Native Bags

Don't you just find these bags lovely? They are made from indigenous materials such as tikog (the material used for banig) and abaca. You may find these at the Pasalubong Center just beside the Cebu Pacific office at the Tacloban City airport. Grab one and support the local economy. For bulk order, click here to contact suppliers.

Beautiful Baguio, Part two

The last time I visited Baguio was in 2000, and just like the first time I went there which was way back in 1995, it also fell on a summer. So when I learned that I was going to the Philippines famed city of pines, I was a bit excited as it was scheduled in December. You might wonder why I was so worked up on a December Baguio trip when the place is also known as the "summer capital" of the country. It because on all my previous trips, the only time I really felt like donning a heavy sweater was in the late afternoons and evenings. Ergo, Baguio was not that cold in the day and what's the point of going there if the weather is just like here in the lowlands? I was curious to experience real cold weather, to feel an almost western hemispher coolness which could only be experienced there in December.

Apart from the temperate weather, I was also eager to see again the beautiful flowers that could only abound in low temperatures. Poinsettas by the roadside as well as sunflowers jutting out from crevices in the concrete was a common sight as my bus weaved its way up the mountains. At some point in our ascent, everything was covered in heavy fog and you could not see anything below the road, not the houses, trees or any vegetation. Truly, this is how it feels like to be up in the clouds.

More than just the fine weather and tourist spots such as the Grotto, the Mansion, Camp John Hay, Wright Park, Philippine Military Academy (the biggest military school in the country whose graduates have gone on to become leaders in the military), and Mines View Park, Baguio City is a place full of warm and friendly people where everyone is literally a trained tourist guide. Everyone I asked for directions were always most helpful and added tidbits or two that would help us in our stay (e.g. the best time to shop at the ukay-ukay stalls). Speaking of ukay-ukay, the city's claim to being the secondhand goods capital of the Philippines is well-deserved. As with all bargain hunts, you just have to be patient and perservering as you wade through clothes, shoes, and bags lumped in heaps or hung by hangers in the different stalls in coming upon valuable finds that look almost brand new and belong to world renowned labels like Gap, Nike, and Burberry. After going through so many stall and exiting empty handed, we soon came upon a corner one and hit pay dirt. The ukay shop had just replenished its stocks and it was full of really fine items. I found so many blouses and long sleeved polos that hardly had any hint of being used and would have taken them all had they fit me. Sadly, only two of the blouses I really liked felt comfortable enough to wear which I immediately bought. At Php150.00 apiece, it truly was a bargain.

Unfortunately for my group, the seminar ended quite late in the afternoon, so we were only able to visit a few of the sights in Baguio. We went by the Grotto where we prayed before the image of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. We also bought pasalubong at the Strawberry Farm. After that it was back to the hotel to prepare for an early morning trip back to Manila the following day.

Bahandi Website

In keeping with the promise of this blog (see profile) I would like to invite you to visit the recently launched website of the Bahandi Producers Association of Eastern Visayas. It still has to fine-tune some of its features and make it more user and Internet surfer-friendly but at least it is now more accessible to the world via the web. Here you will find the establishments that produced some of the delicacies and crafts I've been blogging about here in previous posts. I urge those who visit to their site leave their comments so the webmaster can have valuable feedback that could in turn lead to improvements. Why so gaga over local producers? Well, because we here in Leyte and Samar have a lot to offer and its time the world get a taste of it.

OTOP Visayan Islands Fair

Hey, just wanted to invite you all to a fair showcasing the best of the Visayan Islands running this week at the Atrium, SM Cebu, Cebu City starting November 12. Here's the brochure which I wish to share with you...For anyone near, hope to see you there.

Our very own, Leyte and Samar with the San Juanico Bridge as backdrop

Loved the way they played on each region's unique and famous tourist destination interspersed with their local products: the white sands of Boracay in Western Visayas; the San Juanico Bridge in Waray-waray country; and the Chocolate Hills of Bohol in Central Visayas.

For the information of all, OTOP stands for One-Town-One-Product, a flagship project of GMA.

Handicrafts, atbp.

Hey guys, there's a cool new site on Bloggers of Noteq that's ideal for the one with "gifted hands", ergo, those who can make beautiful things with their bare hands while being green at the same time. An enviromental handicraft site. Click here for some fun ideas.

Help Please...

We are in the process of painting our house and I would really, really appreciate some tips on sites to click on to get the perfect color. So, if anyone's watching, do drop me a line on my comments section and tell me where to go.

Bahandi Trade Fair 2008

(graphics and layout by Jet Amago)

"Bahandi" means treasure in the Waray-waray dialect and on September 26-30, a fair of Eastern Visayas treasures will be on display at the 2008 Bahandi Trade Fair. This includes the best of food, handicrafts, wooden furniture, bags, accessorie, household items, and eco-tourist spots that the islands of Samar and Leyte has to offer. This is an annual event of the Bahandi Producers Association of Eastern Visayas (BPAEV) with financial and technical assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry, Regional Office VIII, CITEM and OTOP.

I urge those in the area to visit as prices are most reasonable and way below Metro Manila quotations. The hardwood living room sets are bestsellers and a steal if you compare it with high-end shops with quality on a par if not better...And for those who have been following my other blog, http://everythingwaray.blogspot.com/, you can find in this fair the delicacies I've written about such as the pastillas of Mana Lumen; the moron of Abuyog, and the binagol of Dagami. No need to wait for pasalubong from visiting relatives. Catch it while you can, just drop yourself at the Shaw MRT station and take a walk for some good exercise on your way to SM Mega Mall mega trade hall where the fair will be held.

The Banig of My Childhood

It was no thicker than two cartolinas and measured two by three meters. Yet it was big enough to contain the memories of a languid childhood and siestas in the afternoon.


A colorful banig from Basey, Samar

Many years back when we were still between the ages of nine and thirteen, every afternoon on school breaks, my sisters and I gathered in the sala and set aside the sofas to spread out the banig on the floor. We packed our then still slim bodies across it and tried to catch the sleep that proved to be elusive in the wake of anticipation of the playtime that was to come. So we closed our eyes and pretended to sleep when Mama would come around to check or else forfeit the snack that was to be our reward for taking the afternoon nap.

Then on weekends, my cousins, aunts and uncles on my mother's side would converge at lola's house and the result would be one fun ruckus. We slept on the floor, on banigs rolled out in the sala while the adults played mahjong.

We bought the banig from from the stalls lining the street immediately after the post office building, just below the Gran Hotel that never was. There you would find(and still find) all sorts of banig (sleeping mats) made from the "tikog", a reed plant that thrives in swampy areas. There were the colorful ones which are more expensive and then there were the simple mats which could only be rolled as it was too thick to fold unlike its more colorful sisters. All these mats were sourced from the small coastal town of Basey, Samar, the place where the paraglaras (women weavers) make the banig beneath its cool caves.

The banig we used to sleep on many years back has long been tucked away and is now frayed at the edges. It has since been replaced by the new one I bought, and like in my earlier years, my daughter now sleeps in it for afternoon naps after being lulled to a slumber by the tv and a bottle of "susoy" (milk). The banig of my childhood has now come full circle.

(Photo courtesy of Bimbo Tan of OTOP Phils.)