Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival Photoblog

It was my last day in Tacloban City when I had the opportunity to witness the street parade of Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals 2016. Pintados and Kasadyaan were formerly two separate festivals but was later merged. The former one, Pintados, means “painted people” where it’s a cultural-religious celebration based on the body-painting traditions of the ancient tattooed "pintados" warriors. Kasadyaan that means “merriment” in English, was exclusively held on June 29. Still, the organizers and the provincial government hold this in honor of Sr. Santo Niño, where provincial towns can participate to celebrate life, culture and take pride of their town’s origins and products as well. The festival’s activities now spans the whole month of June.

I woke up at 7am to walk the city streets from my hotel to the Leyte Sports Development Center for the participants’ staging area. They were preparing for their colorful costumes and floats before they pass the major arteries of Tacloban downtown. I took a picture of this map from road ranger as my reference.

Please see below the ten contingents who participated in this year’s festival:

1. Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Leyte

2. Tulo-Usa Festival of Tolosa, Leyte

3. Sanggutan Festival of Barugo, Leyte

 

4. Manaragat Festival of Tribu Katbalaugan of Catbalogan City, Samar

5. Tribu Siete-Quatro of Barangay 74 Nulatula

6. Tribu Mangirisda

7. Tribu Mananguete

8. Banigan Tribe

There are sponsored floats and pageant candidates who joined the parade. They gave away snacks, biscuits and even canned goods to parade watchers. I got Rebisco biscuits and Gardenia bread while awaiting them.

Before I get back to GV Hotel, I went to a shirt printing stall to have a Pintados souvenir tee. As much as possible, I buy from the locals as my little way of supporting tourism in the area.

I was not able to watch closely the performances in the athletic oval, but I’m happy to witness such momentous cultural event that happens only once a year. It’s more fun in the Philippines indeed. Maupay nga Patron!

Selfie with street dancers! :)

Leyte Island: Foodtrip and Pasalubong

When I hear of Leyte, delicacies that come to my mind are moron and binagol. I’m familiar with moron because my office friends always bring back some when they had a vacation from Leyte and Biliran. Since now I have the chance to land at their home province, I took this opportunity to taste other native delicacies and curiosity on the taste of binagol. What I know initially is that it uses halved coconut shell like kalamay-hati from Jagna, Bohol. Here are some of the delicacies I’ve tasted:

1. Sagmani

It looks like a heavy suman for me, as it is packed with mixture of cassava and taro. The texture is smooth like binagol and sticky when it gets to your palate. It was my breakfast when I watched the Pintados parade on my last day in Tacloban.

2. Moron

One of my favorite Leyteño delicacies and one piece is not enough. Suman smothered with chocolate makes me wanna consume the whole bunch! I shared this with my housemates when I got back to Manila. The moron from Abuyog has a good blend of glutinous rice as the cocoa complements. For me, it tastes good when chilled.

3. Binagol

Don’t confuse it with binakol, a coconut-based chicken soup. Bagol or half-coconut shell (in Waray) is used to make binagol, where a vanilla mixed with syrup is put within the shell, topped with talyan root crop or taro pudding (similar to sagmani). Marasa! I can’t believe that plain-looking pudding would have its secret unravel as you consume the contents. It’s like digging a treasure over a pile of mud (just a simile). I’m very full after I ate this as my dessert after having dinner at Jo’s Chicken Inato. This delicacy is a specialty of Dagami town.

4. Pastilas De Leche

This crumbly candy made from pure carabao’s milk is a bit hard to eat. Due to its dry texture, you can eat the whole candy and just chew. Pastillas making is a cottage industry in Carigara, Leyte.

5. Bibingka

A fluffy baked rice cake that resembles puto. The difference is the burnt mark on top and its smoky flavor taken from hot charcoals. I bought this from junction in Mahaplag, when I went back to Tacloban. Peddlers would rush into your van for stopover and sell these, piping hot!

6. Salvaro

I mistook this for an otap, a type of flaky biscuit. When I took a closer look, you can see bits of coconut in its very thin piece. The taste is nutty, and I ate the whole pack after dinner in Maasin City.

7. Suman Tinambiran

I got famished while waiting for a van in Baybay City bound to Hilongos. I searched the nearby public market to check native delicacies section and I found stalls selling rice cakes. The lady showed me a piece and I noticed a symphony of black and white glutinous rice in a roll. I bought 3 pieces for just 20 pesos. The taste: heavenly! I wished I bought some more. Maybe next time!

8. Hopia Malitboganon

This rather unusual delicacy was bought from Maasin City Terminal. While I’m waiting for a van bound to Baybay City, peddlers selling crackers and mineral water approached our van. I noticed that she was carrying packs of flat round bread (about a foot in diameter) with tag “Hopia Malitboganon”. I wanted to buy one but I thought it was too big to handle (may crack during travel) so I opted for a smaller one. Three pieces per pack costs Php35. At first look, it may look like a piaya (flaky pastry with mung bean filling), but when I took a bite, it was hard but crunchy. A delicacy from Malitbog, Southern Leyte, the filling was simply made of caramelized muscovado sugar. I bought two packs and brought the other one at office for sharing.

Hoping to add more delicacies soon and you’ll have a taste of these, too. Marasa hin duro!