En Route Manila from Baler

The Surfing Experience was awesome. Wait, there’s more! It’s our last day here in Baler, one more hour to surf! We had our complementary breakfast from Mahdox before heading to the beach for another surfing session. I had pork tocino with egg and coffee. But of course, say bye to the egg :)

One last pose at Sabang Beach

Saying Goodbye to Mahdox Backdoor

As much as we wanted to follow Byahe ni Drew’s itinerary, it just cant. But of course we didn't missed the chance to visit the famous and Mystic Balete Tree of Baler while heading back home.

Today we got to see the 500 year old humongous balete tree located in one of the remote barangays of Baler municipality.  The historic tree has long been standing as one of the pride of Aurora province but sadly has been deemed a tourist spot. It constantly is plagued by influx of tourists and enterprising locals. Now we were among them, trying to check out the marvel of this fig tree's natural wonder. It is astonishing to learn a certain folklore of a place especially if we're talking about decades, millenniums or centuries of histories.        

It’s massive and what’s great about this tree is you can climb easily because the roots are inches thick that people could actually use it as leverage to reach the top; branches separating widely while holding and keeping its leaves hanging. Of course, if there's a tree this big, it is also possible to go and see what's inside.

At first, I was a bit hesitant to go inside, which by the way enters through its small hole at the ground roots which would lead visitors inside. May Starbucks sa loob, tignan mo – the guide said. Haha.

After that short stop, we head back to Manila, all smiles and proud of what we have achieved and discovered in Baler.

Awesome sunset while heading back home. I can’t help but smile. It simply reminded me that life is indeed beautiful. When the sunsets, it surely will rise. So smile and be grateful.

Baler is more than just Surfing

We all know that Baler is one of the surfing sites in the Philippines but of course there’s more to it than just getting stoked at the beach.  So after that tiring and exhausting one hour of playing with the waves of Sabang Beach we got hungry of course and one of our trainers told us about this great resto: Kusina Luntian. Its a very simple restaurant beside the road and not like fancy ones that you will notice right away. I think only the local surfers only knows this place. We were lucky enough that our instructors pointed us to this one. This one will really prove that we shouldn't judge the book by its cover.

 Our trainers were right, the food is simply awesome. The prices are very reasonable too. They have creative presentations as well. To top the list, you will see right in front of you how they prepare your food. The restaurant is set up to give a surfer ambiance.

Wapang Wapang na Liempo

Wang Patawad na Tapa

Daing na Pusit

All smiles for a great lunch 

After feasting ourselves on the great lunch offered by  Kusina Luntian we headed back to Mahdox Backdoor to change and get ready for another sight seeing trip. We were so craving for something sweet so we headed the town proper and check what’s in store for us.

Taking a Pose on the Souvenir Shop

We headed to Gerry Shan’s place to check out something sweet. So we ended getting Halo-Halo. Gerry Shan’s Place is a restaurant popular for its Eat and Drink all-you-can for only PhP 185. Locals and tourists alike troop to this place to satisfy their bottomless stomachs with over 20 viands. They serve both Filipino and Chinese food, from Sinigang na baboy and paksiw to sweet and sour fish. There were also fruits and veggies to choose from.

 

After the refreshing Halo Halo feast we found ourselves heading towards spotting some of the famous hostorical spots in Baler. First stop is Museo de Baler. It houses several historical artifacts that link it closely to the Philippines’ first and longest colonizer, Spain. Inaugurated in 2002, the museum’s historical mural, a cold cast that covers the façade, was created by sculptor Toym Imao, son of National Artist for the Visual Arts Abdulmari Imao. Ilovita Mesina, Baler’s local historian, said the museum was put up partly to commemorate the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day and relive the Siege of Baler.

 

Entrance and Facade of Museo de Baler

 

The PhotoBooth

Museum Exhibit Area

   

Right across Museo de Baler is the House of Maria Aurora

Simbahan ng Baler

After this short sight seeing tour, we head back to Sabang Beach to look for the famous suman of Baler and we got them at Aliya Surf Camp.  Suman is a native treat made of steamed sticky rice wrapped in either banana or coconut leaves. It is perfect partner for hot coffee or native chocolate and it can be eaten "as is" or dipped on a refined sugar. Suman in Baler is so famous that most of them are gone by late mornings and were so glad we still got some. I paired mine with brewed coffee plus the ocean breeze and crashing waves. Oh life!

After that short stay at the seaside we head back to Mahdox Backdoor to grab some rest before dinner. Unfortunately that power nap turned to be a deep slumber and we woke up realizing its a brand new day.

En Route Baler – Adventures and MisAdventures along the way

Surfing, surfing, surfing. I've been drooling to try and experience this myself. It's been part of my bucket list for adventures i wanted to accomplish this year and i never thought that plan will materialize earlier than expected. It's still the love month and I am loving how things are falling into place. A high school friend happened to share that same passion with me and would love to try surfing as well so we then decided to explore this new water sport together. We decided Baler Aurora to be our first training ground for our surfing lesson.

Baler aurora is located on the northwest part of the Philippines, 230 kms from Manila. There were several ways to go to Baler but its only Genesis liner having direct trips to baler. Trip would usually take 6  or 7  hours and cost depends on the type of ride you wanted.

For this adventure, we are doing road trip all the way up northwest traversing several towns to get to Aurora. It's our first time going there and we can only rely to our gut feeling, initiative and confidence to arrive safely. Thank God we have high tech gadgets capable of giving us directions.

We left Makati exactly 1030 in the morning traversing EDSA all the way to Quezon City passing through NLEX. We will drop by San Simon in Pampanga to pick up the last soul for the adventure. It’s past 12noon when were exiting NLEX and should be using La Paz exit but of course we lost the sense of direction and we ended up exiting Tarlac. Good thing we have Plan B and because we were so adventurous, instead of getting sad about the re routing we decided to have lunch in Tarlac.  Its past 2 in the afternoon when we arrived in Palaisdaan floating Restaurant in Tarlac.

After roughly 2 hours of feasting to the sumptuous lunch we headed towards our destination. We passed by Cabanatuan, several towns of Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya before entering Maria Aurora. Along the way, were having so much fun talking about our high school days and laughed at how we actually survived those times.

We passed by several rice fields and since this may not happen again soon in the future we pulled over and took some shots. As we all know Nueva Ecija is the Rice Granary of the Philippines. There were dams as well and we had some great shots too.

 

It's getting dark when we exited Nueva Ecija and started uphill. We just keep on following what the GPS told us and we passed by several bumpy roads , a bit eerie but we were just so positive that this will be over soon. That was the longest 20 minutes ride of my life passing the dark unknown place with no streetlights and houses. When we get back to the highway it was a relief. But the super S roads poses another challenge, blind curves and almost everything that will challenge your driving skills were presented. Good thing Len is so alert even if she's not familiar with the roads.  The route to Baler should be shorter but since were avoiding the crazy roads in Bongabon we took the longer yet easier route.

Map from Aliya Surf Camp Website

 

Pantabangan as I can remember was the longest road we ever had going to Baler. Its past 8 in the evening when we finally arrived in Baler. We were so exhausted, tired and hungry. After we checked in and freshen up, we grab dinner at the nearest restaurant, Yellow Fin. We had White Marlin and Grilled Squid and soda for dinner.  Baler is alive even if its late in the evening, you can see locals and foreigners having a great time bonding over a bottle of wine or beer.

White Marlin served with Tomatoes and Chili

The Mouth Watering Grilled Squid

After which we head back to Mahdox Backdoor. We call it a day, lights off around 1130 in the evening, we just had a long day of road trip in the unknown and were looking forward to great and adventure filled day tomorrow.

Flickr Tags: Aliya Surf Camp,Baler,Surfing,Yellow Fin,White Marlin,Grilled Squid,Isdaan Restaurant

A Floating Restaurant In Tarlac

Living in the city can be stressful. Out of town trips seems to be an easy fix. Since we missed the La Paz exit on our way to Baler, we ended up in Tarlac City. It has been nailed in  my memory that there’s one great restaurant around the area so we had our Lunch in Isdaan, Floating restaurant.

 

The restaurant looks like a park from outside with all the giant monkeys and Buddhas that you'll see. Aside from the fresh food, several attractions awaits each visitor. Upon entering the restaurant, a friendly staff will accompany you to a floating bahay kubo of your preference. This will serve as your dining area during your stay. Yes, it is floating in a body of water that's 6-9ft deep!

 

Getting Ready for Lunch

Ginataang Hipon

 

Tender Juicy Spareribs (A must try!)

Rice served in a Cauldron

 

Aside from musicians, visitors of Isdaan can also enjoy watching dancers perform Filipino folk dances. I personally think that this is a great way to remind Filipino visitors of our heritage or to showcase it to tourists who visits Isdaan for a good meal.

I did say that life in the city can be stressful, right? Isdaan helps us to relieve this stress through their Tacsiyapo Wall.  Throw mugs, plates, or even a TV monitor to release anger! I threw 1 mug that cost me Php15. This is the cheapest that you can buy. Look for your source of anger or stress from the wall ... aim ... throw with all your might!

We will definitely be back to try the other delicacies and if need be, will release anger and burden once more and make sure to throw it away  and leave the place smiling and ready for the next chapter.