⌛ Traveling in the Philippines

Seven years ago, I was in Tacloban City as part of a secretariat team that conducted a workshop on agribusiness. On our first night, we went to dinner at a restaurant and rode in a van back to our hotel. From the vehicle window, I saw the radiant full moon shining along the stretch of the famous Tacloban coastline. I think it was the biggest and brightest full moon I had ever seen. It seemed so near that I could almost touch it. And the sea, blackened by the tranquil, cold night, was partly coruscating under the moonlight beam. I never forgot that moment. During times when I'm stressed out, I close my eyes to recall the serenity of that cool lovely evening.

When I was production manager of a weekly agribusiness telemagazine, we practically toured the whole country to document interesting stories in agribusiness. I remember when we were doing a feature story on agro-tourism, we went to the Floirendo-owned "Pearl Farm" in Samal island, Davao. By the time I landed in that white sand beach, where a giant pawikan (native giant Philippine turtle) was lazily crawling on the shore, I knew I had landed in paradise. "Pearl Farm" is a perfect haven for tourists and offers the best facilities in tropical leisure. I left the island mesmerized.

We also did a story on Philippine cutlfowers in Davao City. There I've been in and out of the biggest orchid farms owned by the Puentespinas, Alvarez's, and the Alcantaras. I've walked in hectares of blooming cattleyas and other popular orchid species and felt like I was in magical Shangri-la.

The first time I laid my eyes on Vigan, I thought I was still watching a period film on a large screen. There, century-old Spanish houses were sprawled on a long street while vintage kalesas and karitelas adorned the rustic town. Had the people worn camiso de chino and baro't saya, I could have said I have really stepped out of a time machine.

In far off Guimaras island in Iloilo, we visited an ultra serene monastery where I interviewed brother Sibayan, spokesman to the silent trappist monks. My first question was what exactly is a monk? When he replied: “A monk is a person who searches for God,” I was moved. It was my most fulfilling interview.

When traveling, the thrill is in the packing, but the pain is when one pays the bills. The excitement starts the moment the mode of transportation moves, but the real joy comes when one returns home. For all its hassles and fun, traveling rejuvenates, illuminates, enlightens, transforms and enriches the self. It is delicious and invigorating. As one writer aptly puts it, “traveling is a birthing of sorts.”