Let's explore Batangas (Day tour Itinerary)

More than a year ago, me and my friends had some random conversation about going to places, specifically somewhere away from Manila. We had a lot of options going in our mind however, we opted to go to Batangas. Sounds like a good choice, and it's a good choice indeed.

And here goes my first out of town DIY:

We woke up at 2 A.M. last May 14, 2017 to take the 4am bus ride because we're hoping to catch the sunrise at Minor Basilica of Saint Martin of Tours or simply known as Taal Basilica. However we did not arrive at our expected time because it took us 4 hours to travel. I thought we'll just gonna travel for 2 two hours and kaboom we'll gonna see the sun rising.

Anyways, this is a picture of us in an airconditioned bus which I already forgot the name, but I think it's Jam Liner heading to Lemery, Batangas. We took the grab on our way to Buendia Bus Terminal because duh, it's freaking 4 A.M. which means the LRT station isn't open yet. Look at our hopeful faces, excited to see the sunrise. But I do suggest that you should go early for you to have plenty of hours touring .

The bus dropped us to some sort of intersection which is 30 minutes away from Taal, Batangas. The place is safe and there are a lot of approachable tricycle drivers. You can ride in a tricycle just like what we did. Just a warning guys, you'll get bankrupt with the transportation (we almost spent P500 per pax for all our tricycle joy ride).

• Our First Destination

Kaboom! Look at that magnificient view! The Taal Basilica. It is considered to be the largest church in the Philippines and in Asia (as per Wiki)

These are some of the photos that we took from Taal Basilica. The place is sacred, vintage, and a really good place for instagram photos. But of course the photo op is the least of our priority. Our main purpose in visiting the church is for something spiritual. Have you heard some stories that if it's your first time in a church, the things that you prayed for right in that place will be granted? Anyways, I believe that whatever you prayed for will be granted if it's God's will, so for me, it's regardless of the place or time.

After some time at Taal Basilica, we looked for some place to eat. So this is us paving our way to a Lomi house because according to some, Batangas Lomi is the best.

Gotcha! We found a place which is I guess 5 minutes away from the church. There are actually a lot of walking distance Lomi Houses.

We all ordered the same special Lomi. The price won't hurt your pocket, because it's only P35 that time. The bowl is full of sahog (atay, pork, chicharon) it's worth more than P35. I'm not overrating by the way (no sarcasm I swear).

• Our Second Destination

Welcome to Villa Vicencio. It's just one of the many ancestral houses in Taal Batangas, but I strongly recommend that you should put this place as one of your top destination in Taal Town.

There are series of ancestral houses along the road but our gutfill is saying that we should enter Villa Vicencio. It's walking distance actually, but we took the tricycle because we don't have any idea about its distance (if you want to walk your way to the ancestral houses, you can ask the locals for direction or if you don't have trust issues with google, you can google map the place). The entrance fee is P100 per pax, but it's worth it. They welcomed us with mirienda (hot chocolate and some of their delicacies - see the picture), and after eating we had a film showing about the history of the place and the family living in there (I won't spoil you because it's for you to watch). You'll gonna enjoy the place, well I personally enjoyed because I was amazed by the antique stuffs. Their spoon and fork are made of gold by the way!

• Our Third Destination

Out 3rd agenda was like hitting 3 birds with one stone. We took another tryc on our way to San Lorezon Ruiz Steps. The granite-made stairs is dedicated to San Lorenzo (obviously where the name came from). It will take 125 steps up for you to reach the holy Caysasay Church. The church is famous because of Our Lady of Caysasay ( a statue of Blessed Virgin Mary which according to stories, was found by a man fishing in Pansipit River thus upon further investigation was considered as marian appariton). After whispering our prayers at Caysasay church, we took a several few steps down to reach the miraculous Santa Lucia well (see the picture). Actually we were accompanied by a kid selling candles. There are lot of kids on the way whom you can ask for directions.

• Our Fourth Destination

Photography geeks alert! Welcome to Galleria Tall - a museum of countless cameras. They have a vast collection of cameras from different brands and different era. Going to this place gave me the chance to see the model of the first ever camera which is really big and according to the trivia man, it will take time before the camera could capture the moment. This museum is also a nice place to stay because it also serves foods which is kinda pricey by the way, that's why we didn't get our lunch in there despite the fact that we're starving.

You might wonder how we transferred from Sta. Lucia Well to Galeria Taal. Well, we walked our way and I strictly suggest that you shouldn't. It's actually ironic because everytime we take a ride, the distance is quite near, and when we decided to walk the distance is not pretty walk friendly. If you have a car, you're lucky enough to get the convinience.

Look at this blessing in disguise. While walking to the Camera Museum, we crossed to this place. What an instagrammable view Nilo's Antique Shop!

• Our Fifth Destination

Another famous place in Taal, Batangas is the Tampuhan Cafe. This is a one of a kind vintage cafe. They serve beakfast , lunch, and dinner by the way.

Tampuhan cafe caters overnight stay. Yup, they got rooms (vintage rooms to be specific). We're not able to ask for the rates because we have no plans of staying naman. They are kinda pricey by the way. The average lunch meal is P150 per pax. The food is delicious and strongly spanish inspired, however the servings is quite little. But we pay for the place din kasi.

• The Grand Destination

Yeah, this is grand because this is where I really wanted to go. Are you familiar of the show majika? This is their shooting place. The Fantasy Wolrd of Lemery, Batangas.

Hello there from me and Momma (who's not my biological mama but has done so many ways to deserve a momma title, she's also my photographer by the way). This photo was taken by Ate Steph, another photographer (follow her on instagram @piperrruy ) . We're at the gas stop and we took a tryc to the Fanatasy World. We paid 100 per pax, but I swear the driver is too kind to charge that amount. The place is too far from SM. Yup we took a tryc from Tampuhan Cafe to SM Lemery and another tryc from SM Lemery to Fantasy World.

The urge of going to this place was actually due to it's rampant shares on social media. I was so amazed with the photos in the internet and I wanted to see the place for real. And now, look at our satisfied faces . The place is really beautiful and majestic, however the sense of abandonment is also screaming. It was designed to beat Disneyland but the fund isn't enough. But who knows, it might operate in the future and might actually beat Disneyland.

They have this hanging bridge which is really nice for leisure and photo op. It will remind you of a movie scene. There are friendly inoperative rides too. We tried to ride in some sort of a swing (nagsariling sikap kami). There's a canteen inside and the foods are the typical snacks with typical prices. You can also rent royal costumes inside for photo ops. There's also a church. It's child friendly, family friendly, millineal's choice and lover's choice. The entrance fee is P100 per pax provided you are 10 in a group. You can join to other tourists to avail the minimum P100 entrance fee.

• Batangas to Manila

It's around 4:00 to 5:00 P.M. when we decided to go back to Manila and just all our other roadtrips, we took the tryc, and guess where it dropped us.

From Lemery, Batangas to Tagaytay. I never imagined that we'll gonna have a side trip to Tagaytay. Unexpected stuffs are indeed the best I guess. Just look at the place. A food hub with an overlooking view of the Taal Volcano. We decided to have our dinner in that place (at Savemore to be exact) yup we're running out of cash. It's almost 7:00 when we took the bus (you just have to wait for the bus to pass by the food hub). We're lucky enough to find a vacant seat beacuse we're all dead knocked out during our way back. I don't remember sleeping in the arms of a stranger but my friend told me I did.

Our day trip seemed long but it's all worthwhile. Tiring yet satisfying. All our expenses from Manila to Batangas and Vice Versa are rounded up to P1,500( insclusive of foods , entrance fees, transfers). But if you have a car, and you are wise enough to budget your money, I think P1,000 is more than enough.

So what now? Till the next trip? Just bug me in all my social media accounts if you want to ask for some suggestions.

God bless you, and along with finding places, may you find yourself.

I combined some of the video clips from our Batangas Trip. You can visit my Youtube channel.