Christmas in Angeles City

Downtown Angeles City is a 2 minute walk from Amasya Guesthouse

Local delicacies, street food at Plaza Angel, Angeles City

Lively town square at Angeles City

Christmas spirit in Angeles City, Philippines

Plaza Angel & Holy Rosary Church at Angeles City, Philippines

Holy Rosary Church, Angeles City Philippines

City of Angels, Angeles City

Downtown Angeles City

Christmas lanterns (parol) parade in Angeles City, Philippines

Christmas lanterns (parol) parade in Angeles City, Philippines

Christmas lanterns (parol) parade in Angeles City, Philippines

Where to start your trip in the Philippines!

Start your Philippine trip with us! Experience a more authentic, family friendly side of Angeles City with Amasya Guesthouse!

Great article from Indietraveller.co

http://www.indietraveller.co/destinations/travel-guide/philippines

 http://www.indietraveller.co/destinations/travel-guide/philippines

Flights to & from Clark Airport: November 2014 Update

Updated Walking Map of Downtown Angeles City

Amasya Guesthouse will be closed for vacation from Sept 15- Oct 15. See you again on October 16, 2014! :D

All-inclusive Wakeboarding package for only P1,000.00/ person

photo credit: iwake.com

Try out Wakeboarding in Angeles City! Available daily for only P1,000 per person. Package includes transport to & from hostel, gear, 2hrs wakeboarding & instruction for beginners.

Contact us for inquiries/ reservations!

Amasya Guesthouse: Traveler Hostel in Angeles City, Philippines

저희 Amasya 호스텔에 방문하신걸 환영합니다. 반복되는 지루한 일상을 떠나 엔젤레스에 위치한 아마스야 게스트하우스에서 편함과 현지인의 삶을 체험하세요!

저녁 8시부터 아침 8시까지 에어컨 시설을 가동하며, 깨끗하고 편안한 침대를 제공합니다. 또한, 전 지역에서 와이파이 사용이 가능하며, 차와 커피, 아침도 공짜로 제공됩니다. 이 모든 것을 미리 예약을 하시면 큰 폭의 할인도 됩니다.  

호스텔은 24시간 운영하는 지프니로 15분-20분 거리에 위치하며 다우 버스 터미널에서는 차로 5분 거리에 위치합니다. 호스텔을 떠나 공항으로 가는 차편을 제공합니다.

저희 시설은 시내에 위치하여 여러 역사적 시설물, 박물관, 유명한 음식점, 큰 시장들과 걸어서 2분 거리로 매우 가깝습니다.

리셉션 데스크는 아침 7시부터 저녁 10시까지 운영되며 늦어지는 경우에 미리 연락을 주신다면 이 시간을 넘어서 늦게 도착하시는 분들을 위해 연장됩니다.

저희 호스텔에서 좋은 시간을 보내시길 바랍니다!    

Angeles City Walking Map

Are you stuck in Angeles City for a day or two? Check out our walking map. This takes you through the historical, culinary & market district of town.

Holy Week 2014 Things to do in Angeles City

Recommended colors for Holy Week 2014, Angeles City

Holy Thursday

photo by Knights of the Blessed Sacrament

Maundy Thursday Afternoon: Dakit Cordero
What: Short procession & Last Supper mass at the church
When: April 17, 2014, 4PM (procession); Mass starts at 5:30PM (Wear white)
Venue: Holy Rosary Parish Church patio. Just 2 blocks away from Amasya Guesthouse
Description: Dakit Cordero is celebrated on Holy Thursday. A symbolic "lamb" is brought to the church on a short procession. This is supposed to signify the sacrificial lamb that is Jesus. 
See images from last years event
See more info from View from the Pampang

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photo by savorthebite.blogspot.com

Maundy Thursday Evening: Last Supper Re-enactment
What: Last Supper Re-enactment/ Play
When: April 17, 2014, 7PM
Venue: Arevalo Basketball Court, Lourdes Northwest, Angeles City. This is only a few minutes walk from Amasya Guesthouse.
Description: Passion Play re-enactment of Jesus's last supper.

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Good Friday

photo by Syzmon Kubiak

Good Friday Morning: Grand Assembly of Penitents
What: Grand Assembly of Penitents
When: April 18, 2014, early morning
Venue: Mabalacat City
Description: From Dept of Tourism website...
"...The GRAND ASSEMBLY OF PENITENTS in Mabalacat City (Good Friday early morning). It’s a scene straight out of a Cecil B. DeMille movie: hundreds, maybe thousands, of half-naked flagellants and cross-bearers in flowing red robes, brought together by sin and tradition, converge in the church patio for an orgy of suffering, self-mutilation and penance. The number of penitents makes you wonder if flagellation, like circumcision, is a rite of passage among boys in Pampanga. (It also makes you wonder why Kapampangans, usually vain, would want to lacerate their skin and flesh and disfigure their pampered bodies...."

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photo by KJ Rosales

Good Friday Early Afternoon: Passion & Crucifixion Re-enactment
What: People whipping themselves & getting crucified
When: April 18, 2014, 1pm-3pm
Venue: The event starts at Arevalo Basketball Court & will move along Pampang Rd leading to an open space for the crucifixion. This area is only a few minutes walk from Amasya Guesthouse.
Description: Angeles City religious re-enactment is a worthy alternative to the ceremony in Cutud, San Fernando. Check out Ironwulf blog for a personal account on the previous years events.  In summary, this will be the part where you see flagellants & people getting crucified to atone for their sins.

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photo by KJ Rosales

Good Friday Late Afternoon: Veneration of the Cross
What: Veneration of the Cross
When: April 18, 2014, 3pm (Wear black, with veil for ladies)
Venue: Holy Rosary Parish Church
Description: Mass. Traditional Good Friday Procession follows. Religious ceremony "Burul ning Apu" at Holy Rosary Church until 10pm.

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Black Saturday

Black Saturday Morning & Afternoon: Hike up Mt. Pinatubo
What: Full day trekking through volcanic landscape to the crater of Mt. Pinatubo
When: April 19, 2014, 04:30am- 17:00
Cost: P2,200 per person
Venue: Mt. Pinatubo
Description: Trek through one of the most beautiful trails in the country. The short hike takes you through dramatic scenery & beautiful landscapes.

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Black Saturday Evening: Easter Vigil
What: Religious ceremonies. Baptismal rites. Blessing of fire & water
When: April 19, 2014, 8pm-11pm. (Wear Yellow)
Venue: Holy Rosary Church for mass & Nepo grounds for Salubong ceremony (bring candles)
Description: Mass & Blessing/ Baptism. (From angelescity.com) "...Salubong ceremony is a traditional religious event which portrays the meeting of Christ and His mother, Mary, after the resurrection in an elaborate drama participated in by local residents dressed as angels and different biblical characters..."

7 BEST HOLY WEEK DESTINATIONS IN PAMPANGA 

***ARTICLE COURTESY OF WWW.VISITMYPHILIPPINES.COM***

Next week (April 14 - 20), all roads will surely lead to Cutud, City of San Fernando, and so for a change, why not avoid the madding crowd, take the road less traveled, and discover these little-known Holy Week events in Pampanga:


 


1. The PASYON SERENATA of Brgy. San Basilio in Sta. Rita (Holy Wednesday evening). You’ve heard the pasyon, you’ve heard the serenata, but I’m sure you haven’t heard the pasyon serenata, which is the Holy Week version of this unique Kapampangan fiesta spectacle. It’s a showdown between two brass bands and their respective choirs who try to outperform each other by chanting the pasyon to the tune of classical operas. They play all night long, one page at a time, until they finish the whole book. The sight and sound of betel-chewing barrio folks singing the entire history of salvation in Kapampangan and to the tune of Verdi and Puccini will blow you away. Despite their “guegue” it’s a performance worthy of a concert hall instead of some dusty road in a remote farming village.

2. The GRAND ASSEMBLY OF PENITENTS in Mabalacat City (Good Friday early morning). It’s a scene straight out of a Cecil B. DeMille movie: hundreds, maybe thousands, of half-naked flagellants and cross-bearers in flowing red robes, brought together by sin and tradition, converge in the church patio for an orgy of suffering, self-mutilation and penance. The number of penitents makes you wonder if flagellation, like circumcision, is a rite of passage among boys in Pampanga. (It also makes you wonder why Kapampangans, usually vain, would want to lacerate their skin and flesh and disfigure their pampered bodies.)

3. The CENAKULO (SIETE PALABRAS) of Brgy. Lourdes Northwest (LNW) in Angeles City (Good Friday late morning). The passion play is performed by actors who chase the actor playing Jesus and beat him up with such realism and violence. It is really a re-enactment of the passion and sufferings of Jesus Christ and the actors come from UYAT Artista and organized by LNW barangay council in cooperation with Angeles City Tourism Office. The reenactment ends up in an actual crucifixion. (with contribution from Herminia Pamintuan)

4. The EXTREME PENITENTS (Maundy Thursday and Good Friday). They’re all over Pampanga, but it takes luck to catch them—the cross-bearers who carry electric posts and huge banana trunks (seen in Brgy. San Agustin in Magalang), the women cross-bearers, the transvestite cross-bearers, the cross-bearers who tie a samurai around their waist with the tip pressed against their chin to keep their heads up, and the cross-bearers who are tied together to the same cross so that they can take turns carrying it (seen in Dau). In Brgy. Pampang, Angeles City I saw a cancer-stricken mother carrying a cross while her entire family prayed the rosary and followed her around. And then there are the dreadful “magsalibatbat”, who crawl on the road for miles, rubbing their skin continuously against the concrete until they’re all bruised and covered with dirt. Those who look for actual crucifixions can also try Brgy. Telapayung in Arayat, where they are more private and more heartfelt.

5. The TANGGAL of Guagua (Good Friday). This is the ritual where a life-size statue of Jesus with moveable neck and joints is taken down from the cross and laid down and dressed up to become the Santo Entierro (The Interred Christ). The town’s Velez-Zaragoza clan performs the elaborate ritual with the same care and solemnity as I imagine a family would prepare a departed member for burial. In the past, parish workers closed all church doors and windows and banged metal to simulate the eclipse and the thunderclaps that supposedly accompanied the Crucifixion, and to arouse the same fear and awe experienced by the Jews. Today, we just rely on the rhetoric and theatrics of the Sieta Palabras speakers.

6. The PASO of Bacolor (Good Friday). The entire province quiets down as night falls on Good Friday, when parishes hold hushed processions of their heirloom santos, led by the Santo Entierro and the Mater Dolorosa. They’re all happening simultaneously: the candlelit carrozas of Arayat which transport you back in time, the sweet sound of violins playing Stabat Mater in San Fernando (added attraction: rose petals thrown from the balcony of the Rodriguez Mansion), the pomp, pageantry and piety of Sta. Rita reminiscent of Lino Brocka’s Tinimbang ka Ngunit Kulang, the breathtaking beauty of the Mater Dolorosa of Guagua, and the grandeur of the Santo Entierro of Sasmuan. But if you have to attend only one, make it Bacolor, the colonial capital of the province, whose old families, driven away by the lahars of the 1990s, make a sentimental journey back home to accompany their respective paso (float). Tradition dictates that they wear black, cover their heads with pointed hoods, hold icons of the crucifixion and walk barefoot (probably a legacy from ancestors in Seville, Spain). The antiquity and craftsmanship alone of the santos and their silver-plated carrozas will make your jaw drop.

7. The UNUSUAL BIYERNIS SANTO PROCESSION of Sasmuan (Good Friday)—Unusual because the grim procession of the dead Jesus and His grieving Mother is followed by a grimmer procession of "magdarame" (flagellants and cross-bearers). Sasmuan is the only place I know where this strange mix of the folk and the orthodox is allowed. Parish priests often make an effort to eliminate cultural practices to purify the theology of church rituals. For example, the pasyon mustn’t replace the Bible, the puni mustn’t compete with the visita iglesia, and the penitensya musn’t keep people away from the sacrament of confession. But Kapampangans have stubbornly stuck to their folk traditions, and the archdiocese is now finding ways to compromise.

This is Pampanga, where church piety collides with folk defiance, where the holiest days of the year are celebrated in the unholiest manner, where the charming and solemn rites of the Church coexist with the raw, bloody, but ultimately more exuberant rituals of the common folk.

(Credits: Robby Tantingco's personal reflection, Holy Angel University Center for Kapampangan Studies. Photo by Edmund Low)

Department of Tourism - Region III (Central Luzon)
Paskuhan Village, City of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines
Phone: (63 45) 961-2612 / 5617 / 625-8525
Email: tourismregion3@gmail.com / support@visitmyphilippines.com
Recipient (Best Ecotourism Project): PATA Gold Intl Award 2001, Kalakbay Natl Award 2001, ASEANTA Intl Award 2002
Website: www.visitmyphilippines.com
MORE THAN 16-M ONLINE GUESTS HAVE VISITED THIS SITE SINCE 2007. FIND OUT WHY!

Getting to Pampanga from Manila during Holy Week

Angeles City to Manila bus travel during Holy Week
Please note:
- Dau buses to North Luzon. Buses operating out of Dau terminal will be operational during Holy Week. It is recommended you book your bus ticket in advance. Some companies like Victory Liner accepts reservations.
- Victory Liner will be operational throughout Holy Week. Reservations recommended.
- Philippine Rabbit Bus will not be running on Good Friday. They will be operational on Maundy Thursday, Black Saturday & Easter Sunday.
- Philippine Rabbit starts service to Manila from 4am. Last bus leaves at 5pm.
- Philippine Rabbit starts service to Angeles from 5am. Last bus leaves at 9pm.

Holy Week 2014 in Angeles City, Pampanga

photo by Ugnayan.com

Religious or not, Lenten season in Pampanga offers one of the most "interesting" traditions. Devout Catholics atone for their sins by whipping their backs bloody with bamboo sticks & nailing themselves to wooden crosses. Check out our list of religious events & ceremonies to experience in Angeles City.

Non-stop flights to/from Clark. March 2014 Update

Blood & Gore at Pampanga Holy Week 2014

Blood & Gore at Pampanga Holy Weekend

*Photo courtesy of theknighshift.blogspot.com

Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country. Pampanga has a very interesting way of celebrating Holy Week. People have a literal approach of showing penitence for their sins. What exactly happens? Starting from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday, it is not uncommon to see flagellants whipping their backs bloody. People hold an all day & night vigil chanting all the verses of the Bible. Some people even get themselves nailed to crosses.

   

 

Morning of Good Friday

*Photo courtesy of theknighshift.blogspot.com

Cutud Lenten Rites (Maleldo)
Date: April 18, 2014. Good Friday
Time: Be there before 11am. We recommend leaving guesthouse at around 9:30am. Exact time of crucifixion to be determined.
Venue: Brgy. San Pedro Cutud, City of San Fernando, Pampanga
What to see: Hundreds of flagellants, people getting crucified, huge crowd, extreme heat
Getting there:
1) From Amasya Guesthouse, take the yellow jeepney going to Telebastagan (Php8/ person)
2) From Telebastagan, take a jeepney to San Fernando. Get off at Metropolitan Cathedral (around Php20/ person)
3) Look for the pedicab station by the bridge. Take a pedicab to the drop off point for the event. (around Php40)
4) Enjoy your version of penitence under the extreme tropical sun.

Helpful Links:
1) Philippine Daily Inquirer- account of last years event
2) Department of tourism- 2013 event description
3) See how the world turns- 2013 blogger post
4) Backpacking Philippines- 2013 blogger post

Afternoon of Good Friday

Photo courtesy of Reuters media

Angeles City Lenten Rites

Date: April 18, 2014. Good Friday 

Time: Event starts at around 1pm. Exact time to be determined.

Venue: Lourdes Northwest Village (baranggay). Exact location of event to be determined.
What to see: Lots of flagellants, devotees, people getting crucified, extreme heat
Getting there: Baranggay Lourdes NW is a few minutes walk northwest of Amasya Guesthouse. 
Helpful Links:
 1) Dept of Tourism- event description
2) Angeles City facebook page- 2013 event account

Amasya Guesthouse is located 2 blocks away from Holy Rosary Parish church. We will post updates of the ceremonies & events by the City & the church as they are announced.
Please note: During holy week, you may see men walking around the streets flogging themselves.