Over The River

Bridge over Santa Rosa, Noveleta

As this river divides two barangays (town/city sub-division smaller than the city) in the A bridge above it connects the two. Without this bridge, people from the right side have to travel more than 5 kilometers at the town proper just to go to the other side. At the same time, people going to Manila from the upland towns cut a big portion of their travel time because of this link. Aren't bridges wonderful? 

Finding of the Cross

Santa Elena, Noveleta

Today, May 3rd, Catholics in the town of Noveleta, Cavite celebrates the feast of the founding of the holy cross. Saint Helena, or Santa Elena in Spanish/Filipino was the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine. She was said to have found the true cross which was used to crucify Jesus Christ at Golgotha.

A colorful Filipino tradition of the Santacruzan is also based on this story of Queen Helena and the founding of the cross. Beautiful ladies parade in line wearing beautiful long gowns and are escorted by handsome gentleman in their Barong Tagalog (Filipino national costume for men). They represent different queens of legends, but the grandest of them all which is at the very end of the queue is the Reina Elena. She holds a small wooden cross (representation of the true cross), wears the grandest gown, with an arch carried by two men at the sides but escorting her is not a gentleman but a little boy who is titled as the "Constantino", respresenting Helena's son Constantine. Santacruzans are held around the country during the month of May (except this year of course where social distancing is a must)

Photo was submitted by a reader from Noveleta who wants to commemorate this important day on their town's history and faith. Happy Fiesta Noveleta!

Noveleta Karakol - Timeless Thursdays

Town Karakol, Noveleta

Happy people of Noveleta in their celebration of a holy procession of their Santa Cruz or their Holy Cross.

The Karakol is a traditional parade in some towns in Cavite wherein Catholics do a procession of the Santa Crus or the Holy Cross and a specific Karakol music is being danced by the faithful. This is traced back to the Spanish Era wherein people of Cavite, mostly farmers, perform this ritual to ask for God's grace and mercy through the form of rain so that the crops will live through the summer season.

Usually, the karakol is performed around the town proper days before the Town Fiesta. In Noveleta, the karakol should have been performed in this week in preparation to their town fiesta which is happening this Sunday, May 3rd. 

As per our reader, this is Mr. Jesus Didal, one of the caretakers of the cross

All photos on this post are credited to the owner and not to the author or this blog.

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Oyster Sisig of Malen's

Malen's Oyster Sisig

Sisig is a very popular dish in the Philippines. It's rather new I must say and not a recipe that we can call colonial from the Spanish and American eras. Usually made of pork meat, but can also be made using beef, chicken, or tuna, sisig is made my slicing meat into very small blocks and then seasoned with soy sauce and calamansi (native lime), then sauteed with onions, garlic, chili peppers, and liver. It creates an explosion of delicious tastes that come together - sweet, sour, salty, spicy - mixed together in a beautiful dish.

Malen's Restaurant in Noveleta took it a notch higher by using one of coastal Cavite's famous products, oysters. In this dish, the oysters are sliced and cooked in the sisig style and then scooped back to its cute little shells and served and plated in a bed of salt. Sisig and this particular oyster variant is best enjoyed with steamed white rice. You can enjoy native Caviteño and other Filipino and Fusion cuisine in Malen's Restaurant in the town of Noveleta. They are also known for their cakes and pastries.

Malen's Restaurant

Magdiwang Hwy, Santa Rosa, 

Noveleta, Cavite

+63 46 438 1634

https://www.malensrestaurant.com/