Dive all over the Philippines

In the Philippines, there are two types of weather we typically encounter, the sunny and the rainy seasons. It seems that sunny season is nearing its end and the rainy season is now knocking in the whole archipelago. In the past few years we encountered different kind of calamities. One of the recent calamities was the attack of typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban that caused heavy rains and floods, wrecked houses and still undetermined number of casualties.

The havoc of Haiyan was one of the devastating stories that the whole world witnessed. It gives Filipino citizens a sense of dread that every time light rain pours in a drizzle we get nervous immediately and worried what will happen next, if another heart-wrenching calamity is on its way.

Because of this, is there a possibility we could change the kind of house that we build in the Philippines? In year 2005, one of the strongest hurricane attacks New Orleans, Pelicans. By the help of Hollywood actor, Brad Pitt, the floating house came into the scene. It can float when the flood starts to rise.

According to the Bible, God ordered Noah to build an ark that can withstand the force of nature. In the present, there are people who built their houses that boat looks like Noah’s ark. In Agusan Marsh, Agusan Del Sur, Mindanao, the people there are staying in houses that are floating and become as their permanent home. The houses are placed above a plank of wood or bamboo stem. And their learning center is floating in the water as well.

So, that’s one way on how we can adapt to the kind of weather that we encountered here in the Philippines.

Wedding is the very special day to everyone. It takes a year in preparing the requirements and organizing the wedding. We start in choosing the place for the ceremony and reception, then picking the beautiful invitations, souvenir, cakes, gowns, shoes, flowers and other more. After finalizing those stuffs, is there anything else needed? The wedding song, preparing the wedding songs sometimes not in the priorities, which is not bad, but it adds color and sense.

Every song has its own meaning and it’s a reflection of life. Some of the well-known songs make us cry when we heard it and because of the memories behind it. Also, it makes us to remember the precious person and the moment that we had. For wedding, music helps to enhance the atmosphere, tell the story of the couple and adds the sweetness, especially if it is the couple’s theme song. Your favorite songs or music may play as the bride entrance or at the reception. Since this is your day, you are free to list down all your favorite songs. Here are the top wedding songs in the Philippines;

The Philippines is really full of history and structures that remain as a stain of many historical revolutions. As we see those structures that were constructed by our house contractors ancestors, we reminisce the sacrifice of all Filipinos to aim the freedom we had now. These structures really play a very big role in our history and in the present time, it shows as the evidences of all the struggles that our Filipino heroes have gone through. That's why many Filipinos, preserved these structures to remain the memory of sacrifices done till to the next generation of the Filipinos. Here are the 5 historic structures;

Corregidor
Corregidor is a small rock island located near at the entrance of Manila Bay, Philippines. It serves as the headquarters of the brave, heroism Filipinos and American who battled against to the forces of Japanese during World War II. The Island becomes one of the popular destinations in the Philippines because of the images left from the War such as the big guns, cannon, ruin buildings and many more memorabilia of the brave people who fight for the freedom and justice of the Philippines.

Barasoain Church
Barasoain Church is a historical church where the first Philippine Republic was declared. There are three events are happened in this church: the assembling of the “First Philippines Congress”, recruiting the “Malolos Constitution”, and inauguration of the “First Philippine Republic”. This church gets attractive because of the architectural design and lots of history of it.

Leyte Landing Memorial Park
Leyte Landing Memorial Park or McArthur Park is well-visit in the city of Tacloban. It was built to remember the heroic promised of Gen. Douglas McArthur in aiming the freedom of the Filipino against Japanese colonies. It became an important event in Philippines history, especially when Gen. MacArthur said “I shall return”, as a promised to the Filipino citizens.

Magellan’s Cross
Magellan is a Portuguese explorer, the first person who crosses the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean. He is a servant of King Charles for searching of westward route going to “Spice Island”. His navigation was not accomplished successfully because he was killed during the “Battle of Mactan”. The Cross was planted by Magellan to spread the importance of Roman Catholic. And this Magellan’s cross that can be found in a small chapel was built to give Magellan honor in bringing the Roman Catholics in the city of Cebu.

Lapu-lapu monument
Lapu-lapu’s monument is built to honor Rajah Lapu-lapu, the ruler of Mactan who conquered the battle to Magellan to aim the freedom of his people. Lapu-lapu is the first Filipino or Cebuano hero. His statue in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu is 20 meters bronze.

The Philippines are known for having lots of tourist destination. Beside that, the Philippines is rich with history and culture and it is reflected in the architectural heritage of the country. It became part of Filipinos life, to reminisce the sacrifice and heroic deed of all Filipino heroes. It is not just the historical places, but it also attracts the tourists to visit the country. Through the years, some of the structures undergo maintenance, through construction services and house construction. Here are the 5 leading structures that are famous for the tourist.

Rizal Park
Luneta park or Rizal Park is also known as Bagumbayan, where Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero executed by the Spaniards. It was built to give honor and salute the national hero who fights through literature against the Spaniards. It became the one of the major attractions in the City of Manila. Nowadays, it became one of the favorite hangout places for refreshments, socializing and bonding with friends and family.

Vigan
Vigan is one of the wonderful heritage place that in the Philippines is located in the northern part of the country. It got famous because of the preserved architectural village. The houses were built during the Spaniards period and this place is listed in the UNESCO world heritage.

Rizal Shrine
Rizal Shrine was built as a dedication to Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero. The shrine is the home of Rizal memorabilia such as books, artworks, manuscripts, and his shells collected in Dapitan. This shrine has an important role in the history because Dr. Jose Rizal spent his last night here and found by his family, his famous and last poem titled “Mi ultimo adios” or “My last Farewell”.

Fort Santiago Fort Santiago was built in 1571 in the Spaniard period. It is the prison cell of Jose Rizal before he was executed. These days, the Fort Santiago has preserved the history behind of it and also used as a tourist destination.

Intramuros
Intramuros is known as “Walled City”, the oldest district in the Philippines and a historical palace. It is used as the fort of the Spanish government. Today, it has become a tourist destination in the city of Manila, because of the historical events that took place in that walled city.

The list is not yet finished, join me to get know better the history of famous structures in the Philippines until the next post.