UTE-GANDANG HAVEN: DE-STRESSING IN DINGALAN

panoramic view of the UTE-GANDANG HAVEN shoreline

If you ever need to de-stress, I just discovered a new spot to do it in. Dingalan, Aurora is the place to be! I would have to give credit to the Titos N' Titas group who tagged me along upon the invite of Atty. Toppie Torres, who is also a member of the Titos N' Titas facebook group. Hold on... it's not open to the public yet... they have barely done the finishing touches. Hopefully, by the time this blog entry gets out there in the cyber universe all the little details would have been put in place.

Those familiar with the topography of Aurora know for a fact that there are only a few stretches of white sand in the entire province. However, the Pacific has a lot of surprises in store for those who seek the ocean's curative powers. My main motive was to get out of Manila before the summer even starts. I got a head-start to summer at UTE-GANDANG HAVEN that's under the management of MAPOLCOM Incorporated, a corporation run by the Policarpio siblings. Nestled in the center of the cove of the Barangay Matawe shoreline, the two thousand square meter resort is still undergoing its final stages of construction. It is, however, already equipped with ten rooms fashioned from re-purposed container vans with built in double beds. Think Tiny House Nation and you get a pretty good picture.

Dingalan cove

UTE-GANDANG HAVEN takes its name from the parents of the Policarpio siblings. UTE is a diminutive for their dear departed father Eutoquio Policarpio while GANDANG refers to their mother Bernarda Torres Avendano. Our group met at the corner of Sen Gil Puyat and EDSA while the other group met at EDSA Centris. Another vehicle had all the necessary supplies and snacks. We headed north east past midnight and grateful for the easy flow of traffic towards our destination. The roads were pretty dark so we made a couple of miscues and had to make u-turns a couple of times. But we made it to UTE-GANDANG HAVEN at daybreak. What we thought would be a wet weekend eventually turned out for the better.

early morning mist in Dingalan, Aurora

Upon arrival, the resort was pelted with rain and the Sierra Madre mountains that frames the resort was covered in mist.  We had breakfast of steamed eggplant and okra, tomato-salted egg salad, hotdogs, paksiw (vinegar based fish stew, white rice and fish sauce and sunny-side eggs. The brewed coffee was strong and hot and a perfect foil for the cold easterly winds blowing that morning. By mid-day, the sun started to peek out of the gray clouds and that was the cue to don the swim shorts. The Titas in their Hawaiian inspired outfits took the 4x4 dune buggy for a spin as some of the other members tried to settle in in their accommodations. Pretty soon it was lunchtime.

Bhel Esquierdo Asinas at the wheel, Maria Lilibeth Benosa
backseat L-R:  Fritzie Ramos, Yohann Moises

Paksiw

Can seafood get any fresher? We had grilled tuna, seaweed salad (lato), edible fern salad (pako), grilled pork belly, baby squid in its own ink. Then the karaoke made its appearance! As some of the ladies started the singing some of us made our way to the beach. It was getting hot by now. I saw a few craggy rocks on the left side and made my way towards it to explore. There was also a cave by the rocks. The waves were churning like a washing machine. It may not be suitable for a leisurely swim but it would be perfect for surfing or body boarding. The resort also would be ideal for team-building activities, yearly planning activities for companies, weddings, conferences, events or just simply soul seaarching... I made my way towards the point where the waves break over the rocks and climbed up to the cave for a while for a few photos. then it was swim time. Well... I didn't swim! I stayed in between the rocks and waited for the waves to come rushing in after it breaks over the rocks. I was all alone in that spot! Nirvana!!!

moon's out at 3p.m.

By mid-afternoon, I started to make my way back to the resort so I had more time to choose a path avoiding the sharp coral and limestone strewn all over the beach. I even marveled at the moon that had shown itself by a little after three in the afternoon... and I have photos to prove it! It didn't take long before I had showered and changed and gotten ready for dinner. A boodle fight was set up for the evening meal. Again we had a variety of sea food starting off with huge crawfish (ulang), grilled yellow fin tuna, steamed rice, and baby squid in ink and we even had fresh coconut water straight off the nut. Dinner was an event in itself! the rest of the evening was spent in a huddle as we enjoyed the strong gusts of wind hitting the shoreline. It was as if the easterlies was lulling us to sleep.  We wrapped ourselves in our malongs (tubular cloth wraps) and made an effort to try to spend the night under the stars...I had actually drifted off to Lalaland, when a strong gust chilled my spine and I had to go back to my room.  Can't take the wind chill factor... and it's supposed to be the start of summer!

Woke up while it was still dark to find out I wasn't alone. There were other people who had been up early too. So I decided to do my morning prayers while waiting for daybreak. It was already Sunday! Little by little, the sun started to filter through the dark clouds and a glorious morning broke through. This was evidence of God's glorious creation! The clouds hung so low, it seemed one could reach out to touch it. The sun's golden rays spread out gradually to light up the cove. It was nearly time to leave. Brunch was steamed rice and fried fish and Spanish omelette and the surprise viand was left over tuna that was reconstituted into tuna sisig. I downed it with lots of water and started to load my stuff into the van. Can't help but be grateful for the kindness and generosity of our host Mr. Miguel  Policarpio. "Boss Mike" and his siblings were the most gracious hosts. Thank you!


We left UTE-GANDANG HAVEN to have lunch at the ancestral home of Atty. Toppie's forbearers. From Barangay Matawe, we stopped by the market for last minute souvenir shopping and to buy snacks. The fish was fresh off the sea and some species were so cheaply priced I was aghast that some fish species cost ten pesos per kilo. Ten pesos?!? We couldn't do without the obligatory group photos at the boundary markers some even taking turns for memorable selfies.

Don Isidoro Torres' ancestral home

The Torres cousins

Dingalan is so unbelievably close to the Torres ancestral home that we simply went through a few municipalities in Aurora and then the municipalities of Gapan, Jaen and finally to  view Gobernador Heneral Isidoro "Matanglawin" Torres' (of Malolos Bulacan) Antillean - style Bahay na Bato. The more than a century old home stands as a mute witness to waves of colonizers, wars and perhaps even natural calamities. Unfortunately, the house needs special attention and restoration as it has become quite precarious over a century. Time, weather and pollution can weaken certain areas of a storied home. But we marveled at the detailing of the exterior structure.They really should apply for a historical marker to highlight the historical significance of the property. The home is located at 300 Gallego Street, Poblacion, San Antonio, Nueva Ecija.  Atty. Toppie also unfurled the  proverbial "welcome mat" with a late lunch of spaghetti and puto (rice cake) at cuchinta (brown gelatinous cakes with shredded coconut) and soda. Then it was time to bid goodbye to the Torres clan who had gone out of their way to welcome us. We were even invited to the town fiesta on the first week of January; St. Anthony's feast day.

Daybreak at Dingalan photo by Tim Delez*

Finally, we decided to have an early dinner at Arki's Grill in San Miguel, Bulacan. It's a nondescript cafe that serves great food at affordable prices. A solo serving of Samgyupsal would set one back at P290.00! I'm glad I opted out of that as I was still pretty full at the time. I decided to try their seafood pasta and a lemon cucumber cooler. The pasta came in a size-able serving with garlic cooked the right way and the seafood tender and not overcooked. The pasta was swimming in butter so we had to request for bread slices to eat a la scarpetta ("the shoe") in which the bread is used to scrape off the little bits and the oleo off the plate. By the end of my meal my plate looked like it had been washed clean. That was really good! Those who ordered the samgyupsal had to doggie bag their meal. Obviously, they couldn't finish the whole lot.  Some of us shared an order of Shabu- shabu. The rest ordered Clubhouse sandwiches and smoothies. It was getting dark so we bid our goodbyes at Arki's Grill so the vans could go separate ways to their pick up points. 

L-R Front row: Corazon Victoria, Bhel Esquierdo Asinas, Maria Lilibeth Benosa, Locel AnnTumlos, Annie  Obeya
L-R Back row: Willy Bas, Miguel and Lourdes Legaspi, Del Nuqui, Arlene Arguel Cejar, myself, Mabelle Tenorio
at Arki's Grill

Seafood Pasta and lemon cucumber cooler at Arki's Grill

We all were pretty sated with food and good camaraderie to make a promise to do it again. Dingalan, after all is not too far from Manila. A four to five hour drive from Manila is all it takes. If you have to go by public transport, there are buses that leave the 5th Ave. depot in Caloocan that goes directly to Dingalan. Or one may opt to ride a bus to Cabanatuan City and transfer to a Dingalan bound bus from there. The UTE-GANDANG HAVEN staff will be more than willing to answer your queries. They are courteous and friendly and more than willing to provide our smallest needs. You may have to book in advance as this early before we left the resort, families in their vans and jeepneys  were driving up to the resort to get to the beach. Or you may check out their Facebook page and get your messages across. 

Yours truly. photo by Maria Lilibeth Benosa*

Thank you, Atty. Toppie Torres made our stay so delightful, it was difficult to leave. And thank you Titos N' Titas for for a week-end well spent!

L-R: Miguel and Lourdes Legaspi, Jorge Ferrer, Willy Bas, Locel Ann Tumlos, Pheeyah Salones, Arlene Arguel Cejar, Lea Mina Caliboso, Del Nuqui, Toppie Torres, myself (partly hidden), Amy Cristobal, Fritzie Ramos, Lilibeth Benosa, Yohan Moises, Corazon Victoria, Bhel Esquierdo Asinas, MabelleTenorio, Edwin de Guzman, Allan Pardilla Martinez, Annie Grace Nicandro Obeya