arabela

arabela cafe came highly recommended as the place to dine in liliw by tahanan ni aling meding's helpful and friendly desk clerks. so what are we to do, but to take their word for it?

the interior of arabela is a delightful sight to behold upon entering. lovely paintings and vintage photos decorate the walls, kitschy items adorn the tables and ice cream counter (you just gotta love the cute stuffed gingerbread doll topper and the carousel!). sorry no photos of them because at this point, we are more interested in the eats that we're going to... well, eat. ;p 

it was love at first bite.

seafood pasta

cute decor. just gotta love that gumball bottle topped with the stuffed snowman. :)

pasta pancetta. pasta with just enough pancetta to fill the palate, and parmesan that doesn't overwhelm the overall flavour. basil gives it a cool contrast to the light saltiness of the dish.

green salad with pecan crusted chicken served with caesar dressing

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four-cheese pizza. nice thin crust pizza with just the right crunch to it. i like cheese, but sometimes it can be overwhelming so i put some hot sauce. arabela's hot sauce (the one pictured with the snowman) has a hint of lime. dee-lish!

the prices are very affordable; they range from 100 to 250 at most. the pasta is good for at least 2 people, and the salad good for 4.

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arabela
503 rizal st. liliw, laguna
proprietors: bobby and tonet camello
tel. nos: (049) 5632495 / (049) 5730692
closed on mondays except holidays

southern comfort: the viaje del sol experience

this post kicks off the series of the awesome road trip down south. 

whenever i think of laguna, the hot springs (los baños and pansol), jose rizal's house (calamba), uplb and mount makiling immediately come to mind. i've been to these places many times before, so i felt like there's nowhere else to visit in laguna that's exciting. i mean, yes, there's also paete, the lakes of san pablo, and liliw which i haven't visited yet, but aside from those... um, laguna? honestly i hardly consider going there an "official" out-of-town trip due to its very close proximity to metro manila, and the only thing there that gets me excited is a visit to the dairy at uplb where they sell carabao's milk (i LOVE the chocolate flavor) and kesong puti (fresh white cheese). hoh-kay, before throwing me in the boiling mud pits of mount makiling, please do read on. :)

that kind of ho-hum thinking changed drastically when some friends and i recently went on a road trip to san pablo city with side trips to liliw and tiaong, quezon. little did i know that it was going to be one big culture and food tour which i would be very proud to recommend to everyone. it is just the beginning of this series, but i'll say this right away: near, far, wherever you are... visit laguna!!! 

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we arrived at san pablo city 4 1/2 hours earlier than the designated check-in time at our hotel (2pm) and hotel policy being hotel policy, we opted to visit liliw first, a 40-minute drive from san pablo. on the way to liliw though we passed by the underground cemetery in nagcarlan so a short visit there is in order.

the nagcarlan underground cemetery was built by franciscan missionaries in 1845, and in 1896 the rebels of the revolution against the spaniards used this for their meetings. in 1973 the underground cemetery was declared a historical landmark. burials in this cemetery continued up until 1981. 

the gate to the underground cemetery. at the dead smack center of this photo is a small chapel where visitors sign their names on the logbook. the visitors are also given a short, interesting history lesson of the place.  

down once more to the dungeon... err, i mean to the underground cemetery.

just some of the niches above ground. they're very similar to that of paco park in manila.

the underground cemetery is really quite a small place, so the visit was a short one. based on photos i've seen of friends who have been there before, i thought it was big. it turns out that thirty minutes is a long enough visit unless you decide to have lots of photo ops. by the way, this last photo shows just a very tiny sliver of the grounds, but i can assure you with conviction that the whole place is very well-kept. :D

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everyone knows that marikina equals good quality footwear. but in laguna there is a town that is also synonymous to shoes, and that is liliw. liliw is a quaint town that is a shoe maven's haven; it has a whole street dedicated to all kinds of footwear, and one will go gaga over the different designs and colors. yours truly didn't buy a pair though. too lazy. heheh. 

just some of the numerous shoe stores. 

shoes, sandals, espadrilles, etc, etc.

bags!!! and of course slippers and sandals. 

it was a nice surprise to see that old houses still abound in liliw, which reminded me of taal town in batangas where a lot of the bahay-na-bato still stands proud and graceful. while some houses are solely for family use, a lot of the businesses in others are conducted on the ground floor of the house; the proprietors live on the second floor.

i call this the sans rival house. this is in front of arabela, the cafe where we had lunch. 

a beautifully maintained house. 

if only we had more time i would make all of us walk around town checking out more of the beautiful old houses. bwahahaha~!

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oh. here's a very useful tip when going on a road trip: if you are riding a car and you and your companions are not sure how to get to your destination, it is always best to ask the locals. don't be too proud to ask for directions shy. compared to most city folks, people in the provinces are generally friendlier and more helpful especially when giving directions to hapless travelers. amazingly, even if majority of the directions went like "derecho lang kayo" (just go straight) and "tapos kanan sa x na kanto" (then turn right at the x corner), we got to all our destinations with very little problem.

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thanks L for letting me use your photos (paco park-like niches, shoes and bags photos)

next up: our lodging, and a gastronomic tour of the south. what are they? stay tuned. ;)

mt. pinatubo adventure pt. 1

it's adventure time once again, folks. and this time, it's on to mt. pinatubo for yours truly along with a bunch of friends last 21 november.

let me set the mood for adventure with this couple of videos i took while on the 4x4 ride to the drop-off point. with all the excitement packed in these videos (which is prolly the understatement of the century), i'm sure you'll feel like you're with us. lol.

i'm not that much of a tour guide in the vids, so lemme share a few facts about this trip first. the 4x4 ride we had takes about one hour to the jump-off point via skyway. this is the new route which takes us on a longer ride on the 4x4 and cuts the trek to the crater by an hour and a half (30 minutes na lang), depending on the person's speed. but i'm getting ahead of myself. longer write-up on this coming soon. for now, just click play and enjoy!

word to the wise: better turn down the volume first. ;p

can you still handle it? then hit play! :D

coming soon: another vid and lotsa pics. ;-)

subic road trip pt. 2

13 june 2009

the road trip back to manila was just as adventurous as it was the previous day. the only difference is that it didn't rain on our way back.

42 kms. more to... somewhere

so sunny!

as we drove along sctex once more, i could not help but notice that everything is greener than last january was. just compare the following photos i took last january and on june 13.

1 january 2009 (also posted in one of my january entries). look at that hill on the right.


13 june 2009. as you can see, the rice fields have been already harvested. this is also approximately the same spot i took a picture of last january judging from the trees.

same hill taken from another spot. that particular hill is more lush than it was 6 months ago.


so. what happened to our humongous pizza-and-burger dinner the night before?

they became breakfast, of course.

we headed back to manila at around 8am and stopped by the first pit stop after leaving sctex. there we had our pizza nuked in the microwave as the remaining slices could not fit into the store's lone oven toaster (the attendant was nice enough to microwave the pizza for us btw). as for the burger, it still tasted great even when cold.

9 remaining pizza slices for breakfast

one of the two remaining hamburger slices

i guess it's obvious by now that i love to shoot photos while on the road (refer to my roxas/boracay and first subic trips). and why would i not want to take pictures? everywhere i look, there is an interesting sight to be seen. cruisin' down nlex this time, it was all about trees, baby!

the lush trees on each side of the expressway remind me of a particular highway i passed which leads to upstate new york, coming from the jersey side of george washington bridge (turnpike, is it called?). there are also lots of trees on either side, almost exactly like nlex.

here

and here. certainly any passenger (and driver, i dare say) would be relaxed and refreshed just by looking at the sceneries around. great job, whatever company you are that's responsible for the expressway's renovation and maintenance. mntc, that's the company, right? oh yeah. i also hope that in ten years' time the expressway would have finally reached baguio, and in another five years the ilocos and cagayan regions. woot! lol :D

want weird? take a look this one:

what is wrong with this truck? and is this even allowed? with sights such as this, i promise never to sleep again while on the road. lol!

and oh. there was even a huling hirit (last hurrah) as we left nlex. all of us got distracted by this certain billboard with a dazzling model. is it aiko melendez? pia arcangel? ohh, no. when we realized that it was hilda koronel on the billboard modeling for some boutique (or is it for a make-up company? i forget.), we completely missed the off-ramp leading to edsa and had to go straight on to a. bonifacio avenue and into traffic. talaga nga naman si hilda koronel, o! hehe! but really, she's simply stunning in that billboard.

i must say that this trip is rated a million A's. what with the spontaneity of the moment, the series of adventures and misadventures that followed, and the most important of all---the fun, fun company. there wasn't any dull moment at all; us ladies seemed to laugh in every situation we found ourselves in, even when we were already getting tired--especially when we were looking for a place to stay. conversation never lagged, and we got to know just a little bit more about each other's lives. oh-kay i'm getting all sappy here, but hey, it's true. :)

oh, yes. this adventure of ours certainly made our bond stronger.


on to ze next adventure!

subic road trip

i didn't expect to be back in subic after 6 months. if the last time was all about celebrating the new year with family, this time it was about four adventurous, (single) ladies (moi, l, mm, mj) out to have some crazy fun. ;-) and by crazy fun i mean spur of the moment, taking whatever comes our way and no-extra-clothes-except-for-the-ones-we're-wearing. (and risking the wrath of some people, which made it even more exciting lol)

when you're out on a road trip with friends, it seems like the world is opening up to you. the road stretches out, beckoning you to go on until you reach your destination. and wherever we looked as we drove along the highways (nlex and sctex), we were like, wow. everything. is. so. beautiful. our raucous conversations were peppered with moments of silence as we took in the sights.

we left manila at 3pm and arrived in subic at around 5.

driving along the nlex. as far as the eye can see

adventure...?

once we entered sbma we just followed the arrows to the different attractions (in the direction of ocean adventure). as zoobic and ocean adventure are situated at the far ends of the earth, we opted to go to treetop adventure instead. treetop adventure is located at the JEST area and has four kinds of attractions: tree top adventure, where one can enjoy trekking and taking a leisurely motorized cable ride among the highest branches (P350/person); forest trekking adventure (P100/person); superman ride (self-explanatory :-), P200/person); and tree drop adventure, where one can descend the 60-foot tree any way he/she likes: by rappelling, the lizard, or the australian style, in which you drop face first. sweet! (P150/person)

because the four of us are adventurous, we decided to try the superman ride. and because we arrived late in the afternoon, the ticket booth was already closed. end of supposedly first adventure in subic.

we contented ourselves with pictures :D

thataway!

food trip, as always.

well, we had another agenda on our list anyway. what adventure is complete without a food trip, right? so we headed out to xtremely xpresso, this ultra-cozy coffee shop that serves a wide range of items, from pizza, pasta, sandwiches, coffee and pastries. xtremely xpresso is also the home of the humongous big ben pizza (P699) and ben's delight burger (one kilo of beef patty! P280). eating at xtremely xpresso is one of my unfinished business from last december/january as i really wanted to try their ben's delight burger after being able to try the normal-sized burger with wasabi dressing (a juicy 1/3 pounder for only P80).

so yes. as we sat comfortably on the couches, we ordered the big ben pizza and ben's delight. it was funny to see the eyes of the other patrons follow the journey of the pizza and burger to our table, and seeing four ladies making a noble attempt in finishing off such large portions of humongous grub.

big ben pizza. 22 inch thin crust pizza loaded with lotsa toppings: sausages, ham, olives, onions, green bell peppers, mushrooms, and cheese!


ben's delight burger, before we had it sliced into 6. for a 1k of beef patty, it sure was juicy even after it was grilled. served simply with lettuce, tomato and bacon. are you up for the challenge?

almost homeless

we enjoyed our time at xtremely xpresso so much that we realized that it was kind of late to be heading back to manila. and because that day was a holiday (june 12, philippines' independence day), most of the lodgings around sbma are either fully booked or the room available does not fall within our budget. the four of us trudged along waterfront road trying to find a room to no avail. as we neared the lighthouse (the last inn along waterfront rd.), we again bumped into some friends from church (we saw each other in xtremely xpresso earlier) and we hung out together at the lighthouse for a while. we then went our separate ways but not without them promising to contact us if they found a place for us to stay.

the lighthouse. the topmost part changes colors.

friendships

when we were sure that we won't find any room to stay, we decided to head back to manila. we haven't gotten far when one of our friends called to say their group has found a place for us, a condo for rent at 2k per night. sweet.

the place is subic world plaza, a new korean-owned three-storey condominium near subic international hotel. 2k per night, P300 for an extra person. the room is quite large, with enough space for a kitchen and living room. it is airconditioned and it comes complete with 2 twin beds, tv, mini refrigerator. it also has a nice bathroom with hot and cold shower.

@ the 3rd floor front desk

everything was well and good, until i got into bed. for almost immediately, i started to sneeze and sniffle nonstop.

seems like the room wasn't occupied for quite some time, and the sheets remained unchanged until we got there and used them. when i woke up early the next day the sneezes started again. oh, glorious dust galore.

will be posting more pics soon :)

note: cheers to mm for the other pics :)

sctex sights

The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) is a 94-kilometer four-lane expressway north of Manila, in the Philippines. Its southern terminus is at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales, it passes through the interchange with the North Luzon Expressway near the Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles City, and its northern terminus is at the Central Techno Park in Tarlac City, Tarlac.

Construction on the expressway began in April 2005, and opened to the public three years after. To date, it is the Philippines' longest toll expressway. (from wikipedia.org)

driving along sctex is such a breeze. no tricycles, speeding buses or lumbering trucks impede the progress of other vehicles, and definitely no bayans (something like city centers) to pass where traffic is denser. travel time to subic from manila is cut by about 30 minutes, depending on the speed of the car. as for the other exit ramps to the towns where sctex passes through, most are still under construction from the time we passed there.

for someone born and bred in the city like yours truly, sights such as in the pics below is a refreshing change of scenery. green fields and hills abound left and right; it seems like there's no end to them.

here are some shots that i took from the van.

rice fields. it's almost harvest time!

these particular hills can also be seen along olongapo-gapan road.

take a closer look

so many hills there are, that those who worked to construct this highway had to cut across some hills. reminds me of the freeways in california, only these are much greener.

more lush greenery

seemingly endless stretch of asphalt lined with green.

subic sights from the sights of ms. lamon

i am more in love with the beach than the mountains (or hills, whatever's applicable). in subic, one can experience both worlds, may it be doing the jungle survival tour or scuba diving or what-have-you. when i was in subic, tho, i did neither. but i enjoyed the sights there a lot, more specifically the roads (again!) plus some. i dunno but there's something about mountain-y/hilly roads such as these that i find appealing. must be the fields of green surrounding the gray asphalt. no, seriously, i love nature. =)

all of the photos are taken from the car at different points in time.

taken along tipo road after entering sbma. this view somehow reminds me of that toyota commercial way back in 1996. the song there was i love you always forever by donna lewis.

the hills are aliiiiive with the sound of music...

guess who owns this villa? ;-) you can find this plush avian housing by the sbma entrance along tipo road.

argonaut highway. we were on our way to ocean adventure here, which is a good 20-minute drive from the main hub of sbma.

green...


and more green. as you can see, it is denser in this part of the highway. seems like there's no end in sight but we did get to ocean adventure.



another sight that you'll see while driving along the highways inside sbma are the wild monkeys such as these. too bad for me most of them started moving away before i even got to turn on the camera. well, better late than none at all. =)

people are advised not to feed the wild monkeys as the monkeys might become dependent on humans. but of course, some people still don't heed that and give the monkeys scraps of food.

one lost monkey

the road to subic

one fitting way to end the year is to go out of town. as you probably know by now, i didn't have the opportunity to go out of manila that much in 2008. so i was definitely thrilled when the fam went to subic to celebrate the new year.

we set out for subic in the morning of 31st december. one can now reach subic in two ways: via olongapo-gapan road, which is the old route; or the sctex (subic-clark-tarlac expressway) which opened a year ago. both have their own exits straight from nlex (north luzon expressway): san fernando (olongapo-gapan) and sctex exit (sctex). we took the olongapo-gapan road as we had brunch somewhere in san fernando.

after experiencing a bit of traffic in one of the towns in pampanga, it was decided that we would divert to the sctex when we get to dinalupihan, bataan. when we got to dinalupihan, lo and behold! there was no exit yet from olongapo-gapan road going to sctex. so we simply just passed under the new expressway and went on to our destination on the same route.

yours truly went gaga over the sights. amazed by the vast expanse of green after about a year of staying in the concrete jungle that is my beloved manila. here are some photos taken on olongapo-gapan road. (sctex pics to come soon)

the eruption of mt. pinatubo in 1991 left the provinces of zambales and especially pampanga practically a barren wasteland. almost 20 years after, both provinces have thankfully gotten back on track.

i see fields of green...

gray asphalt too...

...and i think to myself, what a wonderful world. ;-)