Due to (my) unattainable work goals, bus trips had to be re-scheduled, and we had to brave the weekend All-Saints-Day rush to the province. A lot of people were going back to the province, and we couldn't find an aircon bus where we can reserve seats. We ended up meeting up at 5:30 AM at the Cubao bus station, to try to catch the first trip to Bicol. We boarded a non-aircon bus, which was supposed to leave at 6:30, but ended up leaving Manila around 7:30. Don't ask me why.
Beautiful Bicol as seen from the bus
At first, the bus breezed its way through Edsa, South Super Highway, then Laguna. It sort of stalled somewhere in Quezon...the sun was beating down, the bus wasn't moving, and it was really HOT. And you know how humid-hot it can get in the Philippines. Anyway, the bus started moving again, and by 2PM there were high hopes of reaching Sorsogon by at most 7PM. But no! The bus had to stop at several gas stations along the way, and finally, the bus broke down. It was 8PM then, and we were still around 2 hours away from Sorsogon.
Anyway, not everything that starts out bad, ends up bad. We had fun, the sights were good, and we had lots of good luck, good fortune, and good food. Our friend had a fishpond in Libmanan, Camarines Sur, and their tilapia was truly yummy! Most tilapia when cooked are dry and taste like..well, tilapia. Their tilapia was juicy and tasted like lapu-lapu. According to Mang L., who took up a fisheries course at Gerry Geronimo's Ating Alamin program, it was because of the fresh water in their pond. In fact, Mang L. will be featured soon in the segment where Gerry Geronimo interviews successful alumni of his program. Watch out for that! (Sorry, I don't know what time Ating Alamin is shown)
 |  |
| At the ruins of Barcelona
(Sorsogon) | The church at Caramoan
(Camarines Sur) |
It was seafoods galore, and we ate, drank, and were toured like we were kings (and queens). As my friend Beng said, we were really blessed. We had a priest-friend who hooked us up with his other priest-friends assigned to the different parishes we visited. When we asked our friend how we can ever repay their generosity, his reply was, "just be good". To someone who rarely goes to church (that's me), the whole trip has been a sort-of eye opener about the church's role in our culture. Bicol had plenty of beautiful old churches, and the Catholic Church and its traditions are deeply ingrained in the lives of its people. The Church was ever present in the lives of the people in the Spanish times, and even upto now, the Church is ever present still in their lives. All of the priests we met were young. You wouldn't be able to guess they were priests by the way they dressed. They didn't wear stuffy cassocks or that ubiquitous white band around their neck. They may be young, but they know what they wanted to do. They are smart, idealistic, and most of all, human, just like us ordinary people.
Caramoan
Yep, we were lucky indeed. There are still a million things to see and do in our country. The world is a beautiful place, and I do hope that someday, we all get to fulfill our potential to be good.
Camarines Sur, is dubbed as the rice granary (camarines) of the south (sur). It is home to Mts. Isarog and Iriga, and boasts of stretches of pristine beaches like Gota in the Caramoan Peninsula and those in the Atulayan Islands in Sagnay. Camarines sur is basically agricultural, but mining is also a growing industry. There are deposits of gold, silver, chromite, copper and other metals in the eastern side. The province also has rich fishing grounds.
Sorsogon in the Bicol Peninsula is at the southeastern tip of Luzon Island. Mountains sprawl along the northeastern part of the province. The tallest peak is Mount Bulusan, an active volcano 1,560 m above sea level; Lake Bulusan lies on its slopes. Except for landlocked Irosin, all the towns lie along the coast.
More pictures at http://www.pbase.com/xieurx/bicol&page=all. Information about Bicol from http://oasis.fortunecity.com/acapulco/215/region5/region5.htm.
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