Relaxing Weekend at San Jose City, Nueva Ecija
What else can beat the weather, and probably the best way to jumpstart the year is to head to the province for a good ole' relaxing.
Well not really your sort of weekend. As relaxing was just a sidedish for my folks. As my mother had her highschool reunion party at Science City of Munoz, a town near our province, San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.
But upon arriving at my grandmother's house in San Jose City. We hurriedly unloaded all our belongings and took out our mountain bikes and headed for Rizal, Nueva Ecija... a town 16-18kms away, just beside SJC.
We were able to get to meet passing mountain bikers, roadies, farmers and even some whom I can only remember by name, forumists from Philmofo. The ride was short and easy as it was just like cruising... except for the fact that headwinds got us moving slow in some cases. And with strong winds come extra pedal power to prople us forward.
It was an hour less when we arrived at our destination. Poblacion East, at our relatives' humble home. We were served with hot instant coffee, and delightful and cold salad (which of course we weren't able to eat). The De Guzmans greeted us with a warm welcome, and "you'll be missed by your aunt/grandmom" good bye.
Going back we had a slight detour...
"Let's get ourselves lost." Dad said to me. That's when I sensed we're going on an adventure.
We got to ask for directions from the locals near the irrigation line. As to where the rough road leads to... if it would lead us to CLSU, Munoz or San Jose. A family told us that it leads to CLSU Munoz... ah that was a good sign. And so without hesitation we pedaled through the rough. The terrain was awesome as our tires hugged the gravel and sent us speeding forward.
Along the way we were able to get more directions from passing motorcyclists, farmers and even residents. Some were able to give good directions and some were giving us misleading answers. One even told us that the route will bring us to Talaverra, a town just beside Munoz, but very far from San Jose. There was even who was even unsure with her answer.
Funny, that some locals have no sense of direction in this parts of the province.
Unsure with where the off-road route would lead us, we still pedaled through, not until we bumped into Mang Boy, a farmer with a bike tending his crops. Dad got to chat with him using the local dialect, Ilokano. He gave us exact and detailed directions.
"When you reach the paved intersection, turn right and it will lead you to Caridad Sur, Norte then end of Llanera... then turn left, will lead you to San Jose City."
And when we got back to Lola Grace's house, a delicious mouth-watering lunch greeted us. And with hungry men comes full stomachs. Especially when part of the menu is: Adobong Palaka (Adobo Farm Frogs)
And for those wanting to check on our route~ here's something from Map My Ride!
Well not really your sort of weekend. As relaxing was just a sidedish for my folks. As my mother had her highschool reunion party at Science City of Munoz, a town near our province, San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.
But upon arriving at my grandmother's house in San Jose City. We hurriedly unloaded all our belongings and took out our mountain bikes and headed for Rizal, Nueva Ecija... a town 16-18kms away, just beside SJC.
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| The weather was great, and so was the scenery. |
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| Each pedal we made, brought us from one scenery to another. |
We were able to get to meet passing mountain bikers, roadies, farmers and even some whom I can only remember by name, forumists from Philmofo. The ride was short and easy as it was just like cruising... except for the fact that headwinds got us moving slow in some cases. And with strong winds come extra pedal power to prople us forward.
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| The sun was so up high that the road was like an oven-bed. But nothing we couldn't handle. |
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| Felt like we were doing a Manila to Baguio again, with all those marker shots. |
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| Maybe minus the fact that we were getting to see new sights. |
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| With Mang Amboy who gave us some directions for a detour we will be taking when going back. |
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| Dad with the Pantabangan Dam Irrigation System @ Poblacion West, Rizal, Nueva Ecija |
It was an hour less when we arrived at our destination. Poblacion East, at our relatives' humble home. We were served with hot instant coffee, and delightful and cold salad (which of course we weren't able to eat). The De Guzmans greeted us with a warm welcome, and "you'll be missed by your aunt/grandmom" good bye.
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| With my "Uncle", Kristian "Kwatog" De Guzman (he's my father's cousin) |
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| Poblacion West Marker~ glad to have made it! |
Going back we had a slight detour...
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| Kay Ganda ng Tanawin (The Sights are Beautiful) |
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| Endless Farmlands @ Poblacion West, Rizal, Nueva Ecija |
"Let's get ourselves lost." Dad said to me. That's when I sensed we're going on an adventure.
We got to ask for directions from the locals near the irrigation line. As to where the rough road leads to... if it would lead us to CLSU, Munoz or San Jose. A family told us that it leads to CLSU Munoz... ah that was a good sign. And so without hesitation we pedaled through the rough. The terrain was awesome as our tires hugged the gravel and sent us speeding forward.
Along the way we were able to get more directions from passing motorcyclists, farmers and even residents. Some were able to give good directions and some were giving us misleading answers. One even told us that the route will bring us to Talaverra, a town just beside Munoz, but very far from San Jose. There was even who was even unsure with her answer.
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| Lost somewhere between Llanera and Rizal... we've been following the irrigation for quite some time now. |
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| We followed the irrigation system, with the directions provided by the locals. It may seem endless, but heck it was beautiful. |
Unsure with where the off-road route would lead us, we still pedaled through, not until we bumped into Mang Boy, a farmer with a bike tending his crops. Dad got to chat with him using the local dialect, Ilokano. He gave us exact and detailed directions.
 |
| The farmer who gave us "Real Directions", thanks to you Kuya Boy! |
"When you reach the paved intersection, turn right and it will lead you to Caridad Sur, Norte then end of Llanera... then turn left, will lead you to San Jose City."
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| The rough road / fire road / clean road was endless, but it provided us a scenery to look forward to. |
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| We were able to get back on the road thanks to Kuya Boy's directions. From Caridad Sur, we pedaled through Caridad Norte, and the end of Llanera. |
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| Dad enjoyed this trip, although it felt a little insufficient... and we wanted more. But time's not our ally for now. We had to get back to San Jose City, as Lunch's already waiting for us. |
And when we got back to Lola Grace's house, a delicious mouth-watering lunch greeted us. And with hungry men comes full stomachs. Especially when part of the menu is: Adobong Palaka (Adobo Farm Frogs)
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| Uy! Kay Sarap! |
And for those wanting to check on our route~ here's something from Map My Ride!
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