Laguna - a pleasure to embrace!

“Let me take you to Laguna…”

This is the interior of an old church in Paete, Laguna, the carving capital of the country where famous and world class carvings are made.

with my companions ely of palawan and gani of nueva ecija, seems like three is a crowd, ain’t it? hmmm, anyway our background is the grand and fantastic altar of the 400 years old church in Paete.

While this is the exterior of the church, looks really old compared to the interior which is actually renovated

and this is what i told u about Paete, the carvings capital, see what i mean?

behind me is a magnificently and intricately wood carving, a “mananaggal” or a flying scary woman especially during nighttime intends to scare or eat people, well that is actually a part of so many Philippine folklore, nonetheless, the carvings are truly impressive

Laguna remained a religious place which most of Catholicism which obviously carves images of saints just like what is shown in the photo

another wonderful carving creations

In a cool and serene KAPE KESADA. it is a quaint coffee shop-cum-art gallery that showcases the artworks of local painters. The brainchild of dentist and art aficionado Dr. Nilo Vadecantos, kape Kesada is Paete’s first art gallery. Inside the gallery are his precious collections he acquired from his travels anywhere in the world. TRuly a rustic ambience you feel with Kape Kesada, worth visiting.

an oil canvass as our background

then a fine dining in an exotic dining restaurant in Kalayaan, Laguna. How can eating meat of “sawa” (snake) became a fine dining? hmmm try it yourself.

this is what i told you about, THE MEAT OF SAWA, looks delicious, ain’t it? Lemme give you an idea of how it tastes, it doesn’t taste like chicken or pork at all, it’s tastes is unusual, distinct but it’s exotically delicious. My point is, if you don’t know it’s actually a sawa meat, you’ll never mind the taste. Savor it yourself like what we did, and you will see how meats vary from tastes, its truly distinct,ewwww..plus the thorns…

…to eat or not to eat the sawa meat, that is the question..

…and the answer is yes,

a store at the foot of the garden restaurant where you can buy pasalubong for home,

a man-made cave inside the garden restaurant, at the top of it are two big cages where giant snakes lie asleep or awake, i happened to know the one snake named “Samantha”, a tamed one which you can actually cuddle during daytime, we went to the restaurant past 6pm, so we weren’t able to get the chance of cuddling big really big “Samantha”

the exotic dining i told you about….

…in a different angle

and whose gonna miss Lumban, Laguna, the embroidery capital of the Philippines, where famous embroiderers were invited inside and outside the country just to demonstrate embroidery, a very intricate talent to behold, only in Lumban

the making…

..how bout the famous “KESONG PUTI” made up of Carabao’s milk?..hmmm yummy, another Lumban’s pride.

and whose gonna miss PAGSANJAN, with the famous falls hidden by nature?

you thought i’m jailed? no, not really, i just happened to bump a kababayan from Mindanao, a peace keeping officer assigned in Laguna, and how he wants us to talk more but time won’t allow? he says he misses home so much (Mindanao)

…glow in the dark

You’ve seen only a little of what Laguna is. A place of rich heritage and preserved cultures other places in the Philippines should follow. Wanna see more of Laguna, then go, byahe na!