Tuy, Batangas (Parada ng Lechon)

I spent most of my recent vacation at my second most favorite Barangay in the entire town of Tuy. Barangay Putol is the place I consider as my ‘other’ home, second to Barangay Palincaro (the barangay where I grew up). All my relatives from my mother’s side and my three sisters reside in Putol, we’re such a huge family, it felt like half of the Barangay are my relatives

If I want some peace and quiet, I’d stay in Palincaro but if I prefer some wacky fun then Putol is definitely the place to be.

I like the camaraderie of people in Putol, they’re like one big happy family. I love spending vacations there eversince. I remember I used to watch basketball games, attend novenas at the chapel, watch (and sometimes participate) at the ‘alayan’ and Flores de Mayo in May, and do the procession on fiesta. I experienced drinking outside with the ‘tambays’ - people whom I’ve considered as happy and genuine. Maybe I like the way how they don’t take their life too seriously.

I stayed at my Lola’s house in Putol for almost 2 weeks from my 3-week vacation, and the bond I had with my two cousins was a little unexpected. We were never close (considering our age differences - 20, 33 and 48) until we discovered one rainy boring night that we’re all wild drinkers. Since then we drank almost every night, but we had to wait until Lola is sleeping because she never approved of it. The funniest was when she woke up and caught us, we all ran in hiding like scared mouse. Though the most memorable was on my last night, I told them I never experienced going outside the road drunk and ’socialize’ with the tambays. So that’s what we did after finishing two bottles of 50.6 proof gin. Thank heavens there were only three tambays outside, apparently most of them were in a gambling spree at the funeral wake across the neighborhood. Otherwise I might have said and done something stupid which the entire barangay would know the next day. I guess I had the guts to do it because I know I’m only vacationing.

One time, we wanted to drink some more but it was late and the rain was pouring, so we drove in the flood, literally climbed at the gate of the closed store, and forced the owner to give us more drink. I know we went a little too far, but it’s not very often I get to do crazy things like this so I just did it! And it was fun.

But of course, during the day, we’re all tame animals who responsibly look after their grandmother. It’s only in the night when evil things happened!
Another highlight of my stay was the ‘parada ng lechon’ on the feast of St John de Baptist. I almost lost my voice from screaming on people splashing water (especially when it’s icy cold) while we’re doing the parade. In fact I broke a tabo because I was tapping it the whole time so as to create some noise. I screamed and waved at people like I’ve never done before. There were about 20 lechons during the parade and it's such a nice thing that everyone seemed to know each other so all the teasing and banters were taken as innocent fun.

After the parade we all shared the lechon together, then ‘harassed’ motorists on the road by splashing them with water. Some poor souls riding in a motorcyle were shampooed and offered beer and lechon. Later on, few of us started dancing in the middle of a highway to stop jeepneys and buses then pour them with more water. Everyone was game, we all had a great time. I had a nasty sun burn from the heat of the road eventhough it was raining all morning but it was all worth it. And I wish I can come back again next year! Manghahamit kami ng todo-todo

The week before this holiday, I was in Singapore for Communicasia 2009. I socialized (and partied a bit) with “the professionals” , but I have to say it was equally fun mingling with “the jologs” crowd. I feel blessed embracing both worlds and I’d like to keep it that way!