A Salad of Beach Memories

I consider myself a very privileged person not because of worldly goods but of worldly experiences that I've had growing up in a beautiful country surrounded by countless pristine white sand beaches.

Boracay:






Dakak:






Pagudpud






We often associate a scent or a type of food that we eat with certain memories. For me, some of the happiest memories were collected from family outings at the beach and my honeymoon in Bohol.

I remember when my father was alive, he would often take us to the beach for the weekend in Batangas, Cavite and Quezon since they were the most accessible from Manila. At that time, there were no hotels, just simple nipa hut cottages. As a child, it did not matter to me. I was at the beach, swimming and having fun. As I grew older, started working and eventually got married, I would then explore the more exotic and beautiful beaches of the Philippines. But the memories of those simple childhood beach outings will always be special and cherished.

Nothing reminds more of the beach than eating Lato Salad. Lato is a type of local seaweed that looks like hundreds of minuscule grapes clustered together in one tiny branch. Lato is a true representation of the sea. The tiny grapes smell of the ocean, the taste is slightly salty, the texture, a little slippery. Each lato kernel that bursts in my mouth as I eat it, triggers a memory. A memory of my brother and cousins playing all day in the sand, our skins burned to a crisp, my father and I seated on the shore waiting for the waves to hit us and filling our bathing suits with clumps of sand, my lola in the middle of ankle-deep water in Matabungkay, my mom walking on the shore with my nephew, hubby and I walking hand in hand on the shores of Bohol, my tita teaching us to snorkel in the waters of Dakak. Each tiny little grape is a reminder of the happy times spent on the beach.

I remember also that my dad used to love eating Lato, he called it Aru-rusep and he would tell us that they were grapes from the sea and that they were very nutritious. We did not appreciate it when we were kids but now, I love eating lato, not just because of it's ocean-y taste but also for the memories that they evoke. Hubby loving it is just the icing on the cake.




Lato Salad (for 2)
(The lato must be prepared immediately after you buy it. It will not do well in the fridge.)

1/4 Kilo lato
1 small red onion, sliced thinly (optional)
1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
White distilled Vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

1. Be careful with handling lato for their bruise easily. wash the lato with cold or tap water, snip off the dark stems, leaving only the stems with the "grapes", drain well. Very carefully toss with cucumber, onions and tomatoes. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the vinegar, salt pepper and sugar. Mix well. Drizzle over the lato right before serving.

Now, wouldn't you want to evoke some beach memories too?

Road trip to Ilocos, Part 2: Into the deep

Our day started with the alarm going off at 6am. To take advantage of the empty beach for pictures. Hubby and I both said we'll sleep five minutes more. Five minutes turned to an hour.

At 7am, the beach was already teeming with people swimming and taking an early morning walk. Even Jay-jay beat us to the beach. He was already happily playing with his toy soldiers in the sand.


Here are some of the pictures from this morning's early beach romp:







The fourth photo was taken by my nephew Jay-jay.

After playing with the kids for a while, everyone was hungry. We all opted not to eat at our hotel since the food really sucks. We ate at Villa del Mar again and had the usual tocino, tapa and corned beef meal. Except for the tapa, everything was satisfactory.

We were itching to visit a small area that we've visited during our very first trip to Pagudpud many years ago. It's a mangroved area where the stream meets the sea and is accessible both by foot (which is 3 kilometers away) or by boat, five minutes away. The boat it is. We were sadly disappointed that the sand from the incoming tide had closed the "opening". We saw some rock formations near the beach and had decided to snorkel while Jay-jay plays in the sand with my mom and his nanny.

I was extremely freaked out with the amout of seaweeds in the water and found it icky to swim amids the weeds. Perhaps because the bangkero (boatman) warned us that there are poisonous fishes lurking in the water. Fortunately, none of us were harmed, poisoned or killed. We watched carefully where we swam. We saw some interesting fishes there but were unsatisfied. We were perhaps comparing it to our past experience in Dakak where the corals and the many species of fish and anemone are just a stones throw away from the shore. We instructed the bangkero to take us to a good snorkeling area that's not too deep.

The bangkero really knows his stuff. He took us exactly where we needed to go. It was just deep enough for us to snorkel in confidence. I was so glad that the boatmen only drop anchor in the sandy portion of the reef, to avoid damaging the corals. We all voted for Jacob to see the snorkeling landscape first to make sure it's worth our time :-). The water was crystal clear and we can make out the rock formations from above. He quickly came up and said "Ang ganda, you should see it!" Both Angel (Jacob's wife) and I opted to keep our life vests on while snorkeling so that we don't freak out if our masks get some water or something. Jacob braved the water sans the life jacket so that he could dive deeper and get closer to the fish.

It was such a fantastic experience! We saw an assortment of corals in different colors and sizes and multicolored fish that you would just normally see in books and the Discovery Channel. The view from above water cannot compare with the beauty that we found under. I could spend the whole day snorkeling there. Each landscape and fish variety is prettier and more diverse than the previous one. There was even a brain coral that was so huge, we were able to stand on it and the water barely reached our knees! (The water is maybe 25-30 feet). Too bad we didn't have any pictures :(

I was so glad that Tita Socky taught us to snorkel in that Dakak trip! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been brave enough to see the wonders of the deep. Next step, diving...Gulp, kaya kaya ng powers ko?

My mom was getting antsy on the boat and wanted to have a cold soda and she was getting nervous with both her children in deep water. It was also past lunchtime, time to go back and eat. We reluctantly said OK.

Now, getting back up to the boat was the greatest challenge for me. I have zero upper body strength and pulling myself up was excruciating. My brother and the bangkero both had to haul me up while I frantically flap my legs to get on the friggin' boat. I was laughing hysterically the entire time that they were pulling me up. After heaving me to the boat my bro said "Ang, laki ng huli natin!".

Lunch again was at the Villa del Mar. We had "Bagnet" Bicol Express which we all declared as "panalo". We also had inihaw na Liempo which was served with tomatoes and chili, Lemon Chicken which has a weird taste, "talo".



After lunch, hubby and I stayed in our room to rest and blog :)

Afternoon came, I demanded my sunset walk at the beach. Merienda first said my hubby. We saw a fishball/sago/gulaman concessionaire along the beach and we tried that. It was your typical Pinoy street food. They only had kikiam and cheese sticks left. It was ordinary and not very good. I decided to take some pictures instead.

The sunset was very picturesque indeed. As evidenced by this picture. We found a nice spot at the end of the pagudpud cove. Perfect for taking pictures and a great vantage point if you want to watch the surf crash into the rock formations below.


Dinner was at Casablanca Grill at the other side of the cove.. It was quite a walk from our hotel. The menu looked promising, unfortunately, most of the dishes that we ordered were out of stock. The food there though is just so-so. But, they do have the best service in the cove. The staff was courteous and accommodating. The grillery is located within the Terra Rica Beach and Dive Resort overlooking the beach. Nice view, at least.

We have a full day ahead tomorrow. We all voted to immediately retire to bed right after dinner. My husband is already fast asleep as I write this blog. Goodnight...for now.

Roadtrip to Ilocos, Part 1: Saud Beach Resort and Hotel

My initial trip to the scenic province of Ilocos was many many years ago when the whole family went on a long road trip to see what Ilocos had to offer. Hubby was just my boyfriend then. My late Tito Florante toured us around and showed us the wonderful old churches, markets and of course the white sand beaches of Pagudpud. I was entranced by the sheer beauty of the province.

This Holy Week, hubby and I decided to come back the third time around. Together with myy mom, brother with his family and his children's nannies, we took this opportunity to trek back to Ilocos and rediscover its wonders once again.

We left home at 11:00pm to avoid traffic. Usual daytime trip would normally last 12-15 hours depending on the traffic and how long your bathroom breaks are. We made such good time. We only spent eight hours on the road including stopovers. Woohoo!



Our ultimate destination is Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. We love it's white sand beaches and turquise waters. We've booked three rooms at the Saud Beach Resort and Hotel. The rooms are conveniently located near the dining area and very close to the beach which is perfect for us. Very near the action, so to speak.

The rooms that we booked were spacious enough. The resort itself is quite old. But it's clean and it's not too crowded despite the holy week season. The bathroom has hot water and bidet, they provide simple towels and soap. The water pressure in the shower was low and I had to spend twice as long to take a bath due to this. I was told that this is already the best place to stay in Pagudpud. Hubby and I have stayed here before a few years back. And our stay was overall pleasant and enjoyable.

Since we arrived early, rooms were not ready yet. First order of business was breakfast. We opted to just eat at the resort's one and only restaurant. The breakfast fare (as well as lunch and dinner) is very limited. For breakfast, you have a choice of Tocilog(Tocino, Sinangag at 2 Itlog), Longsilog (Ilocos Longanisa,is garlicky and sour, Sinangag at 2 Itlog). Both come with either fresh fruits or juice or coffee (P180 per order). They also have buttered toasts with jam and fresh fruit and coffee (P120 per order). American Breakfast with bacon, eggs and toast (P195 per order). Their menu is quite unimaginative and tad too expensive for the quality of food that they serve. We scanned the nearby resorts for possible dining alternatives.

We went swimming at the beach earlier. And even brought our snorkeling gear with us. The snorkeling lanscape in our resort wasn't up to par (However, my brother was able to spot an eel and a salt water catfish). Eager to find better snorkeling digs, we decided to explore the nearby Blue Lagoon which reportedly has the best snorkeling landscape in the area. The information counter in our hotel told us that it's just 30 minutes away by car. So off we go, thirty minutes included traversing through zigzag roads, uphill climb and a P20 entrance fee per person to the lagoon. It's not really a lagoon, it's a white sand beach with clear blue azure water much like the resort where we're staying.

The Blue Lagoon is very nice and picturesque but a bit crowded since it doesn't have the "exclusivity" that the other beaches in the area enjoy.
The bathroom and picnic table facilities were minimal, at best. We opted not to snorkel there since the waves were quite fierce. We just snapped to few photos as mementos and went our way.

We wanted to go to the Kabigan Falls. We've seen lovely pictures of it on the internet and would love go see for ourselves. Also, it would be the first time for Jay-Jay and Ashley to see a natural waterfall. Upon arriving there, we found out that we cannot bring our cars and would have to trek 1.5 kilometers to see it's natural beauty. We had children with us so we opted out on this adventure. The guide told us that they can provide a "convertible" for us to take us to the falls. Convertible is a car with it's roof hacked off. Um, no thanks. Back to the hotel please.

Upon arriving at the hotel hubby and I walked hand in hand on the beach with the beautiful sunset guiding our path. That was by far, the best part of my day. I'm demanding a repeat by tomorrow. Wouldn't it be just fabulous if we can do that everyday?


Dinner was at Villa del Mar. A nearby resort, five minutes away by foot from our hotel. We feasted on Bagnet with bagoong isda and tomato dipping sauce (yum!), shrimp sinigang and chop suey. Food here is 100% better than Saud Beach Resort and they change their menu depending on what's available in the market. Everyday is a new culinary surprise.

Overall, the Saud Beach Resort and Hotel is a very nice place to stay in when you're in Pagudpud. Prime beach front location, clean rooms, courteous staff. Their food is their major downfall. The food is sadly "carinderia" quality in sheep's clothing.