Searching for my Bicol roots

We left Manila around 3:00 in the morning and arrived a little over lunch. That’s about 10 hours of travel by van and guess what? The van’s air conditioner broke just when the sun rose and the window beside me couldn’t opened. Every time I would fall asleep, I’d wake up wet with sweat and an undesirable mood. But I brushed it off and decided that I would sacrifice comfort during the Holy Week. Plus I was determined to find more about my Bicol roots.

When we arrived in Baao, it was really awkward for me to start talking with my relatives. Nakakaloka. They’re all about small talk, asking about work, life, and the infamous question “May girlfriend ka na ba?” Not everyone prioritizes their love life, okay? OKAY?!?!

To make up for lost time, my cousins and I went to the town of Iriga by motorbikes where I treated them to coffee and dinner. We did a bit of catching up over at this resto/bar called Desny. What’s funny is that the resto is actually a ripoff of Disney. At first I was confused as to why they have random images of Mickey Mouse on their menu but then my cousin said that’s why the resto is called Desny. They could get sued for that, by the way. Good thing is masarap naman ang food. Also, my cousin ordered the Fried Chicken Cappuccino Style out of sheer curiosity if the chicken would have a slight taste of coffee. As it turned out, it didn’t… but the rice is color blue. What the heck, right?

The next morning, everyone prepared for a long day as we were set to visit 3 places in Bicol.

Camsur Watersports Complex

First on the table was the Camsur Watersports Complex, which is a good 20-minute ride from where my grandparents lived. The place looked nice and we were immediately drawn into the flags near the man-made lake. Lago del Rey is a man-made attraction fit for families who’s looking for an alternative watersports entertainment less risky than wakeboarding.

Lago del Rey

After some kodakan moments, we headed down to the main part where we saw people wake boarding. CWC is a watersports park that became popular to tourists for wakeboarding and waterskiing. I was told that if you’re a beginner, you need to ride on your knees 3 times first before they’d let you try the actual board. Sayang because I wanted to try it out but we didn’t have enough time for the day and I wanted to look bad-ass na.

Laing Pizza

So we decided to have brunch there where I ordered their Bicolana Pizza, which is also know as the Laing Pizza. I’m not a fan of Laing but the combination was really good. I approve!

Aside from the wakeboarding facility, the place also has a nice pool for those who aren’t brave or fit enough to wakeboard. Kung magsalita akala mo kung sinon macho no? Hahaha. And they also have Winch Park for the skaters.

Winch Park

Embarcadero, Legaspi

Two hours later, we arrived in Albay to check out Embarcadero in Lagaspi City. But first, we stopped over at Let’s Pinangat to get some of their famous Pinangat for lunch. If you’re going to Legaspi from Camsur, you will most likely pass by this place and it’s hard to miss because there are lots of cars parked on both sides of the street because a lot of people eat there. Unfortunately, our Pinangat did not have any meat in it because it was Good Friday. Boooooo!

Let's Pinangat!

When we arrived at Embarcadero, I texted my college friend Nikki because she was also having a vacation there. I left my relatives and had lunch with her instead at Bigg’s. The food was so-so but very affordable. Embarcadero is the newest development in Legaspi City. It’s a relatively large shopping mall with retail shops and restaurants, and a 30-meter tall lighthouse that has a zipline! It’s a little similar to Mall of Asia because of it’s location beside the sea.

Pa-tweetums o. Ang sarap sampalin.

I had two things on my checklist at Embarcadero. #1 is to try out the Segway, #2 is to ride their Zipline. After lunch, we went to the ticket booth where I purchased a 10-minute ride on the Segway for P130. It was a different kind of experience because the thing relies on the ‘driver’ in order to move and maneuver. Balance is one thing, you have to lean forward in order to move and lean sideways to turn the thing around. It was actually really fun and everyone was looking at me. Attention-whore lang. Too bad I slammed into a column and almost fell down. Hahaha.

Segway!

After the 10-minutes, we went back to the ticket booth and asked for 2 tickets for the Zipline. Then the echoserang ticket guy said that the Zipline was closed!!! Aaaargh frustration! Bagsakan sana ng universe yung baklang nagbebenta ng tickets! He said that they had to close down early because of the Good Friday thing. Well so far my Friday is not turning out good! So I went on feeling a little disappointed and said goodbye to Nikki as we left to see our last destination.

Cagsawa Ruins, Mt. Mayon

A visit to Bicol won’t be complete without stopping by the Cagsawa Ruins. However, I wasn’t really thrilled when we arrived at this place. For one, the entrance was filled with so many shops that catered to tourists. Second, ang dami-daming tourists! And third, Mt. Mayon was barely visible!!! To make it worse, some of my relatives were rushing to get out of there. They told me to take a few photos and then we’ll leave na. So much for photowalking.

Before tourists can go to this place for free but now you have to pay for P50 parking and P10 entrance fee.

Mayon barely visible from the road. =(

The buried bell tower of Cagsawa church

Is this my Bicolano roots?

Nawawala ang Mt. Mayon!!!

So picture na lang with a random kalabaw.

Picture na lang with some coconut shells

Picture na lang sa gitna ng daan. =(

And this is why I had a so-so average time in Bicol. I decided that I’ll just come back in the future with close friends so I can be my usual fabulous self and maybe spend a few days in Caramoan.