My Travelogue: 2015

Visiting My Father & Mother in Bolbok, Taal, Philippines gives me the same happiness & feeling which I am getting from my home in India. I am happy and very thankful for the love and care which i received from the family (especially Father, Mother, brothers, sister, Uncle's & Aunt's) and the dear relatives of my wife M'habel. I enjoyed perfectly my holidays in Philippines especially the presence of happiness & unity of a joint family culture (frankly speaking we keralites lost that undivided united family culture years before due to urbanization and migration) awesome rainy experience, the nature, the most delicious Foods - Its really Masarap, the fresh air, the fresh vegetables, the festivals and all...

I strongly believe that there is a unbelievable geographic, agriculture, climatic & flora/ fauna similarity between my native place Kerala & my second home land especially in Bolbok Barangay, Taal. Because of that i am not feeling any difference between my two home lands.

Apart from the known dissimilarities i am interested in the surprising similarities and for understanding this similarity, i always like to spend some time to explore/study silently through the ancient & current history of Philippines.

General Info:

Name Philippines: The Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain

Capital of Philippines: Manila

No. of islands: 7107

Population: 102,058,500

Area: 300,000 sq. km

Main Language: Tagalog (Taga Ilog - meaning 'The Natives to River')

Regional Languages: 19 languages

Currency: Peso

Religions: Christianity (90%), Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism

Time Zone: PST (UTC +8)

Republic of Philippines located in the western Pacific Ocean in South East Asia, broadly under three main geographical divisions Luzon, Visayas & Mindanao. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. At approximately 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi), the Philippines is the 64th-largest country in the world.

Ancient History:

First available Uranium Dating: 67,000 years - The metatarsal of Calleo Man in Archipalego

Pre Historic period: Pre Spanish - 1521 AD

In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples, Indian, Chinese, Malay and Islamic dynasties occurred.

Spanish Period: 1565 AD - 1898 AD

The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Spanish colonization

American Period: 1898 AD - 1946 AD

As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there followed in quick succession the Philippine Revolution, which spawned the short-lived First Philippine Republic, and the Philippine–American War. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until 1945

Post Independence: 1946 AD - Present - 04 July 1946 Independence

The similarity in ancient architectural structures, the way of cultivation, some similarities in language, the ways of cremation are may be because of a strong & regular pre-historic inter trade relations between southern India & Philippines and also due to the strong influence of Srivijaya, Pallava & Chola dynasties in pre-historic period.

The main similarity i found is just like we the south Indians, the main cultivation & food is the rice, then Sugar cane, Banana, Coconut (i think at present i can see more coconut tree in Philippines than in my place Kerala, which is known so called the Land of Coconut Tree), Mango, Tamarind and vegetables.

Another similarity is the Climate, the three main seasonal changes are happening almost at the same period in both countries and the temperature is also almost same.

Ancient Trade relations with Philippines and Kerala (my native place):

Trade relations recorded from Metallic Age (9th & 10th century BC) especially in the trade of iron, Spices like Pepper, Ginger, coffee etc & Coconut.

Tagaytay Picnic Grove & Taal Volcano:

One of the iconic tourist higher range cool spot lies on the bank of Taal Lake gives an overview of natural beauty of Batangas & Taal Volcano.

Longitude: 120° 56'

Lattitude: 14° 6'

Altitude: 2500 m above sea level

Topography: Covered by Mountain, grasslands and forests

Year of Travel: March 2010

Etymology (source: Wikipedia)

Legend has it that the word Tagaytay came from "taga" meaning to cut and "itay" which means father. A father and son were said to be on a wild boar hunt when the animal they were chasing turned and attacked them. As the boar charged towards the old man, the son cried "taga itay!". The boy's repeated shout reverberated in the alleys of the ridge. Heard by the residents, hunters and wood gatherers, the cries became subject of conversation for several days in the countryside. In time, the place where the shouts came from became known as Tagaytay.

Tagaytay is almost 90 Km far (2 hrs) from Our Home in Bolbok, an ideal summer vacation spot with moderate cool climate with rain showers during March - april month. Moreover its the perfect place for lovers...a lovers paradise...

I went Tagaytay with my Wife Mhabel. The cool climate is more than enough to take away our tiredness due to 2 hrs travelling in too hot summer. Its such a beautiful city facilitated with heritage resorts, picnic spots & flower gardens. as soon as we reached Tagaytay we took our luch from nearby local restaurant and tried some traditional & spanish cuisines.

Tagaytay Picnic Grove is well maintained by the respective tourism department with nice grass courts, gardens, souvenir shops, well constructed walkways, barriers, where we can explore easily and nicely the maximum beauty of nature.

The main attractions in the Picnic grove are Heritage picnic huts, Zip line stations, Horse ride, Hanging bridge, walking through an eco trail to get the complete view of the forest & eco system, overview of Taal Volcano.

There we saw our friend Maricris and spend some time together in Tagaytay

The travelers can buy souvenir various souvenir shops in Tagaytay. We also bought some souvenirs for remembrance.

Taal Basilica Batangas:

Taal Basilica is one of the must see destination in Philippines, located in the Taal Town of Batangas, well known for ancient Spanish architectural skills.

Taal Basilica Standing 88.6 meters (291 ft) long and 48 meters (157 ft) is the largest catholic church in Asia, constructed In 1575 in Spanish architectural design, 3 years after the founding of Taal town in its old site near the shores of Taal Lake, work began on the construction of its first church by Father Diego Espinar (O.S.A.) with Saint Martin of Tours as patron saint.Later in 1754 it was destroyed by stronger eruption of Taal Volcano finally started the reconstruction on 1856 under Fr. Marcos Anton.The Church roof ceiling paintings are of trompe l'oeil style.

The huge church was completed by Fr. Agapito Aparicio in 1878, adding the main altar of Doric style measuring 24 metres (79 ft) high and 10 metres (33 ft) wide. He was also responsible for the baptistery made with tiles imported from Europe. The stone church had three naves with a grand transept and an elegant facade with Ionic and Doric orders. A small tower on the left side of the facade contained the large church bell, which in 1942, was destroyed by an earthquake.

A small museum is arranged inside the church displaying the historical belongings, where travelers can understand the history of the church

The biggest bell which is 190 m in height, which fallen down in 1942 earthquake, is displayed in the front side of the church.

The old belfry was later rebuilt in 1990 under the supervision of the National Historical Institute. In 2011, upon the assignment of Msgr. Alfredo Madlangbayan, the Basilica underwent another renovation as sections the church interior were repainted to its original trompe l'oeil ceilings. The tower was also modified to imitate the old tower destroyed by the earthquake of 1942, a new set of carillon bells was later installed.

The expedition to the top of the bell tower through a very narrow stair way and the opportunity to over view the complete city from the top of bell tower, are really so awesome. I am very thankful to my Friend (Pare) Mr. Ronnie Correa to accompany with us, explained and shown the whole church and guided us to the top of the bell tower.

My daughter's (Esha) Baptism ceremony was conducted in Taal Church on Sep 2014.

Taal Beach:

Visit to Taal beach was in 2010, where we took a refreshing swim, there the sand is slightly dark in colour gives the impressum of various volcanic activities happened earlier in nearby Taal Volcano.

The Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay:

The Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay is a coral-hewn chapel in Barrio Caysasay in Taal, Batangas belonging to the Archdiocese of Lipa in the Philippines. It was built in 1639 by Fr. Alonso Rodriguez to replace a temporary structure built in 1611.

Church was reconstructed several times after it got destroyed due to several earthquakes & tremors.

I visited the church in Sep 2014 with My Wife Mhabel, Inay Anabelle & Sister Marinelle.

San Lorenzo 120 granite steps and Sta. Lucia Wells are the main attractions there. The spring-fed well is now known as the Miraculous Well of Sta. Lucia. Since its discovery, many have attested that the spring water has miraculous healing and therapeutic powers. It was built in early 1600.The site of the wells is known as `Banal na Pook' (sacred site) and vestiges of the spring running close to the wells is known as `Banal na Tubig' (sacred water). The well is accessed from the San Lorenzo Luis Steps. An inconspicuous narrow walkway from the steps takes visitors to the well.

Typhoon Mario (Fung Fung) 18 Sep 2014:

Just sharing (remembering some of my facebook status at that time)

I think for the first time I am seeing this much of heavy rainfall with strong thunder storm in my life, its not there in my place, Kerala...great time to enjoy the rain...i love it..

Typhoon Mario is strengthening.....intensity of rain and wind is increasing...heavy rain and flash flood alert is there.....my flight tomorrow not yet cancelled...hope i can reach airport at time and my flight is available...ha ha

Typoon Mario was a tropical typoon affected Philippines, Taiwan & Eastern China. Fung-wong maintained its intensity while affecting Luzon. The storm made landfall in the night of the next day over the northern tip of Cagayan. Early on September 20, JMA upgraded it to severe tropical storm strength

Some awesome memories through pictures: