Bay-bay Beach: for oysters & ebony sand

 *A continuation of our trip around Roxas City

     Our rendezvous before we head home was by the People's Park in Babay, Roxas City. The park is  locally known as Roxas City Boulevard almost similar to Roxas Boulevard in Manila minus the pollution and the major hustle and bustle, also without the many commercial establishments.  

    From Gaisano City Mall, it is a 10-minute tricycle ride to Baybay. "Baybay" in hiligaynon is seashore. Here, it is an actual name of a place which identifies the obvious.   The sand is fine, but is ebony in color. It is not the marshy type that you would find in polluted shores. Many kids were swimming from afar amid the big waves. There weren't big rock formations at sight, it looked as if it was safe that time to surf there, too. But Capiznons  are not really big on surfing. They are more of the fisher folks type.  It was such a shame that I couldn't get in the water that day. I did not bring any other clothing with me except those that I already wore. 

    It was not really a swimming trip, although I really wanted to try the water rushing to the gray shore. For one, because it was not that hot, and it was a bit windy.  None of us could swim and splash because we did not have spare clothes for bathing, so we ended up enjoying the view instead. 

  My brother ordered for us two small basins of Talaba for 25 pesos per basin.  Then, we did the traditional tiltig and hitads.  These two make up the process of opening oysters that are half-cooked and are shy of opening. Tiltig is when you hit it with a knife to make a crevice out of the shells .  Hitad is when you separate the two shells from each other.  Then we enjoyed dipping that in the vinegar-soysauce- kalamansi condiment provided by the seafood kiosk where we bought the oysters from. It had been a while since I last ate Talaba. I finished 15- as far as I remember.

  

    It was almost sundown when we finished eating and taking photos of the place.  Then I saw my father. He was scribbling something in the sand. Something about thanking the Canadian government for the help they have offered to Estancianons during the typhoon. And with careful instructions he said to me: "You should post that on Facebook.", after I took a picture of it. My father, always the public servant. 

   I have lived in Panay for some 18 years, but I have never gone that far away from Estancia. I never knew this part of Capiz existed. That they have a Baybay through their People's Park almost similar to what we have at home only way more organized and preserved. It was not too late to get here now, at 23. There will be many other places to go- places I know was there, but I did not take a good second look at.  

Capiz: More than just windowpane oysters

A  couple of days after my arrival to my  sleepy hometown, Estancia, Iloilo  which turned out even sleepier after Yolanda's wrath, I organized for  my whole family a trip to Roxas city to while away for the following reasons:  (one) to compensate over my absence last Christmas and  (two) to have them forget , even for a short while, everything they had to go through during the typhoon.

We all prepped up, together with my cousin and her  three kids and travelled  to Capiz. Iloilo and Capiz are neighbouring provinces. My  mom is a pure Illonggo and my father is from Capiz. The latter is famous for the superstitions about the existence of Aswang. My father affirmed to having encounters with some when he was younger . And no matter how many times he told stories of them I am yet to see and fully describe one. So I couldn't share anything about Aswangs right now.  And that's not really what I wanted to blog  about. What would interest me is knowing that my travels interest you too. Here is how my small trip to Capiz went.

Our first stop was The Shrine in the Agtalin Hill. Devout Catholics and Marian followers go here every first Saturday of the month because of the mass. Many have said that the ascent to the hill helps you answer your prayers and heal your illnesses. We were mainly there to express our gratitude to the  Higher Power  because my family survived the typhoon unscathed .

The Ascent to Agtalin

I forgot to count how many steps it took me to reach the top. But it surely is breath-taking - both the climbing up and the view. At the top of the hill, an 80-ft tall statue of Our lady of the Miraculous Medal stands. Even from the highway  in  Dulangan, Pilar you would already see the image.  It's always  going to give you that need of stepping out of the vehicle and climbing up to either say your prayers or to enjoy the beauty of the gigantic statue and the view  from the top of the hill.

How did it get there? The idea was conceived  by a believer who was miraculously healed   from a fatal illness through the Virgin Mary. He, gratified by the miracle, wished to have a statue built in Her honor. This was realized in the combined efforts of engineers, sculptors, laborers, and locals in 1991.

I remember going up there 2-3 times before that last one.  But none so purposeful as this one.  I knew that all those things we lost during the typhoon were just things we can always buy in the future, but my family's safety is the main reason all of us, together, climbed up that hill- to acknowledge the  efforts of God  in securing them during  the hardest of times. Something I am very thankful for.