The Pahiyas Festival 2009

The annual colourful Lucban's Pahiyas Festival is a Roman Catholic festivities which is held in honor of Saint Isidore Labrador, the patron saint of the peasants, farmers and laborers every May 15 in Lucban, Quezon. It is in benediction for a plenitudinous harvest.

I woke up at around 8:00 in the morning, When fatigue finally got the better of me, I went to bed and closed my eyes last night or was it earlier After some stretching, I remembered the roar of rain last night. It was long and continous but not torrential, and in no time at all I was soaked.and shaking .... Eventually, the rain ceased in time for us to see the grinning Mr,.Orange Ball aka Sun, And God must have had heard the prayers of all Lucbanin to provide a sunny weather.

As soon as I stepped out from the entrance door of Patio Rizal, I was awed by the magnificent colourful designs of kipings. Kipings are synonymous to Pahiyas as Pahiyas Festival wouldn't be complete without the kipings. Kiping is a rice flour concoction that is formed into leaves and multicolored and edible. These are laboriously prepared during the harvest festival, the Pahiyas, in Lucban, Quezon and is used to decorate the houses.

The preparation and making of kiping is time-consuming and involves many steps. It startss with the selection of fresh leaves as molds. The kinds of leaves include kabal,kape, talisay or indian or bengal almond (umbrella tree), kakaw (cocoa), antipolo and musa saba, a banana cultivar native from the Philippines..

One of the first houses which caught my attention is the house of the Palines family. They also live in Makati City. The design was spectacular and I thought at first that this will win the first prize but I was wrong. You can see and marvel at the creativity and resourcefulness of the Lucbanins. They were marvellous!!!

There was even a higante or giant farmer design. A house was even giving suman or sticky rice wrapped on a banana leaf while there was a free sampling of pancit habhab on another street courtesy of Mayor. Oh my goodness, this is my very first time to taste and eat pancit habhab in LUcban and Pahiyas Festival time. It's umami as one has to squeeze a kalamansi. Another intriguing to my palate is that the Lucbanins are also recommending to place vinegar. Never tried it as I am accustomed to kalamansi.

In another street, I met one of the judges of the most beautiful designs and she is none other than one of my female idols- Risa H0ntiveros. She recognized me immediately as we met previously in some rallies and in Edsa 2.

Ana Theresia 'Risa' Hontiveros-Baraquel, often referred to simply as Risa Hontiveros. She is a Filipino activist, journalist, and politician who is serving her second term as the party-list representative of the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party to the Philippines' House of Representatives since 2004. Having served as a journalist for ten years before venturing into politics, she is a recipient of the Kapisanan ng Mga Broadkaster ng Pilipinas' Golden Dove Award for Best Female Newscaster. She is really remarkable and down to earth too. I admire her really for her elegance and her advocacies.

We greeted, made beso-beso and said whatta small world and had some photo ops. Isn't she pretty in her Lucban hat?

Later on, I passed by a house cum gallery and what did I know? It's the house of one of Lucban's pride- Annie Salvatus- the artist and mom of Mark Salvatus. I was one of the lucky persons who were admitted to see the private gallery upstairs. I just saw Ms. Annie Salvatus entertaining some of her relatives. The paintings were a mix of surrealist and abstract designs. There was even a tiangge at the town plaza wherein there were graphic tshirts on sale with her design. Since she is an artist, of course, her designs are pricier but more beautiful. Too bad, my choice of a black tshirt with pahiyas graphics are not available anymore as its saleable. :(

Anyways, I just bought some replicas of kiping ref magnet for my mum.

When its lunchtime I have to go back to Patio Rizal and take my lunch...

The Patio Rizal Hotel and Restaurant

For so many years I have been planning to go to Lucban in order to witness the actual Pahiyas Festival. I have been wishing to come as I remembered our neighbour, Aling Marietta Saludes Gonzales, the godmother of my brother Glenn who is a Lucbanin used to give us colourful kipings whenever they got after the festival.

I took the Rizal route journey starting from Sta. Lucia Mall and proceeded to Tikling Junction and rode a jeepney going to Tanay. From there, I passed by Teresa, Morong, Baras and finally Tanay. From Tanay, I transferred jeepney going to Siniloan. Traversing Tanay, we soon passed by at the stretch of Pillilia and later on, Bugarin. Right after that we can see the welcome sign- Welcome to province of Laguna. It was already 20:00 then, We passed by Mabitac church and the flights of stairs were glittering with tivoli lights.

I arrived at Pagsanjan by midnight and bought an SD Memory Card as the other one I bought earlier in SM Megamall was not functioning well. I talked to the owner of the store re hotel accomodations and I was told that La Vista is pricey but clean. I was thinking that heavy traffic jams build around the town plaza whenever its fiesta. So, I decided to wait for a jeepney going to Lucban. I stayed at the Pagsanjan firestation located near the Pagsanjan church to wait for a jeepney bound to Lucban, I found a van earlier but a couple has rented it and they didnt accomodate me. It was sheer luck and after standing there and talking to two young tricycle drivers i saw a jeepney with the sign board LUCBAN, Oh my God, God is reallly good. So we headed for Lucban. It was too late for me to know that Luisiana is known as the Little Baguio of Laguna because of its zigzag roads It was kinda scary as it was raining hard and the road was slippery. All I can do was pray and talk to the other passengers who were two families who attended a birthday party in Pandi, Bulacan. They alighted in Cavinti and I was left with another passenger together with the driver and backride cum conductor.

I arrived half past one in the morning and the town plaza was full of people- young ones and old alike. They was a rock concert and it was Callalily band who was performing and its good to see Fafa Kean Edward-the vox once again. I noticed that Alden, Aaron and Lemuel gained some pounds. Alarming was to see Tatsi, he is thinner now...I hope he's not into the Dark Side. hehehe...

After the rock concert, a kaledeiscope of fireworks display adorned the ebony sky and lighted Patio Rizal.

Patio Rizal Hotel & Restaurant is located right at the heart of the town plaza of Lucban. It is within walking distance from the Rizal Park and Municipal Bldg., the Lucban church and other restaurants & Abcede's longganisa store and etc. It is just a few minutes drive/ride to Kamay ni Hesus and other tourist spots and the Palaisdaan and Kamay sa Palaisdaan Restaurants. They are located just facing each other along barangay Dapdap. Most importantly, it provides guests with a relaxed stay and magnificent view of Mt. Banahaw.

By the way, the weather was excellent then but clouds covered Mt. Banahaw's summit and I never had the chance to take pictures of the mystical mountain, Perhaps next time, I will be blessed to see and take pictures of it.

The hotel, with marble floors and huge picture glass windows, is clean and kept up. The bar at night has dancing and DJ sounds. For myself, I enjoyed their western style breakfast-bacon, egg and bread and a coffee nudge. Use to be that if you were in Lucban and had missed the last jeepney - you were stuck trying to find a bed in someone's house - Not so anymore. Yes folks there is curfew. Unfortunately, Patio Rizal is fully booked until next year. So better book and make your reservations early.

The Patio Rizal Hotel is an upscale hotel with classic architectural designs right next to the town center. Rooms, last I checked, went from 1800 to 3500 peso/night. Some rooms have bubble tubs. Obviousy and clearly, the owner understands the importance of upkeep and cleaning.

Published Hotel Rates (Subject to change w/o prior notice):Standard- P1,600Superior- P2,100Deluxe- P2,600Premier Suite- P3,100VIP Suite- 5,800Extra Person- P400During peak season (May), P500 is added.All rates are inclusive of 5% service charge and complimentary breakfast for 2 at the hotel restaurant.

I was trying my luck when it comes to accomodations. Even if Patio Rizal was fullly booked I still tried my luck that perhaps someone will back out from his/her earlier reservations but I was totally wrong, After I took a baked mac dinner cum midnight snack at seven eleven, I decided to go back to Patio Rizal but its fully booked. I tried to go to Summer Capital Inn but it was fullly booked too. I met a group of students and asked abour acommodations and they recommended Miramonte wherein dormitories abound as its near SLU- Southern Luzon University. But no one will admit me as its already in the wee hours of the night and its raining. It was like Mary and Joseph looking for a place to spend the night as Mary was heavy with Jesus Christ, knocking at every door looking for acommodation. But no one will provide me. I was cold and shaking and a staff told the manager of Patio Rizal and saw me. She offiered to give me her room in the hotel for Php 2,100.00. My eyes gleamed for relief. At last I slept like a log.