Narito na ang Pasko sa Malabon

Dear Friends,


Today I'm letting this beautiful song and some familiar scenes from our hometown speak to your hearts...






May your Christmas be truly joyful and your New Year be filled with hope.

God bless us all!


Warmest wishes from Cecile M

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The Raymundo House

Proudly dating back to Spanish times, the RAYMUNDO HOUSE on C. Arellano Street is known to be the oldest house in Malabon.

It was built in 1861, the same year that our National Hero Jose Rizal was born, and also the year that the San Bartolome Church was completed.  Passers-by almost always take a second look at its original stone gateway that's  reminiscent of the portals of Intramuros. 

For one flickering second standing across the street you could almost imagine that you were in Intramuros with its adobe walls and massive wooden gates.  But then you see how the street has been so elevated that the portal has "sunk" to half its height -- and you get pulled back to the reality that you're in flood-prone Malabon...

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Etched on the gateway arch along with the year it was built is a double-headed Hapsburg eagle, an image that was used to represent the European Hapsburg dynasty and appeared on the coat of arms of the kings of Spain. 1/   The house was built by Fernando Raymundo and its present owner is a fifth-generation descendant of his. 

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This photo of the RAYMUNDO HOUSE (c. possibly 1970s) was sent by a friend and added to this posting on Dec. 20, 2010.  He recalls having visited the house when he was small.  He remembers the gate knocker made of solid brass ("tanso") - a lion's head - that was so heavy, when you pulled it so it would hit the metal plate base, the sound could easily be heard from the house.  There was a long piece of string to be pulled in so that the visitor could get in to the front yard.  The knocker was installed around 4 feet from the original street level.  NOTE:  This photo originally labelled as circa late 1950s based on friend's recollection but now adjusted to possibly 1970s due to the replaced roofing.

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Framed color image of the house in the late 1970s.

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The RAYMUNDO HOUSE during the Concepcion fiesta.  The morning pagoda started from their place as the Malabon River is right behind it.  Only around seven steps remain of the original stairs leading to the azotea (balcony).  The ground floor of the house is no longer usable - the family lives only on the second floor.

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Olden-style interior with a few touches of modernity.  I love the beautiful wide-planked hardwood floors.

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The Spanish-era beginnings of the RAYMUNDO HOUSE is evident in the tree posts that are still standing inside it.

I went to Barangay Concepcion that fiesta day intending to see only the Pagodas and the Caracol, but I had an unexpected bonus.  I got to see a house that had always caught my attention with its unique grand entrance, the likes of which I used to see only within Intramuros.

The RAYMUNDO HOUSE has withstood time and tide to give us -and future generations- a precious glimpse of the past in our hometown.  I felt happy, proud and grateful - all in one day!


My thanks to Mr. Hilarion Corvera, Jr. and his wife Susan, and to Jamie Corvera.



1/   Website of Universidad Francisco Marroquin.


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Fiesta time at Concepcion

This barangay certainly knows how to fiesta!   With three days of festivities each year (December 8, 9 and 10), of course it would have picked up more experience in celebrating fiestas than the rest!

December 8 is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is mostly a religious celebration.

December 9 is the Pista ng mga Mangingisda (Fishermen's Festival).  By tradition, a motorcade is held in the morning from the Immaculate Conception Parish Church going to San Jose de Navotas.  The image of La Purissima Concepcion is joined by the image of St. Joseph in a motorcade going around Malabon and Navotas.  Then a Dalaw-Bahay follows, wherein the image is brought from one house to another.  The image is  then taken for a Pagoda (a fluvial or grand boat procession) on the Malabon River.

There is also a Pagoda in the morning held by the Aglipayan Church.  After the Pagoda on the Malabon River, the Caracol (street dancing) is held around Malabon.

December 10 is the Pista ng Barrio, the fiesta day for Barrio Concepcion.  The annual Pancit Malabon Festival is also held on this day.

In all the years that I've been a long-time Malabon resident, a good many of which were spent growing up in Barangay Concepcion, I had never seen the Pagoda - although I've heard about it.  And the Caracol - well, this was the first time I even knew about it!  So, of course I just had to go on the 9th to finally find out what they were all about.


THE MORNING PAGODA

My husband and I arrived at the Aglipayan Church on C. Arellano Street just in time, as the image of Our Lady was about to be brought out of the church.  We walked with the image a short distance away to the Raymundo compound where a boat was waiting to take it around the Malabon River.  

After the image was mounted on the boat, the pagoda went on its way by around 9:00am. Only a limited number of devotees are allowed to ride the boat because the MARINA (Maritime Industry Authority) and the Coast Guard are now strictly monitoring the conduct of pagodas.

Image of Our Lady is brought out of the church by devotees

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The pagoda is about to leave. 

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THE CARACOL

We went back in the afternoon just in time also to see the Caracol pass by the Visita.  (Visita is what the locals call the market of Barangay Concepcion.)  The Caracol dancers are mostly students from the different elementary schools in the city who dress in colorful themed costumes and dance to a lively caracol ditty. 

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THE EVENING PAGODA

As soon as I finished watching the Caracol, my husband and I took a pedicab and hurried to the Rufina Patis compound on C. Arellano Street in order to catch the evening pagoda.  By the time we got there, the image of the Immaculate Conception was inside the building and people were milling around, waiting for the pagoda to begin. After a few minutes more, the Caracol  also passed by Rufina Patis.

According to Monchet Lucas, the evening pagoda during the fiesta in Concepcion started a very long time ago, with different families taking charge of it every year.  But since 1946 after the war, it has been the Lucas family that has been taking care of the pagoda. 

The mounted image in the late afternoon

Bishop Deogracias Iniguez and the other priests wait for Mass to begin.

The Mass began at around 4:30 pm.

Mrs. Monina Lucas and Mrs. Alice Tanchanco waiting for the pagoda to begin after the Mass

The image at twilight (around 5:30pm) when the Mass ended.

The pagoda came back at around 7:30 pm.

The picture is a little hazy because of the smoke from the fireworks. 

Monchet Lucas and his father

Guest Vice Mayor Len-Len Oreta with Mr. Lucas

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The Wenceslao Pascual House

Tucked behind an auto supply shop in Barangay Hulo is a charming house - the WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE.  With the trees and plants framing it, you could almost imagine yourself in a kind of English country manor setting.

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Because of the flooding problem, this house has met the same fate as that of many other heritage houses in Malabon.  The present owners have had to raise the level of their grounds up to nearly the level of the windows.  But, it's still so picture-pretty.

The house was built in 1930 by Mr. and Mrs. Silvestre Pascual.  It was designed by the Dean of Filipino architects, Juan F. Nakpil.   The couple's son Dr. Wenceslao Pascual, who became Governor of Rizal Province from 1951 to 1955, was born and raised in this house. The present owner Esperanza is one of his daughters.

The WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE c. 1930s when it was still at least five steps up from the yard.   The house has two unique features:  a curved roof,  and its lightning rods. (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

  

The house c.1983.  The fishponds at the back of the house could be seen from the front. (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

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Bangus decor apparently to show the original owner's main livelihood.

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The WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE is on the main street and has a fishpond at the back, which is not a common setting compared with most other heritage houses in Malabon.

The back yard c.1970s (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

The fishponds at the back today.  Because of the vanishing fishponds along Letre Road and Governor Pascual Avenue, every fishpond still in existence is a delightful and comforting discovery.

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WHY WE'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER GOVERNOR PASCUAL

One of the main roads leading out of Malabon was named after him - so undoubtedly we will always remember Governor Wenceslao Pascual.

Governor Pascual was a doctor of medicine by profession before he became governor of Rizal province.

Up to the early 50s, it used to be all fishponds in that area after Lambingan Bridge in Barangay Concepcion.  Even Sto. Rosario Village and the areas right across its entrance used to be fishponds.

In September 1954 Governor Pascual and the Provincial Board of Rizal decided to build a road through those fishponds going to Caloocan, and of course the affected fishpond owners were not happy about it. Work on the project stopped, and was eventually resumed by Governor Isidro Rodriguez. The road was finally completed in August 1970.   1/

The road was initially called the Concepcion-Potrero Road. 1/    Governor Isidro Rodriguez formally inaugurated the road as the Gov. Wenceslao Pascual Avenue on December 27, 1970.  For many years after it was built, locals used to refer to the road as "Bagong Daan" before they finally got accustomed to calling it by its official name.

Gov. and Mrs. Isidro Rodriguez inaugurated Gov. Pascual Avenue.  The house in the background with the intricate grills used to be the Bautista House.

The marker was located in front of Arellano University/Jose Rizal High School. (Inauguration photos from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

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This photo taken Dec. 9, 2010 and added to blog Dec. 12, 2010.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of the marker at present.  Imagine how high Governor Pascual Avenue has been upgraded since 1970!

Thanks to Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista and Chiki Pascual Bautista for the info and the old photos.




1/     Information found on the marker.

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A uniquely Malabon resort - Villa Vicencio Garden Resort

It was a discovery I was not expecting.  A balikbayan couple invited us over to VILLA VICENCIO GARDEN RESORT in Barangay Dampalit owned by a relative, and I was just expecting to go to an ordinary resort with a swimming pool.  I was in for a very pleasant surprise.

At first it was just like entering a typical resort one would find in Antipolo or Los Banos. There's a big swimming pool with eating areas beside it. And then there are clusters of small bamboo huts with a much bigger one (a gazebo) in the middle.

But wait. This was not like your typical Antipolo or Los Banos resort ...because the huts are all built on a fishpond. And the fishpond is vast.

Now that's one of the most welcome sights ever for anyone who calls Malabon his or her hometown!  

Just your typical resort entrance....

...until you get to the huts built into the fishpond.  And then you realize you're in a uniquely Malabon resort!

Picnic huts where you get to sit and relax and enjoy the breeze.

VILLA VICENCIO GARDEN RESORT was opened in 1996 by Lucio and Lily Vicencio.   It started out with two smaller swimming pools in a garden setting.  Five years later, according to their son Jing, they bought the adjoining lot where they built a much bigger pool and added the bamboo huts built into the fishponds at the back.  Now, it's the bigger swimming pool that's used the whole year round, and the two smaller pools are used only during summer when there are more guests.  Guests bring their own picnic food;  snacks and soft drinks are available at the resort only during the summer.

With such surroundings, I could sit in this hut all day...

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The netting that serves to compartmentalize the ponds make an interesting accent in the water along with the caretaker's house in the distance.

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Another place where it still feels like Malabon -- once you get past the typical resort sights and sounds of laughter and fun in the swimming pool area.

Thanks to balikbayan couple Mr. and Mrs. Andre Salvador for this wonderful discovery! 

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Andre' Salvador for this wonderful discovery!



VILLA VICENCIO GARDEN RESORT
303 M. Sioson Street
Barangay Dampalit
Malabon City
Tel. No. 351.5197

Open everyday for swimming and picnics.  (9:00am - 10:00pm)

To get there from Monumento:
Take Governor Pascual Avenue, turn right to General Luna Street.
Go straight on Gen. Luna, then turn right at Don Basilio Bautista Blvd. in Barangay Hulong Duhat.
Go past Dampalit Bridge.  Before you reach the Dampalit Church, turn left at M. Sioson Street.
Go straight on M. Sioson.  Villa Vicencio will be on your right.
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Our neighborhood bakeries

Thank heaven for neighborhood bakeries!  They are wonderfully simple no-frills bread stores where we could go for our fill of warm, freshly baked bread and other goodies.     

Really, I don't know what it is about freshly baked bread and any good bread for that matter, that's so comforting.  But me and my family - and possibly several hundreds more of Malabon residents - we are just so thankful that there are two neighborhood bakeries that we grew up with and still get to enjoy today.


LA ILUSTRE HOUSE OF BREAD

Even before the more commercial Pullman loaf breads became available at the supermarkets, Malabon residents were already enjoying high-quality tasty bread from LA ILUSTRE bakery since it was opened in 1969 by Cecilia Noble-del Rosario.

Although their store was located in Barangay Hulo, some distance away from our house, their tasty bread was always readily available at the visita (the market at Barangay Concepcion).  Soft, fluffy slices that, especially when newly baked, you could eat and enjoy even without putting any spread or filling.  In 1974 LA ILUSTRE also came out with Nutribuns, which they supplied to the USAID for its feeding program.  Aside from their tasty bread, LA ILUSTRE now sells other baked goodies.

 

It's obvious from this spread that the Beehive, a soft cupcake with luscious merengue topping, is a bestseller.  It's one of my favorites, too.

The old CONCEPCION BAKERY

CONCEPCION BAKERY was put up by the Gregorio family in the late 1940s, according to the staff who was minding the store when I dropped by.   The store sign now says "R. B. Gregorio Bread House," but it is still being run by one of the sons of the original owner.

Located at the corner of General Luna and Bernardo Streets, CONCEPCION BAKERY was right within our block and so convenient whenever we were in the mood for freshly-baked pan de sal for breakfast or merienda.  The bakery became popular for their pianono, a small sponge roll with yema filling.  We also buy their camachile to go with pancit Malabon. 

A fresh coat of paint, new name and signage, and glass and aluminum counters gives the bakery an updated look.  But the store interior and the pianono and camachile on the shelves are an old familiar sight.

la ilustre

LA ILUSTRE HOUSE OF BREAD
30 Naval Street
Barangay Hulo, Malabon City
Tel. No. 281.6540


R. B. GREGORIO BREAD HOUSE
(formerly CONCEPCION BAKERY)
General Luna corner Bernardo Street
Barangay Concepcion, Malabon City

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