Virac Market

The moment I arrived at Virac, I immediately headed down to the market to buy our food supplies. I stocked up on lots of veggies, fruits, rice, bottled water, etc. as my beach hut is too far away from the city. It takes about an hour and a half to get to my place. If it could be avoided, I preferred not going to the city. I just wanted to stay in Puraran and enjoy the ocean, the calming breeze, and soothing sounds of the waves. I liked to explore places I haven't been too, like the Dororian falls below. I liked to sit along the beach and wait for the fresh-caught fish from the fishermen and hopefully catch the beautiful sunrise in picture.

FRESH PICTURES FROM MY TRIP

I spent most of my vacation time in Puraran. This particular picture was of Puraran beach taken from above.

Dororian falls, a barrio of Gigmoto where my brother works as a principal. The place is vehicle accessible and water is clear and refreshing. No entrance fee required. But I doubt anybody can find this place as it isn't known to many yet.

This photo is taken from the deck of my house.

Taken early in the morning when my in-laws took a dip.

I took this picture of Puraran sunrise when I headed down to the beach to avail of the fresh-caught fish at 5 AM.

Hello friends,

Thought I would update you with breathtaking pictures of my trip to Catanduanes for now while I am in Manila.

Take care you all.

Steffi's Post

Hi everyone,

My parents are in the Philippines right now. They have limited access to the computer, so my mom asked me to make a few posts.

Right now, it's nearly finals week-- a very busy time for everyone at Stanford! Ironically, my sister decided to come at this time. But it's been very fun having her here. She's been going to the gym every day, eating healthy foods, and sleeping early. My mom would be proud. One thing she refuses to do is go to class with me. I don't really blame her, because sometimes I refuse to go to class too. Haha.

Okay, anyway, here are some pics:


We took this outside the bookstore, next to the fountain. The weather has been beautiful these past few days, in the 70's.


We had dinner at my mentor's house (in Stanford, you can get assigned a mentor if you want one). We made lumpia, pansit, adobo, and kasava cake. Oh goodness, I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it.

Beach Wedding

Dine, I found a picture of myself happily marching and enjoying the resonating excitement of such a picturesque wedding.

If you own a beach right infront of your home, and you are about to marry, would you consider holding your wedding on it? Ces, my inaanak sa kasal did just that. She orchestrated the whole proceedings, with the help of her friends. She did a wonderful job! The sea breeze gently touching your hair, the sunset lighting the horizon in red and yellow, and the palm trees adding exotic touch to the venue, made the wedding ceremony beautiful and romantic



I love how she decorated the altar with bougainvillas of different colors and right behind is the beautiful ocean. How romantic!


The parents and the witnesses.


The wedding bells

This is my favorite scene at the wedding. Who would have thought that the cake would look good on the stump of the tree? That tree came from a school site and was considered to be an eyesore and was about to be uprooted. The bride saw it and knew exactly what to do with it.

Turon with Cinnamon

I had friends over at my house last week and I thought of serving them some filipino delicacy. I saw some ripe Saba bananas in my fruit basket and turon first came to mind. I remembered I had a package of lumpia wrappers in my freezer so I quickly thawed it out.

My friends were watching me in the kitchen while I was preparing the turon. I sliced the banana into three equal parts, lengthwise. I rolled one slice over a pre-mixed brown sugar and cinnamon powder, I added a strip of ripe jackfruit (from the jar I bought in oriental store). I rolled it up and sealed the ends of the turon with water.

I didn't use much oil because I only cooked a small batch, reason why it had spots on them, probably from melted sugar at the bottom of the pan.

You know what, my American and Japanese friends loved it. My husband thought it resembled the taste of an apple pie. It disappeared quickly from the table.

Breathtaking Unadulterated Sceneries in Catanduanes.

I thought I would showcase Ces Valeza Aguilar's photos of Catanduanes. Ces is my first and only wedding Goddaughter. She has a knack at taking pictures, which deserves recognition. The picture above is of Alcantara Resort located in Marilima, Virac, Catanduanes. I stayed in this resort the first time I took my whole family in Catanduanes. It was a beautiful and quiet place. On a clear day, we were able to see the magnificent "Mayon Volcano."


This is the famous Puraran Beach, internationally known for surfing. Awesome place!

The Marilima Beach, Marilima, Virac taken at sunset.

These last photos were taken by Dave T. The photo above is of Viga bay located in the northern part of Catanduanes. As small as Catanduanes is, it is ironic that I haven't circled the whole island and I may do just that on our forthcoming trip, hopefully. And it is coming soon...yeheey!

Beatiful Tokyo Falls located in Pandan, Catanduanes. This is another awesome place I have yet to see. So many beautiful places to visit, so little time.

School Supply Drive Is On.

My daughter A and I went walking today along the lake and our conversation brought the idea of blogging this next entry. I asked her if she was going to spearhead the school supply drive for the poor Filipino children in the province this year and without hesitation, she said, "Yes!" That is just what I wanted to hear. This marks the fourth year of the drive. You probably all aware that Catanduanes, my province, bore the brunt of the super typhoon Reming, leaving many people homeless. This year's supply drive would really mean a whole lot to these poor children.

This idea was conceived when my daughter S visited the Philippines during her junior year in high school. She saw how poor the children were so when she got back in the USA, she knew she had to do something. She wasted no time and spearheaded a school supply drive along with the Key Club members both in school and in the community.

One third of our 3-car garage, my husband's jewelry room, was filled with school supplies which include backpacks, pencils, children books, rulers, binders, pencil case, erasers, scissors, pad paper, bond paper, etc.

I usually allocated the whole Sunday, my day off, for packing 4 to 5 extra large boxes with the help of my daughters and husband, including our pet, Mango. That is Mango with daughter S in the first picture entertaining us with his antics in between packing.

It took about one and a half month for these boxes to arrive in the province. My job was to make sure that they were distributed to the rightful recipients.