A tribute to our National Artists

Doña Aurora Street Murals is one of a kind art gallery in the country.  It's a free art gallery on the street, open 24 hours a day.  A tribute to the national artists, Carlos "Botong" V. Francisco for arts, and Lucio D. San Pedro for music.

National Artist

The art murals are all copied from the works of Botong Francisco and the widely acclaimed lullaby "Sa Ugoy Ng Duyan" of Lucio San Pedro are all sculpted on the street.  To locals, it was just an ordinary wall, I think they're just used to it.  But to us, they were amazing.  If only it was not to sunny when we visit the place, we would have taken more photos of it.  But we still took a few.

A woman with a deer

Merienda

Songs of the brown man

Martyrdom of Rizal

Moriones Mask

At the end of the street murals you'll see Lucio San Pedro's famous "Sa Ugoy ng Duyan".

Sa Ugoy ng Duyan

Ang Nuno

And of course before we leave Doña Aurora, it was a need to have a picture with at least one of the art sculptures (in the heat of the sun).  Hehe!

Raina and Raz

Kahit pawisan, smile pa din! :)

How to get there

By Private vehicle
From EDSA, drive through Ortigas Ext. road passing by KayTikling.  Turn right passing by the town of Taytay until you reach the Y junction, pass by the road on the right.  That will let you pass the town of Angono.  Doña Aurora Street of Barangay Itaas is at your right, a few meters after the Municipal hall.

By Public Transportation
From EDSA-Crossing, take the Angono bound FX or jeepneys.  If you take other transportation that will pass by the town of Angono, make sure that they will pass the town proper.  Ask the driver to drop you off at Doña Aurora Street of Barangay Itaas.  That's a few meters after the Municipal hall.

Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Blanco Museum
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Daranak and Batlag Falls

Daranak and Batlag Falls, the nearest waterfall from the Metro.  A 2-hour drive or less, depends on traffic and you get to swim in the cold water of the falls.  Perfect for a weekend getaway.  And besides, these falls are always a part of some television shows and movies.

Daranak Falls

Batlag Falls

We went to Daranak and Batlag falls after our lunch at Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant on a Monday, holiday.  From Scrapyard (where we bought our ice cream), we took a jeepney to Tanay for P35.  We asked the driver to drop us off at the tricycle terminal to Daranak falls.  He said that there are two options to drop us at.  First is where we can hire a tricycle for a special trip.  And second is the regular trip, where we would wait for other passengers until the seating capacity is full.  We opted the latter.  Before getting off his jeep, he told us to just look for the line of the tricycle bound to Daranak.

At the terminal there are a lot of tricycles bound to different Barangays of Tanay.  Some tricycle drivers offered to take us to Daranak for P300.  And even told us that there are no tricycles in the terminal that will bring us to Daranak.  We just said thank you and left.  We continued to ask for the right terminal.  Upon asking some barker's (men who's in-charge of the line) we found the tricycle bound to Daranak.  Since it's already 4PM, there are only few passengers.  We asked for a special trip to Daranak and it was only P150 one-way.  And so we agreed for a special trip.  The right fare is half the price or even lower ('cause some charge P400) if you hire the right tricycle.  Make sure you hire the right tricycles that are really bound to the area of Daranak to avoid over charges.

We asked Mang Onie (our tricycle driver), to pick us up at 6:30PM.  Enough time to take pictures and a short dip.  He said that Daranak is open until 5PM only and they might not allow us to get in anymore.  He gave us a tip to pretend that we are only doing an ocular inspection of the falls and we will get back the following week.

When we arrive at the entrance of the Daranak, Mang Onie was right.  Most of the visitors are leaving.  And so we followed Mang Onie's advice.  Entrance fee to Daranak is P25.  There are still a lot of swimmers when we reached Daranak falls.  But the lifeguard keeps reminding them that they close at 5PM.  We just took some pictures and head to Batlag.

Batlag falls is just above Daranak.  You need to get inside the park of Daranak to get to Batlag.  Cross a bridge made of bamboo and hike a cemented path.  At Batlag, we were told that we can stay until at least before 6PM,  because it gets dark after six.  And they do not allow overnight swimmers anymore.

Small bridge

Hike to Batlag

We thought that we wouldn't be long because we'll just take pictures and leave.  But when we reached Batlag, no one was there anymore (because most of the people are leaving).  The water is really inviting.   

Batlag stream

Raz and I just can't help to take a dip.  We didn't bother to go to the restroom to change our clothes (there was only us, hehe!).  And indeed, it was a good decision to take a dip.  After all the places we've been to in one day with the striking hot sun rays.  It was very refreshing to just stay right beneath the cold waters of the falls.

Sorry for the blurred pic.  Medyo pasmado ang picture taker namin dito.  Hehe!

Oh, to those who don't know how to swim like me, Daranak and Batlag has a rubber lifebuoy (salbabida).  I'm not sure if you need to rent them to be able to use them, but since no one was there, we get to use them for free.  It's scattered everywhere. ☺

Akala ko malalim pa din.. hehe!

It was really dark when we left the falls.  We got lock inside the park, the gate was closed.  I think the park administrator forgot that there were three girls who came in late, or maybe they thought that we already left.  Whatever it is, we had no way out but to climb a small hill and walk over the fence.  Good thing that Mang Onie was kind and patient enough to wait for us.

Over the bakod

Oh by the way, Batlag rates are shown in the picture below.

How to get there

By Private vehicle
From EDSA, drive through Ortigas Ext. road passing by KayTikling.  Make a U-turn and turn right up to the hills of Antipolo.  Follow the Antipolo road to Laguna.  At Tanay Junction, turn left.  Go straight until you see the sign that says, "To Daranak" on your left.  Turn left and you will see the Daranak gate on your right.

By Public Transportation
From EDSA-Crossing, take the Tanay bound FX or jeepneys.  Ask the driver to drop you off at the tricycle terminal to Daranak falls.  Ride a tricycle that are franchised bound to Daranak.


If you want to reserve a tricycle before going to Daranak and Batlag, here is Mang Onie's contact number:
Mang Onie:  0947-7610659




Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Blanco Museum
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant

Angono is the art capital of the Philippines.  We wouldn't want to miss this famous restaurant that was even featured on TV.

Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant

Based on research, this restaurant is special because they serve exotic dishes.  After Angono Petroglyphs, we were talking about exotic foods to order on our way.  But when we were in the restaurant to order, no one had the guts to mention any exotic food.  So we agreed on their house specialty, Minaluto and added Sinigang na Baboy (Pork Stew).

Minaluto - P245 (single serve)

Minaluto is a combination of seafood, vegetables and salted egg in a rice served on banana leaf.  Your rice options can be plain white rice, java rice and pink rice.  If you know me, you'll be able to guess what I chose.  Haha!  Right!  Pink rice is binuro (fermented) rice.

We were too hungry to roam around.  We wanted to eat before exploring the gallery.  Balaw Balaw is not just a restaurant.  They also have a gallery in their Mezzanine and 2nd floor.  We just waited for our food to be served first.

Art Gallery

I like this mother and child painting.

And at last, after a few minutes, we are ready to taste their Minaluto when suddenly... I saw something crawling heading to my fork.  I panicked a little, but I don't want to cause a scene.  So I immediately tried to cover it with my glass of iced tea.  When all I thought that it was dead, it crawled again (surviror!).  This time it's heading to my friend's direction.  But she was more calm than me (I think).  She just squash it with a handful of tissue (eeeww.. juicy pa!).  And the cockroach is dead.

Rest in peace ipis (cockroach).

If you think that this stop us from eating, you're wrong! Hehe!  Although it decrease my appetite, it didn't stop us from eating our lunch.  I guess the three of us thought the same.  We need the energy for our next destination, Darank and Batlag Falls.

From the foods that we ordered.  I'd recommend their Pork Stew more.  You can taste the real asim (sourness) in sinigang.  They made it the traditional way.

Sinigang na Baboy - P235

Total bill is less than P700.  We roam around for a awhile then head out.  We didn't bother to order a dessert anymore.  We agreed to buy an ice cream at a nearby convenience store.  Perfect for the hot weather.

How to get there


Address:  16 Doña Justa Subdivision, Angono, Rizal
Contact No:  (02 651-0110) and (02) 295-2698

By Private vehicle
From EDSA, drive through Ortigas Ext. road passing by KayTikling.  Turn right to the towns of Taytay and Angono.  Turn left on Doña Justa Subdivision (They have a signboard at the corner of the hi-way).

By Public Transportation
From EDSA-Crossing, take the Angono, Binangonan bound FX or jeepneys.  Make sure that it will pass the hi-way.  Just ask the driver to drop you off at Balaw Balaw Restaurant or Doña Justa Subdivision.  The entrance is just a few steps from the hi-way.




Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Blanco Museum
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Angono Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs are ancient rock engravings.  The Angono Petroglyphs is one of the oldest work of art in the Philippines.  Human, animals, and other interesting figures are engraved on rock walls dating back to 3000 B.C.

Petroglyphs

National Cultural Treasure

Ancient Signs

This heritage site was discovered by our National Artist for Arts, Carlos "Botong" Francisco.  The Angono Petroglyphs became a National Treasure by virtue of Presedential Decree No. 260 in 1996.  It is now being preserved and developed by the National Musuem of the Philippines.  A mini-museum, viewdeck, and stone path has been constructed for tourists.

Too bad that we didn't get to see what's inside the museum because it was a national holiday when we visited the place.

Add caption

How to get there?

Angono Petroglyphs is located at the boundary of the towns of Angono, Binangonan, and Antipolo.


By Private vehicle
From EDSA, drive through Ortigas Ext. road passing by KayTikling.  Turn right to the towns of Taytay and Angono.  You will pass by Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant (left) and Nemiranda's Restaurant (right).  Turn left at the corner where there's a 7-eleven store.  Follow the Thunderbird resort road.  Keep left after you pass through the tunnel.  You should be able to see the cave on your left like in the picture below.

By Public Transportation
Option 1:
From EDSA-Crossing, take the Angono, Binangonan bound jeepneys.  Ask the driver to drop you off at Scrapyard.  From Scrapyard, hire a tricycle to take you to to Petroglyphs, known as "the cave" to locals.  They may charge you P300-P400 round trip.

Option 2:
From EDSA-Crossing, take the Angono, Binangonan bound jeepneys.  Ask the driver to drop you off at the Angono town proper.  You may hire van's or FX for P400-P500 round trip.

At the view deck

What we did:
Since one of my friend is a resident of Angono, we were able to hitch a ride on the service van for Thunderbird  guests for free.  From Fiesta Casino, we hired a tricycle for P60 round trip.

There are only few people who knows that we have this kind of treasure.  This National site is perfect for a weekend getaways with family and friends.  Angono is just an hour away from the Metro.  It was an amazing experience to see ancient rock carvings personally.



Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Blanco Museum
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Rizal Tour (Day 2)

Day 2:

We started our tour late from our original plan.  It was almost 12 noon when we reach Doña Aurora Street Murals.  This murals were created to honor the two national artist of their town.  Carlos "Botong" Francisco and Lucio San Pedro.

National Artists from Angono, Rizal

The whole street was decorated with murals and the song of "Sa Ugo'y ng Duyan" was also there.

Murals

Since Angono church is on the same street, we decided to drop by and take pictures.  San Clemente or St. Clement Parish Church is located at Doña Aurora Street after the murals.  St. Clement is the patron saint of fishermen, Angono's patron saint.

After Angono, we went to Antipolo for the Mystical Cave.  Took a ride from Angono town proper to KayTikling for P11.50.  At KayTikling, we took another jeepney ride to Antipolo for P10.  It was past 12 so we decided to eat lunch at Parco before starting our cave adventure.

We took the Cogeo bound jeepney's for P9 and another ride bound to Paenaan (P8.50) to the street to Mystical Cave.  You should be able to see the street after the old hotel/motels on your right.  Be ready for a 30-45 minute walk on a rough road.

To Mystical Cave

Entrance to Mystical Cave

From the name itself, the locals call it mystical due to the holy images and rock formations seen inside the cave.  The crystal rock and waters from inside is said to heal the sick.  During holy week, this cave and the cross on top of the mountain is a popular destination for pilgrimage.  Good thing that we went there right after holy week.

Our tour guide told us that another route to go to Antipolo town proper is to pass by the Subdivision in La Salle.  We took his advise and indeed, it was easier.  We should have saved the long walk on the rough road.

It was getting dark when we reach Antipolo church.  We couldn't resist to have a sundae to cool down.  It was actually fun to just sit on one side of the gutter and do nothing but eat.  Our tour is almost ending, energies are going down (I thought!) until we saw clowns waiting with us in the terminal.  My travel buddies just can't get enough.

Raina and Raz with the clowns

Until our next adventure girls.. ^_^


Click on Day 1 of our Rizal Tour.

You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Blanco Museum
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish Church
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)

Blanco Museum

A part of our Rizal Tour is to visit Art Museums.  Blanco Family Museum is a collection of paintings by the whole family of Jose "Pitok" Blanco.  Pitok, together with his wife, Loreto "Loring" Blanco and their seven children, their paintings represent the Filipino culture and tradition in a style called realism.

The Logo

Bunggan

The fish is a carp and "Bunggan" is how the locals call an upside down fish.  This was originally a pun, given by friends of their great grandfather, Juan.  A short, stout and bald fisherman who loves to rest on his small boat showing his tummy.  And would look like a dead fish.

Small boat

The Museum Collection

Peter Paul P. Blanco.  The youngest son took his brush when he was 11 months old.  At the age of seven, his first child painting was exhibited at Nikko Manila Garden.

Painted at 11 months old

Painted at 10 years old

"Yakan of Basilan", Oil pastel on wood at 10 years old

Gay P. Blanco.  The youngest among the two girls started her drawing career at the age of 3.

Jan P. Blanco.  Birds are his favorite subject.  Born in 1972.

Joy P. Blanco.  The fourth child and the eldest daughter.  Good at evoking the entire cultural environment in which people live.

Michael P. Blanco.  His genre is characterized by highly relational figures of men, women and children who are continually engaged in a lively interaction.  In 2004, he showcased his first solo painting exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines entitled "Ivatans, People of the North".

"Traders of Itbayat Island, Batanes"

Noel P. Blanco.  Has loved the water in all its moods and it is in water that he found his prime elements as an artist.

Glen P. Blanco.  Loves to paint nature scenes and landscapes.

Loreto "Loring" P. Blanco.  Her mother and child subjects tell us about human warmth.

Jose "Pitok" V. Blanco.  The master, the teacher, and a father.  His art fuses on tradition and the present, the old and the new, bringing the ancient and enduring folk into the context of the living present.

"Angono Fiesta", took 2 years to finish.

Other Paintings and Collections:

It was fun to see stuff made from nothing to an extraordinary art.  By the time we left the museum, we were still amazed by such a talented family.  The pictures I've shared here is not enough.  First hand experience is still the best.  Below is their contact information:

Blanco Family Museum
Address:  312 A. Ibañez. St. Bgy. San Vicente, Angono, Rizal, Philippines
Tel. No:  (02) 651-0048 and (02) 651-3230
Cell No:  (63) 926-673-0805
E-mail:  blancomuseum@yahoo.com


Read our Rizal Tour from Day 1 to Day 2.

You might also like:

• Church in the Sky
• Angono Municipal Hall and Park
• Angono Petroglyphs
• Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant
• Daranak and Batlag Falls
• Scrapyard Restaurant
• Doña Aurora Street Murals
• St. Clement Parish
• Mystical Cave

If you like this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.  Or you may leave a comment to help my blog.  Happy reading, thank you! :)