SM North EDSA is now home to MUJI’s grandest store in the Philippines, marking the Japanese lifestyle brand’s sixth establishment in the country.

Boasting an impressive floor size of over 2,500 square meters, the new store sets a record as MUJI’s largest establishment in the country to date, showcasing the Japanese retailer’s signature design elements.

With over 4,000 MUJI products available, including original concepts such as MUJI Labo and MUJI Walker, visitors will be spoiled for choice.

One of the features of the store is the aisle that connects two distinct areas. Area 1 presents a wide range of MUJI merchandise, from garments for all ages to functional houseware, furniture, stationery, and skincare products. 

In Area 2, MUJI introduces new lifestyle services, including a coffee counter serving curry rice meals, a kids’ playing area for young visitors, and a service counter.

The expansive coffee counter is one of the standout features of the store and is MUJI’s largest coffee counter to date. Customers can take a break there and enjoy a cup of coffee or meals from MUJI’s new product line, MUJI Curry, which is exclusive to the branch. The product line includes seven flavors such as butter chicken curry, green curry, and prawn curry.

The kids’ playing area allows children to engage with educational toys, providing a space for them to have fun while their parents explore the store, which also features an expanded kidswear line for babies and toddlers.

The store also features the sixth MUJI water refilling station in the country. The station is a free service that encourages visitors to refill their own bottles. The branch also introduces an embroidery service, allowing customers to personalize their MUJI products with over 200 designs to choose from.

To celebrate the grand opening, MUJI SM North EDSA is conducting a price review on select everyday products, making them even more affordable for customers.

In addition to SM North EDSA, MUJI is also present in other locations, including Greenbelt 3, Central Square in BGC, Power Plant Mall at Rockwell, Shangri-La Plaza East Wing, SM Mall of Asia, and SM North EDSA. – with reports from Jacob Maquiling/Rappler.com

If you haven’t ordered that cake or made that restaurant reservation, here’s your sign! Check out these local food establishments and get ready to treat your fathers and father figures with presents that really satisfy.

Lunch out!

Just because he’s the man of the house, doesn’t mean you can’t take him out for an awesome dining experience. For your champ of a dad, why not take him to Champion Hotpot?

Must Read

Unlimited hotpot and Mongolian buffet in one? Check out Champion Hotpot in San Juan City

With Weekday Lunch (P788) or Weekday Dinner/Weekend/Holiday (P988) offerings, the unlimited hotpot and Mongolian rice bowl restaurant in Santolan Town Plaza, San Juan City boasts a variety of soup bases to choose from, like laksa or sukiyaki (to name a few), to pair with noodles, vegetables, and Champion Balls. They also have the Unlimited Mongolian Knockout Bowl for Lunch (P450) if your dad needs his rice fix! For June, Champion Hotpot has extended dining hours until 12 midnight from Friday to Saturday, perfect if your father is a late-night diner.

Century City Mall also has their own unique dining experience in store for you and your dad. From June 17 to June 18, Chef Martin Narisma of The Fat Kid Inside Studios, with Maillard and Dads Belly Roast, will cook up a storm at Level 4, Al Fresco for Century City Mall’s first Kitchen-to-Table activity that guests can participate in hands-on while witnessing live cooking from their own stations.

NFT-themed US restaurant Bored & Hungry Manila also just updated their daily menu with the new OG Pinoy Burger (P395), made with Vigan longganisa patties, sunny side up egg, banana ketchup aioli, and atchara. If your dad loves Pinoy-style chori burgers, this is in a similar ballpark.

Located at The Grid Food Market in Power Plant Mall, Makati City, Bored & Hungry Manila currently only offers the OG Pinoy Burger, the OG Smashed Burger (P395), and Fries (P150), but the simple menu might just be a hit for your chill and hungry dad.

If you’re still looking to get your dad a present in a box, order Mimi & Bros’ Dad Box (P2,100), which comes with pork ribs, buffalo wings, their Signature Fried Chicken, and smoked sausage, with sweet corn and pickles on the side! Otherwise, dine al fresco at Mimi & Bros at Crossroads, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

Desserts for Dad

A list of Father’s Day treats isn’t complete without desserts, because what’s a celebration without cake?

If you’re not sure where to start, Max’s Caramel Fudge Cake (P999) is a sweet surprise for your dad, with its caramel frosting and chocolate drizzles over the super rich chocolate cake. The moist fudgy cake has a layer of caramel ganache in the middle, too.

Also check out Kumori’s five-inch Midnight Choco Truffle Cake (P699) – a rich and sweet chocolate cake and layered with brownie bits for crunch and an indulgent dark chocolate ganache. You can even get a Father’s Day topper for an additional P50.

For your donut-loving and caffeine-crazy dad, Krispy Kreme’s Father’s Day Doughnut Boxes are packed with their newest Coffee Doughnut Creations. The box of six assorted doughnuts sells for P449, while the dozen costs P899. They are available until June 23 in all branches nationwide.

There’s the Kafe Latte, an unglazed vanilla cake donut with coffee-flavored coating and coffee kreme icing, drizzled with dark chocolate; the Mocha Kreme Filled, a shell doughnut filled with vanilla kreme, dipped in coffee-flavored coating, topped with coffee kreme and dark chocolate chips; and the Tiramisu, an unglazed dark chocolate ring doughnut filled with mocha, dipped in tiramisu coating, topped with mocha icing and cocoa powder.

Craving something different? Try Nothing But Jill’s pastries that are said to rival the menu of California’s Porto’s Bakery. Located along Esteban Abada St., Quezon City, Nothing But Jill offers boxes of 12 Cheese Rolls (P1099), Classic Cannoli (P1099), White Choco Covered Cannoli (P1299), and Chocolate Covered Cannoli (P1299). 

Last but not least, to beat the heat, treat your cool dad with an equally cool pint of AFTERGLOW Artisanal Kombucha Sorbet (P480) by Cultur’d Kombucha and gelato haven Afters! It’s good for the gut, and refreshing, too. – Sophia Gonzaga and Steph Arnaldo/Rappler.com

On Tuesday, June 13, the hotel announced on social media that they are welcoming guests starting August 8.

“It’s time to light up Makati! We are delighted to welcome guests back to the iconic Makati Shangri-La, Manila from 8 August 2023,” reads the post, which comes with a video featuring the luxury hotel as it lights up at night. Makati Shangri-La also shared that guests can now book their stays at the hotel.

In January 2021, Makati Shangri-La announced that it would be laying off employees and closing temporarily.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the hotel took few to no room and event bookings, leading to cuts in managers’ salaries, work weeks, and non-essential spending. In February 2021, the luxury hotel closed down.

In April, job postings for Makati Shangri-La surfaced online, leading to speculation that the hotel would be reopening soon.

Makati Shangri-La was first opened to the public in April 1993, following the success of EDSA Shangri-La, which opened in 1992 and is the Shangri-La Group’s first hotel in the Philippines. More hotels have been established since then, including the Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa, Shangri-La Boracay Resort and Spa, Jen Manila by Shangri-La, and Shangri-La at The Fort.

Sitting at the heart of Makati’s Central Business District and just within an arm’s reach of malls like Greenbelt, Glorietta, and SM Makati, the Makati Shangri-La has been the go-to for tourists looking to explore the busy metro and experience five-star hospitality and dining.

Makati Shangri-La is located on the corner of Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue, Makati City. – Sophia Gonzaga/Rappler.com

Sophia Gonzaga is a Rappler intern.

Built on the western site of the beloved Toshimaen amusement park, which shut in 2020 after 94 years, the Warner Brothers Studio Tour Tokyo recreates a number of iconic film locations, such as Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic.

The location near the Japanese capital is ideal, especially as global tourism picks up after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Torben Jensen, vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo.

“Being the first tour in Asia and the increasing inbound visitors to Japan will also put us in the centre of the regional market,” Jensen told media during a tour of the park, saying it offered Asian fans a new dimension in Harry Potter movie-making.

Tickets for adults cost 6,300 yen ($45), and Jensen said they were sold out into August. – Rappler.com

Martin Nanawa and his group from the dojo visited Rappler HQ in April to teach Rapplers some of the basics. The eager beavers were given bokken, which is a wooden sword for training in kenjutsu.

Among the lessons Martin shared were the importance of posture and breathing; of keeping your movements compact; and of responding to attacks calmly and deliberately.

It was an informative, hands-on session, and if these Rapplers stick with these lessons, they’ll be journalists by day, samurai warriors by night! – Rappler.com

Sugawara Budokai Manila holds classes every Saturday at 1:30 pm at Yoga Pod PH, Timog. Contact them via facebook.com/katorimanila!

McCarthy – arguably the greatest American writer since Ernest Hemingway or William Faulkner, both of whom he was sometimes compared to – died of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to a statement from publisher Penguin Random House that cited his son, John McCarthy.

Little known for the first 60 years or so of his life, rapturous reviews of 1992’s “All the Pretty Horses” – the first in “The Border Trilogy” – changed all that. The book was made into a movie – as were 2005’s “No Country for Old Men” and 2006’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Road.”

But McCarthy was never seen on the red carpet. An intensely private man, he almost never gave interviews. He granted a rare exception for Oprah Winfrey in 2007, telling her: “I don’t think (interviews) are good for your head. If you spend a lot of time thinking about how to write a book, you probably shouldn’t be thinking about it, you probably should be doing it.”

McCarthy wrote with a distinctive, spare style that eschewed grammatical norms but drew the reader in relentlessly to his world of blood, dust and an unforgiving universe.

“He stood at the window of the empty cafe and watched the activities in the square and he said that it was good that God kept the truths of life from the young as they were starting out or else they’d have no heart to start at all,” he wrote in typical fashion in “All the Pretty Horses.”

Not respectable

Born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr on July 20, 1933, in Providence, Rhode Island, McCarthy was one of six children in his Irish Catholic family, and later switched to using the old Irish name of Cormac.

His father was a lawyer and he was brought up in Tennessee in relative comfort. But middle America was not for him.

“I felt early on I wasn’t going to be a respectable citizen. I hated school from the day I set foot in it,” he told the New York Times in another rare interview in 1992.

He served in the Air Force in the 1950s and was married twice before the 1960s were out – first to Lee Holleman, who he met at college and with whom he had a son, and later to English singer Anne DeLisle, from whom he separated in 1976. After a short spell in Europe, he returned to Tennessee to settle near Knoxville, Tennessee and later moved to El Paso, Texas and then to Santa Fe.

His first book “The Orchard Keeper,” set in rural Tennessee and published in 1965, landed with Faulkner’s last editor, who recognized the young writer’s potential. But despite positive reviews – and some shocked reaction – for this and other early works like “Child of God” and “Outer Dark,” commercial success eluded McCarthy and he scraped by on writers’ grants.

In 1985 “Blood Meridian” was published, garnering little attention at the time, although it is now considered his first truly great novel and perhaps his best. With lots of violence and no heroes, it tells the tale of a gang of scalp hunters in the mid-19th century West.

“All the Pretty Horses,” a coming-of-age book that kicked off a trilogy centered around Texas ranch hands at the close of the frontier, finally brought him acclaim in the 1990s.

The trilogy was followed by “No Country for Old Men,” a deeply disturbing and yet riveting Western crime novel about a drug deal gone wrong, quickly adapted into a movie by Joel and Ethan Coen that won the 2007 best picture Oscar.

This was the time that also saw the publication of “The Road” – perhaps even darker than what went before. Set in a world where an unnamed disaster has ended society and food production, a father and his son walk through a devastated landscape occupied by desperate people. The full depths of human depravity are on display – but also the love that the small family is able to sustain through it all. “The Road” won multiple awards and was also made into a movie in 2009.

Then came a long period until two new companion novels were released in 2022 – interconnected books “The Passenger” and “Stella Maris” that were unmistakably McCarthy, now approaching 90 years of age, albeit somewhat gentler – and, perhaps, valedictory.

“Enough,” says one character for whom death is approaching. “I have never thought this life particularly salubrious or benign and I have never understood in the slightest why I was here. If there is an afterlife – and I pray most fervently that there is not – I can only hope that they wont sing.”

In a statement, Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, said, “Cormac McCarthy changed the course of literature. For sixty years, he demonstrated an unwavering dedication to his craft, and to exploring the infinite possibilities and power of the written word.”

McCarthy was married three times, divorcing his third wife Jennifer Winkley in 2006. He had two children: Cullen, born in 1962, and John, born in 1998. – Rappler.com

Perfectionism rates steadily increased over recent decades, and our culture is now obsessed: the perfect body, job, partner, vacation…the perfect life. We believe others demand more of us and we demand more of others and ourselves.

Nowhere is this more obvious than weddings.

After 25 years researching this topic (and more than 100 publications), I take particular interest in cultural trends that encourage perfectionism — and weddings take the cake.

Pursuing perfection

Most weddings have some common elements: two people, often dressed in some combination of white dress and/or nice suit, exchange vows and rings. But now, in the age of social media and the wedding industry, the wedding must have an aesthetic. The reception must be themed, the ceremony color co-ordinated, and above all: it. must. be. perfect.

Pinterest inspiration boards set the tone and Instagram photos set the standard. Perfection is the tale and social media the teller. Where’s the romance?

Many perfectionists are sensitive to rank, status, and dominance in social groups, which drives envy, jealousy and a desire to best others and turns everything into a competition. Weddings are a major milestone that change or reinforce social status; as such, people seek perfection to ridiculous extremes. Minute details are fussed over to the exclusion of what should really matter: the love that brought everyone together in the first place.

How can you have a beautiful, romantic, special day without falling into the trap of relentlessly pursuing perfection? Well, you forget perfection and focus on people.

Must Read

I do…not: Wedding trends people are sick of seeing

Pressure from other people

There is immense pressure to plan a party that pleases staid family members and adventurous friends alike. Socially prescribed perfectionism is the belief that society, family, and friends have unrealistic expectations of perfection of you.

If your mother is in tears because you’re questioning a religious ceremony, ask yourself these three things:

1. What are our values? Figure out what you value and translate those values into actions. If you and your partner want to interact with each guest, invite only your nearest and dearest. If you’re environmentally conscious, swap disposable decorations for in-season florals. Are you animal lovers? Ask guests to donate to your choice of charity instead of buying a gift. If you make your wedding a reflection of your values, then you’re less likely to view it as a “failure” if it doesn’t conform to others’ expectations, as perfectionists often do.
   
2. What do we want? Striving for perfection is costly. There is pressure to spend on the perfect rings, fancy paper invitations, a tropical honeymoon, and more. The wedding industry capitalizes on these expectations, turning weddings into major investments costing an average of $22,000 to $30,000. These “ideals” aren’t feasible for every budget. These are wants, not needs, so allocate your funds where you want them to go. A courthouse wedding, grocery store flowers, and a potluck dinner with friends can be just as special. Perfectionists can wrap their esteem and identity up in things, until “junk values” like consumerism dominate. The point is to celebrate, not spend money pleasing others, so don’t feel pressured to go into debt.
   
3. How do we grow? Too often, couples fall into the trap of “destiny.” The problem with this “perfect match” mindset is it’s too easy to say “I guess it wasn’t meant to be” when things get tough. Disney movies and romance novels entrenched fairy-tale endings into popular culture, but life doesn’t end with a wedding. Both during and after the wedding, you’ll face challenges and disagreements. If you focus on growing together as you plan your wedding and beyond, you’re less likely to catastrophize — as many perfectionists do — when things (or your partner) aren’t perfect.

Pressure you put on others

You agonize over orchestrating the perfect day, and then your sister’s baby bawls during the ceremony and Uncle Johnny gets drunk and makes rude jokes during the reception. When stakes seem high, you can end up demanding perfection from others, known as other-oriented perfectionism. If they fail to be perfect, that’s when bridezillas, groomzillas or monsters-in-law can emerge.

When something inevitably goes wrong, remember these three things:

1. Right partner versus right wedding. Weddings are meant to celebrate love. At the end of the day, you go home with your new spouse regardless of whether the wedding meets your expectations. This is just one day of the rest of your lives, so what’s more important? Having the right wedding or having and being the right partner? Focusing on each other, instead of the event, means others’ behavior won’t feel world-ending because it’s not affecting your relationship.
   
2. Focus on relationships. You’ve invited your guests to share in a special moment in your life. Is it then more important that the wedding party looks fit for Vogue or that you have your best friends to support you? Perfectionists don’t play nicely with others because they’re more concerned with others’ performance than the people themselves. For example, a perfectionist might care more about whether their mother’s speech evokes the “right” reactions from the crowd than how she’s feeling about this milestone in your life. If you prioritize your loved ones, the day becomes about connecting with them rather than ensuring they’re playing their part perfectly.
   
3. Mistakes are normal. Everyone makes mistakes. Your dad will trip on your train. Your groomsman will make an awkward speech. Your dinner will be late. It happens. If you, like perfectionists, are excessively concerned with making mistakes, then avoiding them monopolizes the event. Breathe and laugh it off.

Pressure you put on yourself

There can be a lot of pressure to look perfect on your wedding day. It’s common for brides to diet, invest in teeth whitening and skin-care regimes before their wedding, and hire makeup artists for the event. Grooms may feel pressure to get fitter.

This feeds self-oriented perfectionism (demanding perfection of oneself) and perfectionistic self-presentation (presenting yourself as perfect and hiding or denying flaws).

It can be hard to feel confident if you don’t think you meet these expectations, but try to keep these three things in mind:

1. Perfection is a myth. No one, and nothing, is perfect. There will undoubtedly be “flaws” somewhere. Maybe you stress-sweat. Maybe you stutter during your vows. These are the things you remember fondly. It’s often the “imperfections” that make your memories — and your wedding — perfect. Reminding yourself that perfection is an unrealistic, and even undesirable, standard can keep you from striving for it.
   
2. It’s not a competition. You and the couple down the street have very different interests, relationships, and values. Their elaborate, 300-guest wedding may have been right for them. They may not understand your desire to have an intimate 50-attendee affair instead, but that doesn’t matter. Both weddings are uniquely beautiful. You want to make memories, not a statement. Despite what perfectionistic thinking might tell you, your wedding isn’t a failure and this isn’t a competition.
   
3. You are loved. You might not look like the model did in your gown or suit. That’s okay. Perfectionists are prone to feelings of failure, guilt, shame, and low self-esteem because of their harsh self-evaluations and criticisms. However, your partner fell in love with you with the freckles and goofy laugh. You may become more fit or afford a more flattering outfit in the years to come, but that shouldn’t ruin your enjoyment of this moment. You don’t have to be perfect to be loved.

It is, after all, your special day, not your perfect day. – The Conversation|Rappler.com

Simon Sherry is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University.

This piece was originally published in The Conversation.

But what is the origin of the sound and of this curious letter? Why don’t we find the letter ñ in other languages in which the sound does appear? Is the ñ the exclusive heritage of Spanish?

The origin of the sound

The letter ñ represents a sound that did not exist in Latin, but is found in most Romance languages (including Italian, Portuguese, French, and Spanish). This sound is defined as nasal (with air coming out of the nose), palatal (the tongue rests against the hard palate), and sonorous (the vocal cords vibrate).

To understand the origin of this sound, it must be borne in mind that, in addition to the cultured Latin, the people of the empire spoke what is known as “vulgar Latin.” So it was common throughout the empire to use peculiarities in pronunciation and morphological and syntactic simplifications.

One of these phenomena was the tendency to palatalize the “n,” which will give rise to the ñ sound, in three main contexts:

• NI/NE + vowel: When in Latin the group ni or ne appears followed by another vowel, the n catches the sound of the palatal vowels and ends up adopting the ñ sound. Such is the case of Latin vinea, which gives rise to viña (Spanish), vigne (French), vigna (Italian), vinha (Portuguese), and vinya (Catalan).
• GN: The sound also appears by evolution of gn, as in agnellus or agnuculus (little lamb), from which derives the French agneau, the Italian agnello, the Spanish añojo, or the Catalan anyell.
• NN/MN: the articulatory effort used to pronounce the groups nnn and mn also led over time to the ñ sound. This is the case in año (Spanish), which comes from the Latin annus, or sueño (Spanish), sogno (Italian), or sohno (Portuguese), which come from the Latin somnu.

The origin of the spelling ñ

In the Middle Ages, copyists and scribes came across a new sound for which there was no letter, so they transcribed it according to its Latin etymology as ni + vocal, gn or nn.

In order to save time and, above all, paper and ink, the use of abbreviations was very common. The nn was abbreviated with an n with a small virgulilla above it, and this is how, for reasons of economy, the letter ñ was born.

The work of Alfonso X the Wise in the 13th century was fundamental in selecting and fixing the ñ as the only spelling to represent the palatal nasal sound. Later, the first Spanish Grammar published by Antonio de Nebrija in 1492, recognizes the status of the ñ and its differentiated sound with respect to the letter n.

In the first general monolingual dictionary of Castilian, the Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española by Sebastián de Covarrubias (1611), the spelling ñ appears inside words. However, despite its full implementation, it was not until the publication of the Royal Spanish Academy dictionary of 1803 that it appeared as a differentiated initial letter.

The adoption of ñ as an abbreviation of nn is the solution adopted in Spanish and Galician. In Italian and French, the nasal palatalization was represented by the digraph gn, another of the Latin groups that gave rise to the sound. In Catalan, it is represented by the group ny, and in Portuguese, as in Occitan, as nh.

The ñ around the world

As we have seen, the sound appears in most of the languages that derive from Latin, but not only in them. It is also found in a variety of languages, from Slavic languages such as Czech (with its ň) or Polish (with its ń), to Amerindian and Senegalese languages.

Influenced by Spanish, the spelling ñ is also present in the Philippine languages, as well as in Guarani, Quechua, Mapuche, and Aymara, among others. In the United States, the ñ is found in terms of Spanish origin such as piña colada and El Niño. The Latin community demands respect for this spelling, which is present in surnames such as Peña or Núñez.

Although Spanish speakers do not have the exclusivity of the ñ, it is undoubtedly an icon of Spanish in the world. Moreover, it represents the struggle for cultural identity, and even resisted the attempt to standardize keyboards without the letter ñ in 1991, finding distinguished defenders such as Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, among others. – Rappler.com

Esther Nieto Moreno de Diezmas is Profesora Titular, Directora del Departamento de Filología Moderna, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha.

This piece was originally published in The Conversation.

If you’re planning to visit multiple provinces in one trip, you might want to consider visiting Leyte and Biliran. Leyte is home to interesting sites such as Kalanggaman Island, the MacArthur Memorial, and the San Juanico Bridge. On the other hand, Biliran still has the rural and pristine sheen of a destination waiting to be discovered. The province is also one of the smallest in the country. Despite its size, it has attractions that warrant your attention. 

It’s possible to visit both in one trip because of Leyte’s accessibility and Tacloban’s transportation options to towns in Biliran.

Get into Tacloban

You have the option to travel by plane or bus to reach Tacloban.

By plane

Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, and Philippine Airlines all have regular direct flights to Tacloban from Manila. Book your tickets weeks or months before your trip to get the lowest possible prices.

By bus

You can also take the bus from Metro Manila to Tacloban. The trip may take up to around 23 hours per way. The fare costs up to P2,400 or less depending on the bus company and type of bus.

Get into Biliran

Biliran is easily accessible from Tacloban City. There are regular vans traveling between Tacloban in Leyte and Naval in Biliran. Look for Duptours terminal while in the city. The earliest scheduled van bound for Naval is around 6 am while the last one departs at around 5 pm. The fare for a one-way ride is around P330. The trip takes approximately 2.5 hours. 

Getting around

Like many provinces in the Philippines, both Leyte and Biliran provide you with multiple transportation options such as jeeps, tricycles, habal-habal (motorcycle taxi), boats, and vans. The amount you pay depends on your destination and if you want to hire the whole boat, motorcycle, or tricycle without waiting for other passengers.

Itinerary

*This itinerary assumes you start with one full day.

Day 1

You’re going to spend your first day traveling to Palompon, the gateway to Kalanggaman Island. Try to arrive in Tacloban before lunch so that you have more than enough time to catch the van bound for Palompon. Make your way to the van terminal and board whichever van is available. The fare for a one-way ride is around P280 and the trip takes approximately 3.5 hours. The first van departs at around 6 am while the last one leaves at 3 pm. Pick a flight revolving around this schedule. Once in Palompon, check in at your accommodation. 

Day 2

After checking out of your accommodation in the morning, make your way to the Palompon Eco Tourism Office to register for your trip to Kalanggaman Island. 

Fees for a trip to Kalanggaman Island:

Day Tours

• P500 – International tourists
• P150 – Local tourists

Overnight Trips

• P750 – International tourists
• P225 – Local tourists

*Senior citizens and students get a discount

Round-Trip Boat Rental

• P3,000 – for up to 15 persons
• P3,500 – for up to 25 persons
• P4,000 – for up to 30 persons

Cottage Rental

• P250 – Small (15 persons)
• P500 – Medium (25 persons)
• P750 – Large (30 persons)

*Fees may change without notice, check for updates in the tourism office.

Kalanggaman Island is a beautiful beach destination where you can just chill, swim, sunbathe, and eat and drink for a few hours. The beach has powdery, white sand and the water is crystal clear and blue. You can bring a volleyball or frisbee to pass the time. Try to start your trip as early as possible and be back at the van terminal before 3 pm to catch a ride to Tacloban City. The van fare to Tacloban is around P280. Once in the city again, check into your accommodation and find a place to eat dinner.

Day 3

On your third day, try to leave as early as possible for Naval, Biliran. The earliest van departs at around 6 am and the last one at around 3 pm. The trip takes around 2.5 hours one way and the fare for the van ride is around P150. You could look for Grand Tours, Duptours, or other van companies that ply the Tacloban-Naval route in the city. 

After arriving in Naval, leave your bags in your chosen accommodation if you can’t check in yet. Depending on the time of your arrival, grab brunch or lunch before exploring some parts of Biliran. Look for a habal-habal driver (motorcycle taxi) to take you to two of Biliran’s most popular waterfalls, Tinago and Ulan Ulan. The ride to both waterfalls is scenic with rice paddies, hills, and the countryside. Ulan Ulan Falls is a highlight of this trip in my opinion.

Day 4

Check out of your accommodation and prepare for your trip to Sambawan Island. After breakfast, make your way to Naval Port to catch the ferry bound for Maripipi Island that leaves at around 10 am. The fare is around P100 and takes approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. This boat is only available from Monday to Saturday. Upon arrival in Maripipi, buy some snacks, food, and drinks if you didn’t bring any with you. You can hire a habal-habal to take you to the port in Barangay Ol-og. At the port, you can charter a boat to Sambawan Island for up to P1,000+++ depending on the size of your group. Get the contact number of your boatman so that you could hire him again for your return trip to Maripipi. 

Sambawan Island is an underrated destination. The pristine beach and fetching views from the viewing platform make the trip worth it. The usual activities on the island include swimming, sunbathing, volleyball, frisbee, and others. You have the option to spend the night on the island or return to Maripipi. You can rent one of the cottages on the island or pitch a tent for a fee. 

Fees:

• P100 – Sambawan Island day trip
• P200 – Sambawan Island overnight stay
• P1,500 – Cottage for up to 6 people
• P2,500 – Cottage for up to 15 people 

*Fees may change without notice.

Day 5

You have a couple of options to get back to Naval before going back to Tacloban:

• If you spend the night on the island, look for other passengers to share a boat directly to Kawayan. Boats cost up to P3,000+++ depending on the size of the boat and number of passengers. From Kawayan, you can board a jeep or hire a habal-habal to Naval.
• If you don’t spend the night on the island, check out of your accommodation in Maripipi early and catch the boat traveling to Naval at around 4:30 am. The fare is around P100. This boat is only available from Monday to Saturday. 

Once in Naval, you can head straight to the van terminal or grab something to eat first. When you’re ready, board a van bound for Tacloban. 

You have the option to spend another night in Tacloban before your flight to Manila or to book an evening flight so that you have at least one more day to see some attractions accessible from the city. 

If you booked one more night in Tacloban, make your way to your accommodation and leave your things. Catch a ride bound for Samar such as Calbayog, Catbalogan, or Basey. Tell the driver that you’d like to alight at San Juanico Bridge. The bridge connects two provinces, Samar and Leyte. It took around four years to finish construction of the bridge from 1969 to 1973. If you want to take pictures, make sure you get down at either end of the bridge because the driver won’t stop at any other point. After visiting the San Juanico Bridge, eat lunch before boarding a jeep or multi-cab bound for Palo. In Palo, you’ll get to visit the Palo Cathedral and the famous MacArthur Landing Memorial. Spend the rest of the day resting in your accommodation or for your evening flight.

Day 6

If your flight isn’t too early or if you didn’t leave the day before, do some last-minute souvenir shopping (as long as it’s within your budget).

How much will you spend?

A budget of around P10,000 each for at least two people traveling together for six days covers the itinerary above, shared accommodation, food (budget meals), transportation, fees, tours, and boat rides. This doesn’t include flights or overnight buses to Tacloban and back to Metro Manila. You can save some money by sharing boat rides with other people since this will be your biggest expense. Reduce food expenses by eating budget meals from restaurants, fast food chains, or a local eatery. If you just want to add another province on your travel bucket list or reduce your spending even more, you can remove a few days from the itinerary and just visit a few spots in both Leyte and Biliran. – Rappler.com

Joshua Berida is a writer who loves to travel. He blogs at www.thewanderingjuan.net. 

Is it Andres Bonifacio, with his bold battle cry amid the pealing of church bells? Perhaps Emilio Aguinaldo, who steered the fledgling republic in its first imperfect years? Or maybe Jose Rizal, who sooner laid down his life than forsook his country?

There are stories of men storming across bridges and barricades. There are others of men dying for their country. But there is also one of a hero who, through sheer brilliance, first forced the world to gaze upon a Filipino as their equal: Juan Luna. 

“We were starting to see ourselves as a people, not just through the lens of our colonizers. And here was a man who had undeniable genius,” Jei Ente, assistant curator at the Ayala Museum, told Rappler.

“Regardless of what they can say about the ‘race’ of the Filipinos, here was Juan Luna debunking all of it: what the capacity and the capabilities of Filipinos, of the ‘brown man,’ were. Here he was, standing above all of his European contemporaries.” 

This is the story of Philippine independence from an artist’s eyes, retold on the 125th birth date of the nation. And it starts with the homecoming of Luna’s long-lost masterpiece.

‘Holy grail of Philippine art’

Sometimes, we need a reminder to remember our past. This time, it came in the form of a cultural treasure rediscovered after disappearing more than a 130 years ago. 

The holy grail of Philippine art, they called it. The find of the century. Ineffable. A true sight to behold. And yet, this all came short of unraveling the mythical air behind Juan Luna’s missing masterpiece: Hymen, oh Hyménée!

The quest to find it is remarkable on its own, but that is a separate story to tell. It has since been reopened to the public in an exhibition titled “Splendor: Juan Luna, Painter as Hero” at the Ayala Museum on Monday, June 12.

The painting, feared to have been destroyed during the revolution, is hailed by many art collectors as the “holy grail of Philippine art” – due to both Luna’s brilliance and the air of mystery surrounding the piece.

By the time he had painted Hymen, oh Hyménée!, Luna had already made a name for himself. Five years back, he had won gold and international acclaim with Spoliarium. But it was this piece, which won bronze in the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, that cemented his status as a master painter.

The artwork, which depicts what looks to be a Roman wedding feast, is splendid, celebratory, and full of hope. But staring at it, one might struggle with seeing themselves in the work. We don’t see a typical Filipino scene in the painting, which is thoroughly Western in its style. 

“It’s so foreign, even if it’s Juan Luna. He has a lot of foreign or European-inspired works. But when we know the story of this painting, we know the story of his time,” said Ente, who was part of the team that set up the painting’s exhibit in Ayala Museum.

Luna worked on the painting while deep in the throes of love, during his honeymoon trip with his wife, Paz Pardo de Tavera, daughter of the Grand Inquisitor of Spain. 

Some experts believed that it may have been a gift to Paz. The imagery too might mirror the artist’s own wedding to his wife – one that, at first, drew heated disapproval due to their different social status and so-called “races.”

“In the context of ancient Rome, where only Roman citizens were allowed to marry, marriage was a significant rite of passage that solidified one’s status as a full citizen with all the associated rights and privileges. This rite was particularly significant for Luna, since he came from a society where race prevented marrying into a higher class,” explained Kenneth Esguerra, senior curator of the Ayala Museum in a documentary.

“By marrying Paz, Luna transcended social barriers and overcame colonial limitations. He was able to bridge the social divide and become a global citizen,” he added.

And it was this sense of overcoming “colonial limitations” that remained a constant theme of Luna’s life as a painter in Spain at a time of great racial divides.

(READ: ‘Holy grail’: Juan Luna’s lost masterpiece revealed after 132 years)

‘Luna, the painter as hero’

Juan Luna hailed from the sleepy town of Badoc, Ilocos Norte – or, as the Spanish called it, the “wrong part of the island of Luzon.” 

Traveling to Manila and then Madrid, Luna studied under art school after art school, winning recognition but never quite finding the teacher he needed. But he would soon find his mentor in Alejo Vera, who painted historical scenes to perfection. And it showed in the works that set up Luna’s meteoric rise to the top of the European art scene. 

The year was 1881, and Luna was just 24 years old when he painted The Death of Cleopatra. The work, depicting the Egyptian queen moments after death, garnered Luna his first major award, a silver medal in the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes.

But it would be in the next Spanish national exhibition that Luna would cement his name – and awaken the Filipino consciousness. 

In 1884, Luna unveiled Spoliarium, winning a gold medal and beating out other Spanish artists. In dark, harsh hues, the painting depicted dying Roman gladiators being stripped of their spoils, their weapons, their armor. In an unlit corner, a woman weeps over a body.

In the same exhibition, Filipino painter Félix Hidalgo also won a silver medal for his Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho, which showed Christian female slaves being unclothed and eyed by Roman men.

But Luna didn’t speak of anything political or patriotic when he won as a Filipino artist – or in the terminology of the time, an “artist from the Philippine islands.” Neither did Hidalgo.

It was Rizal who invoked the power within these paintings, the messages that lay just beneath the brushstrokes. 

In a congratulatory toast to Luna and Hidalgo, Rizal spoke with eloquence and boldness, saying that the two paintings embodied “the essence of our social, moral and political life: humanity in severe ordeal, humanity unredeemed, reason and idealism in open struggle with prejudice, fanaticism, and injustice.”

“Genius has no country, genius bursts forth everywhere, genius is like light and air, the patrimony of all: cosmopolitan as space, as life and God,” Rizal said of Luna.

Luna never quite became as vocal with his political views as the likes of Jose Rizal or Marcelo H. del Pilar. He never took up a rifle in defense of the nation, unlike his fiery brother Antonio. But he had always allied himself with the members of the Propaganda Movement. In 1899, under Aguinaldo’s government, Luna served as a member of delegations that worked on the diplomatic recognition of the Philippines.

‘He gave them something to believe in’

In many ways, the triumph of Luna over his Spanish contemporaries became a turning point in how Filipinos perceived themselves.

“You can tie it to the whole story of how Juan Luna was part of that list of important people who really gave us the courage and the belief that this fight is actually worth fighting for – for this nation, for this representation, this self-erudition, self-acknowledgement,” Ente said.

When we study our history and how we became a nation, we look at our military history. We study the battles. We remember the people who died. Who shot this captain? Who won the battle in this province or sea?

While plenty of important battles were fought for Philippine independence, perhaps an equally important detail is where this sense of peoplehood first came from.

“But what makes these men go through these battles? It has to be a belief. There has to be something that they should have believed in – something intangible, something inner, like a reality that happens inside before it can manifest externally through bravery, through martyrdom.”

The revolution would follow soon after Luna had first stirred a whole nation’s sense of pride. Seven years after Hymen, oh Hyménée! brought the talent of the Philippines to the world, the first gunshots of independence rang out.

“For generations and for centuries, as a colonized people, we were taught we were of this level and we were subjugated. But for a painter – for a Filipino – to break through a very elite and very closed-off world, such as the world of fine arts, that must have meant something to his peers, who were also starting to feel that we should be recognized with our own voice,” Ente said. 

“He gave them something to believe in.” – Rappler.com