Off to the Katayawan Festival
18 August 2013 | Oceanview Marina
Sunny and hot--again.
We decided to head for Davao on the bus the marina hired to take the cruisers to Davao to see the Katayawan Festival parade yesterday. From what I have read, it's similar to our Thanksgiving and they give thanks for the bountiful harvest of the crops grown around Davao. We made it just in time to see the parade with all the floats and kids playing their instruments. Most of the bands played the xylophone (with metal bars instead of wood)and drums. It was great to watch and listen too. From time to time one of the floats would come by with a Philippine TV or movie star on board and the crowd would go wild, especially the young girls yelling and screaming their names at the top of their lungs. Security was tight as it has been all week long. Lots of Army military milling around in the crowd. There have been random check points along the road with spot checks for the last several weeks. It really got bumped up when the US started closing it's embassies and consulates.
After about 90 minutes, we hiked down the street to "G" mall to do some shopping since we had a bus to take what ever we bought back to the marina with us. Just about everyone took advantage of it and we all had boxes and bags for the trip back. We were back at the marina by 1415. Both of us settled in for a short afternoon nap.
Later in the afternoon, Donald and Carol stopped by to drop off the chicken curry we had her make for our passage. I had it last week at the cruiser dinner that they make each week and we couldn't pass up the chance to have her make some for the next crossing. I took it up to the club house and stuck it in the freezer. We'll vacuum pack it once it's frozen. YUM!!
Today, we have a navigation seminar scheduled to go over the route and ports that we will be visiting on the rally. I'll be attending it while Tracy heads back in to Davao for a chest x ray and another visit to another doctor. We want to make sure all is well before we leave. This has gone on long enough.
The picture today is of one of the floats. The pointy thing on the back of the float is a piece of Durian, a fruit that comes into season this time of year.