V R E S RE
E R E H D A ED
ad here
ad here
HAVE YOU TRIKED?
Contents 8 Hitting 10 the Road 1 Home 1 own On Board
Gr Flavor
12 Cakeland 15 Calle Dos
Longga Story
18 r
Schulle
22
COVER STORY
Nueva Ecija in the movies
28
Freedom in the Park
Discover Nueva Ecija
30
33 Batad 36 Anung meron sa 41
inyo?
24 ad here
On board. URBAN TRAVEL M AGA Z I N E MANAGING EDITOR ILLUSTRATOR ARTS CONSULTANT CONTRIBUTORS
KATRINA S. NAVALLO MICHAEL JACINTO DR. RENE FRANCISCO FLOR CECILIA GUINTO EMMANUEL REYES RACHEL ROSALE
PHOTOGRAPHERS
PUBLISHER OPERATIONS MANAGER MARKETING OFFICER ACCOUNT MANAGER ADMINISTRATOR
YOUR TIME TO SHINE
MATT DE SAGUN EMILSON REGUYAL DONNA DAVID MELCHOR AYROSO JEREMIAH JAMES PABLO DYOSA ALDAVE URBAN MEDIA PUBLISHING JEREMIAH CAPULE JAN CHRISTIAN REYES RONALD CANDELARIA MELWYNNE SANTOS
Share us your best photo of any place in Nueva Ecija and get a chance to be featured in our December issue! Send your entry in JPEG format and email us at caburbantravelmag@gmail.com with your name, address and telephone number.
AD SPACE HERE
Hitting the Road
Home Grown Flavor
g n o b aP salu
Bring home the
What you are holding came about as a product of our common interest, travelling. A popular ad says that it’s about time everyone flies. We believe, it’s about time everyone travels. And CAB team decided that there is no other place to start discovering but our home Cabanatuan. In this first issue, we will take you to a tour of familiar places captured in a stranger’s eyes. We hope you will discover the same fascination we had when we revisited old places and encounter stories yet heard of. Leaf through and find things about our hometown that you will be proud of. Indeed, there is a thrill in rediscovering a place the second time around. Not only that, our team ventured into a place farther north carrying nothing but a backpack. CAB team had a firsthand experience of going on a backpack to the mountains of Banaue. We survived four days of nonstop hiking and catching buses with only P2000 in our pockets. Learn about savvy tips on travelling light and surviving on a budget. Travelling becomes more fun when you expect the unexpected. With only a map in hand and a smile on your lips, learn how to pave your way to unfamiliar places and discover not only the land but the people and the culture as well. Hope you enjoy this first issue as much as we did. Travelling has never been this fun. Join us as we leave our familiar territories and hit the road.
Kat Navallo
Any visitor in town cannot leave the city without bringing home a bag of goodies from Cabanatuan’s top pasalubong shops. Go no further and you’ll find the hot pandesal and butter in FM Bakery truly delightful. The local people always come back for the original FM mami and egg with the crushed chicharon and onion spring toppings. This brings to memory the taste of home. If you’re craving for pastries and sweets, Edna’s Cakeland
is a must-stop. Much like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, Edna’s Cakeland is a niche of sweets like sylvannas, Food for the Gods, sansrival, mango cake, cheese bread and other kinds of treats that every Cabanatueño has come to love. The catch is that these are sold in unbelievably affordable prices. Situated in a somewhat secluded street in Kapt. Pepe, the store’s spacious dining area is also a good spot for meeting friends while enjoying their
macaroni and iced coffee. To enjoy the bus trip on the way back, Aling Tinay’s pasalubong should not be missed. They sell all kinds of kukutin from garlic peanuts to butong pakwan, chichacorn and other candies which are fun to munch while seeing green fields pass by along SCTEX and NLEX. These treats definitely make Cabanatuan worth going back to.
Hot Spot
D E L L A C
E L C I T R A OS
Home Grown Flavor
Ca
e l c i t r A d n a kel
e l c i t r A d n a l e k a C
E R E H AD
Home Grown Flavor
A G G LON story
It’s a
W
henever longganisa is mentioned, three names
when fried. While the hamonado, the odd pink-colored longganisa,
come to mind: Vigan, Lucban and Cabanatuan. Each place of origin has a distinct flavor, Vigan is famous for the putok na longganisa while Cabanatuan’s pride is the garlic longganisa and batutay. We decided to take a tour inside the local market to find the seat of longganisa production in the city. It took us no less than a minute to find rows of stalls selling clusters of our own version of sausage with a twist. That afternoon, we also had an impromptu lesson on the different kinds of longganisa and what is unique about them from Kuya Erick Montes, a longganisa vendor. The garlic longganisa, from the name itself, is spiced with a lot of garlic that brings the strong flavor. The batutay on the other hand, is made of ground beef seasoned with sugar that caramelizes
is made of ground pork and has a sweeter taste than the batutay. For those who prefer it bare, there is also skinless longganisa which does not have the outer covering yet retains the original flavor. A kilo of garlic longganisa costs about P190 and the batutay is sold at P220/kilo. All four kinds may differ in taste, but all go perfect with sinangag and fried egg paired with a hot steaming mug of coffee. Surely, nothing beats the authentic Cabanatuan longsilog.
E R E H AD
E R E H AD
E L L U H SC
E L C I T R A R
U O Y E V A H
? D E K I R T
S....
AT N A B A C E C EXPERIEN
HEEL W E E R H T UAN IN
CABANATUAN MARKETPLACE
FREEDOM PARK
OLD KAPITOLYO
I
f you’ve ever been to a place where taxi cabs are unpopular and jeepneys are seldom, it’s only one of two things: either you got lost in a far-flung area or the locals just have an innate passion for walking. But in Cabanatuan, it’s naturally common not to find any of these. In Manila where jeepneys rule, in this city, triwheels are the king of the road. Dubbed as the “Tricycle Capital of the Philippines”, Cabanatuan
OLD BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS
GENERAL LUNA
lives up to the name by having over 38, 202 registered tricycles as of September 2009. In fact, tricycles are not only the primary means of transportation in the city, it also represents a big bulk of the livelihood that sustains the locals. Experience in Cabanatuan will not be complete without a breezy ride in the trike. That is why in this issue, we tried to find a fresh perspective of the city by riding around town in a tricycle.
Going through the familiar sites and locations, we tried to capture what we would otherwise pass as an ordinary place, but through a different lens, can actually turn into a work of art. Leaf through and see if you can identify any of these sights and discover how the city is a treasure waiting to be discovered.
TRICYCLE DRIVERS
Nueva Ecija in the
MOVIES
You don’t want to mess with a Novo Ecijano. From the real to the imagined, the ones portrayed in recent cinema history are a people of courage, passion, and of faith. It showed the different facets of sacrifice a Novo Ecijano is willing to make. The Great Raid (2005) It is said to be the greatest rescue mission of World War II, freeing more than 500 Prisoners of war in Cabanatuan City. The insurgence was led by the guerilla Capt Juan Pantoja (played by Cesar Montano) and Capt Joson (or Kumander Ding who later became our governor; played by Richard Joson). This heroic act is honored at Camp Pangatian in Cabanatuan City. The camp was originally a military training camp but was
used by the Japanese as a concentration camp during WWII. It was here that the most successful rescue operation by the Americans took place that liberated many war prisoners. What made it remarkable was the military aid supplied by the Filipino guerrillas which contributed to the historic success of the operation. This is remembered in the history pages as the Great Raid of Cabanatuan. History buffs can look at the turn of events that led to the liberation, and pay their respect to the soldiers whose sacrifice is immortalized in the markers and walls. Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo (2006) and Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo (2007) Although top-billed by reallife couple Judy Ann Santos (Angie) and Ryan Agoncillo (Jed), it was Gina Pareño (Belita) who stole the show.
Belita was a nagger-- a lovable nagger, Angie’s implicit voice of reason. And yes, it took Angie a trip home to figure out how to resolve her marital problems. Belita is not Belita if we would not mention her bototay. Every true Cabanatueño knows that it is batutay, a variation of the city’s product longganisa. Ours has this distinct garlic flavor that goes well with sinangag. Every February, the city hosts the annual Longganisa Festival.
Sukob (2006) Sandy (played by Kris Aquino) and her husband Dale (Wendell Ramos) sojourned to Barrio Bibiclat, Aliaga to look for her sister Diana (played by Claudine Barretto) to solve the deaths linked to her wedding. Their encounter coincided with the Taong Putik Festival
where one of the protagonists committed the ultimate sacrifice to put an end to the curse. The Taong Putik Festival or Pag-Sasanjuan is celebrated
every July 24 to give thanks and homage to patron saint John the Baptist for his blessings. At the crack of dawn, the Taong Putik wander from one house to another seeking for candles or money which they use to offer
to the saint. The celebration is culminated by a mass and a parade of the muddy crowd.