Missing Pahiyas

Today is the 15th of May, it's the Pahiyas sa Quezon. No, I didn't go there today. The last time I enjoyed the festival was in 2010. Although the town of Lucban in Quezon province would only take a 2.5 to 3 hours road trip from Manila, the festival has grown so much popular that going there on the day itself is a traffic struggle. Sure there's the option of booking a place to stay, but that too is tiresome. If you would stay inside the town, you have to make your reservations like 6 months or earlier to get a proper accommodation. It's not anymore like before when we thought of Pahiyas and would like to join the feast, we just drove-in hassles free. I actually miss this rustic festival which is one of my favorites here in our country.
For now you could join me, look back to the Pahiyas-es I had been :

Pahiyas 2010

Pahiyas @ Night

Lucban Church
Goin' to Pahiyas

Pahiyas sa Lucban

Pansit Habhab
Batis Aramin

Habhab Parade

See you in the future Pahiyas :D

Happy Pahiyas to Lucban Quezon !!!

Pinagbanderahan Peak

Finally after more than 30 minutes from Cueba Santa, with more challenging trail than the latter, we reached the Pinagbanderahan Peak. It's 2000 ft. above sea level, nestles on top of the zigzag road in Atimonan Quezon. The name " Pinagbanderahan "  literally means where the flag was hoisted. Two flags had been raised here ( Japanese and American ) before our Philippine flag reclaimed it in 1946.




The views here were amazing, at this point thu', I was reflecting the challenging trails we had just gone through to reach this peak (from the bottom a 1 hour hike, but if you're like us who stopped for photo ops more often than necessary, 1 hour was a lie:)), and that same difficult route we needed to go through again in a matter of minutes. haaay. .

r e w i n d : 

:

V

:

V

:

V

Remember, in the first phase of this trek I had introduced you to Alvin  our trekker guide. We kindah treated this trek as "follow the leader.




I followed and imitated how Alvin attacked the trail. .




the faces of sweating, uncertainties and wt#mom!!!haha.

My family followed and did as I said, haha.

ahh.. water breaks were rare treats in this side of the universe...

This was the semi-final water break cos in just a  jump we were about to reach the peak. To get up to the peak  thu', we needed to get down a little first.




Not as easy as sounded there thu'. .







Aside from Alvin, gravity ( to the ground we were stepping on, not the ground below out there) was the next best ally we had to survive this descending challenge. And yes those trees on the side were helpful too as they served as our handrails.




stairways to heaven




And I thought it was the last lap, but why was that it seemed like an infinite ascend?. .

Right on cue, as if the goddess of this mountain had heard my impatience, she did give us a teaser of what to come. .

I know, this shot is not enough to justify the ahhs and wows we had of this sight. but believe me, right up there it was a breathtaking view.




Until, we reached the real thing.  . the peak of Pinagbanderahan.

Worth the pains, don't you think so?




presenting _ the Avengers !!!

 Now the Avengers had to go back down the earth. .

And no, I didn't promise that getting down was a lot easier than getting up. Both were challenging to the highest peak.

We exited in the old road ( we entered the trail here ) which used to be the only way to enter the trail before.




I'm happy to report that out of the whole trek, we only had one casualty _ the half pair of husband slippers, haha.

-the end-

Crack of Dawn at Padre Burgos

On our second day at Padre Burgos, my daughter woke me up so early _ the sun was just starting to peep through the dark clouds. She was so excited about the beach and wanted to see it on a low tide.













The beach was beautifully extended up to the farther middle of the sea. Water level was barely touching our toes.








The sea was as quiet as the earliest morning. The two islets were still sleeping with the rest of the place.








A little later, my daughter briskly ran , afraid of the change of tide coming along with the setting of the sun. In a matter of minutes the low tide islands would be submerged once again under the sea, only to emerge again at dawn.




As the sun commenced to set in full glory, the water started to go up and the beach begun to comeback to it's original form the way we found it when we arrived.














When younger daughter and I were joined by the rest of our family, the high tide was setting in fast. There was still one low tide tail island left when they came and felt sad that they didn't wake up as early as we we did.








The kids enjoyed the change of tides right on their toes. Savoring the feel of the water level getting higher and higher by the minutes.
















We explored by crossing the almost knee-level sea and found some rock formations at the other side.








We stayed for a while to luxuriate in this serene view of the nature...




Beautiful.

Old Zigzag Road (Quezon)

Going to Bicol?  

 Don't think twice_choose the Old Zigzag Road! Opps, for light vehicle only please.

From here you could turn off your aircon, open your windows and breath the fresh green aroma of the forest.




Welcome embrace by the old giant trees.Immediately, the greens take away the travel stress that surely builds up the moment you start your engine.




Fresh green air and smooth pavement of the road relax you as if to prepare you to upcoming challenging part of this road trip.

The challenge begins_ you meet lots of edgy corners as you go up.




If this is your first time as a lucky passenger, you might skip a number of heartbeats and recite few Bible verses.




Or the opposite_enjoy the roller coaster ride!!!




Along the road_water falls like these are just a common sight. Only here that you can feast your eyes with this beauty of nature_free of charge!





Old trees standing tall and mighty from the bottom of the mountain up to the highest point of the forest road.

Then when you reach the highest point_you'll meet this character  inviting you for lunch at this one stop park.

The landscape of the park is just as natural as the rest of the forest.




Road side picnic spot..




...or at the bottom of a mountain.Your choice!Picnic tables and benches/chairs waiting to be used for free! Be sure to pack your lunch or you can buy at the canteens here.




When it is raining,you can opt to eat at the roofed area with a new level of view_yesss>>tables are still free of charge!




The park somehow has seen my children growing up. We started crossing and stopping by this park since they were babies to toddlers and now they are already a teen and a tween.




And they never get enough of it. Never get tired of this over familiar place. It is always as if they are seeing the place for the first time.




Lunch break is over.Time to hit the road and continue our trip.




The road downward is equally as heartbeat skipping as it is going up.It's not even easier for the driver, because he still has to pass thru edgy corner turns.




But for the passenger who loves the thrill of the roller coaster this is one heck of a ride that he definitely would enjoy!