Pancit En Su Tinta Choku

Bernie's

This pancit - stir-fried noodles - has been featured countless times in Philippine published media and television programs that I may not have anything more interesting to say about it.

For those who have come across this only now, this is pancit dyed and flavored with squid ink and soft slices of squid, then topped with fried garlic bits, crushed chicharon, spring onions, and sliced kamias as the souring agent instead of kalamansi. The name means stick noodles in squid ink, from the pidgin Spanish spoken in Cavite City by old-timers.

For those who have read about it and/or come across it on TV, I have news. Asiong's Carinderia, the Cavite City eatery which invented and first sold this dish, closed shop several years ago. A new carinderia, however, has opened its doors and serves almost the exact same menu as Asiong's, including pancit choku, which is referred to as pancit pusit in the menu board behind the display counter. The photo above is the pancit pusit at Bernie's Kitchenette, whose staff told me is owned by a chef friend of  Sonny Lua, Asiong's proprietor. The same staff also told me that Sonny now lives in Silang, Cavite, and has set up a new Asiong's Carinderia there, but that the cook/s at Bernie's are the same as the one/s who used to cook for Asiong's. 

The pancit pusit tasted the same as pancit choku, only that instead of kamias the souring agent used is shredded green mangoes. The carinderia had run out of green mangoes when we ordered, so we were given kalamansi, which I supplemented with the very nice spiced vinegar that's also being sold at the store.

The pancit came to mind because as the kids and I were on our annual  Bisita Iglesia, an officemate called  to ask where she could find the black pancit. I was struck by the term as it was then Black Saturday, more so that we had decided to wear black shirts this year on our pilgrimage. After our survey of six churches in the highlands of Cavite, we decided to push the color motif further and went to Bernie's, to eat black pancit. We deemed it appropriate Lent fare, without meat (we chose to ignore the chicharon which wasn't meat, per se), particularly now that my eldest child is of eligible age for fasting and abstinence. 

Photo of Asiong's pancit choku, with chili garlic in oil, taken five years ago.

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Labahita Bacalao a la Ciudad de Cavite

This is the first time we spent Lent in Cavite that I dropped by the public market during Holy Week. And so it was my first time, after living here for exactly ten years, to see the tumpok of fleshy daing na labahita (salted, sun-dried surgeon fish or unicorn fish) fronting almost every other stall, perfuming the blistery air with their briny scent.

I have an aversion to any fleshy salted dried fish, borne by my having grown up in Pangasinan, a coastal province crisscrossed by rivers, so that there was fresh seafood every day. The only dried salted fish we ate was what we called tuyo, named tunsoy elsewhere in the Philippines, which is a kind of herring that is properly so salty it needs mounds of rice to eat with, but is emaciatedly flat that the flesh is paper thin.

Come to think of it, a visit to the dried seafood stores in Pangasinan would yield mostly emaciated daing - mainly espada (called pingka locally), pusit, dilis. Even tilapia and bangus, and basasong (kalaso), are butterflied before being marinated and sun-dried.

My father once came home with a crate brimming with thickly fleshy dried salted fish after spending a month in Palawan during the early eighties. My mother didn't know what to do with it - she tried frying some, but they were so salty we were gagging on our first bite. I don't know what happened to that crate, it was given away most probably, but possibly thrown away.

Now I know those fish would have been good in ginataan - but in Pangasinan we didn't cook savory dishes with gata, because it is associated with sweet kakanin; or used to flavor vegetable stew - but we have our beloved bagoong for that; or maybe just soaked in water and cooked like any other fish - but we have enough saltiness in our Pangasinense lives.

And so dried, salted labahita did not excite me. Especially since I find the fresh fish somewhat malansa. I just found it curious that there were a lot of them being sold, when I rarely come across the fish, fresh, in my weekend market forays. Of course I made the connection right away, concluding it is a Lent thing in Cavite, and mentioned it to my suki vegetable vendor, who also had labahita among the bilaos of tomatoes and mustard greens and kangkong.

The suki confirmed that labahita is traditional Lent fare in Cavite City, and is cooked bacalao style. Sonny Lua of the legendary but now defunct* eating institution Asiong's Carinderia once mentioned to me and a friend that he makes a mean bacalao. He had left before we could sample it, but now I realize he must be talking about this bacalao, not made with (imported) cod, but with the abundant local labahita.

The suki offered  the daing, and I thought why not. The prospect of cooking bacalao had me, daing aversion or not. And as can be gleaned from the many posts in this blog, I am never one to back out from trying out the local tradition. So  I asked the suki how Cavite cooks its bacalao. I was told just like menudo, with diced potatoes, carrots, garbanzos (chickpeas), bell peppers and cabbage. I asked if it is with tomatoes, just like the original version, and even the menudo, but I was surprised to learn that Cavitenos don't like the taste of tomatoes in bacalao, so no tomatoes or tomato sauce is added.

I said that it is summer, and tomatoes are dirt cheap, and are good with fresh fish. Besides they would do well to counteract the saltiness of the daing. But no, I was admonished, the daing is soaked in water to remove the saltiness, so there is no need to mix in tomatoes. Alright, alright, so I bought a kilo (at P90 per half a kilo), planning to cook half of it without tomatoes, and the other half with tomatoes.

Once I was done with my purchases, the suki took me to the back of the stall to show me a big plastic bag full of bacalao, for lunch and dinner that day, and offered a taste so that I would know how it is like. I had stopped carrying a camera to the market because I have hundreds of food photos I haven't been able to use, but there are many days I deeply regret not being able to record something so compelling. This was one of those days.

I quickly got over the regret, though, and planned to recreate the dish, instead. It was appetizingly yellow, with the addition of atsuete (strained annatto seeds). I was thinking maybe the original dish from which this was based had saffron, of which I had some in my pantry cabinet from a trip to the UAE - I didn't doubt for a second that the Cavite bacalao had Spanish roots, because I've been hearing the fishmongers talk to their customers in pidgin Spanish for years now that it doesn't jolt me anymore - but does not fit into the Lent scheme of things for being so expensive and all. And besides, the lemony hue made me crave for yellow curry, of which I have lots in stock, too.

And it seems I don't know how menudo is cooked Cavite style, because the menudo I know has all ingredients, including the pork and liver, diced, with tomato sauce. The bacalao I ate at the market looked like tuna flakes stir-fried in vegetables, like how it is sometimes served for breakfast at the office canteen. Comfort food during rainy days. On the way home I thought this doesn't augur well for Lenten fasting, what with the salty fish and all needing rice. Lots of it.

I've bought daing in other places, and I've been told an hour's soaking is enough.  My suki at the Cavite market instructed that the labahita be soaked for 1 1/2 hours. I went for two, but while I was stripping and shredding the flesh my son tried a bite, and said it was very salty. I already said I had an aversion to salty fish, hadn't I? I promptly put the shredded fish in a pan full of water and brought it to a brisk boil for several minutes, straining the water afterwards. I stir-fried the lot with a full head of garlic and lots of sliced onions, some biryani and turmeric powder for color, and added the diced vegetables, cooking everything in two cups of water until soft.

I'm afraid I overdid the shredding, or maybe it was too much boiling, which resulted to the fish becoming too mushy. The kids think it's still a bit salty, but I already found comfort in it, even in the midst of all the sultry heat. I'm sure it would be good for Black Saturday, too, reheated, or maybe mixed in scrambled eggs, to go with pan de sal and tsokolate for breakfast. I know, I know - it is luxurious, and does not define Lent eating, at all, but at least I haven't said anything about rice, which still passes for not having a full meal. Oh well, my index fingers and thumbs on both hands ache painfully from all the shredding, not to mention the smell that won't go away. I think it's penance enough.


*As reported by the staff at Bernie's Kitchenette, which serves the same fare as Asiong's, Sonny Lua has transferred to Silang, Cavite, and has set up Asiong's in that town. I haven't verified it, though.

**After a cursory search in the internet I found that the Philippine Daily Inquirer published some years ago a bacalao recipe with tomatoes, also for Lent.


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Advent Crabs

There are blue crabs, and there are red crabs. Even purple crabs. But I have never heard of, nor read about, any violet-legged crabs, let alone see one. 

Until that fateful weekend not too long ago at the Cavite City public market. I was late, as usual - it was already nearing noontime, and there were not that many vendors at the fish and seafood section. Needless to say, there weren't a lot of choices, and not even a tumpok of the ever-present blue crabs.

So this heap caught my eye. Their color was attractive....but not in a crabby sort of way. Violet crabs? I associate that color with sweetness, as in purple yam sweetness - ube. But seafood? Nah.

It was expensive, at Php180 for the entire lot. More expensive than the Cavite City blue crabs. 

But on second thought, they were not - considering the novelty. And because of the cold weather that has uncharacteristically enveloped the holiday season, there had not been a lot of seafood  choices lately. So, on the basis of supply and demand, these were cheap.

But I was on a budget. And, how sure was I that these were edible? Would they taste great? And they weren't moving anymore, so they might not be that fresh. And on, and on, and on. 

But now, no matter how early I go to the market, or how late, I cannot find any violet-legged crabs. No sign of blue crabs, either. 

So I let an opportunity pass me by. Now I will never know how violet-legged crabs taste like. No matter if they taste bland, or bitter, or they might be diarrhea-inducing. I will never know. 

So this is my new year's resolution. I will not skip something, for I might  regret it later. And reviving this blog is part of it, because I have gone around the country twice, some even thrice, over, and have explored several foreign countries in-between, but I have kept all the memories of these trips to myself. Some I have even forgotten about. 

I don't even know if blogging is still relevant these days. But no matter.

So, violet-legged crabs, watch out.

Fishing Village at Island Cove

One of the water parks we had ignored since it opened was Island Cove. We became practically neighbors when we moved to Cavite City seven years ago, as it was just a thirty-minute drive from our residence. But its being located amidst Metro Manila’s sewer that is Manila Bay deterred us from enjoying its attractions.

It was the best place to go to, though, during the holidays when we could not get out of town. I had to spend an inordinate amount of time pep-talking the kids to stop the eeeeewwws and the eeeeewwws, but ultimately they relented upon threat of being left in the house with no food and no adult companion.

But by the end of our stay I could hear no more whining, only requests to extend our vacation, and minute-by-minute queries on when we were coming back. 

The resort shows its age – it looks like it hasn’t been refurbished since opening day – but it adds to the rustic feel, which we generally prefer in our vacation choices. And the water attractions were ideal for my kids’ ages – the slides not too sky-scraping that they’re limited to adults, but lofty enough to make my two older children have the time of their lives and leave me cowering in fear. There is a kiddie wading pool for the six-year old with adequate enticing structures to hold the interest of even the kuya and the ate. And the zoo did not have animals cooped up in demeaning cages, but were rather free to roam in farm-sized corrals.

As to the food, well, we were captives in the resort as there were no restaurants near enough outside to go and have a meal. There were two dining options, Sangley Point, where we had our first meal and the complimentary breakfast, and Fishing Village, where we ate three meals. Prices were not scarily expensive, but still with a premium. Service was fine, though, so it was okay if taken in the spirit of being prepared to spend when on vacation.

Sangley Point offers international fare, while Fishing Village caters to the Filipino palate and offers native Cavite dishes. A major reason why we ate mostly at Fishing Village, apart from the fact that the kids liked the food right on our first meal, was because it was adjacent to the fishing area. There was that relaxing vibe, emphasized by the open-air dining pavilion, benches and wooden tables.

sungkaan

Food was good, by resort standards. Nothing mind-blowing, but familiar, homey fare. Enjoyable was the sungkaan, which was sixteen kinds of pica-pica (finger food) served in the saucer-like wooden contraption for the Filipino game sungka. It was more fit as pulutan, and there were a lot of fishballs and their ilk, which made it pricey for its Php380 tag, but the kids had a lot of fun picking out favorites. 

lechon sa buho

We tried the lechon sa buho, trumpeted as an Island Cove specialty, but we didn’t find it any different from lechon kawali offered elsewhere. Tahong (mussels) must not be overlooked when eating in coastal Cavite, and those cooked in Fishing Village were plump, served in a sizzling plate. There was a dish called hiyas ng Kawit, which we failed to order and I forgot to ask what it was, but the name sounds interesting, so next time that’s the first thing I’m ordering. 

The halo-halo is heavenly eaten on a hot afternoon while waiting for tilapia to bite your bait, relaxing in the shimmering of the waters beyond. Just don’t think what flows into those waters, and a day at Fishing Village is a day well-spent. 

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Island Cove Hotel and Leisure Park
Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite
WebsiteTel. No. (632) 8107878

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Sagobe Cafe at Tanza Oasis

I had taken a long break from work starting a few days before Christmas until the New Year, and I couldn’t sleep thinking about all the places the family and I could go to for a long vacation. But the husband, who was home only on the eve and on the day of both Christmas and New Year and had to work in-between, forbade us to go out of town. So instead of a tan and the general feeling of well-being that comes from a long, relaxing vacation, what I got was an elongated maw which resulted from all the pouting I did.

I understood, of course, that transportation, hotel accommodations and all other travel logistics would be nightmarish during the holidays. Add to that the fact that I would be exposing the kids to unforeseen risks. I had been on travel  the last five weeks prior to Christmas, and I experienced unprecedented difficulties, particularly as the holiday neared.

So as I spent the days pouting, I also tried to look for the silver lining. And found it in the many water parks and resorts that dot the coastal part of Cavite. We neglected these before, preferring those hundreds of kilometers away. But since we were house-chained, and these were just thirty minutes and a ride away, or an hour’s drive at the most, we went on a coastal Cavite resort binge. 

One windy day towards New Year we were looking for a Mount Sea Resort other than the one in the municipality of Rosario, but we couldn’t find it and we ended up at Tanza Oasis resort, which sits alongside the murky and malodorous waters of Manila Bay. And I felt haughty, having proven that I was right, after all, in ignoring these resorts. 

Fortunately there was a surprise silver lining in the form of the newly-opened restaurant that is the in-house dining option at the hotel. The menu is hodge-podge, but all the dishes we ordered were faultless, and can easily rival what’s offered at good restaurants in Manila in terms of quality and taste.

The beef and seafood balls soup was very tasty with the infused sesame oil and caramelized scallions. The beef was tough and could have benefited from an hour more of boiling – this is soup, after all – but we just discarded it and focused on the excellent lobster and crab balls and firm squid balls and the few pieces of baby bok choy. The soup was served scalding hot – which was perfect as it was cold that evening. 

I don’t like eating rice grains that are durog, especially when they are used in fried rice. Broken rice grains  emphasize their shortcoming when fried because then they cannot stick together like when they are steamed. This is the fault that I found in the yin-yang fried rice.  However, the two sauces that thickly topped the fried rice more than amply covered the deficiency. The spinach sauce had plump fresh shrimps barely cooked, while the sweet-sour facet of the chicken sauce made it enjoyable to eat.

The salmon belly were fried perfectly, and the accompanying spiced vinegar dip served nicely to cut the richness of the fish’ belly fat. All in all we had a very good, rounded meal, and it was impressive for a first time in a new restaurant. Service was also good –there were only two tables occupied the time we dined as it was an odd hour, and there was only one server, but we were given ample service. So I will not be found cavorting in the waters of Tanza Oasis, but I will surely go out of my way to eat here again.

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Tanza Oasis Hotel and Resort
Km. 41, A. Soriano HighwayBarangay Capipisa EastTanza, Cavite
Website

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Kipil

I go to the market every weekend, stocking up on fish and vegetables for the next seven days as I work during weekdays. I buy what is in season and what is abundant during my market days. Sometimes a variety of fish overflows all the bins that it sells so cheap, and I am prevailed upon to bring home kilos of it. This is why my husband buys me large two-door refrigerators with huge freezers (we've moved residence from one city to another a total of four times ever since we got married, leaving each ref each time to buy a new one).   

When a fish is  at a particularly give-away price and my suki fishmonger tells me to buy two kilos, I roll my eyes and ask what will I do with all those fish shivering rock-hard in my freezer? And each time, I extricate a precious nugget of information on the stand-bys of local cooking.

One that's repeated itself is this - buy kipil, and make pangat. I've had this advice for those pretty in pink dalagang-bukid, and for small round scad, allegedly the "real" galunggong, called galunggong lalaki in Cavite City.

And what is kipil? It is pronounced maragsa, accent on the second syllable. I've only seen kipil in Cavite City and nowhere else, but I'm sure every Filipino and most Southeast Asians are familiar with it. For it is not known by that name, and is not used like this.

For kipil is the flesh of peeled ripe tamarind, or sampalok, lumped into a stony, sticky, gooey bronze mound that survives in open air throughout the year. This is the same ripe fruit made into those stony rolls of sweetened tamarind sporting cubed crystals of salt. Green, unripe tamarind is also sold when in season, but for sinigang. The kipil is more common, and is for pangat.

When I was new in Cavite City I was curious, but wasn't baffled, thinking Tagalogs like slightly sweetened dishes, having tasted their nilaga with corn or saba, or adobo with caramelized sugar. I was thinking, of course, about those sweet tamarind rolls.

Two fish vendors had two methods of using kipil - the one selling dalagang-bukid said to wash the handful of kipil, and top it on fish boiling in water seasoned with soy sauce, onions and peppercorns. The galunggong vendor instructed me to manually dissolve the kipil in a pot of water and strain it into the fish, adding the soy sauce, onions and peppercorns and boiling like in adobo.

I am a Pangasinense, so I had to add a thumb of ginger peeled and diced, like we do with all dishes we cook. I tried both methods, and found that the dalagang-bukid version is tailored for that delicate fish. 

I prefer the galunggong way, though, as it imbues the fish, and the sauce, with the sourness of the tamarind that wakes up that collective national liking for tart dishes. But both kinds of fish do not lend very well to long cooking, disintegrating into spiny bones.

So I went out of my way and tried kipil with tulingan, which is ever-present in the public market at stable prices. Tulingan, after all, is famous in that Batanguena dish that stews seven hours in a pangat using dried kamias. Its firm flesh and thick bones are ideal for long stewing, absorbing flavors like sponge.

So I am now partly indoctrinated into Cavite cooking, but like most cuisines, my kipil dish is an inter-marriage of regional methods and ingredients. What I can't get over, though, is the intense sourness of the kipil. I grew up eating sweetened sampalok, after all, and I am psyched to expect that if it is dyed bronze it must be sweet. So while I was stewing the kipil and found it to be not a tad sweet I had to add a spoonful of sugar. It didn't really turn out to be a sweetened pangat, but it cut the sourness somewhat. And I found that I can be a Tagalog, too. 

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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Kawit

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St. Mary Magdalene Parish Church

Km. Post 23, Tirona Highway, Wakas, Kawit, Cavite

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One of the oldest churches in the Philippines, the original church in Kawit is still almost intact. Built in 1638, its facade and thick walls are made of red brick. Thick stone buttresses projecting from the outer walls on both sides of the church reinforced it so it was untouched by the earthquakes that ravaged other old ones in the country. 

Among all the churches in coastal Cavite, only the St. Magdalene church is adorned with stations of the cross rendered in stained glass, that serve as the center point of the glass windows all around the outer walls. 

The church is open only during mass (6AM, 4:30PM, 6PM daily) owing to past thefts. 

Historical Significance

The Kawit church was where the first Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo was baptized. His birth certificate is on display in the museum at the back of the church.

A stone's throw away, back a few hundred meters, is the Aguinaldo shrine, where the Philippine flag was first raised upon the declaration of Philippine independence from Spanish rule, on June 12, 1898. It is just the original place, though, since the building, which was the ancestral house of the family of former president Aguinaldo, has since been enlarged, and presently sports pink painting including its perimeter walls. Inside, turn of the century spacious dining and receiving areas have thankfully been preserved, including the thick narra furniture.  

Pit Stops

- Just before the turn to the Aguinaldo shrine is Neng's Bibingka, serving thick, galapong bibingka that's as big as platters.

- A few meters from the church, across the road, is a milk tea counter inside an internet gaming station. The drinks at Milk 'n Tea Way are unimpressive, but the rock salt & cheese iced dark chocolate is remarkable, and I'd like to go back for the caramel variant.

- The Tirona Highway, on which the Kawit church is located, turns left then right and becomes the Magdiwang Highway on the way to the adjoining town of Noveleta. Here is where the original Josephine's restaurant is located, amidst fishponds. 

- Just before the Kawit fire station is the Japanese restaurant Sasahama, frequented by Japanese investors in the locators at the Cavite Export Processing Zone. 

Directions

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From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Bacoor

About 6 kilometers south-southwest

By Private Vehicle

- Turn right from the church and go along the street, turning right at the rotonda in Mabolo - marked Freedom Park Bacoor - onto Tirona Highway. Go straight until the right turn at Gahak in Kawit, which circumscribes the Aguinaldo shrine. The church is right at km. post 23, after the right turn from the shrine.

By Public Transportation

- On the street in front of the Bacoor church, flag a jeep going to Binakayan. Get off at the Mabolo rotonda (Freedom Park Bacoor), and there board a baby bus going to Cavite City. Ask to  be let off at the Kawit church.   

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From Manila

By Private Vehicle

- Kawit is 23 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), and the Tirona highway. At the junction just out of Cavitex turn right onto Tirona Highway, skirting the Aguinaldo House, then right to Wakas. The church is on the right side just at the km. post 23. 

By Public Transportation

- Air-conditioned buses with the signboard Cavite City get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning  to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex, and the Tirona highway. The buses pass right by the Kawit church.  

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The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia

St. Michael the Archangel Church, Bacoor
Holy Cross Church, Noveleta
San Roque Church (Shrine of the Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga), Cavite City
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Rosario
Santa Cruz Church, Tanza

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church, Naic

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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Noveleta

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Holy Cross Parish Church
Noveleta, Cavite

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The Catholic church in Noveleta is the newest among all the seven churches in this series, being only about 75 years old. It is relatively small, its size and cozy, homey, modernist feel more apt for a village chapel than the impersonal detachment of a parish church.

Historical Significance

About ten meters back from the Noveleta church, in front of the public market, is the former Noveleta tribunal, preserved from the 19th century. It is historically significant for the entire province, for this was where Gen. Pascual Alvarez of the Sangguniang Magdiwang killed the captain and adjutant of the town's Guardia Civil. Their soldiers were taken as prisoners by the Magdiwang rebels. This event jump-started the indio rebellion in  Cavite,  responsible for making the province eternally shining on the Philippine flag as one of the sun's eight rays. 

Pit Stop

About 250 meters before the town proper, right at the foot of Noveleta Bridge and just before km.post 27 is a restaurant that was built to pay homage to historic Cavite and the Philippine Revolution. Various historical knick-knacks repose on its walls, and its signature dishes were named after the major personalities in the fight for freedom. A large patio hosting landscaped gardens is an inviting  place to take a breather before the next leg of the journey.

The menu, though, is mostly European, the local country only scantily represented. But the few Pinoy  dishes are all worth checking out, particularly the tuka turmeric, thinly sliced stingray in a thick stew dyed with luyang dilaw and liberally sprinkled with chopped red sili.

Directions

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From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Kawit

About 4.2 kilometers south-southwest

By Private Vehicle

- Turn right from the church and go along the highway. After the Noveleta town hall turn left at the corner where GSIS Family Bank is, into the alley going to the public market and the two-storey former Noveleta tribunal, then turn right. The church will be a few meters on.  

By Public Transportation

- At the waiting shed in front of the Kawit church along the Tirona Highway flag a baby bus whatever its signboard is. Get off at the junction after the Noveleta town hall and cross the road into the alley at the right side of the town hall, at the corner of which is the GSIS Family Bank. Walk on, turning right after the tribunal museum. The church is at the right side.   

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From Manila

By Private Vehicle

- Noveleta is about 27 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. At the junction just out of Cavitex turn right onto Tirona Highway, skirting the Aguinaldo House, right then left then right again onto Magdiwang Highway and on to Noveleta. After the Noveleta town hall turn left at the corner where the GSIS Family Bank is, passing through the public market and the tribunal museum. Turn right and watch out for the church a few meters on, on the right side. 

By Public Transportation

- Air-conditioned buses with the signboard Cavite City get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning  to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex, and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. Get off in front of Mercury drug store/Shell gas station, when the bus conductor shouts "Noveleta!" Walk a few meters on towards the Noveleta town hall on the left, passing by Jollibee then 7-11 to the right. Cross the road towards the right side of the town hall onto the alley where GSIS Family Bank sits in the corner. Turn right after the tribunal museum and walk on a few meters towards the church, which is on the right side. 

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The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia

St. Michael the Archangel Church, Bacoor
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit
San Roque Church (Shrine of the Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga), Cavite City
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Rosario
Santa Cruz Church, Tanza

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church, Naic

Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Cavite City

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San Roque Church

(Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga Shrine) 

Burgos Avenue, Cavite City

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The San Roque church is a work in progress. The outer walls' stained glass windows have just recently been unveiled. The church was established more than three hundred years ago and has undergone numerous renovations and refurbishings since then. Its facade and bell tower can be seen from many points along the way on the road to the city, from as far as Coastal Road.

The San Roque church hosts the more than four-hundred-year old painting of the Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga,  known to be to the oldest Marian painting in the country today. It used to send off galleons going to Mexico during the Manila-Acapulco trade.

The devotion to the Marian image became encompassing that it was recognized not only as the patroness of Cavite City but also of the entire province of Cavite. Long lines of local residents paying their respect to the image form after masses, and buses of pilgrims crowd the avenue fronting the church on feast days and during Lent. 

Historical Significance - Cavite City
The city was founded more than four hundred years ago. It had been a significant ship port since the Spanish colonial times. Two galleons used for the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade were built at the Cavite City shipyard in the early 1600s. Two forts were also built, one of which now serves as a Philippine Navy base (Fort San Felipe). The city functioned as the provincial capital during the first half of the 20th century. The Americans established the Naval Station Sangley Point after World War II, which was heavily used as a take-off point during the Vietnam War. Sangley Base was turned over to the Philippines in the early 1970s, and is now operated by the Philippine Navy (Naval Base Heracleo Alano) and Philippine Air Force (Danilo Atienza Air Base).

Pit Stops
- Aling Ika's Carinderia, at the public market, for an incomparable bibingkoy.
- Dizon's Bakery, along Burgos Avenue near Jollibee for distinctly southern Tagalog tamales, pre-war cookies kenkoy, and the Cavite fresh cheese kasilyo.
- Asiong's Carinderia, on Paterno Street at the back of BPI on Burgos for pancit choko en su tinta, tamarind jam, buko-pandan salad and  seafood adobo cooked Cavite style.
- Samala, on Padre Pio Street, for bibingkang Cavite, sapin-sapin, and pichi-pichi.
- Asao, along Burgos Avenue near McDonald's, for pancit puso.
- Fresh tahong and oysters lining the road just outside the Naval Base Heracleo Alano in Sangley Point.

Directions

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From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Noveleta

About 7 kilometers north-northeast

By Private Vehicle

- Go back to the junction and go straight onto the Manila-Cavite Road. At McDonald's Cavite City turn right onto Burgos Avenue. The San Roque church is about 1 1/2 kms. away. 

By Public Transportation

- Walk back to the junction and board a baby bus with the signboard Cavite City. Get off  in front of Mercury Drugstore, before the bus turns right to the Cavite City public market,and walk along Burgos Avenue. The church is about 200 meters on.   

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From Manila

By Private Vehicle

- Cavite City is about 33 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. At the junction just out of Cavitex turn right onto Tirona Highway, skirting the Aguinaldo House, right then left then right again onto Magdiwang Highway and on to Noveleta. After the Noveleta town hall turn right onto the Manila-Cavite Road. Stay on this road entering the Cavite City arch and passing the Julian Felipe marker to the left. At McDonald's turn right onto Burgos Avenue. The church is about 1 1/2 kms. on. 

By Public Transportation

- Air-conditioned buses with the signboard Cavite City get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning  to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex, and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. Get off at McDonald's Cavite City and board a jeep going either to PN or San Antonio. Both passes by the San Roque church.

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The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia

St. Michael the Archangel Church, Bacoor
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit
Holy Cross Church, Noveleta
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Rosario
Santa Cruz Church, Tanza

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church, Naic

Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Naic

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Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

P. Poblete Street, Naic, Cavite

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The parish church in the municipality of Naic is the largest church in the province of Cavite, and the only one built in the Neo-Gothic style. It was one of the jubilee churches in Cavite during the last Jubilee Year (2000).

It was unfortunate that when we got there the facade was undergoing a facelift, covered in a spiderweb tangle of scaffoldings. But the convent, to the church's right side, and its maginificent courtyard more than made up for our disappointment.  

The convent, or at least the dining and receiving areas, had large capiz windows that were opened to let in the brisk breeze. Looking inside and seeing the waxed hardwood floors and the heavy narra furniture I felt transported to the time of panuelos and karitelas drawn over cobblestone streets.

In this convent was written the  morally instructive book Urbana at Felisa (p. 1864) by the former parish priest Modesto De Castro. The book was celebrated in its time, and affords present readers with a look into nineteenth century societal structures.

The colossal stone blocks making up the outer walls belie the church's age, having been built by the Dominicans in 1796. A patio is lined with meditation benches, and surrounded by bas reliefs of all the mysteries of the holy rosary. All around flowering ornamentals explode in a riot of vibrant colors, growing lush in an arbor shading a walkway. Mayas dive and lunge from the roof, unmindful and unafraid, their ceaseless chattering joining the pigeons and hens with their broods in a rupture of joyful clamor.  

Inside the church beautiful stained glass windows adorning the walls all around let in light, highlighting the elegantly carved wooden altars in the sanctuary and both sides of the transept.  The reason why this is a piligrimage church need not be explained to me - I would make the journey to experience again the serenity I felt inside the church and in the convent patio.

*With a clean public CR at the convent patio.

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Historical Significance

Casa Hacienda de Naic (beside the church)
- where Andres Bonifacio was tried and imprisoned
- where Emilio Aguinaldo designed his flag "Sun of Liberty," and when he became the first president this is where he established the four departments of his cabinet.

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Pit Stop

Across the covered court are refreshment carts selling Naic's muche, neon orange-hued thick discs of fried rice dough filled with sweetened mashed mung beans (monggo). Nice afternoon crispy treat newly fried, but the dough tends to harden after a few hours.

Directions

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From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Tanza

About 13 kilometers south-southwest.

By Private Vehicle

- From the gate of the Tanza church turn right onto San Agustin Street to go back to Antero Soriano Highway, passing by Felipe Calderon Elementary School and the Tanza National Comprehensive High School, and an Iglesia ni Cristo church.Turn right at the junction where Mc Donalds is across the street, then go straight along the highway, and onto the Naic-Ternate Road. The church is beside a covered auditorium/basketball court.

- By Public Transportation

Walk to the town plaza in front of the Tanza church and flag a jeep with the signboard Bacao-Binakayan, or a baby bus with the signboard SM Rosario/Cavite City, or tell a tricycle driver to take you to where you can catch a ride to Naic. Get off at Antero Soriano Highway (on the same side as Jollibee/Lots'a Pizza/Puregold, across the road from McDonalds), and flag a bus with the signboard Naic/Ternate/Maragondon. Towards Naic buses turn left at the junction by a Petron gas station. Get off at Petron, then board a tricycle for Naic church.

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From Manila

By Private Vehicle

- Naic is 47 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), Centennial Road (EPZA Diversion Road), and the Antero Soriano Highway.

By Public Transportation

- Air-conditioned buses with signboards Naic/Ternate/Maragondon get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio), traversing Taft Avenue, turning to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex and the Antero Soriano Highway. Get off at the fork to the Naic poblacion by a Petron gas station, then board a tricycle for the church. 

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The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia
St. Michael the Archangel Church, Bacoor
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit
Holy Cross Church, Noveleta
San Roque Church (Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga Shrine), Cavite City
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church, Rosario
Holy Cross Church, Tanza