Baler - Part 2 - The hidden gems

The town of Baler may be one of the smallest town I've been into and if not, it is the quietest town I've been into.  We woke up as early as 5:30 A.M. so that we could go around town and see some history and other attractions that are somewhat "underrated". 

The first thing we did was eat breakfast and we ate mostly fishes and "okoy" - it is like a burger patty but it is made of tiny shrimps.

The replica of the house of Aurora Quezon.

It was late in the morning and the host of our trip said that we have at least an hour to tour the town, as for me I've always wanted to have a tour around the town because it's where one can feel the culture of a place.

I was a disappointed with Aurora Quezon's replica house because when you entered the house, it's empty! Not even one chair that belonged to her remained. But with whatever happened to the belongings of Aurora, I bet the immediate family still has it.

The famous Catholic Church of Baler

Then just at the back of Aurora's house was the Church of Baler. It was originally built in 1611 and was later on renovated in 1939 but the church's facade remain the same. The church is best remembered during the Spanish-American war in the Philippines, it was called "The Siege of Baler" where the last standing battle hardened Spanish soldiers garrisoned inside the church for 337 days. 

Read all about the "Siege" HERE.

The Presidential car of commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon.

After we went inside the simple but historic church of Baler, we went across the street and tada! There was the town's museum, how bout that? all three historic sites in a couple of blocks. It was kind of funny when I entered the museum. I was excited to see new stuff for I really love history of just about anything!

When I entered, I laughed because I found out that the National Museum of the Philippines is touring the country with different relics and artifacts and I've seen all of it back in Manila.

The coastline of Aurora Province

After the town tour we rode in our cars for an hour of driving from the town to a religious hill which I forgot the name (I'm so sorry I didn't have notes in this trip!). We saw this beautiful beautiful landscape from above. One weird thing though about Baler is that I don't think there is a lighthouse in the coast.

While I was hiking to the top of the hill, I saw a monkey out of the cage and I tried to sound like my wildlife conservationist idol, the late Steve Irwin but I guess I failed. Anyways check it out:

Natural wave barriers at the port of Baler.

After the coast lines, we drove for another hour to bath in a waterfall famous for its chilling waters. The road there is most dirt road and to get there we had to pass by roads that offer shortcut by cutting through someone's land or backyard. Each land we cross cost less than $1. 

But after we reached there, it is as if we forgot all the beating our wallets took place! The place was so clean and if I could say in nature terms "Still a Virgin".

Here's a vid of the locals jumping from the waterfall:

Meditating

The last night of our trip ended with cold bottles of local beers and laughter but we won't waste the last day for we all know there's more to be seen at the beaches of Baler. See you on the last blog series of Baler next time! :)

Baler - Part 1 - The Road to Baler

It's as if like something in a dream that happened so rapidly, I never thought that I could finally be inside the car with my family on a very rare occasion. To travel with them is like a Michael Jackson Superbowl halftime performance.

We went out early in the morning to gather at Quezon City to meet with my cousin's family, and the destination is widely unknown to most Filipinos. 

BALER, it is most remembered in history as the "Siege of Baler" where Spanish forces turned a Church into a fort to fend off Filipino revolutionary forces for almost 1 year, feeding on everything they could find, only to find out that they were the only Spanish soldiers fighting all along because the war was over.

It was a bad start for me because I was having my Loose Bowel Movement (LBM) so I had medications with me and I wasn't eating nor drinking anything because I might "explode" in the middle of our trip.

The road to Baler is mostly smooth-sailing, the roads were healthy and wide, well except when you reach Nueva Ecija area where some farmers dry their rice grains on the street, but even if they do that, it's a sight to see.

(FIRST PHOTO HERE)

WOW PHILIPPINES! Not the usual rolling stores.

Going there from highway to highway is not boring, that is what I love about the Philippines, when I travel I can't close my eyes because I might miss something strange or different. Every city gives something about their unique culture, can't even imagine the rarity of different cultures in this small archipelago-one maritime country.

Baler is originally part of Quezon province, where the commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon once lived. He also graduated to two Dominican owned educational institution, Colegio de San Juan de Letran (Letran College, oldest college established in 1620) when he was in high school and University of Santo Tomas (oldest university established in 1611) for his college years.

(SECOND PHOTO HERE)

This is the one way bridge going to Baler, so if you're on the other side, you just have to wait :)

Today Baler is part of the Aurora province, in honor of Quezon's wife who lived a few blocks from where Manuel was living. It is a small town in the North east corner of the country.

The sleeping town is slowly becoming a tourist destination for those who love surfing, the town was best featured in the local historic movie "BALER" where the plot was the Siege of Baler.

(THIRD PHOTO HERE)

Going back to my LBM problem, we took short breaks at gas stations for my "Morning Glory" time, I was kind of a minor delay to them but I didn't want it. Even with the virus, it won't stop me from traveling...

"IF THERE'S TISSUE, THERE'S A WAY" - That was my motto for the trip.

(FOURTH PHOTO HERE)

Shell Gas travel guide map's description about Baler

We arrived finally after 6 hours of road watching and pit stops. The town was quiet and simple, one can clearly see the old houses preserved for generations although some appear modern.

After we ate our lunch, we headed to the rocky beaches to see how powerful the waves really are and my God how wonderful it is to see the roads so developed and the view is dumbfounding!

An amazing scene just off the street.

That's a rock beach! 

As the Sun took a deep dive into the horizon, the cold night engulfs Baler and we would wait for the Sun's return.

Palawan - Day 3: Beaching around

It's day 3 of my reunion with Coron, Palawan and after the 9-destination-island-hopping the previous day my body's aching and also my foot that was cut by a coral and also I was still itching from the plankton attack. Nevertheless, I got up from my sweaty sleep (you know, the 6 hour electricity of Palawan in my previous blog).

We arrived at the port again at around 9AM and boarded, this day was "beach hopping" day for us since we went to 9 destinations, this way was laid back relaxation to three beaches.

It was getting late so the bankeros (boatmen) decided to go first at the farthest destination so by the time we get there, we would have our lunch there.

Two hours after we were stunned at what we saw...

Welcome to Malcapuya Island

Malcapuya island boasts its Boracay like beach. Although Boracay has the sand that is like powdered milk, Malcapuya is around a few decades of having the same sand texture. We settled at the beach front small cottages and so as the others went to the beach, I wandered around with my bare feet. The island is relatively small so you can go around it in less than 30 minutes.

As I was doing my mini "solo travel" around the island, I saw a sign saying "Peak Here" and so I thought that they misspelled "PEEK" as "PEAK". But then a couple with a camera started climbing down the rocky hill and then I realized that there was a viewing peak at the top, so I started climbing and the guy said to me in Filipino "Hey! why are you on your bare feet?! The rocks are sharp, be careful cause it's gonna hurt". I just smiled and continued my climb.

He was right, my feet was being scratched by the sharp rocks but once I got at the top, I forgot all the pain as the strong cold breeze and the astounding view of the ocean is right in front of my eyes. I didn't say this to them but I'll say it here, while I was on top, I shed a tear because I couldn't believe that I got back to Palawan with my own expenses! I shouted at the top of my lungs "I LOVE YOU PALAWAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!". The view is more like a painting that has its elements moving.

The other face of Malcapuya island at the top of the peak.

While on top and after shedding a tear getting so dramatic together with my shouting scene to Palawan, I sat down, hiding in the shade and wrote in my little notebook.

"Malcapuya the serene, only few sounds I hear.

Waves crashing to the shore, some blasting thru island walls.

This place is supreme, Malcapuya the serene."

When I got down and returned to my group, the food was already there and I was again in for a beach lunch treat! We feasted on Fish (Salagisi if I'm not mistaken) Crabs which the shells are so hard I was thinking if they were drinking milk for calcium and pork chops. To quench the thirst, we bought fresh coconuts for just PhP30.00 (less than $1.00). A so called "fresh" coconut drink in Manila would cost around $2-$4 each!

Every food becomes extraordinary when eaten at the Beach.

After pigging out at our lunch, we said our goodbye to this one of a kind beach and headed out for our second destination where they said we will be staying for more than an hour and they promised that there will be lots of fish encounters at the said beach.

Few minutes of "bumpy" rides as what friend Mikki told me, we reached the famous Banana Island. One thing puzzled me, if it's called Banana island, then where are the Banana trees? All I see are coconut tree lines, then our boatman explained to us that the island's shape was like a banana and that's where the name came from.

If Malcapuya boasts its close-to-Boracay-sands, Banana island is different, because it's part sand and part coral beach and that amazes me. At one side it's all sand but on the other side it's all coral rocks, just amazing and I have no words to describe its rarity.

The sandy side of Banana Island

The waves are a little rough than the usual calm beaches of Palawan, we got our snorkeling gear and after looking around the land for a while and seeing that there is actually a Bar that I'm guessing that's only open during night time.

I went out in the open with balls of bread in my hands and I wondered why there was no fish around, I looked at the landscape and I learned that there were no corals around and the beach was only a couple of meters long and then the beach drops to the abyss.

Then suddenly out of the dark blue waters from below I saw movement and little fishes started ascending and it might be the bread that was spreading around. Then like a sweet orchestra played thru my ears as schools of fishes gathered around us!

Here's a video:

I'm seen at the 12-14 second mark trying to unpack the bread from the plastic as the fishes swarm me.

I headed back to shore to grab more bread as it was the closest fish encounter I have been into in Palawan. The fish feeding program we did lasted more than 20 minutes and it was just astounding to be in the center of a school of fish that's trying to grab the bread right off my hand! Miko then took wonderful photos of me while feeding the fishes.

My left hand is closed so that the bread won't be wasted.

"HELLO FISH-LINGS! I BRING BREAD TO YOUR WORLD"

Because we enjoyed the encounter so much, we were running a bit late so we had to hurry to go to the last destination that we were set to go as the Sun is slowly losing its ground over the land.

Bangkeros (boatmen) Pulling us ashore the islet of Bulog.

Bulog islet is so small that 20 persons would have a hard time finding space and move around. We were given like just 15-20 minutes to have our photos taken so that we'll be at the city before moon rise!

This is an awesome photo of me, it's like saying that "I overcame all the currents against me and here I am, back in Coron!"

This is the cast from my "Return to Palawan" journey, from right to left:
Faith, Tommy, JP, Nadine, Mikki, Celine, Miko, ME, Mark, Camille.

When we reached the city, I looked at the horizon for it was the last night of my trip to the place I loved the most, the dream to come back in this place was four years in the making. But still, I told the waters of Palawan that I shall return to once again be one with them.