Villa Escudero, a Taste of the “Old Philippines” and More

Every so often, I would play host to some foreign work colleagues who come to visit the Philippines.  I have toured them around the old Manila, and have also hiked the Taal Volcano a number of times with them.  However, it was only recently that I have visited Villa Escudero, and found that it would be a another good option to introduce the Philippines, its music and dances, its culture and history, the Filipino food, and a typical, beautiful riverside, all in one. 

Our family visited Villa Escudero during the Christmas break and both adults and kids loved it.  I have booked the day tour online, and for a regular price of Php1,600, one gets to enjoy a number of activities plus a Filipino buffer lunch, on the river itself, and by the waterfalls. Children 7 years old and below, and senior citizens enjoy discounts.  

We arrived at 10 am and proceeded to the big kiosk where the counter is.  As it is Christmas break, the place is booked, and I was glad to have booked online in advance.  We were given a welcome drink, and the stubs for the museum, carabao ride, and the buffet lunch. Between 2-3 pm, guests may watch the cultural show (included in the day tour fee of Php1,600).  Guests also get free access to the pool.  For extra fee, guests may also enjoy fishing and boating. 

We first visited the museum, which is a pink replica of a church from Spanish time.  It looked small at the outside, but once inside, I was impressed with the number and variety of the family collection, some of which are 300 years old or so.  I particularly liked the antique retablos, or the altars displays from very old churches.  These are really, really old and very precious because of its gold trimmings.  Of course there are antique sculptures of saints, and antique church items such us bishop’s chair, baptismal stand and the same.  There are also the prayle's clothes, some with golden thread, letters from the Spanish time and also anting-anting  (or talismans and amulets) worn by some in the olden days.There are also the clothes worn by the past presidents and first ladies of the Philippines.  We did take a lot of time exploring the museum.

The museum is a replica of a typical old church.

My niece and nephew were thrilled with the ride on a carabao-driven cart. carabao. It’s their first. All the way from the “carabao” stop to the  drop off point near the waterfalls, the passengers are serenaded with old Filipino songs (or what is known as harana).

The carabao-drawn cart ride

The buffet lunch is by the Labasin Waterfalls Restaurant , which -was packed when we got there.  We did have a hard time looking for a table, but a staff assisted us.  The lunch tables are right on the river, with feet soaked in running water. It is shallow, and very clear, so no worries.  Nephew and niece enjoyed getting not only their feet wet, but had fun splashing a bit of water at their dad. Lunch included different kinds of ensaladas, soup, grilled pork, grilled tilapia, kaldereta, camote cue and watermelon, among others, and are eaten with bare hands (chopsticks are available, though). Juices and sodas are charged extra.  After lunch, my nephew and his cousin Kyla enjoyed the waterfalls while mom, enjoyed her buko (young coconut) juice by the side of the waterfall.

The buffet table

After lunch, the kids went swimming by the pool, while mom and I had coffee.  Nephew also went river rafting.  By 2 PM, the cultural show started and we watched the song and dance performances. All the major regions in the Philippines are represented in the repertoire. The Islamic influence on the performances from the southern part of the Philippines is in stark contrast with the performances from the Visayan regions and Luzon, which mostly had Spanish influence, and of course the indigenous dance from Northern Luzon also stands out.  At the end of the presentation, we found that the performers are staffs of the resort, and their children or grandchildren.

Crafts given by the performers to my niece and mom during the presentation

The performers

After the performance, the kids went fishing, and nephew got his 2 fishes, which he returned back to the river.

Somebody wants her own catch!

We then rode the carabao-driven cart again on the way back to the parking lot.  The cart driver shared that Villa Escudero is now owned by the 3rd generation of the Escuderos, and they also belong to the 3rd generation of workers in the what used to be a 800 hectare hacienda. He also shared that the owners gave them, a total of 100 families, 300 square meters of land each inside the resort, where they live, and also cultivate some crops. Compared to how land owners in the Philippines treat and manage their staffs, this is unusual…and nice. No wonder I did not see a single grumpy staff in Villa Escudero and everybody was friendly and nice.

By 5 PM, we were ready to go home. We had to brave the typical San Pablo traffic, and reached home by 10:30!  But, it was a long, happy, and nostalgic day at the Villa Escudero!


How to get to Villa Escudero.

Villa Escudero is located in Tiaong, Quezon, and very close to the border of San Pablo, Laguna. 

• Take the SLEX (South Luzon Express Way)
• Exit at 50A (Lucena, Batangas, Legaspi exit)
• Turn left at Sto Tomas junction
• Drive straight, following the highway.  You will pass by the towns of Alaminos and San Pablo.
• After the Quezon Province Boundary Arch, Villa Escudero is immediately to the left . You will be driving along a dirt road, leading to Villa Escudero.

Calinawan Cave, Tanay, Rizal

I have never heard of Calinawan Cave, until my 8 year old nephew, who is into outdoor activities now, planned to do some trekking and caving.

Calinawan cave is in Tanay, which is but an hour ride away from home.  We headed to Daranak Falls, which is the jump off point.  There were way too many people at Daranak Falls during holy week, and we reminded ourselves never to go there again during Holy Week.  We wanted to back-out, but nephew prevailed (of course). 

The good thing is, most of the people there only wanted to be by the falls- and were not interested in the cave.  We signed up for the trekking and cave tour at the booth, which is a few meters away from the entrance to the falls. The guide showed us the trail to the cave, which is a 30 to 45 minutes uphill trek.

And he just keeps on going...and going..and going..and going...

We reached the cave- and there was a kiosk where we hired another guide to the cave.  The cave tour is run by the descendants of the person who discovered it. It was discovered during the Spanish colonial time and the family has donated it to the government, but the government is not acting on it so until then, they will continue to run the tours to the cave.

The cave is not impressive at the outside.  It looked like a mound of unimpressive stones with a small opening.  The guide lent us flashlights and we went down the opening.  

But we were surprised how big it is inside. We found ourselves in a big hall and the guide shared with us how the cave was discovered by his ancestor. Calinawan cave was where the Americans and Filipinos secretly meet during the Spanish-American war.  It was where they “settled” (nagcalinawan) and signed off on the details of their agreements. Another account says that here is where the Filipinos realized (nalinawan) that they wanted to be a free people. The guerillas hid there during the World War 2, and so did the 200 Japanese before they were cornered by the Filipinos and American soldiers. 

At the mouth of the cave

Inside the caves, there are different rock and stalactite/stalagmite formations.  (I'm sure there will be a lot more if you let your imagination run wild). At the entrance is the eerie looking face which the guide calls as “The Face”. It stands at the entrance like the guardian of the cave. 

The Face..up close

The Face

Further is a big column, of course called "The Column". "When the stalactite/stalagmite meet, they form the column". This one took millions of years to form.

Our guide by The Column

To the right of The Column is The TRex. 

The mighty T-Rex

Further up, is the beautiful and impressive Grotto. It does look like the scene of the apparition of The Lady.

The Grotto

There is also The Curtain and another which looked like an aquarium.  Beside the aquarium is The Volcano. 

By The Curtain

The Volcano eruption

And of course, this hole the shape of a heart, which the guide jokingly calls as The "May Forever".

Yes...Forever exists..

Guests can explore levels 1, 2,3 and 4 of the cave .  There is a level 5 where the bats live.  We had children with us, so we opted only for levels 1 and 2- which took us more than 30 minutes to explore. 

What used to be bat caves..before they got disturbed by people and they had to move to the lower levels of the cave. 

And finally.. The Exit

After the cave, we met with our first guide and did the river trekking- which was a lot of fun for my nephew. 

It was a fun day-despite the heat.  My nephew and 1 year old niece survived (and enjoyed) their first cave experience.  Looking forward to more outdoor activities with these two!

So long Asterix :)

There are some things which makes you realize that you're getting older.  Such as turning over your comic books collection to your 7 year old nephew :).

I have met and known Asterix when I was in Germany in 1992  (23 years ago!).  It was originally a French comics book about a village of Gauls resisting the Roman invasion.  It was and is popular in Europe and is translated to different languages.  The Asterix books I have borrowed in a library near Parforceheide Street in Berlin was in German language and it helped me a lot when I was learning the language back then.

Since then I have fallen in love with the little guy called Asterix, his sidekick Obelix and the cute pup called Dogmatix.  They are fun to read, I love the wit and they are bad asses. Plus, I learned some about the lives of the ancient Gauls.  

When I came back to the Philippines in 1993, I was so happy to see Asterix books in National Bookstore.  Through the years, I have been buying them, and I had a collection of the different albums.

When my nephew was 2 or 3 years old, he took them all- he just liked looking at the comic books. His dad returned them back to me because he could not read yet.

Now that he's seven and loves reading books,  I introduced Asterix to him again.  And he got hooked. He asked for all the books again. And here is the last 3 of my Asterix books, which I have just turned over to him. 

Last 3......

It feels good to share something you love to someone you love.  But it feels weird ....it's like turning over a "legacy".  Oh well....goodbye old guy, Asterix!  Miggy will take good care of you and your gang. 

P.S.  Here's the list of all the Asterix books available:

1. Asterix the Gaul (1961) 

2. Asterix and the Golden Sickle (1962) 

3. Asterix and the Goths (1963) 

4. Asterix the Gladiator (1964) 

5. Asterix and the Banquet (1965) 

6. Asterix and Cleopatra (1965)

7. Asterix and the Big Fight (1966) 

8. Asterix in Britain (1966) 

9. Asterix and the Normans (1966) 

10. Asterix the Legionary (1967) 

11. Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield (1968) 

12. Asterix at the Olympic Games (1968)

13. Asterix and the Cauldron (1969) 

14. Asterix in Spain (1969) 

15. Asterix and the Roman Agent (1970) 

16. Asterix in Switzerland (1970) 

17. The Mansions of the Gods (1971)

18. Asterix and the Laurel Wreath (1972) 

19. Asterix and the Soothsayer (1972) 

20. Asterix in Corsica (1973) 

21. Asterix and Caesar's Gift (1974) 

22. Asterix and the Great Crossing (1975) 

23. Obelix and Co. (1976) 

24. Asterix in Belgium (1979) 

25. Asterix and the Great Divide (1980)

26. Asterix and the Black Gold (1981) 

27. Asterix and Son (1983) 

28. Asterix and the Magic Carpet (1987) 

29. Asterix and the Secret Weapon (1991) 

30. Asterix and Obelix All at Sea (1996) 

31. Asterix and the Actress (2001) 

32. Asterix and the Class Act (2003) 

33. Asterix and the Falling Sky (2005) 

34. Asterix and Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book (2009)

35. Asterix and the Picts (2013)

Mama's 70th :)

Mama just had her 70th birthday. She does not like parties - and she does not like surprises. But we were able to pull off a surprise birthday party for her (ha! :) ).

It took almost 2 months of preparation: scouting for the perfect venue (should be casual, because that is how she is), looking for and inviting her close relatives, dress codes, give aways and making sure she does not have a clue.

After looking at several hotels and places, we settled for Vikings, a buffet place in SM Marikina. It is very casual. They have good and massive selection of food. They have a function room, which we can decorate (adhesives not allowed). They have free birthday cake, and staffs to sing for the celebrant. They are in a mall, which makes them very accessible to everyone and which ensures there is parking space for the guests. So...Vikings it was. The people who matter most to her were coming: us (which means me, my brothers, sisters in law, nephew and niece), her brother and sister in law, nephews and nieces (there were even those who traveled 12 hours to celebrate with us), her cousin  and his family, and my brothers' in laws who are like family to us. We agreed to wear all collared shirts , of different colors. It is a happy occasion and we wanted it to be colorful. We got Marks and Spencers tea,as give aways. 

All set.   

On the day of the event, I rushed to the flower shop at 5:30 am to get some flowers for the center piece decorations.  I was done arranging the flowers by 8:30 (which I hid in my bedroom), just few minutes before Mama and brother arrived in my house. We had a problem figuring out how to load the give aways and the flowers in the car. Luckily, she fell asleep, and we literally tip toed to get the stuffs from my room and load them in the car. 

The centerpiece

The give aways

When we got to the mall, I had coffee with Mama- while my brother and his girlfriend did the decoration in the function room of Vikings. They also ushered the guests to the function room. All along, Mom thought she was only having dinner with the family. She was so shocked to see her relatives and friends in the room when we walked in (or when I walked in because she was unable to take another step when she saw them) :).  It was one of her happiest and that made us very happy.

Family.

It was a good night of fun and laughter and lot of catching up (there are those who she has not seen for more than a decade).  Mama is now 70 years old, and happy 70 year old.  

I realized how lucky we are that our Mama is blessed with good health, good humor and good outlook in life. I realized how comforting it is to have her to share my problems with, to share my little victories, and to have someone to just share with, whatever happened during the day .   And, I am proud to have a 70 year old Mom who loves playing games on her iPad- a habit she developed because she wanted to be able to keep up with her grandchildren, her way of showing them how much she loves them.