Category Archives: COUNTRIES

Hong Kong: My First International Trip

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1989 was a landmark year for me and my wife Grace as we departed on our first overseas vacation, notably to the British colony of Hong Kong.  We weren’t traveling alone as we were joining Grace’s  E. Ganzon, Inc. office mates as well as their boss, Engr. Eulalio “Loi” Ganzon on a 3-day tour.  We all departed on Manila on board Philippine Airlines Flight PR-0300 and arrived at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak International Airport after a 1.5-hr. flight.

On board our PAL flight to Hong Kong

On board our PAL flight to Hong Kong

From the airport, we were all transported in a bus to our hotel located at Hong Kong’s Harbor City area – Omni Prince Hotel.  This hotel, overlooking Kowloon Park, is just a 20-min. drive from the airport.  Here, we stayed at some of the hotel’s 401 contemporary rooms  and suites.  Our visit to this British Crown colony was to last three days.

Check out “Hotel and Inn Review: Omni Prince Hotel“

 

The author at Omni Prince Hotel

The author at Omni Prince Hotel

Omni Prince Hotel: Harbor City, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Tel: 3-7361888.

Puerto Azul Golf and Country Club (Ternate, Cavite)

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From the  Palace in the Sky in Tagaytay City, we next motored, via the Naic-Indang Rd., to the town of Ternate where we  visited the 1,024-hectare Puerto Azul Golf & Country Club.  This 5-star resort, carved out of heavily forested valleys and towering mountains, was developed during the 1970s Marcos era.

Check out “Palace in the Sky“

We first made a stopover at Paniman Beach along Paniman Bay, one of the resort’s 4 gray sand beaches (the others are Caysubic, Cayokno and Palicpican).  During its earlier days, this beach used to be covered with white sand said to have been brought over from Boracay, then unknown to the Filipinos.  The white sand is now gone, washed away by the tides.

Mel and Grace at one of Puerto Azul’s beaches

From the beach, we next negotiated a steep road to get to its lookout which has a view of the resort’s 100-hectare golf course, a private club open only to hotel guests.  One of the country’s most scenic courses, the golf here is surpassed only by views of Palicpican Beach.  Designed by world-renowned golfer Gary Player and Ron Kirby, this 18-hole, 6,556-yard, par 72 (adjustable to 71 for big events like the Philippine Open) golf course has a front 9 with rugged terrain punctuated with mountains, pristine rivers and streams while the back nine is close to the sea.

The scenic golf course

The course takes you through jungle, up and over mountains and finishes up on the beach.  An elevator takes you from the 6th green up to the 7th tee.  The last two tee shots on the back nine are probably the most dramatic. The par 3 17th Hole, the courses’ signature hole, is protected on its left by one of the deepest water hazards in Philippine golf – the South China Sea.  The 18th hole is across the beach.  Facilities include the nine-hole par-36 Camandag Executive Links, a driving range, tee house, clubhouse, restaurant, bars, locker and shower rooms swimming pool, sauna and massage.

L-R, Alex, Mel, Grace, Jandy and the author at the lookout

We can also see some of the 17 3 to 4-storey cluster buildings which houses 325 airconditioned rooms.  The resort is also home to restaurants, coffee shops, bars, 2 swimming pools, 300-pax ballrooms, 8 60-pax function rooms, business center, jacuzzi, sauna, 6 outdoor and 3 indoor tennis courts, 6-lane bowling center, volleyball/basketball court, two squash courts and 2 nature trails.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

Though still open, this resort, once dubbed as “Asia’s Paradise Resort” and the “World’s Golfing Capital,” seems to have been abandoned, reportedly due to lack of financial resources to maintain the site.  The hotel and cottages are worn out, the beach is dirty and only South Korean nationals use the not so well-maintained golf course.  However, Boulevard Holdings, the owner and operator of the site, plans to renovate the existing hotel and build an 8-room boutique hotel and 150-room grand convention hotel.

Puerto Azul Golf and Country Club: Brgy. Sapang,  Ternate, Cavite.  Tel:  524-0026 to 27.  Manila sales office: Tel: 844-8541.

Palace in the Sky (Tagaytay City, Cavite)

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Come Holy Thursday, Grace, then 2.5-year old Jandy and I, plus our E. Ganzon, Inc. friends Alex D. Guda and Mel Miranda decided to go  on a day tour to the controversial, half-finished Palace in the Sky.   Located 8 kms. east of the Tagaytay City rotunda, on the 710-m. high Mt. Gonzales  (or Mt. Sungay), the former “Palace” was a multi-million exercise in extravagance started in 1981 by the late former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos for the 1983 state visit of then U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan.  The state visit unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) never pushed through after the August 21, 1983 assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr..  Marcos was deposed by the People Power Revolution of February 1986 and it was left unfinished and abandoned. 

Palace in the Sky

Upon our arrival, Alex, Grace, Jandy and I hiked along the asphalt road going all the way to the top but Mel took the more easygoing horseback ride. Even in its unfinished state, it was quite “palatial,” a true symbol of greed and indifference.  Also called the “Malacanang of Tagaytay” and “Bahay ni Imelda,” the pyramid-shaped villa had a huge kidney-shaped swimming pool and a tall radio antenna.

Hiking our way up the asphalt road

There was no one about, it being a holiday, but inside the palace were signs of new construction going on.  I even noticed, and was baffled, by a blueprint plan for a “torture chamber.”  A mystery indeed!  From the view deck we experienced the sweet, fresh and invigorating air of the city and admired the marvelous 360 degree view of 4 bodies of water (Taal Lake, Laguna de Bay, Balayan Bay and Manila Bay) and landward views of Metro Manila, Batangas, Rizal, Cavite, Quezon and even Mindoro, a spectacle initially meant for a chosen few.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

Nine month after our visit, the “Palace” hugged some of headlines when rebel soldiers took over the villa’s radio antenna during the failed December coup de etat.  In 1990, the mystery of the “torture chamber” was unveiled when the movie Delta Force 2:  The Columbian Connection, starring Chuck Norris, as a U.S. commando leader, and Billy Drago, as a Colombian drug lord, was shown in local cinemas.  The “Palace” turned out to be the drug lord’s seemingly impenetrable mansion and the “torture chamber,” his private viewing gallery where U.S. DEA agents were smothered to death by poison gas.  Some mystery!

On January 14, 1996, the “Palace” was ordered rehabilitated and refurbished into a 4,516-hectare resort by then Pres. Fidel V. Ramos.  Since then, it has been democratically renamed as the People’s Park in the Sky and is now enjoyed by poor and ordinary citizens.  Today, it has a lower ground restaurant, bar, 200-person open-air amphitheater (where free cultural and musical shows are held, Saturday and Sundays), view deck, native picnic huts and tables, wishing well (toss a coin and make a wish), fishing lagoon (the former swimming pool), art gallery, a grotto with 25-foot statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Fair Love, 150-person second floor seminar room (Centennial Room), second floor museum, lower ground tourism office, souvenir shops and a giant replica of the pineapple.

Today, the park has again fallen into neglect.  The fishing lagoon is now filled up into a garden, graffiti is everywhere and the premises are dirty.  Only the views remain spectacular.

People’s Park in the Sky: Brgy. Dapdap West and Dapdap East, Tagaytay City, Cavite.  Admission: PhP15.

AERA Memorial Museum (Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort, San Pablo, Laguna)

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Part of day tour package of Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort included admission to the resort’s AERA Memorial Museum which houses the priceless collections of Arsenio and Rosario (nee Adap) Escudero.  Begun on June 29, 1923, it is run by the AERA (acronym of the founders’ names) Memorial Foundation.  It is housed in an exact replica of the beautiful San Francisco Church of Intramuros.  The original church was destroyed by heavy American artillery bombardment on February 3, 1945 during the liberation of Manila and the site is now occupied by Mapua Institute of Technology. 

The pink-colored  building took 10 years to build on a massive 7-ft. thick concrete foundation and has a high 200-sq. ft. ceiling with trompe l’ oeil paintings by Benny Cabezada.  Attached to the ceiling are ten chandeliers copied from an Arte Espanol original.  Its display arrangement was said to have taken 3 years to complete.  Ninety percent of the display is family-owned while the rest were donated or acquired by the foundation.

AERA Memorial Museum

The museum’s collection of religious art is its main attraction.   A wooden bas-relief of the Nuestra Senora de Augustia, donated by my late uncle and National Artist, Arch. Leandro V. Locsin, is located by the massive  ornate door made in 1768.  By the way, cameras and videocams are not allowed.   A kamagongSto. Entierro (glass bier of the Dead Christ, circa 1856) carriage fashioned by noted sculptor, Isabelo Tampingco, was formerly from the Sta. Cruz Church of Manila.  It is adorned with 24 batikuling (a local aromatic softwood) cherubs and was donated by Dona Maria Luisa Quiogue (of the funeral parlor chain).

Other displays include an ivory-headed statue of Virgen Dolorosa from a church in Marinduque, a Pieta by Ireneo Cristobal, rows of ivory-headed santos, a granite Chinese fu dog guarding the staircase, an ornate wrought iron pulpit (raised platform used by a preacher) on the right side of the nave, silver sanctuary lamps, statues of Christ with the Cross on his Second Fall, a statue of Christ embracing a molave Cross, silver main altar acquired from Quiapo parish in the 1960s and a massive retablo (altar backdrop) from Agno (Pangasinan).
       
Its non-religious collection includes a couple of 1,400-year old and 1.5-ft. high Chinese Tsu-Chao jars, 12th and 13th century celadon pottery, tear vials of early Roman aristocrats, gilded carrozas (Spanish carriages), life-size dioramas of ethnic tribes in authentic costumes, ethnic artifacts and clothing, antique furniture, paintings, a numismatic display of obsolete coins and money, U.S. astronaut suits, a Philippine and African beetle collection and an extensive freshwater, terrestrial and marine shell collection (including the rare “Golden Cowrie”). 
       
Next to it are a dioramas of stuffed rare and some already extinct Philippine fauna. The only foreign stuffed animal is a big leopard shot during the 1923 Manila Carnival for attacking and killing a dancer.  It was later bought by the Escuderos and mounted.   A properly identified 22,000-piece butterfly collection is at the ground floor gallery.  A walk through our country’s political history is revealed in the display of inaugural suits and gowns of all the past twelve Philippine presidents and their First Ladies, from Emilio Aguinaldo to Corazon Aquino.  There are also costumes of former beauty queens.  Outside are World War II weapons and relics including tanks and cannons.
       
For me, the most unusual (and grotesque) item in the collection is an amazingly preserved, fist-size shrunken head from the Upper Amazon River Indians of Ecuador.  A trophy of war and bravery, it was acquired from a Swedish collector.  Another unusual item is a pen-and-ink portrait of Christ which was donated by an American couple in 1970 and surrounded by cherubs.  I took a closer look with a magnifying glass and it revealed an actual text of the New Testament, from the first word to the last.  

Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort: San Pablo City, Laguna.  Manila booking office: 1059 Estrada St., Malate, Manila.  Tel: (632) 521-0830, 523-0392 and 523-2944. Website: www.villaescudero.com. 

Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort (San Pablo City, Quezon)

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It was time for our annual R.R. Payumo & Partners office outing and management decided on a  day tour of Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort, an exotic 450-hectare Class “AA” resort opened in 1981.  A favorite destination among local and foreign tourists, it is situated within a vast 800-hectare (2,000-acre), self-contained working coconut plantation that encompasses San Pablo City (where most of its land belongs) in Laguna and the towns of Dolores and Tiaong in Quezon.  A total of 18 office staff joined (Annie Guevara, Vangie Vargas, Nelson Valdez, Toots Gomez, Eric Tinio, Mario de Padua, Ading Aquino, Mario Nabor, among others).

Arrival at the resort

Our trip, via a chartered bus, took all of 2.5 hrs. via the South Expressway and the highway to Lucena City.  About 10 kms. (6.2 miles) south of San Pablo City, we entered the Laguna-Quezon (Tiaong) border arch and, a few hundred past the arch, on the left, is the entrance to the resort. Upon arrival, we were welcomed at the reception hall with a warm greeting and cool native sago or fruit drinks.

Our carabao cart ride

After our welcome, we were uniquely toured around the park-like setting of the resort via a large, festively-decorated and carabao-pulled cart (aptly named Macho).  Along the way, local female folk singers serenaded us with Filipino songs to the accompaniment of a male guitarist.  All are appropriately dressed in native costumes: the women in baro’t saya or kimona and the men in camisa de chino and colorful trousers. Truly a laid-back and unique countryside experience in a serene pastoral atmosphere.

Labasin Hydroelectric Dam

Later, we had a delicious native-style buffet lunch beside the man-made  Labasin Waterfalls, actually the spillway of the Labasin hydroelectric dam. We all sat at rows of shaded wood and bamboo dining tables with 8 inches of running spring waters swirling around the calves of our bare feet, a truly singular and memorable experience as we dined al fresco with the falls as a backdrop.  The Labasin dam also created a long, narrow and deep artificial lake or reservoir from the waters of the Lagnas River.  Filled with dalag (mudfish) and tilapia, fishing is offered here but we opted to avail  of the relaxing bamboo raft ride at this lake which was included in the day tour.

Frolicking at Labasin Falls

Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort: San Pablo City, Laguna.  Manila booking office: 1059 Estrada St., Malate, Manila.  Tel: (632) 521-0830, 523-0392 and 523-2944.  Website: www.villaescudero.com.

Burnham Park (Baguio City, Benguet)

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The next day, after breakfast at the hotel, Grace and I took the jeepney to Burnham Park.  It being our last day in the city, we didn’t want to leave without having visited the park. This centrally located and thickly-wooded park, named after Daniel H. Burnham, the American architect and urban planner who planned Baguio, is the city’s foremost and oldest park which forms the heart of the city.   

Burnham Park

Grace and I particularly liked its focal point, the romantic, photogenic and man-made Burnham Lake.  The lake was formerly a natural spring which drained northward to the foot of Session Rd. to join with the Balili River in La Trinidad.  Grace, a lover of flowers, also visited the orchidarium with its various flowers and orchids on display and for sale.  Also within the park are restaurants, a children’s playground, flower-punctuated walks, parade ground, and sports and recreational facilities (skating, biking, football, etc.).

Grace at Burnham Lake
Burnham Park: Baguio City, Benguet

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Atonement (Baguio City, Benguet)

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The next day, Grace was feeling better after the previous day’s morning sickness, so we decided to do some sightseeing at the city proper by dropping at the hilltop, twin-towered Cathedral of Our Lady of Atonement, more commonly known among tourists and locals alike as the Baguio Cathedral.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Atonement

The cathedral has an attractive pink facade with a rose window and twin square bell towers with pyramidal roofs.  Its grounds contain the graves of bombing victims killed during World War II. This cathedral was built by the CICM missionaries and was first opened to the public on November 25, 1900 (Feast of Christ the King).  

Cathedral of Our Lady of Atonement: Assumption Road,  Baguio City, Benguet.  Tel: (074) 442-4256.

How to Get There: Access is near the post office, the 100 stone steps from Session Road or from St. Louis University.  

Fort San Pedro (Cebu City, Cebu)

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After our visit to Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino and Magellan’s Cross, Grace and I returned to our van.  We were next transported to Fort San Pedro, the oldest fort in the country.  Started on May 8, 1565, this 2,025-sq. m. triangular Spanish fort, situated between the port and Plaza Independencia, was named after Legaspi’s flagship.  The current structure, completed in 1738, has 3 bastions: San Miguel, San Ignacio de Loyola and La Concepcion with stone walls 2.5 m. thick and 6 m. high and towers 10 m. high.  The fort’s original buildings include the Cuerpo de Guardia (troop’s quarters), the largest building and the Viviendo del Teniente (living quarters of the fort’s lieutenant).

Fort San Pedro     
The fort, under the care and administration of the Philippine Tourism Authority, was also an American military barrack, (Warwick Barracks), a schoolhouse during the Commonwealth period, a Japanese POW camp during World War II, a hospital during the liberation, a Philippine Army camp in 1946 and a Lamplighter (a religious sect) mini-zoo in 1957. The fort, including its towers and roof observatory, was restored in 1968 and its inner court (turned into a miniature garden by the Cebu Garden Club after 1950) now has an open-air theater, a cafe in a walled garden and a museum.
 
Fort San Pedro: Plaza Independencia, Gen. D. MacArthur Blvd., Cebu City 6000, Cebu.

Magellan’s Cross (Cebu City, Cebu)

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From the Basilica del Sto. Nino, Grace and I walked over to the nearby octagonal kiosk of wood, adobe and red brick tiles, built in 1845, that houses Magellan’s Cross in the center.  Inside this kiosk are the remains of the original cross which was encased in hollow, black tindalo wood to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross, believing that it possesses miraculous powers.  
 
Grace besides Magellan’s Cross

However, some people believe that the original cross had been destroyed or disappeared after Ferdinand Magellan’s death in Mactan and that the cross we saw there was a replica planted there by  the Spaniards after the successful colonization of the country.

Ceiling paintings at the kiosk

At the kiosk’s ceiling are paintings depicting the events of Magellan’s visit – the baptism of Rajah Humabon and 800 of his followers by Fr. Pedro Valderrama and the first Catholic mass in Cebu.

Magellan’s Cross: Plaza Sta. Cruz,  Magallanes St., Cebu City 6000, Cebu

Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino (Cebu City, Cebu)

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From the Great Taoist Temple, Grace and I returned to our van which then proceeded, down the hill, to the city proper where we made a stopover at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino.  Formerly the San Agustin Church, this church was built by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Fr. Andres de Urdaneta to house the 30-cm. high image of the Sto. Niño, the statue given by Ferdinand Magellan to Rajah Humabon’s wife and recovered unscathed in a pinewood box by Juan Camus on April 27, 1565.  The image is enshrined in a small chapel to the left of the altar.  

The Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino

The first church, built with wood and nipa by Fr. Diego de Herrera, was destroyed by fire on November 1, 1566.  The second, a stone replacement built by Fr. Pedro Torres from 1605 to 1606, was also burned on March 1628.  It was rebuilt soon after, with stone and bricks, by Fr. Juan de Medina but was demolished in 1731 by Fr.  Jose Bosqued.  

The present stone structure was foundation was started on February 29, 1735 by Fr. Diego Bergano, Gov.-Gen. Fernando Valdez, Bishop Manuel Antonio Decio y Ocampo, continued  by Fr. Antonio Lopez and Fr. Francisco Aballe and was completed in 1740 by Fr. Juan de Albarran.   It was restored and reinforced in 1782 and slightly restored in 1889 by Fr. Mateo Diez who added the windows.  Both church and convent were restored in 1965 on occasion of the fourth centennial of the Christianization of the country.  The side retablos, the old organ and some portions of the monastery were removed.   On April 28, 1965, the 400th year of Cebu’s Christianization, it was conferred the title of Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño by Hildebrando Cardinal Antoniutti, papal legate of Pope Paul VI.  It is now a National Landmark.

The church has an imposing, solid facade blending Muslim, Romanesque and Neo-Classical features.  It is divided into 2 levels with shallow pilasters dividing each storey into 3 segments.  The graceful Muslim-inspired trefoil arched main entrance is flanked by shallow, rectangular, statued niches, above which are the semicircular arched windows of the second level.  It is crowned by a double-edged triangular pediment.  The Baroque-style bell tower has 2 alternatingly shaped blind and open windows ending up in triangular pinnacles with a circular disc.  It is crowned by balusters and a Muslim-influenced dome.  The convent, finished in 1769, is located on the opposite far end.

Inside the basilica is a painted ceiling, finely carved retablo and choir screen.  In the baptistery is the image of Our Lady of the Fort (Nuestra Señora de la Cotta) which was recovered in the vicinity of the church while Fort San Pedro was being built in 1565.  It is believed to be the one given by Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan’s chronicler, to Queen Juana on the day of her baptism.  Among the treasures of the basilica is a wooden bust of Christ known as Ecce Homo, believed exhumed from a spot near the church on August 20, 1572 by a Spanish soldier digging the foundations of his house.  The image was in a coffin containing the remains of an imminent person identified as Raxa Carli which may have been a latinization of Rajah Carlos as Rajah Humabon had been christened.  It is conjectured that the bust was presented by Magellan to Humabon on his baptism and was buried with him when the rajah died.   
 
Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino: Osmena Blvd., Cebu City 6000, Cebu.  Tel: (032) 255-6699.