My Epic Christmas

The most memorable Christmas I ever had. SO FAR.

Bye Bye beautiful mountains of Benguet

Road trip to Nueva Vizcaya

My family and I spent our Christmas break by going home to our wonderful province, Nueva Viscaya. We went there for several purposes; not only for spending our time to have our informal reunion with our relatives but also to execute our culture as highlanders (Igorot). We called for a mambunong (healer) to lead our praying session to our dead relatives for their souls.

The adorable dog watching over the meat

And for me to enjoy my Christmas vacation there; I, my cousins, and aunt went to the river to collect some stones and to capture some photos. We sure had fun! But the stone collection is kinda my aunt’s idea. We also had our swimming lesson down the river and we stayed in the hanging bridge looking for the relaxing sceneries.

The river road of Canarem, Nueva Vizcaya

The river flows

The “vagina” like flower

Discovering a little cute tornado like in the canal.

In our way home, we saw a traumatic accident happened along the road. We saw the victims coming up from the cliff where their jeepney fell. Luckily, no one died although all of the passengers got hurt. But there is one of the passengers who is seriously hurt and one of them is crying, worried about her father. From our car, we immediately came down and help them. Taking care and helping the victims calm down while my uncles went down the cliff helping the passenger ,who is badly hurt, to get out below the jeepney because it fell right in front of him right after he jumped from the window. So, we call the police and the ambulance but what do you expect? They are late as usual just like in the Filipino movies. So we used our car to take the victims to the hospital and we are left in the scene.

The jeepney which encountered accident

The dog ( I believe) is an angel watching over the passengers. This dog came from nowhere.

This is where the accident happened.

The late ambulance picking up the remaining victims.

After the police and the ambulance came, we left and went home. When we are in the road, I was praying for the victims to be fine. I nearly cried when I saw the accident. It was my first time seeing an accident just in front of me. I don’t know what to do, I am panicking as well. And by that, I thought that maybe I can help them through my prayers. After that, we had some stopovers to eat and to have some photo shoot then we went home safely.

Road going home to Benguet. PRAYING.

Last glimpse of the Ambuklao dam.

ADIVAY: Cultural Fest of the North

Cordillerean warrior woodcarving

ADIVAY FESTIVAL- Adivay is an Ibaloi word meaning thanksgiving and unity. Adivay festival is celebrated every November wherein the 13 municipalities of Benguet gather together. These 13 municipalities are: Atok, Bakun, Bokod, Buguias, Itogon, Kabayan, Kapangan, Kibungan, La Trinidad, Mankayan, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay. The municipality of La Trinidad is the center and capital of the province of Benguet, Philippines. It is also where the Adivay festival is held every year.

Rodolf visits the province of Benguet (day version)

Rodolf visits the province of Benguet. (night version)

The Adivay Festival preserves the Benguet’s cultue and marks the province 112^th foundation festival. Some Benguet’s cultures that are shown during the festival are tayaw (native dance), playing the instruments gangsa (gongs) and solibao (native drum), wearing of native attires, and dongba ni kabajo (race of horses).

The Adivay Festival also composed of competitions between the 13 municipalities such as landscapes, booths, dance competitions and others.

Creative waterfalls landscape

The munipality of Atok’s wonderful landscape (day version)

Another amazing waterfalls landscape

Another amazing landscape made during the Adivay Fest

The municipality of Buguias’ booth with a large carrot attached

The municipality of Itogon’s booth showing their Christmas motif

The municipality of Atok’s booth with their homemade products such as baskets

The municipality of Bokod’s booth with their products as well such as native necklaces

The municipality of Mankayan’s simple yet beautiful booth

The municipality of Tuba’s booth full of rice wines, peanut butters and other homemade products

The municipality of La Trininidad dancing “tayaw” (native dance)

Aim high! DREAM HIGH!

One of my dreams- garden/landscape, man’s best friend, lovely house, awesome horse, and fast and furious car

DREAMS DO COME TRUE. I listed these precious and valuable things for me to fulfill in the future. I always wanted to make these things come true as part of my accomplishments and as part of my life. The photos show some of my dreams and these are: a garden, a dog, house, horse, and a car. A lovely garden is one of my dreams. For me to create my own landscape, to plant floras and vegetables, and to appreciate nature. I love working with soil and I just love planting because it feels good in doing something for the mother earth. Dogs are my favorite pet and I love taking care of them. I treat them like a family and they are really man’s best friend. So, I listed dog (specifically SIBERIAN HUSKY) in my wishing list to have a companion in my journey of life and to have my very own best friend. A lovely house is one of my dreams for me to show my parents what I had built as well as returning the favor to them by living there comfortably and enjoyably. Horses are common in Benguet and because of that I wanted to pet them and try to take care of them. I just love animals and I wanted them to be part of my life.  Lastly, an awesome CAR. Cars are very useful today and so I wanted to buy one someday for easy transportation. One day, I am going to buy a car that is very unique and cool then I am going to pimp it like in the TV show PIMP MY RIDE. Then these things go to my wishing list and I hope I can fulfill all these someday. These serve as my inspiration and I wish all these to come true!

Unseen Beauties of Itogon, Benguet

My Beloved Province.

The beautiful mountains with the effect of striking blue color of Itogon, Benguet

The excellent place to relax

Itogon, Benguet is a province wherein  plantation of oranges is also seen. The province is mountainous, peaceful, and beautiful.  People living here are organized, friendly, hospitable, kind, and family-oriented.

Conserved yet beautiful.

My family and I went to our lovely province, Itogon, last November 1, 2012. We went there to visit and say hello to our relatives who passed away. They are my grandfather, grandmother, uncles, and cousin.  We clean their graves then lit candles for them to have light and offer food for them to eat. In our culture, we believe that souls are watching over us and they need to be treated like they are still living so we offer them food and we talk to them in normal conversation. Our family and relatives do these every year to solemnly celebrate All Saints Day. We love our relatives who passed away and we missed them so much. So, by doing these, we can still feel their presence around us. We prayed for them and gather once again to offer them our love and to let them feel that we never forget them in our lives. They played big important role in ourlives and so we’re giving back their favors by remembering them for the rest of our lives.

In 10 o’clock in the morning, we arrive there and we start preparing the food, fetching water, and cleaning and repainting their graves. Even though it was a busy day, we still enjoyed working together. After finishing everything, we started praying for their souls and offering them food.  We also eat our lunch together then later wash the dishes.  Then our Itogon adventure begins. We went to the mountain, feel the pine breeze, and relax for a little bit. The air is so fresh and you can even smell nature from everywhere.  You can feel the peacefulness and purity of the province. You can even appreciate the flowers scattered in the area and it so pretty. The pine trees are so cool; you can even find art in each of it. You can also view the famous Mt. Pulag from a distant and it is so wonderful. It is also a perfect place for mountain climbing. You can also enjoy the sunset and the view as well. My province is totally diverse and maybe one day, you will visit this wonderful province of mine and see it for yourself. 😀

Pine trees stand tall.

Bamboos in a row

A bright blue violet flower that brightens your day

The beautiful and colorful flower seen everywhere in Itogon.

A Euphorbia flower that blooms gracefully

The flower that attracts by its color

The pine tree and its branches

Can you see the art in these trees?

Hello world!

I am just new here and I don’t know yet how to blog. But I want this so badly and I’m trying my best to learn it. Looking forward in blogging.  And I hope I’ll meet new friends here. Hwaiting 🙂