Pahiyas Festival

my friend told me that Pahiyas Festival at Lucban Quezon is coming up on weekend. at sympre, ayaw ko tong palagpasin. c’mon! its summer. its a season of getting tan (i mean, not at the beach literally), spending money and out of town trips.

i excitedly invited my friends to join, but after few days, only two of us are excited to come. it was 4am when i sneak out of my house - with mom’s bless of course. 5am when the bus departed and 5:15am i was already half-sleep. (nakauwi kasi ako ng haus 12am na from team building with officemates) it was all along a smooth travel but when we reached alabang/muntinlupa…there, traffic sucks!. dahil sa sunog.

supposedly it was just 3-4 hours of travel from Manila to Lucena but we actually spent 6hours. it was noon when we finally reach Lucena and boarded a jeep goin’ to Lucban. we arrived at the miraculous station of KAMAY NI HESUS shrine shortly after 30mins. picture picture while heading up to the hill where giant Jesus Christ statue standing like gladly welcoming each tourist.

“Kamay ni Hesus Healing Church is a serene place for a spiritual journey where Catholic pilgrims experience a peaceful and tranquil environment while praying and meditating. It is now an ideal destination for pilgrims and tourists not only during Holy Week but throughout the year” http://www.backpackingphilippines.com/2005/09/kamay-ni-hesus-healing-lucban-quezon.html

after the sweats of goin up and taking pictures of each station of the cross, we headed down to go town proper of Lucban. but wait, tour will not be complete if we dont have buntal hats. well actually, you will see a lot of tourists even locals wearing these hats. parang hindi ka ata “in” if you dont wear one. and its really effective to fight extreme sunlight. hassle kasi kapag umbrella.

as usual traffic, papasok ng town proper. sobrang dami ng tourists.when you reached the town, its really obvious the lively ambiance of vendors, tourists and of course the highlight of all - decorated houses. eto ang dinadayo dito. picture picture. its really amazing to see these houses using handicrafts and veggies as decorations. kamatis, talong, sili, bigas, coconut, luya, kalabasa, labanos. almost all farm veggies were here. so colorful that really attracts tourists. this is actually a contest between those houses. with a prize of 50,000…sino ba naman ang hindi pabobonggahin ang kanilang bahay? tour wouldn’t be complete kung hindi ka kakain ng specialty nilang pancit habhab. 10 lang na pancit na nakalagay sa dahon ng saging without any utensils. the way to eat it??…habhab. or in any way you can. hahaha.

parade started almost 3pm. there you can see a santacruzan wearing original and unique filipiniana costume. parada ng mga kalabaw at iba’t-ibang karosa na gawa sa mga gulay. its really creative and it actually made you think kung ilang buwan nilang inipon ang mga gulay na toh para lang ipang decorate.

pasalubong list will composed of the best Lucban longanisa, the best dried Pancit Habhab for cooking, and almost all the delicacies from Quezon and other towns in the country like broas, uraro, piyaya, pastillas, mazapan, espasol, achara, coco vinegar, etc.

all in all, the Pahiyas festival is a colorful way to spend your summer. kung hindi lang sa traffic and too long hours of travel, it could be a joyous get-away for me.

may 10

its MAY 10, 2010. a date that could change every Filipino's life.

7:00am, ginigising na ko ng kuya ko para pumunta sa eskwelahan at bumoto. pero ako mas pinili kong matulog at sulitin ang araw na late magising. habang ang iba nagkakagulo na sa iba't-ibang problemang nagsulputan sa bagong paraan ng pagboto, ako tulo laway pa at tulog na tulog.

gumising ako kung san feel ko ng bumoto. habang ang kuya ko nakapila na sa presintong dapat kong pagbotohan. (bait ng kuya ko, ipinila ako..hehe) TV agad ang una kong binuksan pagmulat ng mata ko. gusto ko maging updated sa mga nangyayari sa buong kapuluan. baka may people's power na at kudeta, hindi ko pa alam.

bukod sa palagiang problemang naeencounter ng sangkatauhan tuwing eleksyon at pagkatopak ng ilang PCOS machine, wala namang ibang kaguluhang ineexpect kong naganap.chillax pa kong nagluto at naligo bago tumawag ang kuya kong ngtyatyagang ipila ako...malapit na daw ako kaya bilisan ko. kandakumahog akong tumakbo at lumakad (walking distance lang kasi ang iskul samin) at tagaktak ang pawis ko ng maabutan ko ang kuya ko sa pila. limang tao nalang at ako na.

kailangan bang magdasal habang bumoboto?..at kailangan bang tagalan. ganun din ang suma nun. hindi na dapat pang patagalin ang pagkulay ng bilog na itlog na parang nageexam ka lang sa NSAT. pagkatapos ng 3minuto, nagampanan ko na ang tungkulin ko bilang isang huwarang PIlipino. eto na ang pinaka highlight ng lahat. ang paginsert ng aking ballot sa PCOS machine. wala bang picture taking?? ooppppsss.paper jam! waaaaa walanghiya...tatamaan pa ata ako ng malas. isang try pa...hmmm...nagkagulo ang BEI sa kaartehan ng ballot paper ko. pa suspense pa. PAPER JAM!..help!...may isang nagmagandang pinindot ang CLEARED. whew! finally...akala ko, sakin pa sisisihin ng 300 pang taong naghihintay ng pagkakataong ito. buti nalang hindi ako malas. kaso, nagtanim ata ng sama ng loob sakin ung taga lagay ng indelible ink. paglabas ko mula sa mainit na kwarto, mukhang pinitpit ng paddle ang pointing finger ko. parang dumaan ng hazing at initiation. whew!..ateeeee anong ginawa mo?!..wala akong balak mag flying voter noh?!!

MORAL LESSON: magdasal bago bumoto.

ilang oras pa ang hinintay ko sa polling precint dahil ngvolunteer akong bantayan ang number ng kuya ko na halos 100 pa ang kailangan pa naming hintayin. iba't-ibang reklamo, ibat'-ibang karanasan, iba't-ibang tao at itsura...isama mo pa ang iba't-ibang amoy. whew whew! kakaibang experience talaga.

maraming mga tiwala sa pulitiko ang unti-unti ng nasisira.
maraming problema at hassle na mararanasan sa paraan ng pagboto, pero in the end, makikita mo pa rin sa bawat Pilipino ang hangaring at kagustuhang buhayin ang pag-asa nila para sa Pilipinas sa paraan ng pagexercise ng kanilang karapatang bumoto. totoong walang pakialam ang ilan kung sino ang manalo o matalo, pero marami pa rin ang handang ipaglaban ang kanilang karapatan. para sa sarili, sa pamilya at sa buong sambayanang Pilipino.

VOTE!..its your right!

fun climb

May 01,2010
Mt.Gulugod-Baboy
Anilao, Mabini Batangas


its was past 1:00pm when i arrived at JAM terminal jampacked with trekking bag and 3liters of water, sweating all over and a bugging conscience coz i was so late. damn! traffic. feeling ko, i caused delay. well, hindi feeling lang. un na talaga. ganun pala ang feeling kapag nalalate haha.

anyways, well, me plus 10 others boarded at the bus at 1:30pm and arrived at Diversion, Batangas almost 6:00pm. damn traffic again!. we rented a jeep sa kabila -kabilaang pangungulit ng mga dispatner na muntik ko ng ikairita and arrived at jump point of Mt.Gulugod-Baboy almost past 7:00pm. OMG, so madilim.

after prayer, we ready ourselves sa malapit sa kamatayang paglalakad. packed with foods, water and a fighting spirit, we headed up to the mountain. sobrang steep ng daanan and delikado if you're not careful enough to watch your step. buti nalang we have flashlights and headlamps. lots of pahinga time and prayers na lang ang ginawa namin especially most of us was first timer for this type of activity.by the time we arrived at the campsite, 2 hininga na lang at isang patak ng pawis, mamamatay na ko. but it was really fun. the place is breath-taking and really a nice spot for star gazing. after we pitch the four tents, we busied ourselves preparing our dinner. yey!, finally...its kainan time. sobrang dami ng food, but we were so worried to ate much coz, there were no comfort rooms, except a shovel and some dark place sa tabi tabi.

FYI: shovel can be a life saving weapon. this is must have when you trek and spend your night/day at the mountain. this is used by mountain climbers whenever they feel to "poo poo" hehehe.

the night was so cold. sobrang lakas ng hangin and sobrang foggy. after we ate adobo and sinigang and a few card games, we were already snoring. whew! and planning to wake up early morning to meet sunrise. kaso, sa sobrang foggy, anino na lang ni sunrise ang nakita namin. after the breakfast and few picture takings at the summit, we ready ourselves na bumaba to go to next itinenary - island hopping!. sweats were dripping when we finally reached the main road kahit na nag stop over pa kami sa gitna just to ate halo-halo.

island hopping is really a fun way to go. hindi ko na nga naisip na nagtrek pala kami ng 2 hours to reach the summit of Gulugod-baboy. parang kelan lang na puro dasal na ang nabibigkas namin to give us energy and to keep us going, but now..were here...in a white sand beach. i still dont know if this is a part of Mabini, Batangas and i didnt even bother to asked the locals. basta its really a nice place to sat and swam and picked seashells and sympre...picture takings...oh!, and eat by the way!..mawawala ba un?

iisa ang nasa isip namin...ang wag ng bumalik sa Manila para mag work. hehe, but of course, it will just remain pangarap lang. ang 4 hours sa sea ay isang malaking kabitinan para samin, but we have no choice but to board again at the rented banca and headed back to Manila.

whew! this is really a memorable day for both of us. surely, there's more to come.