Exploring Angono

April is becoming hotter and hotter but that did not stop us from our adventures as unschoolers here in the Philippines. Having over-populated pools and crowded tourist destinations in mind, we came up with Angono, Rizal as our next classroom.

Just in time for lunch, we hit Balaw-balaw Restaurant as our first stop, which is famous for their exotic Filipino cuisine and a gem for Angono's Folk Food and Folk Arts. In fact, a film crew was there to feature their art gallery, explore its rich culture and history, and sample their mouth-watering local dishes. James and Adam ordered Pork Sinigang (Pork and vegetables in tamarind-base soup) with rice and for a more local flavor, we also tried "Ginisang Balaw-balaw with Baboy at Talong" (Sauteed Pork and Eggplant with fermented shrimp paste).

Culinary and visual arts is definitely a perfect combination. James and Adam love both and Balaw-balaw Specialty Restaurant and Art Gallery will definitely make a dent in their adventurous spirits! Their curiosity was fired up by creative displays of masks, dolls, paintings, sculptures, traditional Filipino fixtures and furniture, and have you noticed those huge heads? Yup! Those are paper-mached heads used as costumes for Angono's annual Higantes Festival.

After getting lost and stopping by a typical bakery to get some snacks, we found out that locals in Angono and Binangonan (towns in Rizal Province) are not that familiar with our next stop, Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs Site. This national museum is home to the oldest rock art in the Philippines!

James and Adam, being huge fans of Batman, were thrilled about going through a dark cave (the tunnel), even more excited for it than seeing the writings on the wall! I, on the other hand could not help but reflect on this evidence of history, anthropology, archaeology, science, etc. I did not imagine that James and Adam, who are supposed to be learning their letters and numbers, even writing (if we boxed ourselves in a curriculum), will be able to explore those fields in such a young age and in such a fun way.

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