Three Days in Cabuyao, Laguna: Life in the Philippine Countryside Series

Day 1 – Jan. 24, 2016 – (Sunday): The Call of Cabuyao, Laguna

Old habits are tough to eliminate; two of mine are bicycling and swimming.  These activities,  thankfully, had tempered the late effects of polio on my left leg- an affliction that I got when I was about three years old.

Laguna, particularly Barrio Pansol, had been my swimming locale of choice after I graduated from college and dropped out of medical school.  My life was at a crossroads, and I spent a great deal of time contemplating the whys and what-ifs of life in the healing waters of Laguna Hot Springs.

Our van left Imus at about 10:30 AM on a relaxed yet sunny day.  We traversed the newly-built connector roads between Cavite and Laguna.  We were in Cabuyao in about an hour and a half as we picked up orders of “rellenong bangus” (grilled, stuffed milkfish) and “lechon manok” (roasted chicken) from food stalls located along the route.

New roads connect the province of Cavite with Laguna
From Dasmariñas, Cavite, we used this new access road to Laguna.

 

Jeepneys ply the national highway in Cabuyao, Laguna
We stopped to buy ‘Andok’s lechon manok’ (grilled chicken)

Cabuyao was once a sleepy town (now a city) of Laguna, about 27 miles southeast of Manila.  We rode past the town on our many cycling jaunts to Los Baños in the days when the South Luzon Expressway, from Manila, went only as far as the municipality of Alabang.  We had to use the interiorly-located national highway to go further south.

Barrio Banay-Banay, Cabuyao, is where my first cousin Carol and her husband, Arthur, found a second home after spending most of their careers in Cavite.  The couple met at a company that dealt with industrial plastic products located along the national highway in Bacoor, Cavite. 

After they got married, they lived nearby Imus but decided to move here after Arthur’s father passed away and left a self-made bamboo hut on a piece of property about half a mile east off the national highway.

We found Arthur roasting “pork liempo” (grilled pork belly) and “inihaw na bangus” (grilled milkfish) on his improvised grill and also got accustomed to the incessant barking of their four (4) dogs — who are these people?

I had been to their place in late 2011, so I immediately noticed the changes.  There was a new shed for the carport that Arthur had fabricated himself in his spare time using his rudimentary skills in welding.  They had also constructed an all-concrete, two-story structure with an open deck in the previously bare land at the back of the bamboo hut.

Arthur and Carol's new shed at their garage
At Carol and Arthur’s place in Cabuyao, Laguna

 

Open roof deck - ideal for exercising the fighting cocks and drinking sprees
The couple’s simple roof deck in Cabuyao

When Carol arrived from their store, we began the impromptu luncheon party.  The menu consisted of “pinakbet” (vegetables sauteed in fermented shrimp), “tinolang manok” (organic chicken soup with lots of ginger and young papayas), the ‘lechon manok‘  plus Arthur’s  ‘pork liempo’ and ‘inihaw na bangus.’ 

My uncle Ricardo (Kuya Ading,  95 in a few days), his care provider, Emma, and my three aunts —  Tita Yeyit, Ising, and Nita accompanied us on this trip.  Rey, our driver, also acted as our unofficial tour guide as he had been on this trip several times.

After lunch, Kuya Ading became bored and requested the group to head back to Imus.  I had informed Tita Yeyit several days before the trip that I would be staying in Cabuyao for a few days so that I could go and revisit my favorite resort in Barrio Pansol, which was just a few kilometers south.

A few hours after the group departed, at about 3 PM, the trio of myself, Carol, and Arthur went to the hot springs via the South Luzon expressway as traffic would be heavy along the national highway at that time of the day, as Arthur suggested.  We passed the new and impressive city hall building complex along the way and emerged at a less busy section of the national highway just a few kilometers from our destination.

Just like Cavite, several towns of Laguna that are close to Manila have seen rapid urbanization.  I felt nostalgic yet saddened by the reality that some familiar spots that gave the place its rural appeal when I was here weekly to swim in its healing waters had disappeared –replaced by concrete structures with commercial signs.

We parked the van on an empty lot that used to be a restaurant.  I was excited to rediscover the place after we had paid the PHP 80 (USD 1.70) entrance fee and another PHP 100 (USD 2) for a dressing room.  I immediately felt I was in the same spot as I had been more than two decades ago.  Not much had changed around the entire resort.

In the early 90s, I had long conversations with the late owner, Jesus Candelaria (or Mang Jess as I used to call him).  He had intimated to me how he had paid very little for the place that used to be a favorite spot of carabaos (Philippine water buffalos) to cool off.  He had also informed me that most of his sons and daughters were living abroad and that his nieces were the ones that ran the place.

The marvelous waters flow from the north side of the slightly smaller than an Olympic-sized pool where several boulders – hidden by a wall – further filter them.  The water source is the legendary but now dormant Mount Makiling.

We soaked in the spot where the healing waters come out for 5 hours.  In the same area,   people with disabilities could sit on a stainless-steel bench hidden from view by the chest-deep water.

The trip back to the house via the national highway was brief as it was almost 10 PM when we finally left the resort.  After we hung our wet clothes and towels, showered, and took a quick dinner of the leftovers from lunch, Arthur led me to the bamboo table and held up two-liter bottles of San Miguel beer.

The beers, the greasy meat leftovers, and good stories that reference the past are always the perfect ingredients for a good night’s sleep.  I was in bed at 12:30 AM.

Day 2 – Jan. 25, 2016 – (Monday): A Surprise Visit to Barrio Mamatid

Still jet-lagged, I woke up at 4:30 AM and found Arthur already feeding his brood of animals – chickens, hens, roosters, fighting cocks, quails, ducks, geese, dogs, love birds, and two pigs – and so I chatted with him for a while.

Like the Filipino male living in the province, Arthur is a fighting cock aficionado.  He and his wife, Carol, also operate a small store that primarily sells livestock feeds and other needs of the cockfight enthusiast along the main highway about half a mile from their house.

The open spaces adjacent to the newly-built house are where Arthur found his joys in life — his inner peace.  There, twice a day, he feeds all his farm animals with the same care and devotion a good father gives his children.

Awake before dawn, Arthur feeds his flock of chickens, ducks, hens, pigs, geese, dogs and quails.
Up before dawn, Arthur feeds his flock of animals.

 

Carol and Arthur's room in the new house where I slept for two nights
My room in Cabuyao, Laguna, for two nights

At about 6:15, we had breakfast of “pan de sal,” fried eggs, the leftovers of fried ‘bangus,’ ‘  pork liempo,’ and the ‘lechon manok’ from yesterday’s lunch party.

Two hours after Arthur left the house at around 6:45 aboard his Yamaha scooter, I decided to stroll around the surrounding areas and look for a store where I could ‘load’ my cell phone.

In the Philippines, you refill your mobile phone’s airtime with a wide array of ‘loads‘ that span from one day to a year, depending on your budget and need.  ‘Loading’ kiosks had become a cottage industry in the entire islands as vendors get a small commission.  I found a store right across the university funded by the city and opted for the 3-day “GOUNLI50.”  However, I found out that most of the gimmicks pandered by some telecom providers in the country almost border on fraud.

Carol and I went to the store at about 11:30 aboard a ubiquitous ‘tricycle.’  It is the most common form of motorized transportation all over the country.  We ate lunch inside the store after I briefly chatted with Arthur’s elder brother, who lives in a low-slung house located at the backmost part of the property owned by their family.

By 1:30 PM, and after we had attended to the needs of store customers, Arthur and I boarded the trusty Yamaha scooter for the trip to Barrio Mamatid – about 6 kilometers southwest of Cabuyao.  We would be paying a visit to a co-contract worker/friend back in the early 80s when I worked in Saudi Arabia.

As fate would have it, I met Ernesto’s son, Ervin, in the healing waters of Laguna Hot Springs in Barrio Pansol last night.  We exchanged calls and text messages afterward and decided that today would be the most suitable time for his father and me to see each other again after more than 30 years!

We spotted ‘Erning‘ (Ernesto’s pet name) sitting in his “pakwan” (watermelon) stall and yelled out his name.  He immediately recognized me, and we hugged each other like long-lost brothers.  However, I felt the thug of that mixed feeling of joy and sadness after I saw him up close and realized that he had aged so much.

We were both in our 20s when we first met on that farm near an oasis in Al’Hair, about 20 miles south of Riyadh’s capital.  Back then, the kingdom was a magnet for foreign contract workers as the country embarked on a massive modernization program funded by the world’s insatiable demand for oil.

Their house sits on a corner lot of about 500 square meters.  His youngest son had converted part of the property into a computer rental.  About 25 personal computers with LCD screens operated on the same concept as jukeboxes of yesteryears and were called ‘PisoNet‘ (One Peso Internet).  Drop a peso into the slot, and you can surf the net/use the PC for five (5) glorious minutes.

Ernesto handed me a few peso coins, and I showed him some of our old Saudi Arabia pictures on my website.  While at the computer shop,  I asked him if Laguna de Bay was nearby.  In no time, we found ourselves at the lake.

Bong and Arthur near the edge of Laguna de Bay in Bo. Mamatid, Cabuyao, Laguna
Bong and Arthur near Laguna Lake in Barrio Mamatid

Ernesto informed us that locals can still catch fish in the lake.   Siltation has compromised the taste of the fish, though.  You will need to clean them very well due to the rapid urbanization on the lake’s fringes that had rendered the once-clear waters to an almost light chocolate color.

All over the Philippines,  smaller towns surrounding a big city had slowly lost their rural appeal; most farmlands had almost disappeared because of the urban crawl.

Back inside the house, Ernesto served us “balut” (boiled 18-day fertilized duck eggs), slices of ‘pakwan and iced water while we reminisced our days in Saudi Arabia, our families, and, of course, local politics.

We bade our farewells to Erning and his wife at about 3 PM.  We headed back to the house using the same roads we took earlier.  We passed rice fields transformed into vegetable patches during the off-season, subdivisions, factories, and small mounds of haphazardly-strewn garbage along the way.

Back at the house, I rested and showered away the heat while Arthur headed back to the store after he had fed his flock and prepared a vegetable dish that featured “Puso ng saging” (banana hearts or budding banana blossoms).  They arrived back from the store at about 6:30 PM, and we had dinner of the same leftovers except for the vegetable dish with copious servings of white rice.

After dinner, Arthur hopped aboard his scooter to buy San Miguel beer in liter bottlesTonight, he informed me earlier, is one of those two days in a week where anyone of his friends would drop by their house and drink the night away.

He returned with three (3) bottles of the local brew, and in the area adjacent to the carport, where there is a set of low-slung tables and two long benches made of bamboo, we opened up the first bottle while we waited for his friend.  Arthur cracked open all the balut’ that Erning had graciously allowed us to take home (together with a ‘pakwan’) to serve as our “pulutan” (appetizer).

We were halfway through the first bottle when his friend arrived in a nice-looking SUV.   He brought a plastic bag containing an orange-colored fried dish called “okoy” (small shrimps with slivers of vegetables deep fried in batter).  Arthur had told me yesterday that he is also the godfather of his friend’s – who’s an architect – older son and that on some occasions, both father and son would be present in their drinking sprees.

Having finished all three liters of beer by almost 11, I had to go to the bathroom thrice to relieve my bladder before I slept soundly past the wee hours of the morning.

Day 3- Jan. 26, 2016 – (Tuesday): The Commute Back to Imus, Cavite

I woke up at 5:30 to prepare for the trip back to Imus, Cavite.  We had hotdogs, fried eggs, and big ‘pan de sals’ for breakfast that Carol had prepared earlier.  Afterward, I took a few more pictures of their place before we left at about 8:00 that morning.

From their house,  Carol and I took a tricycle (PHP 10 or USD 0.21 per person) to their store, where I bid farewell to Arthur.  We hailed a ‘jeepney‘ to the bus terminal in Santa Rosa, where we waited for an air-conditioned van to fill up passengers.  For PHP 55 (USD 1.17), it took us to Pala-Pala, Cavite, where we caught our final ride to Imus.

Arthur's trusty scooter
Arthur’s ride in the barrio

 

Two cute dogs man the gate
Two of the couple’s numerous pets

It was about an hour trip, but the travel time from Pala-Pala to Imus Toll Bridge (jeepney fare was PHP 10.50 or USD 0.22) was about the same despite the shorter distance because of the traffic.  Like Laguna, many a sleepy town in Cavite, notably Imus,  had fallen victim to rapid urbanization in the early 80s.

I finally took another tricycle ride (solo for PHP 25 or USD 0.53), which I found to be excessive since the distance was just about 400 meters;  I should have just walked (if not for my disability) back to the house. I was in Bayan Luma 3, Imus by 10:30 AM.

I ate lunch of “chicken afritada” (stewed chicken with tomato sauce) and “Menudo” (a variation of the Mexican comfort food but not as soupy) at about 11:30 AM.  I took an hour’s nap afterward on my Thermarest.

Ate Nene (wife of my aunt’s late first cousin, Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ del Rosario) dropped by at about 4 PM together with a husband and wife friend of hers.  She was trying to sell a parcel of land owned by her husband and brought with her signage for the purpose.  The property is located at the back of my aunt’s house, three houses away.

Tita Yeyit arrived from her shopping with Carol and Nelia in SM Bacoor by 7:00.  So, for dinner, I ate the piece of ‘Shakey’s Pizza‘ that she had brought and slept around 9 PM.

  •  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *