A Day in Kiangan, Ifugao

Right after a short funhike of Mt. Kapugan, we did a walking tour of Kiangan’s tourist spots. From the mountain’s jump off point, we followed the cemented road that encircled the mountain, that leads to one of their nice waterfalls.

 

We saw mini-rice terraces along the way.

Dayhike to Mt. Kapugan in Kiangan, Ifugao

After an early dinner in Banaue, we proceeded to Kiangan, Ifugao, to spend the night there. Its a historical town, being the oldest town in the province. The heart of Ifugao settlement and culture, it used to be the capital of the province, and also known as the surrender site of Gen. Yamashita at the end of World War II.

With sore legs and knees, I still joined the Team Mandirigma on a day hike to Mt. Kapugan, the town's highest point at 1305 MASL. After I bought hot pandesal from a store near Kiangan Youth Hostel where we stayed, 2 tricycles brought us to Mt. Kapugan's jump off point.

Mt. Napulauan to Hapao Rice Terraces

This is a very late post of my hike in Mt. Napulauan last October 2013. Prior to the hike, I only had a practice dayhike 2 weeks before, so I thought I'm in shape. But I was wrong. I'm not prepared enough to keep pace with the rest of the Team Mandirigma, where I was a guest climber. The mountain has this technical description from Pinoy Mountaineer:

MT. NAPULAUAN
Hungduan, Ifugao
Major jump-offs: Poblacion and Brgy. Hapao, Hungduan
LLA: 16°50′N, 121°10′E, 2642 MASL (#15; 1580m gain)
Hours to summit / Days required: 9 hours / 2-3 days
Specs: Major climb, Difficulty 7/9, Trail class 3

Friday night, we rode a night trip bus from Sampaloc (Manila) to Banaue (Ifugao). After breakfast in the town, we bought our supplies for an overnight adventure.

Tour of Morong, Baras & Tanay in Rizal

I gave my mother a different tour experience last month, when she came for a 20-day vacation here. She doesn’t want long road trips, so I took her on a Morong-Baras-Tanay day tour of century-old churches and Daranak Falls.

St. Jerome Church of Morong

First built in 1586 with light materials, a fire destroyed it along with the town in 1612. Now this current church’s frontispiece and belfry were built by Bartolome Palatino of Paete, Laguna between 1850 and 1853. 

I have read on some internet sites that this church was unique in a sense that Chinese artisans helped in its construction. Whether its Mr. Palatino of Paete or Chinese artisans, I would say they did a superb job in creating those intricate carvings on the church’s facade.

Chicken Ma, Shangri-La, & King Chef Restos

Here’s a brief round up of Chinese casual restaurants I tried on latter part of 2013. I've been very busy, hence these late posts.

Chicken Mami House in Binan

Kikiam with rice at P 118, while the siopao costs P 64/pc.