Pahiyas Festival

What does this got to do with wed preps? Absolutely nothing! But I'll share it anyway. =)

It's Joven's birthday on the 18th and I want to do something out of the ordinary. Since we both love traveling and discovering things... I treated him to a Pahiyas festival experience. =)

I don't remember where the Pahiyas-festival-as-a-summer-getaway idea came from. Next thing I knew, I was organizing it for my two sets of friends -- my officemates and my French classmates/friends. So yesterday, we went to one of the most popular fiestas in the Philippines. =)

A little after 4am, Joven and I dragged ourselves to the meeting place. We need to get to Shell Select near MRT-Buendia before 5am. We got there on time and waited for the vans to arrive. There were 20 of us meeting there. We will be picking up two more couples at Southwoods exit and Shell in SLEX. The group was composed of Joven & I, Dulce & Eric, Yax & Jon, Irish & Francis, Michelle T. & Archie, Jera & Bianco, Ara, Adjie, Dhang, Zeny, Bon, Christophe, Dax, Marc, Lu, Michelle I., Cely, and Weng.

We arrived at Lucban, before 9am. Since the streets of Lucban are small, we were asked to park our vehicles and ride the tricycle to get to the town proper. After a short trike ride, we reached the street where the morning procession and parades will be held. The houses were beautiful! Nothing beats Pinoy creativity. We were supposed to head for the church but after seeing the houses, the 10-minute trip took more than an hour. =)

Joven was busy taking pictures of the houses while I was busy posing in front of them. =) We also ate the famous, pancit habhab. With sukang maanghang, the best! While we were devouring the pancit habhab, the morning procession which included the sacristans, nuns, priests, devout, San Isidro Labrador, and musiko passed by us. We followed the procession to the church.

Inside the church, after saying our prayers and resumed being tourists… meaning taking pictures. Bon, who separated from the group earlier, brought us to her uncle for a nature break. Her relatives were very accommodating, they even gave us suman, juice and yema for merienda! Busog!

Arriving back to the church, we were greeted by hungry people (oops!) who wanted to eat brunch. Fortunately, on our way to Bon’s uncle, we saw a number of restos and eatery. At Café San Luis, we saw what we were looking for… tables that can accommodate 24 people!

After a hearty brunch, the group decided to head to Majayjay, which was 7 km away, to see their majestic falls (according to the tourism map provided to Bianco). We haggled with the tricycle drivers to get the possible lowest cost in getting there. After agreeing with the costs, we boarded the tricycles. Only four people fit in one, so we went with Jon & Yax. Since they did the trike back ride on the way to Lucban, Joven and I decided that we will return the favor. The driver said that the ride will be about an hour, but we said it was ok. After 5 minutes away from the town, I realized that that would be the longest back ride of my life! Not only literally but because the driver was driving so fast, my hands were turning white! We kept on telling the driver “Manong, buhay ho ah!” To our surprise, after about 30 minutes… the trike was engulfed with smoke! Overheat! Joven and I jumped off our seats while Jon and Yax went out of the trike. We were in the middle of nowhere! Jeez! Fortunately, one of the four trike drivers we hired passed us by and told us he will come back for us. Yey!

We finally arrived at Majayjay! Woohoo! We paid an entrance of P20 and were led by Ara going to the falls. It was a long trek! I think it was at least a kilometer far. It was kindda scary because in the middle of the trek, we saw a man being carried by people because of his bleeding foot. During the trek, we saw droplets of blood everywhere… sheesh! Anyway, after seems like forever… we finally got to the falls! It would have been great if there weren’t too many people around. Also, we weren’t dressed for the occasion since the trip there wasn’t part of the plan. I just took a feel of the water, Joven took pictures, we looked around and decided to head on back. The rest of the group lingered on (some decided to take the plunge… even with clothes on!). Together with Michelle I. and Cely, we trekked back to the waiting area. In the middle of the trip, we stopped because Michelle and Cely wanted to see how cold the water was. =) At the waiting area, Zeny popped out of nowhere and told us that she followed us because she also decided not to take a dip. We sat on the pavement, ate chicharon and drank C2 while waiting for the others. We headed back to Lucban on board an overcrowded jeepney. Good thing we made reservations or else, we might end up sitting on top of the jeep’s roof.

When we got back to Lucban, we headed to Bon’s tita for merienda. Hehe! Thanks Bon! On our way to their house, we chanced upon a parade of gowns & barongs made from native materials. Galing! After eating and freshening up, we bought pasalubongs… espasol, raw pancit habhab, and longganisang Lucban (one of my favorites!).

Time to go home… We walked the streets of Lucban, took final pics and rode the tricycle back to the parking lot. We touched down at MRT-Buendia a little after 10pm.

Although I was two hours late for work today (because I was sore all over!), I had a blast yesterday! =D (of course, minus Yax’s lost phone and Bon’s minor(?) injuries =( I hope Bon recovers swiftly and Yax gets a new one plus her old number & contacts back…)

As for Joven’s Pahiyas experience? He enjoyed it! =D