We are having a lot of fun in Bicol! And for such a short trip, we were able to see so much. Today we planned to take it easy. Tito Abe and Tita Dolly, who generously accompanied us on our trip will leave tonight for Manila. We started off with visits to Renne’s old schools. His friend took the day off and came with us. First stop: Renne’s elementary school. One of the things he wanted to do was visit during recess, and see if there were still makeshift stores around the school exits that sell all kinds of stuff. We discovered that not much has changed in the last 21 years, although instead of makeshift stores, some actually had permanent stalls in the area. There were people selling banana Q, fish balls, toys, drinks, etc. We stopped and got off, and bought banana q, maruya (sort of like banana fritters), and turon. We were skeptical at first, because it was street food, but thought “what the heck!”- those banana q’s looked too good to resist! Rachel finished 2 sticks! (editor's note: with my help, thank you very much.) After the elementary school, we headed to his high school where his friends are now teachers. Claire was also interested in observing the differences in class instruction between here and in the states, so we toured the school and saw some of Renne’s classmates. They didn’t recognize Renne at all! One lady said “Renne Vinluan??? OMG, you look handsome now! (I would assume she said "Oh My God", right? She didn't actually say O-M-G did she? Because that would have been weird.) We all started laughing!
Lunch was at a local “turo-turo” place called Geewan, which specialized in Bicol dishes – yum! After lunch we headed out to a butterfly farm, but unfortunately couldn’t locate it. A trip to the Dept of Agriculture confirmed that it was no longer available. We stopped by the Camarines Sur Sports Complex, where we saw some people (no celebrities though) wakeboarding (They closed off the wakeboarding to the public; they only let in people who were competing in some wakeboarding competition coming up. So maybe you can't call them celebrities but they're not just ordinary people. For the record, I would have gone in and done it, but it was closed.) We also stopped by the Basilica and the original shrine of Pena Francia, where the Bicolanios celebrate the feast every September. The Virgin Mary was so small, and she was enclosed in a glass case high above the altar. Behind the altar was a single person staircase where people line up during the festival to touch and kiss a piece of her garment exposed through a hole in the glass case. Then we stopped by the local market where we shopped for some “pasalubongs” – pili treats which were delicious! We actually had to get 2 boxes just to pack our treats! My aunt had given us 500 pcs of chocolate balls (for pure hot chocolate) and the scent was filling our room all night! Dinner was at Max’s and Renne’s friend and his family joined us. YUM! We forgot how good the fried chicken and lumpiang ubod were! After dinner, we said goodbye to the Olagueras who were taking the bus home to Manila. We couldn’t have had such a wonderful trip without them! Back at the hotel, we treated ourselves to another massage (even Rachel!) and relaxed for the night. Tomorrow is an early flight back to Manila! Our Bicol trip was truly memorable!
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