It
was half an hour past four in the morning.
The alarm on my mobile phone continued to make noise, waking me up for
my usual Sunday morning bike ride. But
today is a very unusual day for me. I
had earlier planned of a surprise itinerary of sorts.
Fast
forward and four and a half hours later, I alighted from the bus stop in Tanauan
City in Batangas for a different kind of adventure. While curious passengers from inside the bus
and on-lookers from the waiting area were watching in wonder while I unfold the
(folding)bike, I mentally prepared myself for this 21 kilometers of riding back
home to Talisay.
With
my schedule running late I decided to bypass two significant museums since I do
not have enough time to stroll around. I
went straight pedaling to the National Highway going towards Talisay. My first and probably only stop would be a
place I have always wanted to visit ever since I was a child. The Mabini Shrine, the birthplace of
Apolinario Mabini, one of our heroes and the one who drafted our first
Philippine Constitution, is located in Brgy. Talaga, Tanauan, Batangas. It is found along the highway going towards
Tanauan if you are coming from Talisay or Tagaytay. It is just a few kilometers from the town
proper and STAR tollway. We always pass
by the shrine when riding a jeep going to our house in Talisay but this is the
first time I’d be exploring this historical landmark.
Unlike
the Rizal Shrine and its unending arrival of visitors and students participating
on their educational tours, I arrived by my lonesome and without any other
visitors in site. Except for an ambulance on standby which I suspected was
parked inside the premises because of some mechanical trouble, I only saw a
single car, probably the service vehicles of the staffs that are maintaining
the whole shrine and a few local kids
who mostly uses the vast shrine as their playground.
I
was approached by the caretaker slash guide and guided me with utmost patience
as I explore the shrine and museum. I
applaud in secret the National Historical Institution’s efforts in maintaining the
shrine but the place becomes less significant unless visitors come and see at
least some of Mabini’s contribution to our colorful history. I was entertained though digging deep in my
Filipino vocabulary as I gamely answered their evaluation questionnaire, written in Filipino language and expected to be answered in, of course, Filipino. I wanted to dig deeper Tagalog ala Chiz
Escudero but the spaces for answers are severely limited. I took some photo opportunities, most
significant are the ones beside Mabini’s small coffin inside the museum and
tomb outside.
I
left the shrine fulfilled and journeyed on towards home. The pictures makes the ride looks easy but
the rolling highway towards Talisay is filled with its share of ascend and
descend made it difficult to arrive in a short time. I had to stop and rest at the public market
beside Taal lake for another photo opportunity and a visit to my aunt who sells
there. I arrived at home an hour and a
half past noon and just in time to catch in glimpse of the Pacquiao-Rios boxing
match in local television. I went to my
cousins on the lakeside to catch up for some lost time together, drank a few
beers and enjoyed the sunset I missed a lot.
I was lacking in
adventure this past months. Eddon is now
in college, Amara is “wreaking havoc” in pre-school. Summer vacation was spent wondering and
thinking of future plans. We’ve been to
nearby attractions, but the fingers were too lazy to hit the keyboard, the mind
was too timid of what to write. Crater
trekker has been very much stagnant, partly intentional and partly
indolent. Indolence came probably from
criticisms and comments that partly affected much of my enthusiasm to write.
I am an
occasional blogger, apart from mood swings and lack of concentration this past
season. And since the summer that just
passed was the time I got a tan because of consistent weekend biking, my interest
suddenly shifted in my new-found mode of relaxation, if you can find biking
uphill relaxing.
It was when I
was testing the new folding bike that I decided to ditch my usual biking route
inside Clarkfield. As I reached
Mabalacat City proper from our place in Dau, I decided to head straight to
Tarlac and forego biking inside the former American base. Yes, Mabalacat is now a city by virtue of
plebiscite last year, although its cityhood was the result of revenues inside
the former base where, historically, seventy percent (70%) of the land area
belongs to Mabalacat. In the
Philippines, you can create a city by economic investments, not from what they
call effective governance. The base was converted into an economic zone
after the American Military left after the destruction caused by Mt. Pinatubo.
Passing Mabalacat
“City Proper”, I pedaled towards north and reached Bamban Bridge with its
famous suspension steel arch design towering in the middle of the highway. One of the modern bridges erected in the
Philippines, every traveler seems to be amazed of this kind of modernity in
spite of the massive destruction from the past that surrounded it. I stopped for a while to catch my
breath. Using the folding bike is not
that easy, with its 20-inch tires more tiring than the 26-inch tires of my
all-terrain bike. I regretted not to
bring a decent camera so I just took a picture from my semi-dilapidated mobile
phone and strolled away for a farther destination.
I reached Death March Memorial Shrine in
Capas after an hour and decided for another quick rest stop and tour around the
shrine. It was déjà vu all over again as
I remembered my first long ride was in this route around three years ago.
My indefinite itinerary
was supposed to be Luisita Mall in Tarlac City but after passing Capas town
proper I remembered a task at home I forgot to do. With deep regret, I turned around and headed
straight home, a little bit sad that my unplanned adventure didn’t push through
completely, but with high hopes that a perfect moment will come to contemplate
a continuation, perhaps even reaching as far as the nearest coast in Pangasinan. Probably not bad for a folding bike, I’m sure.
My sense of
adventure has finally awakened. I was
back for another adventure, albeit a shortened one - and I hope for more to
come.
My biking days will never be the same again. I have a new biking companion. She was introduced to me by fellow biker friends. Meet Madonna Del Ghisallo. She will be my constant companion whenever I go places with my old reliable bike.
1. Roam around the SCTEX interchange
2. Watch the sun rise
Clarkfield in Pampanga is only
a seven peso ride in the jeepney. It is
so near where we currently reside that we could constantly see airplanes which
my daughter delights in admiring them in the open skies. So when I planned to have my leisure ride, I thought
it would be just another walk in the park, or in this case, a ride in the
field. I was dead wrong.
For the very simple explanation... please refer to the picture below:
