Tour of Laguna

Armed with only a roadmap and our sense of adventure, we set out for our first lakwacha for this summer: a fishing adventure in Lake Caliraya. We set out to join my friend Jeng and her family who had gone ahead to Lagos del Sol resort in Cavinti, Laguna.

The first number in our program: LUNCH

We left the house at 10 am, took the SLEX from San Pedro to the Calamba exit, then the national highway going to Los Baños. We got to Bay, Laguna around noontime, so we stopped over at Kamayan sa Palaisdaan.



We enjoyed Pinaputok na Tilapia, Tinola and boiled vegetables in one of the floating nipa huts.

After the meal, my boys had a great time feeding the koi, hito and tilapia living in the pond, throwing the rice we had left over.

Half the fun is getting (lost as you try to get) there
Fueled up, we drove on from Bay, traversing the towns of Calauan, Victoria and Pila, the provincial capitol Sta. Cruz, and finally, Pagsanjan.


By the church we met numerous signs: arrows pointed to the right for Lumban, Caliraya, Paete and Kalayaan; the road to the left went to Cavinti. We turned left, having in mind the resort's address: "Bgy. Lewin, Cavinti, Laguna."


We drove on, noting the strangeness of not seeing any signage/ad for Lagos del Sol as we drove uphill. We drove further on, finally meeting a sign that said, "Welcome to the town of Cavinti."
Thinking we were on the right track, we drove further on. While the roadmap didn't show, we thought somewhere there'd be a left turn to a road that will lead us (back) to Lake Caliraya.

Somewhere I asked Mike, "Aren't we going to stop to ask for directions? Parang ang layo na natin..." To which he replied, "Mga five kilometers pa. Pag wala pa din, balik na tayo."

I tried to call Jeng, but she didn't pick up. A few more kilometers after, I lost mobile signal.

Further on we drove, despite noting that we were getting further uphill, that there were far fewer vehicles on the road with us.... until, an epiphany:

"Welcome to Bgy. San Antonio, Luisiana, Laguna."

For crying out loud! We would have ended in Lucban, Quezon had we driven further on!


To the Rear, March!

Getting the look from me, Mike said, "Di bale, di ba, road adventure 'to?"

I managed an irap and a "hmp."

So we turned around and headed back to the church where we should have turned left to Caliraya in the first place. Driving eastward we passed by the town of Lumban, by the numerous embroidery and footwear shops. Then we met a Y in the road and took the right fork, because there was big sign that pointed to Lagos del Sol.

We drove uphill again for another 15 minutes or so, until we were greeted by a "Welcome to Bgy. Lewin, Cavinti, Laguna." (So the address in the website was right afterall.) Finally we caught sight of the lake, and all three boys (the father included) wanted to get in the first resort we passed. I had to remind them we were going to Lagos del Sol.

Lakes of the Sun

Finally, we got to Lagos del Sol a little past 2pm.

The boys got right down to business as soon as we met up with Jeng and her kids. The first catch was an eensy-weensy ayungin, caught immediately as soon as Mike threw the line. The fishes must be really hungry, considering that we only used day-old bread as bait.



Two and a half hours later, we managed this catch: isang maliit na tilapia, at tatlong biya. Oh well. We enjoyed the sights, breeze, the baiting, the waiting and the chatting anyway. :)


Driving Home
You'd think we've seen enough road for the day after that long trek that ended us up in Luisiana, but no, SuperMike brought us to another road adventure on the way home.

Anticipating heavy traffic on the national highway in the Los Baños area (day swimmers would be trekking home too), he made a left turn somewhere that led us through some barangays of Bay and up Mt. Makiling, where we passed kilometers of steam pipes traversing the sides of the mountain.

Getting to the mountaintop we passed by the Chevron Makiling-Banahaw (Mak-Ban) Geothermal Power Plant.

That sidetrip led us to Sto. Tomas, Batangas where the boys finally awoke and started demanding dinner. We hauled ourselves to the nearest Rose and Grace restaurant and had some bulalo, fried tawilis, and "tempura."

Getting home at around 8pm, the boys regaled our househelp with stories of their fishing adventure, proudly showing the ice chest containing their catch, egging Mike for a repeat in between.

Mike said, "Sige, sa Subic naman."

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Why AnneThology?

Anthology means a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts. My name is Anne, and this blog contains a collection of my thoughts, musings and writings (poems, short stories), some songs I like, plus a sprinkling of excerpts I find worth sharing --hence, AnneThology.

Did you know?

Anthology derives from the Greek word ἀνθολογία (anthologia; literally “flower-gathering”) for garland — or bouquet of flowers — which was the title of the earliest surviving anthology, assembled by Meleager of Gadara.

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