NorthPine Land Inc. Bloggers Appreciation Tour V2.0 at San Fernando, Pampanga Feat. Historical sites & Kapampangan Cuisine
Friday, August 17, 2018
Let me just say that this is one of the most memorable and fun Blogger's Trip I attended, I although I rarely get the chance to experience travel adventures with fellow bloggers because I usually got hooked on Entertainment coverage, this one made me feel that I need to do more travel vlogs and blogs again asap because traveling gives me a whole new outlet to unwind, learn more about the local destinations in the country and enjoy it.
This year, I was invited to take part in the NorthPine Land Bloggers' Appreciation Tour of Pampanga V2.0 which took place last August 11.
To set our mood for an exciting day ahead, our meeting place was at Figaro Coffee located at Taipan Place, Ortigas. My favorite Hot Choco is enough to kick off my day, it's indeed the perfect place to gather up and enjoy world-class homegrown Filipino dishes!
Then we're all set for our travel to Pampanga, even though it was raining hard that day, it din't hinder us from enjoying our trip. We learned more about Pampanga from our Travel Guide Sir Richard Burgos who did an excellent job in keeping us entertainment and full of knowledge about our tour, with over 30 years of experience in Public Relations and Corporate Communications, he really knows a lot when it comes to heritage tourism among others, too bad I din't get the chance to win in the raffle though.
Our FIRST STOP is at Montana Strands & Montana Views Model Park. Here we learned more about NorthPine Land's second project in the North as it extends its efforts to make more dreams come to life.
NorthPine Land Inc. (NLI) is one of the country's trusted real estate prime movers with a prestigious porfolio of projects in Pampanga (Montana Views and Montana Strands), Cavite (Kahaya Place, Greenwoods Village, Wind Crest and Kohana Grove) Laguna (South Hampton), Antipolo City (Forest Ridge) and Paig City (Lexington). Montana Strands and Montana Views is a pristine and dazzling property loacted at the heart of San Fernando, Pampanga with retro modern-inspired lifestyle community.
SECOND STOP is at ROLREN'S LANTERNS AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE. Here we were able to meet Mr. Rolando Quiambao who is famous for being the "Parol King". His rags to riches story will inspire you because of his immerse talent in creating colorful and dazzling lanterns. He was a former janitor and OFW before creating and lighting up lanterns that eventually marked his name not only in Pampanga but across the country and even abroad.
How to make your very own parol from the "Parol King" Ms. Rolando Quiambao
ROLREN'S Lanterns and General Merchandise has already established its reputation for being one of the largest parol suppliers in the Philippines. It has been exporting products in Canada, USA, and selected European Countries. After the Mt. Pinatubo blast, Mr. Rolando Quiambao was commissioned by the city mayor to adorn the city's lamp posts which later on gave hope to the Pampangeno's and made their ghost town a place full of lights and hope for everyone.
For SECOND STOP - LUNCH, we stop by at APAG MARANGLE which means "Hain sa Bukid". The resto is famous for it's location because it is situated in the middle of a pond.
Check out some of the dishes we tried:
Apag Marangle recently celebrated their 10th year anniversary of serving authentic taste of Kapampangan dishes that will make you come back for more.
Thank you for a tummy filled with flavorful Kapampangan dishes and our take home Oregano plant as well!
For our THIRD STOP, we visited San Fernando Train Station Museum. This is a historical site and will be one of the seventeen stations on the Manila-Clark Railway System or North-South Commuter Railway, which uses the old PNR right of way. It will once again connect Central Luzon and Metro Manila by rail.
In April 1942, the old train station was the endpoint of the 102 kilometer walk from Bataan to San Fernando during World War II Death March. The 126 year old train terminal was where the Japanese Imperial Army loaded about 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers into “bagon” (closed compartments for sugar cargoes) after they were forced to march 102 kilometers without food and water, and under intense heat from Mariveles town in Bataan province. A lot of people died during the trip.
In addition, Jose Rizal disembarked from the same station to visit his colleagues in San Fernando and Bacolor in June 27, 1892 in his mission to find members for La Liga Filipina.
Fourth Stop was at CLARK MUSEUM & 4D THEATRE.
The museum features a wide array of artifacts, old photographs and state of the art paintings which show the rish talent and culture of Pampanga. It is arranged into four galleries giving bird's eye view of Clark from its favorable geophysical characteristics, industry and trade, its American colonial situation, its rise from the ashes story from the Mt. Pinatubo and up to their spirit of bravery and ingenious vision towards the future.
Highlighting the museum experience is the 4D Theatre. It allows visitors to witness the Mt. Pinatubo explosion with breathtaking effects including wind, bubbles and mist.
Just a few steps away from Clark Museum is a uniquely-themed restaurant named "Matam-ih Authentic Kapampangan Cusine Restaurant". Matam-ih in Aeta dialect means delicious.
The restaurant was the brainchild of Capas mayor Antonio Rodriguez Jr. Though he originally planned to open a franchise of an established food chain, he saw an opportunity to provide employment to members of the Aeta and Abelling tribes of his home province to help raise their status in life and help them become more productive. The Aeta staff also has unique names of famous celebrities like "Piolo", "Gretchen" and even "Heart".
Check out some of the dishes we tried at Matam-ih:
The restaurant is one of the top tourist destination in the area bringing in both local and international travelers all attracted to the flavors that are distinctly Kapampangan.
If you're adventurous, you can choose from a great deal of exotic dishes such as crocs, beetles, frogs among others. Enjoy amazing dishes while being surrounded by a perfect blend of indigenous and modern vibe.
Lastly, we didn't get the chance to visit the famous L.A. Bakeshop but we had the best remembrance of taking home L.A.Bakeshop's sumptuous and best seller Cheese breads. This is perfect for rainy days with a cup of coffee or hot choco. It really tastes like a heaven, I suggest you stop by at L.A. Bakeshop if you get the chance to travel at Pampanga.
Photo taken at a Model House at Montana Strands. Thank you so much NorthPine Land for a wonderful Appreciation Tour of Pampanga, it was an enriching experience filled with learning about some of the historical sites in Pampanga plus getting to know the Kapampangan cuisine more. Cheers!
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