Borongan City, Eastern Samar
September 7 is a big and busy day for Boronganons. It's the bispera or the eve of the fiesta. A lot of activities are lined up for this day.
We had to wake up early because the parade of different school bands and government offices will pass by Tatay's house at around 8 a.m. When we left Virech, people already lined up the streets, eagerly waiting for the parade to pass by.
Fortunately for us, we still had the chance to grab some quick breakfast before the parade passed by. After eating, we went to our puwestos across Tatay's house. It was my first time to be in the province during the fiesta so I was really excited.
In the past, my cousins used to watch the parade from the terrace of Tatay's house. But we can't do that now because they already placed grills on the terrace which would make it difficult to take pictures. Nanay and Tatay, however, still chose to watch the parade from the terrace.
It was quite difficult to watch the parade because it was drizzling. But we still had time to take some group shots. Asam also enjoyed posing with young and pretty girls who were part of the parade, hehe.
The parade was soooo long. And the gap between some of the participants were so huge. There were times when we thought that the parade was over but we'd be surprised to see another group arriving from a distance. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. I loved the school bands with their drums, bugles and lyres. Gotta give it to the participants who walked a loooonggg way.
After the parade was finished, we proceeded to the plaza where the Padul-ong Festival will be held. A number of groups will perform and compete to get the top prize.
The place was already cordoned off when we got there. But Toto assured us that we'll be able to go inside because we had cameras. Well, Barney and I didn't have cameras so we had to pose as assistants, hehe. True enough, the guards didn't confront us. We were able to go inside the plaza freely and stay in front of the stage. We had a very good view of the performers. Those watching outside must have hated us, hihi.
Unfortunately, only 3 groups were performing this year. In the past years, I think there were around 5 performers.
The first performers were boring. But in fairness to them, I think they were only saling ket-ket. I don't think they were competing. But since there were only 3 performers, they also got a prize. I think the group was composed of DepEd personnel. Not sure if they were all teachers.
The second group was my favorite. It was composed of high school students from the Eastern Samar National Comprehensive High School, one of the best high schools in the province. Their costumes were so colorful and their presentation was so lively. You could really feel the fiesta fever.
The final group was okay. The participants were college students from the Eastern Samar State University Maydolong. They picked a pretty girl to play the role of Mama Mary but their moves were not as perky, coordinated and synchronized as the second group.
First prize went to the third group (boo). The second group got the second prize and the first group bagged the third prize.
While the judges were computing the scores, the winner of the band competition which took place the day before performed. It was the Comprehensive band and I was proud to watch Mau-Mau perform.
The Padul-Ong festival was fun and if they polish it even more, it can be at par with other festivals in the country. I just hope they can keep it free from politics. It was disgusting to listen to our "beloved" congressman brag about the "donations" that he will give for next year's piyesta. First of all, I don't think he'll be donating money from his own pocket so he should have acknowledged that part of the province's budget will be allotted for that "donation." Second, maybe he can fix the roads first before prioritizing these events. Finally, will he still do it if he loses in the 2013 elections? Hohum.
Afterwards, it was time for lunch. We were invited by Uncle Pepio and Auntie Amy to have lunch at their house. We dropped by Tatay's house first to check if Nanay was still there. When Uncle Dong-Dong saw us, he told us to have some soup first. They were able to buy some shrimps and he asked the cook in-charge of cooking the handa for the fiesta to prepare sinigang na hipon. Ay grabe, that has got to be the best sinigang na hipon I've ever tasted in my entire life. Swear! Tamang-tama ang anghang (and that's saying a lot because I'm not into spicy food) at asim! We were supposed to just have soup but it was sooo good we decided to eat rice as well, hehe.
After finishing our "appetizer", we headed to Uncle Pepio's house. Aba, ang dami na ring handa. The lechon was so tasty and crunchy. Yun nga lang ata kinain ko eh, hehe. We enjoyed Auntie Amy's version of the black sambo which was placed in tiny shot glasses.
Siesta time na. We decided to head back to Virech to get some sleep to make up for the almost sleepless night we had, thanks to our noisy neighbors.
When we woke up, we decided to check out some of the local shops. I needed to buy a blazer and Rhuel needed some shorts. We went to Novo and other boutiques but we were not able to get the stuff we needed. We also dropped by Rose Pharmacy to buy some chicha.
We went back to Tatay's house. We munched on our chicha while waiting for dinner to be served, hihi. We were invited to Auntie Jojo's house for dinner. But the sinigang na hipon from lunch was so inviting so we ended up having dinner at Tatay's house instead.
After dinner, it was back to Virech for me, Rhuel and Barn-Barn. Toto and Trish went to some sort of party with Toto's friends.
Sleeping time na because we had a very long and tiring day.
P.S. I only learned during this trip that even plan subscribers of Smart can get unlimited Internet access. You just need to text Unli 50 or Unli 300 to 211. You get 24 hours of unlimited access with Unli 50 and a 30-day unli connection with Unli 300. Coolness. Thanks to Toto for teaching me that. :)
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