I love my own my native land...(you know what's next) This is sung starting from grade school years but now i can't remember how it goes. Do you?
This might be the reason why Pinoy's first thought is always about Philippines. Just like when i first started blogging; i want my topic to be all about Philippines nature, people and culture. About the beautiful life we Filipino's have the freedom and ease (bahala na) of how some live. The barkadahan and tambay specially Pinoy hopitality. With by blog "My Home My Philippines" that started out Jan/07 and lasted until Mar/07 but unfortunately i discontinued the blog site. Why? It's may be to much blog is unmanageable for me. This is why i'm giving "My Home My Philippines" blog a
second chance by posting the things i write here at Kabayan Junction.
Here is it from My Home My Philippines blog:
7,107 Islands with three main regions – Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao - this is my home my Philippines.
Philippines has a rich history combining Asian, European, and American influences. Prior to Spanish colonization in 1521, the Filipinos had a rich culture and were trading with the Chinese and the Japanese. Spain's colonization brought about the construction of Intramuros in 1571, a "Walled City" comprised of European buildings and churches, replicated in different parts of the archipelago. In 1898, after 350 years and 300 rebellions, the Filipinos, with leaders like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, succeeded in winning their independence.
In 1898, the Philippines became the first and only colony of the United States. Following the Philippine-American War, the United States brought widespread education to the islands. Filipinos fought alongside Americans during World War II, particularly at the famous battle of Bataan and Corregidor which delayed Japanese advance and saved Australia. They then waged a guerilla war against the Japanese from 1941 to 1945. The Philippines regained its independence in 1946.
Filipinos are a freedom-loving people, having waged two peaceful, bloodless revolutions against what were perceived as corrupt regimes. The Philippines is a vibrant democracy, as evidenced by 12 English national newspapers, 7 national television stations, hundreds of cable TV stations, and 2,000 radio stations. The Philippines is the third largest English speaking country in the world.
Filipinos are a fun-loving people. Throughout the islands, there are fiestas celebrated everyday and foreign guests are always welcome to their homes.
From Wow Philippines Tourism Website
With a reputation for being chaotic and corrupt, the Philippines has something of an image problem. But most who make the journey to the 7000-odd islands that comprise the Philippines are pleasantly surprised by their beauty and by the friendliness of the people.
Most of the Philippines is laidback, stable and relatively safe. The locals are an exceptionally helpful bunch and there are fantastic reefs and fish. On top of this, transport is cheap, the food is good, accommodation is plentiful and (for the monolinguistic) English is widely spoken.
from Lonely Planet.com/World Guide – Philippines – At a glance
This is my dream location, since childhood i dream to visit and vacation on this location. My parent's province is also from this place and some of my relative live their. But until now i have not visited this marvelous place yet.
This small national park off the coast of Alaminos contains 123 separate islets, although some are just large rocks. Over the centuries the tides have eaten away at the bases of these limestone islands, giving them a distinctive, mushroom-like appearance.
The friendly and useful Hundred Islands National Park office is on the wharf in barangay Lucap, the jumping-off point to the national park.
The three most popular islands are Quezon Island, Governor's Island and Children's Island, but you're definitely better off finding your own island on weekends, as these fill up with loads of large families and beach vendors.
By far the best way to experience the park is in a tandem kayak.
from Lonely Planet.com/World Guide – Philippines – Review
Web: http://www.alaminoscity.gov.ph
It is the only one in the world. An island on a lake and lake on an island
Taal Volcano, in the Philippines, has been called the smallest active volcano in the world. It is located about 70-km south of Manila on an island inside a lake called Taal Lake. What makes Taal Volcano more unique is the fact that the volcano itself has a lake of its own inside its crater which is called the "Crater Lake." One can even swim inside the Crater Lake but don't stay too long because the lake's water is a very diluted form of sulfuric acid with high concentration of boron, magnesium, aluminum and sodium in salt form. The first recorded scuba dive inside the crater was made by a team led by Thomas Hargrove in 1986 to a depth of about 20 meters or 60 feet. There is even a tiny island in the Crater Lake which Hargrove's team also explored.
Unlike the Crater Lake, it is safe to swim to the surrounding lake of the volcano since this is a fresh water lake. The marine life study of Taal Lake indicates that the body of water here may have been, in fact, salt water in pre-historic time. Even today, one can dive to uniform depth of 30 feet all around the lake-bottom and still find traces of an ancient beach littered with seashells.
The whole area itself including the surrounding province of Cavite and Batangas was once part of an immense pre-historic volcano estimated to be 18,000 feet high which erupted violently and collapsed into a caldera with a channel opening towards Balayan Bay. Between 1572 to the present, more than 41 eruptions have been recorded with the great eruption of 1754 lasting close to six months. Just like Mt. Pinatubo, it darkened the skies over Manila for days, that people during that time literally walked around the city carrying lanterns even at 10:00 in the morning. It is most probable that this eruption finally closed the open channel to the sea that allowed the accumulation of fresh water from rainfall leading to the formation of Taal Lake.
With this backgrounder, it is no wonder that Taal Lake is home to the only known species of sea snake that inhabits fresh water, Hydrophis semperi. Even the fish called maliputo and tawilis are saltwater fish-like in characteristics. According to Peter J.P. Whitehead of the British Museum of Natural History, tawilis "is the only species of Sardinella that is found mainly in fresh water." Dr. Dioscoro Rabor even confirms that sharks once swam Taal Lake's water. He studied their biology personally before their extermination by overfishing in the 1930's.
Excerpt from Trek to Taal Volcano
by Milo Villabroza, Pilipinas Sierra on
Philippine Journey at www.aenet.org/treks/taaltrek
By Arthur Fitton
To many of us the beauty of the Philippines is found in various forms.
Firstly, and the most obvious to us all, is the inherent beauty found in the Filipina.
To those of us who have previously only understood the western culture, we marvel at a race of people whose women have never lost their femininity and the wonderful charm that all women once possessed. At first contact we are amazed that such wonderful women exist after having had our experiences with the ball bearing, self seeking egotistical fat whales of the west walking around as pretend men, so it is indeed a pleasant shock to the system to actually find a feminine female and gorgeous to boot!
To add further, they actually find us attractive irrespective of our age and whilst some of us may initially believe that it is because of the money in our pockets, that really only accounts for a small minority although it is hard sometimes to pick the genuine from the faker. Those filipinas from the rural areas with the least contact to city life are more probable to be pure culturally.
Secondly, the wonderful culture that ensures everyone has a place.
Taking pride of place in the culture is the family. This is a two edged sword to a westerner as being part of a family you
will have family duties and many happy and joyful occasions. Parties at any excuse and many family visitors but also family members may call upon you to exceed the bounds of reasonableness which I will not cover in this topic but are necessary to be known about. Courting a Filipina without having learned anything about their culture is extremely hazardous to your future relationship. Learn the culture here by asking questions.
Thirdly, The beauty of the Philippines.
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you are able to put aside the extremes of poverty and view the country with an insightful eye then you will see much beauty. Learn to smile because everyone smiles and tune up that voice of yours to join in the sing songs. Also don't hang out just in a condo or isolated environment. Get out and visit some of the 7000 islands that await you. You can do it all on a pittance.
Source: Good News Pilipinas / Inspirational View
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But that week is all over (fingers cross), thanks to many fellow Pinoy bloggers specially blogger here in the middle east that i'm learning to improve Kabayan Junction. I know that every road has it's obstacles that makes the journey more exciting, after surviving this all frustration will go away. Wish me luck!