Kadayawan Headdresses

The tribes of Davao and surrounding areas have always worn colorful clothings, jewelries and accessories not only during celebrations but also while going through their daily lives. Since Kadayawan festival gives honor and tribute to these tribes, the festival is always colorful, thankful and just oozing with enthusiasm and happiness. That's why I love it more than the Araw ng Dabaw (Davao City) celebration. Aside from that, I just love the colorfully creative and indigenous costumes of the contingents for the Indak-indak sa Kadayawan (streetdancing).

Here are some of the headdresses of the Kadayawan contingents.

The headdresses' style and color combination were also worn based on the stature level of the wearer in their society. Almost always, the more colorful and decorative headdresses were worn by the royalty.

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My World#126 Durian Time

Perhaps it was the heavy rains that have been hounding us too much this year or perhaps there is truth about old folks' saying that durian harvest alternately change volumes every year. So, if there were too many durians last year expect to have a little less this year. We had too much last year that our local hospitals reported a rise in number of admitted patients due to high blood pressure (durian is well-known to increase blood pressure).

Last year was like a record harvest not only for durian but also for some local fruits like lanzones, mangosteen, marang, pomelo and etc.

lanzones vendor

It's already mid-August, durian time should have started late July. Sadly, the fruits that we have been expecting to appear especially durian have yet to manifest themselves on the streets. I miss my durian but gee, I am not buying if it's still expensive.

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My World#125 Bread Talk In Davao

It is finally here and Davaoeños are lining up to taste its goodness. Bread Talk is my favorite take home treat for my family whenever I get to Manila. Now that its Abreeza branch is already operating, it is just so easy to buy my favorite newly-baked bread.

My current favorite is the bread called Spring In the City. At P39, it's so much worth it. Baked in a roll with lots of floss inside it and a sprinkling of onion leaves outside, it was really good.

And this cute smiley bread has a cute name, JJ Baby.

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My World#123 Philippine Churches#9 Baclaran Church (National Shrine Of Our Mother of Perpetual Help)

Baclaran Church was a part of my childhood days when my mother devoted every Wednesday to visit it for years.

The Baclaran Church (also called Redemptorist Church) or the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is one of the most popular churches and also considered as one of the largest churches in the Philippines. It houses one of the most revered and celebrated Marian images in the country, called an icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. It has been known to be miraculous.

Every Wednesday is popularly known as "Baclaran Day", and devotees flock to Baclaran Church to participate in a popular Marian novena offered for the Blessed Virgin Mary's reputed miraculous aid and intercession.

Baclaran Church is located along Roxas Avenue, Paranaque City. Its modern-Romanesque styled building has a full-seating capacity of 2,000, but as many as 11,000 people including standing can be inside during Masses. (source: wikipedia)

It is just a few minutes walk from the Baclaran station of Manila Metro Rail Transit (MRT3).

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My World#121 Singapore and Expensive Cars

Singapore is one of the places I had visited that got the latest and the most expensive cars running around its streets. We passed by along Raffles Hotel (one of the oldest and most prestigious hotels in Singapore) and saw several expensive cars lining up by the hotel's front door. After gawking at the cars, we took some photos. My favorite car there was this Mini Cooper.  I took its photo with the Raffles Hotel as its background.

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My World#120 Costa Marina Beach Resort

I am getting tired of hearing and seeing the words "ITCZ" or "intertropical convergence zone" because it means more rains. I've been hearing it for months now and they have been coming just a few days apart since summer.

I wish we have more sunny days now with some days spent on the beach like the Costa Marina Beach Resort at the nearby Samal Island. Unlike its next door neighbor, the more popular, Paradise Island Beach Resort, Costa Marina Beach Resort has fewer guests (something my family most prefer). Its waters are clean and really suitable for snorkelling and swimming even for kids.

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My World#119 Walk This Way

Carlos Celdran's Walk This Way tour is one of the Manila tours I have been eyeing for years to get into. Unfortunately, time and money constraints always got in the way.

So, when my chance came, I was truly excited. We met by the entrance of Ft. Santiago, Intramuros, Manila. Before we started, we paid our tour fees and introductions were made. There were about 20 participants for the tour and a lot of them are either Filipino balikbayans or foreigners with their Filipino families.

The tour started at Fort Santiago where the national hero, Jose Rizal, was imprisoned before he was executed. We walked around Intramuros, stopping by several times at some really interesting places (for sure, they are not easy to find in history books).

Fittingly, the tour ended with a special treat of halo-halo. A perennial Filipino cold dessert which was made of shaved ice, sweet young coconut meat, and sweetened purple yam.

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My World#118 Independence Day

June 12 is Araw ng Kalayaan or Philippine's Independence Day. Philippine flags are on display almost everywhere.

This year's theme for the 113th anniversary of the Philippine's Independence Day is "Kalayaan: Paninindigan ng Bayan" or "Freedom: The Stand of the People".


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My World#117 Boosting Davao Tourism

This is the presentation display inside Abreeza Mall featuring the weaving industry of the indigenous people of Davao. Known for their colorful and intricate designs on their costumes and other wearables, the indigenous people






The City Government of Davao in partnership with Department of Tourism is trying to boost the city’s tourism industry for this year. Already known as the adventure capital of the Philippines for its numerous adventurous activities like mountain climbing, white water rafting, ziplining and more, Davao City is also being geared as the melting pot of Philippine indigenous cultures in Mindanao.

The city of Davao is home to various indigenous communities of which are part of the last tribes of Mindanao. Struggling with the rapid loss of their ancestral lands, extreme poverty, lack of education and apathy among its younger generation, the tribes’ populations are dwindling and their culture deteriorating.

With the thrust of the city government towards tourism industry, the indigenous people are being given hope to show their culture and heritage to the world and at the same time, retain and nurture them for the future generation.

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My World#116 Abreeza's Dancing Fairies

For me, Ayala Abreeza Mall is just one too many malls in my city. But what made me go there to check it out? Their dancing fairies.

When I first went to Ayala Abreeza Mall, it was for the Canon's Photo Shoot and Run contest. I was hoping to find the dancing fairies somewhere in the maze-like lobbies of the newly-opened mall but I could not find them after walking around for hours. I actually first saw them in a national newspaper announcing the opening of the mall.

My mistake was I did not get inside their department store. I only saw these dancing fairies on the next day when I took my mother to see the mall. Knowing that she likes the home section of any malls, I took her inside the department store. And voila! There are the dancing fairies right in the middle of the department store.

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My World#115 The Marginalized Badjao

Somebody asked me before if I ever knew any one of this people that was able to get out of the extreme poverty that were commonly attached to them. My answer was "None." I would be really happy to see one but the ones I have seen so far were those in the streets begging for alms.

They belong to the indigenous people called Badjao or the sea gypsies. They commonly lived in shanties by the sea and made their living by begging in the streets. Some made their living as fishermen and divers of pearls many years ago but extreme poverty drove them to beg for coins in the streets or coins throw out into the waters and they dive for them.

Most of them married young and a lot had their own kids while they were still teens. Most of them never went to school and because of this, the cycle of extreme poverty were passed on from generation to generation.

There were government and private programs to help them with their livelihood. Programs to help them keep out of the streets especially their children. But so far, I have yet to see a Badjao who has gone successful. Hopefully, someday soon.

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My World#114 Parade of the Philippine Presidents

Located at the seafront complex of Intramuros, Old Manila is the Parade of the Philippine Presidents from Aguinaldo to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. There's a sign that says "Galeria delos Presedentes dela Republica Pilipina" which I loosely translated as the "Gallery of the Presidents of the Philippine Republic".


Each one of them was carefully done, I even tried knocking on some of them to ascertain what they were made of. If I'm not mistaken, they were made of aluminum or some kind of steel.

My favorite, of course, is that of the former President Corazon Aquino. Hers was surrounded by the images of events during her presidency, most prominently that of the EDSA Revolution.

Just beside this place is the Intramuros golf course.

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