Romancing Cagbalete

Finally… After numerous plans of going to Quezon and some of the islands within Quezon my dream has finally come true.

The island of Cagbalete rests east of Quezon Province, along Lamon Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This property provides just the ideal spot for a hideaway: lush coconut plantation, crystal-clear waters, white sand… plus it gives one just the most breathtaking view of the sunrise. Of course, my paranoia was completely  unfounded. Yes, I maintain that Cagbalete Island is mysterious and strangely beautiful, but underneath all the enigma, it  really is just a beautiful quiet island inhabited by peaceful and friendly people. Cagbalete Island is nothing but the perfect getaway from the hassles of urban living. Practically an undiscovered paradise, this unchartered island will surely capture both the young and young-at-heart, adventurous, and nature-loving city-dwellers. Cagbalete Island does not have the busy bars and restaurants and high end resorts but its simple and natural beauty may just be its main attraction.

My to-do list when in the island is plain and simple: when the sun is up, go bask in the golden sunshine on the island's terrific beach; on high tide,  swim or dive on its amazing clear blue waters; on low tide, walk barefooted on sandbars that seem endless and unrelenting; or, when you are tired, just sit back, relax,  feel the island's cool summer breeze  and just stare at the amazing landscape.

  

I Catch the bus going to Lucena City. Went early to Cubao/Kamias Station and take the first trip which is at 4:00 a.m to Lucena Grand Terminal. Travel time is approximately 4 hours (including traffic and passenger pick-up along the way since the bus leaves at exactly 3:00 a.m at the terminal regardless of the number of passengers who boarded). Fare Cost is around Php218. 

At the Lucena Grand Terminal Station, I take the bus bound to Mauban. It's a non-aircon bus, more like a mini-bus. Travel time is one(1) hour. Fare is P54.00. The bus is located very close to where JAC/JAM Bus will drop you off. I also take my first meal of the day.

The 1-hour-long drive will take you  through a long stretch of Quezon's scenic views of  lush-green environment and lush coconut plantation.

Upon reaching the Mauban Terminal,  take a tricycle (P9.00) to  "bayan" or the wet market where you can  buy  provisions for you island trip, before heading to the next stop.

From the wet market, I walk to "pantalan" (around 5 minutes). It's hard to miss. The statue is going to be your landmark. When you see this statue, just walk toward the direction the statue is facing. That's "pantalan" or Mauban port. Make sure to be at the "pantalan" before 10:00 a.m. Public boat only travels twice a day. 10:00 a.m and 4:00 p.m. Boat fare is P40.00 and travel time is less than an hour.

A few meter's away from Cagbalete Island, from the main boat,  you disembark onto a smaller boat that will bring you Sabang Port.

At Sabang Port, locals will approach you and offer  their services to take you to the resorts in Cagbalete. There are only three resorts on this island, Villa Cleofas, Pansacola Resort, and MVT Sto. Nino. Boat fare going straight from Sabang Port to Villa Cleofas (which is on the opposite side on Sabang port) is P300.If you find the boat fare too expensive, just walk. Simply ask the local kids to guide you and pay them atleast P40. It's a 1.4km hike (around 20 minutes of leisurely walk under scorching heat).

Where To Stay:

Villa Cleofas -   0919 220-5000

Pansacola Beach Resort -   0928 505-8633

MVT Sto. Nino -   0921 727-5398 

Villa Cleofas

The room I got at Villa Cleofas is a complete room. It costs P1500 a night, good for 4 pax. No aircon, no fan. Pretty basic accommodation. Electricity runs from 6:00p.m - 1 a.m. Bring your own food as Villa Cleofas do not have a restaurant, you cant ask them to cook food for you as well unlike other resorts. In my case, i just brought canned goods and asked the resort to cook the rice I brought with me. I  paid P50.

Amenities are pretty basic. The water is really shallow even on hightide. The view of the beach on lowtide is spectacular.

Going out of the island

Only two trips of public boats are available going out of the island of Cagbalete. 8:00a.m and 1:00 p.m. I Take the 8:00 a.m boat ride and make sure to be there before 8:00 am as the boat can fill out quickly.

It is certainly different from Boracay and Puerto Galera, where nightlife and abundance of people and entertainment are the highlights. Also very different from regular beaches where all you get is sand and water. Cagbalete Island is something else. It's quiet, you get to commune with nature, here time takes a slow turn and you can enjoy the peace and quiet.

SEPTEMBER 09-10, 2011

ETD

ETA

EXPENSES

JAC Liner (Kamias , Quezon City )

4:00 AM

7:00 AM

P 218

Breakfast at Jollibee (chicken with spaghetti and extra rice )

7:00 AM

7:45 AM

P 199

NCR Bus ( going to Mauban )

8:00 AM

9:15 AM

P 54

Minute Made ( Orange Juice )

P 55

Boat fare

11:00 AM

12:15 AM

P 40

Room at the resorts

P 1500

Uling

P 20

Pasaing

P 20

Boat fare

8:00 AM

9:00 AM

P 40

Tricycle fare

P 9

Van fare

9:30 AM

10:00 AM

P 60

Breakfast at Jollibee (chicken with spaghetti and extra rice )

P 165

JAC Liner (Kamias , Quezon City )

10:30 AM

2:00 PM

P 218

Total Expenses

P 2598

Team Gay Team Building..

WHAT : Team Gay Team Building

WHEN : August 26-27, 2011

WHERE : Femar Resort , Antipolo

Team building was reschedule numerous times since some couldn’t make it and fortunately the right date has come . August 25-26, 2011.

It was a morning full of excitement. At last, the day of our long awaited and carefully planned team building had arrived. The weather was not as you would wish it to be when you are headed swimming (It was raining). Most of us just came from our night shifts and we haven’t slept as well (I’m one of them) yet it didn’t do anything to impede our high spirits.

From what I know our call time was 3 in the afternoon. Right from work, went home then headed to jollibee market-market and waited for our other colleagues to arrive while enjoying the food together with Jizelle, neri and her son Karl. Rio and jim already arrived but we're still stuck in jollibee because our sundo EMS arrived late ( hehehehe ). Of all the people to be late huh? It’s kinda annoying (kc makapal ang mukha nmn , nakikihits na lang )  but things like that wouldn’t really matter much when you’re with people who are so fun to be with. It’s 5:30 pM when EMS and Joey arrived. We got into their van, Thanks so much Ems and Joey for the free ride. And before I knew it, we’re already traveling the stretch of C5, then we're in Antipolo. It was two and a half hours travel but I never got bored because I’m so sleepy.

Never the less, this is the team building I surely will never forget ( ganda kc ng eksena ni mau  and syempre she will never, never forget this date). A lot of fun,new drinking buddies, the never ending stories, laughter, laughters and a great bonding.

Doing TARAK dayhike the right way...

Mt. Mariveles (Tarak Ridge) AUGUST 13, 2011

It was raining cats and dogs last weekend, two low pressure areas was reported around the Philippine sea with a chance to be a tropical storm and Theo was rush to the hospital 2 days ago. Because of this, i was already on the brink of cancelling joining the trip to Mt. Mariveles (Tarak Ridge). But when one of my friends friend who lives in Balanga reported that it is only  minimal rain there and Rochelle confirmed Theo is doing ok, me , myself and I decided to proceed and join the climb organize by master and bossing JC Batayola.

Because of last minute decision wasnt able to prepare the things i need to bring for this climb.
We took the Genesis bus bound to Mariveles Bataan. JC , Jackie and the rest of the group meet-up in Buendia, which is the meeting place for the gang. I decided to wait in Balintawak to avoid the hassle of going south and will do north at a later time. I, Miles and Kenneth waited for the Bus in Balintawak around 2:30 AM. The trip was about 3-4 hours depending on traffic, but since its early dawn no need to worry about traffic .took dinner at Chowking , having siopao and chao pan.
Jump-off starts at Barangay Alas-asin. Here, registration is required and you need to pay P40 at the barangay hall. A bit expensive but this includes a bath before going back to manila after climbing.
I had been hearing good reviews of tarak ridge from the mountaineering coummunity, and even from my friends. And I guess it didnt just lived to my expectations but exceeds it.

After getting through barangay Alas-asin you enter the reforested part of the mountain.  The next part of the trek you will be greeted with rich and maybe untouched forest. Large trees, several insects and you can even hear monkeys howling maybe to mate or mark their territories. We were even able to see a huge waterfall from a distance. After a few hours you will rich papaya river. You may opt to camp here and go for the summit early morning the next day, but since we are only doing a dayhike we stayed at papaya river for roughly 2 hrs . We take our lunch here but since i forgot my food jackie, miles, kenneth and me share our baon (pandesal, pineapple chunks (from my bag)). Most of the Gang is eating their lunch and were there to watch them eating thier food. Its really is nice to dip at the crystal clear water, so i decided to take a dip while Miles take his chance of swimming in the cold floating water.Then after 30 mins its time to go to reach the summit before 1 pm.

After papaya, the hard part. 1-2 hours of complete assualt. Its a good thing that tree roots are plenty on the trail, or else its really is gonna be slippery. We reached the summit by 1 pm, luckily there is a campsite were the trees are blocking the winds. Tarak ridge is well known for its strong winds in the summit. Rest of the group is not yet 100% sure if we are going to take the summit. After 10 mins of rest we then take the summit.After almost 2 hrs of assult we reached the summit, not sure if we were able to conquer the other peak since we also pass the kiss the wall part going to the other peak. Here is the nerve racking part since we have first timers with us doing this climb.

At 4 pm we started our descend. I was very happy with this climb that I promise myself to comeback again but with a different weather. Ill say it again, this mountain didnt just lived to my expectations but exceeds it. I decided to take the shower not in barangay hall but on the shower for pay in one of the few first houses on the foot of the mountain, staying there for more than an hour makes the rest of the group worries.hahahaha... For the record.. sinundo kmi ng barangay.. yehey free ride going to barangay hall.

At 10 Pm were ready going home, waited for more than 1 hour for the bus at di dumating . We ended sleeping on the waitingshed. I forgot na bday pla ni jackie , greeted jackie a hapi-hapi bday and treated her don sa tapsilugan. Godbless my friend, hoping for more bdays 2 come.. See you on our next climb.