Bambang (pronounced “bumbung”) is my hometown in the Philippines. It is located in the central land-locked province of Nueva Vizcaya, which incidentally translates to “New Vizcaya” in Spanish. Biscaya or Vizcaya is also a territory in the Basque region of northern Spain.
Being the clever yet misguided sleuth that I am, I connected these highly disparate clues and concluded that there would be no further need to interrogate my mother as I could go straight to the source–the Spanish motherland. In my head, our next European trip itinerary had already began materializing. I would be soon be walking in the footsteps of my ancestors! I could already feel myself slowly sinking into that warm bath of familiarity.
