Bolinao: Pangasinan Mapping Part 2

In April, I went back to Pangasinan with the same buddy I was with in my first mapping of the province. The second time around we experienced the same difficulty in getting bus tickets as we did the first time.

Our first stop this time was Bolinao, known to travelers for its lighthouse. Of course we included that in our itinerary as well as a visit to the beach.

It's funny how the world seemed so small. While having breakfast at a canteen, I saw the last name of a former officemate and I remembered that she had relatives in Bolinao. So I messaged her and asked if her uncle could provide assistance to us. The town was celebrating a festival so we almost never got the help we needed but her uncle was really a generous person who even provided us with a tricycle, instructing the driver to take us to Bolinao's Enchanted and Wonderful Caves, Patar beach, and Bolinao lighthouse. Plus, we got free accommodation and dinner at their house. I'm so touched at how people can be so kind despite the prevalence of cruelty in this cold dark world.

we didn't know there was a fiesta! Beautiful surprise :)

Go Bolinao!!!

 A sea of busy people greeted us when we arrived at Bolinao. Turned out they were having a festival! Cool surprise! We stopped by for some time to see their street performance then resumed mapping the town.

binungey, suman-like treat in bamboo

Old Spanish Well

the imposing St. James the Great Parish Church

Gabaldon Building 

old church bells in Bolinao Church (yes we climbed up the belfry!)

 In the afternoon, there was only the lighthouse left to map. We were in for another pleasant surprise when my officemate's uncle arranged a tricycle tour for us. We were taken to Enchanted Cave first where we marveled at the giant fossilized clam shells. Later on we took a dip in the cave's cool waters. Wanting more, we transferred to another cave named Wonderful Cave. I liked waters here more than in the previous one. Also, it's got less people so buddy and I were able to talk a lot about love, friendship, and human relations in general.

giant fossilized shells in Enchanted Cave

 And then the lighthouse!!! We spent some time taking pictures there since the sun was already setting with extra wonderful colors. It would be a waste if we were to leave without beautiful silhouette photos!

Bolinao Lighthouse against an electrifyingly clear blue sky

 And until the time the sun had fully disappeared down the horizon we stayed at Patar Beach. I love how the brown yet light sands felt against my skin. My buddy and I buried ourselves in the sand for a while before fnally leaving the place with smiles on our faces.

sunset at Patar Beach

We had dinner at our gracious host's house and after that, a cousin of my officemate accompanied me and my buddy to the town feria. I'm not a big fan of fairs but it's nice to once in a while see for myself what goes in there.

town fair (photo credit: Hannah D.)

darts (photo credit: Hannah D.)

The fair hosted a lot of rides and I do not even know nor recall the names. I only went for the ferris wheel which got me a headache afterwards. I did got 4 out of 5 shots in the darts, winning a pack of cheap chips for it. Then I took advantage of the karaoke machine and sang two songs: Join the Club's Nobela and F4's Meteor Rain. What is nice about singing here is that people do not know your ugly voice and so will not remember you if ever you go back. LOL

Sooooo, who wouldn't love Bolinao???

Batanes 05112014 Day 4

May 11 is the second Sunday of the month and is also Mother's Day for this year. I committed a mistake when planning for my travels because I thought Mother's Day falls on the 3rd Sunday. I made a mental note to make sure I send an SMS to mom and greet her a happy mother's day.

We woke up very early to catch the sunrise at Diura, a fishing village in Mahatao town. The beach there was full of boulders and it was there where I scraped my knee when I fell after stepping on a very slippery rock. Ugh!

After watching the sunrise for around two and a half hours, my buddy and I separated ways. We both wanted to explore Batanes the hard way but I don't know how to ride a bicycle on rugged roads so I planned to just walk.

I was dropped off at the foot of the hill where Tayid lighthouse is located so I had to hike up all the way. My first few minutes of being alone made me question what I wanted to achieve after all this. Talk about sudden regrets but the tricycle had already sped away. [And there's also my pride to protect.]

Fortunately the road to Mahatao was gently sloping downwards so it wasn't that difficult. The challenge is dealing with the very fickle weather. One moment it rains and another the sun shines ever so brightly. Good thing I brought my raincoat with me.

I got to Mahatao just in time for the mass to commence. I ran all the way to the church and even was relieved to see the priest and his "staff" were just about to enter. Whew! Needless to say, I was super drenched in sweat and with a bleeding knee on which I poured lots of alcohol to prevent infection.

Because I was all alone, I could visit places of interest to me but which may be weird for others. I went to Mahatao cemetery afterwards, then walked towards Basco, determined to make it in time for lunch [or maybe I'd just collapse and sleep the whole afternoon]. It was already past 9 in the morning and sun's rays were not friendly anymore. Still I tread on, feeling like a 浪人. When I was running out of water and seeing the long stretch of road ahead of me [and also thinking that I must have covered 4 kilometers already], I decided to bring out the magical thumb while on the highway. It was my second time to hitch a ride (the first being on my return to Manila from Vietnam and a fellow plane passenger would also pass by the Makati area where I used to work).

The driver's name was Richard. I was happy because he's a chatty guy. He told me interesting tidbits about the Ivatan culture, like how they raise animals in Goat Island but slaughter the animals for meat there to be transported to the populated islands. They do not transport live animals due to their superstitious beliefs. He also told me that Amboy's is the only place where you can get beef tapa because normally the delicacy is just for household consumption.

Since his destination was Batanes Resort, we had to part ways at that point and I had to go by foot again all the way to Marfel's Homestay in Basco. By that time, I could already feel like collapsing any minute because of the heat. I think I must have walked more than a kilometer just to get to the inn. WHEW! [I'm never doing it again! On second thought, I might if only for the sense of fulfillment...] My buddy had returned some 20 minutes earlier than me.

Ate a quick brunch of leftover pinakbet and fish and went straight to sleep. I tried to go over the materials I got about the history of Batanes but my body was already craving for sleep.

Late in the afternoon, we explored Basco again. We planned to have dinner at the famous Bunker Café near Basco lighthouse. At the same time, we wanted to see the sunset there for the second time. Our dinner consisted of mushroom soup, beef steak, fish with wasabi mayo, upland rice (YUMMY!), turon, and stir-fried veggies. Of these, I loved the fish best!

In short, this day was mainly about getting awed [and burnt] by the magnificent sun. [But this girl is a Moon Goddess...]

Batanes Day 1
Batanes Day 2
Batanes Day 3
Batanes Day 5 

Batanes 05102014 Day 3

Day 3 was spent both in Sabtang Island and Batan Island. Since we slept very late due to the summer heat, we weren't able to catch the sunrise in Sabtang. I myself forgot to set my alarm. When we woke up at 6AM, the sun was already up. THAT. EARLY. hmph.

We hired a tricycle to get us back to Nakabuang beach to fully enjoy the place all by ourselves. It was the best thing we did during the whole trip because it wasn't that hot yet and we took a lot of photos of ourselves. I did get some sexy pose ideas from my buddy. It seems she's an expert in that.

Since I prefer to savor the beach lying on the sands under a shade, I lay down under the arch and just watched the clouds go by. Moments like this, when you don't think about anything and just appreciate the beauty of nature, are far too precious for me because I'm always living on the highway. Cloud-watching has become a sort of stress-reliever as I contemplate on my being a drifter, on adopting the way of the white cloud. (see  bottom of this post)

lunch at Nakabuang Beach part 2

 On the way back to the town, we passed by a construction site. Curious, I went down and asked around about the construction, hoping to gain insights on the Ivatans' modern construction process. I was able to chat with the owner and she said that they're building an inn for tourists. Awesome!

a new inn in Sabtang is already in the works. Can't  wait for this!

 Our last stop before we went back to our host's house was Sabtang lighthouse. The area where it stood is already considered private property so we had to pay P50 to enter. It breaks one's heart to see the walls of the structure vandalized. :(

Sabtang lighthouse

 We did some shopping when we got back to Batan. Prices are shockingly high but this is because it's hard to transport goods to Batanes. We decided to cook dinner for ourselves that night.

little kid got extra excited upon seeing colorful fishes. YUM!

 And we explored more of Batan, ending up near Batan port. We checked out the artsy store below where I bought my only souvenir for this trip: an artist's map rendition of Batanes (P200). Sadly, since the approach is artistic, the map was not scaled. What I liked about it though is that the paper is used is water proof

 I forgot the name of the fish that we bought but I chose it because of its size and color. I'm quite adventurous when it comes to food and colorful ones attract me. (Mental note: stay away from colorful mushrooms since these are most probably poisonous.)

We didn't find any ginger in the house so what I did was to just boil the fish in hot water twice to ensure that there would be less smell. I also rubbed it with salt and pepper. (I really don't know what I was doing but we needed to eat and well, rubbing fish with salt makes me feel like a chef...)

My buddy, on the other hand, cooked pinakbet. We forgot to buy rice but I was able to find uncooked spaghetti in the cupboards. Pinakbet pasta below:

The Way of the White Clouds

-Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

 “Just before Buddha died somebody asked him:

When a Buddha dies where does he go—

does he survive, or simply disappear into nothingness?

Buddha is reported to have said:

‘Just like a white cloud disappearing’.

A white cloud is a mystery—

the coming, the going, the very being of it.

A white cloud exists without any roots—

it is an unrooted phenomenon, grounded nowhere,

or grounded in the nowhere.

But it still exists.

A white cloud really has no way of his own.

It drifts. It has nowhere to reach, no destination,

no destiny to be fulfilled, no end.

You cannot frustrate a white cloud

because wherever it reaches is the goal.

Hence, I call my way The Way of the White Clouds.”

Batanes Day 1
Batanes Day 2
Batanes Day 4
Batanes Day 5 

Batanes 05092014 Day 2

Day 2 of our Batanes trip was spent in Sabtang Island. We decided to spend a night there just to have a feel of what it's like to sleep in an Ivatan stone house.

The tour includes a quick visit of San Vicente Church, a walk through Savidug where stone houses abound. The best part is the Chamantad-Tinyan Viewpoint where we spent a lot of time taking pictures. The place is just soooo beautiful that I'm hoping I get proposed to in that place (LOL!). We also visited the Sabtang Weavers Association where we saw how they make the traditional Ivatan headdress called Vakul.

San Vicente Ferrer Church

Chavayan stone houses

Chamantad-Tinyan Viewpoint: one of the best places in Batanes that you wouldn't want to miss!

After getting tired from all the walking up and down Chamantad-Tinyan, all we could think about was the promised lobster for lunch which is already included in the tour package. We certainly had a feast, eating delicious food to our heart's content. I forgot all about my diet!

lunch

While others played at the beach, most of us lay down under the famous arch of Nakabuang beach to have our afternoon nap. It drizzled but only for a short period of time. While in the moment, I thought of not gong back to Manila because it felt like heaven being in such a wonderful place.

Nakabuang beach and its famous arch

My travel buddy and I said goodbye to our tourmates in Nakabuang beach as they headed back to Batan Island. As for us, we rented a trike to take us to other parts of Sabtang not covered by the tour. We stopped by Sumnanga, curious why it's called "Little Hongkong" but we weren't able to figure out the reason behind the nickname. I walked the entire stretch of the coastline and could only come up with a theory: that the part of the sea there resembles Hongkong bay. That is the only thing I could think of since Sumnanga is in no way modern compared to Hongkong. Another thing about the coastal town: I have to note that the area was pretty much devastated, they say , by last year's typhoons. 

part of Sumnanga overlooking the sea

We also visited Nakanmuan but there isn't much to see in the barangay. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the very long ride. The breeze, the waning heat of the sun, the excellent sceneries, now what more can you ask for? Did I say that the young tricycle driver who toured us has wonderful taste in music? He played MLTR songs!!! I thought my heart would burst with happiness. :)

That night, I washed my clothes since our host has a washing machine. We slept in the receiving area of our host's house, with the door wide open. Still the summer heat made us sweat a lot. We were also lucky because our host cooked chicken tinola and invited us for dinner. We didn't find any restaurant in the barangay.

Take me to your heart, take me to your soul.

Give me your hand and hold me.

Show me what love is, be my guiding star.

It's easy; take me to your heart.

#LSS

Batanes Day 1

Batanes Day 3
Batanes Day 4
Batanes Day 5