Category Archives: SPECIAL TOPICS

Salt Making at Pasuquin (Ilocos Norte)

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Boiling rock salt and water in a vat

From Pasuquin Bakery, we next proceeded to a crude salt processing area near the National Highway to observe the long-time tradition of making of rock salt, said to be one of the finest in the country. Salt, besides being a seasoning, is used as a food preservative for meat and fish and, here in the country, in the making of the local bagoong (fish sauce).  It is so important, even in the olden times, that the early Roman soldier’s pay was in salt and that the word “salary” was derived from it. The taste of salt (saltiness) is also one of the basic human tastes.

The finished product

Clean sea water is first pumped into salt beds along the seashore, sun dried there for several hours and, when the various sediments and impurities have settled, the dried salt is transferred to vats in makeshift huts.  Water is poured into the vats and then heated overnight (around 12 hours) by ovens directly underneath the pans, fueled by rice by-products such as dried husks, leaves and stalks.The coarseness diminishes during boiling, leaving pure white salt.  The salt is then sprayed with iodine, packed in 10-kg. sacks and sold at around PhP60 per sack.  On average, 5 sacks of salt are produced in a day. 

 

The Biscocho of Pasuquin (Ilocos Norte)

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Pasuquin Bakery

After breakfast at the Ilocos Norte Hotel and Convention Center, our Lakbay Norte 2 media group proceeded to Pasuquin, a farming (rice, onions, garlic) and fishing town, to observe making of biscocho and salt.  Joining us on the bus was local historian Rene Gluatco and our first stop was the Pasuquin Bakery.  My idea of biscocho is the crunchy and sugar-sweet pastry made from stale leftover bread.  Pasuquin biscocho is different, making use of freshly-baked bread specially made to be toasted. It is also soft and not sweet, being flavored with anise.

The immensely popular biscocho

The couple Sixto and Estefania Salmon, the assistants of the late Timot Josue who was trained in one of the Spanish style panaderias in Manila, were said to have been able to deduce, through careful observation and measurements, both the ingredients and the process of making this biscocho.  After World War II, Sixto, who served as a baker to the American forces temporarily stationed at Victory Road, south of the town proper, established Pasuquin Bakery with his savings. His only child, Esperanza Alvarez, better known as Manang Pansing, currently manages the bakery. Nowadays, the immensely popular, freshly-baked soft biscocho of Pasuquin Bakery is a must buy. It is perfect with cheese, condensed milk or Spanish-style sardines.

Pasuquin Bakery: Brgy. Poblacion 3, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte.  Tel: (077) 775-0198.

Return to Adams (Ilocos Norte)

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I finally made it back to Adams town proper, one of the last to make it.  My other companions were already feasting on a late lunch at a picnic shed by the river, dining, kamayan-style, on aba (a local version of laing minus the coconut milk), kiwet (a Yapayao term for palos or freshwater eel), shrimps, a green salad of lightly blanched young string beans mixed with fresh tomatoes on bagoong and lasuna (sibuyas tagalog), itlog ti abu-os (fire ant eggs), igado (stewed pork entrails), breaded fried frogs (tokak) and red highland rice.   

Lunch: Better late than never

After this delicious lunch, we proceeded to a souvenir shop with walls of inch-thick hardwood planks and a roof of gabut grass.  Here, we did some free wine tasting, sampling tapuey (Kankana-ey rice wine similar to Japanese sake) and tropical wines made from bugnay (wild blackberry), pineapple, cherry, santol, passion fruit, duhat and malubeg, manufactured from 40 local wineries, all backyard operations, within the town.   The list of locally-produced wines could go on as the people of Adams are constantly experimenting on other fruity combinations for their wine industry.

Souvenir and wine store

Totally sated and a bit tipsy, we now returned to our dump truck for the hour-long trip back to the National Highway (and, from there, to Laoag City) with the injured me now conveniently seated beside the driver together along with cramp-afflicted cameraman Roland Fontilla, Jr. and the foot-blistered Sheryl Songsong.  The allergy-afflicted Kenneth del Rosario still rode at the back, now provided with PVC chairs for our riding comfort. 

Locally-made wine

Mayor’s Office:  Municipal Hall, Brgy. Adams Proper, Adams, Ilocos Norte.  Mobile numbers: (0927) 668-1128 & (0921) 286-3470

Arrival in Pagudpud (Ilocos Norte)

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The eco-friendly Kapuluan Vista Resort

We left the coastal town of Claveria, our last Cagayan destination, by 5:30 PM and it was already nighttime when our bus crossed the border into Ilocos Norte and the resort town of Pagudpud.  The weather still wasn’t cooperating with us and it was still raining when we arrived, by 7:30 PM, at Kapuluan Vista Resort where we were welcomed by Mike and Alma Oida, the resort’s gracious Fil-American owners.  Gabby Malvar, Dandi Galvez, Kim Madridejos, Roland “Jun” Fontilla, Frank Dizon and I were assigned to a six-bed dorm. Though not airconditioned, we certainly didn’t need it as the cool sea breeze wafted into the room.

Check out “Resort Review: Kapuluan Vista Resort“

Grilled fish and liempo main course

The gloomy weather was somewhat offset by the warmth and hospitality of our young hosts and their staff and our delicious dinner, served on a banig place mat, which consisted of cilantro soup and garden salad with dressing for starters, a main course of tender grilled fish and liempo (pork belly) with tomato salsa, and buko pandan with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Most of the herbs and vegetables served here are grown and picked daily from the resort’s organic garden.  Breakfast, on the still raining and windy early morning, consisted of a Filipino breakfast of Vigan longanisa with fried egg and garlic fried rice.

Pagudpud – a new surfing haven

While dining, Mike, an avid surfer and fitness buff who can still speak fluent Tagalog, and the Ilocano-speaking Alma (whose roots are in La Union) regaled us with their story of how these newlyweds, who both worked for Ikea, were drawn to the waves and rustic beauty of Pagudpud’s Blue Lagoon six years ago, liking it so much that they resigned from their jobs, packed up all their belongings in the US and decided to settle here. They bought an 8,000 sq. m. undeveloped piece of heaven near the Dos Hermanos rock formation where they built their eco-friendly dream home and resort.

Kapuluan Vista Resort: Sitio Baniaran, Brgy. Balaoi, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.  Tel: (072) 888-2809.  Mobile numbers: (0920) 952-2528 and (0920) 928-5273.  E-mail: kapuluan_vista_resort@yahoo.com.  Website: www.kapuluanvistaresort.com.

Buguey: The "Crab Capital of the North" (Cagayan)

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El Presidente Beach Resort

After breakfast at Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort, we next headed west, to Ilocos Norte, with stopovers at Buguey and Claveria. We arrived at Buguey by 10 AM and were dropped off at the El Presidente Beach Resort where we were welcomed by town officials led by Mayor Licerio Antiporda III and his wife. The skies were overcast and it was very windy.  Before entering the conference hall, we were given a welcome drink of fresh buko juice, still in its shell, plus crab sandwiches.  While waiting for the start of the press conference, some sampled the Lamba Sparkle Berry Delight, a cocktail consisting of a 1/3 cup each of the following: native Buguey lambanog (nipa palm wine), sparkle and red berry juice, plus half a teaspoon of sugar; then garnished with lime and cherry and, finally, all the ingredients are shaken, strained and poured into a cocktail glass.

Lamba Sparkle Berry Delight

In his speech at the presscon, Mayor Antiporda enumerated his efforts to further boost the town’s tourism potential as well as to fortify its claim to being the “Crab Capital of the North.”  He also informed us that the local government-run El Presidente Beach Resort will soon be undergoing a total makeover, thanks to a PhP32 million loan from Land Bank, and will be turned into a U-shaped, bungalow-type hotel with 15 guestrooms and two dorms and will be renamed as the Buguey Crab Hotel.

Crab claws anyone….?

Afterwards, we were all invited to partake of the feast prepared for us: steamed shrimps; brackish water crabs, both steamed and cooked in the half shell; breaded prawns; seaweed, oysters, fresh fruits (mangoes, bananas) and bocayo (coconut candy). Some, foregoing the use of spoons, forks and knives, decided to dine kamayan style. While we were doing so, we were regaled with a bevy of native dances performed by schoolchildren and young adults.

Driftwood by the beach

After dining, some of us slipped out the conference hall to burn the excess calories gained as well as to check out the windswept black sand beach, observe people harvesting shells or children playing and to admire the high, turbulent waves breaking on the shore, a consequence of the converging waters of the South China Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the Cagayan River.  Prior to our leaving for Claveria, everyone in the media group was gifted with a bottle of Buguey lambanog to take home (I was given two).

Dinner by the Sea (Gonzaga, Cagayan)

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The delightful seafood feast

After our pansit batil patong merienda at the Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center at the Provincial Capital Complex in Tuguegarao City, we returned to our CEZA bus for a 138.2-km. (2-hr.) drive to Gonzaga, incidentally the birthplace of current Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile.  Along the National Highway, we passed the pretty, Spanish-era red brick Church of St. Filomene in Alcala and the Church of St. James the Greater and Calvary Hills in Iguig.  It was night time when we reached the town and our destination: Matara Beach in Brgy. San Jose.  Here, we were warmly welcomed by town mayor Carlito F. Pentecostes, Jr., other town officials and townspeople.  As per our original itinerary,our late afternoon merienda was supposed to have been held here, not in Tuguegarao City, but our 4-hr. delay at the airport changed all these plans.As a consequence, the town officials had to improvise for the change of schedule, installing a generator to provide lighting for the tents set up along the beach to house us and the banquet prepared for us.  Still, the dark denied us the opportunity of seeing how beautiful the place really is – its white sand, coral reef, turquoise sea and blue sky.

Our media group with Mayor Pentecostes (in yellow)

Our disappointment was somehow alleviated by the feel of the fine sand beneath our feet, the warmth of the townspeople and the wonderful array of food set before us.  And what a wonderful array it was – steamed shrimps, sweet and sour and barbecued fish and lots of crabs – with many of us, including me, dining kamayan style.  Despite just having eaten a filling merienda in Tuguegarao City less than three hours ago, we simply just couldn’t resist not partaking of the seafood feast before us.  So much for dieting.    However short was our visit to this coastal town, it still warrants another visit. Maybe next time.  

Mayor’s Office: Municipal Hall, National Highway, Gonzaga, Cagayan.  Tel: (078) 856-6502 to 03.

Lakbay Norte 2, Second Leg (Tuguegarao City, Cagayan)

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The Cebu Pacific plane that brought us to Cagayan

I was again invited to join the second leg of the Lakbay Norte 2 media tour, this time to cover the provinces of Cagayan and Ilocos Norte.  We were supposed to depart on our Cebu Pacific-sponsored flight to Tuguegarao City (Cagayan) at the NAIA 3 Terminal by 8:45 AM but rain and poor visibility at Tuguegarao Airport caused a 4-hour delay.  We killed time at the airport by chatting with media colleagues and pigging out on food (we ate two meals there).  We finally left Manila by 1 PM and arrived in Tuguegarao City an hour later.  This would be my second visit to Tuguegarao City, though my first visit was just a short stopover at the airport  on my way to Basco, Batanes.

Our media group with DOT Region II and CNCVB representatives

At the airport, our media group was welcomed by representatives of Department of Tourism Region II and the Cagayan North Convention and Visitors Bureau (CNCVB).    We were picked up by a CEZA (Cagayan Export Zone Authority) bus and brought to the Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center, at the Provincial Capital Compound in Tuguegarao City. Inside our bus, we tried the dumpling-like pawa, a local delicacy made from ground sticky rice with sweetened ground peanut filling, much like the angko we tasted at Camarines Norte. Upon arrival at the museum, we were treated to a merienda of Cagayan food fare. What a merienda it was!

Pancit batil patong

The food fare spread before us include pancit batil patong, rich and sweet hot chocolate, chicharabao (chicharon made with carabao fat), chichacorn and kakanin. The delicious and filling pancit batil patong, a Tuguegarao specialty, was the star of the show.  It was made with miki noodles and sautéed meat (either pork, beef or carabeef) and  served with a sauce of fresh, chopped onions, poached eggs and seasoned with suka (vinegar), toyo (soy sauce) and calamansi (Philippine lemon). The whole assembly was topped by a fried egg.  

Cagayan North Convention and Visitors Bureau (CNCVB):  c/o 2/F, Fragrante Bldg., 1 Aguinaldo cor. Blumentritt Sts., Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.  Mobile number (0917) 578-3524.  E-mail: jaimetabbu@yahoo.com. 

Department of Tourism (DOT) Region II: 29-A Rizal St., Tuguegarao City 3500, Cagayan.  Tel: (078)  844-5364.  Fax: (078) 844-1621 and 844-1736. Regional Director:  Ms. Blessida G. Diwa.  E-mail: dotr02@yahoo.com. Website: www.dotregion2.com.

Pabirik Festival (Paracale, Camarines Norte)

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Pabirik Festival

Paracale was one of three parishes (the others were Daet and Vinzons) celebrating the quadricentennial of their parish’s foundation, an event which I, event organizer Bernard Supetran, blogger Mark Vincent Nunez and mediamen Kara Santos (Sunday Inquirer) and Joselito “Lito” Cinco were to cover.  Our second day in the province was, coincidentally, also the high point of the town’s Pabirik Festival.  We arrived just as the street dancing parade was making its way into the town’s gym for the final judging.  We first dropped by the town’s Spanish-era Church of Our Lady of Candles which was reconstructed between 1888 and 1898 under the direction of Fr. Jose Cardenoso, the last Spanish priest to serve the parish.  After that, we proceeded to the gym to watch the contingents perform.

Church of Our Lady of Candles

The festival showcases the rich mining industry of the town (the pabirik is a tool used in gold mining) which started when a large gold mine was discovered here in 1626. Locals here still pan for gold.  In fact, the town’s name was derived from para cale, meaning “canal digger.” Paracale  is still the center of the jewelry-making industry and, although the art has declined in importance, the town is still regarded as a good place to buy finely-crafted gold jewelry such as the agimon (or alakdan), a flat necklace chain of the 19th century.  The festival  also coincides with the feast of Our Lady of Candles (Nuestra Senora del Candelaria), the town’s patroness and, as such, her statue is borne by most participating contingents in the street dancing competition, together with cardboard or wood replicas of the gold panning trade. Check out my Business Mirror article “Camarines Norte: 400 Years of Keeping the Faith.”

Mayor’s Office: Municipal Hall, Poblacion, Paracale, Camarines Norte.  Tel: (054) 449-1008.

Celebrating Four Centuries of Christianity in Camarines Norte

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Courtesy call on Gov. Edgardo A. Tallado

The year 2011 marks the quadricentennial of the University of Sto. Tomas, the oldest university in Asia. In Camarines Norte, it marks a different milestone – the 400th year foundation anniversary of the three parishes of Daet, Paracale and Vinzons.  Although all these towns were founded by Franciscan missionaries in 1581, it was only in 1611 when permanent parish priests were assigned. Yours truly, together with events organizer Bernard Supetran, travel blogger Mark Vincent Nunez (L.E.N.S.) and mediamen Mr. Joselito “Lito” Cinco and Ms. Kara Santos (Sunday Inquirer), were invited to cover the quadricentennial activities in these towns. All five of us met up at Starbucks in Magallanes Village in Makati City where our transportation and our hosts, Mr. Amable Miranda and Roufel “Raffy” de Vera of the Provincial Tourism Office awaited us.  We left the place by 5:30 PM and the 350-km. long-haul drive took all of 8 hrs., including stopovers for toilet breaks and dinner at a Chowking outlet in Quezon, snatching sleep in between.

Bulawan Museum

We arrived at Bagasbas Lighthouse Resort in Daet, our home during our 3-day stay in Camarines Norte, by 2 AM and were soon checked in and back on the sack.

Check out “Resort Review: Bagasbas Lighthouse Hotel Resort“

Come morning, right after breakfast, we were picked up by Amable and Raffy to visit Bagasbas Park and the First Rizal Monument (unveiled on December 30, 1898) then meet up with Atty. Debbee G. Francisco, the Provincial Tourism Officer designate, at the Provincial Capitol as well as visit the Bulawan Museum with its collection of old photos, portraits of past governors, busts of local heroes, family heirloom pieces, numismatic collection and paintings.

Church of St. Peter the Apostle in Vinzons

From Daet, we moved on to Paracale where we were to attend its Pabirik Festival which showcases the rich mining industry of the town. We next left for Labo where we checked out the Museo de Labo, the Church of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist and a showcase of the town’s handicrafts.  After a few hours rest bit back at the resort, we proceeded to the town of Vinzons where we interviewed Fr. Francisco P. Regala, Jr., the parish priest of the town’s Church of St. Peter the Apostle, the oldest in the province (first built in 1611 by Fr. Juan de Losar and rebuilt at its present site in 1624).  Fr. Regala, narrated in detail, the town’s town’s quadricentennial plans on June 29, the town’s fiesta.  We capped this evening with dinner at the residence of Atty. Francisco where I stuffed myself full with angko, a glutinous, rice-based and thumb-size native delicacy with a filling of sweet, grounded peanuts.  We left right after this as we were scheduled to leave early in the morning for overnight camping at the Calaguas Islands.  That night it started to rain heavily.

Daet Heritage Center

That same heavy rain welcomed us early in the morning and a phone call confirmed our worst fears – the trip to the Calaguas Islands was cancelled.  Regretfully, we switched to Plan B – hiking to Nakali Falls in San Lorenzo Ruiz town, rain or shine.  The physically draining hike took all day. It was raining less the next day and all had lunch with Daet Mayor Tito S. Sarion at Golden Palace Restaurant followed by an ocular tour of the newly-established museum at the Daet Heritage Center (formerly the old municipal hall), a courtesy call to Gov. Edgardo Tallado at the Provincial Capitol and a farewell visit to Atty. Francisco who gifted us with daing, dried dilis (anchovies) and my favorite angko.  Amable and Raffy accompanied us on our return trip to Manila, with a delicious dinner stopover at Lita’s Carinderia along the way.  We made it back by midnight. Check out my Business Mirror article “Camarines Norte: 400 Years of Keeping the Faith.”

Provincial Tourism Office: Provincial Capitol Complex, Daet, Camarines Norte.  Tel: (054) 721-3087.  E-mail: come2camnorte@yahoo.com.

An Evening of Kapampangan Dance and Cuisine (Angeles City, Pampanga)

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The third day of our Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC)/North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB)-sponsored Lakbay Norte 2 media tour did not end with our tiring but rewarding Pinatubo trek and our P.D.C. Spa Town pampering as our media group was invited for dinner at Angeles City in Pampanga, a major provincial destination as almost 3 days of our 6-day tour were to be spent in this history and culture-rich province with its many Spanish and American-era architecture. It was already night time when our special Victory Liner tour bus finally made its way to bustling Angeles City, arriving at its 2-storey Museo Ning Angeles.  As dinner guests of the Kuliat Foundation, we were all warmly welcomed at the entrance by Ms. Herminia Pamintuan, wife of City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan; Ms. Joy Cruz and Ms. Prisca Cantor, special projects head and treasurer, respectively, of the Greater Clark Visitors Bureau (GCVB); and museum curator Ms. Jiji Paras.

An array of Kapampangan dishes

The menu was truly impressive with a choice of vegetable salad,  paella, chorizo pizza (courtesy of Armando’s Pizza, the Kapampangan pizza), kare-kare, batute (stuffed frog), crabs and kakanin for dessert. We were also regaled with a cultural dance performance by a dance troupe.

A night of dance

Our food caravan didn’t end here as we were still invited to late-evening cocktails sponsored by Mr. Abel Villavicencio of Flying V (a Lakbay Norte 2 tour sponsor) plus an acoustic night-out at Island Grill in Clark with Mr. Gabriel “Bing” Sangil and tourism officer Mr. Angel Maniti.  Visibly tired after a full day of hiking, spa treatments and dining, we all thankfully retired to our rooms at the Clark Star Hotel looking forward to the next day.  At this juncture, media colleague Gabby Malvar unceremoniously left the tour as he had to bring his ailing daughter Isabel (she had stomach problems) home to Manila for treatment.  Check out my Business Mirror article “Tripping on History and Culture in Pampanga.”

Museo Ning Angeles: Old Municipio Bldg., Sto. Rosario St., Angeles City, Pampanga.  Tel: (045) 887-4703.  E-mail: angelesmuseo_kfi@yahoo.com.  Website: www.angelesmuseum.com.

Greater Clark Visitors Bureau (GCVB): The Boardroom Business Center Bldg., 7160 Claro M. Recto Highway, Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.  Tel: (045) 499-1146.  E-mail: gcvb08@yahoo.com.