-
A Weekend at Vitalis Villas in Ilocos Sur: Santorini Vibes in the Philippines
For my sister’s birthday, our family headed to Vitalis Villas in Ilocos Sur, a Mediterranean-inspired resort perched on a coastal cliff in Santiago, about a 7-hour drive from Metro Manila and 1 hour south of Vigan. Known as the Santorini of the North, Vitalis Villas Ilocos Sur offers a relaxing escape with its whitewashed buildings,…
-
Fun in the Sun in Glan
There has been a change of plans, and I am invited to the wedding after all. So after the weekend in Sarangani, I ride a bus to Davao City on Monday morning. The trip takes a bit more than three hours and reach Davao City just in time for a late lunch. I meet my…
-
Maitum: Face-to-“Faces” with the Anthropomorphic Burial Jars
Unearthed in a cave in Sarangani, the 2,000-year-old Maitum jars reveal haunting human forms—and a rare look into ancient Filipino burial beliefs and artistry.
-
Alabel: Hello, Sarangani Province
My parents were invited to a wedding in Davao City, so they had this idea of taking a trip afterwards to South Cotabato, where my dad was originally from. And so I tag along, though since I wasn’t invited to the wedding, I go straight to General Santos City, where I will stay for a…
-
2022 Halftime Break: A Weekend Trip to Santa Rosa
Living in what has been gradually becoming the post-pandemic period (I hope I’m not speaking too soon), I’ve been finally going out more often and much farther in the first half of 2022 than the previous two years combined. It is now June, and my Google Photos account has become a personal collage of joy…
-
Dine In: Wholly Grounds BCD
Bacolod is a food-tripper’s paradise, with a number of restaurants representing different cuisines dotted around the city. Of course, there’s the famed chicken inasal, but for vegans or those simply looking for healthy or environmentally sustainable alternatives, the city also has a couple of plant-based restaurants. One such is Wholly Grounds, located along Lacson Street…
-
Silay and the Houses from the Sugar Boom Era
On our penultimate day in Bacolod, I take a day trip to Silay to take a look at the city’s ancestral house. I’ve been here in 2010, the first time I’ve been to Bacolod, but I’m interested in seeing the houses once again. At the cusp of Spanish and American colonization periods, Negros rose to…
-
A Sunday Afternoon at the Ruins
The next afternoon, we head to Talisay, a city that for travelers is essentially an extension of Bacolod. (Talisay is actually part of Metro Bacolod but residents want to make clear they are not part of Bacolod.) We have coffee at a cafe in the District mall and then take a taxi to the Ruins.…
-
Bacolod: A Quick Tour of the City of Smiles
Almost all trips in Negros Occidental start and end in Bacolod, the province’s capital. It’s the political, economic, and cultural epicenter of the province (though because of the Philippines’ confusing politics, it’s administratively separate from the province), and it’s worth at least a day staying here to get a glimpse of what makes Negrenses in…
-
Danjugan Island: Negros Occidental’s Ecotour Paradise
Danjugan Island, a sliver of island off Negros Occidental, is an ecotourist’s paradise. Protected and maintained by the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, the island was first opened opened as an ecotourism site in 2006. Since then, it has become one of the province’s best-kept secrets, drawing not only tourists from Negros island and…
The Tourist Gaze
A Traveling Outsider Looking In
The Tourist Gaze 