Something Local: My Bicol Food Trip!

It is not only the tourist spots that make Bicol famous but also its delicacies and specialties. Bicol is known for spicy foods and dishes with coconut milk (gata). I really love spicy foods though that makes me sweat bigtime! ;)

Aside from these, there are still best food-finds at Bicol. Mga pagkain na binabalik-balikan ko (namin)!

First one, Toasted Siopao.

Mt. Mayon, Missing!

Albay Day Tour. Legazpi City, Albay is one of the Bicol Region's top tourist destinations. It is where the Mayon Volcano, one of the Philippines' most famous volcano is located. Mayon Volcano is the Philippines' most active volcano and is considered to be the world's most perfectly formed volcano for its symmetrical cone. 


From the time I booked a ticket to Naga, I asked my cousin to join me on a tour to Legazpi. I researched online on places to go in Legazpi. I was thrilled that there are great places to view Mt. Mayon and I was so excited to take shot on it.


Since my cousin is a local from Bicol, I didn't bother to research on how to get to the tourist spots of Legazpi. I just gave her the places I wanted to go to and she will take care of it. This is going to be different, me travelling without detailed itinerary of my own, no time to think of and definitely not a tour guide of the group.


At 7:00 AM, we left our house and went to Crossing Bula to meet EM, cousin, our tour guide! We arrived at the Crossing Bula around 8:00 AM, and after a couple of minutes EM arrived. From there, we rode a bus going to Legazpi City. We asked the driver to drop us at the Cagsawa Ruins. The fare costs PHP 100.00 with approximately 1 1/2 hour travel time.


From highway we still need to walk for about 1KM to get to the Cagsawa Ruins  but we opted to ride a tricycle.


Cagsawa Ruins. It's my second time here. The first one was when I'm still a kid. By the way there's an entrance fee of PHP 10. Em told me that it is far different now from the last time she came here. Though the belfry of the Church was still there, and Mt. Mayon.... missing!

Bicol Homecoming

Wow! Bicol. Bicol is one of the aggressive tourist destinations in the country today. The boost of Caramoan Peninsula, the CWC wakeboarding, the perfectly shaped cone Mt. Mayon, Sorsogon's butanding encounter (whale shark) and the feast of Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia to name a few of the top spots in Bicol.

Hindi lahat nakakalam, but I lived in Bicol for three years, which is in Bula. The town of Bula is historically considered as one of the first four towns of Camarines Sur founded by the Spanish conquistadores when they set foot on the Bicol soil coming from the Visayas, 1576. Bula is approximately 25 kilometers southwest of Naga City.

The common source of living in Bula is through farming. Aside from mountains, I also love farms. Naalala ko pa nong nagbakasyon ako for three months, naligo kami sa ulan and pumunta kami sa bukiran! Ang saya!

K-9 Cemetery

A K-9 Cemetery? Yes there is. I didn't know that there is a cemetery for dogs until we found it out when we went to Nayong Pilipino. It was good that we walked after all, we were able to discover this place. We stopped for awhile and checked it out.

The K-9 cemetery was established by Americans before they left the US Air Base. Now, it was being eyed as a full-fledged cemetery for pet dogs. 

Nayong Pilipino sa Clark

I haven't been to Nayong Pilipino ever. Yes that's true. Even when I'm still a kid, I haven't been there. Since the park was already located in Clark, I think it would be a good time to visit it since we're already here. After the Hot Air Balloon Festival, we went and took a glimpse at the miniature replicas of our scenic and historic Philippine landmarks. 

It's a torture to get out from the Hot Air Balloon's Festival area. It was too hot and people are cramming to exit from the Clark Freeport field. It was too crowded and traffic jam is everywhere. 

Since we don't have our car of our own and we don't have an idea how to get there except on the sign at the street that directs the way to Nayong Pilipino. We asked a traffic enforcer and he told us that there's no public vehicle that goes directly to the Nayong Pilipino but we can ride a jeep then just ask the driver to drop us off at the nearest stop going to Nayong Pilipino. So we did.

After minutes of waiting, a jeep pass by and without any idea if this will go to the nearest stop to Nayong Pilipino, we hopped in.

Bacolod's Chicken House and Calea Cake House

Eat Some More! Bacolod is home to the renowned MASSKARA festival, which is celebrated every October. But the city is also known for great foods. What's the best in the city? Cakes and Chicken Inato / Inasal. And if you want to grab some sweet delicacies, don't forget to buy some piaya, biscocho, napoleones and butterscotch for pasalubong. 

Calea Cake House. I love cakes, especially if it's ♥ chocolate moist cake ♥. I've read a lot of good reviews about Cake Calea Cake House and Cafe Felicia so I included them on my itinerary during my last visit to Bacolod, but unfortunately due to time constraints I was able to try Calea Cake House only.

Calea Cake House is a famous Bacolod pastry shop lauded for its affordable selection of luxurious and moist cakes. So after going to The Ruins of Talisay and walked along Lacson St., we headed to Calea Cake House. The pastry shop main branch is located besides L'Fisher Hotel at Lacson Street.