The Caba Jaunt

by Pearl Ortega 

On Friday,Feb 15, Vic and I took off at about 4:45 am from QC to connect with the rest of the CAFA in Rody's beach house in Caba, La Union, .It was a leisurely drive, but traffic was beginning to build up as we went further up North.You just have to have the Patience with the tricycles weaving in and out before you,my foot also applying the 'brakes' whenever they would cut us but we survived. Since it was early morning, Vic still had his sanity intact. 

Rod was already texting us where we were, around 9am. Bought some boiled corn along the way since we presumed we would be there lunch time. Reached Caba and followed Rod's direction but still missed the road going down the beach. After a while, lo and behold, there it was, the West Philippine Sea, the former China Sea in all its shades and tints of blue and green. Lovely! Rod's place IS also a sight to see. A fusion of Philippine and contemporary design. I guess you have to see it yourself sometime. 

Roberto was already there along with Tong and Rita. They arrived on the 14th, i think, Roberto 13th. So it was a trickle of guests arriving one after the other as we were expecting Alex, Nore, Didi and Emy to follow. Enjoyed the lunch prepared by Belen and her 2 sons, Reese and Christian.Syiempre, punong abala si Rody. Roberto left for Baguio after lunch, Alex arrived and i joined Belen in going to the wet market for our dinner.You wouldnt believe how inexpensive the oysters were,very very fresh, the choice cuts of Tanguigue(fish) which we got to grill and made to' kinilaw'. During dinner, it was decided that we will all go to Vigan the following day and in only one vehicle. Agreed time was 7 for breakfast, take off was 8am. We were all in the van by 9. After the repeatedly "are we there yet?" question for the nth time we finally arrived in Vigan in time for lunch.The guys were made to choose the menu and order. 

While having lunch, we saw 2 funeral hearst complete with fully uniformed marching band each. One looked like cinderella's carriage with flowers pulled by 2 horses, the other one was metal tooled tin and glass so the coffin is visible from the outside, again, drawn by 2 horses. After lunch we entered the Vigan church, for first timers, we suggested that they pray and make 3 wishes. After that we proceeded to the "burnayan" or where the terracotta pots are shaped and formed,then fired.I presume this would be stoneware temperature level .We wanted to buy some but found them too pricey, instead,we walked through the famous Vigan road with the cobbled stones, wanting to see any bargains.I got a folding bamboo serving tray for only P400, a bigger one, tho the strap is leather in Tesoro's would fetch P3,500+. 

There was another church we went to, with a gabled roof and near it , a very old belfry in bricks. Ang ganda! We made our 3 wishes,and lighted candles . We had dinner along the way back to Caba, a joint along the sea where there was live music. We requested for "our" songs but the singer and the piano player were clueless.( mag-request ba naman ng May each day.....). Alex boarded the bus for Manila for an early meeting the following day. 

The guys took their bottle out while feasting on chicharon and talking,talking talking till about past 3 am. We said our goodbyes to Tong and Rita who were suppose to leave by 6am the following day. We woke up at 6am to bid them goodbye anyway. The next day, Sunday,Nore and Didi came but without Emy who was sick. Too bad. We all decided to go to mass : Rod,Didi,Nore,Vic and myself and went to the wet market afterwards . We saw another whole tanigue, got the choice cut again, bought arosep(seaweeds) for salad , and pork, to grill. There was bulalo for soup. After lunch, we needed to power nap that extended from 30mins to more than an hour.We watched the sun go down and it was such a marvelous sight! 

Since Nore and Didi are not going stay overnite, Rod proposed that we go back to Mnla after an early dinner. By 7 pm, we were all ready to go, bidding our ever generous and gracious host goodbye, and planning for the next event. 

It was around 12 am that Vic and i reached QC,and my son had to order pizza because his parents were hungry.However, it was no match to all the natural,bountiful harvest from the sea of La Union. 

Thank you, Caba, for the wonderful experience, bonding with dear friends and partaking of your breathless scenery; thank you very much Rod for your generosity, for making sure that we were comfortable and ok, and most of all thank you Lord that all of us were well enough to savor these pleasures you have made for us to experience 

' May each day.......'
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Editors note:  This issue has no photos.  Go to the CAFA Yahoogroups to see the photos posted by Tong and Rita.