May 19, 2013 (Sunday)
After
waking up very early with an ultra aching body, obviously coming from the
advanced spelunking, we went to the Church of St. Mary the Virgin to attend the Holy Mass at 6:30 AM.
 |
| Church of St. Mary the Virgin |
The church was established by American Protestant Missionaries in 1904. About 95% of the town of Sagada are baptized into the Protestant faith.
 |
| Offertory Collection Bags |
Inside the church, you could see several friendly dogs roaming around, and one of the features I saw in this venue is that they have booklets situated on the pews, one contains the various chronological order of the Mass depending on certain occasions, and the other booklet houses all the Mass songs. These booklets are used daily that is why you should return them after use, a far cry from the Missalettes we use on a given day only.
 |
| The Booklets |
On the left side, facing the altar, you could spot the organist, with numbers in front of him, signifying the page numbers of the songs in the booklet that would be used for this day's Mass. He announces the page numbers through a microphone beside him whenever he would start playing a given song.
 |
| The Organist |
An attest of how close-knit the Sagada Parish community was when during the Homily portion, since me and my friends sat on the first few rows, the young Parish Priest noticed us that we were "tourists", and he welcomed us to their community.
 |
| Altar Shot with the Parish Priest |
Departing from the church, we headed to Cafe Bodega at the Rock Inn for breakfast, wherein I ordered Farm Rice w/ Bacon & Egg (Php 195.00) and Pineapple Juice. The meal was so good, but the quantity was overwhelming for a breakfast meal made for one serving...mabuti malaki ang kaha ko...burp!
 |
| Main Entrance of Cafe Bodega |
 |
| Farm Rice w/ Bacon & Egg and Pineapple Juice |
The breathtaking Bomod-Ok (Big) Falls was the next stop, but since I still had bodyaches from yesterday’s undertaking, I passed on this one since, according to the guide, the whole trek would take several hours with some uphill trudges to boot. Lucky them, and while I was waiting for some of my companions to complete that trek, me and some of my “co-weak” friends decided just to do some street walking and souvenir shopping, and then went to the guest house to pack our stuff and get some rest.
 |
| Bomod-Ok Falls (the one I missed....argh!) |
We bade farewell to the guest house at 2:00 PM and went for lunch at the Salt and Pepper Diner as a heavy downpour occurred. Nevertheless, the Mushroom Inutom w/ Potato (Php 195.00) was unique and delicious!
 |
| A Guest House Farewell! |
 |
| Mushroom Inutom w/ Potato @ Salt and Pepper Diner |
Well, since we were already at the vicinity of the Mountain Province, there is nothing grander to cap off the entire trip than to visit the world-famous Banaue Rice Terraces.
The van made its long way towards that destination via Bontoc than Banaue. The route we took was a marvel for the eyes as we saw astounding displays of nature at its peak…literally. Yes, some parts of the highway would really take you to soooo above sea level.
When we arrived at the main viewpoint of the Banaue Rice Terraces at 6:00 PM, we quickly bolted the vehicle for kodakan galore since the sun would disappear in several minutes.
 |
| Banaue Rice Terraces |
The Banaue Rice Terraces are 2,000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the indigenous people. The Rice Terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the "Eighth Wonder of the World".
Leaving the site, we saw along the road that households in Banaue mostly do not have electricity. We could either see homes with a few candles or none at all, and that was around 7:00 PM. Were they already sleeping that early? Whoah!
The Sagada experience would only be enjoyable for those who love nature as well as thrill-seekers. If you are tired of the passive aura of Baguio, why not level-up and proceed to the active side of Sagada and experience a different Mountain Province world.
Never ever leave Sagada without eating their vegetables and bring loads of cash…Explore Pinas!
No comments:
Post a Comment