Explore Manila, the Philippines and the World!

I can’t believe that 2012 is almost over! Since I started a year in review last year (2011), I decided to make it a tradition here in my blog so I’m starting again today and make sure you come back tomorrow and the next few days because I will be posting this every day.

I realized that every year we would always start it with a BANG! Simply because our anniversary is on the end of the January. (*wink*)

In 2012, Hubby and I went on a road trip to Bolinao, Pangasinan and spent two nights to enjoy the beach, the pool and the food!

We stayed in Puerto del Sol which offered good service and clean rooms.

Although the beach was NOT too impressive, the pool and the jacuzzi were pretty good.

While we were in Bolinao, we were also able to check out the Cape Bolinao Lighthouse.

Too bad it was already old and run down we didn’t get to appreciate it that much. But as for the rest of the trip, it was super fun with lots of rest and food trip. ♥

January definitely is an exciting month for us!

After having explored a lot of beaches all over the Philippines including the beaches of Bali, Phuket and Bintan, I would say that the beach of Bolinao was the most unique. This is because the water is always shallow and low ALL the time!

There is something in the middle of the beach that blocks the water making it low tide almost the whole day, yes even after lunch. The down side is that you cannot swim in Bolinao’s beach.

But I still find the view nice and very relaxing.

Definitely a nice break and great way to celebrate our 7th anniversary!

Puerto Del Sol Beach Resort
Barangay Ilog Malino, Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines
www.puertodelsol.com.ph

The purpose of our trip to Pangasinan was to celebrate our 7th anniversary. So one of the highlights of the trip was our romantic dinner setup by the beach.

Well, that night was too windy so the dinner setup was placed beside the restaurant. It was still great because the restaurant was just beside the beach. We can hear the sound of the water and the waves. I felt peaceful, contented and happy.

We ordered grilled seafoods, chicken teriyaki and kilawin. Our choices weren’t too romantic and didn’t go well with the dinner setup, but Hubby and I both loved the food and ordered white wine to cap off the meal.

Thanks again to Puerto Del Sol staff for making our Anniversary dinner unfortagettable! ♥♥♥

Cape Bolinao Lighthouse in Abac, Patar, is one of the famous lighthouses in the town of Bolinao, Pangasinan, the other being Port Bolinao Lighthouse in Guigui-wanen, Barangay Luciente I. It is the second tallest lighthouse in the Philippines after the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, which is in Ilocos Norte. It has played an important role in preventing accidents at sea for over a hundred years in an international marine passage to Hongkong, Japan, USA and other countries.

Built on top of the rocky hill Punta Piedra Point, the lighthouse overlooks the South China Sea. Also visible from the lighthouse are archeological sites where artifacts from the 14th to the 15th centuries have been uncovered, the 1,269 hectare Cape Bolinao Dendro Thermal Ipil-Ipil Plantation, vast white beaches, and coral reefs.

I was excited to check out Cape Bolinao Lighthouse but I ended up disappointed after seeing it in person. Well, I felt more of saddened by what happened to the lighthouse. It was abandoned and was not maintained anymore.

Too bad, right!? Cape Bolinao Lighthouse is one of the attractions of Bolinao. I just hope they try to do something about it!

While we were on top of the hill, I was mesmerized by the view though. It was beautiful.

I really hope and pray that people of Bolinao would do something about the lighthouse. Save it please!

Cape Bolinao Lighthouse
Punta Piedra Point, Barangay Patar
Bolinao, Pangasinan

After a looong drive, well at least, for me, we finally arrived Puerto del Sol, where we will be staying for 2 nights. It was a welcoming site after being on the road for 6 hours!

I loved that the resort’s outdoors were very well maintained. There were lots of plants all over the place. The pool looks clean and inviting.

We decided to have lunch first before taking a nap and we chosed the restaurant by the beach. It was refreshing!

We ordered for crabstick salad, grilled squid and pork barbecue. All of these were delish!

After the sumptuous lunch, we thought of trying out the pool, but since our room was ready, we decided to take a long nap and rest after a long morning!

Puerto Del Sol
Barangay Ilog Malino, Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines

Before we arrived Bolinao, we stopped over Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac first to have a quick breakfast at Pancake House.

As always, Hubby ordered his all time favorite – Beef Tapa.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t remember exactly what I had for breakfast. I’m not sure if I had pancakes or I also had beef tapa. Hmmm.. Oh well, blame the epidural for that! LOL!

After our quick (and yummy) breakfast at Pancake House, off we went to the road again for Bolinao.

Pancake House
Hacienda Luisita
Tarlac City, Tarlac
Philippines
(045) 985-1348

I read a lot of blogs about the road trip to Bolinao a few days before our trip so I knew that it’s going to be a LONG drive! I made sure that we start early to make the most out of our weekend.

We started our trip around 5AM and I’m glad we did because it felt refreshing to travel without the heavy traffic in the metro. It was also nice to travel while the air was still fresh and there weren’t so many cars on the road with us.

We were stuck on traffic while we were in Tarlac but it was manageable. We also saw a couple of nice churches on the road.

If we had a lot of time in our hands we would have visited all of the churches. Maybe next time we’ll do that.

After almost 6 hours, we finally arrived Pangasinan.

How to get to Pangasinan?

If you will travel by car, you can take the SCTEX (Subic, Clack, Tarlac, Expressway) route. As you pass by Alaminos and Bani Pangasinan, the road to Bolinao starts to ascend through a zigzag road which will give you a scenic view of mountainous landscapes.

If you are traveling by bus, just go to a Victory or 5 Star bus terminal nearest you. You could call their office for the definite time of departure because there are limited time schedules of buses that goes straight to Bolinao. Still if you dont catch that, you could take the bus that goes to Alaminos and from there get on another bus or jeep. It takes 30-40 mins of travel time from Alaminos to Bolinao.