Bangera Inn

Bangera's facade.

Finding a place to stay in Puerto Galera is not easy for a first-timer (technically, a second-timer, on her first time to choose accommodations). Most spots are downright cheesy-- that Twilight Zone spot between purely rustic, "native" accommodations, and some more modern and "forward" places.

Such "horror hotels" serve chop suey, look like Goldilocks icing, afford TVs but not toilet bowls seats, and poor ventilation. That's what happens when Filipinos do a scuttle towards what they perceive to be "classy" accommodations, sacrificing the simple essentials. Many a breakfast have I spent staring at my "continental breakfast"-- often a relatively sweet mayo sandwich on white bread, with 3-in-1 coffee on the side. Hey! Give me fruit, give me local pot-simmered coffee, give me calamansi juice, give my boyfriend (the meat eater) smoked fish or something. Costs the same (or less), tastes better.

I don't know what they serve at Bangera Inn, but this unassuming, surprising spot away from the White Beach chaos is the perfect place to have some peace while enjoying the inner island walks that Puerto Galera offers.


The staircase, with low steps and ample natural night.

There are colonial elements all over the inn, with a lot of old wood, wrought iron, and sampaguita glass. Machuca tiles, cement fashioned to look like old plaster-- all the cozy elements that make you remember your lola and hot cacao.


The lobby, with simple wooden furniture.

The rooms are spacious, clean, and inexpensive-- I believe we spent 1500 pesos a night between 6 people (including an extra double mattress and breakfast). There are some cheesy elements, such as the bedsheets (your standard China cotton prints), but the proportions of the room were just right. Bad stuff is negligible.


Spacious rooms with cheesy bedsheets.


The bedroom floors are Vigan clay tiles, a nice touch.
The bathrooms, though using SM-type faux-clay tiles and similarly-styled bath curtains, are very clean, with hot water. The toilets are of good quality and new (that is worth mentioning, as we skipped several places due to deplorable toilet situations). I can rock bad bathrooms, but not when they're overpriced.


Clean bathrooms are an instant win on islands.

A big plus to Bangera is its roof deck, a charming windy area from which you can view the whole island. It's nice to climb up at dawn and see the people beginning to stir and move around. (There is also an empty lot across which could easily house a small edible garden). The staff is also fantastic. They will look after you even if you are the type to stumble in after a blur of a night:



Bangera Inn
White Beach (Behind Dreamwaves Resort)
Puerto Galera, Mindoro
Mobile (+63926) 706 4051
Manila Number (+632) 822 1192
bangerainn@yahoo.com

Junk Food, Spotted

Bangus(milkfish)-flavored fried flour.

Never-heard-of "junk food" of the extremely affordable variety (1 to 5 pesos) litter the country's streets (and forests).


Strawberry-flavored fried flour.

A Boat With An Eye

No taking chances on luck: two rosaries and an eye.

An eye is painted on the plastic enclosing the helmsman of a Puerto Galera ferry. Eyes on boats are a common symbol for guidance and protection-- originating, perhaps, from a nautical application of the Mediterranean evil eye. It was traditionally painted on maritime vessels (usually the prow) to "bend" a negative gaze back to the sender. These days, the eye can be seen on boats in many countries, from Vietnam to Mexico to Malta.


Hopefully reassuring instead of distracting.

Puerto Galera Folk Typography

Hot sunny days at Puerto Galera.











Special mention: Nito-weave style "no parking" sign.

Public Shower, Mindoro

The zone in which kids shower publicly.

Pakaskas, Palm Sugar Snacks

Palm leaves make for labor-intensive but free, beautiful, and 100% biodegradable packaging.

The woman said it was pakaskas, a snack made in nearby Isla Verde, the center of the center of global ocean biodiversity, the marine equivalent of the Amazon basin (she didn't tell me that, but wow!) with buri palm sugar .

I was fiending for some rice cakes to eat on the bus home and drawn to the pretty packaging, so I snapped a bunch up. I later discovered that every level held a layer of raw sugar and nothing more. Luckily, it was good enough to eat on its own.


She sells sweetness by the seashore.

If you're from the Philippines, you probably own a buri hat, mat, box or whatnot, as the palm tree (Corypha elata) produces an ultra-versatile weaving fiber. We really should use it more often for less tourist-type applications, but that's another story.

You've probably eaten buri sugar a few times also. However, I'm betting you've done so unknowingly. A lot of it is sold as panocha (or panutsa), which is the general word for the solidified half-orbs of raw sugar. The sweet juice from this large tree must be boiled for about a quarter of a day, set aside, and then poured into molds (usually hard coconut shells). In this case, they were small casitas of palm leaves.


I even took some to Germany for others to try!

Until quite recently, I thought that palm sugar (aside from coco sugar, which has the advantage of scale and extreme export attractiveness) had gone extinct in the Philippines. I was wrong, but it's no doubt highly endangered due to the garangutan sugarcane industry, which I assumed produced all the panocha in the country.

We need to re-diversify our local sources of sweetness, which have dwindled continuously since the Spanish sugarcane assault of the 1800s. Let's resurrect the various palm sugars, honey, root syrups, etc. Life would be so much more interesting (and biodiversity would be in a bit better position) if we utilized them and enjoyed their nuances.

Palo Sebo

I love these islands because climbing greasy poles is done with much laughter and gusto.


Taken during Pinamalayan town fiesta week in Mindoro.

Ampaw or Puffed Rice

Did you know that ampaw is actually made by frying sun-dried bahaw (leftover rice)? This Filipino version of rice crispies is extremely addicting. Fortunately for calorie-counters, the process of making it is quite cumbersome:

Put aside your leftover rice after every meal and sun-dry as soon as possible. Make sure there is not a bit of moisture left, or else you will end up with colorful mold cultures. Anyway, do this everyday until you have a good amount. You then cook it in very hot oil with sugar until it puffs up, then drain. Don't add too much sugar, as it may become goopy like American rice crispies.

The ampaw pictured above was made with roughly polished Mindoro red rice. I ate copious amounts of it. I can imagine a great flavorful one made of black or purple rice! Another thing to try. Mmmm hmm...

Burong Mustasa

I recently stayed with Kuya Jon, a farmer in Mindoro whose wife and daughter prepare simple but spectacular fare everyday. They use the vegetables they grow around their house. Since Kuya is partly Capampangan (his dad moved to Mindoro to escape the army), and he does not own a refrigerator, pickled or fermented things make sense.

I am still dreaming about their burong mustasa. Fermenting mustard leaves takes away their bitterness, and produces a lot of good enzymes for the stomach. The organic greens are harvested, chopped, and blanched for a short while, and left with some salt and water.



It makes an excellent companion to all the vegetable dishes we had there. Most especially to this eggplant and kangkong simmered in coconut milk (with some roughly polished rice harvested from behind his house).

Ritwal

I was hanging out on a farmer's porch in the fringes of Calapan, Mindoro. There was good and raucous conversation. Two ladies arrived and likewise hung out. The older was carrying a severed branch of a large tree that makes people itchy, apparently.

Combover Farmer (who would only talk to me with his back against me when I arrived, as he just woke up, and his bald spot was all exposed) got up and started rummaging around the lot. He came back with a small pile of ash in the middle of a large, flat leaf. He dipped his thumb in the ash and drew crosses all over one of the ladies. I later learned that her child was sick and needed some good vibrations from the village elder.

All over the planet-- whether it's through a sandalwood dot between the eyebrows, or an ash cross on the forehead-- this powerful acknowledgment and transfer of energy is part of what makes us human. Simple symbols (whose meanings or use have not been diluted) make us and tell us who we are.