Celebrating the Precious Christmas Moments.

Christmas is approaching and celebrating it is one of the favorites of Filipinos. So if you're asking if where is the perfect place to celebrate Christmas here in Panay? - Well it's no other than the Sampaguita Gardens!

Sampaguita Gardens has become famous for celebrating Christmas all year round, and the everyday Christmas theme has become a much-awaited tradition among resort regulars  and tourists when the -ber months begin. So what are you waiting? Start celebrating a fun and exciting precious Christmas moment!

Sampaguita Gardens is a resort located in New Washington, Kalibo, Aklan. Founded by Sam Butcher, this resort is the perfect place for celebrating the Yuletide Christmas Season.

Not only with different types of rooms to stay depending on your budget,  rooms of the resort  truly provide guests with a distinctive appeal and comfort. With a home-like environment, you'll surely feel cozy while staying in Sampaguita Gardens.

What's really more exciting and fun in the resort is their Recreational Facilities and Amenities.

Exotic Delicacy of Kalibo

I asked my Aklanon friend to bring me to a peaceful place in Kalibo where I can be one with nature. And in a split, he brought me to one of the tourist destinations in their town, and that is the Bakhawan Eco-Park located at New Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan. 

For the first timers like me, the Bakhawan Eco-Park is a 220-hectare mangrove forest.The mangrove reforestation project started in 1990 when the local government and several non-government organizations transformed the muddy shoreline of Brgy. New Buswang into a mangrove reforestation site to prevent flood and storm surges in the community. The park is dubbed as the Philippines' most successful mangrove reforestation project.

As of today, the Bakhawan Eco-Park is considered as one of the most popular tourist attractions in Kalibo. The centerpiece of the Eco-Park is a 1.3-kilometer wooden trail that takes visitors deep into the mangrove forest.  There are parts of the trail where they provided small cottages for people to rest or have a picnic.

The park is an ideal destination for Eco-Tourism, it is home to different species of mangrove trees and it serves as a sanctuary for various types of birds and marine species. Other features in the park includes a watchtower, souvenir shop, canteen, massage area, charcoal briquetting, picnic huts and a Center for International Mangrove Studies.

But what really took my attention was when I saw group of men gathering in a decaying mangrove. I got serious so I approached them. And I was surprised to see a big worm! The locals call it tamilok. Tamilok is an invertebrate with case of identity crisis. Other locals call it mangrove snake and some call it a woodworm. But in scientific taxonomy, it is a mollusk (shocking, right?)

But what shocked me the most is that they eat it!!! And with the insist of my dear friend, I tried it myself, too.

Just like kinilaw, they put the tamilok in a vinegar. (But of course, they cleaned it first)

To be honest, it doesn't look good. But when I tasted it... YUM! 

Dipped in a bowl of vinegar garnished with onions, garlic, and peppers, tamilok tastes like seawater made into jelly. It also tasted like an oyster in some other way.

So the next time you dropped by Kalibo, why not go to to Bakhawan Eco-Park and and try their exotic delicacy!

The best Festival!

There's no doubt that festival is a part of the Filipino culture.Through good times and bad time, Filipinos have taught of ways to celebrate and feast. But of all the festivals celebrated in the country, my favorite is the mother of all festival - the Ati-atihan Festival. 

History (from official Kalibo website - http://kalibo.gov.ph/site-page)
A thirteenth century (c.1200 A.D.) event explains the origins of the mother of all festivals. According to history, a group of ten Malay chieftains called Datus, fleeing from the island of Borneo settled in the Philippines. These datus were granted settlement by the native Ati people, the tribes of Panay Island. The Ati-Atihan was originally a pagan festival from this tribe practicing Animism, and their worshiping their anito god. Spanish missionaries gradually added a Christian meaning to it - the Sr. Sto Nino of Kalibo. And up today, the Ati-Atihan is celebrated as a religious festival.

Celebrated every third week of January, Ati-atihan festival is held at Kalibo City in Aklan where vibrant and colorful indigenous costumes parade along the streets of the city, loud and lively tribal dance will surely entice you to groove and join the fun. For years, Ati-atihan festival has been one of the most anticipated event here in asia that even foreign countries take time to visit and witness this glorious event.

What i enjoy most about this festival is that a lot like the mardi gras, everyone has the freedom to dance in the streets and wear unique and peculiar costumes. Shouting for joy and praising the Sr. Sto. Nino of Kalibo, Aklanons and even toursists truly enjoy the Ati-atihan Festival.

Sadsad as what the locals call, people gather in the streets with charcoal in their faces and body and start dancing in the streets with rhythmic beats of drums. Even if you're not a dance, you just couldn't thumping and moving with the lively drum beats. 

So what are you waiting for? Why not try Ati-atihan Festival and see it for yourself!

talk about sweets

A rice cake is said to be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten, and are particularly prevalent in Asia. Common variations include cakes made with rice flour, those made from ground rice, and those made from whole grains of rice compressed together or combined with some other binding substance.Rice cake is one one the specialties in Aklan. They have a lot varieties of rice cakes and here are some of my favorite. 

Latik is a glutinuous rice cooked in coconut milk with a topping of desiccated medium-aged coconut cooked in kalamay and wrapped in banana leaves. A perfect snack with a hot cup of coffee.

Ibos is a steamed gluttonous rice with coconut milk artfully wrapped in coconut leaves. Ibos goes perfect with brown sugar or ripe mangoes.And lastly, Ambueong!

Ambueong is a suman made from the ‘ambueong’ palm tree flour, coconut milk, brown sugar and daintily wrapped in banana leaves.

Once upon a Night Mass

Town Plaza of Malinao

Malinao is one of the peaceful and rustic towns of Aklan, but what makes is different from other places is how the town celebrate Christmas.

The town of Malinao is really fascinating especially with how they prepare for Christmas. The town plaza is colourful and well lighted with Christmas lights. Simbang Gabi is one of the religious practices of Filipinos in celebrating Christmas. In other place, Simbang Gabi is more like just another mass but in Malinao, it is far much more. 

Taken from the Spanish word, Pastoras which means shepherdess, it applies to both male and female. These are small groups from four to twelve girls with an occasional male or two. Pastoras was once part of Pasko. The songs and dances are preserved and inherited by the family and relatives of the parabalo or trainer. Girls were usually selected for their good looks, voice and talent or being marhay mag compass. In those days, it was an honor to be visited by the Pastoras because they usually go to the prominent members of the community.In Malinao, Pastoras are composed of beautiful girls from the town.  Acting as angels dressed in white and red ribbons, they sing over the Belen and the choir with instruments.

During this season, the people of Malinao takes time and effort to build “PAROL” or Christmas lanterns that will be used for the night mass or much known as Simbang Gabi. Responsible for making these Christmas lanterns are the people from Barangay San Ramon, Biga-a and Liloan. Lighted and displayed in the town’s Church every Christmas, these Christmas lanterns has been a great tourist attraction. 

Before the actual mass begins, the Christmas lantern show is presented. Some of the naughty locals call it “Karera ng mga Parol. This is an amazing sight to see and is only done every Christmas in Malinao.