JUAN's Feature
Laoag, Paoay, Batac and Pagudpud: A Sweeping Affair

As horror-story cliché-sounding as it can be, it started off dark and rainy. It was pouring. I stuff my 5’8,” something-something-pounds structure into the oddly-sized Laoag tricycle and headed off. Chugging across the bridge that gets into the heart of Laoag, I was delightfully surprised to see an illuminated giant name of the city. It was, as if, an eternally standing apology to the harsh weather I was currently experiencing and that despite it, “Damn it, it’s still Laoag.”

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JUAN's Destination
Zamboanga: Breaking Taboos

The first thing my tricycle driver asked me, minutes after I landed is "Do you have an escort?" Mind you, he wasn't talking about a guide, or looking for an opportunity to get hired as my service to tour the city. He was talking about a police escort hired for my protection. If that wasn’t startling enough, my backpacker-type accommodation had an unfortunate bombing tragedy months before I arrived. These are the things one would most often hear about the Western Mindanao; those isolated incidents marred its reputation to tourists for the last decade or so. However, the opportunity to conquer Zamboanga’s many beautiful sights is enough to make me book my flight. That nagging little voice at the back of my head that says I might not get to use my return flight just makes my solo trip tempting.

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Serving Spoon
Josephine Restaurant

Tested by time and proven by a tradition of classic Filipino seafood dishes, Josephine Restaurant in Tagaytay is wowing a new breed of patrons with their vastly grown offerings. Other than their known specialties of the house such as the Mutya ng Kabite and Josephine Soup, they are revealing a brand new arsenal of flavors that has adapted international influences for the Filipino palate.

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