Sira-an Hot Spring and Seco Island in Antique

Photo taken from Google

Photo taken from Google

A Hot Spring and a Paradise worth Protecting!

An ideal weather for taking your clothes off and dipping down at the streaming pools is a perfect escapade at the Sira-an Hot Spring at the town of Anini-y in Antique. His location is at the cliff-edge of Anini-y; one side fronting the highway, the other facing the stretch of Sulu Sea. Nogas Island can be seen on the horizon, another perfect destination for vacation and outing, and actually a boat trip from the resort.

Photo taken from Google

Photo taken from Google

Sira-an has numerous pools facing the sea. The waters from these is said to have a whitish speck where the name of the resort originated from; resembling crumbled powder bits like a woman's ruined (nasira) face foundation. The water is quite hot, perfect for your trembling knees and warm body.
There are several huts available both for day-trippers and overnighters. But first you meet to pay their entrance fee from Php20.00.  Very affordable, indeed!

Photo taken from Google

           Another travel destination sought after by travelers and foreigners is the uninhabited island located North East of the Sulu Sea with 1.5 km stretch of sand and shallow clear sea. The island is a crown jewel of Antique and probably one of the best kept secrets of the province. The island is part of Tibiao, Antique which is now dubbed as the eco-heritage destination of Panay Island.
Seco Island used to be a sanctuary for fishermen seeking refuge from bad weather during their fishing expeditions. Even until now, it is visited by fishermen to sun dry their fish. A virgin island! No infrastracture, few trees and definitely no vendors in the island, just pure white sand surrounded by crystal clear body of water in the middle of the ocean.

Photo taken from Google

Photo taken from Google

A haven for kite surfers! Considered as one of the top five kite boarding spots in the Philippines. The beauty of Seco Island is now put into the limelight. For kite-surfers, the island provides constant strong winds that could propel surfers up to 50 to 150 ft high while on their surf boards, and the shallow and clear water white sand banks are perfect for jumping and aerial tricks.
This is why Seco Island is a fast becoming favorite destination among kite enthusiasts who don't mind travelling all the way to Antique.

Antique's Buri and Patadyong Production

The women of Antique have busy hands. These hands hold both straws and twines for hours; threading and weaving grand designs of handicrafts and fabrics.

Photo taken from Google

Photo taken from Google

Located in Tobias Fornier, members of Buri Handicraft Association, Inc. of Antique braid buri palm into baskets, bags, mats, wallets, and boxes. Their products are so good and beautiful, and it now represents their municipality's One Town, One Product project.

Photo taken from Google

Moving next into the town of Bugasong, a small community of weavers can be found at Barangay Bagtason. A more complex kind of weaving can be witnessed. Patadyongs were they've made. It is a type of textile made from cottons, abaca and even polyester. Quite similar to malongs of the Muslims, the only difference is in its being signature plaid or checkered patterns. It has many usage; skirts for ladies, baby hammocks and even portable bathrooms and changing rooms during olden days.

Photo taken from Google

According to the legend, one of the datus, Datu Lubay, taught the art of weaving to the villages of Bugasong and Malay datus moved to Panay to escape prosecuting from their native empire in Borneo and Sumatra. You can believe it or not, but one thing for sure, patadyong were history.
There are six stages in making patadyongs; the measurement(pagsab-ong), the thread arrangement(paglikis), the thread insertion in the binting(pagbinting), the thread insertion in the reed(pagsulod), the thread transfer from cone to talingyasan(pagtalingyas), and the final weaving part(pagpanara).

Looking at the detail and intricacy of finished patadyongs and how painstakingly slow it is made, simply blew your mind.
These weavers have magics in their hand!

Muscovado Sweet Treats in Antique

Photo taken from Google

Like kids, we can stuff our mouths full with bars of bandi, Antique's own version of panutsa. This, if you visit a sugar mill in the town of Laua-an. This is where all local sweets came from. The place is hot and stuffy as sugarcane juice is processed into muscovado sugar.
Muscovado is a type of unrefined brown sugar. It isn't as sweet as your normal white or brown sugar, and is usually preferred by southern people for their coffee.

Photo taken from Google

Photo taken from Google

Making mascovado for sugarcane is no easy work. It is done manually. From the bamboo-fed furnace below the mill, to the stirring of the cane juice, and up to its pouring and drying stage, no wonder it commands a higher price compared to the commercial sugar we're all used to.

Photo taken from Google

Beside pairing muscovado with coffee, it's alos an excellent ingredient for making local sweets. A variations of bandi and butong-butong can be made. Bandi is very similar to panutsa and Baguio's peanut brittle. Eating this can charmed you into eating a full bar of it. On the other hand, butong-butong is Antique's version of tira-tira. Butong means "to pull" in the local dialect. To make this candy treat, one has to bend and pull on a slightly melted muscovado goo until it becomes whitish in color. Twist to perfection and it's done.

Too hyperactive from all that sugar if you try. Sugar overdose!

Tibaio Fish Spa and Lambaklad Fishing

You Get the Fish and the Fish will Eat your Feet!

Photo taken from Google

Dipping your feet on foot-high water and hang it nibbled by three-inch fishes is a one-time experience you can have many times after experiencing it on Tibiao Fish Spa in Antique Province.
Screeches and tinkling sensation of voices and laughter you will heard from the spa would really make you think twice and curiosity will indeed kill you before dipping your feet down for fishes to feast on. The dead skin off your feet seemed the perfect fiesta dish for them.

Photo taken from Google

It is a bit ticklish at first as they say since I don't try it yet but once you get the hang of it, it is actually quite relaxing. And yes, you get to feed those cute little fishes too. Tit for tat!
Directly across the street, entrance you to the beach for Lambaklad fishing. Aboard from the two-layered balsa, a group of almost twenty people went for about 20 meters away from the shore can experience fishing to do in lambaklad-style.

Photo taken from Google

The term is derived from the words, lambat(net) and baklad(fish corral).The tradition is to leave your tsinelas(flip flopes) on the beach, wah your feet in the water, then board the giant bamboo raft. As the name suggest, there is a large corral and net under the water. The fishermen slowly pull the net in which brings the raft toward the fish, and pushes them into the net. The folks along this area in Antique have been using this technique for catching fishes. It is not an easy business at all! After hours of waiting after dispersing the net into the water, fishes crazily wriggled as the net was at last pulled in into the balsa.

Photo taken from Google

Photo taken from Google

Tibiao was known for being a playground for various migratory marine species. Some can catch huge tunas, sword fishes, scads, caranx, marling and even mantra rays and barracudas. Tibiao's lambaklad fishing is one of the town's main livelihood. It is also becoming one of the most sought after experiences when visiting Antique.

Bugtong-Bato Falls

Hike to Bugtong-Bato Falls

Bugtong-Bato is a 7-tiered waterfall that is accessible through walk or foot trail located in the Barangay Tuno, Tibiao, Antique. But one must have to cross rivers and terraces inside the thriving forest. It is 7 kilometers away from the town proper or poblacion.
It is a tributary to the amazing Tibiao River. Among the 7-tiers, only 3 is open for guest. If you want to visit all the tiers, that would require a whole day, an expert guide and a river trekking skill.

Starting off from the inland habal-habal(motorcycle) ride along zig-zag, up and down tracks surrounded by dense forest, you can pass by Tibiao River in Brgy. Tuno providing a good place for travelers to try their hands at kayaking. Kayaking offers at all skills levels. a swim to river to coll off the summer heat. The water is usually placid during the summer months, but the rainy season brings in stronger currents for a more adventure-pumping ride. It is a great experience before reaching the falls.

 Further along the barangay, about an hour's trek past terraced rice paddies and suspension bridges brings you to the first of seven waterfalls that comprises the Bugtong-Bato falls. The scenery to the falls was just stunning. Each tier tests your outdoor skills, and physical involvement is a must since one needs to climb up almost-vertical slopes to get to the second tier and then the third, which has an inviting natural pool and cool breeze that will soothe your tired feet and aching body. You can try to repel down the falls and swim in the chilly water. I experienced this of adventure and reached up to the third tier, which we were advised to stay only up to that point. It is advisable to use only footwear with good traction to secure safety trip.

After all these muscle-demanding activities, travelers can turn in to a relaxing hot bath unique in Antique. It is not the usual hot bath that you know because this works on a giant wok or kawa with water heated by wood fire roaring underneath. This giant wok can hold six people and offers herbal treatment.

 Tibiao is known for its exciting eco-adventure park. Bugtong-Bato fall is a secret paradise of Antique and a growing tourist attraction nowadays that will make you relax, enjoy the trip and the scene, and complete your vacation itinerary. A fun and exciting summer destination, indeed!

(Photos were taken from Google)

Pick a Rambutan by Yourself!

You have tried a lot of exciting and muscle-demanding adventures in your life. Why not try a very fine and relaxing one?

One great experience is Rambutan picking. You can try it at Nica Farm located in Barangay La Paz, Tibiao in Antique Province. It's fine to see rambutan in its native setting. The farm  has its slave of carabaos and rows upon rows of rambutan trees will amaze and excite you to pick one and taste it. A refreshing scene from the usual farm you used to fell.

Nica Farm was named after the owner's youngest daughter, and is actually a private fruit orchard. But they do open the place to tourists for fruit picking during weekends for a very affordable fee. A humble and generous business, I can say. You can eat everything you picked and you can even bring some at much cheaper price rather than those being sold in the market.

Besides rambutan, the farm also produces other fruits like mangoes, pomelos, bananas, lanzones, durians and mangosteens. But really, rambutans are abundant.
Rambutans are tropical fruit. It is said to have originated from Indonesia, with it's name coming from the word "rambut" which means hairy.

The usual rambutans which I know to have tastes sweet are the red ones and the green ones considered unripe. But on Nica Farm, the farm folks says that green ones are actually much sweeter than it's red counterpart.

Well, to taste is to believe!




Photos taken from this site (http://www.lakadpilipinas.com/2014/06/nica-farm-green-rambutan-antique.html)

Malalison Island

Explore the "Little Boracay" - Malalison

Malalison or Mararison is the new summer getaway and vacation escapade among travelers and "bakasyunista" today, found to the west of the mainland in the municipality of Culasi. It is an untouched 55-hectare island blessed with its picture perfect mountainm ridges, refined white sand beaches for swimming, crystal clear waters teeming with aquatic flora and fauna,and hill tops perfect for short trekking that enable you to view Malalison in its finest grandeur. It has also its mini-rainforest where yellow-naped oriole bird(tukha), fruit bats and carnivorous pitcher plant are found. Malalison is also a home to a small fishing community.

At the back of the island are grassy hills that visitors can hike for stunning views of the mainland and nearly islands, including the Nablag Islet which one can walk via a sandbar during low tide.

Malalison is said to be with superstitious origin. According to local folklore, Malalison is one of three islands(including Maningning and Batbatan) believed to have been the banished daughters of Mt. Madjaas(considered the highest peak in Panay).

Although most visitors come in the island for day trips, they can also camp at the beach or stay at the villager's multipurpose hall for the night if they want to experience the total exploration in the island. The island does not have round-the-clock access to electricity, but that is what exactly makes the island perfect for those who want to unplug.

I personally experience the fun and adventure in Malalison Island. I can say it's a perfect place for summer escapade and soul searching for the whole family, friends, colleagues, love ones or you alone.

What are you waiting for? Live up and enjoy life!

(Photos were taken from Google)