(Part 2) Zamboanga's Zest and Best!!: Zamboanga's History, Society, and Culture

- October 31, 2019, Thursday, Halloween.

- Zamboanga City is a city of colors all year around, mainly thanks to its pluralistic society that consists of various ethnic groups that have settled in Zamboanga through the centuries. On my second day in Zamboanga City, it was my mission to understand the cultures that have made Zamboanga a melting pot of Mindanaoan cultures.  

- I knew that since I needed more insight on the history and culture of the city, as well as a more efficient way to go from one place to another, I availed the services of Zamboanga iTravel Tourist Lane (check out their website here.) Based on my research, this travel agency specializing in Zamboanga as well as neighboring provinces has been regularly featured in blogs, vlogs, and other articles. Because of its stellar reviews, I booked a half-day city tour (in advance!) with them. My tour guide for the day was Mr. Errold Lim Bayona, who is one of the most well-known tour guides of the region not only because of his knowledge of the Zamboanga, but also his hands-on involvement with the different communities of Zamboanga. (Note that he was one of the featured tour guides of the Department of Tourism's "Tourism Decade" campaign; you can see him here.)

- My morning started with a trip to the Climaco Freedom Park, the final resting place of former mayor Cesar Climaco after his assassination in 1984. Cesar Climaco was well loved by the Zamboanguenos of his dedication to the Zamboanga City. He also pushed for the idea that no one "owns" Zamboanga especially since most inhabitants of the city were immigrants or descended from immigrants, so everyone had to do his part in making Zamboanga a livable city.

A memorial for the fallen soldiers of World War 2. The giant hat (left) represents the Americans based on the kind of hat they wore, the pole (middle) represents the Japanese and you can see a representation of their flag at the base, and the run (right) represents the Filipinos.

The memorial statue for former mayor, Cesar Climaco. That's his logo at the top.

- A short ride from the Climaco Freedom Park is the Pasonanca Park, built in 1912. Decaades later, in the 1960s, a tree house was built as a training center though its cozy appearance made the tree house a hit as a tourist spot. Today, a furnished room can be found inside, and any visitor can stay for free with the permission of the mayor.

Pasonanca Tree House.

Didn't actually go inside hahahaha.

- Across the tree house are 24 little green teepees that signify the 24 scouts who perished in a plane crash in 1963. The scouts were on their way to attend the 11th Boy Scout Jamboree in Marathon, Greece, when their plane crashed at the Arabian Sea. Although the more popular memorial can be found in Metro Manila, a memorial area was also made in Zamboanga since one of the earliest troops of the Boy Scout Philippines was organized in Zamboanga (not to mention one delegate from the 24 scouts also came from Zamboanga.)

A smile of hope.

Teepees.

- From the Pasonanca Park, we had a rather long ride to the Yakan Village, which is around 7km away from the city center. With public transportation, one can ride a jeep from the city center to the Zamboanga Golf Course and get off at the entrance of the Yakan Village. My guide Errold also said that some people might not know the "Yakan Village" so instead, one can ask for jeepneys that go to "Vista del Mar," a more familiar name to most locals as it is the name of a fancy resort across the Yakan Village.

One of my favorite places in Zamboanga!!

- The Yakans are quite unique compared to their neighboring ethnic groups such as the Badjaos or the Tausugs since the Yakans have more of a land-based society than a sea-based society; they were originally mountain dwellers who specialized in agriculture and horse-culture. This is rather unusual since the Yakans live in the Sulu archipelago, made up of tiny islands, with most ethnic groups living closer to the sea and get inspiration for their cultural expressions from sea-related things. Many Yakans are Muslims today, although, as most indigenous groups, had their own beliefs before the arrival Most Yakans live in/come from the province of Basilan, but many Yakans migrated to Zamboanga - which is just a short distance across the sea - due to some political unrest in the 1970s. The Yakan Village in the Upper Calarian district of Zamboanga is home to many Yakan families, and have opened some of their weaving stations to the public so visitors can see how their textile is made. They also sell their finished products outside their weaving stations. (Some may also sell items from neighboring ethnic groups like the Maranao or Tausug souvenirs.)

- I was happy because I had the opportunity to learn how to weave the Yakan's "semmek" cloth from one of the Yakan weavers, Ms. Norita. The semmek cloth, originally made from abaca or pineapple fibers but may also be made of cotton today, is known for its geometric design based on the rainbow/bamboo with colorful stripes (i.e. "palipattang") or the python's skin with diamonds and hexagons (i.e. "bunga-sama.") Images inside the python's skin may show geometric flowers, fish heads, crabs, and so on. Another kind of fabric is a square cloth called "seputangan," which is normally used by women as a headscarf; these square cloths usually have a flower design. The images remind me of origami models, or tangram puzzles. Depending on the complexity of the design and size of the cloth (number of colors, difficulty of image to be woven, etc.,) a skilled and seasoned weaver can weave a 20-meter cloth from a few weeks to a few months! That's the reason why hand-woven Yakan products can be a bit pricey - there's just so much hard work, skill, and love put into each cloth! However, do know that their products are one of a kind, as each cloth is different. Fear not, smaller products such as coin purses, earrings, necklaces, and bags are cheaper options if you'd like to take home Yakan souvenirs (20php-800PHP, depending on the product). Table runners, vests, and shoes, are mid-range products (around 1000-2000PHP.)

A Yakan weaving loom.

Ms. Norita, one of the younger  Yakan weavers.

- Today, I noticed that more people in the Philippines, especially in Manila, are aware of the beauty of Philippine ethnic fabrics, and some have directly contacted these indigenous groups for commissioned works. Ms. Norita told me that the beige cloth she was working on was commissioned by a customer from Manila. She allowed me to try weaving her beige cloth, and it almost took me 15 minutes to weave just two lines. Don't worry, she closely supervised me. I decided to stop because I figured that if I messed up her work, I'd have to pay for the beige cloth I would've ruined (yikes.) Instead, I browsed through Ms. Norita's works and bought some to take home and give to friends.

Listening carefully to Ms. Norita. (Also notice my authentic Yakan vest. I bought it from a Yakan weaver in a bazaar in Manila a few weeks before my trip.)

This is not just a photo op, I was really trying to weave weaving.

I might be smiling here, but my brain was overwhelmed with her instructions. Weaving isn't a joke, folks.

I was trying to separate the threads so I could "form" the design.

I need a lot of assistance huhu.

Ms. Norita's semmek products.

 - After my weaving lesson from Ms. Norita, I visited Ms. Salma Ballati in her weaving station. Ms. Salma is one of the highly-awarded Yakan master weavers. She is proud that even though she was not able to go to school and learn how to read and write, she was able to make a living with weaving. I guess you can also say that instead of writing, she expresses herself through the colors and shapes of her woven products. She also taught her children and grandchildren to weave, so they can also earn from the craft. I wasn't able to take a photo with Ms. Salma since she was too concentrated on weaving. I wanted to buy from her (because why wouldn't you want to buy a master weaver's product right?) but the products she had were mostly made to order. (Can I cry? Huh.)

I dare not disturb a mater weaver.

Ms. Salma concentrating. (Yes, I asked permission to take a photo of her, don't worry.)

Upper weaving station (this weaving station is located at a higher part of the village, just two short flights of stairs from the lower weaving station.)

- I later visited all the other stores at the lower weaving station and bought some more things because I love their works so much. I also visited one of the Yakans I met in Manila previously, Ms. Angie, but she wasn't around when I went to her store. Ms. Angie is another lauded weaver in the community.

Lower weaving area.

More Yakan products.

- I was driven back to Fort Pilar for more insight on the place. As mentioned in Part 1 (here), Fort Pilar was built to defend the city from pirates and other intruders. Originally, the fort was made of red-orange bricks, giving it that rustic Hispanic look. However, three out of four buildings were painted white during restorations, and only the entrance/main building was spared. This is only one of many restoration mishaps of historical buildings all across the country. (By the way, did I mention that entrance to Fort Pilar is free? Awesome, right?)

Fort Pilar - featuring my newly-bought Yakan palipattang (rainbow) vest and shoes.

Entrance.

One of the three repainted buildings (notice the well in the middle.)

The only remaining brick building.

Must have a photo with the building. 

At the fortress walls.

The Queen of Spain visited the fort in 2012.

Mandatory tourist shot.

Of course, a brief visit to the altar was also mandatory.

Another look at the altar/shine with more sunlight, since it rained the day before when I visited.

- Finally, I was given a few minutes to spend at the Canelar Barter Center before ending my morning tour, and going back to my hotel to have my lunch and rest for a while. When I was all set, I had a walk around the neighborhood and saw the Zamboanga Cathedral (Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception), the main church of the city. Although this new cathedral was built in 1998 and opened in 2002, the cathedral's history dates back to the 1800s. It moved locations and had several incarnations throughout the years. The current cathedral's main window is said to be based on a candle.

Zamboanga Cathedral.

Ateneo de Zamboanga University, located right beside the cathedral.

- I later rode the tricycle to go back to Canelar Barter Center to shop some more. I actually was still a bit traumatized with what happened the day before when I sort of started a big fight that resulted in a commotion in the market (read Part 1 here to know what exactly happened because it was telenovela worthy.) As I walked through the endless halls of shops with colorful souvenirs from the region and neighboring countries like Malaysia  and Indonesia, I passed by the stall of the older and the younger lady who fought the day before after I bought a pair of pants from the younger lady's stall but was entertained by the older lady who owned the stall beside. Both ladies apologized to me, separately, for probably scaring me away the barter center the day before (them ladies don't know that it's not easy to scare me away, especially when shopping is involved HAHAHAHA.) The younger lady told me that the older lady who sold me the pants I bought the day before was not discounted, and since she felt bad about what happened, she was willing to give me a bigger discount if I decide to buy from her store that day. Not feeling obliged, I thanked her and went around the market to look for things I needed, but I ended up buying once more from the younger lady - and this time directly from her - and indeed the prices she offered were lower than the usual after canvassing for similar items in other stores. (Good thing I really had to buy some stuff; she earned, and I got what I wanted haha.) However, because the commotion that happened the day before was quite a scene, some of the vendors there named me as "the guy who caused the fight" (verbatim "si sir, yung dahilan kung bakit sila nag-away.") Though of course it was understood that I was merely the unfortunate customer who happened to have caused the situation, and it could have happened to any other customer. The vendors who called me that long "title" just laughed about the situation.

- I later walked north from the barter center to a restaurant highly recommended to me by my tour guide Errold during my morning tour. He said that Bay Tal Mal, a restaurant that has been open in 1986, serves some of the best Moro food. Moro, or "moor" in English, refers to a collection of around 13 indigenous groups in the Philippines that live in the southwest, all of which were Islamized. (This is in contrast to the "Lumad" people, which has around 15 groups, who did not collectively convert to Islam, and for the most part of history, did not convert to Catholicism as well though some eventually did in recent history.) Moro food has plenty of influences from Malaysian, Indonesian, and to some extent even Indian and Arab cuisine, and can be described as spicy, tangy, sometimes hot. I had Tausug dishes called chicken piyanggang and tiyulah itum. Had I known that both dishes were related, I would have just ordered one (preferably the tiyulah itum.) Both dishes are black because they were cooked with roasted coconut. The tiyulah itum, in Filipino it would be called "tinolang itim," is a soup/stew, and I think I could taste the smokiness of the roasted coconut better in the tiyulah compared to the chicken piyanggang. Another reason to choose tiyulah itum is because it is said to be food normally served to the Tausug royalty, and is normally a dish served during big celebrations.

Tiyulah itum (right,) chicken piyanggang with rice and papaya salad (middle), and my fancy golden pot of....cold water (left.) HAHA.

Aesthetics.

Thank you for the good food!!

- After my early dinner, I rode a tricycle back to my hotel so I can rest and prepare myself for an action-packed trip to one of Zamboanga's must-see islands where the sand is pink and the jellyfish like to hang out upside down - the Santa Cruz Island

- Don't forget to read about my other adventures in Zamboanga City!!

Part 1, Food Coma, Shopping Coma, and a Bit of History: here

Part 3, The Pink Sand and Colorful Vintas of Santa Cruz Island: here

Part 4, Zamboanga's "Latin" City Center: here

Naruwan Taiwan (Part 2): Day Trip to the Ancient Capital - Tainan, and Kaohsiung's Ruifeng Night Market

- November 11, 2014. Tuesday.

- I woke up early morning on Tuesday, rode the MRT to Zuoying, and transferred to Zuoying High Speed Rail (HSR) for a quick 15-minute ride to the ancient capital, Tainan. My friend Gail, who used to be an exchange student in Taiwan, highly-recommended this place to me, and I was fortunate enough to have the time to visit Tainan. Tainan used to be a former Dutch base, which became the nation's capital after Zheng Chenggong (aka Koxinga) defeated the Dutch. Tainan served as the Taiwanese capital until the capital was moved to Taichung and later on to Taipei in the late 1800s. The climate of Tainan is more or less similar to Kaohsiung since they're both in the same area of Taiwan - which means Tainan was burning hot as well.

- After rising the HSR to Tainan, I took the free shuttle bus from the HSR station to the far-away Tainan TRA (Taiwan Rail Administration.) The case of Tainan's HSR and TRA stations is an example of two stations that have the same name but are ridiculously far from each other. Usually, TRA stations would be located beside, or within the vicinity of HSR stations and MRT stations (for cities with MRT lines like Kaohsiung or Taipei.) The TRA by the way is the slow train, while the HSR is Taiwan's version of the Japanese shinkansen ("bullet train.")

Saw this from the bus. not sure what this building is.

- I was supposed to alight at the Tainan TRA, and ride a cab to the Anping District. However, I got confused with the stations; the bus announces stop it is about to approach and immediately announces the succeeding stop. I got off a stop earlier than I should have, and the next stop, the Tainan TRA Station, would be a long walk from where I got off. Fortunately, one hotel guard was able to tell me where I am, and I realized that I was nearer to my destination. Needless to say, when I found a cab and rode to the Anping District, my taxi fare was significantly lower than it would have had I alighted at my supposed stop. I also decided to grab a cab instead of riding the public bus, because I was warned by many blogs that the buses in Tainan were significantly less, and the free red hop-on-hop-off tourist buses only operated during the weekends. I could not afford to get myself lost again, especially since my itinerary in Tainan was jam-packed, and I only had a day to explore it.

- Anping District is the heart of historical action in Tainan, which is why most historically-significant tourist attractions are located in that one small dot in Tainan. My first stop was the Eternal Golden Castle, a bit off way from the other attractions. The Eternal Golden Castle was built in the Qing Dynasty (late 1800s) as a fort against the Japanese. Later on, the Japanese occupied the fort. Because the Japanese sold some of the cannons during the Russo-Japanese War, the Eternal Golden Castle was not used anymore. The structure is neither eternal nor golden, but the golden memories of this fort shall stay eternal in Taiwanese history (I thought about this line for a long time.)

Castle entrance.

Cannons inside.

French bastions.

Children having an different venue for their Physical Education class. Field trip and PE rolled into one.

- I later visited the Anping Fort of Fort Zeelandia, after passing by the Tien Hou Temple located right in front of the fort. The fort served as the Dutch East Indies base in Taiwan, and served as a transit point and business center for international trade. Later on, Koxinga fought the Dutch in the 1600s and won, and so he renamed the city as "Anping," with the fort's name changed to "Anping Fort;" "Anping" was the former name of Tainan.

This small temple on the way to the Tian Hou Temple was built in the 1800s.

Ah, the entrance to the Tian Hou Temple.

I love the detail on the roofs of these temples. Very colorful.

Ceiling.

Tian Hou at the middle.

Fort Zeelandia.

A simple shoot.

More cannons!!

The fort had a small museum inside.

A statue of Koxinga.

- I left the fort and visited the old Julius Mannich & Co. building, a small German merchant house during the 1800s. It is currently a small museum showing the old office, some famous German (and Austrian) people (i.e. Albert Einstein, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven,) and some popular German landmarks. The building did not require an entrance fee too, and visitors could buy some refreshments at the small stall in front of it.

Front door.

Former living room??

Facade.

- Going around a big corner, I finally arrived at the Anping Tree House, an old warehouse by the Tait and Co. Merchant House; the merchant house is located beside the tree house. The warehouse is now a "tree house" because the trees' roots have slowly devoured the warehouse, giving it an eerie and adventurous feel. I was instantly reminded of my visit to the Ta Prohm Temple (click here,) the famous Khmer/Cambodian temple where the movie Tomb Raider (starring Angelina Jolie) was shot.

A statue of Koxinga on the street.

Anping Tree House!!

Creepy, but the first thing I thought was that it'd make a good movie set.

From the outside.

- I had more interest in the Tait and Co. Merchant House, since this two-story building was turned into a mini Taiwanese-history museum with life-sized wax models. This reminded me of the Taipa Houses in Macau (click here.) The best part of this museum? It's air-conditioned.

Tait and Co. Merchant House right beside the Anping Tree House.

Early traders.

Confucian education.

The Dutch people's arrival.

Indigenous people of Taiwan.

A typical Dutch household in Taiwan. The lady looked like she just came back home from a visit with the taxidermist. Scary.

- Finally, I visited the Anping Old Street, supposedly for lunch, but a battalion of grade-school and junior-high students raided the whole shopping street and all the restaurants and eateries there, so I decided to eat lunch in downtown Tainan, where more establishments were located.

Sword lions are famous in this part of Anping.

- I rode a cab again from Anping District to downtown Tainan, and I asked the driver to drop me off at the Gate South Gate (Da Nan Men.) It was one of the gates that opened to historic Tainan, when the city was still surrounded by walls. The inner courtyard is now an open area for performances. It also had tables both at the first and second floors since there was a small coffee shop operating inside the gate.

The Great South Gate even has a rickshaw displayed outside. Haha.

Now an open area.

- I went to the Koxinga Shrine afterwards, and headed a few steps north to the  Confucius Temple. Both structures were built in the 17th century.

Koxinga Shrine garden.

It had a very Confucian architecture.

Koxinga.

Confucius Temple.

Robes used by Confucians.

Instruments used by Confucians; this is an example of bad exhibit placement.

- Before heading to the Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple (aka Warrior Temple/Xi  Dian Wu Miao,) I wanted to find somewhere to eat lunch, and strange I couldn't find any decent place to eat; the only eateries I found were the "questionable" ones, especially since nobody ate in those places. The closest decent place I could find was a Family Mart, so I just had a light lunch there. Looking back, I should have eaten in Anping after all, since there were more restaurants with local delicacies. The restaurants were located near the Tainan TRA station, which was still quite far from where I was at that moment.

- After lunch I walked straight north to visit the Warrior Temple and another Tian Hou Temple. Both were built in the 17th century as well.

Warrior Temple.

They're carved.

Tian Hou Temple.

More details.

Tian Hou.

- Another highlight of my Tainan visit was when I visited the Chihkan Tower (aka Fort Provintia,) a small Dutch outpost that was also surrendered to Koxinga after the Dutch surrendered in the mid-1600s. The tower has a small collection of written works, and models of ships used by Koxinga.

Chihkan Tower.

Another simple shoot with my favorite fan.

Stones tablets on stone-turtle shells.

- Finally, I had a short visit to the Fuchenghuang Temple (aka Cheng Huang Miao.) As the name suggests, the temple housed the god that protected the city of Tainan. I got a bit lost along the way, but again, the helpful Taiwanese people got my back.

Fuchenghuang Temple.

Oh great city god, please show me the path -- I don't want to get lost in Taiwan again.

Temple details.

- I walked to the Tainan TRA Station, in hopes of catching a free shuttle bus back to the Tainan HSR Station. I asked the people in the TRA Staiton where I could find the free shuttle bus, but they seemed to not have an idea about what I was talking about and told me that there was no free bus around. I did not know where the Tainan Bus Station was since I got lost earlier that morning. The people in the TRA station just suggested that I ride the TRA to the HSR station, instead. I thought that it was also a nice opportunity to try the TRA, especially since I wasn't in a hurry anymore.

- My goodness, the TRA was really slow compared to the HSR. The TRA lines are quite similar in feel to the Philippine National Railways, although sorry to say I do think that the riding the TRA is a far less horrendous experience than riding the PNR train (yes, I have tried riding the PNR.) The TRA is actually a therapeutic ride, although sleeping inside the train is may to one missing his stop; the next train wouldn't come in fifteen to thirty minutes.

- I found my way back at the HSR Station, bought a ticket, and headed back to Zuoying, Kaohsiung. After getting off, I rode the Zuoying MRT to the Kaohsiung Arena, and headed to Ruifeng Night Market. Ruifeng Night Market is one of the more top-rated night markets, just like Liuhe Night Market (see previous post,) but as with most night markets, Ruifeng doesn't have souvenirs, and only has food, games, and normal everyday things. It is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Ruifeng Night Market.

Crowded as always.

- While going around, I bought some German sausages, and this supposedly special drink. I read in blogs before that Taiwan's night markets have this "frogs' eggs" drink, and I was again curious to know what kind of drink it was. I saw this particular stall in Ruifeng, and without thinking, I immediately bought a cup. As I was staring at my drink, I looked at the vendor and asked if they were really made of frogs' eggs. She told me that "frogs' eggs" is a term they use in Taiwan to refer to none other than....sago/tapioca. I wouldn't have bought the drink had I known it was only going to be sago. It was a refreshing drink though, after a long walkathon in Tainan.

This stall.

Just....sago. -____-

- I had Taiwan's famous oyster cake for dinner, and some xiaolongbao. I felt that the Taiwanese oyster cakes had less oysters and veggies, and is smothered in thick sweet and sour sauce. I still prefer the version in Manila - oysters, veggies, and everything else in every bite. The xiaolongbaos that I had were decent; they were yummy and freshly-made, but nothing special.

My tummy-filling dinner. I had sugar cane juice too by the way.

- I went around Ruifeng one last time before going back to my hostel, and this time I could relax a little bit more since I was just going to explore more of Kaohsiung the next day, which meant places that were closer to where I stayed. Taiwan just kept getting better and better too, just as my skin got darker and darker from the sun.


**** For more information on Taiwan, please also visit Go! Taiwan. Just click on the photo below!!