July 9th: This Old House - A Day with the Pastor Family

IP Rondalla kids pose for a group picture at the grand staircase of the historic
Pastor family house in Batangas City.

After our performance at St. Bridget College, we took a short drive to the Pastor family's historic "Bahay Na Bato" house for a "Macabayan" (Nationalist) workshop. The Pastor house is about 150 years old and is of the few remaining Spanish-Filipino architectural style house that survived the bombing of Batangas City during WW II. As we roamed around the house, we noticed a number of old relics, pictures and artifacts, including a full sized statue of Jesus Christ and a working karawahe (the house-pulled version of the modern Jeepney). During the first hour, we were treated to native, sweet desserts as we listened to the Pastor brothers' tenor rendition of classical, Filipino, and modern Broadway tunes.

Following the refreshments, we moved to the adjoining hall where we had a an open discussion on the artifact that most interested us in the house. Our moderator helped us piece the different artifacts together in its role in the history of the house and the Philippines. After a hefty discussion, we were exhausted and craved for more of the delicious delicacies of Batangas. We went back to the old house where we were served adobo using the original ingredients, "dulong" (locally available freshwater goby), sapin-sapin, and ginataan. Yummy!

IP Rondalla kids listening intently during the Makabayan workshop's "round-table" discussion session.

Dad can't help taking a selfie picture in front of one of two big mirrors prominently mounted inside the giant living room
of the Pastor residence while my mom takes a peek at a copy of the coffee book about the house. Isn't my dad cool?

IP Rondalla kids doing the dance video at the entrance to the Pastor house for the Ate's tour collection.