A Weekend in Batangas

(Photo Caption: Anilao beach scenery.)

Last weekend (June 30-July 1, 2007) I went to Batangas, a province south of Manila. From my condominium unit in Quezon City, I drove along the C5 road until to the South Superhighway. At the end of the South Superhighway in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, I took the STAR tollway. This highway leads to Lipa City. At the Tambo Exit, I made a u-turn to the road leading to Batangas City.

I had lunch in a old house in Bauan, Batangas, a town near Batangas City, the capital of Batangas province. This house is a wooden house full of antique furnitures and collections. It is inside a 900 sq meter property, and has a big garden. My host told me that the house was built in 1936 and was occupied by the Japanese army during the Second World War. {More about this in my next blog post :) }

In the afternoon I drove to Anilao, Batangas, a place famous for scuba diving and snorkeling. My host brought me to a resort called Agila. The condition of the water was not good at that time since the rainy season had already begun. I was enticed to take a dip; however, the water is a bit murky and there were lots of stones and coral bits which made swimming there very difficult. In fact, a number of resort guests were attacked by black sea urchins (including my host).

After our brief stay in the resort, we went back to the old house in Bauan.

The following day, I took a different route. From Bauan, I drove the town called Alitagtag, then to Sta. Teresita, and Taal, an old town in Batangas rich in heritage and history. I made a stop-over in a hotel-restaurant in Taal called Casa Cecilia. I was impressed by its interior and its garden setting.

From Taal, I drove to Balayan, then to Tagaytay City. From Tagaytay City, I drove to Silang, then to Dasmarinas. I made a right turn from Dasmarinas to the road leading to the South Superhighway. Along the way I made a left turn to the Paliparan-Zapote Road. I arrived in my house in Bacoor, Cavite in the afternoon.

(Draft: July 2, 2007)