Scheduled for the Easter holidays but postponed due to lack of participants, the heritage tour excursion to Pila (Laguna) finally happened one week later. Last Saturday, a group of Batch63 guys took to the road and headed for Pila in four cars. Manny R, Gabby and Pam, Jackie and Marilou, Gary and Lita, Oni and Bili, Lito Q, and Boy Charles more than comprised the required minimum number required for the tour. In addition, kin and friends joined Batch63 in the adventure. These were Jackie’s sister and brod-in-law (Maricris and Ernest) and Gary’s friend (Boy del Rosario with trip partner Baby Obrien).
Prodded by the Wednesday Kapihan small group, Manny helped the tour get organized from Manila since he is from Pila. Manny’s cousin, Cora Relova (prominent heritage advocate for the town), was however the tour guru once the group reached Pila. Pila was a revelation. Its plaza setting contained the old church and many turn-of-the-century ancestral houses around it. This plaza block clearly illustrated the typical “Law of the Indies” town planning concept utilized by the Spanish colonialist.
The vintage houses were mostly owned by Manny’s family. The crypts at the old church had mainly Relova (and Rivera) names. One crypt marker depicted the typical religious initials “D.O.M.” atop a Relova name. The Batch felt this was an apt heading over Manny’s name should he also be interred in the church walls some time.
The ancestral houses were vintage 1900 Philippine colonial houses. Original furniture graced the houses. Intricate callados were everywhere. One foyer had a Kraut stained glass piece. The tour proved to be not only visually pleasing but was also a gastronomic success. The arrival repast at one of the ancestral houses consisted of Laguna’s best delicacies (suman, maja blanca, espasol, etc) while the lunch at Cora’s farm house introduced unique tasty Tagalog cuisine (the sauce for the fresh vegetables was blended with the santol fruit).
Cora Relova proved to be the quintessential hostess as she pampered the visitors from Manila. The group should have left mid-afternoon but this departure stretched out for several hours since the members of the group (particularly the wives) placed orders for Laguna delicacies to take home. Shamelessly, the group also took home leftovers from the lunch (Gary cornered the Leche Flan). Clearly, The group enjoyed the day (despite bad Calamba and Los Banos traffic) and vowed to do another tour soon.
See slide show for more photos.
