October 29th saw the 2nd official reunion of Joey's extended family the Gelito clan. The celebrations were held at the Manoc Manoc school and according to organisers more than 1500 people attended (still only half of the island's Gelito family members).
For some odd reason the party started at 7am - most likely to get the obligatory prayors, songs and speeches out of the way (these can go on for hours). We arrived late as usual, and luckily most of the food had been eaten, so I avoided having to chew on plates of fatty pork and pretend to like it! Filipino party food tends to consist of lechon baboy (spit roasted pig) and buffet foods such as cold sweet spaghetti and pancit canton (noodles with mystery meat and vegetables). not my cup of tea.
Instead we were handed glass after glass of local brandy and coke, which was a little tricky at 3pm on a hot day. Thankfully the sun wasn't out or it would have been scorching.
Pete and I were the only foreigners present, and we recieved quite a few funny looks wearing our Gelito clan t-shirts (Pete's partner is Joey's cousin Raquel Gelito). But we were both made extremely welcome, and much hilarity ensued as the brandy began to kick in.
As the party ended around sunset, we repaired to cousin Welbec's bar (Club Paraw) for more drinks to the sound of a lively reggae band.