A Natural Northern Landscape

We were the only one that day enjoying the nice quiet beach in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. The landscape was unique in its own way. Rocky, which makes it not suitable for swimming. But the headlands bounding the bay are distinct. The shapes were probably eroded over time by the roaring strong waves coming from the open sea.

Yet in this harsh coastal setting, the natural vegetation seemed to rival the manicured plantings here in Manila. The wild plants form brushes that resemble the mass plantings in Metro Manila malls. There are contrasting colors of the different foliage. The beach morning glory (Ipomeia pes-caprae) form the foreground, the beach lily (Crinum asiatica) serve as middle planting and the beach pandan (Pandanus tectorius) provide the background. Nature is really the best architect around.

The Persistent Northern Exposure

I planned on going to a Mt. Pinatubo climb for this Labor Day weekend. But when I asked around for companions, the idea of going to Ilocos Norte popped up instead. I had several people warm up to it till we counted about seven wanting to go. We were all excited, or so I thought.

The week before the trip, several of my companions backed out. On the day itself we were supposed to leave, there were three of us left, and before the lunch hour passed, we got a predictable text from our third companion. So it was just my masteral classmate Mimie and I who were determined to push through with the trip. The cancellations did not hinder us from braving the long lines at Partas bus station. The last minute decision of Mimie’s housemate Jules to come brought new fuel to our still burning fire and all three of us were on our way, way-way up to the north by 12 AM of May 1.

We arrived in Vigan at breakfast time and decided not to go straight to Laoag (all the Laoag trips were already full and we got on a Vigan bus instead, thinking we could get that Laoag bus there). We opted to enjoy the sights of Vigan first (we intended to see Vigan last) and went on foot to see the Bassit church, Crisologo museum, the UNESCO preserved Crisologo Street and Vigan Cathedral. From the cathedral we went on a calesa ride to Bantay church and the Hidden Garden where we had our lunch. By 1:30 PM we were already again at the Partas Bus station waiting for a Laoag bus. When we finally reached our intended destination, we were all exhausted and decided to only make arrangements for our next day itinerary. We met an engineer, Kuya Allan, who agreed to take us around the tourist spots on his stainless owner jeep.

The next day we were fetched by Allan from our hotel at 4 am. We hit the road with the sun far from showing up. Sunrise only caught up with us in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, a mere 4 towns from San Nicolas, from which we came from. Shortly after daybreak we reached a cliff where we first saw glimpse of the Bangui wind turbines. We were immediately elated upon seeing it from that distance. Kuya Allan got to talk to a passerby and got directions how to reach the beach, where the wind turbines are (to see them real up close). A few minutes more we were already joining early birds taking snapshots and marveling about the engineering feat. That was already past 6:30 AM. But the day was still very young and we made our way to our next destination, Pagudpud.

Pagudpud is 76 kilometers from San Nicolas and the trip usually takes 2 hours because of winding roads and detours. The road leading there is a mixture of field sides, beach fronts, cliff roads and forest cut-throughs. Our trip lasted a little longer because of the usual plant finds I encountered, Kuya Allan obliging to stop whenever I spot a wonderful tree. I ll write about some of them in a separate blog.

Once we reached Pagudpud, the bright sunny sky of Ilocos became a little dark with overcast. We learned from Kuya Allan that we were almost at the northern tip of Luzon and the next town would be already Cagayan. He said Cagayan had a different micro-climate. In the summer months in Ilocos, it is a bit rainy in the windward side of Cagayan Valley.

The landscape of Pagudpud is a bit rocky but then again unique compared to the limestone formations of the southern islands. I find it a bit cleaner, more cut smooth around the edges. The vegetation seem to be dwarfed almost hugging the ground. The beach trees in the Visayas are thick though they grow in shallow soil. In Pagudpud, the trees are almost visibly windswept, obviously stunted by the wind, not by the limited soil. In here the coastal formations are also evident of wind and water erosion.

After basking under the limited Pagudpud sun, we decided to take our long overdue breakfast and head back towards Burgos. Again we stopped in another beach front area less spectacular than Pagudpud but has a certain charm of its own. Burgos is about 3 towns from Pagudpud so the weather is very much Ilocos, therefore very hot. But that did not stop Mimie and Jules from playing their roles of model-photographer. We then made our way back to Laoag and embarked on our church route. The day ended with us hitting our beds really hard that night, that no one was even bothered by my deep heavy breathing (snoring hehehe). The good night sleep helped us prepare for the day long bus ride home-which in itself is another story.

Popototan Landscape Reminisced

Someone asked me to post pictures of Palawan. I have not gone to Palawan proper but I have visited the farthest island in the Calamianes group, Popototan. So I 'll post images of it and the adjacent Busuanga islands. When looking at pictures of the island landscapes it is also inevitable to tackle the native vegetation, mostly dwarfed coastal species.

Popototan island is located at the most western part of Busuanga. We took the Super ferry to Coron town and rode a 4 hour banca ride to the island, passing through the clean waters of other numerous small islands. Each are covered almost fully with greens interrupted with limestone cliffs and sandy beaches. The islands looked almost deserted, only a few had shanty houses but there are a handful of resort developments. Popototan, one of the larger islands, had a barangay settlement and a major resort development. The northwest tip is uninhabited. The pristine white sand beaches are however open to the turmoils of the South China Sea. this is home to a number of species like molave, pandan dagat, kalumpang, dapdap, bani, dangkalan etc.












On the uninhabited beach also grows bantigue (or Pemphis acidula) a favorite of bonsai collectors. Bantigue was already ransacked to almost extinction in the islands off Luzon. But they say that the Luzon bantigues are coveted because they are typhoon scarred, which is attractive to bonsai hunters. The bantigues here are almost straight. I hope they stay that way to assure their existence.

Flora de Puerto Galera

We had our company's team building trip to Puerto Galera in Mindoro. I usually join trips not only because of the anticipated fun (but of course who could say no to co-worker bonding and a free trip :) ) but also the chance to see new places. I have not been to Mindoro before (almost had the chance before with a trip to Sablayan with some DENR people but begged off the last minute) so to see what is off the Batangas coast is very much welcome. Plus I would have the opportunity to learn what kind of flora there is in the tamaraw's last frontier.

Our base camp was at the very crowded but festive White Beach. My immediate impression was Boracay knock-off. It has white sand but not as fine as the polvoron like grain of Station 1 in Bora. But then again if you see the crystal blue waters against the clear blue sky you kinda think that matter is forgiveable. Add the fact that it is nearer Manila and a lot less costly than to go to the real mc-coy.

But after a supposedly quick breakfast (which became long because of the very long lines to get seated and the almost 30 minute wait for a tapsilog) and freshening up in the rooms we rented, our company set off on our real adventure destination. We were whisked away by a rented boat a few coves away to a semi hidden spot. Upon reaching it, the boatmen set anchor and one by one my companions alighted the bancas donning orange lifevests and snorkling gear. I did not immediately join in the action as I first panned my eyes on the peripheral vegetation.

The snorkling spot was an enclave surrounded by limestone cliffs and small beach interruptions. But the limestone surface was not at all that visible because majority of it is still covered with vegetation. My initial ocular was a bit hazy because of our distance from the cliffs but I could recognize the familiar coconut (Cocos nucifera) intersparsed with another provincial palm staple, the buri or buli' (Corypha utans). Both palms have economical use in most Philippine societies. These palms' silhouette shape the majority of the Puerto Galera horizon.

Seeing how much my officemates enjoyed the snorkling, I went in after them and took a few minutes to swim with schools of coralfishes. This is the second time for me to go on snorkling. The first one was in Batangas but we were practically near the safety of the shore. This time around we were about a hundred meters away from the beach and relied on our life vests for safety. Though I know how to swim, it is quite tiring for me to keep afloat coupled with the breathing through a mouthpiece. But the whole predicament was well worth the view you could see underwater. Makes you want to try the next step which is scuba diving - but not in this trip. After more than an hour of floating and poking our heads into the water, we all got tired and decided to head for the beach to enjoy a little land fun.

While all were basking under the sun and on the white sand, my friend Irene accompanied me exploring the nooks and crannies of the cove we were in. We first scrutinized the vegetation growing out of the limestone cliffs. There was a mixture of trees and shrubberies jutting out from the crevices. There were a lot of mangrove and beach species present. Some I could not identify at all. There were familiar ones like kalumpang (Sterculia foetida), Dracaena multiflora, pandan-dagat (Pandanus tectorius), talisay (Terminalia catappa) and bantigue (Pemphis acidula).

I opted to study the buri palms upclose so I ventured a little inland, but I never reached where the buris were. I got distracted with a few plant finds along the way. I saw a couple of plant species that are members of the Apocynaceae family which includes the familiar kalachuchi (not native but is actually abundant in Puerto Galera). The first was a variety of pandakaki (Tabernaemontana sp.). I took pics and a couple of seedpods, which made me regret it. My friend Ronald Achacoso once told me that pandakaki seedpods have some sort of irritant. I now personally experienced what this results into, with my hands and feet feeling like they were continuously bitten by red ants - made me to race back to the beach and dive back into the water. The pandakaki shrub has nice white flowers which would have probably made it a nice garden specimen, sans the potential pain it inflicts.

The second Apocynaceae species I found was what they call bayag-usa or Voacanga sp., probably globosa. This is a small tree with wide ovate leaves and white clusters of pinwheel flowers. They bear fruits bunched in twos, resembling testicles, reason why the plant is called bayag-usa or deer testicles. This tree is an attractive specimen plant when in flower and ultimately in fruit. But the fruits are not edible but rather toxic, laced with the white resinous sap common with most Apocynaceae members.

There were other plant finds in this trip but I would write about them in a future blog. Eventually our stomachs caught up with us, signifying that we had to head back to White Beach and prepare a late lunch. we again rode our rented banca and set sail into the clear blue waters of Mindoro. The sky had an overcast of clouds, making it ideal to sit near the bow of the banca. I tried to get a last glimpse of the cliff profile, spotting if I missed something from our earlier trip. But the limited light made it only harder to spot plants even if I squinted my eyes almost to shut. Had to content myself with the anticipation of that late lunch and maybe an early shut-eye. Besides, the day and the plant find list was already very long.

The Flower Market Finds

I accompanied our HR Manager to buy fresh flowers for a company event. We decided to go to the well known Dangwa in Sampaloc, Manila early in the morning to catch the new daily deliveries. We were looking for white flowers for a simple and non-striking floral display and Dangwa was the right and obvious source choice. You probably could not get that much variety of blooms and materials even if you go straight to the flower plantations in Benguet and the Mountain Province, (not that we were willing to go all the way there, we only needed a few items).

I was expecting to see a lot of flowers and plant items so I came armed with my idiot proof camera. A shutterbug could not run out of subjects in this place, but I tried to zoom-in into particular stuff you could find in our Philippine forests. I just wanted to see if locals have learned to harness the beautiful and natural plant products in the countryside. True enough there are interesting native flora items in the merchandise sold.

Buho bamboos are sold for use as framing and stands for flower arrangements.



The distinct leaves of the Fishtail palm or pugahan are used as green background for bigger floral displays. The seed sprays are also offered for fillers for floral and fruit arrangements.

Rather than the short-lived sweet flowers of kamuning, its fine foliage is used, probably also as leaf fillers for smaller arrangements.


The fruits of some palms like rattan are interestingly shaped to use as berry substitutes.