Our Little Popy's Jampacked 5-day Vacation: Day 1 at Llorin Farm, Nawawalang Paraiso and Kamayan sa Palaisdaan

by - 12:51 AM

My parents came home to the Philippines last May 5th from Oman. Everything's fast-paced and we are very preoccupied when they're around. Luckily, as I have already given birth, we were able to join them in their trip.

We traveled to Lucban, Quezon for the Pahiyas Festival. It's an annual festivity filled with vibrant-colored houses designed with the families' produce.This is my fourth time to visit the festival because our family used to live in the next town, which is Tayabas. For Khale and Gab, it was their first and, of course, that's always exciting.

Day 1: May 14, 2016

We left Makati at 5 AM and reached Tayabas at 11 AM. We were a group of 7 (Mama and Papa, my younger sister and her boyfriend, and my little family). Normally, it would have taken 3 hours considering that we had a private car that time. There was so much traffic in the Laguna and Batangas area, so it took us 6 hours even after using bypass roads twice.

The majority of the gang: My sister's eyes, me and my Popy, mama, and my husband at the back.
Photo credit: Joza Nada


My sister, again, her boyfriend and papa. As you can see, we're wacky types. We got it from him.
Photo credit: Joza Nada

Bypass road. I mean, who wouldn't fall in love with this view?

Our first stop was my maternal grandmother's farm. To get there, we needed to walk, maybe, 500 meter or more inside a forest. Yes, a forest! It has been there for a very long time. It was where my mum and her siblings grew up; and where we have spent happy childhood memories that included New Year's Eve, Christmas Eve and monito monita, feeding chickens and running after them, feasting on lugaw and halo halo from my grandfather, waking up to cold foggy mornings, harvesting, fresh produce, eating freshwater shrimp from my grandfather's catch, and playing with ceramic pretend veggies and cookware.

On our way to the farmhouse. There's a concrete pathway (been there since we were kids) until halfway of the trek, and then we get to the beaten path the rest of the way.
Photo credit: Joza Nada

Our ancestral home is on the second floor. A tapayan welcomes you on the front porch. It's filled with rain water filtered by a cloth. It's used to get mud off your shoes or feet especially on the rainy days. The entire house is made of wood that we used to scrub with upli leaves as kids.

Here, you just need to shout to call the neighbors.

Front. My grandmother used some paintings to cover the balcony's missing rails.

Side.
The bit of extension pictured is called a batalan. There are random stuff there. It used to hold me or my sister before. One kid at a time. Yeah, we live life in the edge. Lol. The concrete back part is the toilet and bath. It was all bamboo when we were younger.


Entrance. That's my cousin and Popy.
One thing I love about the farm is the silong. I'm not sure how it's translated into English, but it's that space under the house. There used to be a chicken coop because my grandfather was a a big fan of cockfights and he kept his roosters there. He also had a wooden bed for when he comes home late. I can't imagine coming home late and having to go through a forest, but it happened. Right under the ceiling were bamboos that you can stick together and put a short hook at the end for getting coconuts. We have a place for bonfire, too, with the rocks and firewood, which we actually use. I cooked pansit there before.

Not from this trip, but here's the bonfire place. :)
It's quite comfy to sleep there, really.
And we have a hammock! Who doesn't like hammocks?

Le husband loving the farm life.

This is the house's balcony. We have a real dining room, but isn't it so much better to eat dinners here? The sides of the balcony used to have flower pots and a corner for the hen's nest.

The whole family enjoying lunch served in native plates.

Fresh coconut's everywhere. 360 degrees. You can have them anytime. The farm used to house star apple, banana and mango trees. Now, we only have a few pineapples, langka, calamansi, chico and mangosteen.



The woman of the house, my grandmother... Nanay Pita.


After a hearty lunch, we drove to Nawawalang Paraiso for a quick dip.

He cried in his vest, so we let him play in the pool without it.
Photo credit: Joza Nada
This made him happy though.



This was at Kamayan sa Palaisdaan. When we still had a house in Quezon, we frequent this restaurant. It's known for the floating bamboo cottages on the fishpond serving Filipino food. However, we didn't bother taking photos of the food when it came, because it came too late. We waited half an hour for someone to come to us to get our order and more than an hour for our food to be served. It rained that night, and the waiters kept making the excuse that they didn't have umbrellas. How awful that they're not ready for such.

So I had an umbrella, which my uncle borrowed so he could fetch the waiter. :( I'm sorry Palaisdaan. You broke our hearts here.



This didn't ruin the whole vacay, of course. More on the trip in the next posts!

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19 comments

  1. You are blessed to have a place to go to during vacation and special occasions. This is what we want for our children, kaya lang Manila girl at boy na kami ni hubby. I like the house, tapayan, the duyan, the green and everything about life in the province. Pwede ba maki bisita minsan?

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    1. Pwedeng pwede! We love entertaining friends in the farm. Easier pa ngayon kasi my sister got our grandma a cellphone. We can just contact her when we're coming.

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  2. OMG I suddenly missed our house on the farm. That's about 30-1hr travel from the town. Then we needed to trek also and climb up and down a hill for about an hour before reaching the farm. Our house there is surrounded by fruit bearing trees. Reading your post, parang I want to visit our house on the farm, too. :)

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  3. I love hammock, too! and so cute of your little man to know what he wants (the gir lstatue with flowers) and doesnt (the orange vest). And I love buko as well. Ihihi. Its really nice to have province to visit or jsut any place to visit very away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

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    1. Haha! Naku mummy berlin, my dad was the one holding popy from behind. The boy statue was too big for popy's head daw kaya they had the photo op sa girl. He has a more kawawang photo in the orange vest. This is more subtle. Haha.

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  4. Ahh I love the province life. If I could, I would definitely choose the province life. Love your house, btw! :)

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  5. I haven't explored Quezon, I think the only place I visited in Quezon is Villa Escudero. hehehe! We tried the Kamayan sa Palaisdaan in Laguna, not sure kung same owner din sa Quezon.

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  6. I also love the province life, the last I visited was in La Union at my friend's house. No traffic and peaceful talaga.

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  7. Wow, jampacked indeed! I've never been to Quezon but at this moment, I'm listing Luzon destinations that I haven't been to before. Perhaps it's time to pay Quezon a visit!

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    Replies
    1. The famous Borawan (no pun intended, lol) and Cagbalete islands are there. Do visit. :)

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  8. oh, the good, simple and quiet life in the province! Takes me back to my childhood and high school days.

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  9. I miss visiting my relatives in Province. That fresh air, and old house. I find peace whenever I go to our Province.

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  10. You are so blessed to have a province to go to. Parang ang sarap magunwind there and just go back to basics as you enjoy time with your family.

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  11. Feeling nostalgic seeing your photos leading to the farmhouse. I miss the province feel that I used to frequent summers of my childhood. Love the house, too. I remember wanting to have a house just like that when I was a kid. MY grandparents had one. Grabe 5 hours ang biyahe. Is that with heavy traffic or light?

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    1. Heavy traffic. SIgh. Because it was supposedly just 3 hours minus the heavy traffic. Medyo modern na nga si house now with the cement bathroom. Haha. Dati kawayan lang.

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  12. The hustle and bustle can get tiring. Would be great to have a home in the province to go to where you can relax and detox from social media.

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  13. The view on the road is quite picturesque. Road trips are fun but traffic kind of makes me want to just stay home.

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  14. What a great adventure to experience with your little one. I'm sure he'll love it even more when he gets older. We no longer have an ancestral house in the province. You're very lucky that you do.

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  15. I love going home to our province too. Na miss ko tuloy luto ng mga antie ko because of your post.

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