Ongpin was filled to the brim. People were flooding in all corners, drumbeats pounding in different directions, dragons dancing on top of the crowd and fireworks call their attention. I could really feel the festive atmosphere here. It was 2 years ago when I last visited Binondo on a Chinese New Year and it certainly wasn’t like this before. Perhaps because from now on, the first day of the Chinese New Year would be a holiday to the delight of everyone, Chinese or not. We met with some of our fellow photographer friends who attended our previous Backpack Photography Photo Tours to enjoy and capture the revelry in China Town.
Tag: Traditions
Manila: Simbang Gabi and some Christmas Wishes
First let me greet you all a blessed Christmas. It’s been a crazy year with a lot of highs and lows. But Christmas is here to remind us to count our blessings instead and see the world in a different perspective. I can’t say that things have all been good seeing the tragedy that happened to our brothers in Mindanao. But it shows that there is hope for humanity seeing the great outpour of support from people giving what little they can offer. This season, I revisit Simbang Gabi on some of the popular churches in Manila to capture a Filipino tradition.
Cagayan: Witnessing the Parambolan and the Delightful Hospitality at Taggat Lagoon Claveria
In the afternoon of our first day in Claveria, we decided to visit Taggat Lagoon. This was the place which really caught my attention first time seeing it under the heavy rain and gray sky during our Lakbay Norte tour. I was excited to see it again in better light condition this time around. We took a tricycle from the Claveria town center (P70 whole tricycle) then got in Taggat Lagoon with an entrance of P10. It was a wonderful afternoon of beautiful light and curious eyes as we walk into the picturesque cove.
Mountain Province: Preparing the Pinikpikan, Sagada’s Battered Chicken
“Okay! Enough with the chicken!” I hear someone from my back say as the two boys continue to batter the poor live chicken in front of me. It’s not really an eye candy to see a chicken getting battered lightly to death nor music to hear the pounding and the moans just to get the best tasting chicken soup one could have. The people in Cordilleras call it the Pinikpikan Chicken, a chicken-stew done Igorot-style. For some who have tasted it like myself, the broth is really flavorful and is a far cry from the regular tinola (stew). But of course the process of preparing the chicken is not easy for everyone to see.
Mountain Province: Sagada’s Hanging Coffins, Burial Caves and Rituals for the Dead
The Photo Tour group only has a full day to go around Sagada. While I think that’s a short time to really appreciate the place, it is still possible to see some key sites in Sagada. If you were to ask me which places to see when in Sagada for a day, the Sagada Hanging Coffins and the Burial Caves would be on top since that is the heart of the culture of Sagada. While this funeral rite is not unique in the Philippines as there are other indigenous people from China and Indonesia who also hang their coffins by the cliffs, Sagada is the only place where you one could see these Hanging Coffins in the Philippines.
Of Flagellants, Carozzas and Good Friday in Angeles City
The Siete Palabras was our main reason for visiting Angeles City in Central Luzon on a Good Friday, but of course there is more to observe on the city’s lenten rites. We got there before noon and actually liked the festive mood the crowd seems to have and the number of stalls and vendors around the area. That is until a parade of flagellants came marching through with with their blood soaked backs yet incessantly self-whipping, seemed numb from the self-inflicted pain. It’s actually a first for me to witness such practice up close and didn’t expect I would enter a melancholy world of self flagellation.
The Siete Palabras of Angeles City
I could hear the hoofs of horses among the ambient noise from the gathering crowd as we approach the stage where the performance would start. A few people garbed in Roman Soldier Armors on horses and a few more in clothes in the time of Jesus were already at the venue. Under the scorching heat of the noon time sun, the spectators were already eager to get the program started. It’s the Siete Palabras at Barangay Lourdes North West (LNW), Angeles City Pampanga. A street theater re-enactment of the Seven Last Words by 70 volunteer performers in the barangay.
