It’s just been two weeks since the last trip to the beach in San Juan, Batangas and here I was going to my second beach of the year! And, it’s just been a week and here I was back again in Pangasinan!
At this point in time, I must be somewhere other than the confines of my room in Montalban, or else.
This trip was actually a family excursion of our friend, Oms. Resty and I were kind of ‘invited’ (I think) and we gladly obliged. It was my first time seeing the rest of Oms’ family, so, I was a bit anxious as we were practically crashing a family reunion. Spoiler: Oms’ brothers (and their wives) and her couple friends are among the kindest people I’ve met (not to mention Tita Yheng and Lula and Elena).
What's in this post?
The journey
So, as I was coming from the far-flung town of Montalban, I left home and rode a UV express at 2 in the morning to meet Resty in Cubao to take a bus going to Pangasinan. Oms is from Mangatarem, which is the southernmost and usually the first town (depends where you’re coming from) in Pangasinan, but we won’t be stopping there but instead will go direct to our destination, Dasol, Pangasinan.
The municipality of Dasol is one of the many coastal towns of Pangasinan Province and is best known for its white sand beaches. For more facts, Google later if you want to know more about this town. (And this wasn’t my last trip to Pangasinan this year. I came back here to visit Sual!)
The bus ride took around 6 (or 5?) hours from Cubao to the town of Alaminos, Pangasinan. There is no direct bus trip from Cubao that will pass by Dasol. Before taking the bus to Dasol, we grabbed something to eat from Angel’s Burger (Angel’s Secret Menu) which we ate in McDonald’s.
The bus ride to Dasol took around an hour. We got off the bus and took a tricycle ride to reach Tambobong. Riding the tricycle was an adventure itself. For maybe forty-five minutes, as I was riding at the back, I had an open, beautiful view of the surroundings and at the same time holding tight for my dear life. Nonetheless, it was a very welcome experience! (Also, two items fell from my camera bag during this ride.)
We arrived earlier than Oms’ party but the staff allowed us to stay in one of the reserved rooms, so we were able to rest for a little while before they arrived. (I took some snaps with the big camera but I only started using it for fancier shots the following day.) In no time we were having lunch and soon, ready for the beach.
Frisbee, swimming, barbecue, and the best inuman
This is one of the earliest trips of 2023 and I’m writing it just now, night of November 20, 2023.
Most of the tiny details that day have been erased from my memory and I barely have any photos from that afternoon or night.
But I still remember, quite vividly, how much I enjoyed playing frisbee!
I remember the fun of grilling barbecue and not minding at all the smoke and the sweat and the mosquitoes.
I remember the fun of eating together with the people that I had just met that day, but were so kind and welcoming that I didn’t feel any discomfort. I couldn’t believe such people exist!
The gathering that night over booze and pulutan (snacks over drinks) is a core memory.
I had been oberving these people (Oms’ brothers and her in-laws) and the number one thing I had noted was how kind and respectful they were to each other. The way they talk to their spouses, to their kids (and to us, strangers).
There was one of them telling a story about a big investment or something that they lost which they just accepted and moved on. If I remember it correctly, they were even laughing about it. I was shaking my head, both out of disbelief and amazement. Define abundance mindset.
And for a few hours that night, that’s exactly what happened.
Probably the most wholesome, polite, and yet meaningful inuman (drinking session) I’ve had. Shoutout to Kuya Osep and Ate Maki, Kuya Kitz and Ate Gold, and to Vic and Fona!
I went to bed probably around past 12.
Sunrise, sea stars and sea grass
Everytime I’m on a beach trip, I see to it that I wake up early before sunrise. For some reason, I don’t get hungover. (I can hear Oms saying, “You didn’t drink anything!”)
So, I woke up at around 6, got refreshed and headed to the beach. The tide was so low that the place looked entirely different from the day before.
Apparently, a large portion of the shallow areas are heavily covered with seagrass that becomes visible when the tide is low.
There were already a lot of beachgoers walking over the new landscape, inspecting the tide pools for some marine creatures. It was my first time to see such a scene at this scale.
There were a lot see as well. I didn’t stop myself from exploring and went to several tide pools to look for marine animals. I found some creatures unknown to me and some sea star that I even picked up. I was more used to seeing the more frail and slender sea star but this one amazed me for real. Another core memory!
We had breakfast. I can’t remember if I dipped again that morning but I remember walking on the beach with Oms, and getting a picture together with Tita Yheng (Oms’ mom) in the swing. And then we prepared to leave. I think we didn’t have lunch and went on our way.
(I don’t remember what I wrote on that photo.)
Covelandia
Apparently, there was a plan to stop at a resort in Labrador, Pangasinan and eat there. So, after grabbing some pasalubong along the way (I don’t remember if I bought any!) we reached a resort called Covelandia (I know, the name sounds familiar and a bit scary). It’s a resorts place in Labrador. The food preparation took a while so we had some free time and had a quick picture taking by the pool.
There was a lot of food! I wonder how much the bill was. I don’t even remember if we chipped in hahaha. But who cares about the money when it comes to food, di ba?
Labrador is just about an hour drive to Mangatarem. In no time, we were back to Oms’ house.
During this trip, we had been planning to go to La Union, but this time with Oms’ friend, Mayo. I believe we still went out that night to our ‘favorite’ coffee place in Mangatarem, the Figaro, which made us wake up a little late for tomorrow’s trip.
So, see you in Elyu! The surfing capital of the north!
P.S. All the photos on this post were shot using a Samsung A53 except for the frisbee shot and the photoset with the bird. It’s hard to choose photos to include in this story when you take hundreds of photos, and when you use both a mobile and a big camera. That being said, a separate “In Focus” post is on its way to showcase more of Dasol’s beauty.
Travel period: January 20-21, 2023
Great post Elriz
Thank you Bapu bhai! I appreciate it!