Every year we always have travel plans for the family. We plan for
local trips and even overseas trips -- but we always find it best to just visit
our family house in the province.
We have tried to find our nook in different places, but there is
nothing compared to the comfort of our own home – where the activities are
endless. In each of our visit, there is always something new for us to enjoy,
which is added to our list of heartwarming family memories.
I. The Travel
We always travel at night or at dawn -- for this trip we are
considering the option of traveling at night to be able to run for the morning
sunshine at the beach.
II. The Beach
It
has always been a tradition to wake up at 5:00 AM which is already considered a
late call when you are in the province -- the normal wake up time is around
3:00 AM. This is to give room to the early household chores as a part of the
rural life.
For this vacation, we are preparing a good breakfast by the beach
-- when the clock strikes at 5:00 AM we will just take a quick ride to the
beach to catch the morning sunshine.
Yummy Breakfast
Upon arrival, the breezy cool wind by the beach started to allure
us for a good morning swim. It is definite to be early at the beach, not
only to be on the first line when it comes to getting the best catch, but also
to get the most of the morning sunshine and sea breeze. It has always been a
belief that the morning breeze keeps the lungs strong -- so we always make it
to a point to be early for that priceless benefit.
The Inviting Morning
Breeze
What is even more exciting is the fresh market by the beach. One
of our agenda is to wait for the fresh catch from the local fishermen and cook
it up for lunch. We usually have “kilawin” or the traditional family recipe of
cooking it with salt and “kalamansi” (a local sour fruit). For this vacation,
we are unable to grab some of the fresh catch as it has already been pre-sold
by the fishermen. As an alternative we bought some fresh oysters for our
favorite comfort food --kilawin.
The Fresh Catch Recipe:
Kilawing Talaba
Waiting for the daily catch by the shore is like the scenery in
the stock market. There are a lot of bystanders waiting for it as it is the
best deal with the best quality.
Fresh Catch!
Fishing by the Beach
Bird Watching by the
Beach
After the early morning swim and escapade by the beach, we headed
back home for lunch. We also enjoyed the house farm. As a part of the
provincial life we fed the chickens and picked some vegetables in the home
garden.
The House Farm: Chicken
for eggs, garden with bitter gourd, squash,
cocoa and orchids
Since
house chores start at 3:00 AM, life is already in lay back mode by 10:00 AM.
After lunch we doze off for a 3 hour nap with the natural breeze in the area.
III. A visit to Manaog Church
Living the rural life for a day is the first in our list, this is
for us to regain energy from the 4-5 hour travel from Manila to
Pangasinan. Usually this falls on a Saturday so the next day starts with
a family mass. We usually visit the miraculous Our Lady of Manaoag. The place
is always visited by tourist and also by those who have special prayers.
Since I was a kid, our family has been frequent visitors of the
place. Also, when I started to form my own views on faith, my belief of the
miraculous place has been maintained.
Like the usual, we woke up as early as 4:00 AM. Aside from
breakfast, we boiled some water for the early morning bath. Temperature ranges
from 10'C to 15'C and there is no hot shower installed in the bathrooms so we
really need to heat up the water to subside the almost freezing temperature.
We left the house around 5:15 AM and we arrived around 6:00 AM –
just in time for the 6:00 AM mass. Just before entering the area there are a
lot of sellers and at times it is heartbreaking to say "no" as they
really do appeal to your emotions as a part of their marketing strategy. If you
are traveling on a budget and plans on buying some souvenirs, there are
available stores inside the church which can give you the time to think, choose,
and buy some stuff without getting influence by your emotions.
The Manaoag Church
For us, we visited the place to pray for strength, good health and
also to give gratitude to all the guidance and blessings from God. After mass,
we go to the candle area to pray solemnly for our personal intentions. My
daughter always enjoy the floating candle area – it is where kids are usually
found praying for their school work, good health, some toys and other childlike
wishes.
Usually there is a long line of people who would like to get near the
statue of our Lady of Manaog – but the speed of the line is quick and everybody
gets the chance to have a moment for their prayers. There is also a Garden of
Faith to visit within the church vicinity; it is where we go to take pictures
for souvenirs.
The Bridge in the
Rosary Garden
Taking a moment for some
souvenir pictures
After visiting Our Lady of Manaoag we had pasalubong shopping
before we visited some of our relatives. Usually, we drop by Mangaldan to get
some “tapang kalabaw” and “pancit”. Alternatively, if we cannot find any
parking spaces in the area we opt to just get some fresh oysters by the highway
in Dagupan. We usually cook it as kilawing talaba for our night drinking
session or adobong talaba to take it with us once vacation is over.
IV. Food Trip in
Binmaley, Pangasinan
Our next stop is my childhood home (Manat, Pangasinan). When I was
a kid I lived with my Aunts. They took care of me while my parents earn a
living. The best about the place -- the house is located in the middle of
fishponds, it is like a total vacation nook for those who are looking for
solitude. On the way to the house you will see fishes and crabs just hanging
around the area. It is a good place to play before we devour some food for
lunch.
For this vacation, we went to a new restaurant by the
fishpond in Lomboy, Binmaley (Rudy-Jing
Restaurant). It is just a few minutes away from our house. They serve local
dishes which are common to those who are living in the area – but heavenly to
tourists who wanted to get to know the place thru the common local dishes.
The place was aligned with restaurants selling almost the same
food menu, so we went to the area where most people are dining in for lunch.
Luckily, when we got to the place there are still available nipa huts with a
good view. Also, parking space was not a problem -- it was a no hassle lunch
date.
When we got in to order some food there were a lot of varieties to
choose from, they have the local pinakbet, “labong”, bittergourd or ampalaya
and also chopsuey for conventional customers. Seafood was indeed plenty, they
have local oysters which are really fresh and voluptuous – cooked in adobo
style. They also have grilled to perfection Dagupan bangus and hito.
Extra-large red crabs that can definitely define the parallel between dining
pleasure and high blood pressure. On top of that, they have the local
condiments like bagoong na isda and alamang, a perfect accompaniment for
“inihaw” dishes.
Yummy Appertizers: Ensaladang
Arorozep, Gulay na Labong, Baggong Isada at Alamang, Kilawing Bangus at Adobong
Talaba
Inihaw na Hito at
Bangus
Inihaw na Liempo
Happy Lunch at Lomboy,
Binmaley
V. Pasalubong Shopping in Dagupan City and Calasiao
We had planned to visit Labrador, my grandmother's hometown to
experience some mountain climbing by the sea, but we ran out of time for we
only have until Sunday for our escapades. So instead, we went to Dagupan early
Monday morning for the seafood market. You will definitely find a lot of
boneless bangus which is best for breakfast. For us, we will shop for the fresh
ones and have it deboned for variety of dishes. Prices are usually determined
by the market demand and the current local weather. At that time, we bought
about 15 kilos for less than 1000.00 pesos. Shrimps were also plenty and cheap
at that time so we bought 3 kilos of white shrimps for only 500.00 pesos. There
are varieties of seafood to choose from and it is absolutely fresh.
Aside from that, we also bought some Calasiao puto (steamed rice
cakes) and sumang ibos, before we head back to the house. All sorts of dried
fish are also available, we bought “tuyo” and “pingka” to compliment the
homemade hot chocolate from Daddy and Mommy's home garden.
Pasalubong Goodies: Bangus, Shrimp and Tuyo and Calasiao Puto
After
the early market trip we had all our stuff packed and we head back to Manila.
We bought with us adobong talaba, grilled bangus and rice packed in banana leaves
for our dinner. We usually eat in one of the gasoline stations in Tarlac where
small huts are available for travelers.
We
had planned to buy some bamboo furniture and stuff in San Carlos, Pangasinan
but we barely have enough space in the car. So again, we had planned to have it
done on our next trip –- as I have said, the experience and escapade is
endless, we will again have something new on our next visit. :)
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