The patron saints of Ormoc City are Sts. Peter and Paul. Last June 29 was the feast celebration of these two saints that have protected the small sleepy town known as Ormoc.
I got very excited realizing that I would be able to experience the fiesta in my hometown again. I honestly can't remember the last time I celebrated this wonderful day with my Ormocanon brothers and sisters. As Filipino tradition dictates, people who are living in the city will serve a "hikay" in bisaya, "pakain" in tagalog, and a "banquet" in English.
This year, I had one invitation but my parents, you can say a socialite (because of her profession) has many invitations. I decided to go with her first two invitations. Good food all over the place!
First stop was Ormoc Villa Hotel. My mother was invited by a good old friend. The hotel, owned by the IAL clan (L stands for Larrazabal), stands near the coastline of Ormoc. Although its been there for quite a long time already, this was the only time I remember that I have tasted their food. Because I had two more places to go, I only ate a little. I chose potatos from the goat kaldereta and the meat of course, and then lechon. For dessert, I only had sweet mangoes.
Second stop was with my mother's old friend, Sabin Larrazbal (SAL), another member of the L clan. There home is where we usually go during the fiesta. They are known to serve good food. Yes, I love their food, they also own a hotel that caters the food. Guess what? There was a lamb kalderata! ^_^ So I, again, took potatoes from this dish but this time, no meat. There, at the edge of the table was one of my favorite dish, "lechon baka!" (roasted cow). Now the SAL family are known to serve this kind of food. I rarely eat one, in fact, I can only eat one whenever they have an event and my mom is invited and I tag along. For desserts, I took the Filipino dessert "puto," a cake that I don't know what the name is, and one of my favorites, buko pandan!
My last stop was with no other than my best friend's home. By the time I got there, it was almost two in the afternoon. Most of their visitors have gone home. I was still able to catch another old friend though. My choice of food? You guess right, there was kaldereta! This time it was pork kalderata! I've been telling myself that kaldereta is the main dish! So again, I took the potatoes, but instead of cooked with the dish, these potatoes were fried and were put on top of the kaldereta, so at least they tasted differently. I also had shrimps wrapped in bacon, the meat in the kaldereta and then some beef steak. The desserts, my best friend, Odessa, served a cake (I don't know what the name is) with gelatin and mango on top and then Leche Flan (YUM!).
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From Left: Me, Odessa, her father Tito Clement, Joy and Candice
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Happy Fiesta Ormoc! Thank you for giving me a chance to eat good food and spend some time with good company.
