Angeles

Angeles City is in Pampanga province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. It is rich in history and heritage, with old and historical significant buildings dotting its landscape. In 1899, it became the seat of the Philippine government under General Emilio Aguinaldo and the site of the first anniversary celebration of Philippine Independence.

Angeles is a thriving city often compared to the Philippine capital and largest city, Manila. The city is a booming nightlife center and tourist destination, the adjoining Clark Freeport Zone is the site of world-class resorts, casinos, duty-free shops and beautifully landscaped golf courses. Its capital, Balibago, is especially known for its bars and nightclubs, thus tagged the entertainment district. The city, and the rest of the Pampanga region, is known as the "Culinary Center of the Philippines."

Angeles is known for being the "Culinary Center of the Philippines." This reputation reportedly goes back to the Spanish colonial times where it is said that the Kapampangan cook learned very quickly to improvise on Spanish dishes using local ingredients.

The culinary adventure in Angeles is sure to be an experience of a lifetime. A must-eat dish is "Sisig", which Angeles is famous for. From its humble beginnings in Aling Lucing's Eatery along Angeles' railroad to its present top-of-the-menu ranking in Manila's bars and nightclubs, sisig has come to conquer the Filipino drinkers' palate. It has become the quintessential pulutan fare — the default order that comes with every round of beer.

Other not-to-be-missed local mouth-watering cuisines are Dencio's kare-kare (another Kapampangan menu, which is a Philippine stew made from peanut sauce with a variety of vegetables, stewed oxtail, beef and occasionally offal or tripe), fresh papaya lumpia, tilapia in tausi sauce, adobong pugo, morcon, tortang bangus (milkfish stuffed with ground pork), Everybody's Cafe's camaru (fried cricket adobo), kilayin baboy (pork meat and lungs pickled in a marinade of vinegar or calamansi juice, usually along with garlic, onions and hot/sweet peppers), bringhe (local Spanish paella), bulanglang (meat or fish broth soured with guava fruit), Aling Luring's batute (a frog stuffed with ground and seasoned pork, then deep fried to a crisp), burong isda (fermented rice with fish or small shrimps), pork and carabao tocino, Bale Dutung's burong talangka (the fat of salted little crabs, very rich and laden with cholesterol but hard to resist), Filipinized pizza in a bilao at Armando's Pizza, brazo de mercedes, halo-halo from Razon's and Corazon's (a popular dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and milk, added with various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served cold in a glass or bowl), Susie's Cuisine's famous pancit luglog (palabok), tibuk tibok (made from carabao's milk and also known as "maja blanca"), tocino del cielo (a richer version of leche flan) and turron de casoy.

If you are a person inclined to drinking beer and eating barbecue, then Frank & Jim, Ikabud, Marisol Steakhouses and the eateries along Angeles railroad crossing are certainly the spots for you. Street foods, such as fishballs and kikiams on sticks, are a must-try at Nepo Compound vendor stands.

If local cuisine is not your type, no need to worry as the city has a wide range of pretty decent restaurants to choose from. Fine restaurants and eateries that serve international menus are C Italian, Maranao Grill-Oasis Hotel, Salvatore's, Zapata's, Rodizio-Holiday Inn, Cottage Kitchen, Red Crab Seafood & Steaks, Shanghai Palace, House of Bamboo, Subdelicious, Rumpa, VFW, Chic 'N Ribs, A la Crème, Rib Eye Steak House, Fortune Seafood, Perfect Loaf, Four Season's Grill, Angeles Fried Chicken, Bretto's, Mar's, Toll House, Hana-mi, Didi's, Peking House, Mister Frosty and a host of other American, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican and Korean restaurants.

A number of coffee shops are also to be seen even in the outskirts of the city, such as Northern Brew, Coffee Overdose, Mequeni Cafe-Holiday Inn, Coffee Outlet, and Beatico, that serve drip regular coffee, decaff, brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, and snacks.

Get in Boracay

The port of entry for Boracay Island is the small town of Caticlan on the mainland. Outrigger boats or "bancas" leave every few minutes from Caticlan's jetty port. The short boat trip to Boracay's jetty port at Cagban cost 20 Pesos. Tourists have to pay a terminal fee of 50 Pesos and an environmental fee of 50 pesos. Tricycles are available at Cagban to bring passengers to their hotels.

By air

The local airport, a short boat ride from Boracay, is Caticlan (IATA: MPH) (ICAO: RPVE), which is served by several airlines, most flying from Manila. The airstrip is very short and only propeller planes can land there. The following airlines serve Caticlan:

South East Asian Airlines (SEAir)
Asian Spirit
Philippine Airlines
Cebu Pacific

For flights between Manila and Caticlan either jet propelled or turborop aeroplanes are used. Flight times range from 35 minutes to 45 minutes. Bear in mind that flights from Manila usually leave from the domestic airport and not the domestic terminal at the international airport. The domestic airport utilizes the same runways but add enough time to your schedule for a 5 minutes to 10 minutes taxi ride if you are connecting from an international flight. You will also have to pick up and re-check your luggage.

Asian Spirit and South East Asian Airlines (SEAir) also fly between Caticlan and Cebu City, and between Caticlan and Angeles/Clark International Airport.

South East Asian Airlines (SEAir) flies a seasonal route between Caticlan and Coron on Busuanga Island in Palwan Province.

Air Philippines starts with daily flights between Manila and Caticlan from 15.12.2007 onwards.

Many airlines advertising flights to Boracay will actually fly you to Kalibo (IATA: KLO) (ICAO: RPVK) (which has a larger airport) which is a minimum 90-minute bus ride away, depending on traffic. It is often recommended among experienced travelers to fly to Caticlan so as to avoid the bus ride, coming and going. Many travel agents won't inform you of this option, however, for whatever reason.

Airlines which fly to Kalibo:

Philippine Airlines
Cebu Pacific
Flights to and from Manila to Kalibo are on jet planes. Flight time is 35 minutes only.

Airline fares vary, generally in the $50 to $100 range for each leg. Keep a lookout for special rates posted at the respective travel office adjoining the domestic terminal in Manila. Luggage over 10kg will probably cost you extra.

Upon arrival to Caticlan airport, you can either take a tricycle to Caticlan port (40 pesos) or a further east port (70 pesos). You might walk to the Caticlan port as it is only 10min away.

There are minivans which serve Kalibo Airport - Caticlan port (vice versa) point to point service. There are 40seater buses which ply from Kalibo to Caticlan port.

By boat

Boats operated by MBRS, and leave Manila's port for Caticlan either once or twice a week, depending on the season.

Also, Negros Navigation operates seasonal trips and anchors a few miles off-shore from Boracay's White Beach.

There is several boats daily operating between Roxas (Mindoro) and Caticlan (4-6h, 330P). First boat leaves around 6AM and last 4PM.

By bus

Philtranco coaches leave regularly throughout the day from Cubao, Manila for Mindanao, passing Caticlan on the Strong Republic Nautical Highway. The journey takes 12 hours.

Flores De Mayo

During the festival in May flowers are offered to the virgin Mary at the altar in the church. Young children, girls, dressed in white, will visit the church with cut flowers and baskets of petals in their hands. While walking to the altar, they sprinkle the petals in honour of Mama Mary. At the altar they leave the bouquet of flowers. Every afternoon.

Nine days of prayer in honour of the Holy Cross, precedes the procession the Santa Cruzan.The procession is always the final part of the festival of Flores de Mayo. The procession is a pageant held in many cities and even in small villages.

It is more a parade than a religious procession. Instead of icons or images, beautiful young women (or gays) with appropriate theatrical costumes, portray biblical and historical characters. Almost all sagalas, the persons in the parade, symbolize queens from the past! Each sagala is dressed beautiful and is looking as the 'real' Reyna (Queen)!

The highlight of the celebration, is the Santa Cruzan, the procession on the last day of the festival in honour of Reyna Helena. In the year 326 A.D. she and her son left Rome and searched for the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. At last they found the Holy Cross and brought it back to Rome, the capital of their empire.