Blanco Museum

A part of our Rizal Tour is to visit Art Museums.  Blanco Family Museum is a collection of paintings by the whole family of Jose "Pitok" Blanco.  Pitok, together with his wife, Loreto "Loring" Blanco and their seven children, their paintings represent the Filipino culture and tradition in a style called realism.

The Logo

Bunggan

The fish is a carp and "Bunggan" is how the locals call an upside down fish.  This was originally a pun, given by friends of their great grandfather, Juan.  A short, stout and bald fisherman who loves to rest on his small boat showing his tummy.  And would look like a dead fish.

Small boat

The Museum Collection

Peter Paul P. Blanco.  The youngest son took his brush when he was 11 months old.  At the age of seven, his first child painting was exhibited at Nikko Manila Garden.

Painted at 11 months old

Painted at 10 years old

"Yakan of Basilan", Oil pastel on wood at 10 years old

Gay P. Blanco.  The youngest among the two girls started her drawing career at the age of 3.

Jan P. Blanco.  Birds are his favorite subject.  Born in 1972.

Joy P. Blanco.  The fourth child and the eldest daughter.  Good at evoking the entire cultural environment in which people live.

Michael P. Blanco.  His genre is characterized by highly relational figures of men, women and children who are continually engaged in a lively interaction.  In 2004, he showcased his first solo painting exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines entitled "Ivatans, People of the North".

"Traders of Itbayat Island, Batanes"

Noel P. Blanco.  Has loved the water in all its moods and it is in water that he found his prime elements as an artist.

Glen P. Blanco.  Loves to paint nature scenes and landscapes.

Loreto "Loring" P. Blanco.  Her mother and child subjects tell us about human warmth.

Jose "Pitok" V. Blanco.  The master, the teacher, and a father.  His art fuses on tradition and the present, the old and the new, bringing the ancient and enduring folk into the context of the living present.

"Angono Fiesta", took 2 years to finish.

Other Paintings and Collections:

It was fun to see stuff made from nothing to an extraordinary art.  By the time we left the museum, we were still amazed by such a talented family.  The pictures I've shared here is not enough.  First hand experience is still the best.  Below is their contact information:

Blanco Family Museum
Address:  312 A. Ibañez. St. Bgy. San Vicente, Angono, Rizal, Philippines
Tel. No:  (02) 651-0048 and (02) 651-3230
Cell No:  (63) 926-673-0805
E-mail:  blancomuseum@yahoo.com


Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Angono Municipal Hall and Park

Angono, known as the Art Capital of the Philippines.  The hometown of two National Artists, Carlos "Botong" Francisco for arts and Lucio San Pedro for music.  The town with the most number of artist almost everywhere.

This wasn't part of our Rizal Tour plan.  We just had an extra time to take pictures with the Higantes because the van that will take us to Thunderbird will arrive at 11:00AM.  And it was just around 9:30 in the morning.

Higantes Festival, also known as the Feast of St. Clement (San Clemente) is celebrated every 23rd of November.

Art Capital of the Philippines

Higantes with Raina and Raz

How to get there:


By Private vehicle:
From EDSA, take the Ortigas Ave. Ext. road.  Pass by KayTikling and SM Taytay.  The town after Taytay is Angono.

By Public transportation:
From EDSA - Crossing, take any PUV (Public Utility Vehicle) that are bound to Angono.  Jeepneys and FX are available.  Ask the driver to drop you off at the town proper.


Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.


You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Blanco Museum
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Church in the sky (Christ the King Parish)

To take advantage of April 9's Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) holiday, we went on with our Rizal Tour.  Our first stop is Christ the King Parish, also known as Church in the Sky.  Located at Dela Cuesta Hills, Barangay Muzon, Taytay, Rizal.

The main door.

Christ the King Parish

Christ the King Parish is the first parish created under the Diocese of Antipolo.  The feast is celebrated every 3rd Sunday of November.  The current Parish Priest is Rev. Fr. Dave Vincent F. Onilongo, which started last September 2009.

Unfortunately, it was Monday when we visited the church.  The office and the church itself is closed.  We didn't get to see the interior.  We were lucky though that it is nested on top of a hill.  We get to see the whole town of Taytay and Angono up to Laguna Lake.

Contented with the view

Overlooking view

Parish Service Schedule:


     MASS  
     Monday to Saturday      6:30 AM
     Wednesday to Friday    6:00 PM (Old Christ the King Chapel)
     Saturday (Anticipated)   6:00 PM
     Sunday                          6:00 AM, 9:00 AM
                                          5:00 PM, 7:00 PM

     Funeral Mass              Make an arrangement at the Parish Office two (2) days before interment.

     Baptism
     Sunday                         11:00 AM
     Weekday                      By appointment.

     Blessings                      Make an arrangement at the Parish Office.

     Wedding                       Make an arrangement at the Parish Office at least one (1) month before the wedding date.

     Confession
     Wednesday & Friday   7:00 AM

     Sick Call                     Anytime, depends on the Priests availability.


Parish Office Hours:
     Tuesday to Saturday       8:00 AM - 12:00 noon
                                           2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

     Sunday                           8:00 AM - 12:00 noon

     Closed on Mondays.

Telephone No:  (02) 470-0410



How to get there:


By Private vehicle:
From EDSA, take the Ortigas Ave. Ext. road going to Taytay or Angono.  Your landmark is the Muzon Elementary School.  Across the school is a small street which has a sign like in the photo below.  That street will take you up to Christ the King Parish.

By Public transportation:
From EDSA, we took a jeepney that will pass by KayTikling.  Fare is P20 per person.  Then another jeepney ride that will pass by Hi-way for P8.50.  Ask the driver to drop you off at Muzon Elementary School.  Across the school is a street and a small market which has a tricycle terminal on the side.  You should be able to see the sign like in the photo below.  Tricycle fare to the church is P35 per trip.

Christ the King Parish Church

Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

You might also like:

• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Blanco Museum
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Rizal Tour (Day 1)

Day 1:

After researching and planning for weeks, we finally pushed through with our Rizal Tour.  Our meeting place is at Melvin, Crossing at 6AM.  From there, we took a jeepney ride to KayTikling (P20).  At KayTikling, we decided to eat breakfast at a local fast food restaurant and bought some essentials at a nearby drug store.  After breakfast, we crossed the street and looked for a jeepney that will pass hi-way.  We asked the driver to drop us off at Christ the King Parish in Muzon.  (Along the hi-way, you should be able to see the old Christ the King church).  Tricycles going to the church in the sky is at the street before the old church.  It has a sign like in the photo below.  Fare is P35 per trip.  You may ask the driver to wait for you since there are no other public transportation at the church.

Christ the King Parish

From the hi-way, we took another jeepney ride to Scrapyard (P8.50).  This place is where the street to Thunderbird Resort is located.  But unfortunately, someone told us that the service van for guests is at the town proper.  So we took a tricycle to Angono town for P10 each.

While waiting for the 11AM schedule of pick-up, we decided to pass by Angono Municipal Hall and Blanco Museum.  My friends and I just can't resist to take pictures with the Higantes.  Angono, aside from being the Art capital of the Philippines, it is also known for their Higantes Festival celebrated every third week of November.

Higantes with Raina and Raz

We went straight to Blanco Museum after cam whoring at the park.  Blanco Museum is just two blocks away from the Municipal Hall.  Entrance fee for adults is P70 and P50 for kids.

A family of artist

We were amazed of all the paintings made by the whole Blanco family.  Specially the huge painting that took Pitok Blanco two years to finish.

The town fiesta

At exactly 11AM, the van for Thunderbird Resort guests arrive.  Please remember that it will wait for 3-5 minutes only.  The van will leave whether it is full or not.  You will have to wait for the next schedule of pick-up if you've been left behind.  The van is a free service transportation for hotel and casino guests.

At the Fiesta Casino, we hired a tricycle to take us to Angono Petroglyphs (P30 per trip).  Angono Petroglyphs is one of the oldest work of art in the Philippines.  Human and animal figures are engraved on rock walls dating back to 3000 B.C.

Angono Petroglyphs 

It was past 1PM when we decided to take our lunch at Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant.  Famous for serving exotic dishes and Minaluto.  Aside from their specialty restaurant, they also have an art gallery on their Mezzanine and 2nd floor.

Balaw Balaw Restaurant

After feasting ourselves with food and art, we were hurrying ourselves to get to Daranak and Batlag Falls before dark.  We took the Morong-Tanay bound jeepneys around 2:30PM (P35).  We asked the driver to drop us at the tricycle terminal bound to Daranak Falls.  We took the special trip for P150 since it was already past 4PM.  Don't forget to ask the tricycle driver to pick you up at your preferred time.

Most of the people are on their way out when we arrive.  The officer-in-charge told us that they will close at 5PM and they won't accept visitors anymore.

We can't risk going back to Angono without nothing so we told them that we are having an ocular inspection  only of Daranak and Batlag.  We didn't pay the P25 entrance fee of Daranak.  But when we reached Batlag, we were told that we have to pay the entrance fee of P50 even for an ocular inspection, so we paid.

Daranak (left) and Batlag Falls

It was really dark when we left the falls.  From Tanay, we stopped at Scrapyard Restaurant for dinner at around 9PM.  We were suppose to go overlooking the city before going to sleep.  But then we thought that we need to rest for another adventure the next day.

For the complete story, click on the links.

• Church in the sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Blanco Museum
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Church
• Mystical Cave

Click on Day 2 of our Rizal Tour.

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Rizal: Not the Filipino Hero

Yes, I'm talking about a province in the Philippines, although it is named after the country's national hero, Jose P. Rizal.  A part of CALABARZON (CAvite, LAguna, BAtangas, Rizal, and QueZON).

Rizal Map

After my Antipolo trip two weeks ago, my travel buddies and I thought of other tourist spots in Rizal.  So we asked our friend, Google and Raina (lives in Angono and Taytay).  And here's what we come up with:

1. Church in the Sky
2. Blanco Museum
3. Angono Petroglyphs
4. Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant and Art Gallery
5. Nemiranda's Art Gallery
6. Mystical Cave
7. Doña Aurora Street Murals
8. Daranak Falls
9. Batlag Falls
10. Antipolo Church
11. Hinulugang Taktak
12. Via Dolorosa
13. Avilon Zoo

Our goal is to visit as many places as we can for two (2) days.  Have you been to the places listed above?  Are there any other tourist spots you know near the area?  Feel free to share.

Map courtesy of Island Properties.




Read about our Rizal Tour:

Day 1 (with Angono Municipal Hall and Park)

Day 2


If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)