Gone Fishing

I'll be gone for a week for a much needed break and may not have access to the internet.  I'll see you again next week.

Never do anything that you wouldn't want to explain to the paramedics.:p

Unexpected destination/Watery World Wednesday

Expect nothing.

Live frugally on surprise.

~ Alice Walker

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

Journey/Watery World Wednesday

The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask.  ~ Rich Ridgeway

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

No last word.../SWF

Doubt requires more courage
than conviction does,
because conviction is a resting place
and doubt is infinite;
it is a passionate exercise.
We've got to learn to live
with a full measure of uncertainty.
There is no last word.
That is the silence under
the chatter of our time.

~ John Patrick Shanley

Linking to Sky-Watch Friday

Contrast/OWT & WWW

Overlooking a small, crowded pier at Culion Island.  

Moved my camera frame a few inches to the left and captured this serene scene---strikingly different from the jam-packed pier.

We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork, now a little joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Linking to Our World Tuesday and  Water World Wednesday

Gold/SWF

Love is what we are born with.  Fear is what we learn.  The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts.  Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth.  To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life.  Meaning does not lie in things.  Meaning lies in us.  ~ Marianne Williamson

Cauayan, Negros Occidental

Linking to Sky-watch Friday

Calamianes: At day's end/Water World Wednesday

Going back to Busuanga Island after a day of island hopping and snorkeling.  We were tired but happy, and looking forward to another exciting day. 

Linking to Kim's  Water World - Wednesday

and NF Waters

Dreams/SWF

The fresh, tangy scent of the sea gently lures you to this spot---the peace and solitude takes your breath away.

Photo taken in Cauayan, Negros Occidental

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Join sky-watchers from around the world @ Sky-Watch Friday

Steep/Water World Wednesday

The greatest danger for most is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we reach it. ~ Michelangelo

A small uninhabited island in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, that locals call Pulo-Gamay (or small island).  It has precipices but has a few meters of white sanded beach on the other side.  A pity we weren't able to check out the beach---a lunch of grilled fish was waiting in the next island.:p

 Linking to Watery World-Wednesday

Dolce far niente/SWF

 We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with.  Our lives are either spent in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do.  We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them. ~ Seneca

Linking to Sky-Watch Friday

Coron Island: Lush/Water World Wednesday

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature  and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable,  Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend  is my religion.  To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious. ~ Albert Einstein

Coron Island, Calamianes, northen Palawan

Linking to Watery Wednesday and Water World Wednesday

Culion Church/OWT

Purisima Concepcion de Nuestra Senora

One of the sites in Culion Island that was hard to miss is the Purisima Concepcion de Nuestra Senora (Immaculate Conception Church). The church was an imposing structure, one of the oldest buildings in the island.   Its dramatic steps were seen from the gate of the leprosarium. 

A group of Augustinian priests arrived on this remote island in 1622 and established a parish thereafter.  The island was a constant target of harassment and raids by Muslims pirates that around 1740, the superior of the Augustinian Recollects decided to construct a watchtower and fort as a defense measure against the Moro Raiders.  Within the fort, this church of about 25 meters long and 10 meters wide made of hewn coral rock was built.

 

The interior of the church had been renovated since, I'm sure, as the arches reminded me of Silliman University Hall (built in early 1900's).  And I couldn't help but admire the design of the nave and the light coming in.  As this church sits by the sea, the breezes were cool and salty.  It was was closed when we visited because they were preparing for an important religious event the next day.  But the ladies in the parish office were kind enough to let us explore the church.

Looking towards the main entrance of the church, I noticed the gallery for the choir and a stoup standing infront of the door. The yellow tiles are beautiful.

 

Beside the main entrance was the tomb of a Jesuit priest, Fr. Javier Olazabal, who came to Culion Island in 1971 and died on the island in 1988 at age 79.

 

The Immaculate Conception Church viewed from the walls of the old fort beside the watchtower.

 

 Culion Island can be reached by outrigger from Coron town in Busuanga Island; or by a passenger ship that docks here once a week from Manila.  

Culion Island, Calamian Group of Islands, northern Palawan

 

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Patrol Boat/Blue Monday

A patrol boat docked at Danjugan Island.  Danjugan Island is a marine reserve and wildlife sanctuary, a small jewel in the Sulu Sea.

Linking to Blue Monday

Calamianes: Cagbatan Island

Cagbatan Island in the Calamianes, also known as Coron Youth Club (CYC)---is a tiny uninhabited island ideal for swimming, snorkeling and camping.  Diving beginners also train here.

The optimist lives on the peninsula of infinite possibilities; the pessimist is stranded on the island of perpetual indecision. ~ William Arthur Ward

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Two [Photo Hunt]

Two islands at the background, two kids on the foreground and too many good memories of this place by the beach.  

It takes two to put this boat in the water.

And two makes a good team.


Taken in early March during a family vacation.

Join us at Photo Hunt

Still hour [SWF]

Twilight:  A time of pause when nature changes her guard.  All living things would fade and die from too much light or too much dark, if twilight were not.  ~ Howard Thurman

...dusk is the time when men whisper of matters about  which they remain silent in the full light of the sun.  ~ Simon Raven

Join sky-watchers from around the planet at Sky-Watch Friday

Culion Island [Our World-Tuesday]

Culion Island was not a part of our itinerary but I asked our guide to arrange a visit to this island.   My mother told me that her father who died during WW II, taught English in this remote, sleepy seaside town in the 1920's.  We chartered a banca and started early on our hour and a half journey to Culion.   

Culion is one of the bigger islands in the Calamianes group--it's a historic island where the Spanish built strategic fortifications to protect the island from Moro raiders.  It is also a place wrought in pain and despair. This island once housed the world's largest leper colony established by the Americans in 1901.

Agila View Deck - approaching the island, we were greeted by a huge image of an eagle set in stone at the top of the mountain.  I later learned that it is a testament to the resilience and gratitude of the island's patients, who made the giant replica of the Philippine Health Service seal in 1929.  There is also a Christ the Redeemer statue near the seal.

Culion was called an "island of no return", and home to thousands of Filipinos segregated and isolated in one of the country's most remote islands due to leprosy.  Leprosy has affected humanity for over 4,000 years, and was once believed to be highly contagious.  It is primarily characterized by skin lesions; left untreated, it can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes.  An effective treatment for leprosy was finally introduced in the early 1980's.  Now, Culion is leprosy-free.

Aside from its poignant past, Culion Island has an unassuming beauty.  It is blessed with warm, gentle people, pristine marine treasures, a beautiful church, a fascinating museum and captivating scenery.


The red-roofed church is one of the island's attractions.  

We docked near this house and walked the streets of Culion.  We would soon discover how the original settlers overcame their darkest years and built the foundation of this community.  

To reach Culion island, you can charter an outrigger boat at Coron harbor.  Average boat rental is P2,500 (about $60.00) for 6-8 persons; P1,500 (about $35.00) to 2-4 persons (smaller boat).  There are commuter boats available from 12 noon to 2 pm at P180 (about $5.00) per person.  There is also a passenger ship from Manila that docks in Culion Island once a week.

Share your world at Our World - Tuesday and NF Waters