Batangas | Sunset Viewing In Mt Naguiling

BATANGAS | Sunset Viewing In Mt Naguiling
Photography Feature Post

The best sunset Photo I took from the campsite of Mt Naguiling.

Mt Naguiling is the highest peak in the Lobo-San Juan Mountain of Batangas at 1,007 MASL. One of the places I’ve hiked and camped to earlier this year 2016. 

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TREK GUIDE | Mt Maculot (Maculod) Traverse (MacTrav) 947 MASL

Mt Maculot (Maculod) Traverse (MacTrav) 947 MASL
Mountain Trek Guide

Mt Maculot is a popular hiking destination near Metro Manila. It has three foremost sites; The Rockies at 706 MASL is a high volcanic rock wall that is the Highest Caldera Rim of the former Taal Crater Cone, The Mt Maculot Summit at 947 MASL and The Grotto at 510 MASL which is a pilgrim site during the Holy Week.

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TREK GUIDE | Mt Pico de Loro 664 MASL

Mt Pico de Loro 664 MASL
Mountain Trek Guide

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Mountain | Mt Batulao, Stepping Into Dreamland

MOUNTAIN | Mt Batulao, Stepping Into Dreamland
Nasugbu, Batangas

Derived from the Filipino Phrase "Bato sa Ilao" (Illuminated rocks), Mt Batulao is a favored mountain by newbie to experienced outdoorsmen. With open trails, some steep rocky slopes combined with the cool weather associated with the highlands of Tagaytay; Mt Batulao is a hot spot drawing crowds of adventurers during weekends.

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Mountain | Sunset Photos While Climbing Mt Gulugod Baboy

MOUNTAIN | Sunset Photos While Climbing Mt Gulugod Baboy

The first mountain for me to climb, and glad I did one Saturday afternoon in the middle of February. I've read about just every niceties you can attribute to the lovely summit of Mt Gulugod Baboy, its sinuous landscape providing a 360 degree views of the surrounding terrain which is mostly bodies of water and rolling peaks of mountains, it also means that the place offers a beautiful view of the Sunset and Sunrise from opposite direction so it a perfect campsite to experience outdoors.

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Interesting Landscapes With Cloud Formations Part II

Interesting Landscapes With Cloud Formations
A Collection Of Photos From Various Destinations In The Philippines
Part II


A continuation of Landscape photos made interesting because of Clouds formations.
Click here to see Part I

Cloudy Cordillera Sky
Municipality of Tanudan, Kalinga

Old And Imposing
Basilica de San Martin de Tours
Municipality of Taal, Batangas

Bantayan In My Dreams
Bantayan Island
Municipality of Bantayan, Cebu

Cadlao's Peak
The Rocky Beach of Calaan
Municipality of El Nido, Palawan

A Giants Missing Shoe
Sabitang Laya Island, Caramoan Peninsula
Municipality of Caramoan, Camarines Sur

The Monsoon Has Arrived
Laiya Beach
Municipality of San Juan, Batangas

Rain Falling On The Islets
Rocky Islets of Diguisit Bay

Municipality of Baler, Aurora

Of Greenland And Turquoise Waters
Mahabang Buhangin Beach, Tinaga Island
Calaguas Group of Islands, Camarines Norte

The Way To The Sky
The Sierra Madre Mountain Range, Trekking Mt Manalmon
Municipality of San Miguel, Bulacan

Home Of The Biggest Church Bell In Asia
Santa Monica Parochial Church
Municipality of Pan-ay, Capiz

The Waves, The Sun And The Rocks
Bolinao Rock Formations
Municipality of Bolinao, Pangasinan

Looking Down From The Abys Of Heavens
Climbing Mt Timbak, The 3rd Highest Mountain in Luzon
Municipality of Atok, Benguet

The Halsema Highway Sunset
Municipality of Atok, Benguet

Sunset Of Fire And Ice, And Something In Between
,Liw-liwa, San Felipe Beach
Municipality of San Felipe, Zambales

Gone But Not Forgotten
The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery
Municipality of Nagcarlan, Laguna

Mountains Of The Gods
The Holy Mountain of Mt Banahaw and The Devils Mountain of Mt Cristobal
Camping In The Summit of Mt Mabilog
San Pablo City, Laguna

Fabled and Pristine
Pandin of Laguna's Twin Lake
Lake Pandin, San Pablo City, Laguna


Wanna Go Back to Part I of this collection
CLICK HERE

Francis Balgos is a Call Center Agent, Weekend Travel Warrior, Amateur Spelunker, Sometime Surfer, Newbie Mountain Climber, Photography Enthusiast, Certified Beach Bum, A first born son, Faithful lover, True Explorer...

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Interesting Landscapes With Cloud Formations

Interesting Landscapes With Cloud Formations
A Collection Of Photos From Various Destinations In The Philippines

Clouds, some of the most regular accessories of the skies, I say accessories because they adorned our skies in whatever season. Makes up for what would have been an empty and plain cloudless horizon.

 Gone fishing in Siquijor
San Juan Beach, Poblacion
Municipality of San Juan, Siquijor

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Batangas | Galleria de Taal

BATANGAS | Galleria de Taal

The Country's First Camera Museum

The Philippines First camera museum, a Bahay na Bato neglected ancestral house that became a gallery to showcase rare vintage Camera's.

By this time, after looking inside some of the Old Ancestral Houses in the Heritage town of Taal Batangas, we had our fill of them. Galleria de Taal proved to be different, because it doesn't enshrine people who are long dead. We didn't choke on historic information that we will soon forget, instead we feasted our eyes on some of the rarest camera's, restored and glorified in their pedestal. We even had a glimpse of the most expensive camera this gallery had, which is in the first photo shown above, cast out from a body of 24K pure gold. Makes me glad I had Nikon Camera slung on my neck.

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Batangas | Our Lady Of Caysasay

Batangas | Our Lady Of Caysasay
A Venerated Church And The Girls Who Chased After Us

After visiting a lot of "Bahay na Bato" in the Heritage town of Taal and the Minor Basilica, I thought were done with churches. It's the time of the afternoon where you can go out; the sun's heat has already subsided. Thought we would already have much about the history of Taal in a day, but it's not enough really. Seeing that the whole town itself is littered with old heritage houses, the new ones obviously built from the old foundations. I have to say that visiting the Church of Our Lady of Caysasay is my least favorite, but still it's a venerated church for a good reason.

The church of Our Lady of Caysasay as viewed from the outside.

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Mountain | Mt Manabu Travel Guide

MOUNTAIN |  Mt Manabu Travel Guide
Overnight Camp

 

Like a monarch standing proudly, Mt Manabu is part of the Malipunyo Mountain Range as one of its three major peaks. The trails are well established, easy and marked by up to 9 stations circling the mountain. Charming and friendly locals that helps keep climbers hydrated by their offerings of Buko juice along the way, even get a sample taste of kape Lowak or Alamid Coffee brewed by Mang Pirying and his brother Mang Pino while they offer a bargain of their own local coffee produce.

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Mountain | Mt Manabu Fun Climb

MOUNTAIN | Mt Manabu

A Sykes Outdoor Spontaneous Fun Climb

A fun climb for beginners, hence this unpretentious mountain is perfect for my goal. It was Friday, April 19, 2013 last day for a workweek and I was preparing for what can be an uneventful weekend alone. I lent my camera to my travel buddy so he could cover his explorations of some amazing islands and beaches in Mindoro, I just couldn't come, not without going AWOL from work, so I scrounge it up hoping that this uneventful week would pass. 

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Batangas | Apacible House

BATANGAS | Apacible House

Taal Heritage Town Photowalk

Yet another must visit house in Taal, Batangas. The house of Leon Apacible is a 19th Century bahay na Bato marked by National Historical Institute (NHI) as a place where Jose Rizal, Mariano Ponce and other Filipino National Heroes would gather. Leon Apacible himself was an Officer of the Revolutionary Government, a lawyer, a judge and a Lepanto delegate to the Malolos Convention.

The house is well preserved, as it was donated by the descendants of Leon Apacible to the government due to its Historical value, the house itself felt like its had lived through times. Certainly it is old, with the displays of Caruaje on the entrance, the showroom of old photographs, anterooms and marbles floors, muebles and antique figures, unlike any other heritage houses I visited today where what is left are impressions of an era long gone, this house feels like it has blended in this day and age with people actually living in it. I say probably, kudos to NHI for the restoration and how this house is being presented to the public.

What looks like an in house garage where the restored Caruaje is what greeted us upon our entrance. This was one of the last houses that we visited for this day. I was already tired and yearning for a cold bath since I took this trip right after my night shift work. Not even being with some of the bubbliest travel bloggers I am with could perk me up. Still I trudged on knowing that this house is special, and it was with its own charming appeal. 

Mirrors, a lot of them, antiquities with shiny surfaces, glass pedestals, even the shiny gloss of portraits hung in the walls. The wooden floorboards, intricate stairs lined with iron rails, and the colors or mahogany varnishes all over. I've never been to a house shinier than this. The rooms, bath in filtered light from glass paneled windows provide gloomy atmosphere to the auras around. I've always been one to feel auras, gift of discernment I got from my mother, but I don't think I'm otherworldly or supernatural or a physic if you believe in one. I just know when a place has a presence, discerning good and evil in ways I can't explain. The Apacible house left me feeling uneasy but that we are welcomed. I guess we should feel more grateful for the rich heritage we have, and this heritage of Taal is worth exploring.

Francis Balgos is a Call Center Agent, Weekend Travel Warrior, Amateur Spelunker, Sometime Surfer, Newbie Mountain Climber, Photography Enthusiast, Certified Beach Bum, A first born son, Faithful lover, True Explorer...

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Mountain | Of Godly Rays And Rain That Never Came

MOUNTAIN | Of Godly Rays And Rain That Never Came
Inspired By Trekking Mt Gulogod Baboy

Its my romance to the mountain, of the trails in open fields, in high blade grass, in cows poo everywhere, of kids running up and down the slope, of idle houses serving as rest stops, of coconuts and tamarinds, of citrus bushes and scavenging wild guava fruits, of the humid and then the cold air fanning me, fanning us. There was not a moment to reflect when you are running out of breath. Dark clouds looming ahead of us, and I fear for rain to come down, when all I have is a cheap summer tent I just bought. This mountain, these hills, a trail used one too often.

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Batangas | Marcela Agoncillo House

BATANGAS | Marcela Agoncillo House

Taal Heritage Town Photowalk

Like the other Heritage Houses we visited in Taal, The Marcela Agoncillo House is another Casa de Agoncillo. Could be said as the 2nd Agoncillo house because of the most prominent resident this house had ever had. The Marcela Agoncillo house was actually built by Marcela's grandfather Andres Marino. By any means, this is the ancestral house she grew up. Built in the late 1700's and known today to be one of the oldest house in the town of Taal. Heirs of the family had donated this property to the government and is now being maintained by The Department Of Tourism.

The house was turned to a museum and monument commemorating the making of the Philippine Flag, as was Dona Marcela Marino Agoncillo's legacy to our nation as the weaver of the first Philippine Flag, gaining her the title of The Mother Philippine National Flag as its principal seamstress, its the same flag that was hoisted from the window of Emilio Aguinaldo's House in Kawit, Cavite. Check this link to know more about the making of The First Philippine Flag from the National Historical Commission. 

On the entrance, one had to walk through a walkway that looks like a parking lot in the ground floor. Before taking the staircase is the commemorative tableau of 3 women sewing the flag. The three women are Dona Marcela herself as the central figure, flanking at her sides the little girl is her eldest daughter Lorenza and other girl is Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, a niece of Jose Rizal. Before we were to mount the staircase to where the grand salon of the house is place like any Spanish inspired houses, we first went through the small library and museum just a couple of flat forms from the ground floor. We were briefed by a guide of the house with the brief history of the prominent historical figure that had called this home. On this library is the hired weaver showing us how weaving is done. Taal may have a lot of Heritage houses, but only a select number of Historical Landmark, this is what makes this house apart from a lot of Kastillan houses in Taal.

Its a grand house, reminiscent of the glory and richness that adorned its halls. Exquisitely sculpted wooden boxes (Bauls), Chinese and Edwardian furniture's,  the all too familiar Capiz Shell windows, four poster beds, and the everlasting feel of old wood. 

Impersonal and otherworldly, these are but some of the impressions I got from this house. Spacious and open aired, though the family was Illustrado in rank and the children's of Felipe and Marcela Agoncillo all grew up to be highly educated and religious, their old rosary beads left not an impression of themselves. Their old crumbling books fall in decay on the shelves. As was, I wandered in the house swimming in my own imagination, enraptured by the creepy rooms and the baby grand piano by the door, the full length mirrors so clear I can only assume that silver adorned the back of this heavy glass. It's hot, its forlorn and may even be a grave of rich memories, of ages long past whose legacy continues.

Francis Balgos is a Call Center Agent, Weekend Travel Warrior, Amateur Spelunker, Sometime Surfer, Newbie Mountain Climber, Photography Enthusiast, Certified Beach Bum, A first born son, Faithful lover, True Explorer...

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No pictures should be downloaded or copied without permission from the blogger.

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