Visita Iglesia in Pampanga

Maundy Thursday Mom and I together with our helper Ate Dor and our baby boy Yankee set off to Pampanga for Visita Iglesia. It's a Filipino tradition every Maundy Thursday to visit 7 churches to either do the Stations of the Cross or just pray inside the churches. It's so cool to go to Pampanga for a religious thing, the last time I was in Pampanga was in Angeles for the Hot Air Balloon Festival on Valentine's Day.

It's our first time to do this for Holy Week, so we were all quite excited. The day before, Mom and I panic bought food we could bring for the trip. The downside to this was, I didn't prepare for it. We spent most of the time asking the locals for the nearest church. Funny cos most of them don't even know the names of their churches and where they are exactly in their town.

Here are the 7 churches in Pampanga we visited. For next year's Lenten Season you guys might want to put these churches on your list. A lot of the churches we went to where beautiful! And a note to foreign readers, you guys might be thinking why the altar and the statues are all covered in either white or purple cloth. It's also a Filipino tradition to cover it up during Holy Week as a sign of mourning for the Lord's death. I know, this is what makes the Philippines a culturally rich and religious country, and we're proud of it! :)

HOLY CROSS PARISH, LUBAO
This is a small parish in the town of Lubao. We were sort of disappointed with this Church because we were distracted by the kids playing inside. Plus they were cleaning up for the upcoming activities, so it was abuzz with people cleaning.



LUBAO PARISH CHURCH, LUBAO
The first old Church we visited. Constructed by Agustinian priest, Fr. Antonio Herrera in 1614, it was completed in 1630. Used as a hospital by Americans in 1899, it was completely destroyed by the Japanese in 1942. From 1949-1952, Fr. Melencio Garcia oversaw the re-construction.




IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH, GUAGUA
We saw the Church's dome from afar, that's how big it was. I really loved this Church, but the sad thing was, as we were on our way out, we saw a family of Aetas (a tribal group found in many parts of the Philippines) and the sad thing was they let this girl defecate right there. I know, gross! It was so disrespectful! Maybe the local authorities of GuaGua should do something about this!




STA. LUCIA PARISH, SASMUAN
Right beside GuaGua is the town of Sasmuan, formerly Sexmoan. The Church is found in a really lazy, sleepy barangay and only quite a few people came to visit this Church. This was by far, our favorite Church. Just look at the interior, it was so pretty! I also loved the dome in the center, it looked like the one in GuaGua, but since the ceiling was lower, it really illuminated the entire Church. It was peaceful, too, so we were able to pray without any distractions.






SAN GUILLERMO PARISH, BACOLOR
You could also see the dome from the National Highway, so you really won't have a hard time finding it. Also built by Agustinian friars, this Church has got more historical drama compared to the other Churches we visited. In 1995, 4 years after Mt. Pinatubo's massive and destructive eruption, the Church was almost completely buried by lahar flow. Kudos to those who dedicated a lot of time and effort to salvage the Church, it was beautiful and it would've been a completely loss if it weren't dug out of the lahar.





SAN FERNANDO CATHEDRAL, SAN FERNANDO
The biggest Church we visited, San Fernando Cathedral was also packed with people. We weren't able to pray the rosary here anymore as the Washing of the Feet was about to start. It's also a Filipino custom to re-enact Jesus washing the feet of his disciples every Maundy Thursday. And outside, we saw a penitent genuflect at the Cathedral's door. A group of foreigners were also there to document our tradition during the Holy Week. I think it amazes them how firm our beliefs are.



OUR LADY OF SORROWS, SAN FERNANDO
The last Church on our journey, this is most modern looking Church we visited. Also packed with people for the Washing of the Feet, we didn't stay long. Plus the Mass was in Capampangan so we just left.


We were pooped after our road trip. Too bad we weren't able to have a Capampangan food trip, most of the restaurants, save some fast food, were closed. We would definitely do this again next year! And maybe, we'll do it somewhere in Laguna. Visita Iglesia is a fun thing to do with the family. They have a saying here, "The family that prays together, stays together". And doing the Visita Iglesia would totally make any family bond. Plus you also get closer to God! :)

I also feel bad we weren't able to visit other Churches in Pampanga. It was a bit hard to navigate, and the asking around for directions took up a lot of time. Next year, I promise I'll be more prepared than this!

Someone Turned a Year Older

The original plan for Gladys’ 25th birthday was to have dinner at Lorenzo’s Way and then party it up at Izakaya, all in Greenbelt. But then sudden changes in the plan lead to just having drinks at the latter. But it was all a little too late for me and the BFFs as Lorezo’s Way intrigued us. It was on to another foodie trippin’.

Although it didn’t exactly start out alright, Amanda called up the restaurant and reserved a table for us at 7PM. She sent me an instant message saying that it was a go. But then as the day wore on, it was going to be obvious that some people were going to be late, so I had to have the reservation moved at 7.30PM.

So I called and pretended to be Amanda, the girl on the other end of the line told me it was okay for me to have the reservation moved at 7.30PM because we didn’t really HAVE A TABLE RESERVED. We were FIRST ON THE WAITING LIST, and that was just whacked! So I told Amanda this problem and she called up again, knowing very well she was going to bitch! Good thing they were able to fix this or else we would have all thrown a fit! Don’t ever tell a customer that she has been reserved a table and THEN put her on the wait list. Number one that’s annoying and number two that’s really just plain dishonesty. Oh! And number three really bad PR!

I got there first, and then I find out that Lorenzo’s Way is like the hodge podge restaurant of everything from the LJC Group of Companies which own Abe, Fely J’s, Café Havana, among others. The popular face of Larry Cruz, the writer slash many other things who loved food, once again appeared. I remember having a good time at Abe and Fely J’s so I felt that they would have really good food.


When Amanda arrived, we started ordering. This dish we ordered because we saw the group of girls beside our table order this – Lechon Kawali with Kangkong in Oyster Sauce.

Although this was really good, the only thing I could say was that lechon kawali is supposed to be served crispy. But since it was served as toppings for the kangkong, it slowly started absorbing the oyster sauce making it soggy. But hey it was really good!

Up next was something we all loved over at Abe, Binukadkad na Pla-Pla.

The fish was really meaty. Trency the late-comer still had an entire side to finish. It was a good, healthy dish.

Amanda ordered this Callos.

Although I would have to say that their callos is WAY better than Dulcinea’s, at least this was the real deal callos. But I wasn’t sold on this, I swear my Lola’s callos is still the winner! At least this one had a generous serving of twalya (ox tripe), beef, and chorizo.

But the motherload would have to be the Lengua!

Oh my goodness! I can still distinctly remember how tender the meat was and how tasty this dish was! One of the best lengua’s I’ve had! Totally recommended! Plus it comes with a cup of rice already, so sulit na!

Although we knew we were drinking at Gladys’ party over at Izakaya, we decided to start getting sloshed. Lorenzo’s Way does serve really good drinks, and these two drinks attest to that! I had two right away – Lychee Coco Martini and a Frozen Margarita! Yum!

So after Lorenzo’s Way it was now time to go to Izakaya. Funny because the birthday celebrant was late! But it was just so fun to be with the HS barkada. We haven’t partied in a long time, so it made the night extra fun! Booze, booze, booze all over the place, maybe it shots of Jose Cuervo to Izakaya’s stupid sake cocktails. Remember these girls are hardcore drinkers, no ladies’ drinks for us please!!

So anyway here are pictures from the night of partying and sloshing!






Gladys! Happy, happy birthday! I love you so, so, so much. And even though you give us a bitch of a time when we invite you to go out of town or simply to have dinner, we will always, always be here for you! Love you bruha!


Lorenzo’s Way
G/F Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center
Makati City, Metro Manila
Phone: (02) 729-0047 / 729-0013
Business hours: Monday – Sunday / 11:00 AM – 12:00 MN
Website: http://ljcrestaurants.com.ph/lorenzos-way/

Izakaya
G/F Greenbelt 2 Ayala Center
Makati City
Tel. No. 757-4813
Business Hours: 5:30 p.m. - 12 midnight

The Much-Awaited Barkada Reunion

This has to be said, I am iffy with Capampangan food. But when my college barkada called for a reunion and asked around for a nice place to meet in, I said ABE in Serendra. Seems like Taguig's the new reunion place for my barkadas, my high school barkada had our Christmas get-together over at Burgos Circle.

I also wanted to change my mind about Capampangan food, so what better place to do this than ABE.

In Capampangan ABE means friend, and this was also the nickname of Emilio Aguilar Cruz, a Capampangan writer and painter.

Good thing we made reservations because the place gets PACKED with huge groups of families and friends eager to have dinner. There were people waiting in line, and some were even getting rejected already. It's that much of a HIT!



The inside of the restaurant is just yellow and the space was a bit cramped. But they made it a place to display the works of Emilio Aguilar Cruz - his painting were there and so were other photographs of him.


Everyone in our group was STARVING. So we ordered A LOT because we left Steph in charge of ordering.

Pork Binagoongan

Green Mango and Bagoong

Binukadkad na Pla-Pla

Lumpiang Ubod

Knockout Knucles. WE SUPER LOVED THIS! :)

AND KARE-KARE A LA BISTRO.

Remember the last kare-kare I ate and RAVED about it? Well this is just like it! I remember sopping up the sauce..it just lacked the peanut bits but it was really good! :)

Yes, I realized that Capampangan food's good. Nothing to be scared of anymore.

After the heavy dinner, we all trooped over to the new Starbucks near St. Luke's Medical Center. It's the latest store with a DRIVE-THRU! Here are some of my pictures. Come meet my DLSU barkada.








Just a little story about us, we all got together when we were in 3rd year in DLSU. We were all majoring in Mass Media. This group was the first barkada I had my first road trip with when we went to Pagudpud. We went on countless overnight trips and numerous nights getting wasted! But hey, after 7 years and despite us being busy with our own "careers" we're all still together! :)


Dinner at:
ABE
Serendra, Bonifacio Global City
Taguig City, Metro Manila
Tel. No. 856-0526