St. Stephen ProtoMartyr Parish Church
Drumbeats and sirens woke me on the last day of my vacation at my hometown in Ligao City. It was too early to nudge myself out of bed so I decided to end my last day in hibernation. The bleakness of the weather and the constant downpours for the past ten days had finally rubbed off on me. I wasn’t keen on checking out the festivities that early because I was still tired from my two day escapade in Naga City and I got home late the previous night. It has been more than a year since I last visited my hometown, except on this day I was home alone – everyone has left for Manila to attend my sister’s graduation and I would join them the next day.
Parade of Beauties
After breakfast and packing up my things, the weather cleared a bit and fortunately the parade was still on-going. I grabbed my camera and went to Centro (town proper) to check out the event. Ligao City was celebrating its 10th Cityhood Anniversary and had prepared a 10-day event celebration packed with interesting activities. It was my first time attending such an event and although the weather hadn’t been cooperating lately, I was glad I was home to see it.
It was more than an hour since the parade started but I was still able to glimpse several participants from both grade school and high school bands. Mascots of Jollibee and Supra feeds, a float with a miniature City Hall and Kawa-Kawa Hill, marching C.A.T. cadets from Ligao National High School and representatives from NGO’s and different government sectors joined the long procession around the town proper. It ended in front of the City hall with an exhibition of the marching bands.
Some highlights of the 10-day event were the agri-fair and exhibits featuring fresh produce and other agricultural produts, Ligao History Book launching, fireworks at Kawa-Kawa Hill and native games and boat races hosted by the coastal villages of Cabarian and Catburawan. There were also seminars and training conducted to support the livelihood programs of the city. Too bad I wasn’t able to visit the beautiful beaches along Cabarian coastline. I had been putting off my visit until the weather cleared up and so I ended up not going at all.
But it was food tripping on my favorite homegrown delicacies that I enjoyed the most during my stay. I had a daily diet of pancit rinuguan (egg noodles with pig’s blood) and sinapot (Bicolano’s version of maruya) as well as puto sa abab and latik. My father also prepared my favorite kinunot (sting ray’s meat with coco milk) when I first got home as well as the staple Bicol Express, laing and daily serving of dried fish in the morning for breakfast. So much for dieting, I’ll worry about it when I get back to Manila or perhaps i’ll join one hiking trip before I leave Philippines this April.
Local Favorites
Puto sa Abab is a rice cake steamed in coconut shells and filled with some type of coconut jam. A variation of the puto sa abab uses purple yam added to the ground rice.
Pancit Rinuguan:fresh egg noodles in meat broth, sauteed garlic and spring onions, topped with a tart and savory stew of cubed pork, tripe, various innards and pork blood.
Balisongsong is made of milled glutinous rice or cassava added with shredded buko meat and sugar wrapped in banana leaves and then steamed.
I also tried the melon and strawberry milk sold at the trade fair produced from Albay’s very own dairy farm. I originally planned to visit its farm after reading an article about the “New Zealand of the Bicol Region” but the weather was too unpredictable.
Bonsais and other ornamental plants
Entries on “Pinaka” the best fresh produce were also on exhibit at the fair.
Bottled Bicol Express and other local delicacies on sale at the fair
Later in the afternoon, I had my last serving of pancit rinuguan and I snacked on balisongsong before heading to Kawa-Kawa Hill come rain or shine. It was my last day in Ligao and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go back this April so I didn’t take any chances. I had been holding off revisiting the many attractions in my hometown before because I know they will always be there. But now that I will be moving overseas for a few years, I suddenly had a sense of urgency to see these places and to feast on our local favorites. I’m glad I made it home at this time of the year. Happy 10th Anniversary Ligao City! See more pictures here.
Outskirt of Kawa-Kawa Hill
Next Post : Kawa-Kawa: A Hill Without a Top
good that at least the muses are still girls on other festivals or parades… iba na.
San yun, parang masaya din manood ng “hindi girls” na parade
wow! nagutom ako sa iba’t-ibang klaseng food! parang masarap yung Puto sa Abab at Balisongsong. interesting din ang pancit rinuguan. pwede pala yun? hehehe. hope i get to taste these pag napunta ako ng Bicol.
Sa palengke marami nito, meron din yung sinapot at puto sa abab malapit sa mga simbahan o plaza.
Thank you amiga!!! Nheng pinaliwoy mo man ako sa mga pagkaon… Miss our hometown so much. Parang namiss ko yung highschool natin ah, Infairness ang beauty ng mga tagaLigao!!! You also mention about Catburawan that place is a paradise to me. (My birthtown). Thank you po. I would like to comment more but very busy today. I will visit this more often…D nakakasawa ang mga beauties…
Taga dun ka pala, sana makabalik pa ko this April, gusto ko talaga bumalik sa Cabarian at Catburawan. Doon kami madalas magbakasyon dati ng family ko.
Nagutom ren ako….the 3rd girl on the parade of beauties is sexy. Wonder when she’s turning 18 haha…I wanna visit your hometown ren this April
hahaha, ikaw talaga, i’m sure by that time nakita mo na ang “solemate” mo o baka meron ng little Marky na nagbabackpack around the Philippines
kaka miss yung ganyang parade sa Bicol. nung last time ako umuwe ayan din inabangan ko. hehe
ang nice nung outskirt sa Kawa kawa Hills!
Katuwa noh, a field of yellow flowers with a backdrop of foggy Mt. Masaraga, sidetrip ka dito girl
katuwa nman. Parang ang tagal ko ng last nakakita ng parade
Uso pa rin yata sya sa mga probinsya nga lang
I miss seeing this kind of parade….the girls are beautiful and the parade itself is colorful and neat…. And I feel hungry looking at those food now…. I do miss all the Filipino delicacies, and, some of those that you’ve shared here. I haven’t tried most of them before btw so….. hehe Thanks for sharing…:)
Yeah, it’s a deja vu of my school days, I used to be part of those parades since grade school. You should try sinapot and puto sa abab, it’s cheap and delicious
That Pancit Rinuguan looks interesting ah, masawap?
Yummy lalo na lagyan mo dalawang sili at suka hahaha
i miss ligao. Nice pictures! siram sana nikan rinuguan. nakakamiss! Excited to read your next post. I would say I like your blog and been reading it for a long time na.
Thank you Anne, hope to finish Kawa-Kawa post tomorrow
sayang te, lakbay coastal nung sabado march26, sana nakita mu su kagayunan nu coastal areas ta! di ako nakasabay sa pics, ung sa booth officemates ko hehe
I might go back this April, I’ll revisit Cabarian, Catburawan etc sama ka ha
ang cute ng mga girls sa parade ah =)
Parang si Marky lang, girls ang napapansin
Wow Claire, what an amazing experience! The costumes of the drummers are so beautiful. I wish I was you!!!
Let’s trade places for a while, I would like to see those places you have featured on your blog as well like the devil’s footprint
No problem Claire! You wanna come over to Argentina for a visit? Have a great weekend!
the 1st picture of a girl remnds me of you. kamukha mo siya. =)
hahaha, half breed yun ako pure morenang Pinay, baka yung future baby ko ang maging kamukha nya
good thing the weather cooperated… di sana natuloy ang parade if umuulan pa din… hehehe!!! Sa Ligao lang ba yung Pancit rinugan and sinapot? i wanna try that…
Sinapot is everywhere, almost the same as maruya, except it’s cooked using cacao leaves which leave a distinct taste. I’m not sure though about pancit rinuguan.
hahaha–di ba nga naman. palaban yung float na hila ng kalabaw at pinalamutian ng sangkatutak na dahon na namumunga ng mga gulay. natuwa ako don.lol
actually, tapos na yung parade nung nakita ko yan, pauwi na sa bukid hahaha
nothing beats Philippine fiestas talaga!:) i would love to eat the pancit rinuguan. kakaiba!
It’s quite good and I love it
I just don’t think much about what’s in it whenever I eat pancit rinuguan, otherwise I won’t enjoy the experience hahaha (talking about pig’s blood)
this is a nice showcase of your hometown claire. i love the last pic. it reminds me of some far and away places in bukidnon. : )
Yeah, I have seen some pictures of the outskirts of Bukidnon, another gorgeous place I would like to visit someday.
hometown mo toh, claire? nice. parang saya tignan dyan!
Yep, a small town that became a city 10 years ago.
Gusto kong makatikim ng stingray with gata. Natakam ako bigla. Di pa ako nakakakain ng stingray. Para din bang pusit ang texture non?
Salamat. 
Happy Anniversary sa Ligao City.
Really nice pictures, Claire. And the streetdancing reminds me of the festivals I joined when I was in elementary school. I miss those years!
Korek, nakakamiss parang deja vu nung school days ko
Bongga ng costumes!
ganda talga ng pilipinas at ng mga filipina!
@Gay – for sure sumali ka rin sa ganito dati baka majorette ka pa nga eh
@James – O ayan ha di na kita hahanapan doon, ang dami naman sa atin
ang saya naman diyan!!! i don’t eat pork pero very interesting yung Pancit Rinuguan parang gusto ko subukan. siyempre yung balisongsong for sure masarap!!! waaahhhh gusto ko dito!!!
hahaha go, lahat masarap, wag mo na lang isipin na pig’s blood ang sabaw
I miss puto and bicol express. Also, I have not tried Pancit Rinuguan mukang ang sarap.
If you’re referring to the original Bicol Express (the train), the PNR has resurrected a portion of it, from Ligao, Albay to Tagkawayan, Quezon. Also, Japan has donated 200 trains for the resumption of Manila-Bicol; 40 of those already delivered, the remaining 160… maybe we have to wait until Japan recovers…
balisongsong – di nawawawala ito sa handaan sa Bicol
.. .. i miss parades like that, tagal ko na di nakakawitness personally. love those kakanin! bigla ko namiss ang suman at puto, hehe.
wow nice pics lalo yung nagparada na nakapink!
wow…nice pics…..sana makaattend ako sa mga ganyan….hehehe…
Claire, ano’ng lasa nung Balisong-song? Siguro parang Espasol yun? Kasi may shredded coconut meat! Parang masarap mag picnic duon sa kawa-kawa hill! =)
@Enhenyero – mas madalas nabibili lang sa mag naglalako pang-meryenda
@Rob – drummer ka din ba noong araw hahaha
@Adventurous Feet – Thank you, isa din sila sa mga nagustuhan ko
@Lakwatserong Tatay – uso pa rin yata sya sa mga probinsya
@JoMI – depende kung gawa sya sa cassava or glutinous rice, basta masarap at pwede baon habang namamasyal sa Kawa-kawa
You’re from ligao pala
one of my best bud from school is from ligao though she’s settled in Manila na. Your city is very charming. Lucky you for having a chance to partake your city’s fiesta .
Hello po! I’ve seen that you’re originally from Ligao, I would like to ask some questions, kasi my friend and I needs to go there for a project in our school (mini fieldtrip actually) I’ve been searching the net for some possible places to stay in, but to no avail, puro Legaspi lang yung nakikita ko na hotels/ accomodations. May marereccomend ka ba na place for us to stay? Nagmessage na rin kami dun sa fb page ng Ligao, sabi nila sa Sta. Cruz pension lodge daw, but I can’t still find its address. Sorry for the long post,
BTW, this blog of yours made me excited to go to Ligao! Thanks in advance.
Yep, Sta Cruz Pension House is one of them, there’s also Sambitan Lodge along the national highway. It’s a small place and most tricycle drivers know where the lodges are.
bicolana ka palan. we went to sorsogon a few years back and made a sidetrip to oas, where my wife has some relatives. good thing we went to kawa-kawa one night when a relative suggested we see the place. the cool breeze and the lights below made up for the long trek up.
iba an gayon kan mga taga Bicol.. mapadaog baya..morenang pilipina.
miss ko na an Ligao. sana makaduman ako ako ulit ‘been there with Seva’s Family.. dai ko na aram kun sinda ngunyan.
> magayun talaga kan ligao maski kinano,,,taga idi baya ako..taga bagumbayan solido ako
claire: barkada ko kua mo, tropa kami na monte..
Maugal kan taga Ligao!!!
lugar ng maganda at guapong mga tao sa mundo…hehehe isa na ako dyan..hahahay…sarap ng pansit…nakakamis..cat during may time go Lnhs..batch 2003..reunion ulit……