I was very excited to finally set foot to Joel's hometown. He practically grew up in San Vicente, Camarines Norte and I've been dying to experience the place he considered home.

We arrived at the Superlines Daet terminal around 6AM of April 28, It was a long and tiring 8 hour ride. (Good thing we bought some pillows and fabrics to make us a bit comfortable on the ride.) We are fetched by Joel's grandparents and we drove home in their multicab (the cab they are using for delivering puto seko). The weather was fine there, moisty and not too hot. I noticed that the place was much greener, coz there were plenty of trees around. I finally got a breathe of the freshest air I could ever imagine.

The Juance's house was a massive land full of trees and plants, you wouldn't even see their house amongst the trees along the road. It was a refreshing sight because my eyes got used to tall buildings and smog of the metro. I'll be enjoying my one whole week in the arms of nature living.

The hard part of this vacation is what to eat during my stay because all the food served are rice meals and I vowed never to eat rice (except for sushis). But even so, I tasted every viand that was served (good thing fruits are very abundant, I could enjoy fruits anytime my stomach grumbles). I got to taste the typical ginataang dishes that is so very Bicolano. Though I am not very fond of ginataan dishes, the food there was delectable. The taste of the food is so native, refreshingly good in comparison to the overly processed foods in the city. I couldhave enjoyed the ginataang pagi because the pagi was nice, but I had a hard time eating the meat because of the small bones on every part.

I got to see different fruit trees and actually harvest them. It was fun harvesting cacao (chocolate), pomelo, chesa, guyabano, pineapple and kangos (kamoteng kahoy). It's like farmville on facebook, only I didn't get to plant them, and it is not easy waiting for them to grow. It actually takes months and even years before you can harvest a crop, as to oppose to farmville which only takes a few hours to harvest.

I also got to see how they do the Juance's puto seko. I even helped in repacking the finished puto seko. It was fun doing the packing, because we got to eat the damaged ones.. yum yum..

I look terrible on these stolen shots..

By my stay there, it got me thinking of owning a farm. I know it takes a lot of hard work and patience before I can fully enjoy the perks of having a farm, but a farm would be a best stress buster if the city living is too much to take...

And more picutres...

This is Kirai, she sure looks like a cross of schnauzer and mongrel, and she's very malambing. She's the keeper for the chicken coop.

Looking forward going back there again.. ;]