Beautiful Masbate. Beautiful Masbateñas

The long Metro Manila holiday due to the APEC Summit found me, once again, in beautiful Masbate.

the second Masbate signature (the big one is at the Capitol Building). This one is at the Safe House at Himomoro Boulevard, Masbate City. Interestingly, the famous Buntod Reef (towards the left) is the backdrop of this I Love Masbate signage.

Seven (7) photographer-friends from FUNtastic Philippines Fun Group joined me on a roadtrip starting from Manila at 4am. Estimated departure of the roll-on-roll-off (roro) boat from the pio Duran port in Ligao, Albay was 1 am the next day.

We settled at the hilltop campsite of the cattle ranch of a friend, the president of Rodeo Masbateño, Inc. After pitching our tents, two beautiful Masbateñas arrived for our scheduled photo-shoot at the Sese Brahmans Ranch in Mandaon.

A cowgirl-model on horseback beside one of the tents in our camp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friends gamely posed as extras for our model whom we shot atop the wagon attached to the tractor used in the ranch

The next day, we drove up  Mayong Payong, a scenic mountaintop in the town of Mobo, in time for the sunrise. The scenery reminds one of Tagaytay. Another beautiful Masbateña was there, prearranged by a friend, for a photoshoot of this mountain park.

Mayong Payong has native huts that rent out for P200 per night.

 

We got there to catch the sunrise. All we got was a few seconds and fog enveloped the mountaintop,

 

At Mayong Payong, one can see the view of the city center, the distant Mayon Volcano, and the famous Buntod Reef which looks like a really tiny speck of sand when viewed from Mayong Payong

From Mayong Payong, Buntod Reef looks like only 3 people can stand on the tiny island

From Mayong Payong, we rode a boat at a wharf at Rendezvous Hotel for Buntod Reef and Marine Sanctuary, probably the most beautiful and the most photographed spot in Masbate, Our featured model was Masbate’s Miss Tourism.

On our third and last day shooting Masbate, we went to the Provincial Capitol Building as our location, On its grounds we also shot with the now-famous huge “Province of Masbate” sign.

Masbate is the Rodeo Capital of the Philippines

 

Location: the stairs at the Capitol Building

 

Cowboys and the cowgirl 

 

After lunch, we trooped to Villa Bayot, the oldest, well-preserved mansion in Masbate City. For this location, our models wore period Filipiniana.

I have been to Masbate many times and have featured other significant tourist spots: the beaches at Palani, the Bugui Point Lighthouse in Aroroy, the old lighthouse in the island of Jintotolo, the towns and churches in the second largest Masbate island of Ticao, and the games at the Masbate Rodeo – – – for the past 3 years.  But never have I thought of juxtaposing the beauty of Masbate Province with the beauty of the Masbate ladies.

Masbate is beautiful. And so are the Masbateñas. And, in fact, my friends and I are one in saying that we return to Masbate because of its wonderful people.