The Philippines is the lone Christian country in Southeast Asia. The majority of their 75 provinces swiftly caved into Jesus when Spain embarked on a short–lived Asian experiment in the 1650’s. In spite of that, six of those provinces — within a secluded mountain–range jungle in northern Luzon — fiercely resisted Spain’s take on God. The semi–tropical Cordillera is the country’s most rugged and least populated region and is still a thorny place to plot a route and get a haircut. Native Ifugao, Igorot and other pagan tribes remained warring headhunters until the 1950’s.
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Posts Tagged ‘department’
Ancient ways of life
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010Tags: access, affluence, age, Alas, alphabet, ancient ways, angle, archetypal, background, backpack, barber, barefoot, basketball, beginning, betel, birth, block, Blue, Boose, booty, bread, breather, buddy, business, camp, cement, Chase, chest, chicken, choice, colonial, community planning, cone, Continuously, Cordillera, country, couple, crime, cum, customer, cynicism, dawn, day, decade, decree, department, destination, Detention, detour, devotee, dilemma, distance, divide, dog, Drift, driver, dueling, DVD, DVDs, electricity, elevation, end, English, familial, family, flung, forehead, frenzy, friend, front, fuel, full time job, garden weed, Grandma, granola, ground, Haircut, hairdo, hillside, hip, history, hitchhike, hook, hoop, hour, house, husband, Hygee, Ifugao, ifugao tradition, import, irrigation technology, jungle, kid, leftover, length, Lessons, life, log, look, machete, man, Marching, Mario, mayan pyramid, Meliza, message, meth, mile, Modernity, monkey, Mother, motorcycle sidecar, mullet, needle, night, none, norm, northern luzon, nose, number, nut, onality, overtook, pagan tribes, pause, performance women, pile, point, population, pound, Practical, province, Pula, punishment, purse, quarter, reconfirm, redirect, resolve, rest, retaining walls, rice, rice paddies, rice paddy, rice terrace, rock, room, rope, runner, rustle, saddle, School, schoolhouse, Seemingly, Semi, side, skull, something, sound, state, steep mountainsides, stereo, stone, stone staircase, stream, stripmall, suggestion, Tapping, teacher, terrain, thievery, time, town, Traditional, trail, tree, trend, trickshooter, trouble, turf, Uncomfortable, vertical garden, village, waist, walk, warning, wave, way, whimsy, whitewater, wood, Woodstock, WWII, year, zone
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Hong Kong
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010Having spent over two-and-a-half straight years in the Chinese mainland without leave, it was with both anticipation and apprehension that I recently crossed the southern border into Asia’s wealthiest city.
Despite its one-stop-shopping popularity with Mainland expats needing new clothes and a new visa, I truly had no idea what to expect in the former crown colony that supposedly makes even rich men feel poor. Rather terrified of exacting reverse culture shock, I saved English-speaking Hong Kong and its “One Country, Two Systems” self for the tail end of my journey across the 32 Chinese provinces.
And it is here that all my preconceptions and fears about Hong Kong were – true. To quote the under-appreciated American writer, Thomas A. Carter (me!), upon his brief sojourn in the legendary Chinese city, “I’ve never felt more poor than when I was in Hong Kong. I’ve never felt more ugly than when I was in Hong Kong.”
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Tags: advice, afternoon, american writer, anticipation, apprehension, Arrive, asian girls, awe, Awoken, backpacker, bag, Bank, beard, blanket, Blinded, block, border, boy, break, Brits, cable, capitalism, cast, cell, Central, Chase, chatter, chinese city, chinese mainland, chinese provinces, city, colony, concrete block, country, Cross, crown, crown colony, crush, culture, Dafnit, date, day, department, descend, designer, dorm, dorm room, end, English, evening, excitement, facade, fantasy, fashion, Ferry, Fieldtrip, Filipino, flock, fun, girl, glimpse, gonna, Group, hair, half, head, hentai, Hey, hippest, idea, immaculate, indian women, information, introduction, jor, journey, KCR, klick, kogal, Kok, Kowloon, land, leave, LOOOVE, Louhu, luck, Lunch, mainland, Mansion, massage, miasma, microcosm, migrant, migrant worker, Mirador, mirador mansion, Mong, morning, name, narrative, nathan road, neon, neon lights, night, nobody, outfits, parlor, Pat, Peak, Peering, peninsula, photograph, place, pollution, popularity, preconceptions, price, railway, resplendent, reverse, reverse culture shock, rich men, ride, road, Rolls, romps, room, sand, saris, self, Sha, Shek, Shenzhen, shock, side, skyline, smoke, sojourn, southern border, southern peninsula, spitting, Star, sun, Sunday, tail, tongue, tower, tram, Tsim, TST, Tsui, underground, visa, vista, weekend, worker, writer
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Philippine Samal Island
Thursday, May 27th, 2010The alluring beauty of the Far East is seen not only through its contrasts of culture, lifestyle, and climate, but also through the way nature has brought it into being. It is where the sun rises. It is where oriental charm lives where many travelers have found the most interesting journey experience.
Among the hundreds of attractive islands in the Philippines, a few seem to stand above the rest. Off the southern most part of Mindanao is the enchanting Island of Samal. Its unspoiled tropical beauty, serene surroundings, and wildlife treasures have enticed countless international visitors each year.
Since its rowdy beginnings in the early Spanish regime, the island within the Gulf of Davao was named “Samal” in recognition of the settlers who migrated from Jolo and Basilan, the Islamic Tribal Group or “Isamal”. Historical records from its tourism department show that, in the early years, indigenous people from the northern and eastern coasts of undivided Davao province settled Samal Island.
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Tags: abundant marine life, Accommodations, Ace, alluring beauty, archipelago, area, attractive islands, attractive spots, Bar, Basilan, Beach, beauty, being, Brit, Century, charm, Christianity, climate, coastline, coconut, coconut palms, contour, country, cove, culture, Datu, davao gulf, davao province, December, department, Durano, earth, eastern coasts, enchanting island, environment, ethnicity, executive, existence, exp, experience, Filipino, flora and fauna, Form, fruit bearing, government, grange, Group, hectare, hillside, Historical, identification, IGaCoS, Indo, indo pacific, Isamal, Islamic, island, Japanese, Jolo, journey, June, land, landscape, life, lifestyle, Mandayas, Mansakas, Maranao, March, market, May, Mindanao, minute, motorboat, nature, nuance, number, offer, paradise, Parola, part, path, Pavillion, Philippine, photography, place, population, province, rain, Rainy, recognition, regime, region, resident, Resort, rest, retreat, ride, Rizza, rock, round, Sama, samal island, sand beaches, Santa, scuba, sea, seafood, season, Secretary, serene surroundings, share, shopping, show, side, site, spa, spanish regime, spokesperson, spot, staff, starting, sun, sunset, time, today, tourism, tourist, Tourists, tranquil, treatment, Tribal, Tribe, turquoise, unexplored depths, unspoiled tropical beauty, vacation, vegetation, view, Visayas, visit, War, warmest, way, wildlife, wildlife treasures, windy, World, world war ii, year
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