What I Learned from Casa San Pablo

Hello there! It's been a while since my last post. Oh well ganyan talaga pag tinatamad busy. Medyo nagbalik ako dahil hindi pwedeng hindi ko ikwento ang aking experience sa recent place na napuntahan ko. 

I was invited by my friend, Marge to a place in Laguna called Casa San Pablo since the best things in life are free syempre gora ako. Plus, what I love from getting away with friends is, I've got to bond with them and do some catching up since hindi naman kami madalas magsipagkita.

How do we get there? We rode a bus in Buendia going to Lucena then we got off at San Pablo Medical Center then we rode a tricycle to Casa San Pablo. 

What welcomed us was a breath of fresh air, which is exactly what I needed in this super hot days. We arrived at exactly lunch time, so after sipping the welcome drinks and introduction to the very accommodating owner, Ms. An Alcantara, we were led to our room to settle our things.

It's not a typical room with beds, toilet and bath and whatnot. It has art decors, fresh flowers and a very refreshing smell.

I love the attic room minus the "untog" that I got two times.

The lanai was perfect for kwentuhan and some inuman sessions.

thank you Zai for this photo

Now, this was the most exciting part, after settling our things we went to the dinning hall to have our lunch!

We had lechon, pipian, fresh lumpia or lumpiang hubad according to Marge, fried tilapia wrapped in banana leaves and tahong.

Then we had this ube halaya for dessert which was my favorite of all. Unlike other typical halaya, it was thick and flavorful at higit sa lahat hindi sya nakakaumay. Kaya kong ubusin ang isang buong serving. Kung hindi lang nakakahiya hihingi pa sana ako ng isa pa haha!

After lunch, we had our time to muni muni and then Ms. An took us to a native cooking tour. The food is one of the thing that brings us closer to a place that's why cooking tour is one of the special features you can enjoy and taste in Casa San Pablo.

We cooked pinaltok or ginataang bilo-bilo. 

And served as our late afternoon merienda with suman, perfect!

After ng aming napakasarap na merienda, nagliwaliw naman kami. Nag-bike, nag-swing, nag-seesaw, nagtaguan, naghabulan, nagbahay-bahayan at chika lang po yung huling 3. 

thank you Michy for this photo

Trees, fresh air, laughter, giggle, play, eat haaaay, this is life!

photos credit to Zai

Late that afternoon Ms. An show us her craft, clay pottery. She makes clay figures and call it storyteller dolls. She also showed us some of her works.

We also took a dip on the pool just to beat the heat and then, again the exciting part, dinner! We had nilagang baboy, shrimp, liempo, and chiken. Wala akong pcitures ng food for dinner low bat kasi ang phone ko. 

We let the night pass by sitting on the hammock under the stars. Saya ng buhay sa Casa San Pablo!

Came morning, we had breakfast. Fruits, pandesal and jams, fried rice, egg, danggit, longganisa, coffee and hot chocolate.

I love their hot choco, isa sa mga babalikan ko sa Casa San Pablo.

I dont want my vacation to end, not just yet, but I need to leave earlier because I have some important things to do that day. Sayang lang hindi na ako nakasama sa Lake Pandin tour nila, well I'll make sure next time mapuntahan ko rin yan and the 6 other lakes in San Pablo.

To end this post let me share more photos and some things that I learned from Casa San Pablo.

1. I learned how to cook pinaltok or ginataang bilo-bilo. Paltok means hagis. Pinaltok dahil hinahagis ang bilo-bilo sa kawali. Hindi sya pwedeng ilagay lang basta dahil magdidikit dikit. 

2. I learned that the english term for sago is tapioca balls. I know right, Im such a looser hehe.

3. I learned that pinaltok is perfect with suman. Isawsaw ang suman sa pinaltok and perfect ang sarap!

4. I learned that kare-kare can have a better, I mean a good taste in chiken. Pipian ang tawag nila sa luto ng manok na may peanut taste katulad ng karekare. But unlike kare-kare wala syang sahog na veggies. Sabi nga ni Ms. An it's the kare-kare for kids. Im not eating kare-kare pero nung natikman ko to ok din naman pala sya.

5. I learned a little bit of coconut histoy. And also that there's an infestation right now threatening it's existence.

6. I learned about Pigafetta and his role on our history.

7. I learned that we can make a garden out of junk.

8. I learned that we can make a chandelier out of used bottles.

9. I learned of what we can make out of an old iron.

10. I learned that Casa San Pablo is a perfect place to relax, to unwind and just spend ample time with family, friends and special someone that is just 90 minutes away from Manila. I will definitely come back!