More smiles: The faces of Tawi-Tawi

Traveling around the country, one can find a wide diversity of customs and traditions, dialects and languages. It's been said that the great impediment to the Filipino's unity is our diversity. While O tend to somehow see the connection, O am somewhat of a believer in the fact that where languages fail, a simple gesture like a warm, heartfelt smile can help us find a connection.In the end, it matters not if one is rich or poor, Muslim or Christian. Deep inside, we are all Filipinos and our smiling countenance and friendly spirit will shine through.

Tawi-Tawi: Bajaus colors and smiles

At first, there were a handful. the next moment, a throng -- kids of varying ages milled around me for a picture even before I reached the stilt village of the Bajaus in Bongao. It's mid-morning and the village looked like kidsville as most adults were in the marketplace or have gone fishing.The stilt alleys are abuzz with more kids, all eager to smile at their guests as we pass by. It sets me into thinking it must be amazing to spend one's childhood in a neighborhood suspended above the water. Then again, the Bajaus have a heritage associated with the water, a seafaring and nomadic history that dates back to a time when they would live in boathouses called lepa.Weaving our way through the main street, a kind old lady offered us her colorful banigs (straw mats) for 300 pesos. The colorful pieces and intricate weaves caught my eye; after all, the bajaus are really known for their weaving tradition. But I held off buying until we came to the end of the strip where we met with the village coordinator, Benita Joe. It was a good thing as she was selling her small banigs for just 200 pesos each. I would've love to buy the king-size mats if i had more money with me as i still sleep on the floor to this day. But bringing it home is also another tricky matter so no go.Heading back home, we waded through more happily-noisy kids. We may not understand each other's words but i guess a smile is enough to share and to know that we're brothers and sisters after all.  

Info: Bajau mats are more than just eye-candies; buying them also helps support the weaving tradition of the bajaus and provides them extra livelihood. mats with specified designs have to be ordered at least 3-5 days in advance. prices vary from P200 for small banigs suitable for framing to upwards of P1,500 for king-sized ones. contact Benita Joe, the Bajau village coordinator, at 0919.3905965.

Pagasinan: A glimpse of life in a shipbuilding town

The beauty of getting started early in the morning (it ain't the missed breakfast as no coffee shop is open at 5am out here) is having more time of the glorious morning hours to be in a new place, meet the friendly folks and observe how the day unfolds in a ship building town as Pagasinan.We found some of the menfolk sawing off slabs of wood along the strip where newer ships share space with decrepit, rundown ones. Local fishermen put out their fresh catch on the sidewalk while some women go around the neighborhood to peddle pails of fishes. The ever-present goats lay unmoving on the roadside, unperturbed by our coming. But not some of the residents who took an interest in their camera-toting guests, peering shyly (or not so shyly) from windows.

Pagasinan is more than a shipbuilding town though. according to wikipilipinas, It is the weekend capital of Bongao due to its white sand beaches. We weren't able to see any beach due to time constraints but we heard of the tale behind "Susulan Tawi-Tawi" (Tawi-Tawi Beach), a song said to be composed by an American soldier who fell in love with a princess. sounds like good material for another location movie shades of GMA Films' "Batanes" and "Ploning".Here are the lyrics of the song translated in Tagalog/Filipino (culled from the forum of singer Christian Bautista who sang a version of the song) 

Sa daan ng Tawi Tawi, nakasalubong ko ang mahinhin na babae, doon kami araw at gabi, sa daan ng Tawi Tawi hanggang siya ay umuwi, hinalikan ko siya lumuha ang kanyang mata, ang pag iyak n'ya nakakabighani

Ang mga masayang naranasan namin noon, hanggang sa nagdaan ang mga taon, nag-aantay ako sa kanya, sa daan ng Tawi Tawi 

Truly, the place and its people are beautiful to have inspired such a song.

Tawi-Tawi: Sunrise sunset at Sanga-Sanga

It was nearly sunset when we left Balobok and emerged from out of the brush. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to catch even a wisp of the fading light, we stopped by the bridge on Sanga-Sanga.We promised to get a glimpse of the sunrise one day soon. And come back we did, after just a day. We set out early before the deep blue of twilight change to the lightening blue hues of daybreak. The nearby fishing villages were still asleep. our friends from the Tourism office were probably wiping off the sleep from their eyes while casually mentioning the snake crossing the bridge at that early hour.Just like the hospitality and warmth of the people of Bongao, the beautiful sunrise is one of the things truly worth coming back for.

Scenes from the Chinese pier • Bongao, Tawi-Tawi

It would've looked just like any of the Manila piers -- boats moored on the side, stores lining up the embankment, tricycles noisily ferrying incoming and outgoing passengers -- but the houses on stilts and the crescent moon of a mosque gave it away. Welcome to the Chinese pier in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.  From what i gleaned, this is the other pier apart from the one where the fastcrafts and ferries from Zamboanga are docked.I n the daylight hours, it is a hub of commerce (fringed by coffee shops and market stalls) and transport (where the smaller crafts bound for simunul and the other nearby islands are docked). I'm wondering if this pier was named as such because like the one in Jolo, This place has become the receiving end of the exodus of thousands of Chinese residents in Manila who left because of the Spanish restrictions in the mid-1700s.Strip away the fact that we're in Tawi Tawi and one realize this place can be a scene in South Harbor, where young kids jostle with adult boatmen for ferrying passengers. As in Manila, kids are not spared from helping eke a living to help feed the family. The sky was overcast all afternoon and towards the late noon, precipitation fell and we had to run for cover in one of the agal-agal (seaweed) bodegas. The shrill blasts of the AM radio on the tricycles persisted through the squall. Boats kept waiting for last-minute passengers. children continued to loiter the busy alleys. rain or no rain, life sails on.

Going back in time at Balobok

With the wedding engagement over and done by mid-afternoon, we were itching to make up for our Simunul island hop as it was still early in the day to do nothing while waiting for the sunset. Kit, the tourism operations officer suggested we go caving to Balobok. The tourism staff were kind and hospitable to look for a suitable vehicle; we were just going to pay for the fuel, so who are we to refuse?We passed through the airport runway (now undergoing lengthening in preparation for welcoming bigger planes and more visitors perhaps) in the university town of Sanga Sanga and after that the road became bumpier by the minute. We passed through a rough coastal road that snakes through the forest, passing through several communities who were perhaps surprised to see visitors at that late time of day.The Tourism Council have very good reasons to want us to see the cave and realize its significance.T he excavation on the site revealed that archaelogical materials that reveal details of the prehistory of the Philippines. The discovery of artifacts and implements made from the giant clam as well as animal remains intimate that the Balobok Rock Shelter played a role in the movement of people into the Southwest Pacific. The prehistoric layers identified at the site belong to the Neolitihic period or the New Stone Age. The discovery of animal remains carbon dated to be about 8,810-5,190 years old is evidence of one of the earliest habitation in the region. Alas, the artifacts and animal remains are no longer in Bongao but are under the care of the National Museum. These will be returned to  Tawi Tawi if and when it finally have a museum of its own. I secretly wonder when that time will come.Info: If you want to visit the Balobok Rock Shelter, coordinate with the Tourism Council Office: Salvacion Pescadera, Prov. Tourism Officer at 0910.6716367 or Sirikit Arip, Supervising Tourism Operation Officer at 0919.4325553. a heavy-duty vehicle is needed to negotiate the very rough trail; it is only advisable to visit the shelter during the dry season.

Rules of engagement: Preparing for a Moslem wedding in Bongao

Descending Bud Bongao was trickier with the slippery trail, taking longer than we expected. We arrived late for our boat crossing over to Simunul island. With the foreboding rain clouds casting a grey mood over the landscape, we decided to stay in Bongao and relent to an invitation to attend a Moslem engagement ceremony.I t just so happened that the son of the Tourism Council head, Ma'am Salve, is getting engaged to a beautiful moslem lass.I've only read about ceremonies like this in the books so we were curious. as Kit, the Tourism Operations Officer, describes it, this would mark the formal announcement of the couple's engagement along with the turnover of the dowry.

Whereas a Christian engagement would have the parents gather together for the formal announcement, the Moslem way calls for representatives of both parties to do it on their behalf as friends, relatives and neighbors play witness.

Apart from money and jewelry, there was also an offering of a truckload of foodstuff wrapped in festive colored wrappers. Oh, and there's also overflowing food and drinks for the guests as both Moslems and Christians (the groom-to-be is Christian) celebrate together, a picture of brotherhood and unity.

Of prayer knots, wishes and hikers on Bud Bongao

"You've never really been to Tawi Tawi until you've climbed Bud Bongao," so says our guide, Ben, as we set out on an overcast morning. It was a sentiment echoed by the staff of the local Tourism Council and it was easy to see why. While not particularly high at 397 meters according to my buddy's GPS (314 according to references), Mt. Bongao stands imposingly, visible from any point in town as if guarding it from harm.

We took a short tricycle ride to the jump-off in Pasiagan, lugging bunches of bananas.F rom the beginning, the trail was slippery from consecutive days of start-stop-start rainfall during the afternoons.T he 1.5-2 hour long climb is described in the reference books as hot and dry during the summer months. But now, it's hot and humid as we made our way through the thick forest cover.Past midway, the trees rustle even though there was little wind. Then, the shrieks came - guttural and insistent. The leaves part and reveal the macaques, expecting us to give them their fill of bananas to which we happily oblige. Pretty soon, the air is filled with their grunts. The monkeys are considered sacred by the locals, superstition dictates that those who touch or harm them awaits misfortune. The higher we climbed, the less boisterous they become which is well and good as we quickly ran out of bananas.On the first clearing, we found the first of three tampats or holy resting places. An imam awaits sojourners here like the families who followed us on the trail. They take off their slippers before entering the tampat. One parent bears a sick daughter, bidding the imam to give a blessing and summoning the mountain for healing.

On the way back down, Ben points out many branches knotted with all sorts of tying materials -- plastic wrappers, twine, branches. these are sort of "prayer" or "wish" knots as sojourners pray and make a wish then bind this with a knot. no one dares remove any of the knots for fear of retribution or worse, becoming the cause of a wish to go unfulfilled.I must've tied several knots with branches before we continued our descent and enjoying the vantage point afforded by the elevation. It's a heady feeling to survey Tawi Tawi from this high, even headier to feel the mountain's energy course through our beings.

In between travels: The legend of Elvis lives on in Enchanted Kingdom

Lagalog is a bit tied up with work and commitment so I think a short post is in order in beween travel stories. Anyway, I'll let you in on a secret - O share my birthday with the rock and roll king, Elvis. So when I got the chance to go to the Elvis mania event in Enchanted Kingdom last Saturday in commemoration of the king's birth month, I can only happily oblige to have fun going down music memory lane.With the current state of pop music, it's really amazing how the elvis legend lives on. 14 Elvis fanatics paraded and strutted their stuff, most in their 50's and 60's but in the end, the younger generation won when twentysomething Eric Alvarez of Laguna swept the judges and spectators' fancy with an updated Elvis look (no flared pants here), killer pipes and mean dance moves. Ed Agbayari and Jun Capili took the runner-up honors to lead the charge of the older but still hipswaying generation. Kudos to Enchanted Kingdom for partnering with the Elvis Presley Friendship Club for this tribute.Enchanted Kingdom has lined up this and many other events to keep EK fanatics busy leading to the 2009 summer season. for more info, email [email protected] or call 830.2111-16.