Lead me back to the old town
A walk through Vigan…? Not really… Do you still remember how the houses of your ancestors looks like? I was lucky enough to be born in the ‘80s since I had the opportunity to witness and experienced the beauty of those Old Spanish inspired wooden houses. During the beautiful days of my grandparents, their house acted as my second home but sadly to say, all must undergo change and after they died, a more modern type of house, which we usually see now in our neighborhood, replaced it. Philippine’s old houses are made usually made of bricks or coral foundation combined with wood. You can tell it apart from all other houses because of its sliding windows made of Capiz shells, wooden post and floors. Those styles of houses can be traced way back in the early 1800 and is still visible to some towns here in the Philippines. Last weekend, we made a trip down south of Cebu to experience the life of people in Carcar. It is located about 40 kilometers south of Cebu and about an hour drive from Cebu city. (Traffic delay not included. Lol) To all the places I have been so far here in Cebu, Carcar has the most number of ancestral houses which you can even see along the road. Those houses remind me of my late grandparents who are now both in heaven doing some cross-stitch, gansilyo and stuffs alike. Sadly to say as what I have observed during my trip, some of the ancestral house were already abandoned or already demolished because no one is taking care of them. As much as I wanted to preserve those homes, what I only have is a camera to capture them. The view of those decaying beauty that once were a symbol of Pamilyang Pinoy made me feel sad. A couple of years from now, these new generations of youth, even us will no longer see the once has been culture and legacy that Spaniards left us. A few years from now, what my eyes seen on that town can only be seen in pictures. Nevertheless, the trip down south will always be a treasure I’m going to keep to share to my descendants, like the memories and stories kept inside the four walls of my Lola’s house.
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Maldito is Maldito is the proud owner of the humor blog thegreatmaldito.com. A graduate of Psychology , a used to be adviser, researcher and an in house psychiatrist, but now working as a pinoy with fake American accent. Hailed from the island of the sweetest people in the country, Iloilo, and now finding his own meaning in life in Cebu. He loves to travel, photography, music, dance, read books and create stories and everything nice as long as it is related to art. He strongly believes that pancit canton is the reason why he is still alive.
wow! i love these vintage houses. gustong gusto ko bumili ng digicam noon so i can take pictures of those old houses in manila esp in blumentritt area
that’s why i love those pictures posted by Agnes (Pusang Maganda) on her I heart manila blog. she’s got a lot of those in old manila, sa lahat ata nang kanto nang manila meron sya and they’re really nice. sayang lang nga, walang restoration and preservation saten. buti pa sa Vigan.
Nostalgic..
I remember our ancestral house in Bacolor, Pampanga. 2-storey bahay kastila sa loob ng malaking lote na pinag aawayan ng magkakapatid. Ayun, nilamon ng lahar. bwahahahahhaa
har har har!!! nakakasayang tong spanish heritage naten, nangawala talaga, it’s so beautiful pa naman sana to restore them kakairita they don’t seem to appreciate ang mga nakikita naten, papalitan nang mga american architecture na puro kwadrado hahaha
Susmiyo, American residential architecture sucks! Mas eleganteng tignan mga bahay kastila sa atin. BUT yun nga lang pinabyaan. Bakit lahat ng maganda sa atin pinapabayaan?
well, yan na ba yong colonial mentality drama na mali saten? hahaha
Sandali lang, bakit looks family tong bayan na to? Waaaaa! Sa amin to ah!!!! Huhuhuhu. I am a proud Carcaranon. I believe one of the oldest houses in the country is in Carcar, my town..my birthplace.. Huhu. Na iyak ako upon seeing these pictures. It is very nostalgic. I remember all these houses. Waaa.
Manoy, ba’t walang chicharon dineh?
ikaw nga na-alala ko with this entry hahaha i knew tiga-Carcar ka! i wished nakarating ako dyan. i’ve been as far as Dumanhug, friend ko kasi yong isang Garcia dyan pero di ako nakarating sa Carcar
ngeks, dumaan ka nga sa amin. yung parang may roundabout yung first picture nasa gitna yan ng roundabout.. dadaanan mo yan. graveh ha, may friend ka pala in high places. Sinong Garcia yan?
junakees nung brother ni pabs hehehe sanpitz ni wilson hahaha i know controversial sila sa manila pero we don’t allow politics to rule our prenship hehehe
PRICELESS ARCHITECTURE!
naku may mga old homes din sa Sariaya na hindi na minemaintain. Buti na lang may Tourism effort sa amin na nag-prepreserve ng mga lumang bahay sa Saiaya. I wrote about here:
http://chocolateword.net/2009/05/tuklas-sariaya/
salamat sa inspirasyon. makapag-post din pala ng mga lumang bahay ng Sariaya dito at sa blog ko. Thanks!
Nakita ko mga iyon Ms. Mahalia. Iyong malapit sa munisipyo. Lagi ko iyon tinitingnan pag nasa sariaya ako. Sabi ginawa na daw museum iyon ng mga may ari. Even iyong malapit sa plaza de shalom na isang bahay na halos mga poste ng lang ang natira, hindi na ginalaw which according sa napag tanungan ko binomba daw iyon ng mga hapon. Madami talagang old house sa Sariaya. Maging iyong simbahan sa harap ng munisipyo, spanish time pa daw iyon itinayo.
Love love love these pictures! Alam ninyo ba na may magagandang pictures din ang Old Philippines – sa Facebook! Grabe, di ko alam kung saan niya pinagha-ha-harbat ang mga photos but ang gagaling talaga..
Imagine…. 1920s, 1900s, 1970s… at kahit mga ifugao at mga Espanol pa.. meron din…
Pero tama ka La Kapitana.. sana i-preserve. Dito sa Philadelphia, ang daming preserved homes… may mga mark pa ng historic place kaya kailangan ng approval ng city/state bago mag renovate ang mga may-ari…
May napanuod ako minsan sa tv, may isang architect binibili nya iyong mga napabayaang old houses, tapos he will restore it back to its original design with interview sa may ari how it originally looks at itinatayo nya sa isang malawak nyang lupain. Sama sama duon sa lugar na iyon lahat ng nabili nyang old houses which parang park na sya with all those restored old houses.
naalala ko tuloy ang bahay ng lolo ko.. ganyan na ganyan din sa mga picture..
Isipin niyo na lang kung gaano tau ka swerte . Naexperience natin ang buhay oldies na makikita lang ng mga bata ngaun sa pic or mapapanuod lang nila sa movie.
maglaba gamit palo palo sa ilog, mag laro ng tumbang preso, syato, sa daan. Makita ang marikina nung hindi pa siya nabansagang syudad, makakita ng old school na nanay na naka bestida at nagsisiga ng tuyong damo
hehehe
Good Old days
When I was in college, and fieldtrip kami sa Cavite, one of the places that we visited was Bahay na Bato insside Dela Salle campus sa Cavite, I was really amazed sa mga nakita ko. Nakita ko kung gano kaprecious ang mga bahay na bato. Kapag talagang mayaman ang may-ari, kahit mga lamps nila eh gawa sa crystal at yung ibang accent ng mga pandisplay nila sa bahay ay may totoong diamonds, gold and silver… kaya pinagbawalan kaming humawak sa mga gamit dun dahil baka masira. At ang mga furniture nila ay gawa lahat sa mamahaling kahoy.
Aside from that, meaningful ang structure ng bahay. kunwari may meaning yung first step ng hagdan, yung upuan sa baba ng hagdan, yung positions ng mga upuan kung bakit ganun, yung bintana… basta halos lahat may main purpose at meaning…
ei question lang poh saan po ba makikita ang meaning ng lumang bahay na bato sa vigan