introduced and the current modernized enclosed, 2-car trams were introduced in 1989, using a 1520 mm. rail gauge.  Until the 1960s, there were 2 classes of tickets, one for the rich and the other for servants.

On Board the Peak Tram

The Peak Tram operates from 7 AM to midnight, departing within 10 to 15-min. intervals. The journey, from lower terminus to upper terminus, up the peak took us only 7 to 8 mins. but, during that short time, we were offered, as the tram ascended, an unfolding canvas of stunning views over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Victoria Harbor.

Cityscape View From the Peak Tram

Each red tram has a capacity of 120 people (95 seated and 25 standing). There were immediate stations at Cotton Tree Drive Terminal, Kennedy Rd., MacDonnell Rd., May Rd. and Barker Rd. though, at busy times, it may not be possible to board as the trams may be full.

Peak Tower Terminus

We arrived at the upper terminus at the distinctive, ultra-modern, 7-storey Peak Tower by 12:30 PM.  The tower’s wok-shaped upper storey looks not unlike a Japanese Shinto Gate.  The tower was designed by architect Zaha Hadid and was completed on August 29, 1972. The current tower, designed by renowned British architect Terry Farrell, was officially reopened to the public on May 1997.

Peak Tower

Upon arrival, we first had our lunch at the tower’s Burger King outlet. After lunch, we proceeded to its view platform where we had a stunning cityscape view of Hong Kong’s skyline.  With over 7000 skyscrapers built in past 2 decades, it is the world biggest, larger than New York City and, many say, the most beautiful in the world.  Also best appreciated at night, when the neon lights of Hong Kong’s giant skyscrapers are most majestic, it remains one of the greatest man-made views on Earth.

Hong Kong’s Magnificent Skyline

The tower’s retail and entertainment complex features a number of top attractions, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium (2nd and 3rd floor), the Peak Explorer Motion Simulator (4th floor) and Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks Museum. Though we didn’t enter the wax museum, we still had a blast posing beside the available wax images of late martial arts start Bruce Lee and actress Cecilia Cheung.

Bruce Lee in Wax at Madame Tussaud’s

The tower also boasts of shopping arcades, 6 snack bars and cafes and 4 fine-dining restaurants including Hong Kong’s highest restaurant, Mövenpick Marche. After 1.5 hrs. on the tower, we decided it was time to leave for our next destination – Ocean Park, this time taking the taxi.

Peak Tram Lower Terminus: 33 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong. Tel: (852) 2522 0922. Fax: (852) 2849 6237. Website: www.thepeak.com.hk. Email : info@thepeak.com.hk. Fares: Adults (HK$28 single, HK$40 return), Child (HK$11 single, HK$18 return), Senior (65 and over, HK$11 single, HK$18 return).

Enroute to the Peak Tram (Hong Kong)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

After our breakfast at a MacDonald’s outlet along Nathan Rd., we all returned to our hotel and prepared for our day’s main activities – the Peak Tram in the morning and Ocean Park in the afternoon. We planned to all go the former via the very efficient Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system.  From the hotel, we all walked all the way, from Kimberley Rd. to Nathan Rd. and, from there, to the nearby Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station.  Here, we took the MTR to Central MTR Station.

Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station

Upon our arrival at Central, we made our way to the J2 Exit and walked up to the ground level. It was a pleasant walk from Central to the Peak Tram Lower Terminus. Turning right, through Chater Garden (a gathering place for many of our Filipino kababayans), we crossed Queen’s Road Central and made our way up Garden Road. Along the way, we passed a few famous Hong Kong landmarks such as the Bank of China Tower and Citibank Plaza on our left and St John’s Cathedral on our right.

Central MTR Station

The cross-shaped, Early English and Decorated-Gothic styled St. John’s Cathedral (or the Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist), a declared monument since January 5, 1996.  Located along Garden Road, it is the oldest surviving Western ecclesiastical building in Hong Kong and is believed to be the oldest Anglican church in the Far East.  It was built in 1849 and houses 3 beautiful stained glass windows, as well as a collection of British military colors, standards and guidons. An eastern extension was added in 1873.  During the Japanese occupation, the cathedral was used as a social club for the Japanese community.  It suffered heavy damage during the war and most of the present interior and furnishings are post-war.

St. John's Cathedral

Next to the cathedral, along Battery Path, is the Former French Mission Building, built by Sir Henry Pottinger, the first governor of Hong Kong. This granite and red brick structure, completed between 1842 and 1843, is one of Hong Kong’s oldest surviving colonial buildings. Acquired by the French Mission in 1915, it was extensively rebuilt in 1917 and was finally sold back to the Hong Kong Government in 1953. Reputedly the location of the colony’s first government house, it has green shutters, black wrought-iron details and a chapel on the northwest corner, topped by a cupola, added by French Catholic missionaries. Today, this Neo-Classical styled building is used as the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and was declared as a declared monument on September 14, 1989.

Former French Mission Building

Built in 1950, the 17-storey Old Bank of China Building, Hong Kong Building was, for some time, one of the masterpieces of Hong Kong architecture. Contemporary in style, it was completed only a year after the Communist Party came to power in China. The new party endeavored to make it one of the grandest buildings in Hong Kong and, at one point, it towered more than 20 feet over the neighboring Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building (HSBC), which was their goal.

Old Bank of China Building (left) beside the newer HSBC Building

No longer home to the Bank of China, the attractive building is – ironically – now one of the shortest in Hong Kong’s Central District, was replaced in the 1990s by I.M Pei’s stunning Bank of China Tower. However, during its heyday, the old building served not only as bank headquarters but also as a way to encourage Hong Kong citizens to disregard their colonial rulers and pledge allegiance to China. It is said that during the 1960s, loud speakers were placed on the exterior of the building to broadcast “patriotic” messages to locals.

Bank of China Building

The Old Bank of China was designed by P & T Architects and Engineers Ltd., established in 1868. Also known as Palmer and Turner, the group has, throughout the decades, designed a number of other well-known Hong Kong landmarks, including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (Bank of China’s rival) and a number of other office buildings, hotels, and condominiums worldwide.

Clock Tower, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Hong Kong Museum of Art and Hong Kong Space Museum (Hong Kong)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

From Kowloon Park, Jandy, Cheska and I walked along Canton Road until we reached the red brick and granite, 45-m. high Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower, located near Victoria Harbor at the foot of Salisbury Road.  Topped by a 7-m. high lightning rod, it is the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon Station on the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Built in 1915, it marks the start of the scenic Waterfront Promenade and remains as a photogenic monument to Tsim Sha Tsui’s rail heritage. The tower can be reached by a wooden staircase located within. Another landmark, the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier, is located nearby.

Clock Tower

The Clock Tower reused the clock from the now demolished Pedder Street Clock Tower. However, only one side had a clock, and it was not until 1920 that the remaining three sides of the Clock Tower were installed. They began operation in the afternoon of March 22, 1921, and have run ever since except during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II.  In 1975, the Kowloon Station was moved to the present-day Hung Hom Station, on the newly reclaimed Hung Hom Bay. The old building of the station was demolished in 1977 but the Clock Tower was preserved. Since July 13, 1990, the tower has been listed as a declared monument in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Cultural Center

Today, the site of the historic railway station is now occupied by the multipurpose Hong Kong Cultural Center, its curving roof and futuristic features creating an unusual background to the Clock Tower. Home to the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the center has an oval, 2-tiered 2,019-seat Concert Hall with adjustable acoustic canopy and curtains and finished with high-quality oak.  It also houses an 8,000-pipe pipe organ (Asia’s largest, built by the Austrian firm Rieger Orgelbau), a 1,734-seat, 3-tiered Grand Theater for large scale opera, ballet and musicals,  a 300-496-seat Studio Theater for smaller-scale theater and performance works, an  Exhibition Gallery, 4 foyer exhibition areas and 11 rehearsal and practice rooms.

Hong Kong Museum of Art

Flanking the Hong Kong Cultural Center are the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art.  The Hong Kong Museum of Art, a museum for Chinese cultural heritage, and local and international art in Hong Kong, houses 14,000 art objects, mainly Chinese paintings of historical significance, sculpture and calligraphy works and antique Chinese treasures.  The museum also presents a great variety of thematic exhibitions drawn from local and overseas sources. It was first established in the City Hall in 1962 and moved to the present premises in 1991.

Hong Kong Space Museum

The 80,000-sq. m., dome-shaped Hong Kong Space Museum, built in 1980, has 3 sections: the Hall of Space Science, the Hall of Astronomy, and one of the world’s largest and most technical planetariums, the Space Theater, where thrilling wide-screen Omnimax and Skyshows are presented.

How to Get There: From MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit E, walk towards Salisbury Road, turn right, take pedestrian next to YMCA to Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Then turn right and walk straight ahead towards the waterfront.  Take Star Ferry from Central or Wan Chai and follow the signs. The Clock Tower is located next to the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier.

The Pugutan (Gasan, Marinduque)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

After our Nagtangco Island hopping tour, we returned to our resort, had dinner and then left again for the next town of Gasan to watch the Pugutan, the re-enactment of the beheading of the Roman centurion Longinus, which was held at an open-air stage.


The past days, the physically draining habulan (chase) was re-enacted wherein Longinus merrily races through rice fields and the streets, pursued by moriones, to the delight of onlookers.  Part of the play is a simulated fight between the escaping Longinus and the moriones.  He is captured three times, escapes each time and is eventually captured on the fourth try and brought before Pilate.  


The Pugutan we were watching is the continuation of this play.  Longinus is escorted up the open-air stage by a brass band  where he is presented to the people and subsequently tried.  The dialogue is in Tagalog.  As Longinus refuses to renounce his faith, he is ordered executed.  He is given the opportunity to say some last words and a prayer before his beheading (pugutan).  At his funeral, Longinus’ body is borne on a bamboo stretcher by moriones devotees.  

The Good Friday Parade of Carrozas (Torrijos and Boac, Marinduque)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

From Poctoy White Sand Beach, we again boarded our Tamaraw FX for our return trip back to Boac.  At Sta. Cruz town, our progress back to Boac was substantially delayed by a parade of carrozas (carriages) of saints, another Good Friday staple, gathering at the town’s Church of the Holy Cross (built in 1714, has 1.5 to 2-m. thick walls and was renovated except for its original tower) and was just getting underway.  

A Good Friday parade of carrozas at Sta. Cruz

Approaching Boac, we again encountered another parade of carrozas.  In both cases, instead of fretting, we just got down the Tamaraw FX and patiently watch the parade’s progress.  The parade at Boac was somewhat different than the other parades I’ve attended in the past as, aside from carrozas carrying statues of saints and the Sto. Entierro (bier of the dead Jesus Christ), it included a contingent of moriones (some riding Roman chariots).

Carroza bearing the Sto. Entierro
Chariot bearing 2 moriones

It was just about evening when the parade finally passed us by and we were able to proceed to our resort.

The Moriones of Marinduque

Posted on by — Leave a reply

At Boac Park, we had our first encounter with Marinduque’s signature Moriones Festival.  This religious melodrama, held here and in the nearby towns of Gasan and Mogpog, is the province’s main tourist attraction and  is based on the legend of the blind Roman centurion, Longinus.  Unusual for a Lenten festival, Longinus, not Jesus, is the focus of the week-long Moriones passion play. 

According to an often told legend, Longinus (or Longhino in Tagalog), who is blind in the left eye, was the Roman captain who pierced the heart of Jesus to ensure that He was already dead.  As he pierced the torso of the crucified Jesus with his spear, blood from the wound spurted into his blind left eye, miraculously curing his blindness.  While guarding Christ’s tomb, he also witnessed His resurrection.  From then on, he attained faith and goes around town spreading the news of Christ’s divinity and the testimony of the miraculous healing of his blindness.  The Roman authorities found his testimony seditious and ordered his immediate arrest.  Longinus is forced to flee but, after long searches, is captured not once, but thrice, escaping each time.  He is finally captured, for the fourth time, on Easter Sunday, brought before Pontius Pilate, tried and then executed by beheading. 

The passion play’s origin is uncertain.  Some say it originated from Mexico, being brought here in 1870 by Jesuit Mexican priest Fr. Pedro Santiago to dramatize the power of the Christian faith and to attract the rural population from the interior to participate and be converted to Christianity.  Mompog also   prides itself with being the origin of the Moriones Festival (as well as the Tubunganceremony).  However, the festival is also said to have originated from the town of Gen. Luna in Quezon, located 240 kilometers from Manila and 103.34 kilometers from Lucena City.  Even today, the town reenacts the Centurion at ang Bahay na Kubol during Holy Week with Lenten parades of senturyons and a reenactment of the 14 Stations of the Cross.   

The park was teeming withe the festival’s main characters, the moriones (the word morion relates to the centurion’s helmet, mask or visor).  They wear ingeniously outlandish, homemade Roman soldier costumes (close-fitting jackets, feathered helmets, thong sandals and capes).  The fantastic helmets are decorated with colored paper and tinsel flowers.  The colorful but grotesque masks are carved from a light native wood called dapdap and painted with faces that are neither good or kind-looking.  Longinus’ mask is the one with the blind left eye.  These “Roman” soldiers, mostly antipos (penitents atoning for sins or persons giving thanks for answered prayers, good harvest or cured illnesses) accompany Jesus on the way to his crucifixion.  Longinus is usually played by an old but nevertheless  strong man.
 
At the park, we gamely posed with a number of these moriones.  Other “Roman” soldiers were roaming the streets, beating indigenous kulatangs and chasing or scaring onlookers by thrusting their swords and spears, an act believed to drive away evil spirits.  They also play pranks on people, sing to the ladies or even engage in mock duels with their swords.  Some were riding Roman chariots.
 
Jandy takes a chariot ride

At the park gymnasium, Cheska, Jowel and Yor also joined a “Maskara Mo, Kulayan Mo!”mask painting contest.  Cheska was later informed, by text, that she was among the winners chosen.

Cheska and Jowel with their finished masks
 

A Unique Ivatan Feast (Batanes)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Back at the town proper, I was invited by Mayor Caballero to join Gov. Gato, Cong. Abad and his other esteemed guests in a true Ivatan feast at the municipal hall.  The Ivatan fare spread before us, though simple, was hearty, filling, ingenious and nutritious, using  ingredients that are rich and unusual. Its taste and texture distinguishes it from the country’s other regional cuisines.

Spiny lobster (payi)

The prepared fare consisted spiny lobster (locally called payi, here I got it at just PhP250/kilo), tasty steamed coconut crabs (tatus), flying fish (dibang, plentiful from January to June), Spanish mackerel (tanigi) and the local meatball dish called tabtab (called uvud in Mahatao).

Uved

Uved, a staple food in every Ivatan’s dining table, is a mixture of the minced or finely grated core of the banana stalk pith (the big rhizome), ground pork or beef, minced bits of deboned dibang or tanigi, sweet potatoes, ube, some pig’s blood and other rootcrops, seasoned with local herbs, garlic, onions salt and pepper, molded into small balls, steamed and then served with a salad of tomato, onions and seaweed. 

Yellow rice on kab”baya leaf

Instead of the usual white rice, we were served fragrant, delicious supas, very sticky cooked yellow rice colored and flavored with and extract of yellow ginger or turmeric (locally called nihaman). Instead of plates, we ate this unique fare on the green leaves of a local breadfruit tree called kab’baya. 

Florestida Estrella and the House of Dakay (Ivana, Batanes)

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Posing beside the House of Dakay

During my 1.5-hr. tour of Batan Island with my 2 guides Ms. Joy Gabaldon and Mr. Jose “Boging” Astudillo and Toyota Revo driver Mr. Luciano “Anong” de Guzman, we passed by many of the Ivatan’s small, quaint, squat and low but ingeniously designed and typhoon-resistant houses, liken to those in the Scottish Highlands or France’s Provencal region. Locally called sinandumparan, these squat, low, solid stone and lime cottages are found all over the province and nowhere else in the country, as the lowland bahay kubo simply could not survive the harsh Batanes environment.

Ivana

First built around 1795 by imported stonecutters, masons and carpenters from Cagayan, they have meter-thick lime and stone walls (sometimes with wood reinforcement for earthquake resistance), are built directly to the ground and are laid out on narrow, cobbled streets that follow the contour of the land.  They are cool during the warm season and warm in the cold months.  The gabled roofs have foot-thick cogon (which keeps the house cool in the hottest weather) tightly bound and woven together to make it water proof and fastened with reeds to sturdy wooden rafters.  The roof is held down by a panpet (a thick rope roof net) fastened to strong pegs on large, half-buried stones. The small, narrow door faces the east or northeast, away from the worst typhoon winds.  The tiny, square windows are located on three walls only.  The wall that doesn’t have it faces the direction of the strongest winds during typhoons.

Sinandumparan ceiling

We made one long stopover at one such house, the Vahay ni Dakay (House of Dakay).  The oldest sinandumparan in Batanes, it is included on the UNESCO Heritage Building list and expected for grading.  Now resided in by octogenarian Florestida Estrella, it was built in 1887 by Elena Estrella, cobbled together with corals washed from the shore and stones that are abundant in the coastal town of Ivana.  Elena later bequeathed it to her nephew Jose Dacay (Florestida’s grandfather).  This traditional house withstood the September 13, 1918 (one of only 5 houses that survived in Ivana) and the July 16, 2000 (magnitude 7) earthquakes.

Lola Ida

The friendly Florestida, fondly called Lola Ida, has an easy smile and weather-beaten face.  She was formerly only used to a quiet village existence. During the early years, her family moved the Visayas, returning to the area when she was 12.  She had stayed ever since, never marrying and many of her childhood friends have since died. Now, her tiny world has been opened to many foreign (including Australians and Canadians) and local tourists who give her donations and take her picture (she is the most photographed Ivatan in Batanes), making her the subject of many articles, postcards and promotional calendars. These same tourists also urge authorities to help preserve her house. Lola Ida keeps a blue logbook containing the names of visitors (mine now included) over the past years.  Like Lola Ida, the Ivatan’s tiny world may soon be open to tourism.  Let’s just hope it doesn’t destroy the very character that made it known in the first place.

The Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival (Tacloban City, Leyte)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

While Charlie was still recuperating from a bout of flu (and avoid catching it) at Sabin Resort in Ormoc City, I left, via van, for the 2-hr. trip for Tacloban City.  My timing was perfect as the city was holding its Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival, the biggest and most colorful festival in the Eastern Visayas Region.  Heldon June 29,  it features street pageantry of ethnic dancing to the rhythm of bamboo sticks and a contest focusing on the Leyteños’ old custom of tattooing that signifies courage and status in the community which earned for the Leyteños the name of pintados.

Instigated by former Leyte Gov. Remedios Loreto-Petilla, this cultural-religious festival was first held on May 12, 1996 and it was only in 1999 that it was fixed to June 29, the Feast of the Señor Sto. Niño de Leyte.   It showcases the rich cultural heritage of the Leytenos and Samarenos, incorporating indigenous music and dances.The Kasadya-an (Visayan word meaning “merriment and gaiety“) Festival, on the other hand, showcases the unique culture and colorful history of the province of Leyte.

Miss Pintados 2005 Leslie B. Montano

I was staying at my brother-in-law Manny’s house along Avenida Veteranos which happened to be along the route where the grand street dancing parade would pass, thus giving me a ringside view of the various congregations showcasing the various municipal festivals of Leyte and the neighboring Samar and Biliran provinces via a colorful and vibrant dance-drama parade.  The Alikaraw Festival contingent of Hilongos was adjudged as the street dance champion.  Other floats, including one carrying Ms. Leslie B. Montano (Miss Pintados 2005), joined the parade.  She was crowned just the night before at the city’s Human Resources and Development Center (HRDC).