Quezon province's Niyogyugan Festival 2019

Stunning. Pulsating. Exhilarating. These words came to my mind as I recall 
the awesome experience my son and I had when we witnessed Quezon province's Niyogyugan Festival for the first time last Aug. 24-25. Indeed, it was the 
mother of all festivals in my lovely home province, celebrated yearly to pay tribute to the coconut, which is Quezon's lifeblood, being its top agricultural product.

Everything was grand - the float parade, agri-booth exposition, dance showdown, the Bb. Niyogyugan pageant, the delicious food, and the festive ambiance 
all around Lucena City, the capital of Quezon. 

We weren't able to witness all the events as one has to be in Lucena for the most part of the 10-day duration of the festival to be able to do so. We were only there for less than two days but the joy of the experience was already enough to warm our hearts  and give our minds a flood of memories to cherish. 

Here are the highlights of our Niyogyugan Festival 2019 experience :

Float parade and street dancing 

Each float comes after the town or city's banner.

There were so many other floats but sadly, we weren't able to see the others 
because my son was complaining about tired feet so we left about 
halfway through the parade to eat at Buddy's-Pacific Mall. 

Agri-booths

All of Quezon's 39 towns and two cities had a booth, to give you a hint of how grand and well-participated was this year's Niyogyugan. Each booth shows the incredible creativity and ingenuity of Quezonians. All are made out of indigenous and sustainable materials. Inside every one of them are the town's or city's products for sale to the visitors such as various foods and souvenir items. 

The town of Lucban is famous for its "pancit habhab" and Longganisang Lucban 
and people lined up to buy them at its booth. 

The booth below is my top favorite. Just take a closer look at what it's 
made of: dried fish and shells! Marvelous!

Some of the other products for sale at the different booths

The green boxes at the top of the shelf contain Infanta's sought-after "suman", which is the best-selling product during the entire festival. 

Tayabas town's famous Yema Cake and other sweets plus the delicious "sinantol" or ginataang santol which I bought.

Special "tikoy", sinantol and more at the Gumaca booth. 

"Kibit" or seafood chicharon

Fresh vegetables and fruits were also available in many of the agri-booths. 

Native kakanin on sale outside the booths

My son and mine's favorite - the heavenly "pilipit" 

It was a sad thing that we weren't able to finish the parade and see all the floats because we were already tired and our legs were aching. Before the parade started at SM Lucena, we had to walk the long stretch of Quezon Ave. going to the provincial capitol (where the booths were) because this main road was closed, being the route 
of the parade. And then we made the rounds 
of the booths so our feet were already screaming to be put up! 
We also missed the dance showdown that night. Sigh... 
Anyway, prizes were given away to the best agri-booth, float, and streetdance group. Infanta was the festival's overall champion. The town's "suman" was also the best-selling product in all the agri-booths with over P1.5 million total sales during the duration of the event. On the other hand, this year's Bb. Niyogyugan 
beauty pageant title was won by Atimonan. 
What a blast we had at this year's very memorable Niyogyugan Festival! 
I hope to witness it again next year! 

Queen Margarette Hotel in Lucena City

Our family stayed for a night in Lucena City last summer to rest from the trip coming from Manila to Taytay, Rizal to attend an aunt's wake, and before proceeding to San Francisco, Quezon. We checked into Queen Margarette, as recommended by a friend based in Lucena. There are two branches of this hotel in the city: one along Diversion Road in Barangay Domoit, and the other in downtown Lucena. We went to the one in Domoit, which, we learned, is the original, and bigger one.

Though I'm a native of the province, it was my first time at Queen Margarette and i had a good impression of it when we checked in.

The lobby

True enough, we had a splendid stay. The hotel, even if it's just 3-star, got all our needs covered, from food, to massage, to comfortable sleep and even for a wheelchair for our mom who was then about to turn 90 in a few days. The staff were just wonderful. They were all friendly, courteous and helpful. I guess those are inherent qualities among us Quezonians. Ehem! Haha!

Anyway, i didn't have high expectation for the rooms because as i mentioned, we were in a 3-star hotel but I was floored by the beauty and modest elegance by the two rooms that we had for the night. They were even lovelier than the room that we once checked into in a 5-star hotel in the heart of Manila. The toilet and bath had all that we needed from the toiletries to towels to hair dryer and most 

importantly for me, hot and cold shower. 

Take a peek into our rooms:

But before we had to take rest, we had to have dinner. Good thing, we didn't have 

to go out as Queen Margarette has its own very spacious restaurant called Emerald Green's Cafe that serves surprisingly good food at reasonable prices. The ambiance is, shall I say, business-like, with almost a 5-star hotel feel except that the restaurant is not air-conditioned, sadly. Good thing there's good ventilation because 
of the vast space and open walls.

Our orders:

Bistek Tagalog

Sinigang na bangus

 Bihon Guisado

Clubhouse sandwich

Menu

We really enjoyed our dinner as everything was yummy. We were full to the brim! Well, we really had to fill up because we weren't ready to retire for the night just yet. My two kids took the opportunity to swim at the hotel's pool, which wasn't so big but nice, nevertheless. There's a kiddie pool aside from the one for adults.

Meanwhile, my sister and I opted to relax at the jacuzzi, then have a steam bath and full-body massage. The experience was so wonderful for me. It was a fantastic first time for me to have all three services on one occasion and for only P600+ per person! I slept like a baby the whole night, very relaxed and rejuvinated. There was, in fact, a glow on my face when I got up in the morning. Well, at least that's how I felt. Haha!

 My sister checking into the spa

And then, it was time for breakfast! Queen Margarette offers breakfast buffet to its guests. Though there isn't really a lot of dishes in the spread, 

breakfast was nevertheless filling and enjoyable.

My breakfast: fried rice, scrambled egg, danggit, chami, a piece of pandesal and butter, and
longganisang Lucban (I didn't get everything from the buffet. There was also arroz caldo which one of my  my sisters relished). All washed down with 
a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

After breakfast, the kids and one of my sisters had some time at the pool while the rest of us sisters had a lovely chat at the restaurant. And then my sissies had ice cream and bought pasalubong at the store there. Before noontime, we returned to our room to pack our things and get ready to leave. But before we checked out, I took some more pictures around the hotel. The cleaning staff let me into a suite, 
which was huge and beautiful.

I took this picture after we had breakfast. I found the glass parts of the walkway interesting because there's water underneath. 

It was a lovely, memorable stay that we had at Queen Margarette Hotel in Lucena City. The place is well-appointed, the staff are all nice and helpful (they won't even let us push mom's wheelchair 'coz they did it all the time) and the prices of everything from the rooms to the food to massage won't break the bank. I guarantee you'd still have some moolah left for a few dozens of Lucban longganisa to bring home. 
I would love to be back someday soon when we're in Lucena.

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