SENIOR BYAHERO “How do we get to Laktas Falls?” I asked the lady manning the tourism desk at Barangay Ibona, Dingalan, Aurora. “You need to ride a Farmall, sir” she replied. “What’s a Farmall?” I asked. “A tractor, sir. It will take you to the waterfalls” she said. “Ah,...
SENIOR BYAHERO I came across the town of Longos while looking at an old map of Laguna. On the map, there were several lakeshore towns such as Longos, San Juan and San Antonio in Laguna that today no longer exist. Further research showed old photos of Longos showing an imposing Spanish era...
SENIOR BYAHERO I was sitting quietly at the far end of the Binangonan Pier doing a timelapse video of the sun setting over Laguna de Bay when two young men approached me. “Are you a vlogger?” one of them asked. I said yes. “How did you know?” I asked. “We saw you taking photos of the...
SENIOR BYAHERO Ever since I retired, I did many things that I never thought I will do. One of them was during my recent visit to Obando, and doing its famous fertility dance. I was not asking Santa Clara to give me a child, but it was more of dance of gratitude for giving me the strength to do many...
SENIOR BYAHERO I recently visited the Calvo Museum in Escolta and saw one room dedicated to Philippine newspapers at the turn of the century (1900). They are either in Spanish, Tagalog or English and had titles like La Ilustracion del Oriente, La Oceania Espanola and Bagong Buhay. I was looking for...
SENIOR BYAHERO It was probably the best adventure I had exploring the volcano island of Taal. After doing the usual Daang Kastila tourist trail many times, I was finally able to do again the challenging Mt. Tabaro to crater lake trail, and saw how the volcano island has fully recovered after the...
SENIOR BYAHERO Yearender I retired last year after spending almost 40 years in the corporate world and more than 30 years of traveling. Retirement somehow makes you feel old and obsolete. Your mind suddenly feels inactive and your body starts to feel aches and pains that you never felt before....
PHILIPPINE POST OFFICE I saw the Philippine Post Office almost every day during my university years. It was in front of the Post Office, in Liwasang Bonifacio, where I waited for the bus going to Cavite. It was the 80’s and the Post Office was a beehive of activities. From outside, I could see...
SENIOR BYAHERO I was looking at the face of the old man standing right in front of me. His face already wrinkled with age and his skin darkened by too much wind and sun exposure brought about by living in high elevation. He was dressed in black shirt with minimal red and gold color piping. His head...
SENIOR BYAHERO The trolley slowed down before it came to a full stop. “We are here, sir,” announced the trolley driver and then he turned off the motor. After travelling for almost an hour on a wooden trolley which the locals call “skate” I was finally looking at the old train station of...
SENIOR BYAHERO By Joseph Bautista During my university years, I envied my classmates who traveled long distance just to study in Manila. Especially a classmate who came from Bicol, and he would tell stories of coming to Manila on a train that took almost a day. He would tell us stories of trains...
SENIOR BYAHERO Not many people are familiar with Talim Island. They may have heard about it, but chances are they have no idea where the island is. They may have seen it from the window of the airplane as it approaches Manila airport from Laguna de Bay but cannot identify that blade-shaped island....
