Category Archives: been there

monasterio de tarlac

Posted by rob on

last week, my ma invited me to join her and my father to visit monasterio de tarlac, a monastic community of the servants of the risen christ which houses a relic of a fragment of the holy cross of jesus.  the relic itself is inside an arqueta (an ornate box) found in the chapel of the monastery.  i have read that twice a year, this relic is open for public viewing.

queen helena, mother of emperor constantine, in her journey to the holy land in 312 ad, had the temple dedicated to venus destroyed.  uncovered was christ’s sepulcher and three crosses.  to discern which of the crosses was christ’s, they were brought to a gravely ill woman.  when she touched the third cross, she got healed—a sign that this was the true cross of jesus. following the fall of constantinople, fragments of the cross were divided among the knights as booty and were distributed to churches and monasteries in europe. sixteen centuries later, a relic of the true Cross, now encased in a silver arqueta engraved with christian symbols associated with the crucifixion, lies in the chapel of the holy cross in the peaceful and quiet monasterio de tarlac.

from hacienda luisita in tarlac, it took us an hour drive to reach lubigan, san jose  and the place itself is located in the mountaintop, offering a scenic view of the towns of tarlac.  the monastery also has a 30 foot statue of the risen christ.

more pictures of the monastery can be found on my other post, ‘revisiting the monastery’.

lazydog boracay

Posted by rob on

i usually just surf the internet to find places to stay whenever i travel locally, and lucky for me, the ones that i chose have been okay like ‘apo idon’ in pagudpud and ‘dangkalan resort’ in puerto princesa.

i went to boracay last april and i opted for a bed and breakfast place – lazydog boracay.  lazydog is located a few steps from bulabog beach, known in the island for activities in wind sports such as kiteboarding.

as they have described their place in their website being  “a comfortable and friendly bed and breakfast offering home comforts and flexibility at a budget price” – is honestly true.  the rooms are squeaky clean (no crawling insects, clean beddings, with air conditioner, cable television and working wi-fi!) and the staff are wonderful.

you can make your booking request through their website at www.lazydogboracay.com.

life is a beach

Posted by rob on

boracay, at last!  it’s just that everytime a foreign co-worker asks me about it i get too embarassed to say that i have never been in the island.  being a filipino, i think it is expected that i can tell them something about it and the best way is to experience being there.

so after almost half an hour flight from manila, i found myself in caticlan and after a few more minutes made it in boracay island.  it was literally summer hot.  the place that i stayed for three days was a few steps from bulabog beach, eastward of the island, which is mainly an area for windsurfing and kiteboarding.  you wouldn’t see a lot of  tourists in the area unlike the main tourism beach which is white beach.

white beach, opposite of bulabog beach has everything.  all tourism-related establishments that i can think of can be found here.  i had a good italian dinner at don vito’s, a cheap meal at andoks, coffee and refreshing drinks to beat the heat at starbucks, hallowich and cafe del sol, and henna tats for $2!

nightlife is very impressive – a number of bars kept the night alive which includes live bands.  i had a few beers at coco loco bar (i was unsuccessful to go loco, though! hehe.), and walked barefoot alone by the beach, just enjoying the moment by myself.

. . i hope to get a chance to be in boracay again sometime next year.