Mang Inasal Plaza

Mang Inasal 

Plaza Quezon, Naga City

Few hours before the Holy  Week Wednesday procession

we scouted for a restaurant in Naga Centro

where we could eat our very late lunch at 4 PM,

…and maybe watch the procession

in an air- conditioned comfort.

Most of the restaurants and the Plaza Strip

were full  and we were lucky to find a space

at  Mang Inasal Plaza Quezon.

The restaurant is famous for its budget

meals coupled with unlimited rice.

So my family ordered some of its

Paborito Value Meals like their famous

and deliciously tangy Chicken Inasal.

The not so tender and average tasting

Pork Barbecue Meal

The very yummy and addicting Bangus Sisig,

which was initially served on a hot plate

but we requested to transfer it to a regular plate

to make if safe for the kids.

All Mang Inasal’s Paborito Meals come

with unlimited rice but the serving size

is really not enough even for a cup of rice.

We decided to order additional dish  

but they have  a very limited choice

in their menu and all they could offer

was the Ensaladang Talong, 

....which fortunately tasted very good

but  more of an appetizer rather than

a main meal viand.

They also have a great tasting Halo- halo

which could directly compete and even

shame the popular Chow King's version.

Mang Inasal is a budget restaurant

that offers unlimited rice  meals

with rather limited serving size

and a very limited choices on their menu.

They have three branches in Naga City.

SM City Naga, Bichara Theater Mall

and in Plaza Quezon.

Watch out for my  Bicol Cuaresma Blogs

CamSur to Albay via Sangay- Joroan Road

 Scenic Pilgrim Road 

(Bicol Cuaresma Series 1)

Graceland Goa  

( Bicol Cuaresma Series 2)

Kawa Kawa Nature Park
  Ligao City 
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 3) 

Macagang Diner, Nabua

(Bicol Cuaresma seriesv 4) 

The Grand Naga Good Friday Procession 
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 5)

  Holy Week Recipe Sharing
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 7) 

The Naga City’s Grand Holy Friday Procession

The Naga City’s Grand Holy Friday Procession

Mary Magdalene, the Supermodel

Virgin Mary, the Victorian Countess 

(Bicol Cuaresma Series 5)

There is nothing grander than

the holy week procession in Naga City

that we get to witness every year,

...and we, Naguenos are treated to the pomp

and pageantry of  beautiful larger than life

images of saints dressed ostentatiously

and paraded in colorful carozzas.

My wife always look forward on seeing

her favorite Saint- Mary Magdalene, whom she finds

as always elegantly decorated with fresh flower topiaries,

and daintily dressed with beautiful exquisite flowing clothes

of the finest silk and  delicate European laces.

She is mysteriously lighted with real candles

on her carroza, instead of usual electric lamps

that adds to her allure and  mystery - making you 
see less  of her and leaves you wanting to see 
more of her candle lit indistinctness.

I would tease her that the image is Naga Cathedral’s

version of Mary Magdalene as a super model.

My personal favorite is the Soledad.

The grandness of her carroza stuns me.

She has an imposing larger than life figure

and she’s always dressed like a Victorian royalty.

I have always wondered if Mary, the Mother of God

would ever dress herself like a countess?

Whenever I watch the Naga Holy Week procession,

I always classify the images to 3 groups,

The first group are  white faced antique images 
which have been a regular fare for a long very time.

.

These are life sized white faced images

but lot smaller compared to the newer Saints.

…which I suspect are made of ivory

and are centuries old as they have been a part

of the procession even when I was still a young boy.

The beautiful Mater Dolorosa, the very last image

in the procession, belongs to this group-

 

...and so was the Santo Entierro.

The second group are what I call the recent regulars,

a newer generation of beautiful images that joined 
the procession in the  mid to late 1990’s.

 

These are larger than life images-

beautifully decorated and well designed carrozas

Most of the images in this group depicts

the stations of the cross at the

Passion of the Christ. 

The third group is the grandiosely huge images

elaborately dressed with the best  and lavish

fashion of Renaissance and Victorian eras.

They had imposing facades,

and superbly decorated carrozas.

 

These newer images appeared in the 2000’s

and had added color, splendor and pomposity,

...to the present line up of Naga City’s

Good Friday procession-







...and makes the yearly procession worth waiting for 
until the next holy week celebration.
  

Watch out for my  Bicol Cuaresma Blogs 

CamSur to Albay via Sangay- Joroan Road Trip

 Scenic Pilgrim Road
 (Bicol Cuaresma Series 1) 

Graceland Goa

 ( Bicol Cuaresma Series 2)

Kawa Kawa Nature Park Ligao City
 Bicol Cuaresma Series 3)

Macagang Diner, Nabua

(Bicol Cuaresma Series 4)

Mang Inasal Plaza Quezon
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 6)
 
Holy Week Recipe Sharing
(Bicol Cuaresma Series 7)