Quezon Province: Easy Access to Adventure
DID YOU KNOW that Quezon Province is home to over 700 tourist destinations? Maybe that’s why there’s a steadily growing number of tourists flocking this nearby province of Manila.
After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, the Province of Quezon is ready to welcome us all back.
So here’s to all the backpackers, holidaymakers, impulsive travelers, and even those on a budget – Quezon Province will scratch those itchy feet hard!
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The best Philippine island-hopping experience you’ve never heard of
Save yourself from the unplanned luxurious plane ticket ride to the renowned beaches here in the country. We all know how expensive it is, right? But in Quezon Province, it’s just a bus ride and a short boat ride to pristine and unpopulated tourist attractions.
Experience beaches similar to Boracay’s white beach without dealing with the crowd and high travel costs. Quezon’s beaches offer shimmering white sand and turquoise seawater. There’s Cagbalete, Anawan, Alibijaban, Minasawa, and the pristine Jomalig, to name a few.
In Jomalig Island, radiant golden sand shines at day’s end thanks to the island’s famous sunset.
Home of the country’s most colorful harvest festival
Many festivities in the Philippines are colorful. Yet the Lucban Pahiyas Festival, one of the Quezon Province towns, holds the distinction as the country’s most colorful. It’s not just the colorful bandiritas on display, but the extravagantly decorated streets and neighborhoods. Facades of every home are adorned with Lucban’s best agricultural products. These include vegetables, fruits, Lucban longganisa, and colorful Kipings, a traditional Filipino leaf-shaped wafer made from glutinous rice.
Pahiyas Festival is held in May to pay homage to the patron saint of farmers, San Isidro Labrador, for a bountiful harvest. It traces back to the 16th century, when the town’s ancestors would bring their harvests to the foot of Mt. Banahaw and hold simple celebrations to give thanks to Anito. Anito symbolizes the nature spirits and deities in the indigenous Philippine folk religions from the pre-colonial age. However, as the Spanish colonization took place, the farmers started bringing their harvests to the church to be blessed by the priest. And when church could no longer accommodate the overflowing goods, they agreed that the farmers would display their harvests at their doorsteps. Then the priest would just roam around to bless each house. And that is how the Pahiyas Festival came to be.
Pahiyas is a month-long celebration of cultural shows, trade fairs, art exhibits, visual and culinary feasts, and various contests to boost the local tourism industry. No one can resist the festive atmosphere, and more and more locals from neighboring provinces and even those from other countries are traveling to Lucban to experience the color and flavors of Quezon Province.
Low-key the most amazing destination for great food
Speaking of flavors, apart from its lush tracts of greenery, a wide variety of sands, picturesque heritage, and radiant festivals, Quezon can surely satisfy your culinary cravings. If you’re planning to visit, prepare your palate for a mouth-watering adventure, diving into the sea of must-try dishes in the province.
On top of the list is the pancit habhab, Quezon Province’s version of pancit. A dish made with noodles, placed on a banana leaf. It requires you to eat it without using utensils. Fun and daring, right?
As for the aforementioned Lucban longganisa, it has a stronger garlicky flavor and is a bit more sour compared to other sausage varieties around the country. It’s perfect for breakfast, partnered with garlic rice and fried eggs. Serve with a side of local coconut vinegar, and voila!
There’s also a dish called Hardinera, which looks like embotido or meatloaf but is steamed in an oval pan known as a llanera. It contains pork cubes stewed in tomato sauce, sausage chunks, pineapples, bell peppers, raisins, and slices of boiled eggs.
There are a bunch of other dishes and delicacies to run down, but we’ll leave it up to you to find out. Just keep in mind that you should “count memories, not calories!” With all the adventure that awaits you in Quezon Province, you’ll surely burn all that anyway.
Tara na sa Quezon!
