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Published: April 15th 2006
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Tuesday evening we left Manila at about 8pm for Marinduque the birth place of Eleanor's Grandfather. The trip involved a 3 hour car trip to Lucena and a 2.5 hour Roll On Roll Off ferry (RORO) ride to Marinduque. The traffic was pretty bad but we still made it in plenty of time for the 2am boat. When we arrived at the port eveything seemed to be chaotic, no one seemed to know the correct procedure for purchasing tickets and booking the car onto the ferry. After asking around and lining up in four queues we were finally able to book the car onto the ferry, we then joined a long line of other cars. Things went pretty slowly from here and it appeared that cars were pushing in, Maribel was getting pretty irate about this and set off to "sort out" whoever was in charge. She discovered that cars were being let on the ferry ahead of us even though they hadn't followed the correct procedure, she created a bit of a fuss and soon after this the line started to move, our driver Jess took off towards the ferry at a great pace and was able to get our
The house of Lola Cardo
Another photo for Ronald car on. We then boarded the ferry and got bunks in the airconditioned section, I soon fell asleep and woke up about 3 hours later, the ferry wasn't moving so I thought we had arrived, unfortunately the ferry hadn't even left, soon after it did leave and we arrived on Marinduque at about 8am. On the way to the capital Boac we saw our first procession of soldiers, part of the Mariones festival. The Mariones celebrates the life of Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side during the crucifixion. Blood from the wound spattered Longinus' blind eye, which was immediately healed. During the festival groups of men dressed as soldiers and march around the town, it's very colourful.
We didn't stop at Boac but went straight to the beach house owned by Dicky, we decided to have a look before making a decision as to where to stay. We had a booking in town at the Tahanan Sa Isok hotel so opted to spend the first night there to be near the action and the second night at the beach house. Jollibee had set up a take away food outlet near the outdoor market so we had lunch there,
we then toured the market. Later I had a rest and then we all (except Michael) visited Gerry (Karina's brother) and watched the nightly procession of saints involved in the passion and death of Christ from his balcony. When the procession finished we went to a presentation area and met the Governor; Eleanor, Justine and I sat near the stage for the Putong and and were crowned. Soon after we met with Uncle Tino who had a habit of turning up whenever we were eating. Dinner that night was at the hotel, seven of us ate all we could and together with drinks the bill was 488 pesos (about $Au13), Eleanor couldn't believe what good value it was.
The following morning we checked out of the hotel and moved to the beach house. We had a relaxing morning and then went to Governor Reyes's house for lunch. The house was like a resort and had numerous guest rooms, there were about 70 guests staying there. The Governor's daughters - Violet and Marichu were very hospitable and made us very welcome. The food was great especially the Pasta sauce with capers and they opened a nice bottle of French Rose and
gave us two more bottles to take with us.
The following day (Good Friday) was a real high light. I began the day with a walk and swim and then went into the town with Eleanor, Mummy and Maribel for another procession. This one consisted of men dressed as Christ dragging a Cross whilst being whipped by Roman Soldiers, the whipping was for real and there was quite a bit of blood. I had a great view from the wall of Eleanor's Grandfathers house that is now a school.
We left Marinduque last night and got the 10pm ferry, it was only half an hour late but slower than the ferry we came on. We arrived back at Lucena at about 2pm and back in Pasig in time for breakfast at 6am. I'm now at Marianne and Joseph's house doing this update, after I'm finished I'll go to the Mega Mall with Eleanor, Justine and Maribel. Tomorrow we leave for San Fabian and then onto Laog, that's all for now, thanks for the comments and messages. A big happy 21st birthday to the the young dude Jervis, birthday greetings also to Jenny, Jimmo, Elyse and Leanne. That's all for now.
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Peter D.
non-member comment
Holiday
Looks like you are having a really exciting holiday. Are any of the recent photos from the new Camera ? Loved the Sunset Picture. Eleanor-you are now 45 in Upstream Footy Comp.