Travel Feature: Gasan, Marinduque (My Hometown)

My lovely, quaint town by the sea – Gasan. Come and explore it with me.

Hello February! I know this year 2020 didn’t begin with a good start for us. By us, I mean those of us in the Philippines at this time. If you didn’t know yet, last month the Taal Volcano erupted and for several days it spewed out lava and ash and, for this reason,  thousands who lived within the 14-kilometer radius of the volcano were displaced. As of this writing, we are barely recovering from that and now news about the spread of coronavirus is in full swing. This is just the second month of the year!

Since I haven’t featured my lovely hometown in any of my travel features in the blog, I thought it’s high time I write a post about it so you, my dear readers, would get a glimpse of what my town looks like. I wasn’t born here (I’m a Manilena – hence, the name Manila Spoon!) but I grew up in this tiny island of Marinduque and my coastal town, Gasan, is one of the 6 towns in this tiny heart-shaped province.

Enjoy!

Because of the news about coronavirus, we took precautions and wore a mask while we traveled.

 

A lovely aerial view as we took off from Manila domestic airport.

 

Yay! We arrived safely!

 

I was pretty impressed that my tiny remote island is all set to help us prevent the spread of the virus. As early as February, everyone arriving on the island has to have his or her body temp checked.

 

The next day my aunt, my parents and I went to the local market to get some yummy breakfast treats!

 

Yummy treats made from rice and cassava! Haven’t eaten these (pichi-pichi [white] and buchi-buchi [brown]) in a long time!

 

Rice cake galore – locally known as Puto! Favorite breakfast in the Philippines and especially in my island province.

 

It’s making me hungry just thinking about all these yummy treats! Love me some puto kutsinta (brown rice cake) right now!

 

Espasol – again made from rice flour and coconut! I could eat loads of these!

 

I have missed this so much and glad I was able to taste this local pancake again after such a long time! This is one is naturally gluten-free and made from yuro flour and then mixed with a little water or coconut milk until it has the consistency of a pancake batter. What makes it yummy? The addition of freshly grated young coconut!!!

 

More rice treats! You’d be amazed at the countless varieties of sweet treats made from rice! The only one that’s not made of rice is the maja blanca which is made from cornstarch or cornflour. Equally yummy!

 

The holiday won’t be complete without a quick stroll down the beach or aplaya as we call it. Mom and dad enjoying their stroll.

 

With my lovely aunt – my mom’s sister. We stayed at her place this time. View of Tres Reyes from her beach resort – my favorite hangout.

 

I couldn’t come here and not enjoy the beautiful warm and clean water!!! So I swam, swam, swam and took a selfie, too!  🙂

 

Just a few local sceneries in Bacong-bacong, the barrio where my Auntie lives.

 

 

Fishing is the main industry here so this scene is typical. Fishermen bringing back their boat from the sea.

 

Since it was Valentine’s Day while I was here we attended a special Valentine’s Dinner!

 

Look who I met while there? My highschool classmates!!! This was totally unexpected. Looks like other folks from the nearby town visited this wonderful resort located in my town! It was an instant mini-reunion!

 

My dear friend Rex, a schoolmate, took a selfie for us!

 

We were in town over the weekend so my parents and I went to the tiangge – open market! When I was growing up I always looked forward to this. This isn’t as big as the ones I have visited previously but it was still fun to see they still do this weekend market. Open at 4 am and when we came at around 9 am the vendors were already shutting it down!

Come and take a look!

 

 

 

Oodles of noodles!

 

 

 

Fresh seafood straight from the ocean!

 

When you get hungry from shopping, no problem!

 

The main transportation in rural areas – you won’t go far without these tricycles!

 

 

 

We really got hungry but thankfully my dear Tita Deanna prepared a sumptuous lunch for all of us!

 

Last look at the idyllic island living!

 

How do I say goodbye to this view?

 

Then before I knew it, it was time to go back to reality – back to hustle and bustle of the city life. So glad I got the chance to unwind for a week here. I will come back soon!

 

 

Last updated on April 30th, 2020 at 09:48 pm