Soaring into the sky on an ultralight plane

Yesterday would have been an ordinary day to most of us ...but not for me.... yesterday, I rode an ultralight airplane and flew close to Mount Arayat, Rio Chico, the Bamban River where the lahar deposits from Mount Pinatubo passed and the Cong Dadong Dam in Arayat. How did that happen?? Iggy had a pre-nup photo shoot in Pampanga and the couple wanted something different... Iggy suggested having a prenup shoot aboard the ultralight plane... When Iggy asked me to go with them... I immediately asked if I COULD RIDE one of the planes... when he said YES.... I immediately packed my gear ( camera and lens ) and off we went to Pampanga. On our way to Pampanga -- I was hoping that it would stay sunny till the mid afternoon.

that's my pilot, Boy Guevarra..

When we arrived at the Angeles City Flying Club, I immediately went to the front office where I had to register and sign a waiver. After inquiring about the prices, I met Max ( Boy ) Guevarra, who was the head flight instructor. I got more excited when I found out that he was going to be my pilot!!! Great!!! I asked him about the terrain --- I explained to him that I was there as a photographer and I was after landscapes, etc. I asked Boy where he was going to take me... Feeling satisfied with all his explanations on our flight plan, he took me around to  be able to take some photos of the other planes they had. I told him I was not new at this sport since I had flown on a microlight plane last December in Chiang Mai, Thailand. More or less, I knew what to expect. The only thing I requested was an ultralight that had no protective covering ( like the windshield ) in front of me and if I could ride on a ultralight that had seats that had seats side by side...

As I walked around with Boy--- he started giving a brief background about the Angeles Flying Club.

Pampanga's Native Kakanins at Susie's and Nathaniels

Just like any typical tourist who would want information on recommended places or restaurants when they visit a specific town, I would always rely in getting these valuable information on where to go and eat from my Kapampangan friends. I am sure you ( like me ) would want to have an idea on which food store to visit for pasalubongs.

One of the famous kakanin stores I would hear from my friends was SUSIE'S CUISINE. Lulu, my friend, would enumerate all her favorite kakanins at Susie's, I wanted to try out the kakanins myself and choose which ones I liked best. Since I was in Pampanga for a culinary  food tour and Susie's was one of our stops--- I could not wait to get there. I wanted to check out Susie's Cuisine ( known to be the best in Pampango kakanins ) to get of my own picks of some of the favorite kakanins of the Kapampangans cooked the Susie's Cuisine way.

A Culinary Tour to Prado Farm

Pampanga has always enjoyed the title " The Culinary Center of the Philippines". Pampanga cooking always manages to concoct up its own version of the latest food craze, and often they end up being better because of its use of native ingredients.  Pampanga is widely acknowledged to possess exceptional cooks and Kapampangan cuisine... some of the well-known chefs are Claude Tayag and Abe Cruz. Pampanga cuisine is highly regarded as one of the most delicious cuisine in the Philippines. Their dishes are highly flavorful and true to themselves. Their secret??? it's the slow cooking method they use when they prepare their dishes. They do not make shortcuts when they cook.

I have joined 2 culinary tours to Pampanga and in those tours --- the food served to us was always superb. Some of their cuisine which I really enjoyed were SISIG - which were made out of pork cheeks, grilled to a crunchy perfection, chopped into tiny bits mixed with chicken liver, onions, calamansi and small red peppers which we call labuyo, PINDANG DAMULAG - which is sweet cured pork or carabeef,  BURONG TALANGKA - which comes from the fat of salt-preserved little crabs, BALO-BALO - which is fermented rice with small shrimps, and BETUTE - stuffed frogs. If you decide to go on one of these culinary tours...I would adviseyou to skip your breakfast and save it for the sumptuous meals you will be tasting on the culinary tours.

San Guillermo Church in Bacolor Pampanga

It was once the largest church in Pampanga.The San Guillermo Church was devastated by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in October 1, 1995. Now seen as half-buried under tons of lahar. We entered the church thru the windows of the church and saw the fully restored retablo which were patiently dugged up by the residents of Bacolor and restored to their original splendor...

Have you tried EVERYBODY'S Cafe in Pampanga????

We arrived in Pampanga at 8:30am and our first stop was EVERYBODY'S CAFE in San Fernando. We were greeted by one of the owners of the place, Miling Manalastas, and as a welcome treat she served us hot chocolate which was prepared the old fashion way... stirred with a batirol.....her chocolate was unlike the chocolate we have in manila... it was a mixture of cocoa and pounded peanuts... different flavor indeed!!! it was paired of with their suman ( sticky rice slightly sweetened ) and Tamales. Tamales, is one of the many delicacies in pampanga. Unlike our foreign counterparts ( the spanish and the mexican tamales), our tamales is made of steamed ground brown and white rice , coconut milk, ground peanuts, slivers of chicken and topped with a slice of salted duck egg then wrapped in steamed banana leaves. This dish can be eaten any time of the day... I'd rather have my tamales for breakfast.. Other dishes served was the Rebuelto ( otherwise known as the pampanga torta ), Langonisa ( which was sweet not garlicky taste of other provinces ), Pindang Damulag ( that is Tapang Carabeef or Carabao meat ), Batuteng Tugak ( deep fried stuffed frogs ) which tasted like chicken, Camaru ( crispy crickets ) and Morcon.

Claude Tayag's 5 hour Lunch

.. the 5 hour lunch at Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung in Angeles City. His restaurant is located at Villa Gloria Subdivision. This is a gated community but his place stands out from all the other houses in that area.... It is very rustic inspired. His house cum restaurant and atelier is also located here. I was lucky enough to enter his little gallery to see his paintings and artworks.. His property is filled with his Scupltures ( he uses materials, like old wood which comes from salvaged churches and old homes), ikebana plants and lots of greeneries. Claude, in case you haven't heard of him is considered one of the " MUST SEE and TRY when you are in Pampanga "... SEE his artworks and TRY his cuisine.... but a word of advise... IF you plan to try his cuisine.... be prepared for a long leasurely lunch and come with an empty stomach. Claude prepares all his dishes ... he never delegates this task to anyone.

We were welcomed by Claude and his wife, Maryann as we disembarked from our bus and given a welcome drink of cold dalandan juice with moscovado ice ( this is moscovado sugar crushed and mixed with water and poured into the ice cube tray and left to harden in the freezer )... I found out that this moscovado ice is very good for ALL types of FRUIT drinks... you don't have to sweeten your juice just put 2 cubes of moscovado ice into your glass... This fruit cooler was so good that i had to have another then another glass while enjoying my meal. Another innovative thing i noticed was the rolled FROZEN white face towels which they gave us... and Maryann showed us how to use it.... in order to keep cool from the sweltering pampanga sun!! surprisingly... it kept me feeling cool ! This i thought was a very nice idea!! FROZEN rolled face towels!!

Slowly the meal started..... we had appetizers of different Claude 9 dips ( pesto, balo balo - which is fermented shrimps on rice , and PURE taba ng talangka - crab fat ) with crackers.

Here are the 5-ways to cook Lechon: ( which was the highlight of our meal )

** Skin - it was neatly carved like the way they serve the peking duck in chinese restaurants... and served with Claude's secret lechon sauce.
** Pritchon - this is lechon meat twice cooked till it is crispy and served with condiments like kimchi, tomatoes and onions and wansuy. You have to neatly pile it up on a soft tortilla and wrap it like a burrito..
** Sinigang na Lechon with a twist - unlike all other sinigangs i have tasted wherein the soup is either sampaloc or guava-based, Claude used freshly picked kamias to make the soup broth sour. Then he added the lemon-grass stalks
( which were found inside the stomach of the lechon ) for added flavor. Since the lechon has a distinctive flavor and it is already cooked this dish is easier to make. NO need to boil for long hours in order to make the meat tender. What one has to notice is the delectable flavor of the broth...
** Grilled lechon ribs - served with mini eggplants stuffed with tomatoes and onions and topped with a slice of red egg.
** Asado na lechon - Claude used the hind part of the lechon's legs. This was cooked the western way. It was served with caramelized carrots, stringbeans and tiny potatoes.

Abe's Farm in Candaba, Pampanga

Next stop... Abe's Farm...It is a nurture Spa owned by the late Larry J. Cruz. It is located at the foot of a dormant volcano Mt. Arayat in a town called Magalang in Pampanga. It is not only a Spa but boasts of good Capampangan cuisine for lunch... We also had merienda here ... they served us pancit palabok and fried lumpiang ubod which i mistook for turon na saging..

The famous CAMARU ( crispy crickets ).. I have tried this dish but since i am not that much of a fear factor wannabe... i did not like it while the others thought it was very good!!

the Fern Salad - otherwise known as PAKO SALAD...

the interiors of Abe's Farm