MORE ARTICLES

We had for far too long associated the Philippines with Imelda Marcos's shoe fetish only to discover recently that this is a Southeast Asian destination that truly rocks ? in terms of its unvarnished beauty, a happy people who are always ready with a smile and a song and willing to strum away their blues on a guitar.

We began our journey of discovery in the exciting yet less travelled capital of Manila, littered with some of the dictatorial Marcos duo's follies like the Coconut Palace, an opulent mansion built by Imelda Marcos to welcome Pope Paul II in 1981. The Pope declined to stay there, dismayed as he was by the First Lady's profligacy, and today it is a museum and a fancy venue for weddings.

Manila's night life is as hot as Rio's and its malls as large as several football fields. These consumer havens are essentially as much of an American legacy as the jeepney, colourful but cramped US army jeeps used as public transport. The Filipino capital turned out to be an intriguing cocktail of East and West, of glass-sheathed skyscrapers, traffic jams and the serene old walled city of the Spaniards. In San Augustine Church, the oldest in the country, devout Filipinos swayed as they said their rosaries ? many would later embark on a mall crawl or while the night away crooning at a Karaoke bar or shaking a leg at a disco. The Filipinos are as fun-loving as they are devout Roman Catholics and we did not witness a single incident of road rage, a squabble or even voices raised in anger. In fact, we became accustomed to being greeted by the innocent life-embracing Filipino smile wherever we went.

THE FRIENDLY FILIPINOS

Yes, they are amongst the friendliest people in the world. Indeed it is said that the Philippines spent 400 years in a convent and 40 years in Hollywood and are today an intriguing blend of those who occupied their country (primarily the Spanish and Americans) as well as the original Malay and Chinese inhabitants. Soon we were ready to unravel this oft-overlooked destination's other mysteries? just two of the archipelago's 7,100 tropical islands which have some of the most stunning beaches in the world. We flew to the tenth largest island of Bohol, south of Manila, and then by ferry to Cebu where navigator Ferdinand Magellan planted the cross of Christianity in the name of Spain in 1521. They seemed like a century behind Manila in their languid pace and slow heart beat. In Bohol with its ancestral homes and centuries-old churches, rutted roads and taxis with religious messages painted on them (Prepare to meet thy God, they exhort), there is no rush to modernise.

On our first morning, the frenetic pulse of Manila gave way to the sprightly rhythm of the Loboc river cruise which was one of the highlights of our visit. As we nibbled local delicacies laid on an immaculately draped table, a guitarist wooed us with love ballads even as life unfolded along the 58-km river like a slow waltz. The boat stopped at a bamboo raft near a riverside village where almost half the villagers, from the young to the wizened, had gathered to play rondalla music, strumming on guitars, drums and local instruments to produce wonderful arabesques of sound.

CHOCOLATE HILLS AND OTHER WONDERS

Later we drove to Chocolate Hills essentially 1,200 huge limestone humps scattered across the land, some of them rising from amidst green paddy fields. The area around Carmen is the most famous vantage point but the hills were verdant when we were there. They turn a dry brown shade in April and May. At the base of the complex, visually impaired masseurs kneaded city-stiff spines and necks for a small fee.

Other wonders beckoned like the Tarsier Sanctuary at Corella, where the world's smallest primates with eyes that are larger than their brains clung to tree branches as we walked the Tarsier Trail looking out for the little palm-sized creatures. Often kept as pets, Tarsiers become suicidal in captivity, banging their heads against cage doors in desperation, a field guide told us. They are now a protected species.

And this is Southeast Asia that you rarely get to see, we exulted privately, for it has virtually slipped off the tourist map. The spin-off is encountering its warm rural heart, gazing at neat terraced fields, women winnowing rice in quaint villages, churches resonating with the sonorous voices of the faithful, roads looping from village to seaside village, wallowing in a world-apart tranquillity? It was also in charming Bohol that we stumbled on another gem ? the Bohol Bee Farm whose proprietor, Vicky Wallace, has created a lush sanctuary of cool palms, green walkways, and sea-facing accommodation. All this, even while the farm dedicates itself to organic farming. A short walk away is the property's pilot bee farm where one can learn all about bees.

We had dinner amidst the farm's peaceful ambience that glowed in the light of raffia-shaded lamps ? a thick vegetable soup; a salad of organic romaine lettuce, turnips, mustard greens and indigenous flowers topped with honey mustard dressing; fresh herb pasta, honey-glazed chicken and coconut ice-cream in a cassava cone. One can also purchase some of the eco-friendly line of food products like corn coffee and coconut wine.

SWEET MUSIC

And the next morning we chugged in a Super Cat ferry to Cebu where we gorged on the sweetest mangoes in the country. On the ferry, the Lord's Prayer flashed on the television screen followed by safety instructions and some foot-tapping music... Faith in the good Lord is as palpable as the Filipino's love for music! In Cebu city's mall, sales girls listened to hip hop and hummed love songs in Tagalog, a language of the Philippines and at a shop where they made exquisite Spanish guitars, we were treated to an impromptu concert by the sales staff!

The Queen City of the South offers many sightseeing options such as the Magellan Cross planted on the same spot where the first Filipinos were baptised; the statue of Lapu Lapu, a firebrand who resisted Spanish colonisation and defeated Magellan in the Battle of Mactan and the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino. We visited the Basilica built in 1565 by the Spaniards which houses the oldest and most celebrated Christian relic in the country ? the image of Infant Jesus. The image was given by Magellan to the local Queen Juana during her baptism in 1521 and is said to possess miraculous powers ? granting boons to infertile couples, the lovelorn and the penniless. During the 20 years of Marcos' rule, the priests hid the relic because of fears that it might disappear into the dictator's private collection of antique artefacts. But it is the beaches of this country that offer dream vacations with their stretches of talcum powder sand that feel like cotton wool under the feet. We drove across a bridge to neighbouring Mactan Island and to the Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort where we spent a night and a day, revelling in the unearthly calm of the resort, grateful that the world was still so beautiful. Some of us relaxed at the spa while others went jet skiing and scuba diving; in the distance, a fisherman pulled his net in from the ebbing tide and gathered his catch for the day. That night in the open-sided restaurant, a guitarist strummed and we felt cocooned from a troubled world by the ethereal music and the soft whispering palms.