#3 Costales Nature Farm at Majayjay,Laguna
Up next on our Southern Tagalog itinerary was the Costales Nature Farm. At first, I thought it was just a typical farm with all of the usual greeneries and vegetables, but when Ms. Josie Costales personally shared their farm’s beautiful story and goals with us, the typical farm wasn’t ‘typical’ at all anymore.
You see that large head-sized green bulb at the lower left side? That’s a round upo, and it only costs P25!
Ms. Josie Costales, wife of founder Mr. Ronald Costales
Mr. Ronald Costales, the husband of Ms. Josie, started this as a private farm after 2o years of working in the corporate world. 4 years later, it began to serve commercial purposes, and it has been continuously growing ever since. Now, it is recognised as the 1st agritourism farm in the Philippines because they also offer accommodations within the farm and offer trips to nearby sites, like Taytay Falls.
On a side note, Costales Nature Farm just recently became a supplier of the Bistro American Group and Solaire Resort, so expect natural ingredients on your plate when you dine in at T.G.I. Friday’s, Italianni’s or at Solaire. 😉
The Costales Nature Farm allows its guests to have ‘experiential farming’ as they can literally live within the farm for at least a night and experience how REAL natural farming is done hands-on. Because of this, it is also often visited by students from Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Africa who would like to learn on actual, natural farms.
Aside from farming, they also take care of organic livestock, wild boars, free range chickens, ducks, goats, rabbits, and odorless, no bath, no wash pigs. Furthermore, since one of their main goals is to educate more people about organic farming, they also offer brief and extensive programs, such as the 2-week training program for the out-of-school youth where they teach about how to cultivate farms and make a living out of it.
EVERYTHING in this bouquet (except the basket, of course) is edible. Yes, even those golden and red flowers. 😮
If you’re a farm owner and you’d like to learn more about techniques to further enhance your operations, they also have a 3-day integrated natural farming and EM technology workshop where they teach lessons on carbonated rice hulls, kitchen waste composting, seed sowing , farm sales and marketing, and feed preparation. The price of P8,500/pax already includes a healthy and delicious sets of breakfast, lunch, dinner, AM and PM snacks, overnight accommodations and seminar kits. “What’s sulit, mama?”- this is sulit.
To find out more about Costales Nature Farm’s accommodations, education and products, please visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Costales-Nature-Farms/116191255099708
After the very delightful and informative experience we had at Costales Nature Farm, we headed to the rich-in-culinary Lucban, Quezon to have lunch at the iconic Patio Rizal. We had the famous Lucban Longganisa and Pansit Lucban, plus fried Tempura, fish fillet and beef teriyaki.
Patio Rizal
#4 Buddy’s Pansit and Longganisang Lucban Factory at Lucban
Following our sumptuous lunch at Patio Rizal, the factory of Buddy’s Pansit and Longganisang Lucban was our next destination, but we split into groups, which lost us all in confusion on how to go to the factory hahaha! I think we walked almost 1km until we finally realised we were not going the right way anymore. Thankfully, the tricycle drivers in Lucban helped us and brought us to the gates of the factory of Buddy’s. Thank you!
Saw this big vibrant sunflower amongst the tens of other sunflowers in the vicinity 🙂
Sisig and longganisa– these were the two aromas that surrounded the whole place, and oh it smelled so goooood! Imagine being surrounded by so much tasty food in one room (despite the hepatitis feels around haha).
The chef of Buddy’s shortly toured us around their kitchen area. As you can see in the collage below, we saw how their infamous Sisig was prepared, from the whole part of the meat until it is grinded down into smaller bits and cooked in a big skillet frying pan.
The first Buddy’s Pancit Lucban was established in Lucban, Quezon in 1991 followed by a branch in Lucena City, Tayabas Quezon, Makati City and now they already have 11 branches in Metro Manila and all over Quezon province. Check out https://www.buddyspancitlucban.com.ph/ for more!
#5 Kamay ni Hesus Shrine at Lucban, Quezon
While Lucban, Quezon is known for its delicacies and intricate culinary, it is actually also a famous pilgrimage region. For our fifth stop for the half of Day 1, we proceeded to the popular pilgrimate site of the Kamay ni Hesus Shrine at Lucban, Quezon. It was not that close to Buddy’s factory, so we had a good amount of rest, especially for the ones who planned to reach the top of this hill – which, of course, included me!
(top) “Oh my. That is HIGH and STEEP”
(bottom) “Why hello there! I’m (semi) on top of the world (with Jesus)!”
It was Rev. Father Joey Faller who envisioned the church “to give the sick and the spiritually weak a haven where they could feel and experience the presence of God.”
As seen in the picture above, a steep 310-step hill was metamorphed into a picture-perfect Via Dolorsa Grotto of Healing and Purification, which includes symbolic statues of the 14 Stations of the Cross, and ultimately, the 50-foot statue of the Ascending Christ- now officially the “third biggest in the world that can be seen miles away”.
Aside from these gigantic sculptures, these life-size statues of saints and scenes from the Bible are also seen around the area
I suggest you wear comfortable clothes if you plan to go up to the Shrine. Also, casual shorts and sleeveless shirts are prohibited. Bring along a hat/cap, as well, to prevent direct heat from the sun and water for dehydration since the steepness adds to the difficulty of every step. And, finally, make a wish before climbing the shrine! 🙂
Me with the Ascending Christ 🙂 (My attire was not comfortable at all; I should have prepared more hahaha)
