Epic trip to Lobo, Batangas

Rochie: Ate Madie, let's go to the beach!
Madie: When?
Rochie: On Thursday!
Madie: Go!

And so on a warm Thursday morning, drove off with Trisha and Marco to Lobo (the same group who visited Burot Beach last year). Our destination was Lobo, Batangas. But since it was a Maundy Thursday, we were expecting a long drive because of the traffic jams from Sta Cruz, Laguna to the STAR Tollway. Just getting out of Sta Cruz was a challenge because vehicles going to Pagsanjan were choking both northbound and southbound lanes of the Pan-Philippine Highway (AH26). Once we've escaped that jam, were slowed down again on AH26 by vehicles queuing (and counter-flowing) towards Tiaong, Quezon. Looks like the city people were moving to the provinces en masse!

We finally escaped the traffic jam when we entered the STAR Tollway, and that was just an extremely quick trip from Sto Tomas to Batangas City. From there, Waze guided us through the long, narrow, and winding road of Taysan, Batangas. And when I say long and winding, I had nothing but sharp and steep hairpin turns overlooking cliffs for an hour! There was absolutely no beach in sight! It's as if the beach were right behind the mountains! I compare this road to Kennon Road's zigzag turns... only narrower!

And indeed it was! Four hours of traffic jams and zigzag roads that challenged my driving skills and we were finally at the famed beach of Lobo!!!


Was it worth the road trip drive? Definitely! The sand was so fine and there was no trash in sight! The water was so calm that it's not intimidating for small kids and for non-swimmers. I just couldn't get enough of that view: Isla Verde and Oriental Mindoro so close that I feel I could actually swim to them! It's not everyday I see a sight like that!

Be warned: the resorts are underdeveloped and so the road going there had rough patches. That's not necessarily a bad thing because the beach doesn't have (yet) the commercial feel of the better known beaches frequented by urbanites. 

I thought that I had seen the best this stretch of Batangas coast had to offer ... until sunset came. Suddenly, there was a hush in the beach crowd as camera- and mobile phone-toting individuals paused to capture the sunset in their gadgets. Though the sun set behind the mountains, the colours were just awesome! If I had questions before, now I'm sure: summer had definitely arrived. Just look at that sunset!

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

Image
On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Read more