Lakad Pamana of Bustos , Bulacan ( Part 2)

Bustos – Bulacan

We decided to take a quick stroll while everyone is busy taking photos at the newly constructed Bustos Museum and Tourism Office .  Took the side entrance and went to the famed Pan de Bustos bakery  .

Pan de Bustos bakery

Some of those who went there ate their breakfast that this bakery near the municipal compound along the main street. The bakery started their operations around 3 years ago . Their bread is like the ordinary pandesal but is smaller and sweeter .

Pan de Bustos

The bread only cost Php 2.00 each and this is a MUST for everyone that is visiting the town. We decided to buy some for some tasting .

old municipal town hall

Bustos Municipal Hall

Closer view of the main facade of the Bustos Municipal Hall . It was first built during the early American era in bahay -na- bato style and the current building was built from 1956 to 1959 .

Bustos Municipal Hall

commemorative marker

staircase going to the second floor

The main hall was quaint with a grand wooden staircase and large painting which depicts the history of the town .  We were allowed to get inside the hall despite it was sunday .  There were several awards  like seal of good house keeping, galing pook awardee and among others that were prominently displayed at the main lobby going up to the second floor .

portraits of the previous town mayor

Mayor Arnel F. Mendoza ( incumbent mayor )

Origin :

Bustos was a part of Baliuag ( Baliwag )  during the Spanish and American colonial period. The town was separated from Baliuag by a tragic incident when around 1860, a rainy Sunday, a group of natives from Bustos with babies in their arms were on their way to Saint Agustine Parish Church of Baliuag  for baptismal when they drowned when the raft or planceta they were riding capsized while crossing the river of  Angat due to the strong water current. This fateful event led the people of Bustos to request and build their own parish church and decided to choose the Hold Child Jesus (Sto. Niño) as their patron saint in honor of those infants that died in the river.

school children dress in a period baro’t saya and barong tagalog

The group waited for the Tugyaw ( Tugtog at Sayaw) and Santo Nino parade to start .

santo nino dressed like a baker

There are several hundreds of Santo Nino statues that were accompanied by dancers from children to teenager and adults .

santo nino dresses in yellow dress ( notice the candies were part of the processional carriage)

different images of santo nino being driven by a lady pedicab

There are a lot of images of santo nino and are dress-up in different outfits and some are owned by private individuals and families.

santo nino being paraded on the main municipal ground using pedicab

The santo nino procession had different kinds of dance beat from the ati-atihan , sinulog , turumba , modern and even Ms. Willie Revillame -igiling-giling

The mood was very festive and some processional carriages throw away candies , packs of biscuits and snacks.

children had their own processional carriage with miniature sized holy child jesus

Zeny’s Minasa

Zeny ‘s Minasa  one of the 3 iconic bakery which had preserved the age -old tradition of making Minasa along with Fe’s Minasa located along the highway by Ms. Lourdes Luz and Aling Liling’s Minasa.

making of minasa

The group was given a short demonstration on making minasa and its traditional wood mold .

minasa dough

minasa dough before baking and the utensils, wooden mold, used for making the dough

There is also a large Minasa cookies , ideal for giveaways and pasalubongs.

Aling Zeny’s Minasa is located near the municipal hall with large tarpaulin poster and a small store. Their specialties also includes barquillo , lengua de gato and uraro biscuits. They are most in demand by OFW and Balikbayans as their keep-sake food stuffs for their families, friends and work mates in foreign countries where they stay.

Ms. Febe Sevilla together with Ms. Elena de Lara ( proprietor ) seated

Ms. Elena D. De Lara is a third generation minasa maker , according to her , The art of making traditional minasa was taught to her grandmother then to her mother .  She was interviewed and featured on television stations , newspaper and blog sites.

The group was also given some samples of minsa cookies and the store almost ran out of minasa cookies stock on that day.  Everyone bought some minasa cookies in plastic jar and other sweets. According to one of the store staffs ( They are usually open for half day during sunday )

Small plastic minasa jar cost Php 110 and large one cost Php 150 each

The original minasa cookies uses arrowroot flour and now uses cassava flour.

Address: #6 Tanawan , Bustos , Bulacan

Telephone (044)-761-0007 / 0917-200-9757, 0943-521-2465

email :zenyminasa@yahoo.com.ph

Special Thanks to Sir Gilbert Diño of San Miguel de Mayumo together with Bustos municipal tourism officer , office of the mayor.

Please Visit the Link :

Lakad Pamana of Bustos , Bulacan : https://renz15.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/lakad-pamana-of-bustos-bulacan/

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Eight reasons to visit the 33rd Manila International Book Fair

SMX Convention Center , Pasay City , Metro Manila – Philippines

SMX main lobby

It was a cloudy day when i went to the SMX Convention Center, I was not able to catch -up on the opening day of the 33rd Manila Intentional Book fair  due to a lot of work and prior commitments.

I was given some complimentary tickets from my regular buyers  “suki ”  and friends from the bookstore industry . Unfortunately , some of the regular participants during the book fair seems to be absent.

Goodwill Bookstore booth

1.) Great Discounts on Books and other Reading Materials.

Goodwill Bookstore is the first booth that i have visited during the exhibition, This is one of the oldest bookstore established in 1937  that is still existing in the country.  Last year we were invited to the book launching of “Philippine Native Orchid Species ” by  Mr. Jim Cootes  .

Website: http://goodwillbookstore.com/content/17-philippine-native-orchid-species

This year, while chatting with some Goodwill store marketing personnel – I saw ” Bonsai & Suiseki ” Trees & Stones … in Harmony  ( hardbound ) – This book was printed in 2004 and is being sold for just Php 150 ! I quickly check the hardbound book ( for any lost pages and quality check) and immediately  paid for the book . While paying , the cashier told me that I have an eye for books ! then quickly recognized me , ” Hindi ba ikaw ang parati kasama namin tuwing may -orchid show” ? LOL .  Yes! I quickly told ,   the cashier .  Goodwill Bookstore used to participate  in orchid shows as stall holders selling various orchid and gardening books  .   Then the cashier told me that the book that i have purchased is indeed a great bargain. They used to sell that for almost a thousand pesos !

Array of books being sold at a bargain price

2.) Meeting Friends and People within the industry 

Mr. Jojo Manzano  of Unveiled at Last revised by the author

CSM bookstore is one of the 200 plus bookstores , publisher and distributor which participated in the book fair. CSM is the number one provider of christian resources in the Philipines.

Church Strengthening Ministry, Inc. CSM Bldg., Pascor Drive ,Sto. Nino, Parañaque City , 1704 Philippines

Tel. (632) 852-7301 to 04

Fax. (632) 851-0170

E-mail: direct@csm-publishing.com

Website : http://www.csm-publishing.org/

3.) Meet Your Favorite authors, cartoonist and illustrators

Ms. Sharron Navera author of Haunted TV Shows

Went to the booth of PSICOM Publishing Company and  bought  3 books ,  2 books written by Mr. Stanley Chi  (Suplado Tips 1 and Pogi Points )

Website : http://www.stanleychi.net/

  Ms. Sharron Navera author of  ( Haunted TV Shows)  i got a chance to interview her despite her hectic schedule. Some of the books that she wrote are re-published again .   I left the 2 other books with Ms. Jem Doromal with the receipt and my business card hoping to let  Mr. Stanley Chi autograph the book, The book signing is scheduled tomorrow September 15, 2012.   I normally would buy books and leave them to the publisher for autograph signing, But this is my first time to leave the books with the  PSI company ( I have no idea if they will let the author sign it ? or will just put them in a corner ?)  .  The book is quite cheap, However since the paper is just like newspaper type , I am expecting that despite of nice storage facilities that i have at home, tropical stains and humidity would take its toll in this kind of newspaper type of paper.  Perhaps the company would take in consideration the quality of the paper ( so that it would last longer) rather than quantity .

 PSI Publishing : http://www.psicompublishing.com/zen/

4.) Interesting booths and displays – energy balls  from which  static electricity are generated  that people who touch the ball   make their hair stand on end. This is one of the interesting booths at the ongoing 33rd Manila International Book Fair . The Philippine Science Centrum had some collaboration with Goodwill Bookstore and is among the most frequently visited booth . Aside from learning thru books, students can learn practical science, math thru interactive displays .

                           Philippine Science Centrum -part of their awareness and promotion is a traveling exhibit

Website: http://www.science-centrum.ph/

Child friendly booth

5.) Freebies and other Perks- Leslie’s Food Corporation is one of the companies which gave free snacks during the book-fair.  Some exhibitor booth gave interesting paper fans, bags , magazines  and book marks !

6.) Contests and Games- Diwa Publishing sponsored a battle of the brain type of contest which is called ” Pasiklaban” 

7.) Workshop, Story Telling and Lectures- Mrs. Maricel Laxa- Pangilinan conducting a story telling ” Kuya na si Bunso ”  last September 14, 2012. Almost every booth had its own book launching , story telling from celebrities, freebies and lectures.

 

8.) Cosplays and Costume party- some of the exhibit booths allows visitors to wear costumes and  have some time character playing . Cos-players is also a delight to all the visitors of the event, they have contest for best in costume presentation.

“Learning is Fun ” just like this exhibit booth , some of the books are price at Php 10.00 each

I would normally linger the whole day but due to busy schedule  .  I have to cut my visit to the event for just a couple of hours , enough for me to buy at least 3 dozen books ( at bargain prices !)  .  Bibliophile or book lovers/ collectors would definitely take time to attend this event. Unfortunately , i was not able to buy postcards from Book Mark which was absent during this year’s book-fair.

Admission FEE is Php 20 for the general public and Php 10 for student

The Book Fair opens from 10:00am to 8:00pm

The event is until September 16, 2012.

 Note:  Some bookstores , publisher and exhibitor would normally give away complimentary tickets to their “suki” regular customers .