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Thursday 23 April 2015

Isla Verde Resort – Part 1 'The Beginnings' (by tatay ross)


 
In November 2012 I was invited to travel to Isla Verde in the beautiful Verde
Island Passage.
 I'm an Aussie and I was staying in Manila after meeting Jo for the first time and visiting Pagsanjan and doing the Pagsanjan Falls canoe trip and seeing a few other places. I had previously seen some photographs of part of an overgrown block of land, but had no idea of the surprise in store.

The next parts of thid Post will be continued on Tatay Ross's personal Isla Blog  at:
http://islaverde-tropical-friendly-resort.blogspot.com.au/

Where I write about my own thoughts of this beautiful place, and The Philippines and the people.

For the rest of Part 1 - just click 'Read More'..


Saturday 18 April 2015

Pulong Isla Verde

Today we have a special treat.  A Filipino Folklore tale in Tagalog that mentions Isla Verde.
I have not been able to find anyone to translate the story into English, but according to Google Translate, it is the tale of a naughty boy called ido, who is the son of a buffalo farmer.  Ido steals from an old hermit and plays with his radio controlled helicopter and prints from his computer.  Ok, that's what Google says.  Here's the story in its original language:

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Kung kayo'y nasa laot kapag maliwanag ang sikat ng araw, makikita ninyo ang isang napakarikit na pulong tila nakalutang sa gitna ng dagat. Ito ay Isla Verde na matatagpuan sa pagitan ng Batangas at Mindoro. Maluningning ang kulay ng mga luntiang kahoy at mga pananim doon. Kapag tinanaw buhat sa malayo ay maitatanong sa sarili: "Paano kaya nagkaroon ng pulo sa gitna ng dagat?" Maraming mangingisda at mga naglalayag sa banda roon ang natatakot pagsapit nila sa tapat ng pulong ito sapagkat maraming kababalaghang nagaganap.

Sa pulo'y maraming lumalabas na hayop na kakatawa ang anyo. Sinuman ang pumansin o pumuna o bumati sakanilang kakatawang kilos ay pinaparusahan. Ang nagpaparusa ay nakakatulad ng mangkukulam. Sila ay gumagawa ng paraya o pahabol. Ang pumuna ay nasusuka. Kung mabisa ang paraya, ang pinarurusahan ay nararatay sa banig ng karamdaman. Kung paano nagsimula ang paraya ay matutunghayan sa huling bahagi ng kuwento.

Noon daw bago dumating ang mga dayuhan sa Pilipinas, sa isang yungib ng Bulkang Halkon na nasa tagiliran ng Caiapan ay may nakatirang isang ermitanyo. Ang ermitanyo ay tahimik na nabubuhay na nag-iisa

Sa bukid na nasa malapit ng yungib (ngayo'y bayan ng Calapan) ay may isang magbubukid na may isang anak na lalaking ang pangala'y Ido.

Si Ido mula't sapul ay malikot. May ugaling naiiba sa kanyang mga kapuwa bata. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit lagi siyang kinagagalitan ng kanyang mga magulang. Siya ay ayaw sumunod sa mga iniuutos sa kanya.

Isang araw, inutusan siyang magpastol ng kalabaw. Hindi siya tumupad sa utos ng ama. Sa halip, nagtungo sa gubat upang manghuli ng ibon sa pamamagitan ng tirador. Sa kalalakad hindi niya namalayan na nakarating na pala siya sa puso ng gubat. Nang siya ay tumingala, ang araw ay nakahilig na sa kanluran.

Dali-daling nagbalik si Ido. Bumagtas siya sa kung saang bagnos na hindi niya alam. Siya'y nagtatakbo. Nang lumabas ng kahuyanay dulo na pala iyon ng bundok sa baybay-dagat. Nanalunton siya sa tabing bundok na buhanginan.

Nang lumiko sa dulo ng bundok na nakaharap sa dagat, napansin niyang may malaking lungga roon. Tumigil ng paglakad si Ido. Mahiwaga ang nakita niyang kuweba."Mahiwaga ito," ang bulong sa sarili, "malinis ang bunganga at madaling pasukin."

Hapay na ang araw sa libis ng bundok. Subalit sa kanyang malas ay maliwanag pa rin ang loob ng yungib. Pinasok ni Ido ang kuweba. Nilingap ang paligid bago nagtuloy. Dahan-dahan ang kanyang paglakad. Kinikilabutan siya. Naninindig ang kanyang balahibo. Kinakabahan habang pumapasok. Nagtuloy upang siyasatin ang loob ng yungib.

Sa di-kawasa, nang makapasok ng mga ilang metro, bigla siyang nagtaka sa kanyang namalas! Isang matandang himbing na himbing ang nakahiga sa papag. Unat na unat sa pagkakahiga at ang mahabang balbas ay nakalaylay sa dibdib. Naisaloob niyang ermitanyo ang matandang iyon. Sa papag ng kinahihigaan ng matanda, sa gawing ulunan niya ay kalapit ang isang supot. Biglang may tuksong gumuhit sa isip ni Ido. Patingkayad na inaninaw ang napapaloob sa supot.

Maingat niyang dinampot ang supot at pagdaka'y nagmamadaling lumabas. Sa pagmamadali siya'y natalisod. Ito'y lumalang ng ingay. Kumalansing ang laman ng supot. Nagising ang matanda. Nakita niyang itinakas ng bata ang kanyang supot. Nagbalikwas at hinabol ang magnanakaw.

Natakot si Ido nang masulyapang tinutugis siyang matanda. Naisip niyang ipamulsa ang mga ginto upang makatakbo nang mabilis. Lalong pinag-ibayo ng matanda ang paghabol. Sinikap niyang mabawi ang kanyang mga ginto. Nang inaakala ni Ido na aabutan siya, binitiwan niya ang tangang supot. Tumigil ang matanda sa pagtugis. Sinunggaban agad ang supot. Ngunit nang kapkapin ay wala na ang mga laman nito!

Napahinagpis ang matanda. Hinagilap niya ang supot at nang nakakita siya ng kapirasong ginto ay ubos-lakas na ipinukol sa batang mabilis na tumakbo. Hindi tinamaan si Ido. Lumampas iyon at bumu-lusok sa gitna ng dagat. Patuloy sa pagtakbo ang bata hanggang sa nawala sa paningin ng matandang nagpupuyos sa galit.

Kinabukasan, sa gitna ng dagat ay nakita ni Ido at iba pang miron na may sumipot na pulo roon. Ipinalagay niyang yaon ang gintong ipinukol sa kanya ng matandang ermitanyo.

Mula noon ang ermitanyo ay nanirahan at nag-alaga ng maraming hayop sa isla. Ipinag-utos niya sa kanyang mga sakop at katulong na parusahan sa pamamagitan ng paraya ang bawa't taong bumati sa kanila.

Upang hindi pagnasaan ng ibang tao ang kanyang ari-arian ay pinararayaan ang sinumang matuwa o bumati sa mga ito.

Hindi naglaon, dumating ang mga Kastila. Natuklasan nilang sagana sa luntiang mga kahoy at pananim ang pulong iyon, kaya't pinangalanang Isla Verde. Hanggang sa panahong ito ay Isla Verde pa rin ang nananatiling pangalan ng pulong nabanggit.

Tuesday 7 April 2015

Reyboy's Easter visit with his colleagues - by Nanay Jo



My cousin Reyboy and his office mates, Diana, Don and his girlfriend Joanna, and Reyboy's sister Ren came to our resort last Holy Thursday, April 2nd. They arrived after 8am, and I welcomed them with a good breakfast, as they were tired from the trip to Isla.  After their breakfast, they started to take pictures  of our resort.

Ren's favorite  spot was  the swing near the sea wall.  She loved to stay there, watching the sea and taking pictures of the boats passing by as well as flocks of birds, flying near.  She liked taking a nap there and  enjoying the cool sea breeze, or just sipping a cup of coffee while looking at the sea.
 
After taking some photos, Don and Joanna decided to take a nap, and so did Diana.  Don stayed in the last kubo with Joana while Diana rested in the 3rd kubo.  Reyboy and I decided to take a  can of beer as he couldn't sleep yet.
While we were having a drink, I asked him if he would like to have videoke.  So we set up the videoke,  and we started to sing.  Shortly, Diana came to sing along with us.

While they were singing I  started to prepare lunch for them.  I made some relyenong bangus (stuffed milkfish),  veggie salad, and sinaing na tulingan.  Tulingan, is the favorite dish served here in isla.  Everytime we have guests in our resort, I make sure it is one of the dishes served at our counter. Reyboy brought chicken cordon bleu and pork with liver adobo.  Their dessert was the singkamas with tasty homemade bagoong (shrimp paste).  When Don also got up, I started to serve lunch.  They said they loved and enjoyed our food.  


 After they finished their lunch, they took a rest outside and chatted for a while then decided to take afternoon delight.  Since they were so tired they slept well, then later, woke up for dinner.  Then after dinner, we decided to drink some beer and the guys drank their  favorite brandy, Emperador.  As we were having a drink, we played cards, tongits and Pusoy.  We were all happy, teasing and laughing while playing.  And when midnight came we decided it was time to sleep as we were going to have a boat tour on the following day.



Daisy and I woke up at 4:30am, and we started to cook breakfasts for our guests and some extra food we going to take with us for our island tour.  I woke the guests at 7:30 for breakfast, and I started packing stuff that we had to take with us.  At 9am we left the resort, and started sailing around the island, and although the sea was quite bumpy, they enjoyed taking pictures of the island from the boat.  Our first stop was in San Antonio, near Sawang, the former Ozone Dive Camp.   Our visitors took pictures from the shore at Sawang, and swam at the white sand beach of San Antonio.


Because the water was cold, they did not stay long swimming.  Off the shore of San Antonio, we went to Mahabang Buhangin.  The beach here is a long ribbon of beautiful white sand and is one of the most beautiful spots on Isla Verde.  There we had our lunch and our boatman, Ric, who lives there gave us a table and chairs where we could place our food.  After lunch, Ren went swimming, and the rest had drinks and played poker.  Ric offered their kubo so we could play well at a table while Ren and Joanna took a nap.














At 4pm, we left Mahabang Buhangin, and went to Cueva.  Everyone really enjoyed this place.  They went up to the lighthouse and enjoyed the view of isla. Ren and Joanna took a selfie on top of the lighthouse, while Don, took a lot of photos of the girls in the light house.  After few hours in Cueva, and by now tied from all the exercise and fresh air, we went back to the resort.

Once we were back we ate halo halo, to quench our thirst then after that snack, we enjoyed refreshing baths then  took a late rest before dinner.

At 7:30 pm, dinner was served.   It was  their last night in Isla.  I went to bed early because I was not feeling  well, so I didn't join them for the last night.   But I fell asleep listening to the happy sounds of everyone drinking and talking with each other, and when I woke up in the middle of the night, they were saying good night to each other going to their own kubos to sleep.

Don and Joanna enjoyed some star gazing at night thru our telescope.  On both nights that they stayed here, they passed some of the night watching the full moon, trying to find the flag that Armstrong placed on the moon through the telescope.  During the day time, they would use the telescope to look across the passage to Puerto Galera, which is only a few miles from us.  They both enjoyed biking together, roaming around the baranggay.  They even went snorkeling together, and as they enjoyed looking at the corals so much, they forgot that they had an underwater camera with them.  And so they forgot to take pictures.

Diana, who is the quiet type, enjoyed taking pictures around the island and posting them on her FaceBook page, teasing her friends and relatives.  She a good card player, and we all beat Don in tong its and pusoy.

When I got up at 6:30am, I started to make breakfast.  I didnt bother to get them up early, as I knew they were enjoying  the coolness and peacefulness of morning at our resort.  Ren got up at 7:30am, asked for a cup of coffee and went for a last time to her favorite spot, the swing near the sea.  After an hour, the others got up and I served their breakfast.  After breakast, they took showers and packed up their things, prepared to return to work again with well relaxed bodies and minds.

At 10:30am, the boat arrived to pick them up and return them to Tabangao, for the return to Manila.  They left us with smiles on their faces, and promises of coming back again.


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