Jem and I had been visiting various places during the month of June since Jem's duty was scheduled to start on July 1. Yes, my baby is already a clerk! *huhu so proud* anyway, so for our #hulinghurit, we've decided on visiting the historical province of Bataan!
Mt. Samat, Bataan
As we all know, Bataan is very famous for its Mount Samat (as seen from the picture above) however, not many know that it is also a haven for occasional and professional surfers and skimboarders!
It was in the province of Bataan where the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II occurred. It was also in this province where the infamous Philippine Death March started when the Filipino and American military led by Major General Edward King surrendered to the Japanese forces.
The rich history and nightmarish past of Bataan are still being honored by the survivors of the war. Many museums here are being maintained by survivors of the death march who religiously tell the tale of their past to those who are interested. However, even after all the cruel stuff the people of Bataan suffered from, they are still a bunch of merry Filipinos.
GETTING THERE
So for this trip, we were luckily allowed to once again use Jem's older sister's car hehe. Like what we did when we went to Laresio (see post here), we simply entered the resort we were heading to in Waze.
We entered Stella Mariz Beach Resort since that was the place we were planning on staying for our long weekend getaway and simply followed the route Waze directed for us to take. Since the drive would take more or less 3 hours, we left Manila sometime at 4 in the morning.
From Manila, we traveled all the way to the entrance of NLEX at Balintawak and traveled from there up to San Fernando, Pampanga. We paid a total of PHP 157.00 for our toll fee. From there, we then traveled from San Fernando all the way to Bataan via J. A. Santos Ave. then turned to Gov. JJ Linao Rd.
Gate to the Stella Mariz, it will be on the bend of the road to your left.
You'll pass by the entrance of the famous Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar before getting to the entrance of Stella Mariz. It's another mile of driving on a rough road before finally seeing the beauty of the sand, sea, and sun!
THE PLACE
Stella Mariz Beach Resort is pretty famous for the locals since it's readily accessible and quite cheap. It's also famous for campers since the place offers a lot of shade. Though they also have rooms and kubos which you can rent for the night. For our stay, we paid a total of PHP 200.00 each since they charge PHP 100.00 for a 24-hour stay. And that was it! We paid nothing more! They don't charge for parking and even for tent pitching!
After arriving, we looked for a pretty shaded area around the resort. There were already a number of people at the beach enjoying their Saturday. The trees around Stella Mariz are similar to those found in Crystal Beach Resort in Zambales.
After finally deciding where to camp, we parked the car and set-up our tent beside it ;) yes, you can do that.
ME, our camping stuff, plus Fordie at the back! :D
We then had our breakfast which consist of our usual loaf of bread and canned tuna hehe. Afterwards, we decided to take a nap because we kinda lacked sleep due to our late lights out the previous evening and the early morning drive. We woke up not long after and since it was still quite early and the sun was beating hot, we decided to tour Bataan for our first day!
TOURING BATAAN
For our first stop, we already passed by this one when we were heading to the resort, the Philippines-Japanese Friendship Tower!
This tower symbolizes the renewed friendship of the Filipinos and the Japanese after the events of the WWII. It was inaugurated on April 8, 1975 and stands near the 0 Km of the Bataan Death March.
After visiting the friendship tower, we then proceeded to Balanga to check out the Plaza Mayor de Ciudad. On the way there, we saw a signage pointing to the Bataan World War Museum so we postponed our trip to Plaza Mayor and proceeded to the said place.
Bataan World War II Museum inside Balanga Elementary School
Since it was a Saturday, you can park your vehicle inside the school. When we arrived, we paid PHP 50.00 each for the entrance fee and we're quickly ushered inside to join the tour. An elderly woman who's a teacher and a survivor of the Bataan Death March described their horrible experiences during the said era. She recounted all her first-hand experience as well as telling the facts of the death march. After the tour, we were invited to sit since they were going to show a short film about the 2nd World War.
We did not take any photos inside the museum since it was forbidden to do so, at least according to the signage inside and outside the museum but there are others who still took some tsk tsk.
Anyway, the museum had a 2nd floor and in it, contained the images taken during the war. The images ranges from destructed buildings of Manila, Intramuros under siege, and hundreds of dead bodies. For the second part of the tour, we were accompanied by an elderly man who introduced us to the stories behind the photographs. He also said that the school where the museum was built on was one of the safest place in Bataan during the war. However, destruction and death were everywhere outside the compound.
He then led us to the torture chamber which the Japanese used during their occupation of the Philippines (this was still located inside the school ground, btw).
Of course various ghost stories didn't go untold during our visit since most of the trees inside the school were used as to hang soldiers when caught!
After our educational trip, we then proceeded to our original place of visit, Plaza de Mayor de Ciudad Balanga!
Plaza de Mayor de Ciudad Balanga
Before anything else though, we decided on finally eating our late lunch at Jollibee hehe
Anyway, if you're visiting Balanga's town proper, parking is pretty hard to find. We rounded the place pretty long before finding the widest parking lot in the area which was an old bus terminal.
After eating our late lunch, we proceeded on visiting Balanga Cathedral which was across the Plaza Mayor.
It was established in April 1, 1741 Dominican Father Agustin Esquivel and was used as the site for Japanese artillery bombardment of Mt. Samat where Filipino and American forces gave their last stand during the last world war.
Afterwards, we simply had some kodakan moments at the park. There really isn't much to do here since it's the same as in Manila. The buildings that were surrounding the plaza were a mall and a hotel. So if you're looking for some shopping spree, you can check this place out.
We headed back to the car not long after since it was getting pretty late and we still have a long way to drive back to the resort. Before that though, we checked out this place that is only located in Bataan, YETITO! It was a kiosk that sells cold beverages like that of Zagu and they also have milk teas.
YETITOW!
Afterwards, Jem drove us back to Bagac but I insisted on taking a picture at the Bagac welcome arch! hehe
However, since the skies suddenly turned dark, we immediately head back to Stella Mariz.
After we arrived, we set up our cameras for some sun set shooting. Too bad it was a bit cloudy we didn't get to see the totality of it.
During the night, we had our usual drinking sesh before calling it a night ;)
The next day, we decided to bum at the beach for the entire day!
We had another round of drinking sesh that night. If you're wondering where you can buy your stuff, there's a sari sari store right outside the gate of Stella Mariz which sells all kinds of local alcohol and some ice. If you're looking for a more varied choice, you can drive back to the Friendship Tower since there's a 7-Eleven right across from it as well as some big stores.
Drink responsibly! hehe
By the next morning, we decided to wake up early to enjoy the beach one last time. The sad part about this area though is that you don't get to see the sunrise since it's on the opposite side of the beach.
Before heading home, we had our kodakan moments, of course!
The vast grounds of Stella Mariz; you can set-up your tent anywhere here and also park your vehicles
Cottages lining the beach
Lifeguard post
Public basin and grilling area
The road to Mt. Samat was winding and steep! Be careful when traversing this road! Make sure that all your stuff are secured since there are really sharp turns and extreme assault.
When we finally reached the top, there were numerous tourists who were in the area. Cars are parked along the road and we paid PHP 50.00 each as for the entrance fee. This was inclusive of the museum tour.
Here are some of the photos we took :)
NOTE: Make sure to bring umbrellas and other protection from the sun! Especially when you're visiting at noon.
We stayed there for quite some before deciding to head back to Manila since we still haven't eaten our lunch. We had a quick stop at NLEX to grab some food before continuing our travel south :)
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Breakdown of Expenses
Gas: PHP 1000.00 (divided by 2) = PHP 500.00/person
Toll: PHP 157.00 (one-way) = PHP 314.00 (round trip) (divided by 2) = PHP 157.00/person
Resort Entrance Fee: PHP 400.00 (divided by 2) = PHP 200.00/person
WWII Museum Entrance Fee: PHP 50.00/person
Mt. Samat Entrance Fee: PHP 50.00/person
Food and Drinks: PHP 750.00 (depends on how much you eat and drink hehe) (divided by 2) = PHP 375.00/person
TOTAL OF PHP 1,332.00/person for a 3D2N Stay at Bataan with Tours!!!
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