Festivals in Philippines

The noise strikes you first. It's thick, heavy, relentless, a bone-rattling clamour that fills every available inch of airspace. It sounds like the march of a thousand jackbooted skeletons on their way to pay a visit on someone unpleasant, like the dentist or the taxman. Your brain takes it in as an all encompassing roar initially, but gradually the different rhythms and tempos become apparent. Over here an intricate staccato. Over there a dull thud. Right over there a mixture of the two but at twice the speed.

New Orleans is not the only home of Mardi Gras, there are four of them right here in the Philippines, each with their own unique style, culture and origins.

Araquio festival - one of its kind in the Philippines, and maybe in the world as well. It is Nueva Ecija's very own theatrical-cum-religious presentation likened to that of the zarzuelas during the Spaniards regime in the country.

Stop and smell the roses. During the month of May, in the tropical islands of the Philippines (where my roots are), we don't have to stop -- the fragrance of flowers floats in the air.