In Tanay market, I boarded an empty jeep parked at the terminal hub bound for Siniloan, Laguna.
It took more than an hour to fill up the ride before it hit the road.
However delayed, it was an exciting trip, anyway.
Passengers were all diversified--farmers, students, housewives, office workers, menial jobbers, religious etc.
Seated to my right was a nun who was too conscious of her veil, she neatly folded it like braided hair kept lying between her neck and right shoulder.
After a few minutes of people watching, I got off at the intersection going to the bucolic Sta. Maria where I took a trike into the town proper where I could see from afar the tomb of the late sexy actress Halina Perez who died years ago in a vehicular accident.
Oh! Halina's ancestral family house in the middle of the community is a mark of a middle class standing in a second-rate municipality where idyllic surroundings beckoned another visit.
The verdant plains between Sta. Maria and Famy were attractive to the eyes as they lay at the foot of Sierra Madre.
Although the Spanish colonial look and tradition of Siniloan has faded especially in the downtown except for the old church Saints Peter and Paul Parish, its present-day attraction is celebratory in the midst of ordinary quotidian.
From the town on a suburban sunset, promenaders gathered at the bridge beside the sprawling rice fields were counting on their friendships, peer presence and romances.
The next town to the west is Pangil which is a simple, lethargic municipality while the Turumba—a song and dance festival which originated from a place called Pakil.
One of the most prominent towns is Paete because of its moniker as the Wood Carving Capital of the Philippines. True to its attribute, every nook and cranny of Paete has stores of various carvings, from the religious to the legendary to the fantastic.
Kalayaan town is mostly the hilly part where one could experience the man-made Kaliraya Lake.
Lumban town has its finest fabric for Filipiniana attire for foreign as well as local tourists.
Pagsanjan has the reminiscences of Spanish colonial rule in its church, arch of the centuries, vintage houses and design of its municipal hall are evident.
Wonder why Santa Cruz isn’t the provincial capital when it houses the capitol for provincial leadership?
Although urbanized, yet the serenity of the countryside is still felt.
Join us in exploring the other exquisite places in Laguna in the offing.
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