Day 184 - Before the Feast

Lumpia (Filipino egg rolls - yes, they are different from Chinese egg rolls) is one of Cz's favourite foods. Whenever we visit his mom in Virginia Beach, he eats a steady diet of lumpia and marinated pork chops. Before we even arrived in the Philippines, before his mom even left the States to meet us here, he was talking about lumpia. He is finally getting his lumpia.

When we arrived at Auntie T's, Cz's lumpia fixation became kind of a joke. The joke materialized in the form of over 300 lumpia. Early in the morning, Auntie T mixed up a huge vat of filling - ground meat, spices, finely chopped veg, and sausages. Someone else bought the rice-flour wrappers. We then spent the next several hours assembling lumpia. Those of unskilled in the art of the lumpia were relegated to separating the wrappers - rather like separating the layers of filo dough for baking. Those with more skill stuffed, rolled and stacked. By 1Pm we ran out of wrappers, and took advantage of the lull to fry up a few and take a union lunch break.

Cz thought he might be able to down all 300 on his own - he has has been known to consume close to 100 in one weekend, and he's gone over 6 months sans lumpia. He would, however, have to share. Tonight was the Christmas party for Auntie T and Uncle J's employees. (They run the Cagayan distribution center for Coke and San Miguel Beer) As with all good Filipino parties, this one involved a huge feast (for which the lumpia was destined) largely prepared by Auntie T and Cz's mom. Cz and PI wrapped gifts for the employees and their families. PI felt that she should get a cut of the goods based on sheer cuteness. Who were we to argue?

At the party, a photographer wandered through the crowd taking family photos. Cz stood on the balcony above taking long exposures of the crowd in the half-light. A lucky coincidence in timing resulted in Cz's camera and the photographer's shutter going at the same time.

Cz has become fascinated with the long exposure feature on his camera. This fascination results occasionally in 'art shots'. (read: Shots that might not look like any recognizable object, but are pretty neat.) This one is the view out the windshield of the bus to Surigao. After the party, we headed to the bus station to catch night bus to Surigao. We left Cagayan at about 10PM, to arrive in Surigao by 3:30. We crossed our fingers that the buses would be running on time, as we were expected at the Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Rooster). So called because it was scheduled for 4:30AM, the time of the roosters crowing.

These early mornings may seem a little strange, but they make sense. It is HOT midday, so most people are active from about 4AM until 12 or 1PM, then generally don't stir again until 5 or 6PM. Furthermore, most people work 6days a week, or have farms, or otherwise places to be by 7:30-8:00AM. As a result mass, family gatherings, etc are all timed before then. I am having a little trouble adjusting to the schedule, as I am generally annoyed if I have to be out of bed before 7 or in it during the day, but I can't deny the logic.