Coron.Coron.Coron

Burnt skin , sandwiched in towering limestone cliffs. . still smiling??? ftw?



What's not to smile about? With the gifts of nature abound the Calamianes_couldn't help but to take another shot of  Coron, tags as the last frontier of my country.

It's easy to capture beautiful photos when you are in Coron. It's very scenic and everything is picture-perfect, even for amateurish me.



The towering rock formations are to die for.

Even girls couldn't resist and didn't mind taking the risk of climbing the rocks for a bit edgier photo ops. Can you spot me there?

Never! haha! I dared not be taken a photo side by side with those young body-perfect girls. .so I had mine solo! haha.insecure motherhen!




Another one of me on top of one of the limestone cliffs. Showing-off that at my age I could still climb that high barefooted. Another symptom of my growing insecurities as I age. haha.




I envy me_ there.
With the perfect beach weather we have this week, its' so hard to fight the idea of catching  flight to Busuanga ( from Manila it's only approximately 40 minutes or less) and indulge another nature bound weekend in Coron. What d'ya think?
If its gonna be your first Coron adventure, may the following posts serve you in one way or another.
click to Indulge!

Some places : 

- to stay :  Coron Gateway Hotel Suites , Coron Hilltop View Resort, Busuanga Island Paradise, Darayonan, Coron Village Lodge, Mt. Tapyas Hotel , Balinsasayaw Resort , Princess of Coron Resort

- to see in Coron Town : Mount Tapyas , on top of Mt. Tapyas , Party Boat , Bird's Eyeview , Fresh Catch , Kuweba , Makinit Hot Spring

- to never miss : Banol Beach , Siete Picados , Kayangan tease, Kayangan Lake , Barracuda Lake , Twin Lagoon, Twin Peaks

- to enjoy food : Coron Village Bar and Resto , Bistro Coron , Coron Harvest , Sea Dive Restaurant , Coron Gateway Restaurant , Kawayanan Grill.

Be happy always!

Kulo ng Poleteismo

The controversial Poleteismo at CCP, a massive wall collage installation by the artist Midea Cruz as part of the exhibit "Kulo" literally stirred the people of the church, specifically the devout Catholics to a boiling point of rage.

Last Friday an open forum was held right in the gallery where the exhibit is being hosted. attended by representatives of Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, V.I.P.'s, media ,artists, students and other concerned citizens.But really where are these all coming from???

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Root : The Poleteismo is a jumbled juxtaposition of images of Christ and random objects (each I'm sure is not random to the artist but each is a particular expression.). But to the devotees which homes you would find images/statues of Christ pedestalled on altars to the highest restpect, imagine now how would they feel to see this very nonconservative, unbecoming  presentation of Christ.

Moreover, the firestorm is heated up by other feature of Poleteismo like this cross . Looking at the image, I know I need not elaborate.

. .and this one also would definitely give a heart attack to a Christ devotee.

The artist being interviewed by a media icon - Ces Drilon.
Those and in many angles placed the artist in a very controversial position, in the center of a firestorm!

according to him. .

Definitely no one from the Catholic Church is approving of this artwork.. .

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. . but I'm a Catholic and I'm neither approving nor disapproving. . in a specific way, I mean_ I'm not prejudging both/all parties (the artist and the CBCP and the opposed many others).

Don't hate me for being a Catholic and not so religious about being one. On second thought, you have all the right not to understand my indifference. But one thing is sure my faith to the Lord is unshakably intact and verymuch alive. The thing is I'm never a Sunday Catholic.
Ask me now of which higher percentage myself is made of? _ a religious person or an art enthusiast? Forgive me, but honestly I'm more of the latter.
But respect I have a lot . . to the church and to arts.
I guess. .it's just a matter of to each his own. 
Christ believers have all the right to get offended by those images .
I'm sure artist Midea Cruz knows what he's putting himself into.

I'm actually as cut into two pieces as the issue is. .

The Penafrancia Basilica Minore

My Bicol trip this 2011 was scheduled on the last day of July to early part of August had to be cancelled cos of the two typhoons (Juaning & Kabayan) , that came consecutively. One of the most injured parts of our country was the Bicol Region where my itchy feet were supposed to land on the exact dates the typhoons were on the rage.
Today it's all sunny here in Manila, but at this age of climate change/global warming , no one can really predict an exact weather status.

My last visit to Bicol was 7 months ago. It was a high school reunion trip to CamSur. Part of the trip was a small pilgrimage to some churches in this province.The first church we visited was Immaculate Concepcion Parish, it has an awesome ceiling _a dome of Christ's 12 apostles.

I thought  I would bring you to the second church we visited, so we all can pray together for the Bicolanos who are badly affected by those typhoons, may their sufferings cut short and a steadfast recovery for everyone.

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The Penafrancia Basilica Minore in Camsur is quite modern in architecture. I gathered that the construction was finalized on 1981. Very new compared to the old/antique churches we have all over the country.

The main door was closed when we touched the ground of the massive premises of the church. We had to enter through the side door . .

. . cos there was a beautiful wedding going on inside.

the side door led to the back of the main altar. .

Beautiful stained glass windows of the church.

this part was elevated and from here we could see the rest of the church.
very modern interior with lots of colors. .








Also here at the back of the altar is a staircase going to the altar where devotees have closer encounter with the statue of the Virgin Penafrancia..

Quite popular as a miraculous patroness of the province, Virgin Penafrancia's feast day is being celebrated grandly in the month of September particularly in Naga City.

If weather permitted, I wish I could revisit to observe the Feast of Penafrancia next month.

Karnabal

Enchanted Kingdom and Star City came late in my list of local amusement parks here in my 3rd world country. I grew- up amused by annual fiesta's carnival in my rural hometown.
However rural and 7 hours far from Manila, my beloved town, nevertheless is easy to pick-up internet connection just like the rest of the world. So, I'd say_it's not so left behind.

Yet, it's on a happy note to find similar mobile amusement center still being enjoyed by the locals on our town fiesta.

I remember to have my first ferris wheel ride with mother in one of those carnivals of my primitive years.

When I caught a stop ( the ferris wheel stopped on cue when a unit had to unload/load a new set of  passengers) at the uppermost part, floating above all, I would enjoy the eye bird's view of my green town.

Weird attractions like this one also never failed to make my little girl's eyes so wide with amusement.

Nah, I didn't have this kind of balloon, I had those organic round, colored balloons.



Can you spot the little boy and girl in queue? Reminds me so much of me and my brother when we were in the same age, tagged by my mother to give us the best amusement in town.
I miss those days.