Our Manaoag trip

With no preparation at all but have decided to go anyway, we marked the 15th of March to pay a long-delayed visit to Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan. Waking up at 12am (with only about an hour of sleep) was a feat, keeping wide awake proved to be more challenging. At 2am, we were up and about--my wife, her sister and mom, with Marvin who's driving the car.

Julia Rose, that's the black Toyota Corolla Altis, looked and played her part very well--the usually 4-hour long drive only took us less than 3 hours--she's longing for the road trip and she did the treading with ease like a princess of the well-paved NLEX road.

We lit candles, said the required prayer, lined up in the already long queue of devotees waiting their turn to rub their what-have-yous to Our Lady of the Manaoag image, and then attended the hourly mass. The mass, said in the traditional hymns and touchy verses, was overwhelming--it was the feast of Saint Joseph--and it was difficult not to listen. We bought small souvenirs, then went off to take our breakfast of fried Tilapia and steamed white rice. Dau being a stopover, we went to Angeles to visit my wife's relatives, and eat lunch there. By 4pm, we're home with the fondest of our joyrides.