To burn off our heavy lunch, we take a heritage tour of the De Gala -Rodriguez ancestral house in Quezon. Built in 1929, the house boasts of 2 spacious living rooms and formal dining rooms which were especially built to house parties and sosyalan, akin to the lavish parties by Imelda Marcos when we visited her Paoay vacation home (her house is more ostentatious, with 32 airconditioning units!). This reinforced my belief that it is hard to maintain such a huge house- imagine the cost on those curtains, not to mention the electricity!
On this property, facing the pool, we were treated to a cooking demo of Higote or their version of bopis. This "barrio cooking" is widespread, all over the nation because we Filipinos cook our pig for the main dishes, and the leftover parts are then sliced and diced for recipes, like bopis, so there is no waste.
HIGOTE- Quezon's Bopis
-Igisa ang bawang at sibuyas
-Isama ang red bellpepper
-Ihalo ang tinadtad ng lamanloob ng baboy (baga, pigi) na nilaga at hinugasan ng tatlong beses
-Lagyan ng salt and pepper
-Samahan ng achuete (anato seed)
-Dagdagan ng soy sauce, sukang ilocos at siling haba
Quezon is lined with coconut trees in abundance, and among its products are virgin coconut oil and lambanog. We see this as we make our way to Graceland, a nice accommodation in Quezon, where we were staying. With its jogging path around a fishing lake, Mt. Banahaw as a backdrop against an infinity pool, and where the clouds envelope the highest peak of the resort, it is a haven. Tracy and I walked briskly for an hour around the lake while Chef Martin and Peachy jogged. 
Three hours later everyone gets into the coaster and we head off to Kamayan sa Palaisdaan, famous for making its way to Andrew Zimmern's EXTREME FOOD leg here in the Philippines. There was nothing exotic about the food- this is what we eat when we are at the beach on a hot, lazy summer.
Well nothing exotic or new, except for this dessert, which they call pilipit because it used to take the shape of infinity. But I guess due to the price increase of flour, it just took on the shape of a doughnut. It is a secret recipe, but we guessed its sticky rice and squash combination, with coconut (of course!), battered and fried with coco jam as its caramelly, chocolate-y topping. It is sooo good.
To cap the evening,we partake of the tanggero rite in Quezon. I was surprised at the taste of this local vodka. I took a mental note to buy lots for Christmas gifts, while we say:
"Na- ay po..."
"Pakinabangan po.."
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