Ascertain Bliss: Quezon Prov

Friday, May 1, 2009

Quezon Prov

I was born and haphazardly educated in Manila with some primaries in Quezon but absolutely hailed from this province.A "probinsyana" from Quezon, I positively heart this province over all the places I've been gone to. My hometown is almost the last town of Quezon before Bicol province, an eight hours long road trip from Manila. I've had thousand of trips of Manila-Quezon, passing each single municipality of Quezon but never I remember a single trip that I got bored, sleeping over some of the trips_yees!.. but not bored! I'm always excited to have this journey all over again. Especially now as a mother, with my two daughters and my husband who all had developed the same fondness towards the province. Now that you are here_take a little road trip of Quezon Province with me!

ON THE WAY
..after fractions of Laguna and some Batangas on the way, before entering the province of Quezon, it's nice to take a snack stop over on the road side of San Pablo (the last town of Laguna before the first town of Quezon (-Tiaong), with this native"bibingka stall". Among other stalls here, this one is my favorite. It never fails to give me my first taste of Quezon. The dish has plenty of coconut strips, hot and yummy! I bring my own butter though, I don't like their margarine. It's cheap for only P10-P12 per piece but is a lot real in flavor and quality against the ones being sold in the malls in Manila for P50 -P75 per piece.

FIRST TOWN
..is Tiaong. You would find here one of the famous tourist destinations_Villa Escudero. At present, they are establishing the rest of their estate as Hacienda Escudero, seems like a residential avenue, I'm not sure though. The town itself is a sight to visit but with a new diversion road minus traffic we found a way to pass through this municipality.

THEN COMES
...Candelaria. I figure this is the only town (in Quezon) left with a welcome arch intact against the promotional vandals of elections. There are heritage houses along the road but how sad it is that these are not well taken care of .

I LOVE THIS TOWN
..of Sariaya. This old mansion comes first in my mind when I think about this town. Imagine how much bigger it was through my childhood eyes everytime we passed by this town when I was a preschooler. It amazes me that the mansion pretty looks the same as it was during my childhood. Take note, I'm a middle age now. This is also the town I favor to buy my pasalubongs back to Manila. This is where I buy big can of broas for my crema de fruta recipe, hot fresh pinagong, yema, dried rimas, pastillas, cassava cake and kalamay.

DIVERSION ROAD
Lucena City is the capital of Quezon. We usually go inside the city only when we have to buy things at SM, Lucena because we forget to buy them in Manila. Other wise, we pass thru the diversion road_quick and no traffic hassles which we intentionally avoid after Manila.

BEFORE THE BIG Z
After Lucena, my kids would get excited to go up the zigzag road and the town of idyllic Pagbilao with its own charm would almost be passed by without distinction. Someday I will dig this town.I read a lot about its hidden treasures.

BITUKA NG MANOK
Old Zigzag Road is the highlight of my children's trip to Quezon. They insist to be awaken, incase they fall asleep in the course of the long trip, not at the middle of the zigzag ride but at the very
entrance of the road.
We usually carry a pack lunch and spend an hour or a little more at the one stop park which is located at the peak of the mountain.

DOWN BELOW THE MOUNTAIN
Old Zigzag is actually in Atimonan, so at the bottom of it is the town proper. As usual we prefer the diversion road and does not go inside the town anymore.

THE OCEANI would always tell to my husband how really is nicer to travel the roads of Quezon with its scenic additions.You pass forest, mountain, and now an endless view of ocean! How's that in one trip?And always my husband would happily nod in agreement.After Atimonan comes Gumaca.These two shares the long ocean and hardly I can tell the the difference between the two. I only knew that Atimonan comes first. We don't frequent both towns and pass thru their diversion road more often. Ofcourse, in the my past trips I've been to these towns thrice or more.
One favorite site of my childhood is the "mermaid on the big rock" and at the present my kids wouldn't miss a chance to ask their dad to stop for a minute or two to wonder upon this creature on the rock.