the one with the roads and a comforting meal

My brother Bot (He's my eldest Kuya but we don't use Kuya in the family so I call him by his nickname - Bot) and I went to Lucena City last Wednesday because daddy's pinakamamahal na kababata passed away - Msgr Pedro "Pete" Urtola. Daddy asked us to go and pay respects. Well, that's how things are in our family. Since Mame and Daddy went abroad, we became the official representatives of the Vergara-Urtola family during this kind of events. There are lots of get togethers aka happy occasions that our family missed out - reunions, Christmas and New Year holidays, birthdays, graduation - at ok lang kay daddy kung hindi kami nakakapunta sa mga ganung okasyon pero kapag "patay" na ang pinag-uusapan, ayaw ni daddy na hindi kami pupunta.

Dahil day trip lang ito, hindi naman ako masyado um-effort ng pasyal. I just want to enjoy the scenery, the travel.


So here are lots of road shots..

 

Bakit ba, merong nagtitinda ng pakwan sa tabi ng kalsada no kaya road shot parin to J

WELCOME LUCENA! J

St Ferdinand Cathedral

Pagkatapos ng lahat ng kaganapan sa Bishop Alfredo Maria Obviar Bldg katabi ng St Ferdinand Cathedral kung saan nakalagak si Msgr Pete, sabi ko sa kapatid ko na kumain kami ng first and last meal sa Lucena, sa Antigua Restaurant along Quezon Ave, City Proper.

Unang beses akong kumain dito nung 2009. Kami lang ng daddy ang umuwi ng Atimonan (Quezon) noon at bago kami dumiretso ng uwi ng Maynila, idinaan nya muna kami sa Lucena para kumain lang. Sabi ng daddy, nakakain na daw ako doon nung bata ako. Siguro sa sobrang bata, hindi ko na maalala. 

The restaurant is known for their Chami sa tasa - as in halos kasing dami lang ng isang maliit na mangkok o tasa ang isang order. When daddy and I ate there, we just order the chami sa tasa and sago gulaman but my brother and I had big meal since it was our first and last meal of the day (well I don't consider a Mcdo hamdesal and coffee a meal so go figure..). 

My Lucena Plate - Comida 3

I think Comida is their version of combo meal. It consists of 2 viands, 1 soup and fried rice. Mine was Comida 3 (Combo 3) which had small bowl of Nido soup, a serving of Sweet and Sour Pork, quarter of fried chicken, and fried rice. In fairness, bumenta sa akin ang combo meal na to o baka dahil gutom lang ako? Hmmm.


The Nido Soup was served first but since Bot and I were so hungry na, I forgot to take a picture of the soup. Sayang ang sarap pa naman pero sabi ni Bot kulang sa lasa.


Bot ordered Antigua's another bestseller - Siopao Asado and a hot plate of Sizzling Sisig.

Pampulutan Sisig J

Sa tinagal tagal ko nang kapatid si Bot, napansin ko na sa tuwing kumakain kami sa labas lagi nyang sinusubukan ang Sisig version ng kinakainan namin. This sisig is too spicy to be an "ulam" but I think is a great pulutan. We were actually thinking of ordering beer to go with it, too bad we had a long drive home..


But the highlight of my meal was the Sago Gulaman..

Glorious Glorious Sago Gulaman J

Ay sinabi ko sa inyo. Parang old school gulaman na pina-level up! I grew up drinking samalamig every merienda and I may be a Milk tea fanatic but Sago Gulaman has a special place in my heart. What I like about this Sago Gulaman is that the "banilya" taste of the drink is in the shaved iced and how the drink is arranged looks so pretty! Sulit na for 35 pesos! Ewan ko kung ako lang ba ang may feeling na ganito towards this drink pero kung hindi lang malayo ang Lucena ay malamang na lagi akong nakatambay dito just for this drink J

We ordered another siopao and one tasa of chami to go para sa byahe. Aba, mahabang drive ang Lucena pabalik ng Manila no!

Our visit to Lucena was for Msgr Pete reason why we did not intend to go and roam around the city. Reason why I took the road shots as remembrance of the trip. Siguro pag-uwi na lang ni Daddy, when? That I don't know.

Bot posing for a stolen shot kuno..

As we head back home listening to the radio, when we were in C5 I think, a listener greeted his kapatid Happy Sibling Day. Bot and I looked at each other and said.. Akalain mo...

Bless that Sago Gulaman.. Hey, I can't help it..

merci merci