It has been more than a year since our last family out-of-town trip to Boracay Island. The COVID 19 pandemic lockdown forced not only us but basically every Filipino to stay home and be hopeful that everything will be well soon. Aside from that, it also affected the tourism industry with the closure of numerous hotels and restaurants.
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| Cuenca - Taal Road Trip 2021 |
That's why when the government allowed local travel, my wife, daughter, and I took the opportunity to help local tourism and at the same time go on our first family out-of-town road trip for the year. For this trip, we drove to the province of Batangas for our 2-day adventure in what I dubbed as Cuenca-Taal Road Trip 2021. Come, join us on our first road trip of this year.
Day 1 February 28, 2021
For the first day of our road trip, we drove to TJM Tropical Resort in Cuenca, Batangas where we booked an overnight stay in their Cabin Room for just 1810 pesos.
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| This is gonna be the first road trip of our car Baby Osaka |
To reach Cuenca, we drove from our home in Cavite, through Daang Hari, SLEX, Star Toll before exiting Lipa Exit. From there, we drove to Cuenca via the National Highway.
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| Ella loving her first out of town after the pandemic |
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| Our home for the day |
TJM Tropical Resort is less than a kilometer outside the Poblacion of Cuenca. To be honest, without Google Maps, the resort would be hard to locate. It's located deep in Sitio Longos in Barangay San Felipe. Regardless, the drive was worth it as the resort is literally an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Nighttime swim in TJM Tropical Resort
Overall, we enjoyed our solo night swim before wrapping up our night being lullabied by the relaxing sounds of nature.
Day 2 March 1, 2021
We started our second day with a morning swim in the resort. We checked out of TJM Tropical Resort a bit early so that we can continue with our road trip.
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| Time for that morning dip! |
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| Ella enjoying her time in the pool |
From the resort, we drove back to Cuenca town proper to visit the Spanish-era Cuenca Church. After paying respects and exploring the church grounds we walked to the nearby G2B Lomi House to eat our early lunch.
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| Our first destination for the day - the town of Cuenca |
G2B Lomi House is known for its lomi. We ordered the Super Double Lomi worth 270 pesos. Aside from literally being a feast, the Super Double Lomi is also a feast for our eyes because of its presentation and overflowing toppings.
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| Check out those toppings! |
It was not a surprise that we weren't able to finish the meal hence we had no choice but to have our leftovers bagged so that we can finish it at home (it served as our breakfast the next day).
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| Our next destination for the day is the heritage town of Taal. |
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| The streets in front of Taal Basilica is now being laid with cobblestone |
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| Taal town plaza |
From Cuenca, we continued our drive to our next destination which is the heritage town of Taal. Sadly, since it was a Monday the old houses which double as a museum were all closed. Because of that, we just visited and explored Taal Basilica and its grounds.
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| Driving home via the Lemery-Agoncillo Road |
After paying our respects and offering our prayers we decided to drive back home. Instead of going through Diokno Highway, we decide to take the lesser-used Lemery-Agoncillo Road.
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| A quick stop at Lemery -Agoncillo Road |
The Lemery - Agoncillo Road sure did have plenty of picturesque spots, particularly of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano.
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| This area has been damaged by the last eruption of Taal Volcano |
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| Checking out the picturesque Taal Lake |
From the Lemery - Agoncillo Road we took a left turn up Ligaya Drive going to Tagaytay City. We had a brief stop halfway up Ligaya Drive near Laeuna de Taal's gate. The view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano is truly magnificent from this spot but it tends to get crowded by motorists, particularly bikers, too quickly and parking gets to be a concern at times.
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| The view from the stop near Laeuna de Taal gate |
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| My wife and daughter enjoying the view |
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| Continuing on to Tagaytay via Ligaya Drive |
We then continued on our way to Tagaytay City. We planned to buy coffee from Starbucks in Tagaytay-Calamba Road so that we have something to sip on our way home but we were shooed away because of the policy against bringing kids even if they won't leave the vehicle.
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| Starbucks Vermosa |
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| Coffee time at Starbucks Vermosa |
Regardless, we still got coffee from Starbucks but from the branch in Vermosa. From there, we wrapped up our 2-day Cuenca - Taal Road Trip 2021 with an ice-cold Coffee Jelly frappe to bring home.
See you on our next adventure!
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Ang saya naman ng family road trips ninyo. Enjoy!
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