the best of : biyaheng pinoy (2006-2009)

three years had passed since I started running biyaheng pinoy, and still running. i am quite surprised to myself that i have lasted this long. after all these years, i've realized that it is very easy to create a blog. it is the maintaining part that is the hard part.  i've been to so many places in the philippines since I was a kid, but never have I thought of documenting them. biyaheng pinoy started in 2006, as a personal blog, an online journal of my travels in the philippines. making sure that all of my trips were never forgotten and never missed. i also wanted this to be my way of sharing them to my friends and family living far from us.

sometimes, i would receive comments from people that I did not know, which i thought was really odd at that time. they would say really nice things about the photos that i took and the videos that i made, making it sound like compliments coming from my friends. it took time for me to get used to receiving compliments from strangers.

"it's not about the hits," i would say and would always have (talking about my videos in youtube). it is about the number of people reacting positively to your videos. some people think that the more hits your videos get, the more famous you become.  personally, i do not think it is true.

here are my most favorite biyaheng pinoy posts, in random order:

surviving sagada. this video has the biggest place in my heart. it shows that i was overwhelmed with sagada's majestic beauty, the freshness of the waters, the blueness of its skies, and the warmth of the people. it was a great challenge to me to show all these in a video. having no formal training in video making, i found it so hard to do it.  it opens with a small girl's sweet distinct singing voice with no other musical instrument. she's singing about the beauty of her town and also about the anniversary of the anglican church in sagada. showing sagada in daybreak, with the crowing of a rooster, and the chirping of the small birds in the background, it shows the beautiful mountains surrounding the old demang village.

daisylyn bayang sang this beautiful song so perfectly, it sounded like a chanting song from heaven. so many people liked this video, particularly because of the music, so i should give conyap (her igorot name) much credit for this. the video showcases the stunning waterfalls, the green rice terraces, landscapes with nice formations, the happy children, and the peaceful town of sagada, mountain province.

rehiyon rehiyon festival. this festival really caught me by surprise. i knew we had this festival in marikina city, but i didn't know that it was such a big event. i realized that i didn't have to come far, just to see a great spectacle.  event was held right on my birthday, every 8th of december. the parade started from riverbanks mall at 7 in the morning. people started to crowd the streets while waiting for the parade to come. it took about 30 minutes before the parade reached baranggay sto. nino. it was lead by our city mayor, hon. maria lourdes carlos fernando and her loving husband, mmda chairman, engr. bayani fernando.

the street parade lasted for two hours, and they headed to the marikina sports complex. it's where they held the main dance competition. the spectators were scorched by the sun, but it didn't stop them from watching the show. besides, who would want to miss this grand show?

masskara festival 2007. i remember vividly, going to this festival was only a dream that i would dream for the rest of my life. well, not anymore. because i finally came to bacolod, the city of smiles.

it was my biggest wish to be part of the masskara festival in bacolod city, negros occidental. i was so excited to get there so i made sure that i get a plane ticket to negros, three months before the event. if that wouldn't guarantee my trip, then i don't know what i was going to do. i took a lot of photos, shot videos, wrote a very long narrative about my trip and made lots and lots of friends. it was the most colorful day of my life and i will remember this as long as i live.