5/19/08

It’s about 4:00 AM. Suddenly, the van we are riding comes to a halt. Our softspoken driver quickly disengages his seatbelt and runs out of the van and disappears from our sight. We could only think that he has found people who we hope, know the proper directions. Meanwhile, all 14 of us are shushed into silence partly because of sleepiness but mostly because of the pitch black darkness of the world outside our metal contraption. I breaked the silence “This is how horror films about tourists start.”

We arrived at Lucban, Quezon at around 5:30 AM and already the locals were busy setting up all sorts of stages and platforms. For the people of Lucban, that day was even more important than Christmas of New Year. It was May 15 and it was Pahiyas.After having a hearty breakfast at Buddy’s we decided to scan the area for best vantage points to have an advantage over the hordes of tourists that are expected to pour later in the day. Amidst brooding skies, we were able to take some “street” shots which weren’t half-bad, we’d like to think.

Good Morning Lucban

Shin and a Regular Yum

Pansit at Buddy’s

Lonely Hearts Club

Lucban Longganisa

Ready to Fiesta

Silip

Hypercolorchicks

Candles

And then it rained.