LAKAD PAMANA: Quiapo to Bulacan in a day

Its weekend again, and its another day for another exciting activity organized by

LAKAD PAMANA another lesson in history, another nature tour and this time,

it gets more interesting because its another bonding with Donna.

Before I start my story, I want to remind everyone that this would be a long blog

with lots of pictures. pls. bear with me....

I met Mister D (Gilber Diño) at 6am,  then travelled to our usual meeting place 

at Mcdonalds Mindanao Ave. to meet Donna and off to Quiapo we go, our first 

destination...

Named after the kiapo or water lettuce that once thrived along Pasig River, 

Quiapo is one of Manila’s old districts packed with colorful market stalls, 

colonial churches and still intact,  Spanish-period houses.

also this district is knnown for the various amulet stores and different “pampa” 

medicines besides quiapo church, cheap bargain on anything and everything you

name it. they have it.

A walk further right is A. Bautista St. and you may see  Bahay Nakpil-Bautista  

and Casa boix.

Til now, people still flock here to pay homage to the "poon" , the Black Nazarene 

of Quiapo Church, and shop for a variety of cheap products, anything you can think 

of. Quiapo is also known for the first and only Steel church in the Philippines and 

the whole of Asia,  -the San Sebastian Church.

our first stop was the CASA CONSULADO.located near San Sebastian church

along San Sebastian Street.

the best thing about LAKAD PAMANA is even without a tour guide, even if
its an "explore for yourself" walking tour, we have MR. Rence Chan to help
us understand history and whats happening. we can ask him questions and

we get a good answer, he is also a blogger of COLLECTORS CONNECTION
you can also check his many blogs about history and stuffs, in his very informative
pssst blog with more than 20,000 shares and trending  to more than 18,000 views
and page hits.

ok back to my story: this house at  #730 San Sebastian St. just behind San 

Sebastian church is the Iturralde Mansion / Iturralde House, or better known 

as Casa Consulado is a heritage house  located in San Sebastian St. Quiapo, 

The house is a Bahay na Bato constructed in 1926 forllowing the Bandehado 

style of acrhitecture common in the late 1920s.

here are some more pictures of whats inside the house. enjoy.

registration

vintage sewing machine

the library under construction

bed room

their still original staircase

vintage dresser

the owner is a plant lover. check his collection

picture taking before we head back to our next destination

After touring the house for  30 minutes, we started our Quiapo walk. and took

pictures of various heritage houses around.

here are some of the interesting things to see when in Quiapo
including the Ocampo Pagoda and one image of  Our Lady of Mount 
Carmel sitting on a globe that is held by human figures.

sad to say Ocampo’s heirs sold the property. and then the new owners built structures, 

and converted the compound into a boarding house for seafarers waiting for employment.

sad.

Our next stop was the Casa Flordelisa of Meng Santos.

 After Quiapo we went straight to Bulacan. because our friend Meng Santos is

waiting for us and we are told that the group will be treated menu for the day?

Arroz Valenciana.

group pic by Allan Pardilla Martinez

Constructed in 1888 by Maximo Villarama Fernandez and his wife Adelaida Mendoza 

Fernandez. The house is located in Brgy. Marungko, Angat, Bulacan. The structure

is surrounded by a garden of tropical fruits and multi-colored flowers famous for its 

luxuriance.

The receiving room is floored with red Narra, with lots of Capiz windows, furnished 

with antique furniture everywhere you look, surprisingly, a grandfather’s clock 

which goes off every 15 minutes and a chandelier to die for, you could also see 

an heirloom of statues handed down from generation to generation.

”Meng” Santos, the fourth generation of the clan inherited the ancestral house.

 In 1936, the house was acquired by the family of Don Jose Iturralde and his wife 

Doña Dominga Alvaro. the son, Dr. Augusto Alvaro Iturralde, was appointed as 

Honorary Consul of the Principality of Monaco to the Philippines, and thus, the

entire house was converted as his office and as the Consulate House of Monaco 

in the Philippines

After our trip to Meng Santos Ancestral, the organizers discovered that the cut 
off time for angat is till 2pm. and we are out of time so there should be a sudden
change of plan. instead of going to An Dam, we decided to go to Bustos.
so we headed to San Martin de Porres.

The BAHAY AT YAMAN NI SAN MARTIN DE PORRES can be found

Bustos, Bulacan. its a center for street children who found love and care beyond

the hot meals and shelter. these street children were fed, sheltered, and thus, healed,

treated with love and care. I can see the Center can house and care for as many

as 200 talented, well waised street children. thanks to the initiative of Rev.

Fr. Florentino S. Concepcion.

see those tall looking cactus? Donna was so cool she got a few cuttings for me,

each cutting longer that your keyboard.

we had great fun here! Donna got me some cactus cuttings from the ones she 

saw back at the gardens of the orphanage. thanks Donna, you never fail to 

make me smile!

Our last stop is the greenery

The Greenery is a sought after place for weddings, grand birthday parties or business

conference business activities. Located in # 80 Rio Vista Subdivision,Sabang, Baliwag,

Bulacan, this is one of the places you should consider when looking for that special place.

This placeoffers three event centers, a Light House, the Pavilion and the open garden.

The place is very romantic , as you can see, the water surrounding the greenery adds

to the ambiance of the place.

The mini train is an added attraction, a hit for kids visiting the resort.

The solemn place is also great for lovers, or your pre-nuptials occasion, after the 

wedding? for your honeymoon

here are some more pics of the place. sorry there are a lot of pictures but I just need

to share this. because they are so beautiful

Afterwards we headed to bahay na bato Casa Apolonio for our dinner before we call it a day. am happy to have a travel buddy like Donna around everywhere I go, much thanks Dhane.

thanks to LAKAD PAMANA and Mister D for this wonderful historical trip again, back in time the trip made more fun and less bring with Rence and his stories of history his insights, his observations of whats around and his side comments are very informative. a trip is fun with him around. till our next trip...
ONE LOVE, this is your LOVERBOY Dennis signing out. 8-06-2016