Boracay: Fascinated by the Iconic Willy's Rock

Wazzup Pilipinas!

An oddly shaped  volcanic formation that dominated the seascape of Boracay's White Beach at Station 1 just fifty or a hundred meters off shore (low tide and high tide respectively) is the most famous photographed landmark that's called Willy's Rock.

Residents say it was named after the Willy Gelito, the founder of Willy's Beach Hotel, which is located right across the formation. You can easily reach it during low tide but you'll need a snorkel during high tide.

It is during the Ber months when you can see the rock bottom of Willy's Rock without the seaweeds. Better go there during the early morning so that it's not too crowded with tourists who are also eager in taking several photos from selfies to professional photo shoots.

The Catholic devout local residents constructed several steps of stairs leading to and around the grotto where the shrine of the image of the glorious blessed Virgin Mary is situated adorned by flowers and candles, and along side are some plants and shrubs with some trees.

LPG Philippines Forum 2015: Video Blog

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Since this is my second year of being a media partner of the LPG Forum, I decided to make it more of a video blog and took several videos, aside from the photos, of the event. The two day forum was filled with several information on why we should be using LPG as one of the best alternative to other sources of fuel or power. It was surprising to know that the Philippines is still left behind in the use of the LPG because of misinformation that has caused fear among the consumers.

From the different talks given by the many speakers, you can easily distinguish the advantages of using LPG as compared to our traditional source of fuel for our vehicles but the rumors that spread during a few years ago halted the public's patronage due to health hazard concerns.

The first day was graced by the Department of Energy OIC Zenaida Monsada who delivered the keynote message. I was able to ask for a video message from her and was able to talk with her Executive Assistant to include me in their mailing list so they can send me their official press releases and announcements too. The second day had Representative Rey Umali delivering the keynote message. Both government officials speak highly of the LPG as a highly recommended power and fuel alternative and would like to encourage more people from the Philippines to make us of it for being among the safest and reliable.

There were several speakers from different specialties who participated in the forum and raised valuable points and insights regarding LPG. Some of them were even outraged why the country has not been very enthusiastic of the usage. It seems some agencies of the government had something to do with the delayed acceptance of many people of which details are too complicated to discuss here, and of course, we do not want to point fingers as to who may have caused all these obstacles.

Bohol: Life is Like a Box of Chocolate Hills

Wazzup Pilipinas!

You will wonder how these mountains came to be. There's not too many places that you can see similar occurrences of mountains all located at a particular area. For Bohol, the count was 1, 776 but if you'll consider the others located at different parts of the provinces, the figures will reach up to more than 4,000.

That was according to our tour guide Josue who knows exactly how these mounds came to be. He was telling us all about the Chocolate Hills of Bohol as we were nearing the viewing deck area which is actually located at one of the Chocolate Hills too.

Just like life, the hills have a cycle when it is green and when its brown like the color of chocolate. Just like life having its ups and downs, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol has its fair share of being so greenish during the rainy season, and brownish during summer.

The story of Josue was too technical for me and quite hard to remember so I asked him to share the story on video. He tells it better and a lot more interesting since he's been doing it for several years already as a professional tour guide for Travel Village.

He also tells us how the viewing deck was damaged during the earthquake in 2013 which also damaged all but two of Bohol's churches. The province has been rebuilding both the viewing deck and the churches as we speak. But it will take time, effort and financing before all of these damages are repaired.