Bukidnon: Overnight stay at the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Malaybalay

Have you ever wondered how it is to live a monastic lifestyle? I've heard a lot of good things about the Benedictine Monastery of the Transfiguration in Malaybalay, Bukidnon. While most people just do day-trips to the monastery, I got a chance to stay overnight at the guest house.


The centerpiece of any visit to the monastery is the church designed by Leandro Locsin, National Artist for Architecture. Although Locsin did not live long enough to witness the completion of the church, the plans of the church were the last he signed before he passed away.


If you stay overnight, you can actually join the monks in prayer. They pray seven times a day beginning at 3:40 a.m.



Staying at the monastery is actually a great opportunity to get away from city life and reflect. Personal retreats at the Monastery of the Transfiguration are quite popular. And it's quite affordable too since they charge just Php750/person (Php700 for twin sharing) for a one-night stay inclusive of really delicious meals.


The monastery is quite famous for its Monks’ Blend Premium Coffee (which is the coffee used for a popular ice cream brand), Monks’ Peanut Butter, roasted peanuts, and piniato (peanut brittle).


And it also serves great food which I got to savor while during my stay. With Dom Martin Gomez, OSB, a Kapampangan, in-charge of the kitchen, it's no surprise that the food they serve is superb. I was lucky they served me the Pinutos na Humba which is among their specialties.

In fact, one of the more popular activities they organize at the monastery every second Sunday of the month is Breakfast with the Monks, a sumptuous buffet spread they prepare for Mass-goers after the 8 a.m. Mass. Every month follows a different theme such as Spanish, Chinese, Kapampangan, Ilocano, Visayan, and other types of cuisine.




Another attraction of the monastery is the Museum of Transfiguration Monastery which houses an exhibit of Filipino liturgical vestments. A project of Dom Martin for the Philippine Centennial, it highlights the various weaving traditions all over the country elegantly used in church vestments. Dom Martin or Gang Gomez, was a top couturier before he chose to live the monastic life. I was impressed with the intricacy of the different Philippine hand-woven fabrics and how they were creatively harnessed for religious vestments.

To inquire and reserve for a stay at the monastery, contact Dom Martin Gomez, OSB at (0917) 5105585.

Monastery of the Transfiguration
San Jose, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel. No. (088) 2212373 / 2214708
Monastery Farm (0927) 3975350
Gift Shop (0915) 9860167
Guest House Reservations (0917) 5105585
Wedding Reservations (0915) 9860167
Breakfast with the Monks (0916) 4545916
Vocation Inquiries (0916) 3650147

Metro Manila: Birdwatching at the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat

Last December, I joined a guided birdwatching trip hosted by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) at the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area along Coastal Road. It's the only remaining patch of mangrove in southern Metro Manila.



During this time, migratory water birds converge in the area to spend the winter here such as Little Egrets, Whiskered Terns and Common Sandpipers. Resident species include the Black-crowned Night-Heron, Chestnut Munias and Collared Kingfishers.

According to the WBCP, "The site was declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during Earth Day ceremonies two years ago as a 'critical habitat and ecotourism area.' Little has done been to improve the site and the Philippine Reclamation Authority continues to threaten the habitat with plans for more 'income-generating' developments."


I hope we are able to preserve this critical habitat. Corporate and government greed should be regulated to ensure that both our natural and cultural heritage are preserved as part of our drive towards progress. This area should be protected from greedy developers. Anyway, if you're interested to try out birdwatching as a hobby, you can e-mail Mike Lu at myckle224@yahoo.com and request to be included in their mailing list for future guided tours.

Boracay via SEAIR & Two Seasons Resort

Suddenly I'm craving for a trip to Boracay again! This photo was taken during my trip last December right at the doorstep of Two Seasons Resort in Station 1. Beach front properties in Boracay, especially those in Station 1, are the best! I stayed a night in Two Seasons right before Christmas and enjoyed the convenience of staying close to the beach.


Of course, I flew to Boracay on SEAIR. I've never had to worry about airport transfers since they take you all the way to Boracay. To book a flight, visit www.flyseair.com.

Two Seasons Resort
Station 1, Boracay Island
Tel. No. +63 (36) 2884384 / +63 (2) 4154652
rsvn@twoseasonsboracay.com

Ifugao: Trek to Batad Rice Terraces & Batad accommodation

The Batad Rice Terraces are among the most spectacular of the Ifugao Rice Terraces. And aptly so since it's one of the five rice terrace clusters inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List under Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras. The other four are Bangaan, Hungduan, Mayoyao and Nagacadan. I've see the first three. And finally, I've been able to trek to Batad! Which leaves just Nagacadan on my list of rice terraces to visit.

We took the late evening bus to Banaue and arrived early the next morning. As soon as we arrived, we purchased our bus tickets home since demand is really high and we wanted to make sure we had our tickets back. For more information on getting there, read How to get to and from Banaue, Ifugao.

We then proceeded to the Banaue Hotel, the best accommodation in Banaue, where we stayed for the night. I spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep so that I'd have the energy to trek the next day. I actually spent the whole time at Banaue Hotel where I had all my meals, including the buffet dinner, since I was just too exhausted to go out.


Banaue Hotel is one of two places where you can hire accredited jeeps and guides at fixed rates. Be careful dealing with unaccredited guides and transportation since there have been not so nice stories from guests that were cheated or abandoned. The jeep to the Batad Saddle costs Php2500 while the guide fee is Php900.

The trip to the Batad Saddle was about an hour and thirty minutes. Unfortunately, it had been rainy the past few days. And since the road to the Batad Saddle is quite bad, when it rains, it can become impassable to vehicles. So we had to get off our jeep and walk a few more hundred meters up to the Batad Saddle.


Good thing, it's mostly downhill to the Batad Rice Terraces from the Batad Saddle. It takes another hour of trekking to get to Batad. I noticed the road was being widened and it seemed like they were building a road all the way to Batad Village.

One thing which is sad about Ifugao is that despite the fact it's one of the provinces most visited by foreign tourists, the roads are still bad. Maybe because foreigners don't vote? Well, it's part of the experience I guess. But the rice terraces deserve better roads. But it must come with stringent development safeguards to ensure that the rice terraces outside Banaue are protected and preserved even when infrastructure to get there is improved, so that they don't suffer the fate of Banaue.

At the entrance to Batad Village is a tourist information booth where visitors log and pay a donation to the community. It also offers a really great view of the Batad Rice Terraces. While many visitors stay overnight, we had to rush back to Banaue to catch our bus back to Manila. So after having lunch at Simon's Place (I had the Batad version of pizza), we made our trek back up. And that's the hard part!

But I did make it up in one piece and we finally got on board our jeep for the bumpy trip back to Banaue. We had about two hours to spare before our bus left, just enough time to freshen up and get a quick snack. Despite that quick stay, the trip to Batad was most worth it.

Where to stay in Batad
The accommodation in Batad is quite basic and not that many. Note also that mobile signal in Batad is close to none. So to book a place, send an SMS/text message and wait for the lodge to respond. Calling them would be difficult. Here's a list of places to stay in Batad Village:
Hillside Inn +63 (929) 1268340
Kadangyan Homestay +63 (920) 4686307
Ramon's Homestay +63 (929) 6124423
Rita's Mountain View Inn +63 (910) 8423076
Simon's Viewpoint Inn +63 (930) 5077467
Batad Pension +63 (921) 7371745
Cristina's Main Village Inn +63 (906) 9773771

For some activities in the area, you can visit some of my previous posts on Banaue, Hungduan, and Mayoyao. And here's a list of Banaue hotels and budget accomodation.

Banaue Hotel and Youth Hostel
+63 (74) 3864087 / 3864088

Batangas: Walking tour around old Taal

After our visit to Taal Volcano, we drove all the way to the heritage town of Taal, Batangas via STAR Expressway to visit the grand old houses and other heritage structures there. I've been to Taal many times before. But the town never fails to fascinate me. In fact, we're in the process of stakeholder consultations to determine if the town wants to push for inscription in the UNESCO World Heritage List.


Unfortunately, it is not yet in the tentative list. But the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape is. To make a stronger case for UNESCO inscription, countries usually cluster sites and structures into a single inscription that together, tell a compelling story with universal value to humanity.

One idea would be to expand the Taal Volcano listing from a natural site into a cultural landscape, to include the underwater ruins in Taal Lake and the town of Taal. Together, these sites tell a story of resilience amidst volcanic eruptions and how communities rise after every eruption of the volcano.


For this trip, we got to visit to visit the Taal Basilica National Landmark and Agoncillo House, as well as the Villavicencio Houses. As always, I stopped by the Taal Market to buy piña cloth for my barongs.


It's a good thing new restaurants have opened offering several local dishes of Taal. We had Taal Longganisa and Taal Tapa among many others at Don Juan BBQ which is right beside the Taal Market.


There are several tour options in Taal. you can contact Heritage Tours and Travel through Bennet (0918) 3155634 for a guided tour of the heritage town. There are half and whole day packages with meals (see their site at heritours.multiply.com).

You can also visit Villa Tortuga for a different kind of tour experience. It includes lunch at the old house complete with colonial-period costumes for you to wear while dining. Contact Lito Perez of Camp Suki at (02) 7250819 or (0917) 8246900 for reservations.

Where to stay in Taal
Baby Joven-Quiblat and Benny Quiblat have rooms available for visitors. You can reach Baby at (0917) 8970363 for rates and avalability.

Robert Arambulo, a balikbayan architect from Sta. Rosa, Laguna, also has rooms available in his restored Taal house called Casa Severina. Contact him at (0917) 5018060.

Casa Cecilia has eight bedrooms and a restaurant that serves great tasting Taal cuisine. Specialties are bulalo (with a twist) and their maliputo. Contact numbers are (043) 4080048 or (0906) 2225339.