My Trip to the Philippines, Part Three
There's so much to see and do in the Philippines - if you've never been to this part of the world, I encourage you to make the trip!
On the third day of our visit, we drove two hours to the province of Pampanga in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Pampanga is rich in food culture and well known for its wood carving, furniture making, and handicrafts. We stopped at the Alviz Farm in Santa Rita to plant rice and to taste some of the local delicacies. We ate lunch at the historic Lazatin family home in San Fernando. And we toured Betis Crafts Inc. in San Miguel to see some of the handmade furniture and accessories. The afternoon ended with a helicopter ride and an aerial tour of the countryside back to Manila. All our activities were planned by Doris Ho, and business entrepreneur, Ricco Ocampo, and his wife, Tina. They worked hard to fit in so many things for us to see and try - it was a very special day.
Here are more photos from my journey - enjoy.
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- After our long drive, we were given a very colorful and enthusiastic welcome in Pampanga. It was also a national holiday in the Philippines – many, many people came out to greet us.
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- This is Andy Alvis, owner of the Alvis Farm. Andy is also a philanthropist, musician and musical group leader here in Pampanga and is passionate about promoting the traditional music of his home province.
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- This is called a kalesa, a horse-drawn calash used in the Philippines. It was one mode of transportation introduced to the islands in the 18th century by Spanish colonizers. Today, it is seldom used, but I rode it part way down the driveway with Andy leading the way.
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- As we walked through the farm, we were given many different bites to try including these homemade barquillos. Barquillos or “rolled cookies”, sometimes called “crispy biscuit rolls” is a Spanish influenced food that Filipinos embraced and adapted. They are sweet and so crisp.
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- These are pastillas – Pastillas de leche are sweet milk candies that are usually served for dessert. An authentic recipe uses milk from the carabao, or water buffalo.
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- On one side, we saw a long table dressed with traditional banana leaf placemats and baskets made right here in Pampanga.
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- This is paella cooked with quail eggs and shrimp.
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- Here I am having a refreshing glass of halo-halo, a popular Filipino cold dessert which is made with crushed ice, evaporated milk and various ingredients including sweetened beans and coconut.
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- In this area, fresh cooked bibingka – a type of baked rice cake. It is usually eaten for breakfast, especially during the Christmas season. It is traditionally cooked in clay pots.
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- We continued our walk to Andy’s home. You can see the rice paddies through the large porch.
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- Many textiles were on display. I love the colorful patterns of these bed coverings and pillows. Everything is handmade.
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- The embroidery is so detailed in this table runner.
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- Back outside, children played Tinikling – a traditional Philippine folk dance which originated during the Spanish colonial era. The dance involves two people beating, tapping, and sliding bamboo poles on the ground and against each other in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in between the poles in a dance.
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- We stopped and watched a performance by Andy’s theatre group. Andy is well known for using original compositions and modernizing older songs. Andy has also done the choreography for regional productions of several musicals, including Miss Saigon in Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Manila.
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- This performance and song about Pampanga were very lively – the children did a wonderful job.
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- Then it was time to plant rice – something I have always wanted to do. We all walked out into the paddy where Andy showed me how to plant and explained the importance of farming native rice for the local population.
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- I think my section looks quite good – all my rows are straight and perfectly planted. I could have planted so much more. It was very fun.
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- This side is all planted. In the Philippines, the wet-season rice crop in the north lasts from June to November and the dry-season crop is from January to May.
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- Our next stop was the Lazatin ancestral home. The Lazatin House is one of the two heritage houses owned by the Lazatin family in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Here I am with members of the Lazatin family.
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- Most of the home is original. The house was built in 1925 by Serafin Lazatin y Ocampo, president of the San Fernando Electric Light & Power Company and Encarnacion Singian y Torres. During the Second World War, it was appropriated by the Japanese Imperial Army to serve as a residence of its 14th Army Commander, General Masaharu Homma, in San Fernando.
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- This house, which exemplifies the type of Bahay na Bato architecture prevalent during the American colonial period was declared a Heritage House by the National Historical Institute on January 27, 2003. It is still owned by the surviving members of the Lazatin family. Tall ceilings and large handmade wooden doors are all original to the home.
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- This cabinet is filled with eggs the family members collected over the years – all different types of bird and reptile eggs.
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- I stepped into the kitchen to see the food being prepared for lunch. Here I am with some of the talented cooks – Lourdes, Perla, Maj Lazatin Imperial, who took charge of the kitchen for the day’s lunch, and the rest of the kitchen staff.
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- The buffet was filled with delicious traditional dishes. There was more than enough food for everyone.
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- On this platter – rice and adobo chicken.
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- Here is a big Filipino favorite – crabs.
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- And on this table – lots of fresh tropical fruits such as lanzones, mangosteen, mangoes and bananas.
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- This dessert used citrus peels filled with gelatin in bright red, white and orange.
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- On our way out, we passed this small walking bridge with faux bois handrails – I can spot faux bois anywhere.
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- After lunch, we drove to Betis Crafts Inc. where we saw a number of handmade furniture pieces and accessories.
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- Many of the pieces were quite ornate and custom made for palatial homes.
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- This large handmade table was created using a variety of different wood types.
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- In another room, we saw several artisans busy at work.
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- This is rattan being weaved for an armoire door.
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- And here is a worker weaving a basket – all done by hand. The workers use masks to protect them from any dust from the rattan.
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- After our busy day, the weather was nice enough for a special helicopter ride back to Manila. Here I am in the Ayala Aviation Corporation owned 10-seater with a member of the crew.
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- The captain welcomed us aboard the aircraft and flew us over the countryside – the ride was extremely smooth.
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- We saw more rice paddies and lots of lush farming fields.
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- And within 20-minutes we were back in the capital of Manila. What a fun day. Tomorrow, I’ll share photos from our last day in the Philippines when I learned how to make Filipino pandesal, toured a beautiful home garden, and visited the oldest Chinatown in the world. Stay tuned.
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- That night we enjoyed a delicious dinner from the penthouse of real estate developer and CEO of Revolution Precrafted, Robbie Antonio, and his wife Daniela. The views were so amazing from the balcony.
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