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03 January 2007

Pateros: Balut, Salted Eggs, and Alfombra

Pateros, a town in Metro Manila named after the pato, ducks, Garden of Memories where a dad of Tutubi's close friends is buried.

With the recent cityhood of San Juan, Pateros now became the lone municipality of Metro Manila. It's also a small town with no government hospital and public market. With it's narrow streets, the municipality is a walkable town with tourist attractions focused mainly on it's industries of salted eggs, balut (that infamous aborted duck embryo served hot) and alfombra footwear.

How to make salted eggs? Salted eggs, called itlog na maalat or itlog na pula, making process is quite simple. The eggs are wrapped with salt-saturated mud, no ordinary mud but mud "quarried" from termite hills, and stored for 18 days. To color the eggs red, they use crystals called grana

How to make balut? Also simple, they just store the eggs in large containers for 18 days in the balutan, with the old eggs on top of new ones to incubate. Then the eggs are quality-tested by examining each egg under a bright lamp.

Why was Pateros made the center of duck industry? It's mainly due to the presence of snails (kuhol and suso) and tulya (clams) on Pateros River that are the main food of ducks. The eggs now come from other towns but the balut industry still lives.

Other Tourist Attractions in Pateros,

for history buffs, there's Dulong Bayan Monument and Manggahan Shrine where two local heroes, Guillermo Manalo and Eusebio Hermosa, died defending the town from the Spaniards during the 1896 Revolution. The event is commemorated every August 29 dubbed as Local Heroes Day.

San Roque Church is the center of religious festivities with town fiesta held on August 16.

Old Heritage houses are present on almost every street


Pateros Pasalubong and other Specialties:

salted eggs (itlog na pula or itlog na maalat)

alfombra

bibingkang abnoy, rotten ducks eggs similar to Bibingkang Itlog of Laguna

Inutak, a dessert made from rice and coconut milk

Click here for a map of Pateros

Where to Stay in Pateros:

for a list of accommodations in Pateros, click here.

How to get to Pateros:

Commute to Pateros: from MRT Guadalupe Station, walk towards the jeepney terminal with Pateros-bound jeeps. In Makati, there are also jeepneys going to Pateros on Ayala Avenue in front of Stock Exchange Bldg and also at Ayala Center Terminal. Near MRT Shaw Boulevard Station is EDSA Central, home also to jeepneys plying the Pasig-Pateros route.

Driving Directions to Pateros:

From SLEX, take C-5 exit ramp then turn right to Pateros Road.

From Makati via Buendia /Gil Puyat, take the flyover and follow the left lane going to Fort Bonifacio but exit on Kalayaan. Continue driving on Kalayaan until you cross C-5 which is already Pateros town to your destination.

From NLEX, EDSA via Quezon City, it may be better to head towards C-5 and follow directions above.

map of Pateros, click here


Barangays of Pateros:
Aguho, Magtanggol, Martirez, Poblacion, San Pedro, San Roque, Sta. Ana, Sto. Rosario-Kanluran, Sto. Rosario-Silangan, Tabacalera

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