Walled City (Intramuros)

Labor day, holiday, worker's day, most important of all my birthday (It's now June, yeah I noticed that too. This almost became a throwback. LOL!). I don't make plans for my birthday at least not like I used to, I go to work just like any regular day except I get paid doubled ;). It has been like this for the past 4 or 5 years.

This year it's a bit different. Two of my friends went to see me after work, complete with cake and candles. We didn't have anything planned, a simple dinner was all we had in mind. We went to starbucks for some frap while googling a resto, we wanted something out of the ordinary, something away from the hustle and bustle of the metro.

It took us quite a while to find the right place, well, blame it on the slooooow data connection. Okay, we chose Intramuros area, not too crowded and perfect for some strolling and sight seeing. Then we realized time is running up, the sun is running up or in this case the sun is about to go down and we wanted to get there where there's still sunlight so we can enjoy the sights and take tons of pictures. It was around 4.30PM by this time, so we didn't waste any more of it and hopped in the car and sped through the streets toward The Walled City.

Thank heaven's for the holiday, no traffic. We got there just in time, there was still a bit of sunshine. So we started to wander, and took snaps.

Made it! Let's start walking...

Let the pictures speak for themselves...

Formerly Father Blanco's Garden

Amazing architecture.

Intramuros is very rich in history, and I don't think I can give justice and give detailed explanation, description and whatnot to provide an illustration of all the places. But I will describe the spots we've been to, the best way I can. Anyway, here are some links that will definitely help:

https://www.google.com.ph/maps/@14.591772,120.974316,548m/data=!3m1!1e3

http://www.paclas.org.ph/article_intramuros.pdf

Now the streets of Intramuros

We passed by The Manila Cathedral Church, which recently re-opened after 2 years of being renovated.

Next, we entered General Luna Street and parked just behind CBCP and started walking. While walking we passed by a lot of ruins and some abandoned buildings. Magnificent ruins I might say, ruined by the many years of wear and tear of the bad weather but somewhat preserved and still standing tall majestically. (Now you can just imagine the awe, to be able to include magnificent and majestic in one sentence. See the pictures)

How I wish the streets of Manila looked like this.

I want my house to look like this. :)

Castle!

It's only been minutes of sheer admiration for the place when it suddenly started to drizzle. So we ran to the nearest shed, a restaurant called Ristorante delle Mitre. I'll talk more of that resto later. From that resto we went just across the street, and entered San Agustin Church, said my prayers and thanks since it was my birthday. Taking of pictures not allowed inside so, we just waited a while inside till the rain stopped.

Ristorante delle Mitre

The rain finally stopped after a few minutes, so we started walking again. This time we were already looking for a place to eat, not much options since it was a holiday so most of the restos are closed.

Still in General Luna St., we passed by Barbara's and checked out the menu. Everything looked good but it's just way out of the budget. So, we took the opportunity to have some snaps taken instead.

Back in the streets again searching for a resto, we've finally reached the end of Gen. Luna Street but, they are all closed. So asked the guardia sibil for some suggestions as to where we can have a decent meal aside from the two restos that we've already been to.

Manong guard!

Patio de Conchita was suggested, this is located in Beaterio Street. We went there, and yep the place is very nice, quaint, a bit dark inside tho, needs more lighting. This resto is more of a foodcourt type, where all the food are displayed and are placed in a chafing dish. We didn't stay long, we looked for another place to eat. But, please don't get me wrong, the place is lovely, just not what were looking for.

For better snaps of Patio de Conchita:

https://www.google.com.ph/maps/place/Patio+de+Conchita/@14.591772,120.974316,2a,90y,90t/data=!3m5!1e2!3m3!1s87901549!2e1!3e10!4m2!3m1!1s0x3397ca17c4631b71:0xaaefa2da98b3d8d2!6m1!1e1


By this time, we've circled the entire Intramuros, we've seen the very nice architectural design of McDonald's but of course we didn't think of dining there. Come on, it's my special day.

Finally, we ran out of options so we went back to Ristorante delle Mitre. From the sound of it, definitely Italian by the looks of it, Spanish Friars. The inside of the restaurant is filled with religious artifacts.

Checked out the menu, and wow! It's a lot to take. Too much going on, a lot of food to choose from.

   


  

But what instantly caught my eye is the Crispy Laing with coconut milk, and we weren't disappointed. Yum!

From L-R top: Veggie pizza. From L-R bottom: Okoy, shrimp pasta, crispy laing with coconut milk.

The serving and the price was just right. The wait time wasn't that long too.

Not exaggerating but every bite, every spoonful of food, the only thing you'll hear from us are "hmmmmm", "sarap", "mmmmm". LOL!

So you can just say we savored every moment of it.

The night is about to end. It's been a loooong day. I've been up as early as 3.30AM but I didn't feel tired or sleepy, not one bit. ;) (Naiimagine kita Maries while saying that. Alam naten na hindi ako antukin. LOL!)

But, before we end the day, time to blow the candle!

Yay! What a birthday!

Time to foot the bill, and yep like I've said the price was just right. P700, not bad. Before going home, I bought some sylvannas for my kiddo, the name of the dessert, Cardinal Tagle. Amazing!

Ready to go home now!

Adios Amigos!

Coffee Re-PUB-lic, In the premier province of the North.

Still in Pangasinan, before hitting the bed, we had a quick stop at this relaxed looking coffee shop. We passed by this earlier in the morning but it was still closed. A coffee shop closed in the morning? I was intrigued.

So after having dinner, we stepped out of the hotel and strolled towards the coffee shop. It only took us about 80 steps, not that I counted but it was only a few feet away.

We took snaps from across the street, at that time of the night there I'm pretty sure we looked suspicious. LOL!

Okay, so we went in. I really liked the ambiance, as if we were in the beach, the walls are decked with bamboo, plants on the sides, picture frames on the wall, it was just a small space but it felt cool and relaxing considering their location. They are situated along the main road which is the busiest street of Mangaldan.

View outside the shop

On to the menu, since we just had dinner we were hoping to have some dessert. Unfortunately they don't have pastries, they have sandwiches tho. But, I just think COFFEE SHOP=pastries. Anyway, we were so full from the meal that we just had so you'd think we would have tea or hot coffee but it was just super hot so we ordered shakes.

I had Toffee Banoffee, I originally wanted Hazel Nut but it wasn't available. Maries had Choco Fudge. The shakes were good, if you are into sweets like I am. My friend thought it was just too sweet for her.

We stayed for a bit, took some snaps and even posed for some pic with the owner. Talked to her for a minute for a little interview.

Ms. Shay, the owner.

The Coffee Republic has been around for 4 years, they open at 4 or 5PM if I remember correctly and closes at 2 or 3AM.


The place is more like a resto-bar, a pub rather than a coffee shop. Considering the lack of pastries which I am crazy about, and the name itself. But don't let that remark disappoint any of you. I still like the place, and would definitely try out the other food next time and will surely update this write-up.

Since we didn't order any food, just to give you an idea of what kind of food they serve here are some pics I grabbed from fellow bloggers.

Clubhouse

Sizzling Tofu Sisig

Till next!


Photo credits to:

Reginald Agsalon - pangasinantour.blogspot.com

EJ Dangla - http://tastylifebits.blogspot.com/2014/04/fly-to-coffee-republic.html

If you feel I have violated you in anyway, you are welcome to let me know and I'll take down the pics grabbed from your blog.

Cheers!

A day in the Premier Province of the North... PANGASINAN!

It's summer! But no, summer's almost over and we haven't done any summer related activity except eat halo-halo! Gone were the days when my friends and I still have time to go to different beaches, now we don't even have time to plan a quick get away. Gotta think fast!

One lazy afternoon, 2 of my friends and I were trying to chill in this scorching hot weather when a bright idea came to mind. A really quick basking in the sun sun sun of San Fabian, Pangasinan! That was the idea. The plan? A limited budget quick getaway. 

A cousin of mine from Canada is visiting their hometown in Pangasinan, since I was going there to pick him up my best friend decided to come along and yep the plan was to have a quick stop in the fine sand beach of Pangasinan.

We were only going to be there overnight so we decided to dedicate the first day to just have an r&r in the beach. And so we did!

Traveled for about 4 hours and we finally made it!

Fine beautiful weather, the heat of the sun is just about right, brown sand is fine but the beach itself was just way too crowded. What to do? Luckily there were boats for rent just in front of the resort, the boat men will take you on a tour of the ocean. Well, there's not much to see in this area so just ride the boat and then maybe go for a  swim in the open sea. That is not an option so we went to a beach which is just a bit far from where we were, still no good, there were jelly fishes swimming.

The Lazy A.. Just before going for a boat ride.

San Fabian...

We have to live up to our title. Selfie capital of the world! Selfie selfie selfie!

The boat men suggested we go to this part of the beach called Sobol. And so we did and boy were we happy. This part of the beach looks like a pool on the beach it has like an opening coming in from the open sea and in there the water is clear and just a few feet deep. Since it was super hot by that time, it was as if we were in a jacuzzi. So we stayed there for a few minutes, we would've brought lunch if we knew the place would be this nice, peace and quiet. Just what we needed.

This pool only appears during low tide and disappears during high tide...

Sobol beach

Okay, basking in the sun. Check! Now it's time for lunch. We went back to the Lazy A Resort where we had to pay a fee of P100, which was not at all bad. You can use the pool and other amenities with the entrance fee. For lunch we ordered some food of course. We had crispy calamari from the resort and crabs from the locals. Problem solved!

Rested for a bit, then we enjoyed the pool for some afternoon swim. By this time, it suddenly became cloudy with signs of heavy rain about to fall. And yup, it started to rain and I mean heavy, heavy rain! We stayed in the pool for a few more minutes, we were hoping to go back to the beach but the weather just got really bad. Done with the pool, showered and ordered some halo-halo while waiting for the rain to stop.

From bright and sunny to dark and gloomy.

After about an hour or two of non-stop heavy rain it finally came to a halt. Thank God!

Played a bit by the sunset...

Went back to the hotel, we stayed at Hotel Trish in Mangaldan. It's a new hotel, very nice, comfy, clean and all the staff are friendly. So we left our things and went to my cousin's house for some seafood overload dinner. Which I cannot put in words how, how, how delicious the food were. Simple yet scrumptious.

What we had, the famous Dagupan boneless bangus not in pic.

It was around 8:00 PM, everyone sleeps early in the province, this is a known fact. So we went back to the hotel, then poof!

A new day has dawn, we had breakfast at the hotel. I had Bangsilog while Maries had Tapsilog. I forgot to take a snap. Darn it! Anyway, the food tasted yummy as it looked.

We still had a few hours before check out so we went to Mangaldan market, rode their most common mode of transpo the pedicab. At the market we bought the famous puto Calasiao, green mangoes, bagoong alamang, bagoong isda and some vegetables. Also went to Romana's to buy some peanut brittle and malunggay polvoron.

Okay, so we checked out, had lunch at my cousin's house then back on the road again. But before we hit the highway, we just had to say a little prayer in Manaoag church. Lit candles and had a bit of a tour in their museum.

On the way to Manila, the ac suddenly broke down and it was scorching hot outside. At least the sound trip helped a little, but sun burnt, sweaty and all made us stop at Starbucks in Hacienda Luisita to chill for a bit. Then back on the road again.

The trip was well worth it, short but definitely sweet, better to have some sun and tan on the beach than none. 

Till our next trip!

P.S.

Cost of the trip? Below are the details:

If you take the bus, take Dagupan bus in Cubao. Get off at Mangaldan, if you see the second BDO near the Sto. Tomas Church, Hotel Trish is right behind BDO.

Bus - P340 (one way)

Car - P3000 back and forth, this is okay too if you are with a group of friends.

Hotel - P1,100 for 2 persons

Pocket money - P3000 (depends on how you spend)

San Fabian has tons of resort in the beach front, they have affordable rooms that cost from P1,000 up.