Tarlac Roadtrip

Last year we did this Lucban Roadtrip which was really worth it and we enjoyed a lot. We went to a Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery, eat at Kamayan sa Palaisadaan, see Kamay ni Jesus, eat delicious halo-halo then eat dinner. This year, we tried the same formula in a different province and Tarlac it is.

Our first stop is Capas National Shrine. This place is overwhelming. I learned from the books about the war, see it movies and I know about the death march ended there. I know Bataan Death March 102K Ultramarathon uses the kilometer markers of the real death march. I first one of those markers in Bataan six years ago but those were just markers. I even visited Corregidor two years ago but the aura of this place is different. There’s this obelisk and surrounding it are names of fallen soldiers of the war. 

mer de noms

There were a lot of names in there and of course there were others who died because of that war. Knowing we are in a place where men died was overwhelming for me. There was also this train car similar to the ones used to transfer POWs with inscribed real life experience from a person who survived that ride. Life wad difficult back then and I am enjoying freedom right. I feel like I need thanking those veterans for their sacrifices, like how Americans greet and thank every men and women in uniform they meet on the street and especially on the airport.

After that we have our lunch at Isdaan in Gerona Tarlac. I can say that I will not go back to that place again. It is only famous for its Tacsiyapo wall and I wish there was something in that wall that says "Stupid overpriced tasteless restaurant" that I can throw a plate into. 

This wall is famous but nobody near Manila has imitated it still

There were lots of these entertainers that go hut to hut playing guitars for customers’ request. We are good tippers, so we gave each group 100 pesos. If we knew about that we would have paid each group 20 pesos after one song and waited for the next group to arrive. The place’s specialty is tinupig na manok and the place is called Isdaan. The taste of the food is not that good also, under par with the Kamayan sa Palaisdaan in Quezon. The price of the food is also too much, not worth the trip.

Next stop is Monasterio de Tarlac where there is also a Jesus Christ monument. Again, compared to the monument we saw in Quezon, this is smaller. The hike is also not that hard. The monasterio is also located on top of the hill. The entrance is on the other face of the mountain, the monument is overlooking another face of the mountain so the monument is at its back when we entered the vicinity.

 

After that we craved for halo-halo, with that divine halo-halo from Lucban in mind of course. We know nothing could beat that so we look for something but we failed twice because some stores are closed on a Sunday. We ended eating this lame halo halo at Tessie’s Grill. The place seems famous. There was an on-going wedding reception. There were signs boasting of their sisig. Too bad we were there for halo halo and we were really disappointed. Everything was frozen, all the ingredients. What the fuck? The shaved ice is the same consistency with Razon’s but the frozen ingredients really sucked. I bet nobody ordered halo halo from that place ever which is why the ingredients are put on the freezer. That would also explained why serving 5 halo halo took so long. 

The halo halo used to be in this paper container. How appealing is that.

We decided to eat supper in Tarlac before we hit SCTEX so the trip will be straight home. We ate at this Japanese restaurant Izakaya Cowan in Luisita. We just ordered some rolls and sashimi and that’s supper and it completed the trip. Food served was small especially that ramen Irene ordered. I don’t know but I really think Tarlac is just a one time only trip and we are not doing that again. Too bad for Tarlac that Lucban has raised the bar really high for comparison.