Hohol sa Bohol (Unang Araw)

 I must admit I'm not good in speaking and writing in Filipino, but the means of entitling this travel diary is to honor and commemorate the Buwan ng Wika (August is the month of Language in the Philippines). To the Filipinos who aren't updated with today's Filipino urban dictionary, 'HOHOL' is an acronym for "hang out hang out lang". For the long weekend, my family and I hohol-d at Bohol!

Hong Kong sweater
Abercrombie and Fitch top
American Eagle Shorts

It was a dark, drizzly morning when we touched down at Bohol. It's located in Central Visayas and the island is shaped like a turtle. It's the tenth largest island of the Philippines and is actually just a boat ride to Cebu. We stayed at The Bellevue Hotel, the newest resort of Panglao Island (a part of Bohol) that opened last October 25, 2012. First stop, Tarsier Botanika!

At first I thought Tarsier Botanica was a Tarsier sanctuary, but I was wrong. There are seven sections of the tourist destination but due to the lack of time and the bad weather, we only visited three: The Tarsier Paprika, where we had lunch; the Tarsier Artistika, which exhibits the private collection of Asian and European paintings and sculptures owned by Nicolas Moussempes and the Boutik, where they sell souvenirs and products from the Philippines and [some] imported from other parts of Asia. We circled the botanical garden too, of course!

This is a Kulintang, a Philippine Indigenous Instrument.

I observed that there are a number of old churches in Bohol and Our Lady of the Assumption Church is just one of them! Having to become an independent parish in 1697, this church was run by the Jesuits back then and is also known for its Holy Well located at the middle of the altar. It is believed that the Holy Water can cure sicknesses. The water is absolutely fresh! Upon entering the church my mom and I had to wear a sarong to observe proper dress code in a sacred place.

We then visited the house of Jesus or better known as 'Bayoyoy', a 64-year-old dwarf man. He cannot speak nor see; he can only hear. When we entered his small compound, to the left was his family's convenience store and to the right displayed were posters about him and pictures of him with different people who visited. He has 14 other siblings, 6 including him suffered dwarfism but he is the only survivor. He only feeds on oatmeal and milk and is taken care of by the eldest sibling. 

He managed to smile for a photo-op. :D

Last stop was the Hinagdanan Cave! You descend steep steps down and you'll find a lot of stalactites and stalagmites inside. The cave is made of limestone and its layers have been sandwiched and added after the other which makes the rocks over a million years old. The history behind the name dated back from the discovery of the cave. The owner of the area was removing branches of the land when he found a hole; he then dropped a stone and heard a splash. Afterwards, he built a ladder to get down the cave. Hinagdanan means 'laddered' in English. My family and I took this advantage to have a "May Bukas Pa" photo-op. Hahaha!

Stay tuned for my next 'Hohol Sa Bohol' travel diary!! :)