№ 348. Siargao Through Square Lenses 1

Two-hour long flight from Manila and one-hour van ride from the airport later: Cloud Nine! Instagram and heavenly bodies!

A cancelled room booking? No problemo. Here's to sand on the heels, breezy, beach side happy hours at 4 PM on a Friday!

Cold showers and creaking bathroom doors? Throw in that crusty, flaky croissant. And that steaming espresso, too!

Heavy rains en route to the mangrove forest reserve? Crabs buffet for five, quick. And an extended three-hour paddle board-swim in the emerald lagoon.

No dessert? No serving spoon? No wifi? Nothing that a quickie surf lesson before departure and lechon Cebu during the lay-over won't fix.

More lemons please!

№ 318. Eden, It's Worth the Adventure

№ 312. Mulanay Sunsets

№ 198. Masbate: Frontier Life at the Wild, Wild East

Masbate lies almost at the farthest end of Bicol region. It serves as Luzon's link and crossroad to Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Panay, farther to the south and deeper into the Visayas. Because Masbate’s frontier islands are also niched at the typhoon corridor of the Philippines, leaps of miles away from the country’s economic hubs, they are blessed and isolated by the seas surrounding them.

To be sure, while our seafood can often be abundant, our supply chain of goods and services is keenly dependent on clement weather, the nautical highway and once-a-day flight.

Dried seafood from Saud or the weekend market

These crossroads have come to be reflected in Masbate’s people, food and language, as well. By inhabiting the fringes of imperial Manila and the queen city of Cebu, we Masbateños have learned to cultivate a happy, sometimes confounding, influence of tongues and temperaments borrowed from our neighbors and quietly adapted to the life and rhythm of these islands.

№ 126. Chasing the Endless Summer

№ 100. Well? Well,.... well. Well(!)

"You are more nuanced than the narrative you try to fit yourself into, more complex than the story that 'should' be happening."---Thought Catalog

№ 89. The Beach Muffins

An overpriced muffin. An over-developed beach. Boracay needs a rehab. 

№ 86. In the midst of winter....

Lies an invincible summer.....

I think Camus said it metaphysically. And, I say, it sounds much better:

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

Here's a sunny track to go with the visuals.

№ 77. Beach Hives

Even if  the skin were lathered with thick, titanium sunscreen, 36 degrees sizzles it to a crispy, caramel hue fit for a fiesta centerpiece: our beloved lechon.

So we find enough excuses and leaves to kick off the dry season (aka summer) and dash to the nearest waterhole.

El Nido, check. Boracay, check. Palaui, Pagudpud and Panglao, check, check, check. But Siargao and Bantayan. Here we come.

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"Picking a favorite beach in the Philippines is like trying to pick a favorite child. 

Challenging, but not impossible. With more than 7,000 islands edged by white sand buffering turquoise waters filled with some of the world's most diverse marine life, not everyone will agree on which one is best. Disagree with our picks? Share your favorite Filipino island or beach in the comments box below.

 1. El Nido, Palawan

 

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№ 10. Calaguas & Bagasbas

The sea looked glassy and calm in the dusk that Saturday. It certainly belied the journey to Calaguas Islands and Bagasbas Beach, Camarines Norte.