It is less than a hundred days before Christmas and there is a festive reason to head now to Paete – the abundance of Christmas decors! At the onset of the holiday season, one of the shops in this small town, M&E Paete Handicraft, otherwise close during the rest of the year, welcomes customers with […]
A Town Steeped in Charm and Myth
Each time wanderlust or circumstance brings me to a place for the first time, I try to understand the locality better by speed-reading on the history, visiting the town plaza where a monument is occasionally erected in memory of a storied past, or inquiring on how the place got its name. Most often, Philippine localities […]
Of Lakes and Volcanoes
Laguna’s San Pablo City is notable for its seven lakes that are volcanic in origin. These lakes were supposedly formed when volcanic eruptions millions of years ago caused ground water to come into contact with hot magma pushing up to the earth’s surface. Today, San Pablo is part of a 63,000-hectare geothermal reservation stretching from […]