Until now, I still can't believe I endured my very first long (motorcycle) ride EVER! Feeling accomplished pa din ako, kahit hindi naman ako yung driver (hehe). Thank God for my husband for making me feel safe all throughout our ride and for a very beautiful weather that day (as in from point 0 back to point 0). It was a shady Saturday morning of May 5, 2018 - a day before my birthday. :)
I feel uneasy (even the thought of it) riding on a motorcycle especially if it requires more than an hour to get to the travel destination. An hour of ride, I already consider forever (haha). But I guess the fear is coming from; (1) knowing that I have a lumbar scoliosis. It is difficult for me to remain sitting in one position for such long duration. I fear for the aftermath more than the ride actually. (2) A paranoia of riding a motorcycle per se. Nakakabahala naman talaga diba?! diba? pero I learned to deal with it, after mind conditioning, giving my full trust to my husband (driver) and prayers, most importantly.
Joshua, would always make lambing, asking me to join him in his rides. Matagal niya na talagang plano yun na mag ride daw kami. But I always decline because of the two reasons I have mentioned above. Imagine after three years ngayon palang akong taon nag YES sa invitation niya! Hahaha... tagal diba! What made me coincide was the urge to experience something new again. Conquering one's fear is never an easy thing so this activity points to that category. Never try... never know....
So for our very first long ride together, he drove me to Isdaan in Calauan, Laguna. Though i've visited the place twice from years ago, I obliged to have it as our first ride - destination. It was his first time there (my husband). It is an interesting place to go, with around 53+ km from our place that suggested can be travelled to within 1 1/2 to 2 hour ride.
We left the house in Muntinlupa past 7:30 am. We stopped to the nearest Shell Station to fill the gas tank full. Don't worry it was just a quick shot, I removed my helmet immediately after taking picture (hehe). Then, off we go..
From Muntinlupa we passed thru the towns of San Pedro, Binan, Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao, Calamba, Los Baños and finally Calauan. Isdaan Floating Restaurant in Calauan is situated along side of the National Highway of Bay Laguna. The restaurant offers wide choices of festive Filipino foods. Other than having a full stomach, you might need to bring extra Memory card for your camera because this place is such an instagrammable place! The huge statue, the floating resto and flying plates (hehehe) yeah I can consider it as an amusement (theme) park.
This statue located on the front gate :)
It's such an amusing place to go to with your loved ones, family or barkada. There is no entrance fee but technically, you need to reserve a cottage and eat to be able to go inside and roam around. At the entrance expect the staff to take details of you, the no. of guest to dine and they will assign the cottage for you. But you can always request in case you wish to be seated in the area you are most comfortable with on whatever view you've personally like, they will assist you. Unless during the peak hours of the day, I guess. Kasi napupuno din talaga sila especially during lunch time.
We were assigned at cottage #10. I was holding their menu in the picture above, kasi di kami nag breakfast and it was almost quarter to 10 when we arrived so brunch na namin (breakfast + lunch) at ako na ang namili. We chose to have the Mama Chits Bilao and these refreshing mango shakes for our drinks.
We took the chance to roam around the place up to the very end while waiting for our food to be ready. Medyo may katagalan kasi freshly nila niluluto ang mga sineserve na food so it takes a while.
Out of the many pictures we took that day, I chose this picture be inserted here kasi may mga manok (haha) at the same time I really like yung eyes ng elephant dito. I wasn't able to take picture in this area the last time I visited them so ito na lang ngayon ang ihihighlight ko hehe.
We were really busog and took our time makapag relax at mag picture picture. Yung King Kong (Gorilla yun! haha) pinakamalaking statue sa gitna, sarado that day at medyo marami din nagkalat na mga dried leaves around the area so di kami naka-akyat sa taas. Anyways satisfied na din naman kami sa dami ng picture na nakuha namin.
We went back on the road by around 12:30 pm na. Just like in the morning, sobrang kinunsider ng weather yung ride namin kasi ganun ulit, smooth sailing kami kahit sobrang trapik sa Los Baños area (Olivarez Plaza to be exact). Buti nalang magaling yung driver (libre naman jan!) ko hindi kami nabagot sa byahe. We arrived earlier than expected back in Muntinlupa. We decided to hop in the cinema to watch Infinity Wars that afternoon. We ended our day back home to our little daughter at around 6pm.
It was such a fresh, fun and exciting ride for me. Thanks to my buddy! Shout out sayo ulit my loves. Hehe kasi literal naman nawala yung kaba sa dibdib ko. Yung aftermath, hindi rin naman ako masyado sinaktan ng likod (haha). Slight lang na pagka manhid pero ayos naman at nawala din agad.
Thanks to this guy here for keeping me relaxed all throughout the ride. Making sure to make a stop over to check how my back is, from time to time and also for taking good photos and memories of our very first long ride. Love him to the heavens and earth (back) hehe.