RALLYING AND SAILING IN BATANES

February 23, 2010 - It was a cold morning in Itbayat, as fog is visible from the window of our room. While we were waiting for breakfast, the boys went to the nearby plaza (along the national road) to have picture taking. As early as 6:00 AM, the elders are doing their novena at the church. Our breakfast includes nilagang baka, tapang porkchop, friend flying fish, bucayo and buko for the drinks.  Our focal point today is to visit the other barangays in the area. It was rally style, cement and dirt roads while on top of small truck. We saw some government projects like the irrigation dam which did not push for some reason, the airport is still it its rehabilitation phase. 

As of 2007, the census population record in this town is at 3125 which rarely increase because after high school, some of the youngsters are going to mainland Basco, Manila, Ilocos and Cagayan to continue their studies and would not come back. Would you also believe that the only president that ever visited this side of our country was the late President Diosdado Macapagal?

 
While eating, Kuya Tobias (our guide) brought some coconut crabs for us to take pictures. I called these baby robots because of their size, shape and magnificent colors. We also bought some organic garlic. After breakfast, we have a quick photo-shoot with our host. It was a fast one because she wants us to catch the first boat (M/B Ocean Spirit) ride back to Basco which we missed by almost 10 minutes. And the result is we need to wait for M/B Intransa which docked after 10:00AM.

With this scene, we need to wait for goods to be unloaded. The faluwa were loaded with cements, boxes, furnitures and even appliances like refrigerator and television. They need to unload all before people can board. Our departure was at 12:30NN and boat carried only 17 people including the passengers and crew. Today was a rough one at the sea; we experienced more big waves as compared yesterday. Luckily, our position is more relaxed, we can sleep which we did. Plus we had a bonus, we had a taste of fresh tanique, kilawin on the fly as the crew catched a 5-foot tanique while doing their rolling.

We were back at the hotel at 3:45PM and immediately ordered Pizza Supreme from Casa Napoli which will be delivered at 6:00PM. While waiting, we climbed the nearby hill in front of our hotel. The hill welcomes us with a refreshing view of the sunset, the bay area, town center and airport fronting the mountain. We were starving when we got back, the pizza was rapid gone.

It was only a matter of time that dinner was served. The buffet includes, Paco Salad, Ginisang Kalabasa, Nilagang Baka, Adobong Manok, Maya-Maya Sauteed in Garlic and Ginataang Bilo-Bilo.  It was rest time again since we need to wake up early for another island experience.

 
Location: Itbayat/Basco Batanes