Isdaan sa Calauan

Everytime we go home to Pangil, Laguna, we always see this big floating restaurant along the highway in Calauan, Laguna, just between the towns of Bay (pronounced Ba-ee) and Victoria. In fact, we witnessed how it slowly grew while the big concrete statues of the restaurant were being constructed. We wondered then if this will click among patrons. We realized later that their open parking lot seemed to be always full when we pass by it.

We asked ourselves when will be able to eat there. The opportunity came last Saturday, 22 December 2012, on our way to Pangil, Laguna. It was already past 1 pm and so we decided to try it out.

Penitensya 2012: A Holy Week Ritual

Ever since I met my wife, all of my Holy Week vacations are spent in Pangil, Laguna. Aside from the Good Friday procession, one of the highlights would be watching men performing "penitensya" as part of their "panata" or "religious vow" which they promised to keep in exchange for an answered prayer, like healing from sickness of a loved one, passing the board exam, getting the dream job, etc.

What's ironic though is that although my wife wants to stay in Pangil during the Holy Week, she is still afraid of the penitensya (or what the locals call the people performing the ritual), a fear she had when she was still young. She said she isn't afraid of the flagellants (person performing penitensya or self-infliction of wound by whipping), but rather of being hit by blood splatter or because of the odor of fresh blood.

When I was young, I remember seeing these penitensya in Malibay, Pasay. But I doubt that there are still men practicing that ritual there. I guess most of these are now only being practiced in a few parts of the city but mostly in the provinces.

Stopover in Sta. Cruz, Laguna: Asian Traveller's Inn Resto

Everytime we go to Pangil, Laguna for a short break and pass by Laguna's capital, Sta. Cruz at almost lunch or dinner time we usually buy some food to-go or we just dine-in at the Traveller's Inn restaurant. The Inn is located in Barangay Pagsawitan where the public buses usually drop off passengers bound for Sta. Cruz.

The place is a favorite among the locals since the prices are quite reasonable and the place can easily be reached. It serves basically Chinese and Filipino dishes.

The last time we went there was last Maundy Thursday and the place was almost full, aside from those waiting for take-outs. I guess one reason for it being full is people doing the Visita Iglesia drop by to have their lunch.

Visita Iglesia around the Philippines

Whenever we hear the term Visita Iglesia, we normally associate it with visiting a number of churches during the Holy Week, most especially on Maundy Thursdays.

This post refers to churches or shrines which we had visited during our travels. Visita Iglesia literally means church visits. They say that whatever you wish on the first time you visit a church will be granted. I am not sure if this is true but we do go to the church to thank God that we had arrived safely and for Him to protect us during our travels.

The churches are not arranged chronologically but on how the blogger loads them here, he he he. Here goes:

Although this church is near my wife's hometown of Pangil, this is the first time I had visited the place. We were able to visit the place to attend a church wedding. The San Pedro de Alcantara church in Paete, Laguna was built in the 17th century and may be one of the best preserved churches in Laguna.

Kainan sa Paete, Laguna - Capati Kainan

What does one do when one didn't take lunch because he was in a hurry to get to church as the wedding invitation says the ceremony starts at 1PM but in reality is scheduled at 2PM? That's what happened to us last Saturday, we got to the church before 1 PM, realizing later that no wedding was to take place as indicated in the inviation.

the facade of the church