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Sunday, May 21, 2006

What am I doing in Bulacan?



We were in Bulacan lately for 3 weeks for our immersion. At first, I thought, what am I doing here? This place is so boring. There's nothing to see here. I'll die of boredom. But I was proven wrong. In that remote area in Bulacan, you'd find several interesting places. For one, there were the centuries old spanish houses that belong to prominent people, some even turned into mini museums that show case the glory of those days. It amused me to see hundreds of moth-gnawed medical books written in spanish, the wooden floors made of slabs that were so large and thick that you could hardly hear anyone walk on it. There were also houses that gave me this eerie feeling that someone was looking and staring at you peeking through a small opening on the humongous mahogany door that had intricate carvings. There were other places like the Biak-na-Bato National park which we weren't able to see.

A small place means hospitable people - those who had fixed smiles on their faces at any given time of the day, ready to help and even solicitating to take you anywhere. And ahh, the food. It was muy delicioso! The sinampalukang manok was my favorite and I had not eaten so much of that dish as I had there. It was probably because of the fact that only the really young tamarind leaves were used that made this chicken soup so great. Or perhaps because it was made from native chicken, though lacking in meat, which was more delectable and flavorful.

They had the best chicharon and pastillas de yema I have ever tasted. I can never forget Nene's store at Tigpalas where the pastillas de yema was cooked with some local lemon rind for flavoring. And the Tilapia that's broiled just as it is harvested out of the water with pleasant smell of freshly steamed rice and a dip made from calamansi, soy sauce and red peppers.

What more can you ask for? Is immersion great or greater? Haha!

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