Places::Cabatuan, Isabela

        The morning after we arrived back from our Bangued Abra trip, Mama, Dinah's mom, expressed that she wanted to visit Cabatuan Isabela, her hometown.  Nanang, Dinah's grandma, was in Isabela and was too old to travel to come visit us in Laoag.  Also, Mama's dad was dying.  So with just a day's rest from our Bangued Abra trip, we were again off on a road trip to Cabatuan Isabela.
        
        When we got to Cagayan, vehicles had to queue for the barge that was used to transport them across this wide river since the suspension bridge was undergoing repairs.  We had to wait for over 4 hours before it was finally our turn to cross.

        It was my first time to visit Cabatuan.  I've been telling Dinah for so long that I wanted to visit Cabatuan because I wanted to see if their legendary "Pata-Tim" was really legendary :)
This joke started when I was still in college.  A fellow boarder of mine from Cabatuan said that they always have "Pata-Tim" on Christmas gatherings.  "Pata-Tim" is just a plain and simple dish of pork hocks stewed in soy sauce, vinegar and sugar with some dried lily flower.  It made me wonder how good Cabatuan's "Pata-Tim" was, knowing that they serve it on special occasions.

         Seriously, their "Pata-Tim" lived up to their claim.  Dinah's cousin, Bong-bong was the one who cooked this and it was the best one I've had so far, no kidding.
        

        This dish was paired with roasted eggplants that we ate with diced tomatoes and spring onions mixed with fish sauce.

        Lola Otiang, one of Dinah's grandmas started making "Moruecos", a sticky rice treat wrapped in banana leaves that are steamed and are eaten with a sweet sauce made from coconut cream reduction and brown sugar.

        This was a portrait of Nanang that I took after our chat about her younger years during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in WWII.

        Nanang is almost 90 years old but her mind is still sharp. 

         On our 2nd night in Cabatuan, we stayed at Rhoda's big and beautiful house.  Rhoda is Dindin's cousin who lives in Dublin, Ireland.

        Thank you again Rhoda for letting us stay at your house for 1 night.