Split Rock of the Philippines: Biak na Bato National Park

Last year I was desperate to find some green space in the Manila area. Little did I know some beautiful hiking trails were less than two hours north of Quezon City, Cubao.

Up early on Tuesday morning, we three amigos hopped in the van and headed 12 km across open agricultural land to Biak na Bato National Park. The name translates to 'split rock' - which is also the name of a hike that Clem and I went on at Joshua Tree National Park last November.

Many kiosks of souvenirs and snacks cluttered the trail head. Buried somewhere past them all was the park office where we had to sign in and pay our 30 pesos admission fee. Then a park interpreter explained the trail map to us, answered our questions about terrain, time and distance, but really pushed hard to convince us to hire a guide.

Speaking in Tagalog to Clem and Tonet, she said things like, "You'll get lost, the guide has first aid training, the trail is hard to find, the guide can tell you historical facts and explain things, and you can't go into the caves without a guide."

We said 'thanks but no thanks'. The map said the trail we were planning to follow was either paved or a well-used forest path. We didn't have time to explore the longer wilderness trails that would take us up a mountain ridge. Clem also explained that I was an experienced backpacker, that Tonet had been there before, and that walking such paths would not be a problem for us.

Smiling resignedly, she led us down some stairs, around a path and up to a bridge crossing the river. Local people were doing their laundry on the rocks in the dried up stream below. On the far side, a broken concrete path led us through tall trees, and up and down sandstone-like rock. After passing through a  picnic site with (sort of) toilets, we were in a beautiful, lush green forest - at last!

Remarkable rock formations rose on the left and every so often stairs on the right gave us access to the riverside where we could check out some rapids and little water falls. Unfortunately bits of garbage and empty booze and water bottles stuck in cracks and almost ruined the scene.

Having started our walk before 8am, we had the trail all to ourselves and took our time chasing dragonflies and butterflies.

At the end of the trail was a massive bat cave that required some intense scrambling to get into so instead we crossed a bridge and made our way around the back of the cave trying to find a path around and behind that might take us further on a higher nature trail.

I'm up close to the massive entrance and very high off the ground on a boulder.

Tonet and Clem are far across a boulder field from the huge entrance.
It looks small behind them because of the distance but is really huge.

This bridge was supposedly built by the Japanese during the Second World War and is still incredibly sound.

On the far side of the bridge we made an amazing discovery: a massive Dao tree:

Beyond the tree we tried to find a way around the bat cave but the path ended at the river which was only a trickle. Some garbage and a poem lay scattered from the last visitors.

Back down the trail, this time on the south side of the river for different scenery. By now, more people were on the trail so we were glad to be ending when others were starting. At 9:30am the heat was already oppressive.


Another picnic spot and a peculiar little shrine to Mary - with the statue itself cemented to a nearby rock and not in its original housing - were the last objects of interest.

Back on the highway we screeched to a stop when I spotted the Taho man, and again for fresh buko (coconut) juice.

An ominous sight at the side of the road was a notorious red house build buy the Japanese during the second world war where they housed their 'comfort women' - Filipinas who were abused at the soldiers' hands. Apparently it's haunted - not a surprising allegation at all!

Back in Baliwag, we hit up a Thai dry massage place - more like physiotherapy! A work-out for all our sore joints. Then a wander through the market where Clem and Tonet pointed out things in Tagalog so I could increase my vocabulary even more. It was a bit like the Manila markets, but not as crowded - more friendly.

We left our friend and Baliwag host to return to his work and caught a ride back to Manila with Tonet's parents who had driven up to San Mig for the day.

There's no place like an old home

Early Monday morning Antonette and I caught a bus to the province of Bulacan, about an hour and a half north of Quezon City, Cubao. Only 75 pesos, not bad! Clem met us in the town centre of Baliwag with a family van and drove us up to the Maniquis family resort in San Miguel - kind of like the cottages we have in Lake Country in the Canadian Shield - the families can also rent out the resort to various people.

There's three side-by-side hotel-like rooms each with two beds and a bathroom, a beautiful fresh-water pool, a pond with a villion (a thatched-roof gazebo structure) built over top, and a covered bar with kitchen and sinks.

The garden was beautiful, full of flowers and Tonet's mother's collection of little sculptures. We arrived mid-day and too late to go hiking so we planned to go first thing in the morning to Biak na Bato National Park since Clem had to return the van by Tuesday early afternoon.

Instead we drove through town hunting for some historic houses. One monstrous mansion in incredibly ramshackle state: the Sevilla residence is too structurally unsound to enter, but the grounds are still inhabited by custodians to prevent squatters. The owner apparently built the epic-sized structure to prove to his father-in-law that he had money. Local legend has it that when motorcycles drive by late at night, a white lady appears in the mansion and shortly thereafter the motorcycle has a fatal accident.

Next we stopped at the former residence of Tonet's mom's adopted mother, Narcisa Dona Sisang de Leon, late co-founder of LVN studios, which launched the movie industry of the Philippines. The house was built in 1914.

The floors and some furniture still stored in the house were made of narra wood, the Philippine national tree, now nearly extinct. It is forbidden to cut these trees now, but back in the day, practically everything was made from it.

Hungry, we drove to the town centre for snacks, and then returned to the resort to rest. While Tonet napped, I enjoyed a rare opportunity to play music with Clem - a major reason for my return to the PH.

We decided on dinner at Rockwood, a spacious place with a wide variety of food, and ended the sweltering day with evening swim among pink flowers that had fallen into the pool. Then much needed sleep since we planned on getting up ridiculously early to go hiking at Biak na Bato National Park.

Bright lights, party city

Days are spinning by in the summer heat of Manila. Just in from a night out on the town with friends. Hanging out with my gracious hostess with the smell of baking in the room, I'm finally clean after a day of being chronically sticky with sweat rolling off me as if I were in a sauna the whole time.

After running errands for baking goods (and for some pasalubong (souveneir gifts for others back home), I took 2 LRTs from the end of P. Tuazon Boulevard in Quezon City, Tuazon, to Santa Cruz Church, then the Pier Jeepney to The Manila Cathedral. I was to meet Carol at 6pm. Got a coffee at 7-11 (yes, it's all over the world from Winnipeg to Chicago to Manila) and sat down on the ledge of the water fountain in the park in front of the Cathedral to wait. And wait. She texted: her cab had been caught by police. Oi vey!

But the park was nice, well lit, and with a security guard. A friendly couple from Angono, Rizal province started chatting with me, telling me of all the sights to see. They were celebrating the woman's birthday: every year she attends mass at a nearby church as she has since she was a little girl. They told me of the art museums in Angono: Lucio San Pedro, Francisco Botong, and the cave with petroglyphs, the oldest in the Philippines.

Finally, Carol and Joel appeared! It was so nice to see those familiar faces once more in person. We headed to Illustrado, a fine-dining restaurant in the Intramuros area, not more than a few blocks away. We caught up over mango shakes, a San Miguel and a latte until Omay, Cocoy, and JB called, then headed to Barbara's, the fancy restaurant next to my favourite gift shop that sells paper art, under the museum of the restored Spanish house.

They had a reasonably-priced buffet with cultural entertainment. The place was full of tourists and when the performers invited people to try dancing the Tinikling (ankle-crushing pole dance), my friends ensured that I got picked on!

The buffet was nice - lumpia, and other stuff (traditional meat dishes) - hey, I'm not a foodie - and a coffee-jello dessert with cream and tapioca balls that looked like it was trying to be taho, my favourite street food of soft tofu, syrup and tapioca, served hot.

Where to go next? The hopping nightlife at MOA - the SM Mall of Asia. The entire length of it along Manila Bay is crowded with people, restaurants, bars, booths, games, and rides: zip line, train ride, ferris wheel. I'd seen it last year but in the morning when everything was dead.

We settled at Padi's Place where a terrible cover band was yowling out covers of One Direction and Aerosmith. The boys took turns passing Omay's egg shaker around and they ordered a group drink of gin and green grenadine syrup: a tall test-tube-like decanter, about three feet high.

All good things must end and folks had to work the next day so we walked back to the cars and they put me in a cab. I wrote down the license plate number and Omay covertly took a photo of the driver. I locked both doors and they told me to text them as soon as I got home. The ride was so long that they phoned the instant I got inside the Maniquis compound: "Are you home? Are you okay?" "Yes, yes, it was a very long ride!" All the way from Pasay to Quezon City. Traffic was actually not that bad but it was just far.

And now time for a rest!

It's too darn hot!

Winnipeg's winter was so darn long and cold this year and snow still lingered on the lawns as I caught a cab to the airport Saturday morning. I was glad to get some reprieve from the cold. But from one extreme to the other. Landing in Manila almost 30 hours after that early morning cab ride I was hit with a tropical heat wave indeed.

One thing to always remember about Manila is that there's always tons of people and tons of traffic, so patience is the one virtue to remember to pack: everything you do will take time. So it worked out perfectly that both my plane and my ride were late getting in to the airport. Antonette and her brother got stuck in traffic and I got stuck in a mad crush of disembarking passengers trying to get through customs. Finding my friend worked out just fine, though, and we found each other and eventually her brother and made it home. I can't express how nice it is to be able to meet up with good friends in a now not-so-strange city.

Today we took it easy, ran some errands and planned the next few days' adventures. Found a cheap cell phone for 500PHP, $12 CDN to be able to contact local friends - a critical device!

Followed the expert baker on her errands to an amazing institution located just on the corner from her house: a castle wherein everything related to baking is sold or taught. Chocolate Lovers is a baker's dream store with anything and everything the casual or professional baker could need.

The Maniquis family home is across the street from a former movie studio once owned by a family that started up the Manila film industry back in the day. Along the street are homes once owned and occupied by the movie stars of old. Today, the family home is under renovations but the garden is still beautiful and the cats and Ringo the dog don't mind the busy atmosphere.

Have Fiddle Will Travel to the Philippines Again

"Here I go again on my own" getting on a plane bound for Vancouver - Hong Kong - Manila in a few short hours.

Again, it wasn't my idea, I swear!

Alfie wanted to see Modern English live in Manila and figured it would be a good opportunity to record some songs with his former band mates. So he invited me to go along! It just so happened that I had some vacation time allowable so I took advantage of that and said 'okay, sure!' Those words have landed me in some amazing places around the world.

So here we go. All packed and hoping I'm not bringing too much, too little, or forgetting something critical. Headlamp, check. Screw driver, check. Violin, check. Oh, don't forget the duct tape!

Landing in about 30 hours!

Easter in California

Happy Easter from Huntington Beach! I didn't expect to be travelling so soon again but here I am carrying on a family tradition. I realized I had enough air points to fly anywhere in North America so I figured I should hop down to Los Angeles again to visit Aunt Jean.

Brought the fiddle of course, just to play for family this time. Some women bring their favourite purse on a trip, I have my fiddle.

The oranges and lemons have ripened and are even re-blossoming. It's overcast but a far cry from ice-covered Winnipeg.

It's nice to take it easy and just visit. Tonight, a big Easter dinner with cousins! Now, rest.