DJC Halo Halo is so good!

I know it’s kind of weird to fangirl like this about dessert but DJC halo halo (shaved ice with evaporated milk, fruits, custard and cheese) is just amazing. I’ve heard so much about this from my friends from college, so I was excited when--after the frustratingly horrid halo halo we had at Gerry’s Grill--my sister took us to DJC Halo Halo & Snack Inn, located in front of Gaisano mall.

Its reputation as the best halo halo in Bicol is certainly earned. I’ve never tasted halo halo this good anywhere, actually. The shaved ice was so soft, the combination of the milk, sugar, various fruits and grated cheese was just unreal. You should definitely try it. It’s great that they are opening a branch in Naga City soon so I can easily have one again when I go home for the holidays. Yum!

Fun Times @ Embarcadero de Legazpi

                                 

Embarcadero de Legazpi is a waterfront shopping center located at the Legazpi City harbor. We always spend time here whenever we are in town. My nieces and nephews just love trying out the carousel, Segway PT and other fun rides available at Embarcadero. There is also a 350-meter zipline, Go Kart and other activities like parasailing and jet skiing, so it's never boring here.

nice view of Mayon in the background

The view of Mayon Volcano from the harbor is fantastic and you can also take a small boat from the Embarcadero dock going to Misibis Bay. This visit, we just did some shopping for souvenir shirts for our friends.  

shirts galore

rocky ice, anyone?

As usual, we dined at our favorite restaurant Gerry’s Grill and everything was excellent except for their halo halo which tasted great but the ice was hard as a rock, ugh! It didn't matter if you were dining at their SM Naga branch or in Legazpi, their halo halo is just not good, so beware.                                                                                                                                         

Cagsawa Ruins Park @ Daraga, Albay

remnant of a horrible past...

Cagsawa Ruins Park in barangay Busay, Daraga town is the first place to visit if you’re driving down from CamSur. This is where you will find the belfry of the Cagsawa Church that was submerged by mudslides in the 1814 eruption of Mayon Volcano. There were shops for tourists around here now, so you can buy souvenirs too.

Mayon's 'perfect cone' in clouds

 This trip to Albay was totally spur-of-the-moment. My cousin’s kids--newlyweds Jim and Pau--showed up at my sister’s house where I was spending my long holiday weekend, and “dragged” me with them. They know I went to college in Legazpi a decade ago, so they thought I could be their tourist guide.

beauty and madness...

 Ha! I didn’t have the heart to tell them I barely remember the place now, a lot of things have changed in the city since I graduated, and combined with my hopelessly pathetic sense of direction, well it wouldn’t be pretty if they ask me to show them where to go now. Good thing they showed up in a car with a driver who knew the place, so off we went. I regaled them with what I recalled from my four years of school in Albay. I got a kick out of their excitement at seeing Mount Mayon for the first time.

with excited first-timers

 Having spent years going back and forth from my Albay school to my home in CamSur, I have to admit I have taken for granted Mayon’s awesome perfection. I mean, it’s beautiful sure, but it’s just there. It was just part of the landscape, no big deal. So it was fun to rediscover this place and see it with new eyes, with people who are appreciating it for the first time.

trick shot taken by a kid photographer there

can't you tell we loved it?

I feel really blessed to have been born in Bicol, amidst so much natural wonders and beauty. I have lived in Manila since med school, and have traveled to different places this year here and abroad, but I chose to post about “home” first. I’m just so darned proud of my province Camarines Sur, Albay and the Bicol region as a whole… I hope you can visit, you won’t regret it.

Mayon Volcano @ Ligñon Hill Nature Park, Legazpi

Mayon view from the deck... 

Ligñon Hill (pronounced “Lin-yon”) is the best place to view the majestic Mayon Volcano in Legazpi City. It’s walking distance from the airport, so if you’re not dragging around heavy luggage, you can just walk from there. The local city government is currently leasing the operation of the hill to a private company, so we saw marked improvements from our last visit.

nice view of Albay Gulf and Legazpi City

the observatory where PHIVOCS camps out

A year ago, there wasn’t an entrance fee collected from visitors but the ₱20/person you’ll pay to walk or drive up the hill is a small price indeed for the better management of this place. I must say it looks a lot nicer now, and the bathrooms are clean too. So far, so good.

the family posing at the newly-landscaped entrance

with our game face on

I like that there are a lot of fun stuff you can do now at Ligñon. You can choose to drive up Mayon in an ATV to look closely at the lava front and volcanic rocks, go rappelling, wall climbing or ride the 320-meter zipline run by Globe Quest Adventures.

I love ziplines, but none of my sisters wanted to try it with me this time, so I dragged my nervous cousin Manay Malyn along. It was great and pretty cheap too; for just ₱250 they will also take a picture of you with Mayon Volcano in the background.

uncle & sis posing with Mayon hidden by thick clouds...

and showing us her charms before we left

One important reminder though, it is better to come  here in the morning, so you can have a higher chance at viewing the volcano without the clouds that obstruct it when it is later in the day. Fortunately, the near perfectly-coned beautiful lady (daragang magayon aka Mayon) showed us her face before we left, or else Manay Malyn, the first-timer in our group would have been crushed.

The Partido Riviera @ Patitinan, Sagñay

hidden jewel of Partido...

After swimming in Nato beach, my cousin Michael suggested that we visit the Sagñay (pronounced "Sangay") view deck in Patitinan, near the Camarines Sur and Albay border, about 20 minutes away from Nato. It’s another case of ignoring what’s in my backyard… I’ve lived around this area for part of my childhood and teens and I’ve never been here before!

so very lovely...

snail-like Atulayan Island

Goodness, I felt like I’ve missed a lot by not being aware of the beautiful vistas of the so-called “Partido Riviera” sooner. I guess better late than never… the view was just so gorgeous and peaceful. It was great driving up the steep road and looking out the window with the awe-inspiring view of Atulayan Bay with Atulayan Island at its center. 

Bongalon port with ferry to Caramoan

the Fuentebella property... nice, huh?

We trooped to the view deck (overlooking the controversial property of CamSur 4^th district Congressman Fuentebella) and just enjoyed the amazing view. It’s just too bad that the rest room here was ruined by vandals that it’s not usable anymore (yep, my bladder's still holding a grudge).

at the Sagñay view deck with the family

nice roads

I’m quite impressed with the roads here; the locals said it’s paved up to Tiwi, Albay. I wish the roads in Caramoan are this good too, it could have saved us a lot of aches and pains due to the bumpy rides we endured when we traveled there.

This was a special way to end the day for us. We would have driven straight to Albay since we were so close, but we didn’t have enough gas in the car and there were young kids with us, so we contented ourselves driving down the mountain and stopping by the side of the road to take pictures of the wonderful view. Patitinan, it’s nice to have met you at last!

Nato Beach, Sagñay

great times...

Nato beach is one of my favorite beaches to visit. I know it’s not as pretty as the other famous ones in Bicol (hello Caramoan & Calaguas!), but I’ve had fond memories of going to Nato when I was growing up. Some of my siblings and cousins would even play hooky just to come here and hang out with their friends. I was never as adventurous though, so there are no wild Nato stories to tell you, unfortunately.

It’s just a 20-minute drive from our place in Tigaon (via Hoyon-hoyon), so when I’m home from Manila--rain or shine--I’d be splashing around here (and occasionally singing horribly bad karaoke) like the year before and the year before that. It just wouldn’t feel like I’ve been home without visiting Nato. I’m just that predictable.

umm, you're supposed to jump, ma!

My cousins Mike and Michelle married into families who own resorts adjacent to each other too, and that just encouraged our gang to visit Nato more often. The cottages here are around ₱100-200, but if you don't want to rent one, you can put a blanket in the sand and you're good to go. You can also buy some blue marlin from the fishermen really cheap and have it grilled right on the beach!

Atulayan island in the background...

Nato beach is also a jump-off point to nearby Atulayan Island, which has a creamy white sandy beach. So if you’d like something more picturesque, it’s just a 30-minute boat ride from here. Also there is a new roll-on/ roll-off (ro-ro) ferry service that leaves daily at 6:30 am for the Caramoan Peninsula, if you're feeling even more adventurous.

Aguirangan Island (Rose Islet), Presentacion

Aguirangan or Rose Islet, is a small island off the coast of Presentacion town in Camarines Sur. It's about 30 minutes away by boat from Sabang port. If you came in too late to catch the last boat to Caramoan at 2pm, I highly recommend visiting this beautiful island whilst waiting for the next available trip to the Caramoan Peninsula.

I was still in high school when I first visited this island and it's so small--about 1.5 hectares--that you can leisurely explore the whole island in less than an hour. If you want to stay overnight, you can check in at the Aguirangan View Hotel, right across the island in barangay Maangas. Also in a bright, clear day you can get a glimpse of the near-perfect cone of the Mayon Volcano from here.

Residencia de Salvacion, Caramoan

homey and real...

Residencia de Salvacion is a bed and breakfast located 5 minutes away from Guijalo port. We stayed here because our sister-in-law’s cousin Davey is related to the owner and he promised we’d have a terrific time here and he was right.

posing with the amazing RDS staff

The house was great and big enough for our party of twelve. We got a package for 3 days and 2 nights for ₱3200 inclusive of room, transfers (except for the boat rent) and all meals, it’s normally ₱3500, but they gave us a discount since we’re kind of family. It’s pretty cheap, huh?

yay, pinakro!

The staff led by manay Gina, was very accommodating and the food they served, to die for. I still can’t get over how good the aniit (mud crabs) tasted and the sweet and sour fish was amazing, they made us some pinakro (unripe banana cooked in coconut milk) for merienda too, which was a real treat for me since I haven’t had that in years. Ah, authentic Bicol cuisine at its best.

showering in the rain, brrr!

Even an apparently unscheduled water service interruption--after we arrived from our last day of island-hopping--could not dampen our enthusiasm for this place. Our family being the fun, easy-going, crazy type, just showered in the rain, screaming all the while, because the water was so cold! All in all, we had a wonderful stay at Residencia de Salvacion.

Residencia de Salvacion
No. 45, Km. 580 Brgy. Salvacion
Caramoan, Camarines Sur
Tel. +639393101135, +639173712143

Seashells and Seaweeds at Basud Island, Caramoan

 Basud Island is not usually included in a typical Caramoan island-hopping package, but my auntie Alice wanted to buy some edible seaweeds and my niece Marie was hankering for seashells to bring home to her friends, our tour guide was nice enough to bring us to Basud for these purposes.

This island was charming though it did not compare to the beauty of the others we’ve visited, but seashells here were plentiful and we had so much fun picking out the best ones. There were fishermen here also, and for a ₱300 fee, they will hop in their canoe and get you some scrumptious seaweeds to munch on or make gelatin out of.

We just spent the rest of our time here relaxing, eating junk food and laughing at our poor cousin taking a piss on some bushes (harhar!). Anyway, if you’re ever in Caramoan and you’d like to bring home some free conch shell “souvenirs”, Basud Island is the place to go.