Walking Slowly in Lipa City

It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment trip until my friend, with whom I shared planning duties with, said that he couldn’t go. Or actually, it was more like, “Our band has to practice for an upcoming gig so we can’t go.” And seeing as they’re a band, that meant that automatically, 5 from our group won’t be able to make it. And as there were only 8 of us who planned on going anyway, only 3 of us were left. Our trip was as good as cancelled, but then my friend Jazel said, “There’s still 3 of us, right? Why don’t we go on with it?”

That’s when it became an impromptu trip. And as with all pre-planned trips that suddenly become impromptu ones, there were bound to be some changes. For one thing, we had to take the bus.

The Alabang terminal has a number of buses that go to several destinations, one of them Batangas. There were some going to Lipa, some Batangas Pier, and others. As the one that went straight to Lipa wasn’t air-conditioned, we took the one en route to Batangas Pier. The barker told us that it would pass by Lipa anyway, and it was only a Php7.00 to Robinson’s Mall, which was our first destination.

It was Php82.50 for each of us. Lipa City, we were told, was an hour and a half away. True enough, we left the terminal at around 9:30 AM, and by 11:10, we were walking into the Robinson’s Mall.

It’s smaller than the usual malls in Manila, but it had a certain charm. Its size did not make it any less interesting, in fact it made it cozier. The interior was easy to follow, one path lined with shops and establishments as staple and familiar as Jollibee and National Bookstore. There was a fountain at the middle of the building, which was an ideal meeting place, and also a supermarket, where we were able to buy our food for the next 24 hours (1 loaf of bread, 1 can of tuna, corn chips, 2 liters of water). And just outside was a cue of tricycles. We got into one, told the driver “El Grande Resort”, and hoped that he’d take us to the right place.

It was a mere 5-minute ride. The resort was along one of the back streets behind the mall. Its entrance had a sign that read “El Grande Resort & Residences”. A phone number was at the bottom of the sign. There was a guardhouse too, and the guard in it asked us if we were there to swim. We told him we were, and he told the tricycle driver to bring us to the back building. We got off, paid the driver Php40 (which I found out later on was too much and that driver totally ripped us off), and went inside a cream-colored building, which looked like a function room as it had round tables set-up with light blue napkins and everything, but there was also a wooden counter at the corner, and a receptionist was behind it.

She told me that swimming for the day was Php100 per person, until 7:00PM. The minimum for night swimming was 20 persons. Room rental was only for 12 hours. The cheapest room was Php500 for 2, Php100 for each extra person/extra mattress. The next cheapest room was Php1,500 for 2. And no, she didn’t stop in between sentences. It took me a while to figure out what we could do–pay Php100 each to go swimming, leave the pool area just as it closes at 7PM, check-in to the cheapest room for Php600, and leave at 7:00AM sharp the next day, just in time for Sunday mass. She said that would be okay, and that she’ll make the reservation with the inn for us. I said thanks, and she had someone lead us to the pool area.

There were 3 pools–a round one for kids, a bean-shaped one whose depth went from 4 to 6 feet, and a big rectangle one, which I assumed was for “serious” swimmers. We didn’t go anywhere near it. Instead, we placed our stuff under a mushroom (or at least that’s what they said it was, it just looked like an umbrella-shaped mold of cement to me) beside the bean-shaped pool, and changed into our swimsuits in the restroom, which was a few meters away from the pool.

Beside the restroom was a big cottage with a big family in it. They’d apparently decided that the videoke machine was theirs for the day, and that everyone else’s ears were at their mercy. Even from the swimming pool, we could hear them, but didn’t complain about it. Living in the Philippines, you get used to things like that. Besides, there was plenty to distract us in the swimming pool.

There was a small, cement cave around the corner, which also served as a waterfall/shower. Water flowed from its ceiling, and into the pool, keeping the water noisy and moving. The same could be said for the water that flowed from one of the slides that led to the deepest part of the pool. We didn’t leave the area until 7:00PM sharp. By then it had begun raining, and only after running into the hotel lobby did we realize that we didn’t need to run as we were already wet from swimming anyway. Still dripping, we checked in, and then we were led to a room just on the first floor–16.

It wasn’t the best room in the world. A plastic green bench greeted us, along with an already on TV (1 vs 100 with Edu Manzano) and aircon. Ahead of the bench was the entrance to the room itself. It had one queen-sized bed, and one queen-sized mattress on the floor. Aside from the TV, there was a round table covered with a red tablecloth across the beds. There was an ashtray on it, and two monoblock chairs beside it. On the other corner of the room was a wooden cabinet, and on the other side was the door to the bathroom.

“At least they’ve got towels,” Jazel said, pointing to the 3 multi-colored towels on the bed. “And soap,” my other friend, AJ said, noticing the small squares on top of each towel.

“At least it’s clean,” I said. For Php600, I guess I really shouldn’t be asking for more.

****

“We don’t have the key to this room,” I suddenly announced, just as we were all about to fall asleep.

“I guess you can only do one thing at a time here,” Jazel said, and then reminded me of how we were told to check-in, only after we’ve finished swimming.

Content with the answer she gave me, I shrugged. And then I slept.

****

We checked out around 7:10AM. It was Php150 for every exceeding hour, but this being the Philippines, I expected them not to charge us for our 10-minute excess. They didn’t. It was a very short stop at the reception area, and then we walked out of the resort, right to the tricycle cue after the guard house.

The tricycle ride to the Lipa Cathedral was less than 10 minutes. It cost us Php30. That’s provincial rates for you. When we got there, mass had already begun. But there were still people coming into the church. It was a regular occurence apparently, that despite mass already going on, people still came in and out. Without meaning to, we followed suit. And stood at the back of the church, near the adoration chapel, which was still locked at the time.

I couldn’t see the altar from where I was standing, but I had a clear view of everything else — the pillars painted skyblue, the portraits of saints on the walls, the religious scenes on the ceiling. You could tell from its structure that it was an old church, but the bright colors used on the paintings made it seem newer than it probably was. It would’ve been serene if the people hadn’t been moving around so much. It would’ve been a really nice attraction.

When mass ended, we walked outside and looked for a place to eat. Having only eaten a tuna sandwich the night before, we were close to starving. But aside from McDonald’s (which I’m really sick of — don’t ask why), there wasn’t any other food establishment near the church. And so we walked.

What I like most about provincial cities like Lipa is how there’s only one main road, and walking along it, you could learn so much about the place, like how, tricycles seemed to be the main mode of transportation, and factories the main industry. And you notice, that the people around walked slowly. As if they weren’t scared that their bags might get snatched. As if they weren’t late for an appointment. Maybe they really weren’t. I realized that my friends and I were walking slowly, too. It was a nice change of pace. And then we saw a sign for Jollibee. Our walking got faster.

After breakfast, we took another tricycle. This time, we asked it to take us to the bus stop. Not terminal, bus stop (Actually, “bastap” if you want the real pronunciation :P). It cost us another Php30. We got off at the public market, which was just beside the bus stop. The stores in front all sold food. Native food, I should say. Food products made from peanuts, pinipig, fruits, ube… They all pretty much sold the same thing. We didn’t bother looking for any difference. We stopped at the first one that we saw. I bought 3 panutya (sweetened peanuts), and 1 large package of pinipig (my favorite!). It cost me Php60.

The buses were just beside the market and they seemed to lead everywhere–Buendia, Lawton, Calamba, Alabang… Unfortunately, the one going to Alabang was again, non-air-conditioned (aka Ordinary), and so we took the one going to Buendia instead.

It was around 1:00PM. The sun was high, and it was the same way as we pulled out of the terminal, and entered the Express Way. There is something to be said about taking the bus, rather than a private car on road trips to the provinces. For one thing, you get to see more outside. The seats are higher, the windows bigger. I was able to see the trees, the creeks that the bridges crossed, the birds… For a moment, I’d wished we’d taken the ordinary bus so I could feel the wind on my face.

The moment ended as soon as we reached Alabang, and the tall buildings and traffic jams came in to view again. I got home at quarter to 3 and went straight to sleep. Maybe I was tired. Or maybe I figured, it was the only way I could drown out the sounds of Metro Manila, and extend my weekend vacation for at least a couple more hours.

 

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For those interested in going to the resort, the contact numbers are: (043)757-0080 and (043)756-7088. Unfortunately, I don’t know the address, but hey, you can always ask them once you give them a call.