Blogs from Bataan, Philippines, Asia - page 2

Mt. Tarak, 2nd highest peak in bataan, located at barangay alas-asin Mariveles Bataan, Bataan a well known place in philippines because of its historical sites and its beautiful beaches but my blog focuses on the tarak ridge, the tarak ridge is not hard to find and its easy to get there. when you travel from manila you need to take a bus to balanga bataan, the fare is 200 pesos less and the trip could be 2hrs to 2 and a half hours depending on the bus driver hehe,,the bus will drop you to balanga terminal, the terminal there has the bus going to mariveles bataan the fare for that ranges to 40-50 pesos tell to the conductor that you are going to mt. tarac and they will drop you on the foot of the mountain. ... read more

Brian and I were given the amazing opportunity to stay with a family for a week in small town Philippines. Our friend and co-worker here in Taiwan, Kristina is a Filipina Canadian who hadn’t been back to her home country for seventeen years. So when we were given a week off from school, her and her husband decided it was time to go back to the homeland. And in some very fortunate circumstances, they deemed Brian and me worthy to spend that week with them. We stayed in the Bataan peninsula, infamous for the WWII Bataan Death March. The peninsula is on the Philippines’ big island, which has very few tourist attractions and the peninsula itself has nearly none. In fact, when I tried looking for a one night getaway hotel at a beach in the ... read more

This beats many a collector's dream. I am not sure whether to thank the collector, to envy him, or what. We accepted a friend's invitation to spend the weekend in Pilar, Bataan and prepared ourselves for a somewhat dull weekend visiting the local market, Mt. Samat War Memorial Shrine in Pilar, Bataan, and enjoying fresh fruits in season. "Ciudad de Acuzar" was not part of our itinerary. Neither have we even heard of this heritage town where the owner's collections included many historical turn of the century houses, town hall, school and chapel! Just 3 hours north from Manila The drive northwest of Manila via an expressway and paved roads took more than 3 hours. Pilar is a sleepy town in Bataan. Right beside a ricefield with a view of Mt. Samat, our host's house promised ... read more

One thing you will notice very quickly about the Philippines is the importance of correctly and respectfully addressing others. An older sister is called Ate (“AHH-tay”) and an older brother Kuya (“KOO-yuh”) - these are terms also used as an appropriate address for your friends or office mates. And when Ate and Kuya don’t seem to be formal enough, a polite “Sir” or “Ma’am” seems to be the answer. So I was fortunate to spend almost a week living with my Ate Rona, a social worker at the Provincial DSWD office. Rona lives in the city of Balanga, one of the 11 municipalities served by the provincial office, and is the former Center Manager of one of the SCALA Centers that was set up last summer. The purpose of my visit to Balanga was to absorb ... read more

Me and my friend releth went to bataan for a hearing. we boarded genesis bus in avenida at 5 o'clock in the morning and arrived in bataan at 7am. on the way going back to manila, instead of boarding the bus again, we prefer to ride thru express boat in orion pier.... read more