Free Road Trip to Pampanga

We traveled three and a half hours to have lunch in Pampanga.  By any standard, that's a very long trek (especially during this heavy-traffic season),  just for a meal.  But we could be stubborn.  

Two years ago, we did the same exact thing—to celebrate one occasion which I forget.

What's different about this trip was, JR paid for all the bills, including the toll fees and gas. A free ride is a wonderful thing!

The Province of Pampanga is more popularly known as the culinary capital of the Philippines. It was the capital of the Philippine archipelago from 1762-1764 during the British invasion of Manila and the first Spanish province in 1571. It was originally called "La Pampanga" (Pampang means river bank) by the Spaniards because they found the early settlers there living near the river banks.

As soon as we entered San Fernando (the capital of Pampanga), hundreds of yellow lanterns in the shape of a ribbon lined the streets to greet us.  As in every town we drove by, Pampanga has been decked to celebrate the birth of Grace.

The food at Everybody's Cafe,  as most Filipino food bloggers have written about, was scrumptious.  We had a bottle of buro wrapped up.

Fern salad (left); Crickets, frogs, and pig's ears (right)

For dessert, we traveled through a few more towns to Guagua, where La Moderna (an old, old bakery) which, according to legend, still sells pastries baked with the same exact recipes in the same exact kiln used when it opened in 1947.

On a busy road in the middle of town

Unending goodies . . .

Painstakingly prepared by hand

While there, we peeked into old buildings, including the Guagua Catholic church built in 1661, and a mansion that still looked proud even after a hundred years.

When we got home, we were so bushed and hungry we had to have snacks from a fast food store.  It was like being violently roused from a beautiful dream.