Entitled \”Panaggapas: The Ilocano Harvest,\” the day-long event was organized by the Ilocos Norte Tourism Office in cooperation with the Museo Ilocos Norte, the Gameng Foundation.

The festival is the first time the Salcedo Community Market – Manila\’s most popular weekend market – will host a fair of regional Filipino specialty food items and traditional crafts.

Specialty items on sale will include popular products such as Ilocos garlic, shallots, cornick, linga (sesame seeds), miki and tupig, sugarcane wine (basi) and sugarcane vinegar (sukang Iloko) – all of which will be on sale from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Other items on sale will also include Ilocano delicacies such as bagnet, empanada and longganiza. Among the non-food items are woven textiles and cotton fabric, as well as dried tobacco leaves – a traditional household insect-repellant and garden pesticide.

Newly-elected Gov. Michael M. Keon describes the special event as \’a showcase of Ilocano talent, creativity, and industry,\’ while Cong. Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. (2nd District) invites everyone \”who appreciates good, honest food, and hand-made quality products\” to the fair.

\”Panaggapas\” – or \”harvest season,\” in the local language – is the traditional highlight of the year\’s efforts, when the hardworking farmers give thanks for the blessings they have received and rest after another year of work.

Salcedo\’s \”Panaggapas\” Festival will also include a cooking demonstration of traditional Ilocos food by authentic cooks brought in specially for the event, as well as representatives from the province\’s hotels and resorts.

Also on sale at the event are traditional Abel Iloko – or woven cotton fabrics – as blankets, runners and napkins. Included among the regional crafts are handcrafted baskets and mats that are renowned for their tight, intricate weaves.

\”The Ilocos harvest festival not only showcases the produce of one of the country\’s oldest regions, but also highlights the Salcedo Market\’s commitment to promote the Philippines as a whole,\” said Women of Bel-Air Foundation, Inc. Chairperson Constancia Q. Lichauco.

The Women of Bel-Air Foundation, Inc. will take over the operations of the market beginning January 2008 and has promised to upgrade services at Manila\’s most popular market for the past three and a half years.

Journey through the southern Tagalog region with us! The whole day affair features a series of cooking demos, visits to artists’ studios, ancestral homes, and, of course, lots of food!

Itinerary:

» 6:30 am
Departure from Manila

» 8:30 to 10:00 am
Arrive San Pablo City
Breakfast at Kusina Salud w/Food Demo (1 hr)

Upon arriving, you may wander around the place and enjoy the lush and quaint surroundings lovingly created by designer Patis Tesoro and managed by husband and wife team Chef Paul Poblador and Nina Tesoro.

Our breakfast includes dishes that Laguna is famous for. Chef Paul will regale us with his cooking skills using indigenous ingredients with a food demo.

» 10:10 to 11:00 am
Demo/Interaction with an artist at work at
Carlito\’s Workshop (50 mins)

Watch and listen as Carlito Ortega takes us through his process of creating his artwork. Take pleasure in his sprawling home and refresh yourselves with a homemade merienda in his resort-like residence.

» 11:15 to 1:15 pm
Arrive in Tiaong, Quezon
Lunch and Food Demo at Ugu\’s Pottery Garden

Ugu Bugyan’s Pottery Garden Restaurant is a visual and culinary experience. The layout of the various huts, the welcoming boutique and his graceful designs inspires one to take a slab of clay and start molding (a la Demi Moore in Ghost).

As an introduction to lunch, Ugu himself will give a demonstration on one of his signature dishes- the Kulawo. After lunch, meander around the surroundings and enjoy the calm and beauty this artist generously shares with us.

» 2:00 to 3:30 pm
Arrive Sariaya, Quezon
Ancestral House Tour w/ Pandanggo Awit Ritual

Aside from visiting ancestral houses, we also learn about the Pandanggo Awit Ritual which involves the infamous lambanog. Guests will certainly see the lambanog differently after discovering the romantic traditions behind this potent drink.

» 4:00 to 5:30 pm
Arrive San Pablo City
Fruit Picking of Lanzones/Rambutan, product buying and afternoon snack at Sitio De Amor

Sitio de Amor is a 4.7 hectar farm in San Pablo, Laguna. Get your chance to try fresh produce straight from the trees! Sadly, we end our tour here but not without refreshments like local favorites such as buko pie, palitaw and sago’t gulaman.

» 6:00 pm
Depart for Manila

» 8:00 – 8:30 pm
ETA at Santuario de San Antonio, Makati

To reserve, please download (pdf or zipped pdf) and fill up the reservation form and fax it to 404-2685 or 722-9073.

The Museum Foundation of the Phils. invites you to a luncheon lecture on March 24, 2007, Saturday at 11.30 am

No on can fill a table like the Filipinos do; it is a spectacle of colors, flavors, textures and smells. The combination of ingredients is a fusion of various cultures and the harvest of the season. How did our favorite dishes develop? What has shaped our manner of dining? What is the essence of a Filipino Meal? As food enthusiast Pia Lim-Castillo explains this, we shall delight in a feast prepared by celebrated chef Jessie Sincioco.

Join the Museum Foundation as we explore the delights of the Filipino Meal. Let us waft in the lessons that shaped our history and our foods and let us savor the local fare skillfully prepared by the Le Souffle Team.

Come, the Filipino Meal awaits.

Members: P950
Non-members: P1,100
The fee in inclusive of lunch and one drink.

You can download the reservation form in pdf or zip format.

For details or reservations, please call Elvie Magpayo/ Patricia Limon at 404-2685 or Flor Cortez at 722-9073.

About Us:
Pia Lim-Castillo is a confirmed food enthusiast going beyond cuisines, tastes and flavors. She does academic researches on food history, nutrition and food science. She regularly attends the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery and delivers papers on chosen topics pertaining to Philippine culinary culture.

Museum Foundation of the Philippines is an organization dedicated to developing greater awareness and appreciation in the Filipino people of our country\’s rich artistic and cultural heritage in partnership with the National Museum.

When:
Saturday, January 20, 2007!

Number of Participants:
Minumum of 40, maximum of 50

Cost of tour:
Member’s fee: P2,400
Non-member’s fee: P2,700

Inlcusive of transportation and meals.

Payment must be made on or before January 12, 2007. We will accept payments directly at the Museum Foundation office (cash or cheque only). Payment can also be deposited to the Museum Foundation of the Phils. Metrobank savings account: 495-349-550-082-0. Upon deposit, please fax the deposit slip to 404.2685.

Itinerary:
7:00 am Registration in front of Santuario de San Antonio, Forbes Park.

7:30 Departure from Santuario de San Antonio, Forbes Park for Bulacan

9:00 Plaridel Church
The church is a symbol of the triumph of Christians over the Muslims who had occupied much of Spanish territory.

9:30 The Aguaya Monument
A short play dramatizes the triumph of Filipino Republican forces against .

10:15 Bulacan Garden Nursery
Ingam, Malolos City
The huge nursery is a tropical oasis of palms, flowering plants and all manner of landscaping materials.

Merienda: Bulacan tinapay and pastries served with Hacienda juice, empanada de kaliskis, inipit, biscocho, palipit, an de coco, otap, enseimada served with kesong puti

11:15 Leave for Calumpit Church which showcases baroque architecture and ornate stone carvings.

11:45 Leave for Pottery Village
Gatbuca, Calumpit
The American archaeologist, Fox, had unearthed pottery in Novaliches (then part of Bulacan) and Marilao, which proved signs of early civilization in the province.

12:15 Leave for the Bautista House Garden, Malolos
An old dance colors the arrival of guests to the Bautista Gardens. Guests are crowned with fresh flowers while a choir sings songs of welcome. Maligayang Oras ng Pagdating indeed!

1:00 Lunch buffet of Bulacan delights while being entertained by songs of Bulacan sang by Koro Bulakenyo. Menu includes: Liempo negro wuth prunes and chestnuts, Hamonadong Longganisa with grapes, Lengua Maloleña, Lumpiang sugpo, Bibingka with Hamon Chine, and MANY more!

2:00 Walking tour of Old Houses of the Kamistisuhan District.

2:45 Leave for Barasoin Church and NHI Museum

3:00 Audio-visual presentation of the Glory of the Malolos Republic, NHI Museum

3:30 Hiyas Museum
Malolos Provincial Capital
A Repository of the Cultural and Historical achievement of Bulacan

4:15 Tertulia in the Bautista House
Short Balagtasan by Bularan poets
Duet of Love songs

Merienda: A Kakanin Festival that includes tsokolate with gatas ng kalabaw/ country tea, kalamay hirin and assorted kakanin, arrozcaldong sugpu, juice.

5:30 Leave for Manila. ETA is at 7:30 pm

7:30 Estimated arrival in Santuario de San Antonio

There may be changes to the itinerary on day of the tour due to unforeseen events. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Bring drinking water and a fan or umbrella to keep cool.

For more information or reservations, please call the Museum Foundation at 404.2685/ 722.9073/ 0928.503.9392. Look for Elvie, Flor or Patricia.

Download the reservation form as pdf or zip.

Four hundred years of history and up to four hours of decadence!

The flavors of China are now in Manila. Come eat, walk and lose those calories as we explore the breadth, the width and most intimate alleys of Manila’s Chinese quarter!

We start, quite paradoxically, in a 16th-century Baroque cathedral while making our way down to a miraculous Chinese shrine! Take a peek at a traditional chocolate factory! Learn about Chinese marriage rituals! Sing hurrahs to an authentic Hokkien-style lumpia!

We’ll horse around the streets talking Filipino history and gorging Chinese treats while checking out the district’s Period architecture. Forget South Beach- it’s Tsinoy chop suey and more as we nibble our way down through Chinatown!

Places of interest in this tour: Basilica de San Lorenzo Ruiz, Santo Cristo de Longos Shrine, Traditional Chinatown Shops & Restaurants, Te Ya Kong, Escolta Architectural Clump (optional), Carvajal Food Market (optional)

Meet at the Lobby inside Binondo Church.

For more information or reservations, please call the Museum Foundation at 404.2685/ 722.9073/ 0928.503.9392. Look for Elvie, Flor or Patricia.

Download the reservation form as pdf or zip.

POWER, PALACE AND A SHOT OF BEER: POKING AROUND THE OLD MILLIONAIRE’S ROW
(P850.OO per person/ A half-day tour)

San Miguel…. Easily the Filipinos’ favorite drink and one of Old Manila’s best-kept architectural secrets! This is home to the premiere residence of the country — Malacañang Palace — as well as some of the best-preserved, colonial era mansions of the city.

Our tour guide, Ivan Man Dy, will take us on a leisurely stroll amidst the sylvan setting of this patrician district. Walk and breathe history as we take a peek into the period homes of our country’s old aristocracy! Look up in awe at the gothic wonder that is San Sebastian- the only all-steel church in Asia- and the nearby jewel-box that is San Beda Church. Learn about the dark periods in our recent history. In between, we’ll rest our weary feet over a classic merienda spread in one of the district’s historic homes.

These and much more as we take in the delights and watch history brew down the streets of San Miguel!

Places of interest in this tour: Basilica de San Sebastian, Mendiola Street, Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, San Miguel Mansion Rows, Legarda Ancestral Home, San Miguel Church, Malacañang Palace grounds

Meet at the San Sebastian Church steps before 9:00 a.m., Saturday, 19 August 2006.

Don’t forget to: dress down and wear comfy shoes, bring sun or rain protection and that all important bottle of water!

Yes, let’s go for a walk! For reservations call:
Elvie or Tricia at 404.2685 or Flor at 722.9073

San Miguel.

Easily the Filipinos\’ favorite drink and one of old Manila\’s best-kept architectural secrets! This is home to the premiere residence of the country — Malacañang Palace — as well as some of the best-preserved, colonial-era mansions of the city.

We\’ll take a leisurely stroll amidst the sylvan setting of this patrician district. Walk and breathe history as we take a peek into the period homes of our country\’s old aristocracy! Look up in awe at the twin gothic wonders that is San Sebastian, the only all-steel church in Asia and the nearby jewel-box that is San Beda church! Learn about the darkest periods in our recent history! Savor a fine-dine merienda spread in one of the district\’s historic homes!

These and much more as we take-in the delights and watch history down the streets of San Miguel!

When: July 25, 2006, Tuesday at 1:00 pm
Meet at San Sebastian Church plaza
Tickets at P750.00/participant, Call 404-2685 and look for Elvie Magpayo to reserve or inquire.

Four hundred years of history and up to four hours of decadence!

The flavors of Old China are now in Manila. Come eat, talk, walk and loose those calories as we explore the breadth, the width and most intimate alleys of Manila\’s Chinese quarter!

We start, quite paradoxically, in a 16th-century Baroque cathedral while making our way down to a miraculous Chinese shrine! Take a peek at a traditional chocolate factory! Go Mama Mia over a mami house! Sing hurrahs to an authentic Hokkien lumpia!

We\’ll horse around the streets talking Filipino history, gorging Chinese treats and even checking out the district\’s Period architecture! Forget South Beach, it\’s Tsinoy chop suey and more as we nibble our way down through Chinatown!

When: July 11, 2006; Tuesday at 1:00 PM
Meet at Binondo Church
Tickets at P650.00/participant, Call 404-2685 and look for Elvie Magpayo to reserve or inquire.