Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon

I am a native of Quezon but it is my first time to see the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon last May 15, 2011.

It is really wonderful and amazing to see those dazzling houses beautifully adorned with colorful rice wafers (kiping), handicrafts,  fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmer's harvest. Adorning their homes are the farmer's way of thanking their patron saint San Isidro Labrador (St. Isidore) and also to ensure that they will have a bountiful harvest ahead.

adorned house

We also have the chance to taste their famous pancit hab-hab . Its a sauteed noodles with pork meat, pork liver and shrimp and some vegetables. What makes this dish unique is the way it is eaten. It is placed on a banana leaf and eaten straight in your mouth without using any utensils.Pansit hab-hab is drizzled with vinegar to enhance its taste.

The streets are crowded with local and foreign tourist and are all delighted to see and take pictures of the adorned homes.

carabao pulling the karosa

The parade started at 3pm and the farmer's best friend, the carabao (water buffalo) also have its share of fame by pulling the karosa, the artistic float used in the parade. The karosa are also colorfully adorned and features the farmers harvest.

Revived!

Its funny how God uses people to wake you up in an indolent  situation. Some times he uses crazy events to tug you, to pull you, to take you away from you idleness

Last year, I became a member and a dealer of 1 company carrying vitamins and beauty products and excitedly talk to my office mates, friends & family about it, but very few people buy the product. I have been idle for sometime with my dealership because i have this feeling that i am really not a seller. I cannot convince the people of the beauty , authencity & heath benefits of the product.

But last week, Alas! One of my male officemate has been invited by his cousin in the product briefing.and after some thought also become a dealer because he have high hopes of the product, its benefits & the money that he will get from the sales.

He sells many that day and it really shakes me off from my sleep. I suddenly realize that maybe the product is not the problem, its my way of selling & my approach to my customer.

I now have somebody to compete with the product sales but i am revive because of that incident, i am now more energize, more active and more enthusiastic in selling my product.

A day in prison

When i'm still a kid, i am afraid of prisoners because my assumptions is that they are bad people. But it all changes when i visited the Iwahig prison in Palawan & BJMP- Naga.

Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm - Unlike ordinary prisons, it have no walls and almost no barrier. Low security prisoners are free to roam around the place. Vocational activities were provided for the prisoners and they were given the choice from paramedical work, fishing, carpentry, farming or forestry. There are also souvenir shop inside the iwahig prison colony where the items handcrafted by the prisoners are being sold. Some prisoners outside the souvenir shop also sells handcrafted item that they did at a reasonable price.The prisoners are also very warm & accommodating, we had a chance to chit-chat with them and take some photos with them.

Bureau of Jail Management Prison-Naga - Like other prison houses, the BJMP-Naga have security check before we can enter inside, they also check the things that we brought for the prisoners .Unlike Iwahig, the prisoners here are inside the cell but when our group visited, they are already gathered in the hall, waiting for us. We had a chance to talk with them, play games & sing with them. They also performed for us, sing a song & dance for us. The prisoners also sing an original song composed by their own jail warden. 

wake boarding @ CWC (Camsur watersports Complex)

     When we went to Camsur, we have a chance to go to CWC & try wake boarding. I feel thrilled & happy while still waiting for our turn but as it comes nearer, my heart is beating fast & feel a little afraid and asking myself why? Why i am doing this to my self. LOL.
       The reason why i asked that question to myself  is because I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM, LOL! all i know is some floating but i cannot stay afloat for long.All i have is with me is guts, but that guts is slowly depleting every minute. Gosh!
       Like any other first timers, we had our orientation on how to wake board. The personnel in-charge told us that the water is 7 feet deep & if anything happened while the cable is dragging you or you want to have a rest, all you have to do is release your hands from the handle and go to the shore (sounds very easy) . There are lifeguards in the area that will surely get you out of the water if you can't manage to swim to the shore.
       When the cable pulled me into the water , my heart begins to beat fast (i had a feeling that i cannot finish this alive). After saying a prayer & self assurance that everything will be okay, my heartbeat becomes normal again and i  began to enjoy the feeling.

Self flagellation during Holiweek in Infanta, Quezon

     My friend told me that I'm a "kaladkarin" - her term for people that you can easily ask even for a short notice to join you if you wanted to go somewhere especially if its out of town.

     Whenever there is a Holiday, I normally spend it in other places, specially in the place that I never been before. But this Holy week, I opted to spend the rest of the week in my parents house in Infanta, Quezon.

     Holy week is special for devotees in Infanta because this is the time where they can be united in the suffering of Jesus.

Early morning during good Friday, we wake up early to see the penitensya (penitence). To see the self flagellating people who wore skirt made of banana leaves & hood made of cogon grass.

self flagellation

    They have their panghampas ( an instrument used in scourging)  made of wooden pegs. At first, they will hit their naked back using the panghampas and then when its already numb, a person assigned to do small cuts using small blade will start to put small cuts in the flagellants back so that the blood can easily flow. These men do this because of panata (devotion)

    The Penitensya will start in the church where they will pray first and then start their journey and walk barefooted  towards the beach while stroking their swollen & blooded back with wooden pegs. It also end up in the chapel near the beach where some of the devotees will pray  with them.

    After the prayer, they will go to the sea to wash themselves and then go on to their normal & ordinary lives gain.

 You cannot tell who they are except when you see their back because at all times during the self sacrificing flagellation, their faces & identities are hidden inside the cogon grass hat.

 


 In the afternoon of Friday, the people are gathered in the church to hear the 7 last words of Jesus & a mass. The images of  Jesus, Mother Mary & Saints are decorated with flowers & put on top of wooden poles for the procession.

During procession, devotees follow the image of their patron saints for the street way of the cross.

Those images are carried by people, mostly men to their shoulders.

       You can also see children wearing costumes. They are like angels wearing whites & have feather-like wings.

Most of this children wore this because they are "alay"(offer). Some of them got sick when they are still very young & their parents promised to the Lord that if they get well, they will dedicated thier child to God.