Pahiyas Festival

Lucban, Quezon

Majayjay-Liliw-Nagcarlan, Laguna

May 15, 2010. Food-nature-road trip with my favorite travel mates to one of the most colorful festivals in the Philippines--Pahiyas Festival. It was my 3rd Pahiyas already but the colorful kipings and the vibe in Lucban just make me want to come back again and again. Also, the trip to the lovely churches in Liliw and Majayjay was simply awesome.

Our Itinerary:

PAHIYAS Festival
Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

04:30am – Assembly at McDO Edsa Central (near Teleperformance Bldg)
05:00am – Departure to Lucban, Quezon;
09:00am – ETA Lucban, Quezon; Free time to roam around the festival
12:00pm — Lunch; Free time
02:30pm — Depart for Liliw and Nagcarlan
03:30pm — Sidetrip: Liliw and Nagcarlan for sandal shopping and visit at the church and underground cemetery
05:30pm — Depart for Manila, dinner stopover on the way home
10:00pm — ETA Manila

Foodtrip Pilipinas: Best Tastes of Binondo

Binondo, also known as the oldest Chinatown in the world, was established in 1594 as a settlement for the Chinese migrants arriving and trading in Manila. Although dominated by Filipino-Chinese merchants nowadays, Binondo become a cultural melting pot for many other migrants, like Muslims and Spaniards, which makes it an interesting cultural place to visit... and to sample food. 

Dong Bei dumplings

Frog legs 

Tea egg 
Lord Stow’s egg tart

Sugarcane juice

Fried siopao

Liver steak

Raspberry

Iced brewed coffee

Kiampong rice

Peeking through the Manila Metropolitan Theater

Whenever I pass by Lawton area in Manila, I can’t help but imagine some crazy-scary scenes inside the Manila Metropolitan Theater. I would visualize lovely women dolled up to catch a gala show. The long lines of vintage cars passing in front its intricately-designed façade. The red curtain and the red carpet. All glamorous. But, when the reality dawns on me that I’m looking at a severely dilapidated infrastructure, my mind would easily shift to scary thoughts. Now, there would be ghosts hovering the entire place. And the lights would dim.

Just last Sunday, June 20, along with about 130 participants, I had the chance to enter this famous art deco building designed by the Filipino architect Juan M. de Guzman Arellano. The free tour was organized by the Filipinas Stamp Collectors' Club. We seized the place not for ghost hunting but to just explore and somehow get a glimpse of this long forgotten landmark.