Bantayan Island

Retracing my steps became an obsession. I dreamt of it so often, that periods of wakefulness became exercises in frustration. To think I’d only been there twice before. This, I suppose, is a testament to its allure. Either that, or I was compelled by the intensity of familial proddings. Notwithstanding my utter lack of resolve in previous years, I felt I still belonged by … [Read more...] about Bantayan Island Then and Now – Revisiting a Dream

When a relative came home from Manila, my pasalubong (souvenir) was a box of Pan de Manila coffee. Although the box art showed what I would assume to be an idealized rendition of old Manila, it reminded me of a different place, Bantayan Island. My mother was born and raised there, but I’d only been there twice.Unfortunately, I went there in the early 90s, before the age of … [Read more...] about Remembering Bantayan Island – Old Memories of a Young Traveler