More ultimate culinary and heritage tours from Ultimate Philippines!

We've got a great line-up of tours for Summer 2009! Aside from the usual Pampanga and Tagaytay culinary tours (better book now if you're interested since we get fully-booked really early), Ultimate Philippines is offering three single run ultimate culinary, heritage and beach tours this April and May.

Ultimate Culinary & Beach Tour of Zambales & Pangasinan
Frolick under the Philippine sun as we visit three of the best beaches along the western coast of North Luzon. We drive up to Zambales and take a boat to its best kept secrets: Anawangin Cove and Capones Island. At night, we will watch a classical concert at Casa San Miguel. Then we troop to Bolinao and visit its famous lighthouse and enjoy the sunset at Patar Beach. For our last day, We'll boat around the Hundred Islands and enjoy the white sands of Quezon Island.

The best part of the trip is savoring the culinary surprises and treasures of Zambales and Pangasinan. We will enjoy leisurely picnic beach lunch in Anawangin Cove, sunset dinner in Bolinao and barbecue lunch at the Hundred Islands.

Tour will last from Saturday, April 25, 4 a.m. to Monday, April 27, 7 p.m. The tour fee is PHP15,000 per person all inclusive of transportation, overnight accommodation at the best resort in Pundaquit (Punta de Uian), overnight accommodation at the best resort in Bolinao (Puerto del Sol), boat rides to the Hundred Islands, Anawangin Cove and Capones Islan, full board and all meals, plus many surprises.

Ultimate Culinary & Heritage Tour of Pagudpud & Vigan
In Ilocos, nature and history is intertwined but at Ultimate Philippines, we think this is combination best savored with bagnet and beer so we're exploring this provincial belle - our style. Let's journey onto the Northern plains and take a time-warp through the colonial city of Vigan. We'll walk through cobbles, munching our way through the town's traditional street fare, from yummy empanadas to tasty longganisas.. More historical bites as we take a peek at the life of ex-strongman Ferdinand Marcos in the town of Batac and admire two masterpieces of Ilocos' unique 'earthquake baroque' architecture- Paoay and Santa Maria Church. Capping off, we'll surf through the waves of Maira-ira beach in Pagudpud ending our journey in time to join the revelries of the annual fiesta in Vigan.

We leave on Thursday, April 30, 9 p.m. and will get back on Sunday, May 3, very late in the eveing or early morning. May 1 is a holiday so no need to take a leave. The tour fee is PHP15,000 per person all inclusive of bus transportation (one can opt to fly for additional fees), overnight accommodation at the best resort in Pagudpud (Kapuluan Vista Resort), overnight accommodation at the heart of the heritage town of Vigan (Vigan Plaza Hotel), full board and all meals, plus many surprises.

Ultimate Pahiyas and Culinary Tour of Laguna and Quezon
It's fiesta time in this month of May and what better way to drink, eat and be merry as we head south to explore charming Quezon province. It's the best time of the year as the as join in the revelry and celebrate feast of San Isidro de Labradorl! First off, to the town of Lucban and Pahiyas Festival where we'll feast our eyes over a smorgasbord of food, music, artistry and local color! Then on to the neighboring town of Sariaya to join the street celebrations of the Agawan Festival. Along the way, we'll follow the Viaje del Sol and discover the the quaint dining establishments, meet the personalities and immerse ourselves in true Tagalog hospitality!

The tour leaves on Thursday, May 14, 5:30 a.m. and returns on Friday, May 15, 10:30 p.m. The tour fee is PHP8,000 per person all inclusive of transportation, overnight accommodation at the best bed & breakfast place in San Pablo, Laguna (Casa San Pablo), full board and all meals, plus many surprises.

We can only accommodate a maximum of 20 people for Zambales/Pangasinan Tour and Ilocos Tour and 30 people for the Pahiyas Tour. So book now beacuse slots are filled-up really fast. For inquiries on itineraries, please email us at concierge@ultimatephilippines.com. For bookings, reserve your slots at reservations@ultimatephilippines.com.

To those asking about Batanes tour in May, sorry guys but it's fully-booked. We'll make an announcement as to when the next tour is.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are in Boracay?!

Rumor has it that celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are going to the new Shangri-La Resort in Boracay. And they'll be staying at one of the resort's priciest suites I was told! It also reached me that they chartered a SEAIR plane to get there. But friends from SEAIR aren't confirming the news. Again, it's unconfirmed but news from the grapevine is the couple chartered the plane using the name Frangelina, an Armenian princess or something.

Could Pitt and Jolie have entered the country undetected using the Dornier Do-24 ATT seaplane which can land straight in Boracay? Just a backgrounder, in February 2004, a restored and re-engined Do-24 ATT was used by a UNICEF mission to assist children in the Philippines. Upon completion of the work with UNICEF, it is now run as a special charter airliner by South East Asian Airlines. I wonder if they used that! If they did, such style, such substance! Can people in Boracay confirm if they are really there? Watch out for a couple in a large hat and dark shades!

But maybe not, since I got more news that Brangelina flew with at least eight bodyguards (three of them female), all dressed in beach attire! And that the conditions of the special charter flight was that the SEAIR crew should not mind the passengers. I want to go to Boracay! SEAIR take me there too!

Anyway, if it is true, the fact that the couple chose Boracay as their vacation destination this time around is reason enough to celebrate. That means the Philippines is slowly entering the mainstream global tourism market. We've been so left behind by all our neighbors, it's about time we take our rightful place with all the beautiful beaches, natural scenery and colorful heritage we have here! I do hope Brangelina have a nice time here in the Philippines and come back to see more.

Around Clark: El Kabayo & Puning Hot Spring

Who said Clark Freeport was all about leisure estates, duty free shopping and golf? Well, aside from eating, and eating, and eating, there's more to Clark than most people know. Today I got to try two recreational activities one can do while in Clark. And Andy Smith and Andi Manzano of Qtube were there to join me as I explored Clark.

One of those activities is horseback riding at El Kabayo Riding Stables. While you can take the horse around the area, if you are adventurous and up to the task, why not go for a ride down to the Sacobia River and enjoy the lahar canyons created by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption?

The trek can last for hours. But for those who love the outdoors, it's worth it. Well, we got to ride on the horses around Clark. But since we didn't have much time, we decided to save the Sacobia River for another day. I'm definitely coming back!

For the second activity, we moved to another side of Clark to board 4x4 vehicles that would take us to the Puning Hot Spring. It's in the ancestral domain of the Aetas so you'll get to meet a lot of them as you make your way to the hot spring. In fact, the employees of the Puning Hot Spring are mostly indigenous Aetas.

The ride is an attraction in itself, passing through lahar canyons and small streams in Sapang Bato. In fact, some canyons were so narrow, we were driving on the water. The ride from Station 1 to 3 was about 30 minutes, bumpy but exciting!

Station 1 is the Base Camp and has a garden restaurant. Station 2 is the spa and massage area. While Station 3 is the hot spring itself. As we neared Puning Hot Spring, we could feel the water of the stream warming up as we splashed our way through.

At the Puning Hot Spring, we got to go near the source which was a steaming hot waterfall. The water in the stream was close to 90 degrees Celsius. They divert some of the water into various pools with different temperatures ranging from 40 to 70 degrees Celsius. There are eight hot pools and one cold pool. So if one pool is too hot for you, you can take a dip in the next one.

The Puning package costs PHP3,000. And that includes buffet meals, the 4x4 ride from Garden Restaurant to the hot spring and back, entrance fees to the hot spring and use of the facilities, sand steam (that's where they bury you up to the neck under volcanic sand), body mud pack, and a foot massage.

Next up is eating, eating, and eating at C' Italian Dining and Azur.

El Kabayo Riding Stables
Gil Puyat Avenue cor. Panday Pira, Clark Freeport Zone
(045) 4990920, (02) 8523117

Puning Hot Spring
Sitio Target, Sapang Bato, Angeles City
(045) 4990629, (0920) 8664246 & (0919) 3392795
(0917) 5360618 - Korean

Part 2: Around Clark: C' Italian Dining and Azur Bistro & Bar

Manila: Visita iglesia to Makati City (Metro Manila) churches

Here's a visita iglesia closer to home. After our trip around Sta. Ana, I decided to visit various churches in Makati City. There are two heritage churches plus an old chapel which I heard was no longer used as a chapel. But many of the churches in Makati are very noteworthy. One of them is even designed by a National Artist.

The main town church of Makati is the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (Poblacion). The original retablo is there but we were shocked to see new embellishments which overpowered the simple charm of the church. some of these interior designers have this wrong notion that more gold and burloloy is wonderful. They should be given a lesson in Heritage Conservation 101.

Nearby is the Nuestra Senora de Gracia Church (Guadalupe Viejo). This was bombed during WWII and what is left of it is the facade. This used to be a huge church complex.

The Sanctuario de San Antonio (Forbes Park) was built by the Franciscans after their mother church in Intramuros was destroyed during WWII. Except for the Augustinians, most religious orders moved out and established their headquarters elsewhere. In the main altar is a war survivor, a statue of St. Anthony from the original San Francisco Church in Intramuros.

In Greenbelt is the Chapel of Sto. Nino de Paz, commonly called the Greenbelt Chapel. It floats in the middle of a pond, and is surrounded by green. Robinsons should have done that to the Jesuit Church in Padre Faura.

The Greenbelt Chapel was designed by Architect Willie Fernandez and later enhanced by Jess Dizon who rendered the circular pattern of the building. You will also notice works of renowned glass sculptor Ramon Orlina, who fabricated the ceiling, tabernacle, altar, the large cross at the entrance, the sacristy, and the God the Father image on the dome.

The St. John Bosco Church or the Don Bosco Church (San Lorenzo) is another work of art designed by Architect Jose Maria Zaragoza. The statues that adorn the church were done by sculptor Eduardo Castrillo.

Saint Andrew Church (Bel-Air) is a work of National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin. But I felt, for some reason, that the exterior of the church was a bit neglected.

Other chapels and churches you can visit are the Guadalupe Chapel in the BDO Building, a building also designed by Leandro Locsin. I'm not sure though if it will be open on Holy Thursday. Then there's the St. Thomas More Chapel (Rockwell) at the Ateneo Professional Schools. I know Assumption College (San Lorenzo) also has a nice chapel. Another school chapel would be the one in Colegio de San Agustin (Dasmarinas).

Finally, another Locsin masterpiece that will surely be missed is the Church of St. Alphonsus Mary Ligouri (Magallanes) which burned down some years back. A new, but equally impressive church was built, designed by heritage architect Dominic Galicia.

Related entries
Visita iglesia to our heritage churches
Holy Week practices in the Philippines
Visita iglesia and more Holy Week practices in the Philippines
Visita iglesia routes for Holy Thursday

Manila: Camarin de la Virgen and more Sta. Ana treasures

Sta. Ana, Manila has a huge potential to become a cultural tourism destination if proper planning and urban renewal is undertaken by the local community, with focus on its build heritage. The Heritage Conservation Society went on a quick tour of Sta. Ana to assess the area.

We all met at the Lichauco Residence, the Lichaucos being our hosts for the morning. Of course, right beside their wonderful house, the Emilio Aguinaldo College was almost gone. But despite this setback (I still pray SM will see the light and make sure the facade of their new supermarket will conform to the historicity of the district and not build their hideous box type malls), Sta. Ana can still be enhanced to highlight its remaining heritage structures.

From the Lichauco Residence, we walked to Xavier House next door. I've already mentioned this in a previous post and we all know that it will be up for sale soon. Again, this is a major heritage structure of Sta. Ana, most especially because of its history.

After meeting with Fr. Reuter, we boarded a coaster that took us around Sta. Ana. The district has two plazas namely Plaza Calderon and Plaza Hugo. Plaza Hugo in particular was of great interest to the restoration architects in our group since it can be developed as the tourism center of the heritage district with sidewalk cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and bed & breakfast inns.

We then proceeded to the Sta. Ana Church where former NCCA chairperson Jaime Laya talked about Sta. Ana heritage its possible conversion into a heritage tourism district. The highlight of the day was the visit to the Camarin de la Virgen, the dressing room of the Virgen de los Desamparados right behind the main altar of the church. This was recently declared a National Cultural Treasure. And when you're in the room, there's no question why it deserves the designation.

The room is used when her vestments are changed for the observance of the Sta. Ana fiesta on May 12 and other special occasions. On the ceiling are eleven large mural paintings on wood depicting scenes from the life of Mary and Jesus, said to be the oldest paintings in the country. The statue of the virgin is a replica of the original one in Valencia, Spain which I saw last year. Legend has it that to christen the new image, they allowed both images to touch before sending the new one on its voyage to Manila.

Beside the church is the Taoist Temple which also has an image of the Virgen de los Desamparados. Again, with the proper gilding, this will definitely become another attraction. We ended the tour with lunch at the Lichauco Residence.

The Heritage Conservation Society will be organizing a Heritage Tourism Workshop in Sta. Ana from May 27 to 30 to help the local community of Sta. Ana and other heritage communities in Metro Manila plan their heritage tourism programs. It's open to the public. Just call the HCS office at 5212239 for details.

Part 1: Sta. Ana, Manila heritage lost to the malls too! Save Sta. Ana heritage!
Part 3: More on Xavier House and Sta. Ana