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ISSUE 11 HOBIE SAILING Zambales TOBataan FOOD OVERLOAD BUY-EAT- 4x4ADVENTURE IN PAMPANGA STAY-TRY IN PINATUBO GUIDE TO PAMPANGA, INSIDE: ZAMBALES EASY ROAD TRIP MAP AND BATAAN FROM NLEX TO ZAMBALES LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Reader: Together with the North Bound editorial team, I would ISSUE 11 like to extend my warmest greetings to you on your trip Publisher to the North. North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB) Northern Luzon possesses Renie Ticzon a rich geography of history, President, NPVB VP for Marketing, MNTC culture, people, and natural wonders that are just waiting to be discovered, so we bring you a Grace Ayento Acting OIC, NPVB refreshed North Bound designed to help the traveler navigate the amazing destinations the Executive Editor North has to offer. Edsel Ochoa Contributing Editors In this issue, we introduce detailed directions Toby Martin to our suggested destinations, so you can find Jerricho Reynaldo your way whether you're driving or taking the Contributing Writer bus. In the BUY-EAT-STAY-TRY section, we've also Tonnette Lee classified destinations depending on our travelers' Contributing Photographers persuasions to make your trip as enjoyable as Ivan Henares possible. 4x4 in Pampanga and sailing and Marcos Caratao Jr. mountain climbing in Zambales are just some of the good reads you will find here in our Graphic Artist Emmeline Sia magazine. Marketing Manager We hope to see you soon on the road Rhycel Marcelo NORTHBOUND! Advertising Sales Jeremiah Garcia North Philippines Visitors Bureau RENIE U. TICZON 291 Saint Joseph St., Oranbo Drive, Pasig City, Manila, Phils. President, Email : [email protected] North Philippines Visitors Bureau Vice-President for Marketing, Production and Advertising Manila North Tollways Corporation Onesport Media Specialists Inc. Unit 217 La Fuerza 2 Bldg., Pasong Tamo, Makati Tel : 09154753994 Email : [email protected] Reproduction of photos in full or in part is prohibited, unless permission is secured from the Executive Editor and the Publisher. Every effort has been made to ensure North Philippines Visitors Bureau is a non-stock, non-profit organization the accuracy of the information contained spearheaded by the Manila North Tollways, builder and concessionaire in this publication, However, NPVB and of the North Luzon Expressway. Onesport Media Specialist Inc. cannot accept legal responsibility for any error or Its primary thrust is the promotion of destinations through various omission. Opinions expressed here are tourism activities and events that draw travelers in search of culture, solely of the writers and not necessarily adventure and relaxation to the North. endorsed by NPVB. feature same place for sure. This a division-sized crowd We had finished off the time, barbecued ribs were gathered for a post hike- flask when we reached cooked instead on large and-drive barbecue and Betis Church in Guagua, 4x4 grills made of halved steel massage... Pampanga. Although I drums, served by liveried cannot remember the employees of the spa. The Back that day, Jack tired details without assistance, ADVENTURE spa itself was an enigma, of the scenery, which the church is said to have tucked away in the middle was beautiful despite its Baroque inspirations of a canyon, offering gradient of monotonous in its design, having IN PAMPANGA treatments using volcanic shades of grey, and been built in the 17th sand and hot spring water. offered me a share of his century. What stands out WORDS BY TOBY MARTIN . PHOTOS BY EDSEL OCHOA Oblivious to the irony of flask and a drive around the place, there we were, Pampanga's churches. Sometime after the where the constant flow would eventually bleed eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, of water has formed away with the light. We I hung out a lot with canyons large enough for were quite literally in Jack, an American who the Jeep. That the Grand the middle of nowhere, has resided permanently Canyon was cut by the for this was a wasteland. in the Philippines after Colorado river over eons Once, it may have had working all around the tells me that the corridors crops growing from its world. Like many before, of lahar we were driving soils. But now, it was the wiles of Angeles through were eroded lahar, irrigated by streams attracted him, and before too quickly. In the event of water heated by he could decide on of a heavy downpour, fissures from the volcano's anywhere else to stay, these volatile canyons can source. habit had decided for him easily turn into channels to settle in Pampanga. of quicksand, and here Years later, I would In 1991, as soon as the we were kilometers into return to Pampanga with ash stopped falling and it. I then decided to alight motorcades of 4x4s for the dust has settled, Jack from Jack's Jeep and run very different reasons. knew what to do with the on my own power. Jack In one such trip, we impromptu desert that scoffed at the idea and drove around ripping fell upon his backyard - he quickly drove off to where up the desert, with the took his Jeep out and I would eventually find vehicles putting their drove it as it was meant him – down the canyon, capabilities to the test. to. grilling the meat and In another, we were downing the beer – an taken to the trailhead of One time, I found myself odd 5 miles later. the hike to Pinatubo's almost too quickly in crater, eventually finding Jack's Jeep, which was There we were sitting with ourselves in a Korean spa loaded with a cooler full heat from all directions, to relax after the hike. This of beer and steaks, a thanks to the coals place looked remarkably sack of charcoal, and a cooking our steaks and like the one where Jack grill barely enough for a the heat of midday. The and I had our picnic, man-sized rib eye. We sun shone unimpeded although, without having set out on the desert by clouds, its glow taken a GPS reading then, of lahar, layers tens of bleaching your vision. If I can never be sure. If I feet thick on top of each something stayed long was at roughly the same other, towards an area enough under it, its color location, it was not the BETIS CHURCH (St JOHN THE APOSTLE PARISH CHURCH), was the next “iglesia” corporal remains, is laid GUAGUA, PAMPANGA in our “visita.” Upon open every August 17 for entry, I noted how public veneration, which An 18th century Augustinian-sponsored disproportionately low was unfortunate for me as Baroque structure, it was named a National the ceilings were. It it was mid-April during my Cultural Treasure by the National Museum for its painted ceiling of murals depicting was like walking into a visit. Soon, Jack and I had scenes from the Bible, the Holy Family, and hobbit's hole, where our fill and drove home a number of Catholic saints. The paintings things seemed properly at the end of the summer are said to have been retouched in 1939 sized, except that they day. by Macario Ligon, a native of San Agustin, were according to another then restored once again in the 70s by aesthetic altogether. The It was between drinks, Ligon's assistant, Victor Ramos, who was diminutive scale was the steak sandwiches and only his teens during the '39 restoration. result of six meters of lahar religious buildings that Also of note are the carved designs over the windows, the Corinthian-styled sent by Mt. Pinatubo to Jack shared more of his columns, the “retablo” of saints and the bury the church. The loyal incredible stories from wooden plank flooring. parishioners did excavate work stints around the the church halfway, but globe. These stories TIPS: only to reveal the original begged the question: why “retablo,” leaving the did he settle in Angeles, Carry a small mirror to save you from a church with a low ceiling of all places? Despite the crick in the neck – use it to look at the ceiling's reflections instead of craning in memory, however, is and gun port windows. irony of it all, I never did upwards. For photographers, an articulated the painted ceiling of The unusual proportions press him for an answer, camera screen may likewise make shooting the church, which is now of the church today are a but a plausible one comes the ceiling easier, but be advised that flash touted as the Philippines' poignant reminder of the up. photography is not allowed in the church. very own version of the unpredictable destruction Sistine Chapel. It was also nature may bring. Approximately 16km from worth the drive to see Manila, serviced by the SAN GUILLERMO CHURCH, BACOLOR, PAMPANGA the wooden plank floor, The last stop was the NLEX and SCTEX, with and the Corinthian-style Sta. Rita de Cascia enough things to do from Named after the town's patron saint, columns that rose from it, Church, which proved outdoorsy to cultural this church was built by the Augustinians supporting the ceiling and the most interesting to culinary, Pampanga in 1576, the same year that the town the arch-crowned windows because it keeps a relic is the perfect weekend was established. Coincidentally, it was of the sanctuary. of its patroness within destination to stretch erected on the lot of one Don Guillermo its walls. The reliquary, one's legs and his ride's Manabat, making its name quite apt. The The San Guillermo which houses a piece of mileage. NB architectural design is in the Baroque style Parish Church in Bacolor Sta. Rita's uncorrupted popular at the time, and its interior accents, the main and side “retablos,” and the pulpit were intricately carved and heavily gilded in gold leaf.

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