Maine Travels: Pahiyas Festival 2015
Hey, everyone! Before I start writing about yesterday’s festival, can I just say how exciting this is? I am in front of a computer, about to share my life out in the open again after almost four years of not being active on Tumblr (aka since the time I started working. lol) Well, here I go.. enjoy!
Lucban, Quezon Province is a four to five-hour drive from Manila. That’s why before I left for the trip, I made sure my battery was on full and I have a book with me. Work has been very stressful and exhausting and showbiz lately so before I get crazy, I filed for a leave and since I have a very limited time, I decided to visit my boyfriend in their province and join the festival with him.
The Pahiyas Festival is being celebrated every 15th of May in honor of their patron saint of farmers, Saint Isidore/San Isidro. During the festival, you will see most of the houses are decorated with fruits, veggies, agricultural products and handmade stuff. And of course, it won’t be Pahiyas if they don’t have what they call the Kiping. It is a fan/leaf like decoration that are brightly colored but are actually made out of rice that people can eat by either frying or grilling after the festival.
I was very fascinated by all the colors I saw. I mean, who wouldn’t? That’s not all -as you swarm through the people who went to see the festival, there are a lot of stalls selling handmade stuff for souvenir including Lambanog! Lambanog is like wine but is made out of coconut that’s of 80-90% proof and come in different flavors.
When we were done strolling and watching the parade, we went straight to see the San Isidro Church and God, was it historical and beautiful.
After visiting the church, Gel and I started to realize how hungry and tired we were so we looked for a stall that sells Pansit Habhab -it is a noodle dish that has sauteed meat and veggies but there’s a twist: you don’t eat it using utensils. Pansit Habhab is served over a piece of banana leaf then you take it, put some vinegar on it and you shove it directly to your mouth. I couldn’t explain how cool and weird that was but it tasted so good!
Aside from Pansit Habhab, Lucban also has the infamous Lucban Longganisa. It is like sausage and is spiced with lots of garlic and pepper. They are being hung in bundles of twelve and sold in the streets and you can either fry or grill them.
As the sun was about to set, we decided to leave Lucban and head back to Lucena (where Gel’s family resides) so we could rest. We were not even talking during our ride back home -that’s how tired we were!
It was one hot, sweaty and tiring trip but all in all, I loved the experience. It felt good being a stranger to a new place -to wander around and curiously try something different. My soul is a very adventurous soul and today, I made my soul very very happy.
‘til our next adventure!
xx sharmainealyanna