A Sunday Adventure

We were supposed to drive to Tagaytay yesterday for a family picnic. But, since I couldn’t wake up early (hehe), we decided to drive to what we used to call our home — Pilillia. We lived there for only four months in 2013, but it is our favorite home among all the places we’ve called home.

The town is just so quiet and relaxed. The people are very nice, too. And the food — oh, the food is just wonderful! Everything’s fresh from the farm so cooking AND eating is like dining in heaven.

Our Sunday adventure began soon after I woke up. It was 10 in the morning and I was craving for the coffee we used to have in Pilillia. So, we prepared the kids’ bag and drove off to The Daily Beans, our go-to breakfast place and my office away from my home office because that’s where I used to work when I didn’t feel like working from home. This is why I sooo miss living in Pilillia!

The Daily Beans The Daily Beans

The Minis love hanging out here, too. They love munching on the cafe’s delectable oatmeal cookies while Daddy A and I would have our piece of blueberry cheesecake paired with brewed coffee.

The Daily Beans

The Daily Beans

On our adventure day, though, we decided to order a heavy breakfast: Bacon with Egg and Fried Rice. There was a long and activity-filled day ahead of us so it was just right to fill up our tanks!

After breakfast, we headed to Tanay to buy swimming clothes. The original plan was only to go fishing, but since we were there, we agreed to have a quick swim at Daranak Falls.

Since it’s a Sunday, the picnic area around Daranak Falls was already occupied by early birds. It’s a good thing that A discovered another less visited waterfall within the area. We had to pay an extra PHP100 each to get to Batlag Falls, but that’s fine. There were less people there and the water is much shallower than in Daranak Falls, which is perfect for us since we had two kiddos with us.

Batlag Falls

That’s not the best photo of Batlag Falls. That’s actually just one of the mini waterfalls. Batlag Falls is much bigger, but I wasn’t able to take a photo because I had a Little Man in my arms who fell asleep while listening to the rushing water. 😀

The surroundings became colder as late afternoon approached. I noticed the Princess’ lips turning violet already because of the cold, cold, cold water (if you’re going here, don’t forget to bring baby oil for the kids!). That’s when I asked her and Daddy A to wash up so we can go to our next destination.

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

One of our other favorite restaurants in Pilillia is Bulawan Floating Restaurant. Aside from the scrumptious and affordable food, it’s a nice place to go fishing! When we were still living in Pilillia, Daddy A would often take The Princess to Bulawan Floating Restaurant for a whole afternoon of fishing. She really enjoyed it, especially when she’d catch a huge fish with her bamboo-made fishing rod.

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

But before we went fishing, Daddy A ordered snacks and drinks for the family. The hike to Batlag Falls was a challenging one — especially with kids! — so we just had to refuel… with lots of sweets.

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Daddy A had Halo-Halo while I ordered Saba Con Hielo. The Minis, on the other hand, had the most delicious fresh ripe mango shake.

We had to wait a while for our fishing rods since all the rods were in use when we arrived so I decided to take a few photos of my three loves.

You know Daddy A and The Little Man are up to something when they’re smiling like this:

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Wait for it…

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

And there you go:

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Our boy was so small when we used to bring them here. But now that he can crawl and walk, he really enjoyed exploring the place!

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

The kids particularly enjoyed checking out the trees and looking for bugs.

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

They also liked hanging out by the fish pond.

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Our rods arrived soon after we finished our snacks and drinks. And The Minis went right into fishing!

The Princess and I caught a catfish after an hour of waiting!

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Daddy A and The Little Man caught one Tilapia…

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

The staff said there weren’t a lot of fish in the fish pond so we decided to call it a day after catching two fishies. We then went to our cottage and had our dinner.

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Daddy A ordered our favorites: Ginataang Tilapia, Grilled Squid, Grilled Liempo and Bulalo. Would you believe that we only spent PHP 1,425 for our snacks, bait, the two fishies we caught and brought home and our feast of a dinner!

The Minis both went to sleep after having dinner. Daddy A and I finished the dishes (yes we did!) then we drove home.

It was an extremely tiring day, but it was fun. Daddy A and I cannot believe that we survived all the activities we did with two toddlers. Haha! We love that The Minis really enjoyed our adventure and that they can’t stop talking about it until now! I am looking forward to more adventures soon. If the budget permits, hopefully we can make it a weekly thing!

Kimberley Reyes

Kimberley Reyes is an Online Business Manager for entrepreneurs who are ready to get off the hamster wheel and step into their CEO shoes. On top of helping her clients get organized and scale their businesses, she is also happily busy raising her five kids with her firefighter husband.

This Post Has 15 Comments

  1. Kai Seashell

    Pililia, Rizal? Where there? Haha I wanna take my kids heeeeeeeeeere so lovely 🙂

    1. Kim Reyes

      Where in Pilillia? Most of the restaurants are along the highway so it’s very easy to go around. 🙂

  2. Pehpot Pineda

    so this is the coffee shop you’re telling me about! we’ll visit this tomorrow hihi

    sayang wala ka na sa PIlilia..

  3. RyChelle Juadom

    The place looks really nice, and I love the idea of eating in a floating restaurant.

  4. Janice Lim

    Wow, I have never been to Pilillia before. I’ve been looking for places to go to with the kids where they can enjoy different activities. It’s kinda far from where we are but it’s okay. We love road trips! I’ll definitely keep this in mind. 🙂

  5. Mitch Ryan

    Oh how I miss halo halo. I have not eaten halo halo for two years now.

  6. emiliana

    Communing with nature is what I’d like my child to experience. Will check out Pililia soon.

    1. Kim Reyes

      Give it a try! There are lots of activities in Tanay and Pilillia (these two towns are just beside each other, no more than 10 minutes of travel). Entrance fees and food are very affordable too.

  7. Denise Rayala

    I kept on bugging Cpt R to fish with Pia! As in si Pia ang nag-suggest. At least mukhang mas malapit ito kesa sa Cavite. Ittry namin this summer! Ganda ng photos, K. Lurve. ♡

    1. Kim Reyes

      I heard it’s nice rin in Cavite. We want to try that one too, but A wants to buy real fishing rods first. 😀 The one in Pilillia is much nearer — at least from where we live. There are a lot of activities around town too since it’s just beside Tanay, w/c is “The Adventure Capital of Rizal” 🙂 Actually kulang pa yang post ko. We want to go on another round in this area. We have a lot of places to explore pa!

  8. Rae

    Oh my goodness, bakit ganun, parang dalaga na agad si Kelly.

    1. Kim Reyes

      Little dalaga na nga 😀 She’s turning 3 on May. Ang bilis!

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