SILANGANG NAYON turned me on

Just this weekend, le boyfie and I went out of town. And where else do we go but to our fave weekend getaway town, QUEZON! Our first trip together was in Kinabuhayan Cafe, Dolores, Quezon. 

At Kinabuhayan Cafe 3 years ago.

The place was great! And the food? Better! They served only organic food and boy I can still taste it in my dreams.

Organic meals 

So, when boyfie said that he'd give me an out-of-town travel as a graduation gift, I already knew where to go. I scoured the net to look for the next Quezon destination, and I tripped over a lot of good reviews of Silangang Nayon.

After a long and tiring five-hour bus, jeepney, and tricycle trip, we finally reached the place. All the haggardness quickly faded away as we were greeted with feathered animals running around the greenery, statued fauna, polite staffs, and blue-green sea.

Silangang Nayon in Pagbilao, Quezon

SILANGANG NAYON

The Room

We shelled out P2,500 per night for the accommodation with breakfast, which was actually good for 4 persons. (They don't have couple packages. The smallest one is for 4 pax.)

Room for 2-4 pax

Given that the price was supposedly for a group of 4, it was actually very light in the pocket. The room was clean and spacious. The bathroom had a bathtub (major plus!) and a hot/cold shower. They also provided 4 towels, 4 toothbrushes, a tissue roll, and a toothpaste. There was a cabinet for the things, lots of sockets for the cellphone,laptop,whathaveyous. The television only had local channels (not really an issue since you're there to sightsee). There were also couches. The veranda and gate outside added to the house-like appeal of the 'room.' It really looked like a small house. It was very much comfortable and had a homey feel. 

The Food

Silangang Nayon is actually known as a restaurant by the sea. Yet, guests from all over the world (char! Metro Manila and South Luzon, maybe?) don't travel all the way to this place just to experience dining by the sea. People frequent this place because of the fresh and well-cooked seafood, simmered with affordability. As a matter of fact, Charo Santos of MMK was dining there during our first night (O diba, leveling!). 

Then for our free breakfast, they served fried rice and hot choco/coffee plus choices of: bacon and egg, boneless bangus, spam and egg, and corned beef and egg. Nothing out of the usual really.

No judgments pls. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of the free meal for 4. :)

The Place

Silangang Nayon is actually a restaurant and a park. The place abound with floras and faunas everywhere. Chickens and turkeys ran around the place. We also spotted some horses resting on the grassy park. 

Kids will definitely love the place because of the playground and mini zoo.

If ever you get bored with the relaxed ambiance of the place, you can ought to rent a boat and go to a beach  nearby. Boat rental costs P1,500 and can carry a maximum of 10 persons.

We went to Puting Buhangin and Kwebang Lampas because it was the nearest but you can actually ask the boatman to drop you off to two more other beaches for I think an additional P1,000. Nevertheless, Puting Buhangin's pristine water and white sand was already more than enough for us. We were in awe with how clear the water was. I wonder if they would/could develop it to be a snorkling area. When we went there, no fishes were visible and only the rocky sea bottom can be seen. Yes, the beach is actually rocky (?) so it is best to wear slippers or aqua shoes. There were also some jellyfishes caught during our stay there but the locals said that it was actually the first time that the water was infested with jellyfishes.

** I would not describe the floating restaurant and airplane food delivery anymore since Google already provides a lot of information about that.**

Service


If there's one thing that would make me want to recommend the place to anybody, it wouldn't be the place or the food. I would advise anyone to experience Silangang Nayon for the wonderful service of the staffs there. Everyone was very friendly and accommodating. They were very patient to answer each of our inquiries. They also attended to our every need.

When we were there, I sadly got my period and slightly suffered from dysmenorrhea. :( The crew gave me two mefenamic acid and a napkin for free.:) During our dinner that night, we chose to stay on one of the cottages but it was very malamok so we asked for an electric fan to drive away the mosquitoes. Not only did they set up the fan but they also brought a mosquito killer lamp for us. The waiters were also very knowledgeable about the food. We were very confused with what to order on our first night because there were a lot of items in their menu. The waiter patiently responded to our queries regarding the size of serving, cooking style, etc. He even suggested some food for us and told us that we could actually ask them to refrigerate our leftover and have it heated up again for the next meal.

They don't charge service fee but we couldn't help giving them a tip because of the wonderful service that they shared. They gave me an impression that the management is not concerned about earning money but earning guests' hearts.

Budget


P5,000 - 2 days accommodation with free breakfast
P530 - Friday dinner
P935 - Saturday dinner
P165 - Saturday pansit lunch
P500 - approx for beers and ice cream
P1,500 - boat rental
P460 - bus ride from Buendia to Lucena (2 pax)
P20 - jeep to Brgy Bantigue (2 pax)
P180 - tricycle to and from Silangang Nayon (2 pax)
P260 - van to Sta Rosa (2 pax)

TOTAL P9550 for 2 persons

We spent almost P10,000 for the whole trip for 3 days and 2 nights. It would actually be cheaper if you travel by group since the accommodation, boat rental, and tricycle ride is fixed and not on a per-person basis. The food's serving is also huge and can be shared by up to three or four persons.

How to get to Silangang Nayon


From Buendia

         Ride any bus (JAC/JAM/any other bus line) going to Lucena Grand Terminal. From there, find the jeep terminal going to Pagbilao. Ask the driver to drop you off to Brgy Bantigue or "to the tricycle terminal going to Silangang Nayon." Ride a tricycle and they will already drop you off to Silangang Nayon.


From Sta Rosa

         Ride a van going to Lucena Grand Terminal and proceed with the same direction stated above. :)

From wherever you are

         Just find a way to get to Lucena Grand Terminal and you're good to go. :)

We have a new baby!:)

Just out of nowhere, my brother and I decided to buy a digital camera. :) After numerous google searches, cgena.com visits, and appliance store inquiries, we finally settled with the CANON POWERSHOT A1200.

cameralabs.com
Canon Powershot A1200

The package contains awesome items such as a pair of alkaline battery, a pair of rechargeable battery with charger, a 4Gb SD Card, and a camera case.

What really won me over was the shooting modes of the camera.

Fish-eye effect

Miniature effect

Toy Camera effect

Monochrome effect: Sepia, Black and White, and Blue (left to right)

Poster effect

Super Vivid effect

Sorry for the crappy pictures but I'm sure you will have a lot of fun using these effects. 

Oh, have I told you that this amazing little camera just costs P3,995???!!! Such a great deal, right? My brother and I have nothing but praises for this cam especially when we found out that it already has an auto-rotate feature and check this out: 

without Blur Reduction

with Blur Reduction

It takes great pictures even when the subject is moving at lightning speed! No more blurred photos for moving subjects. Yey! 

I am just so proud of this great deal that we got. Now, I can proudly say that I am in one with the shutterbug generation.

Happy clicking! :)

Sweetest New Year Message

Our only self-initiated couple vanity pics

Happy new year!

Today, I woke up to the sweetest thing le boyfriend has said so far (exagge). Keep in mind that le boyfriend is as sweet as a salt. Yes. He is not at all showy about his feelings, abhors PDA and the sorts. Our relationship is not something you'll call a fairytale. We call each other ungas, embarass each other in front of other people. I don't know. We're retards in love. Well, he has his own unique style of letting me know how much he loves me and it works for me.

Anyway, back to the message. I'm posting it to remember it forever. Haha. And as an evidence to show him someday that he has a sweet bone in him (He doesn't wanna be called sweet. He thinks it's not macho. Watever.):

TEXT I:
Just wana b d 1st 2 say i love you this yr. I love you. Kelan ka blek? My gft sau cla marvin at ung leche flan mu. Going home. Cab na.

TEXT II:
Bhay na. Hapi new yr. At e2ng mga su2nod, itaga mu man s bato, d ku cnbe. I love you at mis n kta. Wag kang mgng pasaway at papakasalan kta. Hehe. Mwah.

Note: We're in an LDR for two weeks because of the holiday season. Thus explains the texting, updates, and the i miss you things. 

I just found it heartmelting that he wants to be the first one to say I love you this year. I didn't even think about that. And for him to tell me just out of nowhere that he loves me (He always does by the way. He never responds to my I love you's but will throw one at me on unexpected moments.), it never gets old. And how about that lame proposal? Haha. It was very lame but adorable. And when I teased him about it, this is what he said: Fyi. D un proposal. Kapal ng muka mu. So much for the sweet guy aura. Gone in a heartbeat.


There. No matter how often this guy changes my moods, from i-am-so-in-love-im-gonna-marry-you-and-have-babies-with-you kinda feeling to i-hate-you-im-gonna-break-up-with-you-and-kill-you, I still love him and will not bore with the constant fightings and make-up S.:p

Dumb Thoughts

Four years. FOUR FRIGGIN YEARS! Such a long time... But really, what was all that about?

Some people date for a year and instantly feel that they already want to marry each other, spend the rest of their life together, build a family, whatever teleserye-ish things.

Then, there's us. Four years and still it doesn't feel "right."

So, why stay/ed you ask? I dunno. Maybe because I was hoping. Am always hoping. That things will turn out right. That we WILL turn out to be the heroes of the teleserye and not just the extras whose stories you won't really get to follow through (cause it's boring and not romantic enough).

Maybe because I'm lonely and pathetic. Maybe I'm just desperate and so afraid to be alone. Maybe he, "us", has already become a habit. You see, there are just some things in life that you don't need/want/like anymore but you just can't let go. You're just used to seeing it there, lying lifeless in the corner. There's a certain comfort in knowing that it's there.

Maybe because I don't have a sane reason to end whatever we have. None of that third party stories, you and me against the world dramas, family feuds. Nothing. It's more of internal, you know. The kind of turmoil that goes unnoticed by everyone except you.

"You're just not my prince." The fuck. Whoever says that? WHO AM I TO SAY THAT? But really, don't I deserve to feel like a princess when with him? Have my right to be wooed by him been terminated ever since we had an agreement?

I'm a girl. I'm a cheesy-pussy. I believe the koreanovelas. I believe in romantic love. Not being the man who can give those to me, is that a reason to part ways with him? Or is that just a silly move an immature woman will do?


UPDATE: Or... well, maybe this IS love. Recognizing that there are A LOT of imperfect things going around in our relationship but still sticking with each other no matter what. In spite of all the craziness and sometimes boringness of it all, I still want to be with him.