Greetings Hiver, J here. In this blog, I will share my fiesta happenings last May 26, 2020. Fiesta is a very well-known event here in the Philippines. In the northern part of Cebu, there's this town called Bogo City. This town celebrated the fiesta to honor the patron saint, Saint Vincent Ferrer
I have been a devotee of their patron. Gloomy weather, cold air, and dull scenery are where I can see the thought that it is about to rain. My high school friend Lara invited us because they were preparing a festival at their house.
Photo sent by Lara
In Cebu, when there is a festival, letchon (whole grilled pig) is the main dish of the event. I have told Lara to send me a message immediately when the lechon is already on the table. True to her world, she did send me the letchon because the eating session is for lunch and we can't go there because my other half is still busy.
Upon going to Bogo City, we rode a tricycle at the back of it. I was quite nervous about whether the rain would start to fall. Lara's residency is in Taytayan, Bogo, which you'll need to enter through the village. And it's been years since I've been to their home. We almost got lost, glad that we saw a lady and asked for directions, but sadly, she did not know Lara's surname or family, so we ended up asking where the church was because their house was just beside the church.
Upon arriving at her residence, Upon footing a step into their house, we were welcomed by her parents. Her parents are very easygoing and cool. They are a family of painters. We did "mano" her parents as a sign of respect. Since Claire was already there, we exchanged hugs because we hadn't seen each other. A group of visitors is in their yard; some of them are eating, singing, and sharing stories. I'm glad that Lara's family called her to acknowledge that we had arrived. We also talk about many things about our group and life.
The church is somehow located at the top of Bogo, and any type of vehicle was deprived of going there because it would cause traffic. We hike to the church, and on each side of it are the stalls that sell toys, clothes, food, and many others. My other half did buy a toy gun bullet.
I am very amazed at those balloons that have fairy wings that are very beautiful to see. Hence, my boyfriend already bought me one during Christmas, and one balloon is enough for me.
Going to the fiesta aside from lighting the candle and offering a prayer to the saint, it was the food that we decided to visit as well. There are different types of food stalls in the area.
Church to the Plaza is quite a long walk, and since we got to the plaza, we decided to shorten our walk and go to the Pantaland to check if anything was interesting there. But it was boring. Hence, at the tip of the Pantaland, there was a disco set up, but it was still too early to have started. We decided to go back to the plaza and just find something to drink because we were thirsty. While walking, I saw an old friend, so I stopped by for a few minutes, said my greeting, and talked for a while. When we said goodbye, I suggested drinking some matcha at Don Machiatos, but when we arrived there, we decided to buy drinks at Uncle Brew.
After drinking our refresher, we decided to stroll around and saw a takoyaki stall and decided to buy 1 set, and afterward, my other half bought corn dogs and authentic melon drinks.
And decide to find a place to sit. We decided to eat the tokoyaki; it was 10 out of 10 and the price was worth it. We were full, and there was still a corn dog; upon taking a bite, we already didn't like it.
The inside was all hotdog I was expecting some cheese inside, maybe the outside looked so delicious because of the cheese on top, but in reality, it wasn't. The melon was so good that I could taste tiny bits of it.
As we continued to stroll, we ended up eating ballot pinoy since it was just on the side of the road. The truth here is that I eat ballot pinoy, but I don't eat the chicks because there are feathers already. I was about to choose the ballot that does not have chicks, but it's not available, so I ended up getting the one with chicks, but I didn't like the chicks at all. I add the salt first and then the vinegar. It tasted like heaven. After eating, we planned to go to the carnival, but I was starting to get sleepy, so I canceled it and just bought ballot again, went to our house, and bought pizza.
The famous in-town pizza is the Albertos pizza, and my boyfriend said we should have halo-halo at least, but I decided to choose the cucumber shake. We finished our errands at exactly 9:00 and decided to go home because we still had an early graduation practice.
So, that was how my Bogo City Fiesta 2024 experience went. The good part is that I have offered prayer and given thanks the God and Saint Vincent Ferrer and met my friends at the same time. Thank you so much for being with me on this blog again, fellow hivers, until my next one.
Adios, Hivers!