A Glimpse at the Beauties of Nasugbu at the Sugbuan Festival 2013

One of the major events at the Sugbuan Festival 2013 was the beauty pageant which included 35 candidates from different barangays vying for the title, Mutya ng Nasugbu. 

The talent portion...

Interpretative ethnic number 

A hot number and not the usual talent 

The event lasted until midnight and was jam-packed with people until the end which, sadly, I wasn't able to finish.

Kakanin Festival at the First Sugbuan 2013 in Nasugbu, Batangas

I was lucky to be part of a group of photographers who got invited to the 1st Sugbuan Festival held last Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 to witness and cover the three day big event. This is the first part of a series of posts that will be featuring the activities which took place.

As we arrived on the first day, we saw busy people from different barangays cooking and preparing their special kakanin (a sweet native delicacy usually made from coconut, rice and sugar) in time for the contest.
Everything was done on the spot and it was a new experience to see cooking the old fashioned way.

Grinding rice  

Extracting fresh coconut milk

Once all the ingredients are dissolved, they are placed in a big pan on low heat and must be continously mixed to avoid sticking and sometimes it takes an hour or so until it is cooked...not an easy task I must say.

Sometimes it takes two to mix the sticky and heavy mixture

And now for the finished products...

Suman con Mangga

  

Sweet sauces and toppings to add to your taste

An early visit from Hon. Mayor Charito Apacible to check on the preparations before the event proper.

It was a real feast for both the eyes and the tummy, I really got stuffed until I couldn't take in anymore.

Thanks to Mayor Apacible for not only spearheading this project, but also for being there as much as she can to support her people. Mabuhay ang Nasugbu!

Intramuros on a Carless Sunday

Intramuros is one place my family keeps on going back to every now and then. It is one of the tourist attractions especially for those who like to have a feel of the old Manila since this place is so rich with history and old beautiful architecture.

Just a bit of background and history...Intramuros is also commonly known as the "Walled City." During the Spanish colonization, its location was strategic being close to Manila Bay and the city had rich resources so it was declared to become the seat of the Spanish government. Walls were built around it during the 1600s to protect the city from foreign invasion.

Going up the wall

Wide space on top of the wall where you have a view of Manila and the city hall's clock tower.

My daughter posing at the end of an old canyon

There was a post I read by Carlos Celdran (tour guide, culture activist and artist) about a drive promoting "Intrumuros Pasyal Sunday" and it would be a carless Sunday as well so people could roam freely along Gen. Luna St. filled with vendors and artists, so we decided to take a look.

The first that we saw was an old tramcar. I wondered if it's working though.

Singing the blues along the street.

While I'm so used to going to this place during the day, it was also good to see it at night without the heat of the sun while the lights brighten up the old buildings and streets. It's just like walking back in time.

This was the small tiangge (market) with proudly Philippine made products. There were interesting novelty items that you wouldn't normally find in a shopping mall and local product specialties from the provinces.

On the way back to the car, there was an open air old film showing at the parking lot, pretty cool seeing a black and white movie from the 1960s. I remember watching this kind of movie during my childhood days.

 

I do hope that "Intramuros Pasyal Sunday" will be a continuous event and that more vendors, artists and patrons will be joining in the coming months with the goal of promoting Filipino art and culture.