Paguriran

Ten years ago, I took the banca to Paguriran Island. I was on a swing in Sorsogon, and although I was born and raised here, I realized I never really knew the place. My first stop was this little speck of white along the Bacon coastline. Memories of that first stop lingered long after the actual trip.

Last Wednesday, I revisited an old favorite, this time via roads fringed with greens. The beach is as I remember it to be: pristine, almost secluded, just perfect.

Sorsogon By Night

Sorsogon used to bed down at 7 p.m. The end of the day would usually start at 6, with the tolling of the bells for the Angelus. And then the march toward home would start.

The early bedtime could be because we're all so used to the Marcos-era curfew. Or to the fact that there was practically nowhere to go to after the shops closed. The pier and the park were just about the only after-seven destinations. Even then, they had dark stories that made them virtual no-nos.

Sorsogon is a lot different now. Most of the shops still close at seven. But the bells no longer toll, and there are places that open well into the night. Call it the ushering in of the fast-food era, but Sorsogon is no longer the seven-pm Cinderella. It has, in fact, learned to dance all night. And beyond.

Osiao

Osiao is one of two hamlets that can only be reached by charting (often rough) waters. Populated by around 300 families, this tiny, remote barangay is nevertheless big in possibilities. It is here where tiger grass grows in wild abandon. At harvest time, the grass is woven into brooms, which then find their way to Baguio and are eventually sold as "Baguio" brooms.

In Osiao, one can find Lake Danao, whose emerald waters mirror the surrounding mountains. As one of the hosts of the PNOC, the barangay provides natural energy that powers up the turbines of the National Power Corporation.

Sto. Nino

Nearer to the Province of Albay than to the rest of Sorsogon, Sto. Nino evokes images of remoteness and isolation. There are no roads going there. To get to this remotest of islands, one must board a boat and muster the courage to rough it out with the waves.

The going may be rough, but it's most often worth the bout with seasickness. The waters are a calm shade of bluish green, and the surrounding mountains are a source of strength. On clear days, Mayon Volcano peeks behind the clouds, lending an air of symmetry to an island roughly shaped by the elements.

Laptukay

This is the stuff of memories: laptukay popped on somebody else's forehead. Long before Dora barged into our TV screens, the laptukay made childhood explorations a lot more exciting. Oh how we would comb open fields and cogon-choked gardens! How we would go home at the end of a full day, faces smeared with mud, play clothes trailing with amorseko, arms cradling a precious harvest of laptukay, dulce kurumbot and cadena de amor!

As houses were built on the vacant lots that used to be our playground, fields were leveled and weeds uprooted. Our laptukay days, it seemed, were over.

But give it to the hardy laptukay to survive. While I was weeding the garden, I saw a plant weighed down by the "fruits," its roots crawling through the rocks. Happiness! My daughter will have her share of laptukay wars, after all!

Milo's Sorsogon

In 2005, acclaimed filmmaker/photographer Milo Tolentino visited Sorsogon City for a look-see. Here are some of his shots:


Our Lady of the Annunciation Church, Bacon


Danao Lake, Osiao


Paguriran Island Lagoon, Sawanga


The approach to Paguriran Island, Sawanga

Rompeolas

This is Sorsogon Bay on a lazy, hazy Saturday morning: an inviting, calming shade of blue.