RANDOM QUEZON PROVINCE IMAGES

 Howdee everyone, I am back with my first Philippine post of the year. 

We are going down the 'random photo' path again, however, this time it will be photos taken during an adventure around Quezon Province.

Normally, this province is something we pass through on the way to Bicol. However, on this occasion, it was our ultimate destination, with us staying overnight in Lucena.

The lovely old San Pablo Railway station in San Pablo City (not surprisingly).
San Pablo sits pretty much on the border of Laguna and Quezon Provinces, but is actually within the former.

According to Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt, San Pablo was founded in 1586, and became a city in 1940.

This station, which has been totally rebuilt by the 'Philippine national Railways' in recent years, actually sits on the deviation of the south line from Los Banos to San Pablo (opened 1923).
Originally, San Pablo was served by a line from Calamba, via Malvar, on what was the former Batangas/Bauan line.

Of course, my constant need for Jeepney photos meant this ol girl got my attention near San Pablo station.

Tiaong is another big place along the main south highway, though it's station would not suggest so. The lower concrete walls are all that now survive.

Back in 2009, the Candelaria bypass had not yet become a thing, so all north-south traffic had to pass down the main street, thus making for very chaotic streets.

We broke up our trip to Lucena, with a lunch stop at Candelaria Jollibee and a visit to the railway station.

Photographing Candelaria station is a real challenge, with the whole location chocka block full of illegal venders selling their various wears.

There is a couple of photos here, but I plan to give it far more coverage on the PRHS Blog in the future.

Back up on the main highway, we stop in for the 5000th Jollibee visit. 
I scoff (Aussie for eating fast) down my lunch quick, so as to have time out on the main road, in search of the endless parade of buses. 

For anyone with a passion for buses, the variety there is just incredible.

JAM LINER is a major player in the bus world there. They are to be seen everywhere when heading south out of Manila.

N DELA ROSA LINER information.

A classic old banger (Aussie for any old road vehicle :-) ), headed south through town.

LUCENA LINES is another very regular sight between Manila and, not surprisingly, Lucena.

Candelaria sari-sari stores.

Pfffftt, everybody tells you that double decker buses have disappeared from Philippine streets.
I beg to differ :-)

All bus fanatics have their favourite companies. This can come from it being locally based, an early memory, or just a like of bus types and livery.

Raymond Transportation has been my favourite provincial operator since travelling the Legaspi to Manila route with them in 2007.

Their driving style is just as maniacal as most other operators, but it was a fun memory.

Next stop on the agenda was the little Barangay of Lutucan, the turnoff to which is not far out of Candelaria.
A very small, out of the way, place, that has become one of my favourite locations over the years. 

My main reason for venturing there was the railway of course, but the rural area surrounding it was quite idyllic.  

Our visit was not too long after Typhoon Winnie had smashed the area, the results of what must have been a tremendous body of water, visible due to the complete disappearance of a railway bridge, and some embankment.

Local Lutucan commuter train in 2009 :-)

We finally arrived in Lucena, following a very long day of driving.

I've no memory of how we come to find the 'Roadside Inn'. Maybe it was pre-trip research.

It was not a bad hotel in itself, the street food up the road was quite awesome, but it was situated next to a factory that processed oil from Copra and was far from the most pleasant smell to behold.

Another random Jeepney, this time near the place we stayed.

I covered Perez Park and Lucena station in an earlier blog post.

However, this caught my eye while exploring the old Lucena railway station.
Being an Aussie, it was quite surprising to find a familiar symbol from home.

Returning back to Manila and, surprise surprise, it is Jollibee time yet again.

Another of those roadside stalls that I find so photographically appealing.
This time it is in Tiaong near the railway crossing of the main highway.

OK, I am cheating a little here. 
Los Banos is not in Quezon Province, it lies well within Laguna.
  However, the shots were there and it saves me doing them later on.

It was absolutely pouring rain when we got to Los Banos, so much so that some localised flooding made photos difficult.
But, I am nothing if not persistent and, to now be honest, we had mostly returned this way to partake in fresh local Buko Pie. 

Not sure what the deal was with all these coconut shells dumped in a huge pile on the station.

Bit of an awkward story!

While walking around taking photos in the extreme gloom of that rainy day, I noticed area of the station that was lit up incredibly brightly.

I really didn't pay a huge amount of attention to it, and just kept wandering around the area for more photos.

Now, despite having been to the Philippines for a decade prior, I had never come across, what they call, the 'lamay'.

It is a period prior to a funeral, can be 3-7+ days in length, where people appear to gather around the dead body, eating/drinking, talking, or even playing games.
The length of time varies, mostly due to the time it takes for relatives to get there from far away places.

Anyway, being ignorant of these things, I end up approaching and walking right in on the event, while still taking photos.

I am not sure who got the bigger shock, them or I, but I soon reversed out and let them be.

I had certainly learnt something that day.

As I say, it was REALLY raining that day :-)