Christmas in Towns and Cities

Not even the most powerful camera lens (not that I have one) could capture the enjoyment that one can see in places were Christmas decorations are see. However flawed the basis may be of this annual celebration, it proves to be a strong source of the spirit and atmosphere of joy and giving. We took the time to visit several towns in Laguna to enjoy the blinking lights and decors for Christmas.

San Pablo City, Laguna 

Calauan, Laguna

Bay, Laguna

U.P. Los Baños, College, Laguna 

I hope we could still visit more places during this break.
  

Get To Know Them: The WWII Soldiers and Guerillas of Calauan, Laguna

A short stay in the town plaza of Calauan, Laguna enabled me to come in contact again with some details about the Second World War II. Standing resiliently despite the passage of time and obvious wear are two simple monuments in honor of the soldiers (who were attached to the USAFFE) and guerillas during this particular war.

 

The crooked rifle on top of one of the monuments seemed to me a sign on how we see now that event and the people from that event. If one really continues to venerate these recent heroes, they one should not see the sad state of such monuments. As the common saying goes: “If you are in love, it shows.” Hopefully this would serve as a gentle reminder to the officials of the local government to take the lead in refurbishing the monuments.

One should also not be limited with just looking at those monuments. Reading the inscriptions would prove to be an insightful activity especially to the historically inclined. One part seemed like a poem (with all those rhyming end-of-line words), a manifesto of the capability of the townsfolk of Calauan to offer their lives to the Motherland.

HANDOG NG CALAUAN SA KANYANG INANG BAYAN

NOONG NAKARAANG IKALAWANG DIGMAANG PANDAIGDIG
INIALAY NANG* CALAUAN ANG ILANG ANAK NA KAIBIG-IBIG
UPANG IPAGTANGGOL ANG ATING INANG BAYAN
DOON SA TANGWAY NG LALAWIGAN NG BATAAN

NILISAN NG MGA ANAK NA ITO ANG KANI-KANILANG TAHANAN
AT DI PINANSIN ANG HINAHARAP NA PANGANIB AT KAHIRAPAN
HUMAWAK SILA NG MGA SANDATA UPANG HARAPIN
ANG MGA KAAWAY NA ANG NAIS AY TAYO’Y LUPIGIN

DOON SA BATAAN SILA NAKIPAG-HAMOK
NAGTIIS NG HIRAP GUTOM UHAW AT PAGOD
ITINIGIS ANG DUGO IBINUWIS ANG BUHAY AT DANGAL
ANG LAHAT AY ALANG-ALANG SA BAYANG PINAKAMAMAHAL

ITO AY GINAMPANAN NG MGA BAYANI NG BATAAN
UPANG MAKAPAG-IWAS NG BAKAS SA MGA BATA PANG ISISILANG
NA ANG MAGMAHAL MAGTANGGOL AT MAGTAGUYOD SA KALAYAAN
AY TUNGKULIN NG LAHAT SA ATING INANG BAYAN

USAFFE VETERANS
CALAUAN LAGUNA
1941 – 1945

* (I’m not that sure about this phrase as I could no longer read them from my photograph.)

Another part, which is more factual, is a short list of the USAFFE soldiers who came from Calauan, Laguna. Fortunate were those whose names were included. However, I feel that behind the stone monument, other names that are now lost to us present generation deserve spaces in the inscriptions.

 

ANG MGA NAKATALA AY MGA BETERANO SUNDALONG USAFFE (UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES IN THE FAR EAST) NA HANDOG NG BAYAN CALAUAN LALAWIGAN NG LAGUNA NOONG NAKARAANG DIGMAANG PANDAIGDIG (WORLD WAR II) 1941 – 1945

NICANOR P ANGELES / AMBROSIO A BALDOVINO / CATALINO R BARLETA / VICENTE G BISCOCHO / BARTOLOME C CAPOL / NEMESIO M CARTA / GREGORIO A GLORIA / JUAN T GONZALES / DOMINADOR N HOSTALERO / MATEO T LADRA / BENEDICTO C. LAVARNEZ / PABLO R LOPEZ / TEODULO R MANITO / ARSENIO G MARFORI / FRATERNO M MARFORI / RAMON G MARFORI / FEDERICO B MERCADO / QUIRINO M MILLAR / POTENCIANO NAMA / ENRIQUE OCTAVIO / PERFECTO V PAJADAN / URBANO C PAJARIT / JUAN M PEREZ / PORFIRIO SANTO DOMINGO / JOSE B VALENCIA / CIRILO C DEL VALLE

As a final thought, I think it was this character of this particular part in our history that made its lasting appeal to me: its recentness. I mean the proximity of the years between 1941 and 1945 to the present time which makes it an interesting area to study. For someone not strictly a historian or a history major, this episode in our history presents an opportunity to widen one’s knowledge, understanding, and insights about our collective past as a nation.

 

Easter Sunday in Calauan, Laguna

 

The coming of the Easter Sunday brought in a festive mood as the Holy Week ended. In San Pablo Catholics had the annual Encuentro and they conducted it together with a brief show of fireworks.

We opted to troop in a single jeepney ride to Calauan, Laguna where we blended in with the locals taking a breather in their small park (in the center of which stand a tall pinya or piña statue). It was calming indeed to see the sun set on the western horizon as the churchgoers headed back to their homes. I have always been fascinated by that rural feel I always feel whenever I visit a Laguna town. The last mass of the Easter in Calauan started at seven in the evening but we chose to stay in the park in darkness.

There was one sad detail I saw: a planned construction of a canopy just outside the church facade. Given not all people could be accommodated at a single mass but it is not enough reason to erect what could be an ugly shape in front of the church. Given, this may not have been the original place where the first town church was built but as a form of respect to the original designers of the church, that canopy should not be built there at all. It’s quite sad, but based on the tarpaulin bearing all these “happy” news, the construction is a go already.

The coming of the Easter signalled the end of one of the high holidays of the Catholics but it also signalled the end of the longish vacation. Back to work!

 

Flower Views: Calauan, Laguna

Small pleasures for small things. These photos were taken in one of the many afternoon trips that my mother did in connection with her work in Calauan, Laguna. Breath-taking, I daresay. The flowers are actually found on small patch of garden only. But what effect it has! Small pleasures for small things indeed.

Dance Performance at Isdaan Floating Resto-Fun Park

Watch my video of a dance performance at Isdaan Floating Resto-Fun Park, Calauan, Laguna. I have just opened a YouTube account and I will be using it to post future videos from my travels. Enjoy!

Food for the Trails: Enjoy Barrio Fiesta at Isdaan Floating-Resto Fun Park

The term ‘barrio fiesta’ evokes images of lavish food, merriment, and simple Filipino feasting. As development continues to eat up places in the country (to be turned into urban areas), it is always good to have places where we can enjoy the spirit of those rural feasts. One such place has been recently built, fortunately, in the province of Laguna. The Isdaan Floating-Resto Fun Park is situated on the wide plains on the boundary of the towns of Calauan and Bay. An ocular survey of the place would reveal to you that it covers a number of hectares.

* Isdaan welcomes you with its iconic big fish

* mermaid[?] statues with Hindu/Buddhist themes

* TACSIYAPO!

* Boodle Fight; ang umayaw talo!

* San Kilo Bridge

As one enter Isdaan, you’ll be greeted by huge (and I mean huge) statues of what look like mermaids decorated in Hindu and/Buddhist motifs and big fishes as well. Designed not to intimidate, such artworks would only compel you to go inside and discover more of that curious place.

* more mermaids[?]

* big Buddha; you ring the bell behind it and make as wish

* big fish!

* statues you’ll see as you go the comfort rooms

* ladies for inspiration or are they the Furies?;
you’ll see them as you go out of the bathrooms
* Spiderman up on the roof
* cracked (dinosaur?) eggs

* Brontosauruses

Isdaan is composed of what look like different restaurants (although they all have essentially the same menu being offered to customers). They have area for Tacsipayo where you can vent out your anger or frustration with anyone by breaking kitchen wares there as you shout ‘Tacsiyapo.’ Please note however that there are fees for it. The place has other ‘pakulo’ like the San Kilo Bridge where you can win one kilo of fish (to be cooked depending on your choice of dish) by crossing a small ledge/bridge surrounded by six-feet-deep water. There are still other features like that and one can enjoy them by roaming the place.

* cottage number 33!

* isang bilaong fried sea foods!

* fried crab, woo!

* tacsiyapong gulay!

* revisit to Isdaan

* little calderos where the rice is cooked

The most eye-catching in the place are the statues (or are they sculptures?) ranging from Jurassic Period dinosaurs to Disney cartoon characters to famous politicians, most of them life size. They essentially make the place alive as you would probably spend a good deal of time in the place looking at each and every one of them and taking pictures of/with them too.

* a lady dancer
* young people doing an ethnic dance

* kid acrobats

* acrobat trio!

* Isdaan’s buco king

* Mama Chit: Ina ng Barrio Fiesta

And define a wide-ranging menu! I took the liberty of documenting their menu and visitors can choose among their specialties on vegetables, fresh fruits, bakahan at manukan, energy drinks, pork, Japanese dishes, soups, pancit, fishes and other sea foods. You’ll be given a large menu where you can freely choose your food and drinks combinations. And as you eat, you will be treated (if you came in at the right time in the evening) with cultural presentations – ethnic dances, folk dances, acrobats, among others – all organized for the visitors to have fun!

* Trailer Pransis strikes for a pose

* pose with co-workers (and bosses)

Isdaan Floating-Resto Fun Park is located in Hanggan, Calauan, Laguna and they also have a branch in Gerona, Tarlac. A future Isdaan is currently being prepared in Talavera, Nueva Ecija. For reservations please contact the number 0932-4117793.

[How to go to Isdaan Floating-Resto Fun Park: From Manila and Calamba City area, one can simply hail a bus bound for Sta. Cruz, Laguna (buses are Green Star, HM, and DLTB) and ask the conductor to drop you off at Isdaan; it is just along the highway. Alternatively for those coming from Calamba, you can board a jeepney bound for Sta. Cruz, Laguna too.]
 

The Rust Connection: Calauan, Laguna

* the church of Calauan

* the interior of the church

* part of Liceo de Calauan

* a marker in memory of the USAFFE soldiers and guerillas who fought during the World War II

* the famous Piña at the center of its plaza

* the municipal building built in 1957 during the term of Juan V. Brion

* view of a mountain (which I failed to identify) from a road leading to Victoria, Laguna

* view of the strong Mount Kalisungan (Bundok ng Tikew) from barangay Imok

The town of Calauan lies on the plains on the central part of Laguna, a town that is as close to my heart as Los Baños, for I had to pass through it every day during my undergraduate days.

On high days of May, the aroma of fresh pineapples shall fill the air. The Pineapple Festival is at hand and the fruits are overflowing on the streets, being sold to the general public.

I still hear people say to drivers “Kalawang” which has its own basis more or less. Stories have it that there was once a spring called Makalawang where rusts gushed forth. It seems ironic for there are vast lands for rice farming. The smell of the rice fields is a treat also as one travels through the main highway that traverses these fields.

The town church which is strategically located at the very heart of the town has San Isidro Labrador as its patron saint. It was built in 1860 through the efforts of a Don Andres Roxas and his wife. The ground where the church stands was later donated in 1925 by Andres Soriano. Its belfry, on the other hands, was made in 1961. When the Diocese of San Pablo was created, the first bishop resided in Calauan.

Similar to San Pablo, there’s this observable absence of bahay-na-bato near the town plaza. I am wondering if it suffered the same fate as our city – that those precious houses were either destroyed by some natural disaster or fire; or they were forced to the ground by the Second World War.

If one enjoys watching lightning, Calauan is the place to be. Especially during the rainy seasons, when just looking up the skies, one can behold the feats of the clouds, rains, lightning, and thunders.