Pinoy Summer Tales

Summer vacation is months away in the US but it’s in full swing in the Philippines! Carmina and Patch talk about popular summer activities, both today and in their childhood. Their conversation covered famous summer destinations, fiestas & siestas, and of course, food. Listen in as they chat about their favorite summer destinations and street foods, including the cult favorite, iskrambol!

Learn more: May’s siesta and fiesta, The History of Baguio: From Hill Station to City, Fiesta Filipinas: a guide to the summer festivals in the country, Super Soft "BUKO ICE CANDY " for BUSINESS, Homemade ICE BUKO with Red Munggo, and Explainer: Santacruzan, Flores de Mayo: What’s the difference?

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Transcript

Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore everything fun, weird and in between about the Philippines. 

Hi Patch.

Hi Carmina.

So Patch, here in the US, summer vacation is late June to August.

Right. But in the Philippines, it's between the months of March through May.

Yeah. But I did hear that some schools have adapted to the international calendars over there and probably sync up with the US summer vacations. But for the most part, it is March to May, like you said.

Yeah. And actually, they're starting to go back. Apparently, because of the weather, it was not making sense.

When we were growing up, at least, it was March to May, and it conjures really fun memories for me. What were your summer vacations like?

We barely went on vacations because, you know, parents were always working. I remember when we would go, it would typically be in Baguio during the summer, because of course, not often, again, not often, but when we would go, because of course, it was colder.

Let's take a historical side trip about Baguio, because that actually did make me curious about so many things. I mean, we also sometimes went to Baguio. It's beautiful. It was, at least, from what I recall, beautiful there. There were a lot of pine trees, really nice fruits and food, and there was definitely a trace of indigenous culture, because that's where the Igorots are from, right? The Igorots is the broader term for various tribes there.

And the two major ones are the Ibaloy and Kankaney. Now, I mentioned those two tribes because they had something to do with the name Baguio. In the past, I thought Baguio had something to do with bagyo, right? Which is what we call typhoons. But I was proven very, very wrong.

Right. So apparently, the name Baguio is derived from the Ibaloy word “bagiw,” which means moss, and is, of course, indicative of the very lush vegetation in the area, as you mentioned, known for fruits and vegetables.

It's 4,800 feet above sea level, and it was declared the summer capital of the Philippines during the American occupation, to be specific June 1st, 1903. And the Americans were credited for building roads that connected Baguio to its neighboring cities called Kennon Road. 

Oh, wait, first I want to mention that it was built by multinational workforce consisting of Filipinos, Americans, Chinese, and Japanese, of course, under very difficult conditions.

Wow, that, I can't even imagine all of those nationalities, huh? The prominent architect was Burnham.

Daniel Burnham.

And that's why there's that big Burnham Park that's commemorated to him.

One interesting fact I didn't realize before was, unlike most cities in the Philippines, it kind of evolved organically. Baguio, is one of the few cities that was planned from the beginning.

Wow, from the ground up.

Yeah, so that was a very unique feature of the city.

Do you remember the big attraction in Kennon Road?

The lion.

Yes.

Okay, I remember, because after a long trip, you were looking forward to seeing that lion because the destination was almost there.

So it's a big lion's head sculpture, and it was commissioned by the Lions’ Club in Baguio. They began building it in 1971, and they finished it in 1972. The Lions’ Club is an international organization, and it's the world's largest service club organization with over a million members in over 200 countries.

Their main mission is community service, philanthropy, and global causes. I thought I'd look them up because that thing is really imprinted in my memory. How odd it was that it all of a sudden was just there.

That's true. What was the purpose? And the purpose was, I guess, to promote the Lions’ Club.

Right. But it's so impressive that it endures, right? To this day, it's still a very popular tourist destination.

Oh, for sure.

So another cold weather destination, or at least coldish compared to Manila for the summer, is Tagaytay.

Right.

So Tagaytay, it's in Cavite, and it's on a ridge that runs along the north side of a beautiful lake called Taal Lake, in which the Taal Volcano lives. Only the caldera is visible, and Patch, when I went home in the Philippines in December, it was just breathtaking. And it's still active. One of the days that I was there, I saw smoke coming out of it.

Oh, I did want to mention that Tagaytay is derived from the Tagalog words, “taga,” which means to cut, and “itay,” referring to father. And legend says a father and a son were trekking when a tiger attacked them, and the son shouted, Taga! Itay!

Oh, really?

Well, apparently. And the repeated phrase became the name of the ridge.

So, Tagaytay is the second summer capital of the Philippines. 

Wait, I did want to ask Carmina, because apparently, you know, Tagaytay is really famous now for its many restaurants. You know, amazing view aside from amazing food. Did you get to try any of those restaurants?

Many.

Many.

And also, one of the famous hotels there, I remember when I was a child, going to my grandparents in Balayan, Tagaytay is on the way. So we would always pass this hotel named Taal Vista Lodge.

Okay.

And I got to live my childhood fantasy this past December because my mom and my aunt, we stayed there and the views were just spectacular.

Wow.

The volcano was just right there outside your window and their food was delicious. But one other memory that really stands out in my head is, you know, in the past, the roads really weren't paved yet, even in Tagaytay. So on the way to Balayan, my province, it was a long, dusty and bumpy ride.

And so because Tagaytay was the halfway point, we would have food in one of the many eateries that line the road. And right now, that whole area is so developed and the restaurants are so beautiful. But back then, they were right there by the side of the road. And the restaurants, they weren't modern.

So it was literally like somebody's kitchen. The favorite eatery that my grandfather used to take us to was called Aling Aure’s Gotohan.

That sounds delicious, actually.

I would look forward to that trip every summer because it was for sure going to involve a stop at that Gotohan place. So another favorite pastime for Filipinos during the summer is, of course, beach hopping and island hopping. The beach is also a very prominent feature in my childhood because my province is a coastal town.

My grandfather would rent a boat, load all his grandchildren in it. We would find an undeveloped beach somewhere, swim to the shore, grill our meats and maybe fresh caught fish. 

Yeah, it's different when it's freshly caught fish because it tastes sweeter than what you would buy in the market.

And of course, there are many famous beaches in the Philippines, right? There's Boracay with the white beaches and also very famous for their social scene. And of course, Palawan.

You also have Siargao for the surfers to go. And, you know, when you're in Palawan, for example, island-hopping is part of it. But I didn't know that there were also islands in Pangasinan.

So there's the Hundred Islands in Pangasinan and the Caramoan Islands in Camarines Sur.

I did want to mention one of the notable summer activities that I came across, siesta.

Oh my goodness, yes.

I feel like that's a year-round thing that we do after, you know, after lunch. But of course, now that I think about it, during the summer months, it's more tiring because of the really hot weather. Yeah, so for those who don't know or don't remember, it's something that, you know, that Filipinos do, which is basically taking naps during the hottest part of the day, which is typically afternoon, after eating, we take our naps sometimes on the hammock, right outside the house, you know, in the yard.

Yeah, apparently that practice originated from ancient Rome, when the day was split in 12 hours, and in the sixth hour, when the sun was at its peak, and it was the hottest time of the day, the time was designated for rest. 

I was curious, Patch, during the Spanish colonial period, whether the Spaniards or the Filipinos had the similar, you know, summer traditions. And indeed, they also went to Tagaytay and to Baguio. 

Oh.

So funny, right?

Like all of these traditional places that we go to now. Tagaytay, apparently Los Baños, because of the natural springs, it was thought to have healing powers. So apparently that's one of the favorites of the Spanish friars.

Same with Taal Lake, and…

What? 

I mean, we mentioned this several times in some of our past episodes. Pasig River was a summer destination.

Right, although it's probably not something we think about now. Certainly during its heyday, descriptions of the clear waters, and yeah, it was very beautiful.

And then the other one was Cebu. It was considered a pilgrimage to go there.

Well, speaking of pilgrimage and Cebu and all of that, we've made mention of festivals and traditions in previous episodes.

Yeah.

Specifically for the summer months, Flores de Mayo, celebrated during the month of May. Prayers and flowers are offered to the Virgin Mary. There is the Santa Cruzan.

We talked about that too last time, about St. Helena.

I'm trying to remember though, is it part of Flores de Mayo or it's a separate?

You're making the perfect segue into what I was going to say next. I was equally confused and so they're not one and the same.

Okay. All right.

Flores de Mayo is the whole month of May, celebration for the Virgin Mary, whereas the Santa Cruzan, there's actually Biblical characters assigned to each of the people in the parade and the Santa Cruzan because they're commemorating again, St. Helena's life. A lot of times, the Flores de Mayo will culminate in the Santa Cruzan.

Right. One other festival that I came across, which I never experienced live, is the Manggahan Festival held in Guimaras in Iloilo. And this is during April.

And it is a food festival to showcase one of our beloved.

My favorite fruit.

Exactly. Which is the mangga.

Which didn't even originate in the Philippines, right? Wasn't it brought to us by Mexico? Do you remember we talked about it in the Galleon Trade episode?

But I think that was the pineapple.

Oh, you're right. Some people say that it's introduced to us from India. But, and this again, I remember from my childhood, there's a native species called pahutan. It's green, it's small, and you know, we used to pickle it. It doesn't become sweet. We used to pickle that thing.

Oh my god, I love that.

I remember that. And of course, anything sour goes well with bagoong.

The other festival that's famous in the Philippines during the summer is the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon. Houses are decorated with displays of harvest and a famous treat called kiping, which is a leaf-shaped wafer made of glutinous rice. And a lot of these festivals in May honor San Isidro Labrador or Saint Isidore the Laborer, which makes sense, right? Because we're an agricultural country. He was a farmer. And the story goes that he was so good at his job that his landlord spied on him one day and found that he was spraying while an angel was plowing the fields for him.

And I don't know how, but in the Filipino version, the saint is depicted with a carabao. Which kind of segues me into this lesser known festival, at least lesser known to me, the Carabao Festival. In Bulacan, it actually is celebrated in many other towns, but it's on May 14.

Oh, and one other festival, Patch. Do you remember the Obando Festival?

Oh, the one for the fertility.

Right. It's the fertility dance.

Okay. So the Obando Fertility Festival is celebrated in Obando, Bulacan during the month of May. And apparently, it predates colonization.

So it's part of an indigenous fertility ritual. But how did it evolve into something related to a Catholic tradition?

This is very common for a lot of our festivals because we had our own paganistic beliefs, our own rituals. What the Filipinos did to preserve that pre-colonial ritual was they then evolved it to the Christian ritual to kind of hide the original meaning, right?

Right. To retain it.

To retain it. So it was a way to preserve it without catching the ire of the Spanish friars. So the hispanized version, there were three fishermen named Juan Julian and Diego de la Cruz.

They caught a statue of the Virgin Mary and their fishing men. When they were journeying, their boat became very, very heavy and couldn't move. So they pivoted their course and they brought it to Obando because their vessel apparently lightened when they changed course.

And it was believed to be a message from the Virgin Mary that she wanted to be there in Obando Church. 

Okay. So how did that evolve into a fertility festival?

Because in pre-colonial times, that was a fertility, right? The pre-colonial Filipinos worship Lakapati, who is a goddess of fertility, and Dian Masalanta, who is the goddess of love and childbirth. And then when the Spanish missionaries arrived, it was probably a compromise that they made as well, right, to convert the indigenous people, instead of completely eradicating those rights, they just found parallels of those goddesses.

Yeah, so apparently, each day of the festival honors, like what you said, a different saint with specific powers, and they are San Pascual Bailon, which primarily helps women seek husbands. Santa Clara, who couples petition to, hoping to conceive children. And Nuestra Señora de Salambao, originally associated with bountiful fishing harvests, now also linked to fertility prayers.

Wow, all the elements are there.

Just to cover everything.

Even the fishermen, very impressive.

So, can we also talk about, you know, we talked about places to go to, festivals to experience, but how about our favorite food and snacks to consume during the summer?

Of course, you will never forget food.

Of course. Well, number one would be, of course, the halo-halo.

Aha. Shaved ice with all kinds of fixings, ice cream on top, and with the lechiflan.

Yup. And ube. Yum.

We also have our sago’t gulaman, which is, you know, a refreshing drink with tapioca and gelatin, right? And then we have the, well, I'm not too fond of, buko juice.

Oh, I love buko juice outside of the buko. You don't like it?

No, I don't know. Yeah. I'm not too fond of buko juice.

And then you, Carmina, the Iskrambol.

Oh my god, the Iskrambol. Yes.

Which for people who don't know, it's pink shaved ice with milk and various toppings, popularly sold in the, you know, the streets.

Why do you think it was pink?

I don't think it has anything to do with flavor.

Definitely not.

Just the coloring. Yeah.

I just love how it's spelled, Iskrambol. It's just pronounced in a Filipino accent. It just refers to the ingredients being stirred together.

Yeah.

But, Patch, you forgot one other thing, one other treat. How could you forget this? We used to -

Ice candy.

So for people who don't know, it's basically just like pops, right?

Yeah.

You put different flavors in it. But the unique thing about it is the plastic tube that you pour the water into to freeze in the fridge. Right.

So it could be any flavor you want.

You know, we used to sell that.

Yeah, me too. We all did as kids, right?

It's so funny. It's like our version of the lemonade stand.

Yes, that's right. Wait, which one is the other one? Not the ice candy. It would have like mung beans at the bottom. And it's like you make it in a cup and you stick a popsicle stick on it.

Ice buko.

Ice buko. Didn't you make that too?

Yes, we did.

How would you describe the Ice buko? Basically, it's also like the ice candy only in a cup.

And it had the toppings, like you said, like the mung beans or pinipig, right? The rice crispies.

It had like frozen coconut shavings.

People really should YouTube these two things, ice candy and ice buko. There's so many YouTube recipes. So Patch, that was fun, huh? Reminiscing about childhood memories of summer vacations.

Yeah.

You know what that means?

What?

We're old.

Oh, the fact that we could still remember things is a good sign.

I think we should end while we're on top.

Okay. I think it's time to take the siesta.

Indeed.

So that's our episode. We hope you join us on our next trip.

O siya, siya.

Ingat.

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