It was actually Naga City where we went that is located in the province of Camarines Sur in the region of Bicol. That region is famous for 2 things - red hot pepper and pili nuts. You can guess that we had bought lots of food stuff made of pili nuts - from the crunchy caramelized pili nuts, pili cake and pili bars. With the hot dish, we sampled their specialty called Bicol express which is sliced pepper cooked in coconut milk with tidbits of pork. It's hot in the mouth, huh. It's interesting to know that they are cracking open the pili nuts right on the sidewalk of the city (fronting the public market). There's not much to see in the place except restaurants and stores. But there is a resort owned by the governor where they have have wakeboarding, it's similar to surfing although it's not recommended for seniors, oh, oh. Maybe on our next trip there, we would be going to that resort. Here is my souvenir shot in the airport with Manny Pacquiao's jet plane in the background...
Pili nuts taste like Brazil nuts or should I say it's a cross between Brazil nut and Macadamia. It is the main industry of that province and they have lots of products from that nut. Okay, take a look at the photo below. The bars with the label Mazapan is like a chocolate bar but sans chocolate. It is sweet and creamy like macaroons but is not a pastry though. The thin sticks wrapped in yellow is candied pili nut that is also sweet and a bit sticky but crunchy when you chew. The brown nuts packed in transparent plastic are raw pili nuts that you can eat as is. That's what we like most that's why we bought 4 packs.