Fantastic Sagada Pictures

Fantastico. Merveilleux. Wunderschön. Exquisito. Now, I'm running out of European superlatives to describe the beautiful Sagada pictures from the Pasyalera.com website. I was looking for my regular fix of Sagada pictures from the many blogs out there and stumbled upon this huge gallery of Sagada images taken during a hike to the Bomod-ok falls. The blog post contains captured scenes on the way to the Big Falls. It also has an embedded Youtube video on GMA-7's "GIMIK SA TAG-INIT: Bomod-ok Falls in Sagada" feature. Additional images in the blog post contain scenes from the Kiltepan Viewpoint, Latang Underground River, and Echo Valley. What better way of escaping a Chicago blizzard than immersing one's eyes in beautiful pictures of my hometown, Sagada.

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Sagada Pictures at Lawstude's Journeys

I was viewing a list of recent Sagada blogs and was impressed with posts from Atty. Oman's blog. His latest Sagada photo gallery features Sagada Weekend Market images. Viewing those images were like a ratatouille moment for me. That's what our family refers when describing something very familiar that gives you a warm nostalgic feeling; very much like how the food critic in the movie felt when he had his first bite of the ratatouille dish. Definitely, those Sagada market images reminded me of the many Saturdays helping my mother and my grandma with those market chores. It was one of the tasks I didn't particularly like as a kid, but which I remembered with fondness as an adult. View more Sagada pictures at the Lawstude Journey blog.

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Sagada Redux - Part Deux

Here's a sequel to an earlier post of Sagada black and white pictures (See Sagada Redux - Sagada B&W Photos). Caesar Gonzales, a friend from high school took the photos during his recent Sagada visit last August 2009. He has informed me that he is planning another visit with a common friend also from high school. I'm envious that he got to visit Sagada more than I have in the past 2 years or so. His photographs are a good consolation though. They remind me of some black and white photos I acquired from a French photographer who visited Sagada in the 1980s. (See my previous posts: 1980s Sagada Images by a French Photographer - Part I & 1980s Sagada Images by a French Photographer - Part II). Enjoy the second batch of pictures below:

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Sagada Redux - Sagada B&W Photos

I haven't blogged in awhile, and a nice way to start again is by posting some excellent black and white pictures of Sagada. The photos were taken by a friend from high school during his Aug 2009 Sagada trip. Topher, as we used to call him then, is from Baler, Aurora and has been one of the few individuals I would credit for keeping me sane during those crazy high school years. I'm no art / photo critic but having spent my early years in Sagada, I know when photos do justice to the beauty of my hometown. These group of photos capture Sagada in a unique yet familiar way it made me think of my childhood days all over again. Salamat, Topher. Gawi-gawis. Matago-tago ka! (Loosely translated - it means "Thanks Topher, very well done. May you live forever"). Hehehe. I'm definitely looking forward to more of his future Sagada pictures. Meanwhile, enjoy a sampling of them here:

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May 2009 Sagada Blog Highlights

My Sagada blog watch this first half of May produced 5 exceptional posts by Sagada visitors. The posts came with multiple photos, and on some, there were video clips as well. Kudos to these visitors. They probably don't know how their posts help cure my Sagada homesickness. On to my list in no particular order: (1) Baguio Dispatches (2) Blue Nomadic (3) Let's Go Sago (4) Facing the Sunshine (5) Out of Town Blog. The photo in this blog post is screen captured from the Out and About in Sagada gallery.

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Sagada Photo Galleries 2 - April 2009

This is a continuation of a list of Sagada photo galleries that have been published by Sagada visitors recently. Most photos would have been taken during the Holy Week on April 2009, when droves of local tourists go to the Cordilleras to escape the searing summer sun of the lowlands and enjoy the cool climate of this region.

More than 2 dozen photographs of Sagada scenes and local profiles are found in this photographer's blog post. There are more photos available in a private gallery that is password protected. Check out Blue Ideas Surviving Sagada Galleries

Neriz Agraam's blog, just a glimpse & more, features multiple posts and photos of their recent trip to Sagada. I always smile when I see a photo of Sagada Weaving (see thumbnail), the shop started by my grandmother, and which is now managed by my cousins in Sagada. The Sagada posts on this blog include: Sagada: Kiltepan Viewpoint; Sagada: Off to The Hanging Coffins; Sagada: The Lemon Pie House; Sagada: The Residential Lodge and More; Sagada: The Sumaguing Cave Experience

Frustrated's Sagada post has more than a dozen Sagada scenes of terraces, the cave, flowers, and my favorite - the one of the "pinit" at the end of his gallery.

The putograb blog has photos of rice terraces, hanging coffins, other Sagada sceneries, and some food images. The blogger describes Sagada as "an excellent destination for those looking for adventure; the geography offers caves ideal for spelunking even by amateur cave explorers, as well as several scenic hiking trails."

A trio of pictures that are both fun and creative can be found at the Sagada Genuine Guides blog. I thought this was a natural thing to do in the caves but it's the first time I've seen it. Check these photos and smile.

View more than a dozen quality photos of Kiltepan sunrise scenes at the [LIVE].[LAUGH].[LEARN] blog. Simply beautiful.

Related Link: Sagada Photo Galleries 1 - April 2009

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Sagada Photo Galleries 1 - April 2009

If you're homesick about Sagada, you would love the week after Easter. This is 1-week during the year that Sagada visitors blog and post new pictures of our beloved hometown. Sharing some photo galleries and stories that I've enjoyed (or not enjoyed but at least they're recent) so far.

These Sagada sunset photos are one of my favorites and possibly the best out there in the Internet. Photos were taken from the Sagada town proper and Lake Danum. I'm trying to find out more about the blogger - he/she seems to be a foreign tourist. The post is aptly titled "Hoarding sundowns: Sagada at fall" - and what a magnificient hoard it is!

Get hungry with a food post from pinoy food cravings on the fare at Rock Inn & Cafe. Haven't tried this place yet but it has gotten some rave reviews from visitors. Yummy! See Banana Pancake with Butter and Strawberry Jam @ Rock Inn & Cafe

La Taniere Du Loup's post on their trip to Bomod-ok Falls during Holy Week 2009 feature a story and some photos of the visitors as they trek to the Big Falls and pass through some rice terraces.

The Travel Blog's Quaint Sagada post has cave photos. Here's a quote from the writer "The famed cave never failed to amaze me. I never thought i'd see truly spectacular rock formations down below. Yes, i have to force my way through really narrow passageways, rapel down some parts, and dip into freezing water but the it's an experience i want to do again and again." Buti pa siya.

MOONGIRL's SAGADA POST - Plenty of pictures and Sagada adventure stories. I particularly liked the LESSONS LEARNED at the end of her post. It's to be shared to first-time Sagada visitors.

Kyle Jose of The Havens of General Philosophical Entity (phew!) writes and blogs about his Sagada and Banaue experience. He has 2 posts that contain photos, and a video clip. I particularly liked his photo of Bomod-ok, the Big Waterfalls (in thumbnail). See Part I; Part II.

Related Link: Sagada Photo Galleries 2 - April 2009

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Sagada Photos at Putograb

I'll never tire of viewing Sagada photos like the above recent photographs from putograb's gallery. They remind me of the beautiful scenes back home. The advances of technology has allowed scenes like these to be captured as they are in real life; well, almost like-life. Nothing beats watching these scenes in Sagada, a gentle breeze touching your cheek, and the warm familiar smell of the pine wood permeating the air. Just beautiful.

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Sagada Photo - Rice Terraces

Sharing a screen capture of Sagada Rice Terraces from Oman Aguilos' Flickr album. The above photo was taken on the way to Bomod-ok during Holy Week 2009.

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The Flowers of Sagada

1,2,3... common now and join me in belting this 80s teenybopper song.

"THE FLOWERS IN SAGADA, ARE JUST ABOUT TO DIE!" hehehe... I think I'm affected by the sub zero temperature that is engulfing the Midwest. To escape, I was going over Attorney Manja's Facebook photo album when I stumbled upon her "Smelling the Flowers" gallery featuring Sagada flowers she photographed over the holidays. It's nostalgic looking at the photos. They bring back a lot of memories from childhood years. Here are some of them, and you may want to help me identify those I couldn't.

Flower 01 - The calla lily.
This flower somehow scared me. It reminded me of death, or the church, or both.

Flower 02 - The sunflower. One of my sisters told me that this flower follows the sun when it rises from the east and sets on the west. That's why the name "sun-follower". How true? Never proved it really. I had more important things to do than watching a flower follow the sun, hehehe. What I do remember is our neighbor with the huge sunflowers and we got to taste some of their seeds once harvested. Not so tasty - thought they were bland. And then there's the classmate in Grade 6 who made sunflower-orange juice or something like that for his science project and made it all the way to the Regionals. He blended sunflower LEAVES into the juice. Yum.

Flower 03 - The "lantana" - at least that's how we called it. The round green things that grew in its stem were ideal for throwing or shooting at a playmate.

Flower 04 - Dandelions in Sagada. When I told Manila acquaintances of dandelions in Sagada, they looked at me like I was crazy. Somehow, lowlander ignorance is amusing.

Flower 05 - Bottlebrushes. Saw a lot of these at the U******s.

Flower 06 - Don't recall the name of this flower. Something like million flower or billion flower.
As a child, it didn't fool me. I'm sure that were only a few dozen petals at the most.

Flower 07 - The Sagada Gumamela. This variety is not common in other places I think. We'd use it to make our own bubbles. The ones in front of the B****s on the way to the elementary school were tasty. You pull the flower, and you suck the sweet liquid in its base. It was more than twice that I got an ant in my mouth just because of the my gumamela-sucking days. Ah, it's still protein.

Flower 08 - Poinsettia. The Christmas flower is free in Sagada.
Here, you have to buy it for some dollars at Walmart.

Someone do help me in naming these other flowers.
They all seem familiar, I just don't remember what they are called.

Flower 09

Flower 10

Flower 11

Flower 12

Flower 13

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Bloggables 002 - Of "motit", Igorot bloggers, and the Sagada Hospital website

My second list of bloggables - items in the Web that either features Sagada and the Igorots, or are works by fellow Igorots. Refer to Bloggables 001.

Photo Credit: Alamid Coffee at Squidoo

‘Motit’ excites Cordillera coffee lovers. Learn how the “motit”, Kankana-ey term for the Philippine civet cat (Paradoxurus philippinensis) is exciting coffee growers across the Cordilleras. There are lots of motits in Sagada and as a child, I’ve seen them eating coffee at our neighbors garden. They eat coffee cherries and later excrete these as feces. When cleaned and processed, Forbes magazine has described this coffee as the rarest and most expensive in the world. Read more…

Sagada Hospital Website: An anonymous commenter left a URL that pointed to the Saint Theodore’s Hospital website. This is a pleasant surprise. I didn’t even know it existed and judging from the articles, it’s just been newly set-up. It has a lot of articles on therapeutic cancer and detoxification and I might just want to read on these as my wife and I are trying to improve our diet. Lastly, it was a bonus to see familiar faces amongst the staff. I recognized Janice, the sister of a ka-barkada, and the high school teacher of my sisters. Visit SagadaHospital.com.

IGOROT BLOGGERS: Three Igorot bloggers deserve some attention – (1) Martin Polichay is an Igorot from Australia and writes on an igorot journey. (2) Vicente Sapguian previews the work of Leon Lonogan – “The Sun Sets at Sunrise: The Rise of the Agawa Tribe” in his blog, from greatman. (3) A young Igorot academic scholar in California writes on President JFK and General MacArthur’s “Igorot” comments at Allan’s Blog.

Sagada / Igorot News Briefs:

1. “President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has Igorot blood on her hands…” says an activist as the House of Representatives probe the disappearance of Cordillera People’s Alliance founding member, James Balao. Read more…
2. BusinessMirror reports that an ATM unit has been installed in Sagada. Read More…
3. The exhibit “Sagada: Mountain Reflections” is available for viewing at the Crucible Gallery, fourth floor of SM Megamall A, Mandaluyong City. Read more…
4. Singaporean adventurer and world record holder, Khoo Swee Chiow, visited Sagada and remarked “I would definitely go back and bring my family here”. Read more…

Sagada Photo-blogs:
1. My Sagada Adventure by mel
2. Sagada’s Hanging Coffins and Exotic Caves by the “Bride around the Corner”. Is the groom waiting by the corner? Hehehe…
3. Sagada: A Perfect Example of Ecotourism by fellow Sagada blogger and friend, Irene.
4. Food Tripping in Sagada by happyfoodies.com

Site Redesign: Lastly, I’m going to change the look of this site in the coming days. I appreciate your continued support and please continue to provide comments and feedback on my posts. What is a blogger without readers? Have a nice weekend!

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1980s Sagada Images by a French Photographer - Part II

Here's the second batch of Sagada images by a photographer from Paris, France. These photos are in black and white and in poster sizes. The edges of the photographs were not scanned due to the size of the scanner used.

Sagada's Morning Mist:

Sagada's Rocky Terrain:

Sagada's Rice Terraces:

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1980s Sagada Images by a French Photographer - Part I

In 2004, I was having dinner at a Paris restaurant with 2 Filipino high school friends, and 2 Frenchmen. The first Frenchman was a client, and the second was his cousin who happened to be a photographer based in Manila, and married to a Filipina. While waiting for our fare, a man in a black suit with some folders entered the restaurant. The photographer in our group whispered that the man who entered was a known French photographer who sometimes go to restaurants to publicize his photographs. (Now, I don't remember his name - but I hope to be able to research it in the web one of this days).

Our group struck up a conversation with this photographer, and soon enough, we learned that he's been to the Philippines. I told him I was from Sagada and he quickly said that he'd been to the town in the 1980s, and have some photographs that he didn't have with him a the moment. We got his card, and promised to visit his studio soon.

A friend and a cousin accompanied me to his studio just outside Paris. Once there, he showed me some contact prints of his Sagada photos. He had more than a dozen, in black and white. I chose 10, 7 to be printed in 5x8; and 3 to be poster size. The photos were worth some hard earned euros, but I knew they'd be used to decorate my house one day. Heck, 1980s Sagada photos by a French photographer are not that common. I came back after a week to get the photographs since he developed these himself. Of course, I asked him to initialize the poster size photos, which he happily obliged to do.

Two of the 10 photos I gave as a gift to a lola in Paris. The other 8 photos I brought back home to the Philippines. We left it there when we came to the US in 2006, but through the kindness of a colleague, the photos are now with my family again. I've scanned the first 5 and are sharing them in this post. I will try to find a way to scan the other 3 poster sized photos.

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Photo 1 Above: A tree obscures a traditional hut and a more recent galvanized iron house.

Photo 2 Below: A view of the town from the the yard of St. Mary the Virgin church.

Photo 3 Below: Sagada Rice Terraces.

Photo 4 Below: Sagada Rice Terraces.
Photo 5 Below: A view of houses below the Mission Compound.

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