A Dayly Dose: Mabuhay 2015: Dipaculao and Baler

Blake always raves about the local Filipino bakeries. We picked up some treats on our way out of Cabanatuan. It only took me 30 minutes to realize I had left my cell phone at the hotel and we had to turn back and get it. Luckily it didn't ruin our day too much.

The drive to Dipaculao and Baler was beautiful. It was so lush and so green. Blake always refers to these places as his beach area. He served there for 4.5 months and all I can say is I wish I lived there for 4.5 months.

It's a pretty windy road to Dipaculao/Baler and we stopped at a little market to get some snacks and took a picture by this broken down D' Liner bus. This is what all the missionaries would ride in to get to the beach area and back. It would take them 4 hours just to get to the closest zone. Not what I would call traveling in style...

One of the church buildings.

Ok, so this is Mother Falls. When Blake and I were dating, I remember seeing pictures of him at some waterfalls and I knew I wanted to visit them when we went, so this was big on my list of to-dos. It had been completely commercialized since Blake had been there and it was packed with people, but it was still beautiful.

We took a tricycle up to the beginning of the hike and walked for about an hour and made it to the falls. We swam for a while and Blake jumped off a big rock and all the Filipinos were cheering for the white foreigner.

We bought Keen's for this trip and they were really a perfect hiking/swimming shoe. I highly recommend them. I think we should be models for them...what do ya think?

That night we went to Dipaculao and visited with some of Blake's closest friends from his mission. Most of the people there don't have internet, so we didn't really know how to let people know that we were coming, but Blake remembered all the streets like it was yesterday and we just showed up unannounced.

Nanay Lleonora is on the left in the green shirt. I remember she was sitting in her outside hut making dinner and we walked in and immediately she said, "Elder Day!" It was so special seeing these people recognize and remember Blake and visit with them. I couldn't believe that they remembered him so well. I couldn't tell you a single name of missionaries that passed through my ward growing up. Nanay Lleonora kept on telling me that Blake was her favorite missionary. She actually never joined the church, but she is indeed a kindred spirit and I hope I'll get to visit with her again one day.

Next we visited the Sibayan family. Orland (far left) left for his mission while Blake was serving and Blake baptized Orland's mom. About six months later, Brother Sibayan was baptized. They were so kind and hospitable and once again, they had a great time telling me stories about Blake as a missionary. After a while of chatting, it was time to go and call it a night.

We didn't really know where we were going to stay while we were visiting this area, but the missionary couple told us about this beautiful new resort they had built in Baler called Costa Pacifica. We walked in and I was in awe. I was taken aback at how beautiful everything was. We decided to just go for it and booked a King suite with a beachfront view for a night. It was way more room than we needed, but it was worth it.

We ate at the restaurant that night and had fresh juice and enjoyed our meal and REALLY enjoyed our room.

The next morning we woke up around 5 AM, opened up our curtains and doors and just laid together and watched the sunrise for an hour. Afterwards we got some breakfast and enjoyed our last few moments in Baler.