ERWAN EXPLORES BICOL’S HIDDEN GEMS EP.1 Going Coastal

Okay, we haven't done this in a while, but it's time to go coastal. The thing I miss the most about jumping in a car and just pressing down on the gas is the feeling that anything can happen from your point of departure to your destination. Travel over the last few years felt so prescriptive. Everything we did needed a test, a plan, and approvals. It took the energy and spontaneity out of it. That's why we leave, right? To be confronted with places and emotions that break from our routine. To be exposed to what may come. The Philippines isn't known for its cities. They are unfortunately busy and quite polluted. The beauty of the country can be found a few hours from them. Most people fly into our beach destinations, but I've always said that driving our coastlines will give you the most authentic and fulfilling experiences. This is going coastal. Lucena is the capital city of Quezon. Quezon in itself could be a whole other episode of this show, but its shape is very long and awkward, so we won't be able to cover much of it in this trip. So we left the office at five in the morning. This is possibly going to be one of the longest going coastal trips that we've done so far. Usually we do four-hour drives per day. This time we're going to be doing eight hours straight today and a little bit more later, and then we're going to have to come back all the way. So we're heading to Camarines Norte, so the Bicol region, and then we're going to go all the way down to Naga to shoot a couple more videos there. It's way too early. I still need my coffee, but our first stop is going to be Lucena City. This city has a rich history and is not quite urbanized, but we were just passing through. That was the first very uneventful three-hour leg of this trip. We're currently in Lucena City. It's quite traffic. I don't know why, but we're probably not lucky today, but it's just bumper to bumper. We're getting really hungry. We know that Lucena is known for their chami pancit, so hopefully there are a few places open. That took longer than expected. We're heading to Cafe Antigua, who apparently makes a really good chami. Unlike other pancit dishes you might be familiar with, chami has a sweet and spicy kick to it. The noodles are thick and chewy and cooked in a deep broth. For those of you who know Lomi quite well, you could say that this is kind of like a dry version of that dish. You can find anything from cabbage to quail eggs to liver and chicharron in different versions. So there was two choices. Original, ang hang tamis, which is what I got, which is sweet and spicy, and you can also do soy. Breakfast could be this every morning. Why not? From what we've read online, this place is fairly legit. It's been here for quite a while. It's kind of considered an institution. You can see a lot of regulars coming in and out at nine in the morning, so it is really considered kind of like a breakfast place. And everyone's eating some sort of stew or this pancit dish and some xopao, which we got as well. Let's try this. You can definitely taste that yum yum powder. That's good. Sweet, spicy. The noodles have a nice bounce to them. Very slippery, so there's some sort of thickener happening here. That broth really goes through the noodles properly. The quail egg's a nice touch. I can picture myself completely drunk with a fried egg. Really enjoying this. Okay, next, xopao. Big bola bola. I mean, this is very clear. You see our Chinese heritage, where xopao and noodles are considered breakfast foods. That sweet sauce. I don't eat xopao much, so I'm trying to watch my weight. But this is good. Really perfect texture here in terms of the dough. So good. Right now, after I finish all of this, we're gonna head out for more food explorations. We are in Kezang, and Kezang's really known for the production industry of coconuts. But there's one particular type of coconut that I've never been able to experience firsthand, so I'm really excited for our next stop. Got a long day ahead. Macapuno is an abnormal coconut. There's really no other way to put it. As it matures, the water inside gets thicker and sweeter, and the meat takes over most of the coconut. The result is a really heavy and meaty coconut that is used in various desserts in the Philippines, from ice creams to pies and halo-halo. It's a prized ingredient, yet is rarely bought and used fresh. Most people actually already buy it sweetened and preserved. We met Policarpio Abery, who was generous enough to show us his farm and share some insights about this rare product. So how does one start a macapuno farm? Actually, this is a passion. My father was a coconut farmer ever since. Traditionally, we are having this macapuno, as we call it, kabuig, or in one tree, out of 100 nuts, we are only able to get 5% to 10%. From then on, when I learned that there is this technology about embryo-cultured macapuno, then it came to my mind to invest on it. That's why it is called embryo-cultured macapuno. They are rescuing the embryo because macapuno will not germinate by itself. What they usually do is, they take the macapuno nuts, and then they take the embryo inside, and then grow it in a test tube for at least two years, and then transplant it to soil. Then that's where you get the plant. So then you get a coconut 100% macapuno. Yeah. Oh, wow. After four years, you will be starting to harvest. Okay. And you can harvest every couple of months? Every 35 to 40 days. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So once, I mean, it's a very heavy investment in the beginning, but then once you're invested, it's continuous. No season. And I was mentioning that this is probably some of the sweetest buko juice I've had in the Philippines. And you're telling me that this is a macapuno buko that will become macapuno once it's matured enough, right? I brought my special spoon. What's crazy and what I didn't realize is how naturally syrupy it already is. And the meat is very thick. Oh, wow. It's almost more like a potato in terms of the texture. It's very thick. And that's all meat. That's crazy. Okay. So I've never tasted fresh macapuno before. And so you don't know how sweet it's going to be or not. But this already has a very light, natural sweetness, which is quite nice. But I think texturally, it really does taste like a steamed potato in terms of how it feels. And it does have that very distinct macapuno flavor, which is really nice. I think if you eat one, you're so besog after right away. That just goes to show that in the Philippines, there's still so much to do something as special and as unique as macapuno. The farmers themselves are having a hard time finding buyers to get their products and push them in the market. Yet, you look in the market, and it's flooded with macapuno products all over. But how real are those products? Are they overly processed? Are they actually done the way that we saw it being done there, which is just really freshly harvested, which is how it should be. In any case, that's a whole agriculture video. We're on our way finally towards Vicol. I think we have another three hours and a half to go. Today is all about driving and getting the bulk of that driving done so that we can chill and then have fun in Camarines Norte and then eventually Camarines Sur. This next part is pretty long. To go from Quezon to Camarines Norte, there really is only one way. And we didn't find much to do in between these two provinces. Your first step into Vicol will be through Santa Elena Camarines Norte, where we stopped quickly to try to find some food for the night. There's no food where we're sleeping tonight, so we're just buying essentials. And by essentials, we mean Heineken. Julius went out to buy some food. This is the last town. It's a town called Santa Elena, which is quite small. But it's the last one before... Oh, there we go. Before we get to the farm. While we were in 7-Eleven buying bad food, he actually bought proper Vicolano food. So we have quinoa, but using porridos, which is a fish. He bought bituca because Julius is a gangster. Quineta and gabi, which sounds really promising. It is now 5.30 p.m. So we've been on the road now this morning, so 12 hours. Probably actively driving for about 7-8 hours. So it was a long day, but I still feel extremely energetic because we experienced some things that are pretty fun. The weather does not look great. So now we're finally heading towards this little farm stay. Oh, I just found this online and figured this out. We have no idea if there's going to be space. We have no idea where this place actually is. So hopefully it's a pleasant surprise. At this point, I was regretting my decision. We found this place online and there really wasn't much about it to learn. On this rocky road, I started second-guessing my decisions. One, we weren't in a 4x4, and two, there were no signs or directions. Even Google Maps gave up. We were greeted next to a rice field and were led through a nondescript, really dark area. The Julius special. A heart attack on a plate. Caldereta. What's this, Rumba? A double. With bananas. Yes. Which is actually a really great idea. And beef. Sorry, pork higa, though, which is intestines, liver. All the good stuff. So Chester and I were determined that we were going to eat in 7-Eleven tonight. But Julius, the savior, found some really good food. This is what they call laing of the gabe laing. So usually you use gabe leaves, obviously. But here they actually use the meat of the gabe. So there's actually the starch of it, which is really nice. And that's mixed in with, I think it's either pork or beef skin. And then the pink. Can you see the pink bagoong there? There's like a hues of pink in there. And this is so good. Next, we have quinonut. So this is a dish we've actually had in Masbate before. We had the stingray version. They usually make it traditionally from shark. But more and more, I think that's becoming illegal. So here they're using a fish. I think it was called burios, buros. That's funky, vinegary, has some spice to it. Lots of garlic, some ginger. That's a good bite of food. Next, adobo with banana, which is genius for me. Perfect combination. So good. I really, really hope we get a bit of a sunrise. So I can fly the drone and give you guys an idea of where we are. Because we are in the middle of nowhere. There's a full six feet deep pool in front of us. But a beautifully built traditional house. And very tastefully built. Like well designed, well appointed. It's just shocking and surprising to find something like this in a farmstead in the middle of nowhere in Camarines Norte. I love it. Sleeping in a rice field is so underrated. We woke up greeted by a gold sky and cool fresh air. Surrounded with the hushed noises of nature and running river water. Camping and road tripping have become really popular lately. And I think that this is a great movement. Focusing on small scale, well designed, low impact builds. They are so much better than towering hotels polluting the view. While most of our development focuses on the coast. There's so much potential in land. And this is the perfect example. This started back in 2018. We are located in the middle of a rice field. Surrounded by mountains. There's a lot you can do here. Swimming. Woo! It's cold. It's delicious. You can also go for a trekking in those mountains. During the rainy season. You can experience planting rice. During the planting season. You can experience planting rice. Just go to Bagangan Farm and Resort. It's located in Puruk 6. Barangay Gisikan, Labukamari, Norte. Day 2 of our trip. I still can't get over how magical that place was. I mean, farm tourism. I've always been a huge believer in it. And that's exactly how you should do it. So next stop, diet. In the next episode, we will be exploring Camarines Norte. And everything it has to offer. From its warm people to amazing Bicolana food. Fish markets and islands. This province has so much to offer. And I can't wait to show it to you.