The Backpack Adventures

Probably the most popular festival in Quezon, San Isidro Pahiyas Festival or more commonly known as Pahiyas Festival is a harvest festival celebrated in the town of Lucban every 15th of May. It is held in honor of San Isidro Labrador who is the patron Saint of farmers.  Pahiyas Festival Pahiyas Festival Details The San Isidro Pahiyas Festival is famously known for houses that are adorned with colorful leaf-shaped decorations called  kiping.  San Isidro Pahiyas Festival 2016 - Lucban, Quezon For those who don't know it yet, kiping is made from rice paste (thus it's edible) and is quite similar to that of a tortilla (even tastes like one). The uniqueness of using kiping as decoration made the festival one of a kind. Aside from that, it adds this Instagram-ready feel to the houses which is an effect that adds promotion to the celebration through social media.  Intro: How to make kiping The word  pahiyas  is from the Filipino word  hiyas  or jewel and when added with t

The sandoricum koetjape  or cotton fruit  is  one of my favorite fruits. This fruit is "lovingly" called  santol here in the Philippines . It's perfect with salt with chopped chili or when you dip it in soy sauce. However, I was surprised to discover that the santol is actually used as the main ingredient in a Filipino dish which is obviously named after the said fruit - sinantolan .   Sinantolan It was during my first day of the Experience Quezon 2016 Media Tour event that I got to see and watch the actual preparation of the dish and not to mention taste it for the first time too. Upon doing research about the dish, I discovered that  sinantolan  is a popular delicacy not only for the province of Quezon but also in the province of Laguna and those provinces in the Bicol Region.  Here's the newly cooked sinantolan ! A must-try! The fresher the better The different ingredients of sinantolan Yummy! Looking at the main ingredients of the dish, it cle

Lemons are uncommon in the Philippines . As a matter of fact, only a handful of farms with lemon trees exists in the country today. The majority of the lemons sold in the market are imported. Well, it is not a big surprise... The demand for lemon fruits surged only recently after the Filipinos were "awakened" to healthy living.  Sagada Lemon Pie House Sagada Lemon Pie House details   Sagada Lemon Pie House - Sagada , Mountain Province That is why it is quite surprising to find a food establishment in the country that is well known for selling lemon pies. What's more surprising is that they are doing this for a decade now... (not to mention, this business is located in the mountainous regions of the Philippines . Ladies and gentlemen... meet the famed lemon pie Our food trip today takes us to the Sagada Lemon Pie House in South Road, Sagada in Mountain Province.  Those wall deco give the place an ethnic feel. Inside Sagada Lemon Pie House Sagada Le mon Pie H

Located in California Village, Brgy. Tuburan, Ligao City in the province of Albay, Kawa-Kawa Hill is a 236-meter landform (hence a hill) that got its name from its unique features. Kawa-Kawa Hill Kawa-Kawa Hill Details The word " kawa " means cauldron in the local dialect. From afar the hill seems like any ordinary hill but when you reach the summit, you'd be amazed to find a six-hectare crater. Kawa-Kawa Hill - Ligao City, Albay What I find interesting in Kawa-Kawa Hill is its Stations of the Cross. Each station has larger-than-life statues portraying the events leading to Christ's final moments. The Stations are lined up in the 500-meter path to the crater then extend up all the way around the 836-meter rim. Kawa-Kawa Hill Stations of the Cross Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5 Station 6 Station 7 Station 8 Station 9 Station 10 I also like the idea that the local government included recreational fa