Geography – Page 9 – PATHLESS TRAVELS

2012-05-142019-09-22

The secrets of Nagsasa Cove

Let me get straight to the point by sharing what I learned during a short stay at Nagsasa Cove in San Antonio, Zambales.

I won’t bore you with the usual mundane matters that you can Google from travelogues, such as how to get there, what’s so great about it, how to best enjoy your stay, what not to expect, and so on. Instead, I’ll tell you some interesting stories about Nagsasa, presented in Top-Ten style.

Continue reading “The secrets of Nagsasa Cove”

2012-04-292012-04-30

A myth called Pinoy summer (3)

Author’s note: This was first published on 18 May 2003 under my Pathless Travels column published by Northern Dispatch (Nordis) Weekly. I’m reposting it here in three parts, with some revisions to update my own understanding of the issue, and to make it more timely. This is Part 3. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

banana leaf umbrella — A native Filipina, caught in a sudden downpour without her Chinese-style umbrella, innovates with a broad banana leaf. This, at least, isn't a myth. But why do we continue to believe in a mythical Pinoy summer?

Again, let me wonder aloud: Why is it that despite the evidence to the contrary, the twin myths of a “Pinoy summer” and a “Pinoy rainy season” persist in the public mind?

In the same light, one wonders about the stubborn persistence of those other undying myths, about Filipinos for example having descended from “three waves of migration” — you know, the fantastic but now-debunked story about Indonesian A and B, then Malay, that many of us still believe as true.

Or how about the Code of Kalantiaw, which has been shown to be a hoax? Let’s mention too the story of the Ten Datus of Borneo, which is a folk legend that might have some historical basis but with no hard evidence so far. Or the myth that there is only one Philippine language, or five or eight at most, while the others are merely “dialects.” Continue reading “A myth called Pinoy summer (3)”

2012-04-152014-03-21

A myth called Pinoy summer (2)

Author’s note: This was first published on 18 May 2003 under my Pathless Travels column published by Northern Dispatch (Nordis) Weekly. I’m reposting it here in three parts, with some revisions to update my own understanding of the issue, and to make it more timely. This is Part 2. Read Part 1 here.

Philippine climate map showing the country divided into four zones with distinct climate types. Source: Wikipedia

Since the 1990s, I’ve kept some reference files and notes on Philippine climate as part of my general interest in geography and environment. I found two files particularly useful in summarizing the main types of climates in the country.

One describes the four climate types, and lists down the provinces (or parts of provinces) covered by each type. I lifted this file from a popular Philippine almanac, which in turn cites as its source a popular Bureau of Plant Industry crop calendar for various parts of the country.

The other is a Philippine climate map that I bought for 20 pesos from an ordinary bookstore. [Take note that this was in the mid-1990s, when DOST, although it was in the frontlines of building the local corridors of cyberspace, didn’t as yet have much of its PAGASA resources online.] Continue reading “A myth called Pinoy summer (2)”