As Philippine festivals go, the bigger and brighter, the better. That rings true for popular ones like the Sinulog in Cebu, Dinagyang in Iloilo, Ati-Atihan in Kalibo, Pahiyas in Lucban, and Panagbenga in Baguio, just to name a few. Unbeknownst to most, several locations across the archipelago are staging their own little-known festivals that are equally well worth the effort to witness.

A couple of months removed from a travel writing assignment covering the vegetable farms of Cordillera, another opportunity to visit more agricultural destinations came to my inbox from the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Training Institute (ATI). It was to join their first regional bloggers/vloggers event that aimed to promote Organic Agriculture in the CaLaBarZon region (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon).

“There’s only one country I haven’t been to. Nepal. I don’t know why—I just haven’t had the chance,” Don Ado told us after he overheard me asking my friend Karla, “Can you guess how many countries he has traveled to?” It wasn’t a question concocted out of the blue. I sincerely wondered about it after surveying the massive art, historic, religious, and souvenir collection housed safely inside Don Ado’s private ancestral mansion.