Pagsanjan day tour, delicious halo halo!

More than two hours away from RP's infamous capital metro manila, is an oasis of nature, culture and old world charm. . . . Pagsanjan is a small Laguna rural town influenced heavily by the spaniards, where you can still see quite a few remnants of their presence from the very old houses to the big giant arch marker at the entrance to the town. And though Pagsanjan is known for its waterfalls, "shooting the rapids" attraction, the famous waterfalls is not within the bounderies of Pagsanjan but is actually located in Cavinti, the town north of it. During the spanish period it became a major commercial trading hub of the province, making it a capital of the province from 1688 to 1858. Anyway there are gazillion blogs about Pagsanjan and "cavinti falls" so lets not further rob Cavinti of its rightful ownership of the falls and focus on the other attractions to this town. BTW if youre still interested of trying the canoe ride to the falls, it now costs P1250 inclusive of everything and you only need tips if youre generous to locals hehe afterall you would really feel sorry for those two men manuevering your canoe upstream past all those slippery boulders and strong currents.

I was fortunate enough to visit the town recently on an unplanned trip with relatives and enjoy the hospitality and charm of the locals. In a small town like Pagsanjan, prominent families know what goes on around the place and you can easily get valuable tips when you talk with just about anybody who has lived all their lives in the town.

Though the town is no Vigan or Taal replicate. LGUs can do better than organizing bangkeros systematic collections of boat rides by providing better comforts and attractions to the place by posting more sign posts of tourist attractions the town has to offer. Im dismayed that the abundance of tourists heading for the falls has not made the local govt more tourist friendly. There are enough resorts, inns, restaurants for this place to get going. Not sure why its not maximizing its potential as a tourist destination.

I really wish when i come back for a short stay the Pagsanjan LGU would have a centralized tourist center so visitors can get all the infos they need for them to stay longer and look beyond the lure of the pagsanjan falls. I was particularly charmed by this one street, P Caballes. It has century old houses, a weaver's factory for barong cloth, and the impressive Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish church. You can do a leisurely walk on this street and relieve an era of old spanish colonial times. There is also a small pier where visitors can see the Bumbungan River which leads to the falls.

Exit to your left along General Taino street, cross the bridge and you have a beautiful view of the Balanac River.

And after that short crossing, on your right is Pagsanjan's halo halo pride...ALING TALENG. In my book its arguably one of the best halo halo i have ever tasted hehe I maybe biased but hey this pagsanjan concoction puts Razon halo halo into a spinning runnerup recognition. Pagsanjan has won me over their dessert. HELL IM COMING BACK!

Now how do you get to pagsanjan? Easy have your own private vehicle and google the route hehe But if youre like me who wants to take it rough sometimes, there are many buses from NCR that goes to town...

Commuting Routes: From NCR: Go to one of the bus terminals below: Go to the HM Transport Bus Terminal on EDSA corner New York Street, Cubao. Go to the Green Star Bus Terminal on Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (Buendia) corner Taft Avenue. Go to the HM Liner Bus Terminal in Manuela Metropolis Alabang (Metropolis Mall). Ride an HM Transport/Green Star bus to Sta. Cruz, and get off at Pagsanjan/Jam bus terminal in Barangay Pagsawitan, Pagsanjan, Laguna. The ride takes about 2.5 hours. Go to Pagsanjan, Lumban, Paete, Siniloan, or Caliraya, you can either: Ride a jeep to Pagsanjan, Lumban, Paete, Siniloan, or Caliraya, and get off at your destination. The ride takes about 20-30 minutes. Ride a tricycle to your destination.

LIAN, BATANGAS, picturesque town with magnificent sunsets

Dreamy Lian Batangas.... i place it number one as the place to see the most spectacular sunsets in the Philippines. SORRY manila bay's sunset cant compare with Lian's. The view from matabungkay, the seaside part Lian gives you sunsets that looks like some expensive art work in a museum. 

OK umay factor tells us to get out of the city when we feel like drowning in our very routinary boring existence. We live too much in a box in urban metro manila that we sometimes forget that theres a picture pretty world outside smog choked metro manila. Not too far from the Philippine capital are beautiful rural towns waiting to be explored...and revisited again and again until your next UMAY feeling happens.

Arrgghhh... those bonfire wood setups and those balsas may not be your vision of a dreamy tropical island beach...BUT limited logistics considered we dont need to hop on a plane or ride a perilous ferry boat to reach paradise. Umay blog thinks we can do better our chances of survival than contemplate suicide. WTF point of course hehe The Town of Lian in Batangas has gained popularity in the 70s as one of those seaside towns closer to metro manila with a pretty decent long beach hence a magnet for holiday makers. Matabungkay resort in Lian was one of those resorts to have captured the fancy of city dwellers long before people in manila even thought of going to boracay, palawan, caramoan etc... and though im no big fan of tourist trap places, Lian batangas still does offer a quieter side of the place.

Lian is a four hour leisure drive from manila with two routes to consider, both scenic too. Theres the breathtaking ternate nasugbu highway passing thru lush mountains,roadside beaches and you even get to see bataan from across cavite. And the second alternative is the usual route when you pass tagaytay going to nasugbu batangas resorts. Turn left towards Lian and calatagan when you reach the nasugbu-lian juncture. its advisable to take the ternate-nasugbu route to avoid heavy traffic in tagaytay during holidays and weekends.

Lian is a second class municipality, great but i wonder why do they have to ask people to pay an environmental entrance fee for every visitor to matabungkay every time a car tries to enter matabungkay where most of the resorts are located. With a population of 44 thousand it gives you the conclusion that one, theres no jollibee and no SM mall. Yah something people in the city should learn to live without HMMMP! And second point, since UMAY factor has prevented people from going to either calatagan and Lian, chances of bumping to the same ugly creepy people in your office or workplace would be slim. they would all be doing the same vacation plans. They will all be crammed in an overpriced resort in boracay as promoted by overhyped celebrities like boy abunda. LOL

As for attractions, there are enough to keep you stay for a few days. Their patron saint is st john the baptist and their church is worth a stop. Aside from the obvious popularity of matabungkay resorts, the surrounding countryside is beautiful. The town has rolling hills, friendly locals and the town hosts the annual balsahan festival held around May. Oh if those resort websites tell you that it takes two hours from makati to Lian, theyre probably riding secret service UFOs to reach Lian LOL. Accomodations? well i can only vouch for the ones ive seen so far. We had dinner at Coral beach club. Pricey but servings are generous. I often travel with my dad whos on a wheel chair so its important that the place has to be comfortable for a PWD tourist. In fact, i like to believe that any resort or hotel to be worth your money has to be clean, convenient, comfortable and reasonable price and it should be PWD tailored. i think we found the right place for my dad.

TIDEWATER RESORT, baranggay ligtasin, lian batangas.

The resort has an incredible sunset view. the pool is shaded by a large tree and its a small place with few rooms and a big one for large groups. They have a nice dining area, you can rent out karaoke and theres a decent beach where you can do a bit of strolling. The airconditioner worked fine and wasnt noisy. you can fit four people in the small room which opens to the infinity pool outside. The downside here is theres no television, it doesnt have a restaurant and the bathroom is communal. Outside the resort theres a well stocked grocery nearby and a few carinderias. You can also freely use their kitchen it has a fridge, microwave oven and a rice cooker.

Checking the pictures in the tidewater resort website. I thought the property though it was beachfront, it gave the impression that theyre hiding the beach hehe. Well to my relief, it wasnt as bad as some blog reviews would paint it.

Lian has sandy beaches but the seabottom here is quite rocky like most of the beaches in calatagan, since a large part of the coastline in this side of batangas is teeming with corals. But unlike the ones in anilao, the beaches in lian and calatagan have decent sandy coastlines but not too swimmable. And its not comparable with boracay or bohol beaches but its good enough for sunworshippers who dont mind the gray-brown quality of the sand in this area. Its close proximity with metro manila makes it a good and cheaper quick fix for beach lovers.

Heres one tip you may find useful. When choosing a resort in the matabungkay area, choose one thats farther away from the rows of popular beach resorts in the area where you will encounter lots of vendors doing their trade. You wouldnt enjoy the place much cause people will always be in your face selling you everything from a necklace, wrist bands, to offers of using their "balsa" which is a flotaing hut anchored on the coralbed where families do their picnics, snorkel, swim etc. The resorts outside baranggay matabungkay specifically in baranggay ligtasin and matuod beach which is much farther away from matabungkay provide a much more tranquil and laidback ambiance for the weary traveller.

And dont forget to mingle with locals, theyre very malambing and their distinct tagalog accents will always put a smile on your face.

Divisoria, a bargain hunter's paradise!

Divisoria is really manila's biggest wetmarket by night and open street market by day, roughly framed by   abad santos avenue and reina regente on the east, tutuban commercial complex on the northside, the recto avenue stretch from asuncion streets all the way to tutuban on its west side and the back streets of asuncion all the way to san nicolas street on the south. In between these streets and major roads of binondo are numerous commercial establishments, big malls,  street markets and residential buildings. this is also home to many of our tsinoy businessmen who live and do business in the area. imagine it to be like a messier and disorganized version of causeway bay or mongkok  in hong kong. 

its easy to get lost here if you dont have a local guide. Stick with the malls in the area if time and security are concerns.

Make sure you know what youre looking for. For textiles and wedding and evening gowns, the best buys are found in the inner stalls or "pasillios" between the streets of tabora and ilaya.

You will always be quoted a higher price if you look like a tourist. You can bring down the price just make sure you are really interested in buying it or you might find yourself caught in some heated verbal exchanges hehe.

People are often surprised by this posh mall, the Lucky Chinatown Mall. It seems misplaced in this part of town where less than 50 meters away is the chaos of divisoria's street vending culture. At LCT mall you can find the usual high end brands and they also have a good selection of local chinese restaurants. On weekends, they have an outdoor streetfood event, and its popular with the locals. There are available transport services between this mall and the other megaworld establishments throughout the city. Check the information counter of LCT for schedules. 

The new divisoria mall recently opened replacing the old one which was gutted by fire years ago. It now has a modern facade, much wider shopping space and its famous food court which offers more variety from authentic homemade chinese cooking to popular fast food names like jollibee and mang inasal and many food kiosks selling pastries, pork buns, shawarma etc.

the public market or the divisoria mall indoor wet market is back at the lower ground floor or the basement where shoppers can buy vegetables, meats, fresh fish etc. It also where small stalls sell native crafts,plastics, toys etc. There is now a transport terminal that may bring you to other parts of the city and the airport. 

when you venture out into the street markets, be discreet and keep all your jewelries, wallets and gadgets in a safe enclosed pocket, bag, or leave it at home. private vehicle is a better option when reaching the place, especially if you plan to do some heavy shopping. leave before 5pm to avoid road congestions in the area. trust umay expert, it can get pretty bad!