Life, especially on Sundays and Thursdays which are market days, centers on Lake Lanao.
Wave after wave of long, low, sleek boats arrive, switching off their motors, come poling to
the shore. Hidden from view below the deck is a crowd of passengers. They come from the
villages around the lake.
Emerging from the sterns, the passengers walk the boats' flat decks used as catwalks. as
malong-clad women walk to the shore. Violets, purples and shades of mauves, and lilac; greens,
reds and yellows abound. Floral patterns outnumber geometric ones. There goes a rich indigo
malong with an emerals scarf worn around the head like a turban with the loose end slung
mnchalangly over the left shoulder. All wear errings and bracelets dangle on many wrists. The
colors are equalled, if not surpassed, by the painted hulls of the boats - greens, yellows, blues
and red some of which are fancifully decorated with winding and interlacing arabesques.
The dress of the men if not drab is mundane, apart from their headgear which is kepiah - a kind
of army forage cap or a turban. The former is usually of cloth but sometimes of fur. The latter is
invariably white, signifying that the wearer has made the Haj at Mecca. About 25 percent of the
men and not a few of the women have made the Haj at least once and some two or three times.
From the lake, several small streets constituting the market, stretch the 220 yards or (220 m) or so
to the main road. Close by, the sound of hammers beating on metal is heard. This is the place
to purchase Maranao brassware gongs and drums, betel boxes and kettles and also "malongs,"
"banigs" and "lakobs." The latter are attractive bamboo tube containers impregnated with red,
green, yellow and purple colors for holding tobacco.
Turning north from Quezon Boulevard is a road passing first Dansalan College where at its
community shops, you can place orders for Maranao textiles.
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