Of Urban Tarzan, Barf Bags, and Unforgettable Meals. - Luzon Leg Part 2

After our Fiesta breakfast in Tiaong back to the road we went. We chanced upon this Urban Tarzan. I guess it's the sign of the times. We were ironically headed to Quezon Province, one of the country's most forested region and here we have an Urban Tarzan having to make do with plastic junk food wrappers instead of tree leaves and bark. He looked healthy so I guess one can assume he does not dine on the junk food that covers his junk, pardon the pun can't help it :-).


Quezon Province is huge and is so geographically diverse. First thing in mind for some people would be surfing because of the popular Baler. For some it would be deforestation caused by illegal logging. Others would talk about its beaches. Whereas for me it's the bituka ng manok ( chicken entrails ). No not the food. But that zigzag road traversing the Quezon National Park. The thing made me so sick once. It is aptly named bituka because the turns are so tight, numerous and ridiculously angled. I rode a bus once and parents with their kids and some adults simultaneously held out their barf bags when we were near the area. I was totally unprepared like these guys. I will spare you that story because I'm sure you get what I mean.

If you decided to check out the beaches of San Juan then I suggest you stay overnight in Pagbilao. Just make sure you get there by 5 pm. During my last trip I read an article about the house of the mayor being rented out in the area, so we did. Just before sunset I brought the kids down to the beach where we noticed a lot of people gathering shells from the beach. They were humongous shells. I approached one man who had a huge bucket that was almost filled to the brim. I asked him if he was selling his "collection". He hesitated a bit and said yes for 40 Pesos. I could hardly hide my delight because I was ready to fork a 100 for it. I gave him 50 and told him to keep the change. That was what we had for dinner. The caretaker of the house cooked it for us. I won't ever forget that meal and I hope one of you could have the same experience soon. Do tell me about it.

A Goat Feast - Luzon Leg Part 1

The plan was to leave at 5 in the morning but that was just a plan anyway :-). We wheeled off at 7 instead. Fortunately the weekend traffic was light and we were blessed with good weather. Breakfast at Tagaytay was scratched and we thought of having it at Villa Escudero instead. It was a non-eventful two hour drive going there.

My 3 passengers clearly were hungry when we alighted. Bad news, we were required to pay the full day resort fee even if all we wanted to have was breakfast. So Villa Escudero was scratched too. That was just a plan anyway :-). A few minutes drive though led us to Fiesta in Tiaong, Quezon Province.

The name did not disappoint we had a feast for breakfast. Goat feast that is. Kilawing Kambing ( Goat Ceviche ), Calderetang Kambing ( Goat Stewed in Tomatoes ), Papaitang Kambing and Sinigang na Hipon. Best part was it only cost us 500 Pesos (roughly 11US$) with drinks and bottled water for such an unusual breakfast feast.

Aside from Villa Escudero another popular spot near Tiaong would be the beaches of San Juan. I suggest when you take this road trip throw away a fixed schedule. It's fun to find out what is at the end of the intriguing fork in the road for those of you who are adventurous or at least search google maps with your handheld for those of you who are a bit more cautious. We opted to skip the beach because we are looking forward to a better one near the end of this journey, Gumasa Beach in Glan Saranggani Province.