Philippine Island Tourist Spots Travel Guides

Ozone Disco
Ozone Disco, on Timog Avenue corner Tomas Morato, is the most fun haunted place to check out. On March 18 1996, Ozone Disco, a then-popular dance spot, had a special no-charge night for the freshly graduated high school students. In the midst of all the partying, a fire began in the disco and the only door opened inward, trapping the panicked crowd inside. 162 lives were lost that night. Today, passersby claim to still hear disco music at night and see figures inside dancing.

The Manila Film Center at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) probably has the most famous story. Back in 1981, First Lady Imelda Marcos hosted the International Film Festival. Needing a building grand enough to house all the visiting movie stars, she built the Manila Film Center. The building had to be done in a hurry so people were working at all hours. One night, the scaffolding collapsed and trapped the workers. Rumor has it that more than 150 workers were buried and while most were dead, some could be heard calling out for help. Being pressed for time, the remaining workers were instructed to continue, so they simply poured cement over the bodies. Ever since, strange sounds can be heard coming from the building and people who walk inside get goose bumps for no reason. The Film Center is a definite stop for anyone who wants to send shivers down their spine.

Balete Drive in Quezon City is known to have a certain spook factor, especially at night. It is surrounded by balete trees, the tree favored by evil spirits, and the colonial-era houses found along it are supposedly haunted. Sometime in the 1950s, a young female student was raped and decapitated by a taxi driver who was never caught. Her death was so horrible that her soul supposedly never left the area. Since then, at least three taxi drivers are said to have been found decapitated along Balete Drive. It is believed to be the work of the girl’s spirit. People have reported seeing a white lady standing at the side of the road, usually around three in morning, and, when walking along Balete Drive, suddenly feeling cold and as if they’re being watched. Balete Drive crosses Aurora Boulevard, near St. Luke’s Medical Center, Tomas Morato and the edge of Cubao; but be careful when you are in the neighborhood! People have seen a headless woman appear in their passenger seat when driving down that street.

Baguio has the most haunted spots in the Philippines. Among others, there’s the Philippine Military Academy, the Teacher’s Camp, and the Hyatt Hotel. This could be because the city was once occupied by tribes who were forced out or killed by the American colonizers, or because residents of the city were tortured and killed by the Japanese forces. Go to Philippine Military Academy for the cadet ghosts, go to Hyatt Hotel for a headless priest, and go to Teacher’s Camp for native tribesmen.

Corregidor is a small island where the Spaniards built a lighthouse to help guide the ships around Manila Bay. During the American period, the island became an American outpost to watch for intruders. When the Japanese came, they overpowered and outnumbered the Americans, causing some American soldiers to shoot themselves. Those who didn’t commit suicide were forced to surrender and were tortured by the Japanese before being killed. Today, the island is a tourist attraction with its well-preserved ruins and the remaining American weaponry. At night, there have been stories of apparitions and invisible presences. Although these ghosts claim to be friendly, they are ghosts nonetheless. Sounds of hospital activities are said to be heard from the Corregidor Ruins. Sun Cruises offer day and overnight tours to Corregidor.

Pity the dieter who swears off all fried foods for health-related reasons; not only does she cross out the most delicious constituents of any menu, she excludes herself from the best parts of the Filipino food experience, too. Begone, banana-cue and turon. So long, tapsilog and tosilog. Goodbye, kentekoy and kwek-kwek.

If you're Pinoy, you're likely to start your morning with something fried and continue in like fashion throughout the day. We take comfort in food that's been seared in oil, whether it's a tocino and egg at sunrise or sizzling sisig post-five-thirsty over beer with friends. It's all very natural to any Filipino, at least until heart disease catches up with us.

Frying: a Gift from ChinaYou'd be surprised, then, to learn that frying is a relative latecomer to our tables. Before the Chinese came to the Philippines to trade, the Filipino food repertoire was limited to boiling, roasting, and souring — in short, what we could make with what we had at the time, in that dark time before our Eastern brothers gifted us with the wok and the syanse.

It must have seemed like a gift from the gods, when the medieval equivalent of Wok with Yanpremiered in Filipino trading towns and introduced our pre-colonial forefathers to the glories of sizzling-hot oil. Boiling and roasting take ages to cook properly; it takes comparatively little time to heat oil to the desired temperature before you throw in the food to fry.

Hot oil sears food in a snap, caramelizing sugars and crisping exposed surfaces. And oil adheres to the food, adding oomph to the flavor and mouth feel.

A Stir-Fry to Start Your Day
Rice, for example, experiences a second life in the frying pan, regaining freshness and flavor with salt, garlic, and a few minutes of stir-frying. Yesterday's rice need never go to waste, so long as it can be resurrected as that staple of early mornings, sinangag, the "si" in tapsilog, tosilog, ad nauseam.

We've covered the different "silogs" here in Timpla before (Sensational 'Silog' and Where To Find The Best 'Silog'?); in any case, it's likely you're no stranger to the magic that can be wrought when stir-fried rice teams up with your protein of choice and eggs sunny-side up. It's not fancy — it's irredeemably para sa masa, but do we want our tapsilog any other way?

Simmering Street FoodStreet food benefits greatly from the speed and ease afforded by frying. No Manila street corner would be complete without a fishball vendor standing guard, deep-frying balls of seafood-flavored dough for call center agents and cigarette sellers alike.

If you're lucky, manong fishball's repertoire will include deep-fried duck and quail eggs coated in orange-colored batter. The name of the vendor who invented kwek-kwek and kentekoy's trademark orange batter is lost to history, but our stomachs (and arteries) will never forget his work.

Nor are we likely to forget what happens when you deep-fry saba and sugar — the sugar caramelizes into a shell around the saba, which tenderizes from the heat. Add bamboo skewers and you get banana-cue, that sweet street-food standby.

Fried food has made life easier, and improved the culinary experience overall. The next time you bite into that kentekoy or start your day with tosilog, say a silent word of thanks to the unnamed cook who first put raw food and hot oil together. Frying is something to celebrate… even if your cardiologist thinks otherwise.