stilt houses if seen from a satellite would even seem to be houses built on an islet. but these houses are actually built on shallow shores on top of strong pillars forming a village often connected by wooden bridges.
if you are restrained to going to Basilan, Zamboanga's Rio Hondo has a large community of houses built on stilts. it is easily accessible from the city but like most of the village, it is recommended that you have at least a local to be able to commune with the locals.
with the advantage of able to speak Chavacano, we had the chance to tag along one of the locals who we just asked to bring us on a nearby area. but while we were sharing him about our interest on the houses, we ended up reaching the edge of the village of Mariki.
it was a great experience that we had the chance to see some of the locals wearing malongs and colorful head covers. most walkways are already wide and strong unlike the ones that i've seen in Basilan which has long wooden pathways that is less than 12inches. 
walking along these walkways brings back memories of the projec of the Basilan Youth Development Council way back in the 90s where we won overall in the national category as the best project in the Magnolia Youth Achievement Awards. the project supported a long wide and firm walkways to the Samal village in Malamawi including a floating school.
our next stop was Zamboanga City's famous Jimmy's Satti House which is just along Pilar St. can easily be accessed by tricycle or taxi. it serves one of the best satay, a Muslim delicacy. not all might find satay delicious as it is relatively considered a typical street food in the city. there's nothing really different in this satay except for the great mix of the sauce.
but if one wants to try it, they say Jimmy's Satti House serves it best. after we had it with chicken, some liver bbq and puso, i would say it is. in Indonesia, it is considered as a national dish and they have a great variety. something interesting. something i would like to try in the future.
how to get there:you can take any tricycle or taxi from the central city area of Zamboanga. it is just about 15-20mins trip farther than Fort Pilar on the Zamboanga City's East coast.
from Manila, there are daily flights from Manila to Zamboanga with the major domestic airlines. usual flight time is an hour and twenty minutes or less.
location:
island: mainland Mindanaoo
province: Zamboanga Peninsula
GPS location:
6^ 53" 50' N
122^ 5" 20' E
26 comments:
Yey! First comment! Oh well, ang ganda ng top view ng houses, para tlagang nasa land.
The chicken with the sauce, looks yummy! :D
Looked very interesting. Look lik there's a community living there. Living so near the sea, they must have the best and freshest seafood.
I’ve seen this featured before in one of the local tv shows, and it really amaze me on how these people make for living and.
i had chicken satay but it looked different. stilt communities are interesting--i wonder about their plumbing.:p
residents of Malabon should build their houses like this.:p
Hey Dong! Satay is actually common here in the UK as there are loads of Asians here.. I dont like it tho.. I find it too salty.
AND HOW's YOU????
ang interesting tingnan nung food. napapaisip ako kung ano lasa. :)
there is a cute little kitty on image 1,. love it.
i want some sati :)
oh i heard about this satay. they also have it in saudi. never tried to taste it tho. :D
>Tina, i wont be surprised if at some time they will count it as an island.
ill check if there's a food shop in quiapo that sells satay.
>Alicesg, there's a bigger stilt house communities in malaysia. for sure singapore before has some stilt houses.
>Gawwy, usually they do the same thing. some work on a regular job but a large part would be fishing.
>Luna, i agree. a large area of camanava might need this kind.
>Jasper, the variance that youve tasted could be too salty. the one that ive tasted was just right.
>Gillboard, ill try to check where one can try here in manila. for sure there are some in quiapo. they might just not taste as good as the one in zamboanga.
>PhotoCache, oh yes. that kitty.
>Theonoski, subukan natin yung dito. tingin ko meron sa quaipo.
This a sumptuous world. You leave me feeling like I have been there.
benta sakin yang satay! serrved with peanut sauce ba yan?
and finally - a LANDSCAPE oriented photo here. cant help but notice. =)
What do the people living in this stilt community do during a heavy storm? Do they evacuate or hang tight and weather the storm?
na-missed ko tuloy ang sati dahil sa post na ito. my late officemate is from zamboanga city and he was the one who introduced sati to our taste buds.
ah may satay din pala dyan...
We have satay here at Thai restaurants. I really like the shrimp fried rice and peanut sauce that they serve it with.
gusto kong makatikim ng satay. parang napakainteresting syang kainin.
yr satay looks totally different from ours. as for me, i prefer vegetarian satay
Haha oo nga parang island na sya maituturing. Parang Veniz of the philippines =]
everybody can cook chicken, it's the sauce that usually differs on why people keep coming back to a certain place.
great feature on the stilt houses. although the broken wood gives a more genuine feel, it's nice if the community will be able to repair them, to avoid accidents. :D
ang ganda ng kuha sa bubungan...mukhang mahirap kuhanan yun...:)
I went to Zamboanga City once, and we only visited Pasonanca, Hummm, bummer yun, that is why I'd love to return to Zamboanga very very soon!
the foods you sampled look familiar with what muslims here patronized almost everyday but i haven't dared try (as i am partial to chinese foods here but i have tasted their nasi lemak and few other malay-muslim delicacies).
i like the shots of the wooden planks. thanks for the tour dom!
ps : i am hoping you get nomination on this year's PBA, then eventually win the best travel blog award (im betting on yours and chyng's). fan nyo ako e!
Ahhh... so that's satti. Interesting. I really love satay, the best I've had was in Brunei :)
Ito yung gusto ko rin maexperience sa Mindanao, yung makita yung mga tribu na nakasuot ng traditional costumes nila.
that satay looks yummy!
i almost missed this post! im interested with the project you did. Please share. :)
Can i hear you speak Chavacano? please!!!! hahaha
Having a stilt house was one of my childhood dream. I've seen it in a magazine before. Sarap lang na pagdilat ng mata mo, tubig agad nakatambad.
bilib ako sa tapang ng mga taong nakatira diyan. Siguro kabisado na nila ang taas ng tubig kaya ang lakas ng loob nilang magpatayo ng bahay. Naalala ko ang Coron bigla.
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