Jumpers

Daredevils jumped off the 15-meter high Bunga Falls in Nagcarlan, Laguna, Philippines. The catch basin is around 10 meters deep.

Enjoy the cool mountain stream amidst the howling of videoke and several rounds of lambanog courtesy of friendly locals.

April 5, 2010

Basketball at the Town Plaza

After making the rounds in Paete, I bought a pack of Oreos and two lliters of bottled water for dinner and went back to the nearby town of Pakil that took me 10 minutes by tricycle (P40, special rate at 11pm).

Before proceeding to my rented room in homey two-storey apartelle beside Pakil Church (Oliver Apartelle, P900 for 12 hours of stay, check in anytime of the day or night), I checked out the town plaza and here are the town's youngters doing some hoops at the dying hours of Good Friday.

Unfortunately, the facade of the Pakil Church is too faint on the video. If only I have a better camera, the beautiful house of worship, lovingly preserved, should dominate in the background.

Please note the moon has just risen from the edge of the mountain, on the upper right field of the video.

Techie Catholics

Hindi na sapat ang simpleng pagpupunas ng panyo. O ang pakikipag-agawan sa mga bulaklak at dahong pumalamuti sa karo ng mga santo matapos ang prusisyon. Kailangan may picture or video rin ang mga deboto para masabing nasaan man sila, kasama nila ang Panginoon.

St. James The Apostle Church of Paete, Laguna. Good Friday.

Uso Pa Ba ang Fasting Tuwing Kwaresma?

I admit: I had hotsilog plus extra rice and three pieces of siomai to refuel myself at this popular tapsilogan after a day of long walk under the sun and some more hours at night walking along the route of the procession.

Paete, Laguna, Good Friday.

Dead Christ in Paete, 2

Pace in sync, this band of able-bodied men in Paete, Laguna carries a finely curved wooden statue of the Dead Christ in an intricately adorned casket. The prusisyon took four hours to go through the labyrinth of the poblacion's narrow streets.

Dead Christ in Paete

Paete, Laguna, Black Friday of April 2, 2010

Procession of Saints

Paete, Laguna, Good Friday, April 4, 2010

Fish be with them

I embarked on a three-day bahala na sojourn in Laguna over the Lenten weekend and I saw myself making stop overs to experience local color in four towns.

I didn't have wheels to mobilize my wander lust self and I didn't get one of those packaged commercial trips. It's practically all under my guts and modest pocket money.

The routes were spontaneous and off the beaten path that eventually led me to meet people asking me why I was traveling alone. I also did get point blank questions from nosy but gentle folks. And also some shots of lambanog and some shots of wisdom from these kind strangers.

Although sometimes, it's nice to be veiled by a shroud of mystery, letting one's guard down will help ease things and be welcomed in their turf.

This post starts a series of video and photo I made during my retreat in Laguna. Here's a video taken in Paete, Laguna, on Good Friday of 2010, a few minutes past three in the afternoon. They are mamalakaya preparing their fishnets and would sail into the Laguna Lake at sunset. They' ll be back at sunrise the next day. They were working on a holiday and I heard no complaint.