Mango Picking at Rosa Farms, Zambales 02.08.2014

Mango is one of my favorite fruits and the best way to enjoy mango is to pick it by yourself and eat it,too.

Rosa Farms is offering a Pick-and-Pay  program where you can pick mangoes and pay for them. We wanted to experience picking mangoes so we drove to Km 156 San Marcelino, Zambales. From SBMA take Kalaklan exit and follow the long road to San Marcelino for about 45 minute drive.

When we entered the gate of the farm, we're awed to see mango trees beautifully lined up. We learned that the farm has 888 mango trees!

 Aside from mango trees, they also have pomelo, tamarind, papaya. They also have beds of lettuce and potted herbs.

We were amazed by one tree which has huge mangoes around 8 inches in length. It is not for picking yet but rather for picture taking only. All of us - niece, nephew, mum, sister, bro in law and husband, took turns in taking photos of self with the huge mangoes.

All in all we picked 10 kg of green mangoes at Php80 /kg. We also bought yellow mangoes which were already pre-picked days before. The staff at the farm was so helpful, accommodating and friendly.  And they even gave us free yellow mangoes to taste test. The yellow mangoes were deliciously sweet.  We really enjoyed the experience!

website: http://www.rosafarms.com/

How to get there: via NLEX->Dau Exit->SCTEX->Subic Tollway-> exit at Kalaklan->turn left to Olongapo City->follow the road until you reach the town of San Marcelino->turn left and drive 10 mins along the highway, you will see the farm on the right. 

Nasugbu Getaway 01.31.2014

Thanks to the Chinese New Year , another long weekend gave us an opportunity for an out of town trip.
The cool climate did not prevent us to go swimming this time in Nasugbu.

We accidentally discovered Berna Beach when we were googling the location of Kainan sa Dalampasigan, a popular restaurant in Nasugbu serving filipino dishes. As we zoomed in on the location of the restaurant, we saw a nearby resort named BernaBeach. We emailed the staff and reserved a room for an overnight stay.

The resort hotel has 30 rooms, a swimming pool, a restaurant, a well guarded parking space and a nice beachfront.

Our room was clean, the bed mattress was firm but soft. It has cable TV, aircon and en suite toilet and bathroom. The bathroom has a hot and cold apparatus, a bidet, wide sinktop and it was clean, no watermarks, no soap mark. One can tell that the room is pretty much new because the cement grout is whitish and has no molds yet. Also, guests can bring in food and water.

There's a swimming pool. We can not gauge if the water is clean or not because of the dark blue tiles. Though we can glimpse that the water is not that clean because in an area of the pool that has white stone, the water looked unclear.

The resort has a gate leading to the beach. This is to prevent non-guests and sellers to enter the resort which is good security measure.

The beach has very fine greyish sand. The long shore is not rocky nor has shells and corals. One can walk barefooted without having to worry that your feet will get pricked or get cut.  The water was ice cold and rushing waves  were formed very often .  You can walk 20 meters away from the shore and still the water was just waist deep. Since it was off season, it was not crowded and we almost had the beach to ourselves.

 

I got an opportunity to ride a horse on the beach for Php50 for a 15 minute ride. My first time and I was so nervous as I might fall and break a bone. The horseman walked with horse and led the way. I think he made a lot on that day as many beachcombers rode his horse. I dont have a photo on that horse but I did take a photo of  a child rider.

Of course , a trip is not complete without a sunset shot. Unlike in Talisay where the sun sets behind the mountain, in Nasugbu, the sunset is much like Manila Bay right on the horizon. It was fantastic sight.

 It was an awesome and relaxing weekend.

Website for BernaBeach: http://bernabeachresort.com/

Puerto Princesa -Underground River Tour 11.09.2010

With the help of Puerto Pension's receptionist, I booked a tour to the Underground River on day 2. I am alone on this tour as my husband would be physically challenged in riding bancas. The tour cost Php1500 (standard rate) inclusive of aircon van, lunch, permit to the underground river & tour guide .

The van picked me up at around 815am and i learned that i was the last passenger for this tour. We were 11 in the van including our tour guide, Harry. There were 3 european male with us, one of them was married to a filipina. Our tour guide was very interesting as he narrated everything about Puerto Princesa City (PPC) and Palawan. He spoke in English because we have foreigners in the group. I can sense that he is very proud to be living in PPC; the place indeed was clean and green. Littering is an offense and there is stiff penalty even imprisonment for repeated violation. We stopped at the tourism office and Harry got our permit and schedule to the underground river (UGR). Tourists going to UGR are being monitored to avoid being crowded.

Travel time to Sabang Port was more or less 2 hours. After an hour of smooth ride, we stopped at an area for kidney break and for us to stretch our legs and bodies. Took some photos and off we went.

There was 1 km of rough road which Harry described as free massage. After almost 2 hours of land travel, we finally arrived at Sabang. Since our group was scheduled at the UGR at 1230pm, we had our buffet lunch first and more photoshoot at Sabang Bay.

Our group was divided into two as the motorized banca can accomodate maximum of 7 people. The sun was cooperating and we had a nice view of the mountains and some rock formations.

the waves were not strong but as we reached the beach of the subterranean river national park , the waves became strong and i have to be careful in going the 2 step ladder. I may be out balanced and might dive in the water .

There was a long walk in the middle of the forest before you reach the beach leading to the underground river. Along the wooden planks were monkeys who would steal your food! We were briefed by our tour guide not to bring transparent plastic bags as the monkeys would snatch them and mistaken for food.

At the end of the wooden pathway was our boat . we wore floater and hard hat. I am so excited to enter the cave as I only see this in photos and videos posted in youtube. Now, i would actually experience it.

I sat on the second row behind a foreign who held the big flashlight. The tour guide was on the last row. He stirred the banca and at the same time described the different rock formations and directed the "lightman" on where he should point the light. e.g. left , right, middle

Here are the rock formations inside the cave:

It was so amazing to see stalactites and stalagmites.

We had so much fun. The Underground River tour is really a must see wonder when in Palawan.

Higantes Festival 11.23.2010

I came across a Philippine festival calendar and saw Higantes Festival in Angono scheduled on Nov 22-23, 2010. It caught my fancy and i searched the web for additional information before going.

I found out that the higante tradition started way back last century. Angono was then a hacienda owned by wealthy Spaniards. The hacienda owners prohibited the town people to hold many fiesta because it was costly and only one fiesta was to be held in a year. To make the best of this annual event, the people created giant caricatures of their landlords. The head of these giants were made of clay and dried under the sun.

After a century, modernity sets in and the clay is changed to plaster of Paris and resin. The body is made of bamboo or thin yantok and sometimes thin iron. Yards of cloth and other accessories are used to complete the costume of the Higante.

Currently, all barangays in Angono have a share of Higante. Normally, the Higantes represent the character or industry of their barangays.

During the parade, there are people (mostly male) who cover themselves with mud and they will try to gently slap you with mud for fun. Also, people spray water to the participants and sometimes on the crowd. So bring gears to protect you from getting wet.

How to get there:

1) via EDSA crossing/ Shaw Blvd--jeepneys with sign board going to Angono (i should have known this)

2) via P. Tuazon , Cubao beside ShoeMart - jeepneys as well ; fare up to market is Php33 ( i know the fare as i took this one)

3) via Ortigas - aircon buses until Taytay Junction and then take a jeepney bound to Angono

Here are some of the photos i took. It was hard to get a good position while the higantes paraded themselves because i am afraid some funny guys would pour/spray water on me and my camera would get wet. While i got a nice clear plastic bag from the nearby Jollibee to wrap my camera, I still dont want to risk it getting wet.

Kainan sa Dalampasigan 01.31.2014

A restaurant serving good filipino dishes was featured in a TV program. The restaurant is named Kainan sa Dalampasigan and it is located in Nasugbu, Batangas. We had an opportunity to visit this place during the Chinese New Year which was declared a special public holiday. The holiday fell on a Friday making it a long weekend. So off we go to Nasugbu and had a lunch at Kainan sa Dalampasigan on our way to Bernabeach Resort which was 3 minute drive from the restaurant.

Kainan sa Dalampasigan has a garden setting both in and out.

We were greeted by the female owner who was helping in serving food to a large group of guests. The place was roomy and had big windows. The cool air was blowing and coming in from the windows and it added a provincial touch. The tables and chairs/bench were made of heavy wood.

The menu was your typical Filipino dishes and we asked the owner what her recommendation was because we were just two. She suggested getting the daing na bangus. So we did and we also ordered Binalot. My husband had soda and I , sago and gulaman.

Binalot consisted of pork-chicken cooked adobo style with some shrimps and rice wrapped altogether in banana leaf. It came with a dipping of bagoong isda and tomato. It cost Php260, if I remember it right.

The boneless daing na bangus was huge and good for four persons. It lacked the sour-y taste of daing and tasted like your ordinary fried bangus. Cost us Php350.

We took away the left over bangus and we also ordered grilled pork for our dinner at the resort.

The restaurant has ample parking space although the entrance was quite narrow. One car has to give way for the other car to get out.

The comfort rooms were clean and had filipino motiff. There is a mini waterfall separating the male and female toilet.

I am not sure why it is called Kainan sa Dalampasigan when there is no dalampasigan (waterway) in sight. Maybe it should have been called Kainan sa Hardin.

Overall, the ambience is very good , service needs a little improvement (bill out was kinda slow),  food experience is regular. Maybe we have to go back and try the other dishes for us to fully rate the food offering.

To get to Kainan by private car, we drove via Tagaytay -Nasugbu route, upon reaching the T road ,turn right to Nasugbu. (The left road leads to Matabungkay. ) We turned left to Martinez street. One can ask where Batangas State University is. Kainan is on the left side before reaching the University.  It is easier if you have GPS.