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Day 1
The first stop: Clark, Pampanga. The
challenge: to eat exotic Kapampangan
delicacies such as
kuhol
(
snail),
batute
(
fried frog) and
kamaro
(
crickets). Since
we were still full from breakfast, lunch
and snacks, we assigned each dish to
whoever could stomach it the most.
It didn’t work, though. We lost to
Team BA.
Next up was Cebu. We took a taxi
to the city proper where we had an
early breakfast. We walked around
to see Cebu’s sights and got to Plaza
Independencia for another challenge:
making the
puso
(
heart), or rice cooked
in woven leaves. It was difficult, but Iris’
steady hands helped us win.
We then flew to Iloilo. At the
Freedom Grandstand, we competed in
a race to put on a Dinagyang costume
and have our photos taken with 10
random locals. Good thing the local
Navy was cooperative with the picture-
taking; it sealed our second win!
After lunch, we went sightseeing
in Jaro and looked for a place to stay.
We found a room for three for only
PHP430 at the Ong Bun Pension
House — the best deal of the day!
Day 2
We woke up late; so to catch our flight
to Davao, we had to blow precious
pesos for a cab to the airport. We went
to the Crocodile Park where we raced
while carrying a baby crocodile, then
had a durian-eating contest. Peeling
a pomelo was the last task. Team
Bukidnon won.
We then took a barge and a
15-
minute bus ride to Penaplata in
Samal, where we spent the rest of the
day. We hired a
habal-habal
and went
to Fernandez beach to set up camp. But
an earthquake occurred and a tsunami
alert was issued, so we had to get a
room instead of camping out.
The first stop of the
challenge: Clark,
Pampanga, home of the
Hot Air Balloon Festival
Team Bukidnon was
victorious on Day 2
PHOTOS
LESTER LEDESMA (CLARK); DARIEL QUIOGUE (SAMAL ISLAND)
