It seems I have revisited many places this year which I really don’t mind since it’s been years since I last visited them. I’m always interested to see what has developed and retracing back my routes sure brings back fond memories in different places. When I had the chance to go back to Kota Kinabalu, I knew I didn’t want to miss that opportunity as it was my first destination out of the country.
Tag: Culture
A Year In Travels January 2013 | El Nido Life
To change things up a bit, instead of a full year-end post, I’ll put in a series of post for the next 12 days for the 12 months of the 2013 in review. 2013 is such a special year of change and discovery, I wanted to focus more on slow long travels instead of micro-vacations, but bits and pieces of those are always welcome. 2013 started finding myself watching the humble but gorgeous fireworks in El Nido Palawan, temporarily staying with a nice family on where I was living in.
Conversations with Fang-Od, the Famed Mambabatok of Buscalan
The rhythmic sound of two sticks tapping was sort of meditative and relieving as each tap means the citrus thorn at the end of one stick has pierced through a shallow layer of my skin and left a permanent ink mark underneath. The pain from this batok (tattooing)? It was noticeable at first, like a multitude stingy ant bite but bearable, but I have always regarded myself having high tolerance for pain so it wasn’t as painful as I expected it to be. But I’d rather Whang-Od (Fang-OD), the 93-year old famed mambabatok (tattoo artist) of Buscalan Kalinga, not stopping any sooner with her tapping as it seems to bring a numbing sensation than pausing then starting over again. In between I tried to ask some questions while she works on my skin like canvass and our guide Francis was kind enough to translate.
Buscalan Kalinga | The Journey to the Village of Long Life
Have I discovered the secret to long life? It seems the people living in this highland village of Buscalan in Kalinga have. It amazes me to see how elders living in the age bracket of 80-90 and above are still nimble, skillful and can still manage to contribute to work. I’m not just talking about the legendary mambatok (traditional tattoo artist) Whang Od (Fang Od), whom we wanted to meet when we went to Buscalan. While I was dumbfounded to find her working under the sun drying out some beans, then carefully carrying those in a small sack at the age of 93-yo, her peers in the village could still run around circles to any sedentary couch-potato in the metro.
Minahasa’s Bukit Kasih, Pulutan Village Pottery and Knockdown Houses of Woloan
Religion is a very touchy subject I try to avoid over casual conversation. I give my utmost respect to people’s belief and that also seems to be the case for the Minahasa people who built the Bukit Kasih or a place commonly called The Hill of Love. Found at the steamy sulfuric grounds of Kanonang Village in Kawangkoan, it is where 5 different religious beliefs congregate. A place where different religions can worship side by side in harmony.
The Vihara Buddhayana Tomohon Complex: An Oddity in Place
Our eyes were drawn to this bright orange complex amidst a vast field of agricultural land. For a nonsecular destination like Tomohon in North Sulawesi, whose majority of population flocks to their Cristian Churches, seeing a pagoda, a stupa and a distinct Buddhist temple in this area was almost an oddity in itself. The Vihara Buddhayana Tomohon is one of the rare place of worship for the Buddhist minority in North Sulawesi that has become an attraction by the roadside in Desa Kakaskasen III in Tomohon.
The Minahasa Tribe at the Tomohon International Flower Festival
Bulging wide-open eyes with ferocious faces glare. Spear in hand, one of the men lets out a fierce scream. Then the group, garbed in bright red cloths that seemed to have been clumped together, with macaque skulls dangling on their chest and capped with headdress adorned with large feathers, started moving akin to roosters ready to pounce for a kill in a cockfight. “This is the Kabasaran Dance, originally a Minahasa Tribe Warrior’s dance but now we use it to greet guests like you” says a local Indonesian guide. That’s a different kind of enthusiastic greeting I may say as the Minahasa Warriors continue to dance at the street, the setting for the Tomohon International Flower Festival in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
