filipino globe lakbayan
February 2007April 2008
25
Tried eating pancit straight out of a banana leaf? That’s how they do it in Lucena
Lourdjean Torres-Baldivia
you are travelling by public My first acquaintance with way to eat pancit, but for sure, the
transport or not). Moving to this pancit lukban was rather amusing. Quezonians didn’t mind. I have
city gave me my first taste of My stepmother, who was from seen office people, students and
I am from Calamba City,
culture change. Gumaca, Quezon was excited to others who did it no matter how
birthplace of Dr Jose P Rizal.
It wasn’t a very drastic change introduce me to the habhab and they were dressed.
I was born in Pansol, where
but nevertheless, worth a piece of she was disappointed when it This year, my family will be
hot springs abound and where
article to write about. was served in a small plate, not celebrating the 10th year of our
every other house has a
Of course, the dialect was the on a piece of banana leaf as is residence in Lucena City.
private swimming pool (a little
same, but there were some words customary. I have not left or abandoned my
exaggerated, I know).
that I have never heard before. Then she pointed to a middle- Calamba roots but I have blended
I am an adopted daughter
Intonation was also a bit different aged man standing near the road well with Quezonian life.
of Quezon, home of Manuel
but being new to the place, you eating pancit habhab – and he My children, who were all born
Quezon, the first president of the
are always the odd-sounding
Seawater fish are different from
was not using a fork! in Calamba, are happy here and
Commonwealth.
NKOTB (new kid on the block).
the freshwater variety found in
He was using only his mouth, though they have all mastered
In 1978, my family moved to
Fashion was also not very
Laguna Lake.
just leaning over while holding eating pancit lukban the habhab
Lucena City from Calamba due
different – everyone in Lucena
Coming from an average family
the banana leaf and expertly way, I still haven’t.
to my father’s work assignment.
City was late-70s-early-80s type,
in Laguna, shrimps and crabs
maneuvering the pancit to his My youngest son, the family
After three years, we moved back
as everyone was in Laguna then.
were always “special occasion”
mouth. clown, would even finish several
to Calamba and the next thing I
Food was somewhat different.
fare, whereas in Lucena City, they
My other encounters with servings of the pancit, and after
know, I was relocating to Lucena
Dishes and the way of cooking
were almost everyday fare (and
Quezonians who eat pancit lukban the last serving, he’d fold the
City in 1998 with my own family.
show a little variation from the
it was not because my father got
the habhab way increased daily banana leaf and dab it over his
Lucena City is not too far from
way people in Laguna do their
promoted very often or won a
as I began my new life in Lucena mouth – as if fine-dining at the
Calamba (depending on whether
food.
lottery).
City. It may be an unglamorous Aristocrat Restaurant. Err ...
Your ticket
to nature’s
incredible
bird theater
Tess Mauricio spends a few hours watching
the birds in Candaba and gets a lifetime of joy
U
pon the invitation of the the landscape is something you’ve
Wild Bird Club of the seen before. But then, in the distance
Philippines, my friends and among a flock of common birds, one
I, together with some birdwatching can see something unique, like the
enthusiasts, motored to Candaba purple herons, northern shovelers,
Migratory birds
Wildlife Conservation Park and Bird and duraka .
skim over
Sanctuary last Sunday. The 32,000-hectare Candaba
Candaba’s
We left Manila at 12:30 pm and wetland, which is a significant part of
wetland
after several detours to find the way, the East Asia-Australasian migratory
(above) and
finally reached Mayor Jerry Pelayo’s flyway is a temporary home to
soar into the
birdwatching resthouse around 3 pm. migratory birds from Alaska,
blue sky. In
It was my first birdwatching Russia, Japan, Korea and China.
2004, the
experience, and I was lucky to be Some are classified as endangered
wetland was
declared a
with experts in the likes of Dutch or vulnerable, spend winter in
bird sanctuary
Ambassador Robert Brinks, Michael the Philippines or pass through
and became a
Lu, president of the WBCP, Jimmy the islands on their way south, to
protected home
Thai and Susan Thai, owners of the Indonesia and Australia, and north on
to hundreds of
Recreational Outdoor Exchange and their return to their native habitat.
bird species,
several birdwatchers. In 2004, the Candaba Wetland
including (left,
At first, I could only see a few was declared a bird sanctuary by
top to bottom)
eurasian tree sparrows which I could the municipal government under
the northern
see even from the backyard. At that Mayor Pelayo. This 70-hectare bird
shoveller, the
point, I thought my travel was in sanctuary is a complex of freshwater Philippine
vain. As if alerted by our presence, ponds, swamps and marshes with duck and the
however, the birds suddenly rose surrounding areas of grassland, Chinese egret.
from the ground and simultaneously arable land and palm savanna.
One sets out to
area as are grey and purple herons.
Luzon. These are:
took off. It was simply an awesome The entire area is usually flooded
Egrets of various kinds can be seen
• Sta. Rita exit passing through
sight. during the rainy season and dries
see the birds – but
atop the more than 300 trees at dusk.
Pulilan and Baliuag
There are more than 600 bird out in late November to April, and is
Birdwatching time is best at 5:30
species in the Philippines, of which converted into rice fields and water the prize one gets
• Pulilan exit, passing through
am and 4-6:30 pm. Telescopes and
Baliuag
approximately 200 are endemic, melon plantations.
upon return can
binoculars are a must.
• San Simon exit
which means they are only found in The swamp is a wintering area
The Candaba Wildlife
• San Fernando exit passing
the Philippines. for migratory birds, usually from
I realized that birdwatching is October to April, when the swamp
only be described
Conservation Park is about 12
through Mexico and Sta Ana, straight
kilometers from the Candaba town
towards Poblacion, Candaba.
much like a venture capital. One is home to thousands of birds. There
as happiness
center and about 25 kilometers from
Whatever it is, birding is a quest.
looks at a vast landscape, whether it are about 60 species of birds and
various exits in the North Luzon
One sets out to see the birds – but the
is a dense jungle, or a wetland with ducks that thrive in the swamp.
Expressway. It can be reached
prize one gets upon return can only
mangroves, and most of the time the Philippine ducks, garganeys,
through four exits on the expressway,
be described as happiness. Learning
landscape is barren. It seems there northern pintails, northern shovelers,
whether coming from Metro Manila
to birdwatch is like getting a lifetime
is nothing to see, or everything on and tuffled ducks can be seen in the
or from any province in Central
ticket to the theater of nature .
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