TRUE WEIRD

Ghost Stories from a Taal native

We met Irene at the ruins of a crypt that dated back to the Spanish era. Our hosts had brought me and my friend there to catch a glimpse of the Taal not yet accessible to tourists. The structure was discovered last year. Irene’s father, Mang Bernard, was the first to explore its depths, lowering […]

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A Cultural Tour of Taal, Batangas Part 5 of 5

The Appetite and Carnation Family Food Trip was fun and educational, but we had to head back to Manila. Before we left, we has breakfast, where I once again had champorado. They offered tapa and tocino, but since for some reason they didn’t offer eggs, I decided to skip that. Strangely enough, their coffee wasn’t […]

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A Cultural Tour of Taal, Batangas Part 4 of 5

After a cultural tour of Taal townfor the Appetite and Carnation Family Food Trip, we checked into the beautiful Club Balai Isabel, where we got to try out their newest rooms, all of which face Taal Lake. And then we had dinner, which consisted of Fish Fillet in Capsicum Sauce, where the fish was marinated in […]

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A Cultural Tour of Taal, Batangas Part 3 of 5

Here are some of the things you can see in Taal. Admittedly, these are the things most people will go to when visiting the historic town. Our tight schedule means we didn’t have time to explore, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have fun. Taal is known for many things, including: Ancestral houses, in the […]

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A Cultural Tour of Taal, Batangas Part 2 of 5

Here’s part two of  the Carnation Family Food Trip, hosted in cooperation with Appetite magazine. We visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay (which means kingfisher) and the miraculous Sta. Lucia Well. We said hello to the penguin that stands outside the shrine (What the statue of an Antarctic bird is doing in a tropical […]

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A Cultural Tour of Taal, Batangas Part 1 of 5

This is a picture of the original statue of Our Lady of Caysasay, which can be found in the town of Caysasay (which means kingfisher) in Taal, Batangas. I originally went there as part of the Carnation Family Food Trip ’09 (in cooperation with Appetite magazine), but I got hooked on the historical aspects of […]

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Carnation and Appetite North Luzon food trip

As published in my GMA column: The next day, we were treated to a Manor breakfast. This was your typical hotel breakfast, a buffet with everything from bacon and eggs to pancakes and waffles to breakfast congee with different toppings, all kinds of cereal, and champorado. I gravitated towards the fresh yogurt, which I had […]

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