I love outdoors, especially the beach. One of the things that I do when going out of town is just selecting a province, reading some blogs and just explore. Also I always ask the locals regarding what food I should eat that is special in their place and I would certainly try it! For me that’s the true meaning of adventure!
April of this year me and my girlfriend decided to head out of town for a long weekend (Labor Day). Good thing that the provincial bus terminals are near my house so we went there and checked which bus station has the least amount of passengers. As expected the bus terminals are full of people who are going out of town as well, it looks like a scene in the walking dead. Since we don’t have a ticket yet and Dagupan bus terminal is not filled with passengers. We decided to ride their bus going to dagupan. Next thing I did was to search the route then I decided to go straight to Mangaldan. We left the Metro around lunch time and asked the conductor to drop us off in Mangaldan.
We passed one of the most visited places in Pangasinan, Our Lady of Manaoag. Then we arrived at our destination around 6PM. Got off the bus and looked for a place to eat dinner as it took us around 5-6 hours travel time and we were hungry. Good thing that we were dropped off in the Market Place. The place was so alive with all the vendors selling grilled meat and seafoods, Lugaw (congee), Mami (Noodle Soup), and some Hawker stands (Carinderia). We sat on one of the Carinderia’s and ordered rice and 2 types of viands Papaitan (Bitter Beef Stew) and Picadillo (Ground Pork with tomato Sauce). Then I ordered 1stick of grilled pork ears and Longganisa (Filipino Sausage) because this is one of their specialties.
Once we are full. We searched for a hotel where we can spend the night. Most of the hotels were fully booked because of the season. So I did a google search I found out that San Fabian Beach is near where there are resorts or hotels we can stay. We then rode a jeepney and a tricycle to reach San Fabian. And to my surprise there was a party in the Beach. They were celebrating Bangus Festival! Pangasinan is very well known with their Bangus (Milk Fish). We walked the shore line to find a place to stay for the night. After checkin-in we went to a convenience store to buy some snacks and drinks to cap off the day.
Set the alarm early in the morning to make sure we are able to catch the sunrise. Checked the beach and decided to go visit a different city.
Went to the highway and had breakfast. I asked some locals on what food I should try. And they told me to try Pigar-Pigar. So I did order it and it was a Stir-fried beef dish with cabbage. It was alright maybe I made a mistake on picking where to order it. We then head on a church beside the place we ate in and prayed for a while and gave thanks for our safe journey and asked to continuously guiding us on our next journey ahead.
We then rode a bus going to Dagupan as I heard a lot of good things about it. Once we arrived we just ate Halo-halo to cool down while I google where to go. And I read about Tondaligan. So we head straight to the place and saw that the beach was nice. Rented a newly built apartment complex.
And of course, vacations won’t be complete without food. Once we are settled in, we head on out and went to a small market (talipapa) and bought some food to grill. We had 3 types of Longganisa (Filipino Sausage), Oysters, Bangus (Milk Fish), Pork ribs, Beef Shank and some left over Spicy Wings.
Come night time I noticed that there are a lot of people heading over the area next to our apartment complex. And to my surprise there’s a Perya (Funfair). So we roamed the place then went to the beach.
Sadly all vacations comes to an end and it is time to go home. Go back to the busy life in the Metro. Overall, the experience was super fun. The people in Pangasinan are very nice and accommodating. I would personally go back there to try other cities and check what they have to offer!