Who said summer is over? The sun is sometimes shy but that doest stop a beach bum like you to visit you favorite Summer destination right?

Havaianas is giving away one cool inflatable slipper designed raft to one lucky comment posters on this blog.

Win a Havaianas Flip-Float Raft

The comment poster with the most interesting answer will win a huge Havaianas inflatable gigantic slipper rafts that you can bring and use on your next summer beach escapade. Continue Reading

Apart from the intact T’boli culture and wonderful sceneries, a different kind of adventure will soon be experienced by tourists in Lake Sebu in South Cotabato.

Lake Sebu is known for its natural lake and home to the indigenous T’bolis, Tirurays, Ubos and Manobo tribes.

Beautiful Lake Sebu

This southwestern Mindanao’s summer capital also have a majestic waterfalls called Seven Falls.

According to reports, talks between the provincial government and the investor already started last week about the proposed cable car tours at the Seven Falls located in Lake Sebu town.

Colorado Springs has their own version of seven falls but South Cotabato’s version is totally different. Imagine a series of river drops along the lush mountain forest that’s located in approximately 1,00 meters above sea level. Continue Reading

Finally the Aliwan 2009 winners were announced yesterday in Quirino Grand Stand where the three day event was culminated. Aliwan Fiesta is undoubtedly the biggest and the grandest Festival of Festivals in the Philippines and probably in Asia gathering 21 contingents from different parts of the country. The 7th edition of the Aliwan street dancing competition started at around 4:15pm in front of the Aliw Theater in CCP Complex.

The competition featured different festival street dances, huge and colorful floats from various key cities of the Philippines. The three day fun filled Aliwan 2009 attracted a huge number of tourists and photographers who keeps on following this grand event year after year.

Dinagyang Festival in Aliwan

Yesterday, Pakalog sa Pasig and Ibon Ebon festival of Candaba Pampanga was awarded for having the Best Festival Costume. As expected the panel of Judges had a hard time choosing the Aliwan Street Dancing Competition winners. Continue Reading

Unfortunately, I was not able to take more Aliwan 2009 Photos. I arrived late in CCP complex and most good spots was already taken by fellow photographers. I ended up shooting in a corner which is too far from the stage.

Of all the contingents that I have witnessed, I was really amazed on Dinagyang Festival’s performance. Good choreography, colorful and authentic costumes and the drum beat makes the performance more lively

IloIlo Dinagyang in Aliwan Fiesta

Another Dinagyang shot, Isn’t it obvious that I really love Dinagyangs performance? haha Continue Reading

This will be my first Aliwan coverage and I’m really excited to know who will be the 2009 Aliwan Fiesta 2009 Winners.

The Aliwan Fiesta 2009 is definitely one of the Philippines biggest and grandest celebration showcasing different festivals in the Philippines. I will finally witness the wonderful performances and colorful costumes from some of the festivals that I haven’t seen yet.

Kadayawan sa Davao

Photos of Aliwan 2009

Stay tuned….

Aliwan 2009 Winners

The youth travelers around the world are now gaining ground as they are now considered as a target market by tourism organizations around the world.

The Philippine Department of Tourism started the campaign early as they recently launched “Awesome Philippines” in partnership with MTV Pilipinas in their segment called MTV Revelations.

Awesome Philippines Tourism Campaign

Yesterday, I was invited to attend in the launch of the tourism campaign together with fellow Travel Bloggers and other blogger friends. Finally, our very own tourism movers are now convinced that th “New Media” is indeed a perfect and effective medium for local and international marketing campaign. Continue Reading

Gaining high recognitions as the Top 5 Best Diving Area, Top 10 Most Desirable Destination, Best Dive Resort (Bohol Tropics), and Favorite Dive Operator (Blue Coral, Cebu), the Philippines continues to be an acknowledged marine explorer’s haven. The awards were based on a survey participated in by more than 50,000 dive enthusiasts in Japan.

The list of top ten dive sites also includes Maldives, Palau, Ishigaki Island; Saipan, Okinawa Island, Zamami Island, French Polynesia, Mizako Island, and Guam. Given at the recent 17th Marine Diving Fair (MDF) held in Tokyo, the largest diving fair in Asia, the MDF Awards are among the highly-acknowledged commendations for must-visit dive destinations in the world.

Philippine Dive Spots

“There are more than 1 million Japanese divers who annually travel worldwide returning to their familiar dive spots or in search of new locations. The country gaining momentum in this niche activity signals our strong efforts in making people aware of the Philippines’ diverse marine life that is worthy of every traveler’s discovery,” according to Tourism Secretary Ace Durano.

He added, “The Department of Tourism (DOT) sees these achievements as a positive result of the promotional campaigns specifically targeted for this market segment. Arrivals from Japan are seen to rise during the summer months as more vacation packages and even lower fares are being offered.” Continue Reading

Traveling throughout the Philippines’ 7,107 islands has never been easier, thanks to the Road Roll-on/Roll-off (RORO) Terminal System (RRTS), a nationwide transport system that continues to be a boon to Philippine tourism and trade.

The RRTS connects various provinces across the islands throughout the Philippines, thus facilitating public access to popular tourist summer destinations such as Boracay, Puerto Galera, Mactan, Panglao Island, Camiguin, Siargao Island, and Dakak. This land-sea linked connection also significantly reduces the cost of travel as travelers can drive and bring their cars aboard RORO-passenger ferries.

DBP Interisland Race Route

Upon reaching the port of destination, the cars can simply “roll-off” the ferry and continue travel via land. Bus liners also offer multiple daily trips across the country, with private van transport available from port to port. RORO-PAX ferries also accept walk-on passengers. Continue Reading

It was the day before Maundy Thursday when I finally decided to join a group who is visiting Sagada. Joining a group of people who are total strangers, personally, is a bit exciting especially for someone who loves to travel alone.

The Bus station located few blocks from my house was crowded when I arrived, so it was a good thing that the tour operator already chartered a bus for us though we still waited for almost an hour together with thousands of chance passengers. Our route is quite different from most Sagada bound tourists but I believe its much more interesting.

Sagada Landscape

Most tourist’s jumping off point to Sagada is Baguio City but we took the Banaue route. After almost 11 hours of travel and a stop over in Santa Fe Nueva Ecija Viscaya, we finally arrived in Banaue. Continue Reading

Moriones Festival is a unique and coloful festival celebrated yearly in the province of Marinduque. Morion means “mask” or “visor,” a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face.

This week-long celebration starts on Holy Monday and culminates on Easter Sunday when the story of Longinus is reenacted in pantomime. This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye.

Moriones Festival 2009

April 5, 2009 – Palm Sunday

5:00 am – Holy Mass in all Parishes
6:30 am – “Hosanahan” (Procession in all town centers celebrating Christ’s entry to Jerusalem with articipants showing off their gaily decorated palaspas, palm fronds) Continue Reading