We’re constantly feeding our social streams with our guilty pleasures: food, retail therapy, getaways, and whatnot. I think there’s nothing wrong with that. Good things deserve to be shared. However, when we talk about our stand on relevant issues and we tell stories that mean more than what merely makes us happy, we bring the act of sharing to a new level. It becomes a movement – a call for awareness.
Take travel, for instance. It’s one thing to list an itinerary that your friends can try, and it’s another to share your realizations on certain issues such as environment and heritage preservation, and the lives of people in a place you just visited. Let me share my experience with FlipTrip’s first ever travel for a cause at Taal Heritage Town with you.
I HAD been to Taal Heritage Town a few years back, and it’s still beautiful now.
The Taal Basilica is dubbed as the largest Catholic church in Asia.
View of the town from the tower of Taal Basilica
What made this last experience refreshing and humbling was seeing the historical sites from the perspective of a local – more so, a kid.
Lyka talked about the history of the churches and other sites — complete with years and context — effortlessly. Amazing!
Here’s an old photo of the Basilica’s interior which I took during our field trip. Lyka warned me that there was actually a funeral mass going on and I shouldn’t take photos until it’s finished because it could result in bad luck. That brief moment is a reminder that travelling requires you to learn and respect local tradition.
Similar to what my professor told us about this church during our field trip, Lyka described the story behind the Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay in detail. It was said that in 1603, a fisherman named Juan Maningkad fished out the statue of the Lady in Pansipit River. The image is believed to be miraculous.
