It’s rainy Sunday afternoons like today that make one reminisce about that one great summer. Mine was spending three weeks in Bohol two years ago for the Ateneo Cultural Laboratory.
Two things made it memorable: 1) the People and 2) the Food. Often, we would have dinner al fresco at the port area right across Baclayon Church. The port was made into a grassy plaza overlooking the bay, with ihaw-ihaw style carinderias serving isaw, gizzard, betamax, and other grilled seafood. These would, of course, pair well with puso or rice artfully wrapped in nipa and sold for Php10.00 apiece.
On special nights, however, we found ourselves invited into ancestral homes and served wonderful Bol-anon dishes. Such was our dinner at the Clarin Ancestral house or more famously known as Cafe Olegario. 
The caretaker was expecting our arrival and gave us a tour of the quaint old house. The intricate woodwork and familiar smell of old that greeted every room aroused our senses that it made us all the more excited for what was in store that evening. 
There is something about old houses, calado woodwork, candlelights and Bisaya that make food more special. That evening we feasted on local dishes like pork humba (comparable to Adobo), guso seaweed salad, fried native chicken, pansit and sweetened bananas. 
FOOD & FRIENDS. Two of the most important things in life.
NATIVE CHICKEN. It’s nice to eat healthy and home-grown chicken once in a while.
GUSO SEAWEED SALAD. It’s gooey but best to pair with sukang puti and calamansi.
Of course, a Bol-anon meal would not be complete without sikwate–cocoa–and broas (butter fingers). Locals would drink it like how Westerners (and well, we Filipinos nowadays too) would drink coffee after meals. I remember there were days I would have more than three cups of sikwate, because every household or place we visited would customarily serve it to visitors. Not complaining.
SIKWATE. A hot cocoa drink that’s like the local coffee of Boholanos.
There were other memorable evenings spent in Bohol, like the dinner by the lake in Dauis Church hosted by Gov. Chatto or the banquet prepared by proud Boholano designer Ino Manalo. In each of this experience I remember feeling so honest, so bold, and young, with grace and enthusiasm for discovering and trying out things outside my tiny world after college.
Bohol will always be special. It’s looking back at that one great summer that makes me smile to myself and quote Leonardo Dicaprio in The Beach:
“I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it’s not some place you can look for because it’s not where you go. It’s how you feel for a moment in your life when you’re a part of something and if you find that moment, it lasts forever.”
That summer, the wood works, those evening dinners, the Bol-non dishes—definitely, will all last forever.
The Ateneo Cultural Laboratory is an annual program organized by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology for undergraduates and postgraduates. The participants are divided into teams and are expected to create a written output that will be presented to the partner LGU. Examples of research themes are: built heritage, oral traditions, culinary heritage, cultural products, and tours development.
Filipina Bohemian 