Rhoda generously suggested we should leave at 9 o’clock (a serious concession as she prefers to sleep in until, at the earliest, 11). It should take about 1 and a half hours to get to the Villa Escudero and lunch started at 11 o’clock.
Good time-keeping was under attack almost immediately when Kit had to stop at her office to sign some checks, then we went out of our way to pick up Rex’s cousin, Miguel, so it was after 10 when we finally got on the right road, and 12 before we reached the Villa. We passed through San Pablo where they were enjoying the opening day of a huge SM mall, with 70% discounts in every department. As a consequence, every vehicle in a 50Km radius descended on the town.
Lunch was good, served in the Coconut Pavilion rather than under the waterfall which is a major attraction. On out last visit in January 2008, I experienced sitting at a table in the river with running water around my ankles. Great fun!
We had an hour to spare before the cultural show so we too the carabao wagon to the museum to see what they had on display.
On the ground floor, they had a number of the religious floats which they drag through the streets on Holy Days. I’ve never seen so much gold and it raises the old argument of how can the church justify such priceless art works when the poor are starving.Upstairs they have collections of everything: hats, walking sticks, tiny glass bottles, coffins from Sagada, Chinese pots, coconuts, jewellery, and so on. The mind boggles. There wasn’t time to see everything so we cut our visit short and hurried back to the pavilion for the show.
The Villa Escudero tourist attraction was established to make work for local farmers who were affected by changing farm practices and land re-distribution. They now work around the property in other jobs.
Part of their work includes involvement in the daily performance. The owners of the villa brought in professionals from the Philippines Cultural Centre to teach the dances and design the costumes. There is also a 14-strong string band and a traditional Filipino percussion band.The standard is extraordinarily high. Our mouths dropped open with the artistry and the superb costuming. The dancers are the sons and daughters of farmers and perform like seasoned professionals.
Time was marching on so we hurried back to the van for the long trip home. No problem, said Kit, if we leave at 6.30, we’ll be there by 7.
The hairdresser and manicurist had been organized for 5.00 but it was almost 6 before we got home. Marilyn was looking forward to wearing her new dress but everything was so rushed, it detracted from her enjoyment.
Still, she looked fantastic and turned a few heads. In fact, it was after 7 before we left and, after one of Alejo’s famous short cuts, we didn’t arrive at Sto Tomas until 8. I shouldn’t make snide remarks about Alejo’s shortcuts; the traffic is a nightmare and it’s worth trying anything to avoid the worst spots.The Induction was held in a car showroom. All the new cars had been driven out and left in the rain so that we could use the big space for our party. When we got there at 8 o’clock, the show was just about to begin. Tardiness is so endemic in the Philippines that there were just not enough people there at the advertised starting time for them to get underway. Our arrival might have just tipped the balance, the last three to make it worthwhile.
The induction ceremonies are interminable with speech after speech. This one was better in that the wives and daughters of the Rotarians wore dresses made of the same, pink material, and performed a dance number as part of the program. I’ll make the suggestion at Deloraine that our club might follow suit and wait for the howls of derision.
The meal was good, provided gratis, as was the acceptable red wine, so we had an enjoyable time, a much shorter ride home, but another late night.
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