Baler, Aurora with the Beau

Taken from my journal:

June 23-24, 2018 – Saturday and Sunday

My boyfriend and I spent the weekends at Baler, Aurora. It was supposed to be at Cagbalete but our TL dropped the bomb last Wednesday announcing the transfer of the team building to Baler due to a possible bad weather, thus from #Cagbalete to #CagBalerTeh

Tourists enjoying a dip in the cold waters of the Mother Falls in Brgy San Luis, Aurora

The trip started with an apprehension along Katipunan Avenue (after Miriam and Ateneo) in the Anti-Colorum drive of the newly-created I-ACT. Our van was accused of violating the Anti-Colorum Law: private vehicle transporting people in exchange of compensation (gas). Our trip was delayed by 5 hours. TL and his wife managed to book a 2^nd van and we’re back on the road by 12:30 pm.

We reached Baler almost 6:00 PM. Our accommodation is near a cemetery in Barangay Buhangin, Baler besides the Tapsi Ispat (a 24-hour tapsihan). It’s a row house with 2 air-conditioned bedrooms. Our room has 2 double-decker and a mattress on the floor.

Our supposed lunch became lunch and dinner combination – chicken and pork adobo combined with sinigang and grilled pork liempo. After dinner, we were able to sneak into Sabang Beach (which is about 15-20 mins walk from our accommodation). Tricycle fare is at P15 per person.

Sabang Beach is unsafe for night swimming due to the absence of any source of light (other than the moon). It also rained Saturday evening which forced us to return to the house and have drinking sessions with the coworkers. A game of truth and dare made the drinking session a bit more fun. I ended up eating raw egg on a dare. We consumed 3 bottles of El Hombre Tequila, pakwan, lemonades, Jelly Ace and liempo. The drinking session ended by around 3 AM.

The next morning, my boyfriend woke me up by 6 AM and we went back to Sabang beach for a stroll along its long coastline and a dip in the warm water of the Pacific. This is definitely not a surfing season since the waves were few and low.

By 9:30 AM, we went to the Mother Falls in Brgy San Luis, Aurora. From the parking lot, it’s a 1.4 m trek (around 30-40 minutes’ walk). It’s a pleasant trek – finding trees with names on it (common and scientific), vendors selling Tupig (grilled suman) at the start of the trail, and crystal-clear water flowing from the falls. Upon reaching the falls, it’s majestic. The water is ice-cold and the strong water and wind makes it feel like a storm is behind you. A lot of other visitors are also enjoying the dip in the water and the sight.

By 12:30 we’re back at the house for lunch (boyfriend and I tried the food at Tapsi and it’s good – a bit salty, but good). Some of us went back to Sabang beach for an afternoon dip and good thing the sun is not shining with its full power. It’s a bit cloudy and the waters are still moderately warm. By 3:00 PM, we left Baler for Manila passing by the Millennium Balete Tree for some souvenir, suman, coffee peanuts and appreciation of nature. The giant Balete tree is a sight to behold – it’s truly towering and gives the impression of a tree’s power of longevity and permanence.

By 10:00 PM we’re back at Tera Tower, Bridgetowne. We said our good nights to our fellow teammates and new found friends and went home. The trip is “bitin” due to long travel time and being an overnight trip, but swimming in the cold water of the Mother Falls with the boyfriend is worth it.

Will post more pictures of our Mother Falls trek soon.

Bridge leading to Sabang Beach

Sabang Beach, Baler

Tapsi Ispat besides our accomodation

It says Mayor. One of the residents of the nearby cemetery.

Our accomodation is in Barangay Buhangin, Baler.

The parking lot… before going to the Mother Falls.

Tupig!

I commend the Municipal Tourism Board of San Luis, Aurora for maintaining the Mother Falls nature reserve. Trully, no foods allowed at the falls.

Facilities available before trekking to the Mother Falls.

Common and scientific names of tress

My coworkers from the back office account we have at Tera Tower

A zipline along the trail.

It’s wonderful to find a stick insect near the falls. The flora and fauna here is amazing.

Our Tour Guide Jean (or Gin?) is very helpful and informative. I hope she gets recognition for the tourism office for making our trek hassle free.

The Mother Falls! Will post more pics of our trek soon.

BuzzNet Tags: Cagbalete,Baler,Aurora,The Beau,Outing

Anawangin Cove with the Beau

I first heard about Anawangin Cove a few years ago. It’s one of the most popular travel destinations for team buildings, along with Calaguas, Cagbalete, etc. Based on stories from people who went there, Anawangin seems like a Paradise – no electricity and just the beach and the forest.

A few weeks ago, I finally able to visit Anawangin Cove to see it for myself. It’s not as beautiful as I imagined from stories I’ve heard before but it’s still a nice place to visit. So from Tera Tower in Bridgetowne, Quezon City, we travelled like 4 hours to reach Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo. That’s our only stop-over on the way to Anawangin. From Subic, we travelled about an hour more to the beach resorts in Barangay Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales. We had a boat waiting for us that took us to Anawangin Cover in about 20 minutes.

The onset of the rainy season was just announced by PAG-ASA when we went to Anawangin. Guess what… our boat has to stop in the middle of the sea because there’s heavy rain. How cool is that? I actually felt sorry for my Xiaomi smartphone because it was inside my pocket – and we all got wet.

The other funny side to our trip to Anawangin is the fact that it’s the first time my beau and I went out-of-town. Spending a wet, raining moment in an open sea with the beau is definitely worth remembering. We arrived at Anawangin Cove still safe and dripping from the sea and rain water. There were about 3 resorts in Anawangin and we stayed in the one that has concrete and air-conditioned cottage. There were about 4 or 5 of these underneath the forest, which to my knowledge are a variety of pine trees.

I was a bit shocked to find a man-made swimming pool inside the forest. I guess it’s just a new feature. There were tents everywhere. We probably settled in around 4PM (after we left Manila by 8am) and begun cooking our supper. The electricity are only available from 6pm to 6am and it’s coming from generators inside a warehouse-looking structure made of GI sheets. The sound of the generators competed with the sound of the crickets all night. Also, it rained most of the night. We had the air-conditioned room with kitchen and dining space as well as a small bahay-kubo made of bamboo (that you normally would see in lawns in Manila). Then we have about 3 tents. After dinner, we had night swimming at the beach and it was absolutely fabulous to look at the direction of the sea in pitch black.

The next morning, we did some 20-30 minute hike to a nearby “burol” and got to take a lot of pictures. This is also were the famous shot of Anawangin Cove was taken (when the sand was whiter, less cottages and lots of green trees). We had breakfast, swim a bit more, and then prepare to return to Manila via Pundaquit. The waves were a bit… scary but we manage to go back to Pundaquit dry. I’m really not good at detailed story-telling but I’ll let the pictures complement the story. I’m very happy to spend overnight with my beau underneath the forest of Anawangin Cove.

BuzzNet Tags: The Beau,Anawangin Cove,Team Building