The Road to Happiness

The candles of my cousin’s birthday cake had been lit. After the birthday song was sang, the celebrant blew out the candles.  Good wishes were expressed and slices of cake passed around the table.

At the main table sat my mother, her two sisters, her cousins and a couple of nieces—me included. Over cups of coffee, the past was revisited. Of people long gone, of places close to the heart and road trips experienced. 

I could feel the wishful longing for adventure.  So I did what any good daughter/niece would do. I volunteered to work out the logistics.  Boy, how eagerly they grabbed at the opportunity, afraid I would quickly change my mind.

And like any good tour operator, I got some paper and a pen and asked what exactly they had in mind. After the initial excitement eased up, I gathered the following:

-          -a drive to a destination they have yet to visit

-         - a day trip with the promise to return to the comfort of their own beds

-         - a safe route (we were to use two vehicles)

-          -a reasonable and shared budget to cover for fuel and good food

In less than 15 minutes, it was settled. On an agreed date, we were going to Oslob: whale shark territory. In order to make good time on the road, it was agreed to be on the road by 5:30am. And if all went well, we should be back home by 8 in the evening.

As we said our good-byes, the room was electrified with the energy and excitement given off by my very senior citizen tour group.

But as fate would have it, I developed lower back pains three days prior to our tour date.  It had been a while since I had experienced such pain. It was difficult getting in and out of bed. How much more enduring a long three hour drive— one way.  

There was only one thing to do. Tell the truth about my incapacitated state  but not without offering a better option. I could not bear to let my “tour group” down.

With every phone call to each member of the group to explain and to push for a change of plans, my confidence grew strong that all will go well inspite of the new itinerary and my condition.

---xoxoxox---

There are four components to a good travel experience.

First is an insightful cultural feel of the place and people. 

And what better way than to start with attending the 11AM mass at the Sto Nino Basilica.   Mass was in the Cebuano dialect.  We were all from Cebu but nevertheless it felt good to be in touch with that spiritual side of our culture.  Members of my elderly group were happy to start on the right spiritual direction.  They were all perky from not having to wake up too early and be given the chance to pay their respects to the Child Jesus. After mass, my group, in a leisurely pace, moved on to light candles for their intentions.

A second component to a happy travel experience is delicious food.

We then made a short stop at La Fortuna Bakery located beside the exit gate of the church.  The bakery is a Cebuano institution for hopia, mamon, tikoy, masie and other Chinese bakery delights.

Next stop was lunch at the new Lantaw Retaurant along the boardwalk of the new South Road Project.  As promised, I brought them to a place none of them had been to.  

Best of all, we enjoyed the delicious and sinful menu of local dishes: crunchy fried baby shrimps, battered squid rings, grilled tuna belly, baked scallops in butter and cheese, fried pork belly, some pancit and lots of rice.  The tuna was added to give a semblance of a healthy diet.  I made sure the group had taken their meds for hypertension, cholesterol and diabetes. So we were safe to indulge.

We capped the meal with fried banana and bibingka (rice cake) both served with ice cream.  The opportunity to see the whale sharks seemed to pale in comparison after the sumptuous lunch. 

It was hard to push ourselves off our chairs and into the vehicles for our next destination.  But stories of how wonderfully beautiful it was got my group on their feet.  A destination of flower beds amidst rolling terrain and cool mountain breeze now danced in our heads. 

Up came the third element of a good travel experience: awe-inspiring wonderment.

As traffic was moving, we reached our destination in less than an hour and a half. Busay.  Cebu’s long kept secret garden tucked in the mountains.  

With the opening of the transcentral highway, traveling to these parts of Cebu is no longer difficult. The secret is out as can be apparent with housing developments and restaurants along the way.  The view is breath taking whether looking down towards the city or looking away at the mountains yet to be traversed.

And of course we had to stop at the plant stalls lining the road.  

We must have spent a good hour just going up and down the road to check the offerings of each stall owner. These owners were pleasant and eager enough to give the names and care instructions of a particular plant we fancied.

Flowers can be so mesmerizing.  I had to stop myself from going overboard with my plant purchases.

But there’s more to Busay than just flowers. There’s an abundance of farm produce.  At the time, corn was being harvested. Huge calderons were used to boil these sweet corn. No one would have guessed we had a heavy lunch from the number of boiled corn we consumed.  

There were mounds of peanuts, camote, and gabi.  There were papaya, bananas, tomatoes and green onions. 

Here was the final fourth element to a successful travel experience: shopping. 

Everyone in the group loaded up on these produce and had something to bring home besides stories.

The sun was now setting as we reluctantly headed for home.   

Along the way, school children were making their way home as well.

We spotted several trucks precariously loaded with passengers, vegetables and fruits were going down to the city.

In the vehicle with me was my mother and her sister. They gushed about what they had experienced in such a short a time.  Imagine, no need to wake up early, no need to get into the water and best of all, the chance to return home in time for an early dinner.

That day, the whale sharks took a back seat.  My back pain had become a blessing in disguise.

----xoxoxox----

Camote or sweet potato can be served in many delectable ways. You can simply wash then boil and eat it straight including its peel. Just like potatoes, camote can be sliced in a variety of ways and fried. A sprinkle of sugar makes it even more appealing. As with this earlier blog post on Binyolos. 

Now I recently learned of another tasty way of enjoying this versatile crop. If you like linupak or linusak na saging, you will more than like linupak na Camote (or Camote-pak, as we fondly call is at home). 

Linupak means to pound.  Usually, green bananas or cassava are boiled first.  Then the peel is removed and the banana or cassava is placed in a husong or a very large wooden mortar and pestle.  The banana is then pounded to a very soft consistensy.  Coconut and sugar are then added and incorporated into the banana by pounding.

With camote, preparation is not as difficult as the boiled and peeled camote can easily be mashed with a fork.  Sugar and bits of grated coconut is then added— the amount depends on preference. 

The mixture is shaped with the use of an ice cream scooper or a small plastic cup.  More coconut and sugar can be added on top.

Yes, there is a purple variety of camote

How’s that for a culinary experience? Surely, once tried, your road to happiness will be paved with smiles.