Our road trip continued for another two hours before we reached the town of Real (ri-yal), Quezon. We were disappointed when we saw the shoreline because it’s not an open sea. Polillo Island could be seen on the other side.
Our expectations were high as far as the ocean view is concerned. We were waiting to be wowed by the waves, cliffs, pero wala. The place looks similar to other Rizal town shorelines that I’ve seen.
I somehow missed my childhood. The bancas reminded me of the time when my father would bring me along to check on his boats, He had several of these, but a lot bigger.
We were looking for a port but instead, we saw a few fishermen putting fish in fiberglass containers. Those fish were already sold to wholesalers. We came too late daw because by noontime, all fish have been sold out. We were able to convince the vendor to spare us a few kilos.
We bought a styrofoam cooler for P285 from the market nearby
We thought Real is a vibrant and progressive town. But this one is sleepy and parang there’s no activity.
It was past 2 pm and we had no place to eat. We continued driving towards Infanta, Quezon where there are more resort hotels probably. We passed by a couple of resorts but they didn’t have restaurants.
When we saw the Malachi Resort, we asked the guard if they have a resto, meron daw, kaya we ended up having lunch here. Far from what we had in mind- that is eating fresh seafood by the seashore.
Malachi’s owners, Dr. and Mrs. Aveno are from New Jersey, USA. Dr. Aveno is originally from Quezon. A big photo of Mrs. Carmelia Aveno hangs in the resort’s lounge.
There were no other diners except us.
Sweet and sour Lapu-lapu. This size would cost at least a thousand in Manila restos. Here it’s only P300.
Maiz con hielo for Oyen
We didn’t know where else to go and what else to do here so we headed home.
Dapat bago dumilim, we’re out of this zigzag roads and mountain wilderness.
I caught someone from that AUV throwing some basura from the window. You’re bad!
I will definitely have my own cow soon. I promise myself. One only. A baby one, I would name it Cowie. (Ngek, boring. I’ll think of something else. maybe Bakakie or Bakekie. Suggestions are welcome.)
We are buko lovers.
Edmund was not comfortable letting the driver pick the right buko.
Sya mismo daw ang pipili.
P25 in Manila, P12 here.
Libre tikim
Ang daya, sya lang.
That’s Cardona and Binangonan out there.
We stopped for a while to look at the view. Kasi Talim Island could be seen on the right side.
I stood there for a minutes. Natuwa ako bigla after I realized that that’s Talim Island, which is part of Binangonan. The scenery transported me back in time. I still vividly remember THAT one evening, we were standing around the dining table.
Parang I could see my Kuya Ben’s (+) face while explaining to us the family tree of our mother (+). He was showing to us a big map of Talim Island, with a huge portion on top of the mountain with big markings, allegedly belonging to my mother’s grandfather. My Kuya Ben had gathered documents proving my mother’s ownership of a big parcel of land on top of the Talim Island. I remember him saying it has incredible views.
I was too young to react. I was just listening to their conversations. My mom said “sa lolo ko yun”. It’s too complicated.
Then I heard my husband’s voice “let’s go”.
We were home by 6:45 pm. Our road trip took 10 hours in all. Almost 10 hours of sitting – in the van, in the restaurants. Grabe, ang sakit ng pigi ko. At saka para akong may jet-lag. van-lag. Imagine sampung oras lang na nakaupo. We didn’t even get to walk.
