03.24.08

Villa Escudero

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:04 pm by Administrator

Okay, so it’s been almost two months now since I got back from the Philippines, and I still haven’t finished sharing my pictures, ha! So I’m gonna continue a bit before I forget some stuff. Actually, this might be a good time to share this part of my trip because I just finished reading Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. And what a good book it is! The story, and the many other stories within the book were fascinating in themselves, but part of the fun for me was knowing what some of Side’s descriptions were like in actuality. For instance, in one part of the book, the scouts hole up in a nipa hut where they were able to scope out the grounds of the POW prison camp of Cabanatuan. While the nipa hut we stayed in at Villa Escudero is likely not exactly like the one described in the book, it’s a basic nipa hut that is elevated from the ground. Here’s a picture of the nipa hut that was right next to ours.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me back up and start at the beginning. Here is Andrew and me at the front desk where we checked into our hut.

Once we finished checking in, we headed out to the nipa huts on a carabao tram. A carabao is a Filipino water buffalo. This is the common farm animal used for plowing the fields. At the back of the tram were a couple (a man and a woman) who sang Filipino folk songs while the carabao slowly plodded along. This is what the carabao trams looked like.

This was the first time I’d ever had a carabao ride, much less seen a carabao in person. And now after reading Side’s accounts in Ghost Soldiers of how they used carabao to transport the POWs, I can appreciate his descriptions a bit more, particularly when he commented on how slow the animals travel, yet obviously they are quite powerful. I was happy to see that the carabo at Villa Escudero looked in good shape, and not sickly or sad.

Included as part of our package to stay at Villa Escudero were full meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, at the time we checked in and got our bags in our nipa hut, it was time for lunch. So off we went, but not without first running into some of the Villa Escudero residents. Naturally, it was only polite that we had to stop and chit chat.

Lunch was served buffet style at the base of Villa Escudero’s man-made waterfall. Just above this waterfall is a small power plant constructed by Mr. Escudero during the early 1900s. Quite innovative for his time. Here’s a pic of my sister, Andrew, and me at the base of the waterfall.

The lunch was served buffet-style and served on woven plates and banana leaves.  This is what part of the buffet looked like.  There were lots of people in line, so I didn’t want to spend too much time taking pictures lest the hungry mob demolish all the food before I got some, ha!  And since a common style of eating there is “kamayan,” that is, “by hand,” there are also sinks easily accessible to wash one’s hands.

Here’s a pic of what I pigged out on along with a coconut, which isn’t shown in the pic.

I also took a quick shot of my dad’s plate because he had a little more on there that I didn’t take–fried fish (which is a common staple in the Pines) and squash soup.

Here we are at our lunch table.  The picture was taken by my uncle, so he’s not in the shot.  All the tables are set right in the path of the waterfall, so our feet are immersed in water as we eat.

I don’t know why my butt looks so big in the above pic, but I think it must be from all the food we ate, ha ha!

Afterwards, we hiked up, and I tried to grab another carabao ride to get back to our hut.  For some reason, no matter how excited and animated I got, we didn’t seem to get anywhere. . .

Yeah, I know, I know, the reactions I get from foods!

Okay, well, that’s about all for now.  I’ll have to continue with a part 2 for Villa Escudero later.

Toodles,

Marlakins

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