Day 2 – 4:30 pm

Oh no… we arrived at the Philippine Ceramic Plant at Tiwi at 4:32. Two minutes too late. The plant has closed for the day with all the workers gone.  Oh well… that still didn’t stop us from buying lovely ceramic items.

Luckily, Timmy Naval knew how to lift our spirits up… she treated all of us to the halo-halo special at JDC which claims to be THE ORIGINAL halo-halo. Mr. Ping attested to the restaurant’s claim. He said that all the others are fakes.

The halo-halo lived up to the expectation of being the original. It was brimming with cream, nata de coco, corn flakes, and gulaman but what makes it special is the shaved ice which just melts in your mouth. Yum yum!

On the way to the hotel, Anjo was scouring the streets for a vendor selling VCDs. He wanted to watch it during the long trip back home. After much scurrying around, he had no o such luck…

Day 3 – 8:00 am

First agenda of the day: visit Mercedes’ Fish Market.

This was no task for the weak stomach. As fishermen dock their boats, basketful of fishes were dumped on the concrete as people started bidding for the day’s catch. Blue crabs were piled on one spot, assorted fish on the other, and even a huge 50 foot manta ray lay by itself at the center. A part of the day’s catch are packed in ice and sent to Manila. 

Vice Mayor Brenda Salalima and some of the local councilors warmly greeted us. “If you were here around 6 am, you could have had fresh barbecued/grilled seafood breakfast.” I guess time does start earlier here than it does in Manila.

The welcoming committee described how the “Kadagatan Festival” on the first week of August is held. All the fishing boats we saw will be decorated for the regatta parade along the sea. “Beautiful” was how they described it. As I perused at the program of activities, the committee certainly planned for a full week. There was a marathon, next a coastal clean-up, beer fest, games, concerts, floats, street dancing and parades, beauty pageant, and fireworks display. Sounds exciting!

Anjo came back to the Crosswind with a huge smile on his face! He was able to buy 2 VCD movies.

On the way home, I was happily watching the VCDs at the backseat. Just one tip though: Don’t ever watch a movie while on the fabled Bitukang Manok (called by the very winding road). It’s guaranteed to give a big headache.

Day 3 – 7:30 pm

Lunch was at the Bulwagang Salakot Restaurant. The homey interior was a welcoming sight after miles and miles of concrete road. The food was really good and we practically devoured every dish.

The food trip ended at Le Soufflé at The Fort. We were the first team to arrive. One by one, the other teams came in, everyone hungry, tired, but smiling. Each team was assigned to buy a pasalubong for one team. Our team bought hammocks for the Sagada team while the Sagada team gave us native baskets. The other teams gave each other longganisa and pocket knives.

Ken Takashima, the Vice President for Marketing and Sales, was happy that all came back safe and sound and so did the Isuzu vehicles. After swapping adventures or “mis-adventures”, it was called a night.

It was my first time in Bicol and certainly, it won’t be my last. There are still so many things I want to see/do – such as whale watching, firefly watching, and mountain climbing. The Crosswind was undoubtedly up for the grueling challenge of taking us around Bicol – through the mud and rain – and it didn’t fail. Some features were all the more appreciated during the trip such as the back massager and the VCD.

The whole experience was memorable but after a long road trip, there’s no place I’d like to go to but home and I’m sure everyone else agrees.  After all, we can’t go on gorging like that all the time.

Special thanks to all those who made our stay special. A huge round of applause to Timmy Naval, and the entire Isuzu Philippines Corporation team for an extremely well-planned and fun activity despite it being a logistical nightmare.