Picnic at the Park

What’s someone to do when they miss being in the Philippines?  Well, one good thing to do is to get together with a lot of other Pinoys and have a picnic.  That’s what we did yesterday.  A lot of co-workers of Mrs. Goyo met at a park.  It’s a nice park with a small lake full of fish.  This park is only about 30 minutes drive from Goyo’s Balay in the City of Sacramento.  I took some fotos of the park but those will turn up later on Sacramento With Goyo.  So, let’s look at the picnic.

This is our little area that we have claimed.  No cost for the covered tables with barbecue grills but there is a $5 (P200) entrance fee per vehicle to get into the park.  It’s just a little past noon and people are beginning to show up.

By 2 pm it’s getting crowded.  Oi hala, mga Pinoy!   (Ohmigosh, many Pilipinos)  They originally came from all over the Philippines.  Cebu, Mindanao, Ilocos, Manila and other areas.

Another angle.

This is Annabel.  She is tending the fire in one of the portable barbecue grills that we brought.  That’s her bana (husband) in the background.  In addition to the two portable grills we also used two of the park grills.  We had a lot of food (Daghan Pagkaon).

Mrs. Goyo (Cebu), Annabel (Cebu), and Bilina (Agusan Del Norte).

Maryann (Manila), Annabel (Cebu) and Mrs. Goyo (Cebu).

Left to right.  Jun (Ilocos), Annabel (Cebu), Rosemarie (Cagayan De Oro), Maryann (Manila), Mary Rose (Manila), Mrs. Goyo (Cebu).

Someone came prepared to fish for their dinner.  The small lake is stocked with Trout, a freshwater fish that is popular here in the US.

Isda! (Fish!)  I don’t think anyone caught these here though, they’re not trout.

Fish on the grill.  It won’t be long now until paniudto (lunch).

Dennis, the master fish griller, checks to make sure they are cooking perfectly.  Desiree looks on to check that Dennis is doing the grilling perfectly. 

Manok (Chicken).

Baboy (Pork).  Marinated in a Pinoy style barbecue sauce.

Then the pork is placed on these sticks to make it easy to turn them on the grill.  When you eat these you just hold the stick up and eat right off the stick.

Here’s the baboy on the grill.

Robert and Jun attend to grilling.  Jun is the one who brought the pork to the picnic.

Of course it’s a Pinoy picnic but we’re in the US so you just have to have hot dogs.  One of my favorites.

Buad!  Dried Squid!  You can’t have a Pinoy picnic without these.  For those Kanos who are unaware, Buad is a Pilipino delicacy of dried and salted fish but to the untrained nose it has a horrific odor.  Trust me, horrific may be too kind of a word.  Nevertheless, even I, Goyo, sampled this food.  It tastes pretty good too.

A table full of food.

Better hurry if you want some isda.  It’s going fast.

Shrimp rolled in a lumpia wrapper.  Agnes made these and they were lami kaayo (very delicious).

More food.

Yes, more food.  We had tons of food.

Barbecued Pork fresh from the grill.

Goyo had to have his hot dogs with some macaroni salad.  After this Goyo went back for fish, chicken, pork and more.  I ate way too much.  I didn’t eat panihapon (dinner) last night because I was still busog (full) from all this food.  Oh well, it’s only once in a while that we get to overindulge.

Of course after eating everyone had to work off all those calories so a volleyball game was started.  Here, Mrs. Goyo prepares to unleash her killer serve.

The ball is in the air and the players get ready to return the volley.

Maryann crouches down in anticipation of hitting the ball.

Here the ball is seen leaving the outstretched hand of Maryann after she serves.

Jun has his arms extended in classic volleyball style as he waits for the descent of the ball.

Here, Mary Rose hits the ball so hard she lifts herself off the ground.

After posting these I realized I don’t have fotos of everyone.  So my apologies to those who weren’t around when I had my camera out.  Hey wait a minute.  There isn’t a foto of Goyo either!