I went to the Philippine’s Grandest Fiesta earlier called the Aliwan Festival in its 7th year. It is held yearly in the CCP Complex vicinity in Pasay city.

It was a wonderful experience seeing contingents from different places around the Philippines joining the streetdance competition and the Grand Parade. Some of the popular ones are the Dinagyang festival dancers from Iloilo, Kadayawan of Davao, Sinulog of Cebu city, Panagbenga Festival of Baguio city and a lot more.

There’s also a Bazaar for the shopaholics, wherein native products from many places are for sale, starting from food, furnitures, accessories, etc..

A near 30-minute drive brought us to Antipolo church Easter Sunday morning. We arrived exactly at the time of Salubong – a Filipino Easter Sunday tradition which celebrates the first meeting of resurected Jesus and his beloved Mother. We have parked exactly near the location of the Salubong reenactment.

After the reenactment, we started walking towards the church following such a huge number of people who attended the mass after.

Hundreds of Sto. Niño made a parade from Buendia cor. Roxas Boulevard to the CCP grounds yesterday. Sto. Niño is a Catholic depiction of the child Jesus. People from different places gathered and brought their own statues of Sto. Niño. There are Sto. Niño dressed as knights, riding in jeepney, dressed as a navy and a lot more.  It was like a street party as people danced their way during the parade while holding their Sto. Niños. I was lucky that my house is just along the area so I went out together with my little kid and my wife to watch it. I took my camera and went for some picture taking.

If you’ll be visiting the Philippines during this month, you’ll probably ending up wet as it is the rainy season. Some good things to do at this moment is to visit Negros Orriental, Albay and Bulacan with their festivals.

At Tanjay, Negros Orriental, they have a twice a year event called “Paaway Sa Kabayo” or horsefight in english. During this event, they held fights among studs to battle supremacy for a lady horse. Around 100 or more horses are being trained the whole year for this exciting event. This is held every July 25th and December 25th of every year.

I have made a quick round up earlier of what I think is the top reasons why one should visit Paradise Philippines. Here’s what came in my list:

Pinoy Food:

• Sinigang – often incorporates stewed fish, pork, chicken, shrimp, or beef and is usually prepared with tamarind, tomato, leek, taro and onion. Other vegetables cooked in sinigang may include okra, spinach, radish, green pepper and string beans.
• Adobo – typically made from pork or chicken or a combination of both. It is slow-cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns, and often browned in the oven or pan-fried afterwards to get the desirable crisped edges.