Next to the town of Nagcarlan is Liliw, Laguna which I think the next shoe capital of the Philippines I guess, next shoe making town after Marikina. The town of Liliw as well is a town rich in past stories to tell, ancestral houses, Church they have it. One thing that  love in photography is that it brings me to the places that I have never been to like this town, photography has taken me to a different dimension, that whenever I shoot pictures it brings out a different me, and really brings out the best in me. Going back to the beautiful town of Liliw, we visited the Church of Liliw, formerly called Lilio, next to the town of Nagcarlan, a jeepney ride that is roughly 15 minutes drive before you reach the town proper of Liliw and our last stop before going home, my only regret is for some reason I never had the chance to shoot the shoe shops around the town, I don't know what was on my mind that day that I did not take that shot, moat likely than not my friend and I were busy looking and buying some pasalubong going back to Manila. Laguna is such a wonderful place to visit, very nostalgic and full of stories from the past and I would really love to come back again.

The Facade of Liliw Church.

Inside the church auditorium.  The Pulpit in the olden days. Santo Sepultado Church Tower

After a 20 minutes (roughly) travel from Magdelena, we headed to Nagcarlan, we did not find a good restaurant there so we decided to eat lunch in Nagcarlan. We are a bit hungry when we reached Nagcarlan so we asked one of the townsfolk there where can we get a good eat, we are actually looking for a nice native restaurant where town's specialties are being served, then manong pointed us to the palengke and said, "dun po sa palengke maraming masarap na kainan." So we got there and saw numbers of turo turo or carinderia. We saw numbers of great food and I was impressed because cleanliness is observed when they serve the food (I'm talking about hygiene when it comes to food serving). That also was the first time I tasted Asadong Manok, hahahaha... Just tastes like Afritada so I said to myself, "afritada lang to eh." So as we are eating our lunch we throw questions to the lady who served us food, as to what can we expect here or what can we site here. She said aside from the old church facing us, we also have what we call "underground cemetery." and so I asked her, what to ride going there, she pointed us to the tricycle driver and pay him 30php. Okay I said so, after lunch we headed to the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery, and I'm telling you, the place is very nostalgic and full of historical value... Beautiful, I said to myself. So we began to take photos, then came these pictures.

The main entrance gate to the cemetery.

The Cemetery also has a Chapel that was constructed in 1845. The Nagcarlan underground cemetery is only one of its kind in Laguna. It is a Burial site constructed and designed for burial mass by a Franciscan Priest Vicente Velloc.

The other side.

Philippine Flag.

The Chapel.

The tombs at the right side of the chapel.

Tombs at the left side. Just made it black and white to add some drama on it. :)

This picture turns out to be over exposed so sorry about that, anyway I just made a work around on it.

A recognition from the Philippine Government.

El Santo Entierro De Nagcarlan, the main icon of the Chapel.

A closer look.

I am really fascinated with old stuffs, such as antiques, heritage or ancestral homes and places that has a story to tell from its past. We had an opportunity to go for a photo walk in the three towns of Laguna, Let me take you to the first town, Magdalena, Laguna. Such a quiet and small town, nevertheless, you can see the simplicity of the townsfolk and the beauty of the place. One thing that caught our attention is the Church of the Catholic Mary Magdalene. the Church was finally established in 1884.

The facade of the church, I just added some effects on just to give a dramatic touch to the subject.

The Church Tower.

Now, let's take a look what's inside the church.

We've been there ordinary day so we entered at the back door of the church, heading to the back door is the parish school and their office. The lady in my subject is thinking way too deep, I don't know what she's thinking about so I just took the opportunity to add her as one of my subject. hahaha

The side entrance of the Church.

Their old Chandelier.

The side altar.

The main icon at the altar, Mary Magdalene of the Catholic Church.

The Chandelier on top of the main altar.

One of the interesting icons we have seen inside the church are the memorial tombstone inscribed in Spanish, que maravilla!

This pulpit was used by the Spanish Friars, in the old days every time a mass is held, not sure if that is still being utilized by the Priest today.

Sacristán Minores are rehearsing a processional entry for tomorrow's mass.

Rehearsal.

Portrait of Magdalene.

Children are happily bike riding outside the Church and Plaza at the same time, reminds me of my childhood days. :)

Magdalena Laguna's Municipal Town Hall, is also constructed in the same area, facing the Church.

While looking for another subject, I just saw this little fellow sliding so I grab the chance to take a shot on him. :)

This is the end of our short trip in Magdalena, Laguna, hope you enjoyed it as much as I do. it is indeed a town rich in history and well preserved their treasure... Peaceful and safe, people as well are warm and friendly even the Police Officers accommodated our questions, and even respectful that you won't get afraid of approaching them. Okay, next stop is Nagcarlan, Laguna. Let's ride a jeep bound to Nagcarlan. See the Part Two of our Laguna Photo walk.

My Grandfather's actual grave.

Grandfather's tombstone, from Chio Sai, Xia Men, China.

Tho ti kong, the Guardian. In mandarin it is read as "Hou Tu" but in some parts of China it is called "Fu shen"

Sui Chiok Kwei, the street heading to my grandpa's grave.

This caught my attention as I saw this traditional chinese grave standing in the middle. So old school.

Here lies the grave of my Gwakong, (hokkien term for grandfather in mother's side). Each year, we see to it that we visit his grave at Manila Chinese Cemetery, Chinese-Filipinos have two All Soul's Day, the first is Ching Ming Festival or known as sweeping of graves it is held April 5 in Chinese Lunar calendar, date for some reason is stable, however, you can celebrate it 20 days before, and the second one is November 1 where Filipinos and Chinese both celebrate that particular day, also I wanna mention the Hungry Ghost Month or Chit Geh Puah, celebrated the whole month of the 7th lunar month, but the main celebration is held on the 15th day of 7th lunar month. My mom and I are getting busy before the actual day approach, we are headed to Ongpin (Chinatown) to buy stuffs like food offering, such as fruits, Kim tsuah (paper money), incense, candles, bong tsuah multi-colored paper to paste on top of grave, sweets, ang lao hue or ampao in tagalog. My mom will first offer foods and pay respect to the tho ti kong which is located at the right side of the grave. Tho Ti Kong means spirit land keeper, or guardian. According to the old tradition, you must first pay respect first to the higher entity as he needs to call the departed spirit that your loved ones visit you and you need to take the offering.

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