Masinloc, Zambales

My dad is from a small town about 4 hours north of Manila. During Holy Week, everything in Manila shuts down on Thursday and Good Friday. My cousin, my nephew, their katulong (helper), and me all headed to our parents’ town for the week to see some family and to relax at the beach.

Day 1 (Tuesday 09/19)

We leave Manila at 5 am to avoid as much traffic as possible. We stop at Subic for some gas and Chow King. We finally get to my aunt’s house in Matalvis around 11. Matalvis is in the mountains and just outside the city proper. She has an amazing house with a view of all the islands and the town. I can’t get over the view! Look to the right. We go to Palauig later in the day for some beach time. The water was so warm and the tide was so low. It seemed like we could walk for ages.

Day 2 (Wednesday)

We wake up around 8am and have breakfast at the Bahay Kubo (nipa hut) because there is more of a breeze. We wait for the katulongs (helpers) to finish making our lunch. We then head to Potipo’t Island with our cousin’s girlfriend. We park the car at Potipo’t Gateway and take a boat to the island. The island was featured in the Miss Universe. The water and white sand is all gorgeous there, but their needs to be better maintenance of the island. There was too much litter! :(

Day 3 (Thursday)

My cousins and I all take the bangka (Philippine wooden boat) to Bakala which is a house in the middle of the ocean. You have to get the mayor’s permission to go the house. It is all worth it. The view is ridiculous and the water is at most waist deep during high tide. There was some counselor there who had a jet ski and all of his little kronies were making unnecessary noises, shouts, and screams whenever their drove it. The counselor heard us speak English and “Welcomed us to his town.” We told him our last name and asked his. It started with the letter “E” which means that we are probably related. Before we left, we got some sea urchin and opened it there. Yummy! Uni is way overpriced anyway. Iprefer the ocean to mouth method.

Day 4 (Friday)

We go with my guy cousin to go to the sabong (cock fighting). This was so exciting! It was like some secret language the way they make bets. We turned our 200 pesos to 1,500 pesos! Yippee!!! It is really a fight to the death though. We were one of the few women. I can see how it can be addicting.

Day 5 (Saturday)

We head back to the city and said goodbye to the slow, relaxing, clean air lifestyle.