The Pahiyas Festival is being celebrated each year to honor San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers. Quezon folks particularly in Lucban, decorate their homes with colorful agricultural produce; they string fruits and vegetables together and make the “kiping,” the traditional Pahiyas décor of many colors.

These are leaf-shaped wafers of rice makeup and looks like Spanish tacos; these are used to liven up halls and walls, and more craftily turned into arangya (chandeliers) that lighten up the town on fiesta night itself.

The literal meaning of “pahiyas” is actually decorating houses with kiping and vegetables. Aside from this, however, fruits, ropes and straw hats are also utilized. The decorating frenzy starts sometime before the actual fiesta, and the air is abuzz with healthy, friendly competition over who will have the best ornamented house that year. Whoever does gets a reward from the local government. Continue Reading

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You can’t say that you’ve been to Manila if you haven’t had the chance to ride the cultural icon of the Philippines, the jeepney!

Manila Jeepney Tours

The Jeepney is a unique transportation that can only be found in the Philippines. It was originally made from the US military jeeps that were left to the Filipinos after World War II, giving it the powerful engine of an army jeep.

With great Filipino ingenuity, the body was remodeled by adding some metal roofs and decorating it with vibrant colors. It has rapidly emerged as a creative and popular means of public transportation. Continue Reading

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