All the Water Forms in Bolinao, Pangasinan Philippines (2019)
Are you in the Philippines, particularly its center Manila, and you do want some R&R but have limited time, budget, distance, and energy to spare? Also, are you feeling all the blues and you just want to soak it all in the sea (or by the beach, at least), but you’ve also seen this vlog with a gorgeous waterfall that really got you crave for a cliff-jump (because you’re one heck of an adventure soul), but then suddenly you just want to enjoy a calming river cruise while chowing on a big plate of seafood because you’ve realized you’re not into swimming in the rain at a beach with your best-kept swimwear? Then, I’ve got a place for you. I now sound like advertising it, but no, I’m not paid to do so. I just had the same questions to myself some weeks ago, with the answer YES to all of those questions. And if you feel a YES, too, then you’re at the right reading place.
Sea. Falls. River. If you are a water junkie (not sure if there’s such a term, and argh, such a hippie word), Bolinao, Pangasinan might be the one you should be heading to right now. Imagine those three bodies of water in just one town? Sure, other places have them, too, but not in a very close distance to each other, especially being close to Manila. Well, a 45-minute plane ride to some other provinces is technically, 45 minutes only, but we know the entire travel (and hassle, plus plane jitters) is not just 45 minutes.
So, Bolinao is a six-hour bus trip from Manila ( Victory Liner or Five Star Bus; the latter having more schedules). You can basically sleep through your journey if you want to miss the provincial scenery. Upon arriving, a tricycle ride (sorry, no taxi/Grab/Uber or what-have-you here) can take you to your resort. You may want to pay a visit first, though, to one of the oldest churches a few walks away from the terminal and eat in one of the eateries at the back of the church if you fancy a hot (really tasty) bulalo (beef soup?). Then, voila. you can now sleep at your resort! Kidding. Of course, no time to waste, start exploring!
You may ask the trike driver to have a quick sidetrip to the Patar Lighthouse on your way to your resort or when you’re heading to Patar Beach. The area and structure doesn’t look old and the facade is cleanly maintained.
So, the first water form– the beach. Patar Beach doesn’t boast of a fine white sand beach or an amazingly blue-green sea, but the colors the sunset brings is magnificent. You can just sit on the sand and wait till dusk swallows all the reasons why you’re here in the first place…if you’re in the emo mood.
The morning after, you should be more refreshed and energy-packed because you will really need some energy to climb up and down some trails to your next water destination: falls. But no worries, it’s just a five-minute trek from where the trike is parked. And when you finally see them, yes them, as there is a set of three nearby falls to swim your heart out or cliff-jump if you really must.
Once you get all the feels now from that waterfall love, you may want to eat. Eat seafood. And eat the best calamares and addicting chicharong shrimp and fat-in-belly-fat bangus/milkfish, and oh, crabs. Where? Just by a river. Your third body of water. On a floating resto or a cruise… while a live acoustic singer is patronizing your senti feels doing When You Say Nothing At All (again, if you’re in the emo mood). Sungayan Grill is the name of the place, by the way.
Now, if you still crave for some water after all that and a relaxing swim to end the day before you head back to the metro, you can book a semi-budget bed-and-breakfast accommodation at Casa Almarenzo. The catch? Infinity pool. Now you decide.
All in all, Bolinao is truly a smart weekend trip for anyone, whether Manila-based or not. Aside from those bodies of water I mentioned, there are other worthwhile places to see and activities to do here, like caves and coral reef sanctuaries. You can even head to the nearby town of Hundred Islands if you have a little more than a weekend to spare.
For some video about Bolinao, basically a summary of this post but live, you may want to watch this:
You’re welcome. And feel free to get back to me when you get there. 🙂
Malaysia 2013: Pangkor Island
For me, traveling in a foreign country is not complete without a trip to one of its beaches. Last year, I had the chance to see Pattaya in Thailand. See, because I didn’t swim. It was a refreshing experience, nonetheless. Researching about Malaysia’s beaches during the planning stage of our tour this year, I was overwhelmed with the many mesmerizing ones I discovered. One that I was trying to include in our trip was Langkawi, but it was like a day of travel by land from Kuala Lumpur, and considering our very limited time, it would just eat up our time in this country. The nearest to KL is Pangkor, and I can say, no matter how short our time there was, being in this serene island is the best part of our Malaysia experience. Want some proof? Let me just get visual one more time.
Malay and Tagalog have many similar words. When I saw “Selamat,” I thought it meant “Thank you” being similar to our own “Salamat.” In Malay, it meant “Welcome” instead. And very welcomed, we were.
We stayed at Nipah Bay Villa. The streets had this very laid-back feel despite the obvious commercialism in the area.
Of course, a tour won’t be complete without some of these items. We already bought a lot of souvenirs in the city, and we somehow regretted it because the items here were way cheaper.
We had one of this fried for our dinner while listening to some local troubadour. MR28 or PHP380. A bit costly for us, but the cheapest in the bunch.
After our breakfast-slash-lunch-slash-snack when we arrived at the island at around 3PM, we did a little island hopping. For MR15 or PHP200 per person, we were taken to some interesting spots. We had our swimming and picture-taking time in Coral Island. Thanks to our nice boat guy who helped us climb and go down the steep and slippery sea boulders. He also tried teaching us how to snorkel, but I was a little child too scared to swallow some sea water.
See the crocodile?
How about the turtle? The two above are the same rock or boulder. Its front and back sides.
Some fish feeding.
Passing by some scenic views.
My favorite shot.
I wonder how a tree like this can grow on sand.
At dusk, the waves got a little stronger. My friend realized later on that her slippers she left somewhere were already gone.
A friendly hornbill.
Best in rope climbing and swinging.
The child in us.
I thank these two for being the wings in my travel. And we vowed that we would “fly” some more.
travel it home.
one, or make that two… two of of the boons of living in the city are going to your home province and traveling far doing so. in my case, doing both takes eight hours of butt-burning, leg-cramping, and body-freezing sit-down inside a bus. but i’m not really complaining. i prefer the bus actually. i can say that that is the third advantage of living in the city. a trip by bus is a “vacation” in itself. or more like, a retreat. i get to be literally speechless (except when some fellow dares to chit-chat with me and if he or she gets carried away, will narrate his/her entire life story, or when i’m luckier, meet someone who can make my trip “sweet”; but that’s a different story and not for this time). i don’t put earphones to deafen myself with my usual music, but instead, embrace those played on the bus (michael learns to rock, air supply, hotel california, and freddie aguilar- a local artist, a great one- and they are on the repeat, too; music with lyrics i have come to memorize because of my trips like these). and i get to do a lot of self-evaluation, which is always part of my journey home.
my trip last weekend beat my record last year of having only two visits to the province. unfortunately, the approaching christmas holiday is not really a holiday for my work, so the trip was also our pre-christmas celebration. good thing i do not have any more homesickness issues (but there’s always a serious reason every time i come home, and family better not know each; being with them overcomes whatever “reason” it is). my family is still always excited though to learn that i’m coming with the hope that i finally bring a guy along. they never quit with that. and of course, they’re excited for my pasalubong (any food or items brought home for the people who are awaiting the arrival; in our place, a box of biscuits is an infamous pasalubong).
being away for quite a long time makes me appreciate home more. fresh breeze. colder temperature. the greeneries. old reading materials, old photos, and old writings. mama’s food. and the best thing, family, which includes a set of its own– the bickering, the when-are-you-having-your-own-family interrogations, the stories that were told before and told again, but somehow still sound new, nanay’s (grandma) amazing strength being 90+, and just the mere presence of each other.
suddenly, things that were ordinary or were of less value before become special and are seen with a different perspective. i can say that some of the things i saw touring other places are also available in our own place, in our own backyard, and even inside our house. i don’t renounce going on trips to other places because that’s a different experience altogether and a different set of learnings. but traveling home the weekend that passed opened my eyes to things i didn’t give close attention to during the days that i was living here.
i am no photographer, and photos below might just be plain and simple. but they made me happy. and that’s the simple reason why i came home.
first morning of december. by the sea.
strolling. and church (been a while).
no other pictures of the good food i enjoyed. here are random ones though.
so, here’s what i think should be my subject if ever i pursue being a photo hobbyist. with a more legit and expensive (cough, cough) camera. (credits to my cousin Ling’s caring hands in growing such lovely flowers.)
and of course, my homies.
home? check. now, i’m all set for the world… or maybe, just some other places around here. :p
and thanks to you who have just spared me with precious time bearing with my “clicks” viewing all of them (i know, they might be too many already, but i couldn’t help posting all). would love to get a peek of your own “home,” too, or of any of your travels (better if with the sea). can’t wait. 🙂
in the pink of 
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