Day 1
Compared to our first long travel, it only took us six hours of journey (including about 2 hours of breaks and eating time) from our dear Bulacan home to Bolinao, Pangasinan. My expert-driver Papa drove it all the way while my nephew, Rej's yaya, Kuya and I slept and got bored of the expressway and the display of trees and landmarks. Ma's the navigator, adding new notes to her third Bolinao trip.
We ate at Hacienda Luisita Max's where Rej vomited and charmed the servers with his attempt to imitate Piolo Pascual. If you're a real avid reader, you should have seen in my previous blog another Piolo presence and you must be thinking that my family's one Piolo fanatics familia. Que horror! No No No!
We arrived at Puerto del Sol Bolinao at about 4pm. It was our second time there and having ma-PR parents persuaded the management to give the great beggars a 10% discount. They were fully booked even if we reserved there a week before and so we stayed at the casitas instead at the mansion. Nonetheless, the place was still nice and worth the price. Gazing outside our room are the wonderful but "unswimmable" beach, the wild angry waves spanking the breakwaters and the Pangasinense plucking the seaweeds and catching the soon-to-be-dilis.
For our first day, we just swam at the swimming pool since it was late to tour around Bolinao. The pool's small but their amazing management always ensures its cleanliness. [Am I paid to advertise this resort???] Rej's a coward at first, always saying with his Visayan accent that the 2-feet children's pool is actually 30 feet. Hah! Pa had his massage while I, through scuba diving imitation without the scuba, awakened my nose's senses having been almsot killed by my rhinitis attack.
Seeing the sun set at the beach is a metaphor. The sea eats the sun and the sun melts with the clouds. "Life is absurd. Deal with it!" And I am just so corny.
After having a hot and relaxing jazzuci jacuzzi [which is better now than before], we ate a delicious dinner outside our room, along the beach-- kare-kare, crispy pata, prawns, salmon, siningang na hipon, squid, tilapia. We occupied two rooms. Kuya shared the double bed with Rej while I selfishly slept with my pillows. Inday had an extra bed while Ma and Pa were tricked with the supposedly king sized bed that turned out to be smaller than a queen-sized bed. They must have slept a sweet sleep.
Day 2
For our Day 2, we ate our free breakfast then headed to the Bolinao Waterfalls. It took us two hours from the resort to the waterfalls with the help of our proud Igorot tour guide Jeremiah. One of my plans was to jump off the waterfalls but the thought of hitting rocks frightened me. The clear water, unpredictable places of rocks, the splashing sound of the showers and the dances of the red dragonflies and colorful butterflies make one be consumed with the swallowing enormity of nature. I bruised my left knee with a big rock in the middle of the 20 feet swamp. The feeling of the hard tapping of water to one’s back is an overwhelming experience. It felt like water coming out of a cold shower powered by a strong air pressure.
After that, we ate at Sundowners along the pier. We sang at the videoke while waiting for our food. Pa, as usual, perfected his only known song—Frank Sinatra’s My Way. I sang Beauty and Madness, whaa! Someday, I’m gonna buy that big videoke machine. Food was delicious especially the fresh seafoods. The price wasn’t cheap. We ate buttered prawns, sweet and sour lapu-lapu, Tom Yang [? What the heck is it called] soup, inihaw na pusit, spicy pusit and chop suey. Yummy!
We went to the said-to-be oldest church in the Philippines- the Bolinao Church. The guide told us that the first mass was actually held there and not at the popular Limasawa Church. I don’t know if it’s true. Pa bought some fruits while the rest of us prayed and took some pictures. We headed back to our rooms and rested for awhile. After an hour, we went to the lighthouse and our dream of going up the lighthouse wasn’t granted. The Bolinaoan said that they do not allow people to go there because of the ground caused by the solar power.
Afterwards, we went to White Beach in Patar (which I consider to be the best beach in Luzon and third to the best beach in the Philippines). It is a public beach yet its visitors luckily have not yet spoiled it. Beautiful, quiet and peaceful. We weren’t able to take pictures for we had a good time swimming. If you insist on seeing our previous jump poses at the wonderful place, see my previous dead blog. [I am just so proud of that place!] Rej called it the Blue Beach. He slept at his airplane while I fought the imaginary wild waves.
Of course we spoiled again Pa’s Expedition with our wet and sandy bodies. We looked for lots for sale while Pa wasn’t convinced to buy one (being one Punta Fuego fanatic). Ma dreamt of building our own house for rent but maybe we just have to play the lottery to buy them all. Hah!
People from Bolinao are really nice. They don’t overcharge you and almost everybody smiles at their visitors. Hindi pa kase urbanized! Sometimes I wish to live a similar simple life that they are living.
We saw their mayor’s rest house [and I pictured it ala paparazzi] and compared to most of the houses, the mayor looks like the only one living abundantly. The guide said that the mayor had some contacts with the Japanese in retrieving their buried gold. Why am I blogging the Yamashita’s treasure gossip! Lagot!
Dinner was delicious as usual. We had calamares, blackened blue marlin, tenderloin tips, giant prawns, meat platter and meat spareribs. Unforgettable even if it was served an hour after ordering.
Day 3
It was our last day so we woke up early and had a stroll at the beach. I swam the whole morning and had a jazzuci Jacuzzi. Pa was enthralled when a kid told him that my brother looked like his brother.
That was the end of our beautiful trip. I’m looking forward to another trip to Bolinao. I haven’t gone to the Enchanted Caves, the U.P. Marine Institute and the Santiago Island (where the Haribon Foundation successfully taught the Bolinaoans).
Ciao! I just can't go too detailed for one must see the nature "face-to-face" to experience it. Danasin mo beybe!
If you are a Filipino, before going to the Bondi Beach or other proclaimed "Aaah-causing places," be sure to explore first your country. Who else will find the beauty of this country? Walang ganyan sa States!
