Getting to Laiya via Ibaan Exit

Travel date: April 30, 2010

On our way to Laiya, I noticed a banner along the Star Tollway advising motorists to take the Ibaan Exit to get to the resorts in Laiya in San Juan, Batangas. 

Normally, we take the Lipa exit and go through the city proper of Lipa. (During our trip last February, traffic was rerouted to a one-way street just past the junction after De La Salle Lipa. Though a bit circuitous, this adjustment eased the traffic flow noticeably. This leads to the right road merging to a Y junction with a monument in the middle referred to in waypoints.ph.) 

Last week though, we heeded the sign and went past the Lipa exit and drove 11 kilometers more to get to the Ibaan exit. 

After the Lipa exit, the Star Tollway becomes a narrow two-way road.

After 10.5 kilometers from the Lipa exit, motorists are advised with this road sign.

From the exit, we turned left and headed towards the town of Ibaan. 

turn left and head towards Ibaan

road towards Rosario

We just followed the road and turned left at the end, which led to the town proper of Ibaan. After a few meters past the church, we came to a Y junction, where there was a road sign directing motorists to turn right. We drove about 15 kilometers until we got to the town proper of Rosario. There was a slight build up of traffic leading to the junction with a Jollibee store on the left side. We went straight past the junction, turned right at the end of the road and ended up a few meters before the arc going to the Batangas Racing Circuit. We followed the main road which veered to the left and drove straight for about 8 kilometers before we reached San Juan.

Welcome to San Juan, Batangas :)

Laiya to Sariaya

The girls just didn't want to go home yet and wanted to extend. But the all the resorts were already fully-booked and we didn't have a place to stay. HB made some other arrangements to placate the girls.

So we found ourselves driving a little farther south to the town of Sariaya in Quezon. From the Laiya road junction in San Juan, we turned right and headed for Candelaria.

road from San Juan in Batangas to Candelaria in Quezon

We cruised for about 15 kilometers before reaching the town of Candelaria on the Maharlika Highway. Upon reaching the intersection, we turned right again to get to Sariaya. About 8 kilometers later, we turned right again on a narrower road leading to Barangay Guis-guis.

picturesque tree-lined countryside road marred by campaign posters

We traversed this road for about 12 kilometers more before reaching our second beach resort for the day. 

(More about the Dalampasigan Beach Resort on a separate post)    ;)

Road Trip: Baguio-Aritao Road

From Baguio, our next destination was Cabanatuan. The regular route was to head on down to Pangasinan via Kennon Road or Marcos Highway, turn left in Rosales and pass by the towns of Cuyapo, Guimba and Talavera. Travel time was about 3 hours when we took this route a couple of years back.

But due to our wanderlust, we wanted to take a different route this time and my boss had been reading and talking about this other road. And so we excitedly took the Baguio-Aritao Road which is a more circuitous route.

We started our journey at 10:20 am when we left the hotel in Baguio, headed down to Pacdal Circle, and turned on Ambuklao Road.

After about an hour, we saw the Ambuklao Dam. We stopped for a short break and took some shots.

The Ambuklao Dam spillway

The Ambuklao Dam

We proceeded on and passed by a fork on the road: the left one leading to Bocod (which leads to the Halsema Highway going to Banawe and Sagada) and the Mt. Pulag National Park (jump off point for mountaineers) and the right road leading to Kayapa. We took the higher road on the right and continued on.

After about 30 minutes, we stopped to check our bearings and got out of the car. As soon as I stepped out, I noticed the scent of pine. It was so surreal.

Forty-five minutes later, we reached the town of Kayapa, the first town of Nueva Vizcaya (coming from Baguio). But the road trip was far from over and we trudged on more winding roads.

After one more hour, we reached the Maharlika Highway and turned right on the junction. Total travel time for the 104-kilometer highway was three hours and fifteen minutes.

From this point on, we had to crawl several times along the National Highway due to the many road menaces called tricycles. We traversed through the towns of Aritao and Sta. Fe. By this time, it was already close to 2:00 pm so we decided to stop to take our lunch on a roadside eatery.

Then we continued on. We climbed up the winding road that is the Dalton Pass.

going up the Dalton Pass

Many portions of the road were not good. Buses expertly navigated this zigzag road while trucks with extremely heavy loads crawled.

Upon reaching the top, I was on the look out for the Dalton Pass marker. After a few more meters, this marker came into sight.

Road marker separating the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija

view from the top of Dalton Pass

going down the Dalton Pass

Several minutes later, we reached flat plains and saw vast rice fields. Nueva Ecija, after all, is known to be the "rice granary" of the Philippines. We continued on and passed by the towns of San Jose, Munoz and Talavera.

It was past 5:00 pm when we finally reached Cabanatuan City.

sunset on Barangay Arcadia in Cabanatuan City

The view of the sunset was a befitting conclusion to our road trip. Though the travel time was longer, I must say that it was worth it because the journey was, indeed, very rewarding for the senses.

On The Road Once More

I'm here right now where the air is cool and pine trees abound.

The Malabrigo Lighthouse (Faro de Punta de Malabrigo)

From the Andrea Beach Resort, we took a 15-minute drive to get to the southernmost tip of Lobo to take a glimpse of the Malabrigo Point Lighthouse.

The drive was mostly on narrow winding roads along the coast of Lobo. The view of the deep blue sea was simply breathtaking.

As with most lighthouses, the Malabrigo Lighthouse sits on top of a hill. This particular parola (the Filipino word for lighthouse) is situated on top of a cliff overlooking the Verde Island Passage in between Batangas and the island of Mindoro.

A short climb on a steep winding unpaved road leads to a glorious sight. True to the words of Rosanna Harper Alonso, editor of Faro de Malabrigo: Story of a Philippine Lighthouse,

"... the lighthouse looked like a grand lady dressed in her white finery. Under a blue and cloudless sky, she was a striking structure surrounded by an ocean aura of romance."

Built in 1896 during the Spanish colonial period, the lighthouse has been declared as a national historical landmark. It is one of the only 24 remaining lighthouses which date back to the Spanish era.

Below the cliff, the sight of clear blue water was awesome.

Sea below the cliff of Malabrigo Point in Lobo, Batangas

Of course we didn't leave without getting our souvenir shot.

Mi tres ninas en Faro de Punta de Malabrigo

Andrea Beach Resort in Lobo, Batangas

Lobo, Batangas is a not so popular beach destination but that's where our barkada ended up last Thursday. Getting to Lobo was an adventure in itself. Google provided very little and vague information about Lobo. The website of Andrea Beach Resort (where we stayed) said that the resort is 45 minutes away from Batangas City. In reality, it was about an an hour and a half drive of mostly winding (read: zigzag) and unpaved (read: rough) road traversing Mount Liguayen.

The resort had very basic amenities. But the best thing was that the rates were very reasonable. They had air-conditioned rooms ranging from Php 1,500 to 3,500. Best of all, they allow guests to bring in and cook their own food for a minimal corkage fee. The resort owner's daughter who manages the resort and the local staff were all very pleasant.

The resort also offers dive packages. Boat rides to dive and snorkeling sites could easily be arranged with the local boatmen.

The beach was rocky but the water was crystal clear. Aqua shoes are a must. We laughed our heads off as we recounted that while we arranged for the reservations, we were told over the phone that the sand was neither white nor black. Indeed, there was very little sand!

But the sun and sea were picturesque.

That, coupled with good company make for a nice getaway.

this photo is courtesy of DH

Road Trip to Laoag

Our last business trip took us on a road trip to Laoag. It was sort of unexpected, as the original plan was for us to leave Monday night. However, due to conflicting schedules, we left Manila last Thursday night and drove to Laoag for 10 hours.

We reached the Fort Ilocandia Hotel at 5am on Friday. I was the only girl in our group and got my own room:

We freshened up and proceeded to a breakfast meeting at the hotel. After about an hour or so, I rested for 30 minutes and we were off again to another meeting. I was finally able to get some much needed zzzzzz's at 4pm until about dinner time at 8pm. Our group retired early for the night.

I woke up early on Saturday morning, with the sun just about to set. I opened the curtains and saw this view:

I stepped out to the veranda and took advantage of the tranquility.

After breakfast, I was able to take a few shots:

and take a quick look at the mini zoo:

Fort Ilocandia Hotel is highly recommended for families. There is everything for everyone here. No one will surely get bored. They have numerous facilities and offer various activities ranging from archery, billiards, shooting range, paintball, horseback riding, all terrain vehicle and even hot air balloon riding. They also have a casino and 2 different bars inside the property. Their golf course is located about 10 minutes away.

(Shameless plug: The hotel now offers free WiFi access to their guests.)

That afternoon, we took a short drive to Paoay

and had a late lunch at Herencia Cafe, which is right across the famous Paoay Church. The restaurant has an old Filipino ambiance, with antique wooden furniture. What caught my attention was that some of the table legs were actually that of antique sewing machines. We ordered the restaurant's Ilocandia Pasta and Ilocandia Pizza. The pasta was so-so, but I loved the thin crust pizza topped with slices of Ilocos longganisa

Herencia Cafe also serves the famous Pinakbet Pizza, but our group wasn't brave enough to try it, haha.

We went back to the hotel in time for another meeting. Afterwards, we were all drained and homesick. We had a couple of beers that night and ordered Crispy Pata for pulutan.

On Sunday morning, we finalized the renegotiated deal and fine details. We checked out of the hotel at 11am. We were finally going home!

A road trip to Ilocos would not be complete without a stop to Vigan

We had empanada and okoy for lunch

I also bought Vigan Longganisa and Royal Bibingka as pasalubong for my girls.

To avoid the traffic in San Fernando, La Union, we took a diversion road which winded just before the turn to Poro Point on the other side of the road. Our next stop for a quick cigarette break was on the side of the road somewhere in La Union

We made another stop in Rosario, La Union to gas up and stretch our legs. We decided to stick to the National Highway rather than take the alternate route in Pangasinan as it was getting dark. Luckily, Urdaneta in Pangasinan was not congested with traffic. For dinner, we stopped in Caltex along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). We were shocked with all the people who were there. The parking lots and restaurants were all full. We wanted to dine at Razon's but the line was too long and there were no vacant tables. We settled for Kenny Roger's Roasters instead. Because we were all homesick, we lamented that the other people were about to end their weekend while ours were just about to start ... boohoo.

I finally got home at 11pm. It was a 12 hour trip back.