As a true-bleu Fernandina, I couldn't help being proud that our home city, the City of San Fernando, Pampanga is recognized as the Top 5 in CNN Travel's List of "15 of the best places to go for Christmas." Forrest Brown, the author of the online article cited San Fernando, Philippines as the "Home to the Giant Lantern Festival" and a "visual wonderland at Christmas" with "festive, illuminated decorations."
I was around six years old when I looked forward to seeing the yearly "lubenas" which feature the handheld parols lit by candles inside. Later on, these candles became light bulbs which also come in various colors. I was also around eight or nine years old when my family and I would squeeze through the tightly packed crowd at the former Paskuhan Village to watch the annual Giant Lantern Competition to support and cheer for our barangay, San Jose. When some of our relatives from abroad would be home for Christmas, we also made it a point to ask them to watch the Ligligan Parul, wherever it was held. I remember one time, it was held in the palengke, in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral and the City Hall.
As a Fernandina, as well as a Kapampangan, I am also truly proud of our culinary heritage as we are also known as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines. Last week, I assisted a group of videographers from Manila, and I took them to a famous Kapampangan buffet restaurant in Floridablanca, Pampanga. Not only were they amused by the wide array of dishes, but expectedly, they enjoyed the flavors of the dishes, saying that they will definitely visit the buffet restaurant once again, and they will bring their families and relatives.
I have also joked that we Kapampangans are afraid to be hungry that's why there are literally a thousand restaurants lining up the major thoroughfares and places in the city and the province in general. With a mix of traditional and modern cuisine, the City of San Fernando is also home to homegrown food spots such as Everybody's Cafe, Holidayland Buffet Restaurant, Pipanganan Capampangan, Jun-jun's Restaurant, Nathaniel's, and Bubusuk among many others.
As a granddaughter of meat vendors, my family particularly my aunts, uncles, and my mom also know how to concoct the famous tocino or pindang and longganisa. When I was 12 years old, I set up a booth at my mom's office during their foundation activity to sell tocino and longganisa. My aunt's tocino and longganisa recipe is one of the well-known version of these famous Kapampangan delicacies.
The parols, both giant and regular-sized ones, along with the delectable dishes that we offer here in our well-loved city highlight our pride and tradition as Fernandinos and we stand proud as the Kapampangans born in the capital of Pampanga, the famous City of San Fernando.