A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
For some reason, my Facebook newsfeed kept getting images of a concept diner in Cebu called Cafe Racer. I blame their targeted advertising, but the photos of cool motorcycles parked outside the cafe, chairs made from oil drums and different motoring murals made me just want to book a ticket to Cebu. As a rider, I just wanted to see the place for myself. Thanks to a work trip for another assignment, I got a chance to check the place out last January 2015.
“Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need… roads!”
Images of Back to the Future’s time machine flashed before my eyes as I sat behind the retro futuristic dashboard of the two-seater Cessna 152 aircraft. The control panel full of complicated-looking buttons, knobs and gauges looked worthy of powering up a flux capacitor that could take me back in time 30 years. The width of the 2-seater plane is only about one-third the size of your standard car or SUV, with two seats squeezed together and some extra space for bags at the back. But judging from my excitement level of riding one for the first time, you’d think I was riding along with Doc Brown himself in the DeLorean.
Without a warning, the clear sunny day morphed into a rainy and foggy mess. The picturesque mountains against blue skies which had looked so inviting seconds before took on a more sinister air. Lightning struck and thunder rolled in the distance. The fog thickened to almost zero visibility. The scene turned to night with lights from houses and a runway blinking in the distance. In a flash, the plane was teleported back on the ground to a runway in front of clear skies again.
Most Pinoy tourists are familiar with the overlooking view of Taal Lake from Tagaytay City. But there’s something special about seeing the lake at eye-level from towns in Batangas.
Last weekend, Outside Slacker and I had a fun time at the Batangas Earth and Water Festival 2015. He got to ride his bike and run around scenic towns in Mataasnakahoy and Balete during the duathlon, while I got to row a kayak at the picturesque Taal Lake. The sporting events were organized by First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH) and Lima Park Hotel, a luxury hotel in Batangas which hosted our weekend stay. With the 4 to 5 am call times for the duathlon and fun run the next day, it was definitely a treat to go back to the hotel and chill out instead of having to drive back to Manila at once. If you’re looking for a comfortable hotel with world-class facilities in the Batangas area, Lima Park Hotel is a great option.
Antipolo is known primarily for its scenic overlooking views. Being relatively near Manila, it offers an easy weekend getaway. Lately, more people have been visiting because of artistic spaces like Pinto Art Museum and dining destinations like Crescent Moon Cafe. During a solo ride one weekend, I tried out Eggs for Breakfast, a relatively new cafe that opened about 3 months ago.
Continue reading “Cozy Cafe in Antipolo: Eggs for Breakfast”
Rappelling down the waterfall felt like a scene straight out of a video game. Lara Croft and Nathan Drake make it look too easy and they don’t even have ropes, I thought to myself as I scrambled to navigate the environmental puzzle. The scenery even looked reminiscent of CGI.
Irie Gastropubliko is a bar and restaurant in Cebu City that’s been around for a couple of years. Located on the Ground Floor of Skyrise 4 Building in the business district of Cebu I.T. Park, it caters mostly to those living and working in the area. They also get a lot of expats and craft beer enthusiasts from all over, who really seek out the place since it’s apparently the only place that you can try beers on tap from Turning Wheels Craft Brewery, Cebu’s first craft beer.
Continue reading “Cebu’s First Craft Beer at Irie Gastropubliko”
Sometimes, we tend to take places in our backyard for granted. The nearer a destination is from where we live, the less it is on our tourist radar. For instance, Art’s hometown is Binangonan, but for some reason, we’ve both never been to Mt. Tagapo, a mountain that falls under the jurisdiction of the towns of Binangonan and Cardona in Rizal province (though it’s only accessible from the Binangonan side). Mt. Tagapo, referred to by locals as Susong Dalaga, is located in the middle of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines. The first weekend of the year seemed like a good time as any to scale a mountain, so we we decided to finally head there.
Over the years, my family and I have driven back and forth from Manila to my hometown Naga City numerous times. Our route, which traverses through the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (with a possible detour at Camarines Norte) before reaching Camarines Sur can last 8-12 hours depending on the traffic. However, this means starting the drive really early in the morning and having limited time to enjoy good meals and sights along the way.
A more enjoyable option is to break the road trip in half by stopping over somewhere for the night. In the past, our pit stops were usually random guesthouse or inns in towns of Lucena or Gumaca. These places aren’t really that notable, but they offered the basics like beds and running water (sometimes). Continue reading “Graceland Estates & Country Club in Tayabas, Quezon”
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