Batangas Summer

Went to the beach two days ago with close friends. Nice weather, hot enough for summer, intense enough to give me a sunburn.

It was such a good day to go to the beach. Yep. I live close enough to the sea; about forty-five minutes tops to a really good beach or about twenty if I go to a nearer one. But since Anilao and Lemery here in Batangas offer really good ones, we opted for those. In the end, we settled for Anilao.

A typical summer outing in the beach here in Batangas will consist of several neccesities. Food, water, and a little money. Of course, alcohol can be an option and more or less it takes a notch higher than food sometimes (with my friends it is a must that we bring be a bottle of something) in the priority list. Strange enough for this one outing, we didn't bring any. ("ano? maglalasing tayo eh ang aga-aga?")

Beach food consist of the usual summer choices. Watermelons (we didn't get to buy one), ripe mangoes (that we had), unripe and green mangoes (we mixed these up with "sinaing na isda", salted eggs, tomatoes, and onions... yum), juice and soda, and most important: the barbecue.

Although in the photo, the reader will notice dumplings. It's not really your usual beach munchies but I wanted to compliment another familiar staple on the sea-side table. You mix soy sauce with calamansi and "sili" (small red peppers that rival the jalapenos in spiciness) as dip for your barbecue. And what else goes well with that dip? Dumplings! I bought two boxes of pork Siomai from the local market and it even went well with rice.

Typical 'Pansit'

Here we find another Filipino dish heavily influenced by the Chinese. Noodles with vegetables, a little meat (or fish), and best served fresh from the stove. Pansit. My buddy cooked up the seafood variety. Instead of using soy sauce, he used oyster sauce. Nice.

We didn't stay long. Just enough for a good dip in the sea, and lunch at the beach. Although I did made good on my promise to soak in the sea, since I miss doing that stuff a lot. And now I give you more photos taken from our table by the sea.

Bamboo floaters mark where its relatively
shallow under normal tides

Hut rental ranges from Php 500.00 - Php. 1,000.00

The sea in this part of Batangas is actually a cliff. So expect some parts getting suddenly deeper as you swim further out. Tourists (mostly Koreans) visit primarily for the dive spots, since the area boasts of some pretty impressive coral reefs and variety of marine life. Recently, Anilao is a haven for water sports. During our stay we watched enthusiasts board sailing and water-skiing. For a fee, you can hire a boat and take you to the outer islands where there are more beaches and coves. Some are even with white sand, if you know which ones to look for.

Huts  and tables like these cost less

"Help us out, will you?"

The road to Anilao

A photo here shows me and my friends working the grill. Actually, they worked on it while I just looked on, mouth watering for the hotdogs. We also had another treat that goes well with grilling - marshmallows! A good few minutes above the hot coals and it's all set for and tastes like... who cares what it tastes like? It's roasted marshmallow. 'Nuff said.

Now I got a really good burn from that trip. Who knows a good ointment for treating sunburn?