Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Flying in a Cebu Lechon to Celebrate a Wonderful Announcement

It was a sunny morning, a beautiful start to a wonderful day! My tummy had been filled with butterflies since the night before. Whether it was from excitement, hunger or both, it really didnt matter because today, we were headed to d airport to pick up a special guest!

Last week was Tat’s birthday & just around the same time, i received a notice that my work was accepted for presentation to an international conference.  What better way to celebrate a birthday and the acceptance announcement than with family!

So this morning, hubby and i got up early (for him that is) on a saturday to  pick up the main guest of our celebration.

At 7am we checked the flight status to make sure the plane was not delayed.  And when we were sure the flight was nearing its arrival, we headed to NAIA.

The roads were still pretty spacious for a weekend.  And in less than 15 minutes we saw the signboard.

A couple of kilometers from the first airport inspection, the cargo truck we were trailing turned a corner.  We decided to follow it as we thought it must be heading the same place as we were.  Sure enough, we found ourselves at our pick up area.

The anticipation was enough to make me giddy!

I lined up at the receiving window of the incoming packages and a cheery man asked for my name. Leafing through a couple of forms, he found my airway bill and was probably wondering why i was all googly eyed as he instructed me to proceed to the gates.

At the gate, i gave my airway bill to the lady in charge and as we waited for them to verify my documents, hubby and i searched the packages that might look like ours.

After a couple of minutes my name was called

I was so happy to finally meet our special guest!!

At home, the rest of the feast was waiting for our arrival

We prepared yang chow fried rice brought by brother in law

Beef with broccoli care of Tat

Fresh lumpia and mixed vegetables with shrimp & quail eggs made by Claring

Hototay soup from Tat

Seafood pansit palabok brought by sister in law

and maja blanca & leche flan for dessert bought from our favorite Filipino dessert booth at the market

Our special guest from the airport was unwrapped

and finally after all the wrapping were removed, the golden skinned whole roasted pork was revealed

Chopping was done by the birthday celebrant

The spices that filled the pork could be seen as it was chopped.

These spices infused the meat and skin with a distinct flavor as the lechon was slow roasted on all sides over flamed charcoal.  That is, before it took its flight to Manila to become the main attraction at our buffet table.

The word lechon comes form a spanish term meaning roasted suckling pig.  This is one of the most popular dishes in any celebration in the Philippines.

After Anthony Bourdain’s visit to the Philippines he dubbed our whole roasted pig the best in his hierarchy of pork.

Frankly, im not all that surprised!

The lechon on the buffet table was the signal for the hungry guests to dig in

Each got their share of all the wonderful dishes in the buffet

I ate quickly because i had to run off to my day job, (surprise, surprise, i don’t eat for a living…).

But i left all the guests smiling

Now, whether their smiles were just for the camera or because they loved the dishes that touched their taste buds, im not too sure…

But what ever those smiles meant, it was obvious that life is good!

thank you to my loving hubby for the wonderful photos of the celebration

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