Still Singing Pabasa.. Still The GREAT Pandesal!

I adore traditions! Yeah... I do like contemporary things, but there's something about traditions that make me feel a Filipino or part of something cultural or part of anything else. Just the feeling that I belong to this certain kind of people who did the same stuff, that kind of feeling... I think... makes me love doing traditions. It's also like giving respect to the elders who were part of these events. I also think there is this classy feel to doing traditions because you know it'll happen again and again and again. Traditions reminds us of where we came from and it helps us understand why everything around is this and that. Well that's how I think it is.

 One of the traditions I love doing is helping the Tanaga Circle. It's a community thing in our place in Bulacan where young peeps (ehem..) do stuff like what our elders did during their youth days. I think Tanaga Circle is almost 70 years (?), that's why it's a big responsibility for us to preserve the organization and it's existence. One of our first event for the year is the Pabasa.

People From Our Community Reading the Pasyon

We are not SLEEPY ...yet. zzz.

   Pabasa is a Holy Week affair in the Philippines where you sing the whole book of Pasyon or Passion of the Christ for a day without stopping (well... you can actually stop but make sure there's a reliever). Pasyon is a verse narrative of the suffering of Christ, so obviously no one can finish the whole book in one seating. But reading the Pasyon is actually fun because you sing the verses while refreshing your knowledge about the story of Christ (so it's not really boring at all, especially if you're around with cool people [ehem..]). This is also my means of sacrifice and giving back to Jesus, remembering what He did for us on His journey to save humanity (naks!).

 Of course in every Filipino event food is always around. As I have said earlier, Pabasa is a whole day thing and we, as committees, have to at least prepare something to empower the readers. Tanaga Circle is well supported by the community that's why food were just coming and coming and coming in. People there donated eggs, dinuguan (pork blood stew), Puto (steamed rice cake), coffee and sodas and a lot more for the midnight chow. Many of our neighbors also gave food for lunch, but I wasn't able to attend because I was still sleeping (I stayed up late for the Pabasa).

Eggs Section

Tanaga Members preparing food

 Because of work, I came in late at around 11 PM. People already started reading when I arrived there, so I sat in and tried to catch up with the beat they were singing. After a while I went to the food area where friends and relatives prepared food. Eggs were served sunny side up or scrambled, depending on your request (breakfast buffet style! haha). The dinuguan was great! Steaming hot and tasty... perfect when paired with Puto. Then comes the steaming, freshly baked Pandesal!

Mauricio's Pandesal... Classic but still the best

 I rarely eat this Pandesal because I live in Manila and it's only best eaten when it's freshly baked from the Pugon (wood fired oven). They only sell this I think at 4:00 AM, and you can buy it straight from the Pugon or from the delivery boys on a bike with their slightly annoying little bike horns. I have tried a lot of Pandesals already from Pan de Amerikana of Marikina to Pan de Pugon, but nothing beats the kinalakihan (shoot... hard to translate...) or the Pandesal you grew up eating since childhood (? hehe). Yes, Pan de Amerikana's Pandesal is tasty and HUGE same with the Pan de Pugon and the rest but Mauricio's Pandesal is different in its small ways. It may be small but it's very tasty. There's this slight crunch on the crust and a very soft and a little chewy feel on that white area of the bread.

This Pandesal is part of the traditions we do in Bulacan. A bite from this humble bread reminds me of my Lolo and Lola preparing breakfast. Another bite would be a memory of some funeral (funeral...  because we sometimes stay up and wait for the fresh Pandesals). Another bite would be a memory of me and my cousins cracking up eating pandesal at 5:00 AM drunk (hehe). And last would be the Pabasa where people I know from our community is actively joining, helping and singing to preserve our Catholic and community tradition.


x
Mac Clemente