Every May 15, Lucban in the province of Quezon, is celebrating the Pahiyas Festival in honor of St. Isidore the Laborer (the Farmer). As a way of being grateful for a bountiful harvest, the locals are adorning their homes with some agricultural products, handicrafts and colorful "kiping" - decorations made from dehydrated rice flour in different colors. This tradition is being observed since late 1500s (as old as their church).
 |
| in one of the heavily decorated homes - dami luya!!!! |
Going to Lucban from Manila is easy as a breeze with a driver and car around. It took us around 3 hours by land before reaching it.
We left QC by 2:30AM (to avoid heavy traffic) and by 6AM we were already in Lucban. We were quite early as the homes are still closed, the decorations still covered. There are only a few people on the streets yet. The restaurants are still closed, too. We have the whole street for camwhoring. It was also raining so we assumed that there will be no parade for that morning.
We have witnessed some locals adding their final touches to the decorations. I wonder how much is the prize for this kind of effort.
 |
| not so busy street yet |
 |
| adding final touches |
 |
| beginning to be festive |
 |
| still at work |
By 8AM, the streets transformed into a festive mood. The people are beginning to arrive. We on the other hand, left the street to look for breakfast. We found ourselves in their famous fast food - Buddy's and tried the longganisa and pancit hab-hab. I'm not a fan of the pancit hab-hab and even the longganisa, or maybe I'm just so tired, so any food will taste bland.
 |
| the famous longganisa |
 |
| the pancit hab-hab - they say best with vinegar |
 |
| budin or cassava cake, cheap for 45 pesos |
Adjacent to Buddy's is Pavino's Bakery which sells some famous pasalubongs - uraro cookies, tikoy, espasol, etc.
 |
| time for some pasalubong |
 |
| so many goodies |
 |
| i'm not in the mood to taste kiping |
Going back to the street we saw a lot of goodies for sale. The streets are now full of these and people.
 |
| organic honeybee |
 |
| hats, hats, hats |
 |
| I guess his pancit hab-hab is delicious or cheap? |
 |
| fried kiping..yummy as my kids said |
And now for the colorful and heavily decorated homes.
 |
| the agricultural products |
 |
| various kiping decors |
 |
| the harvest |
 |
| fans and kiping |
Since the weather is quite unpredictable, the parade was postponed at 3:00PM. We cannot wait that long so we decided to go back to Manila and it's beginning to be really hot.
Before going home, we passed by the centuries old church. As a lover of heritage homes and old stuffs, I instantly fell in love with this church. They let it stay as it is, no new paintings, etc. I love how rustic it is.
I will definitely return to Lucban, but maybe not during Pahiyas. I want to explore this place more with lesser people.
No comments:
Post a Comment