Painting Your Zebra

MANILA, Philippines - A great travel writer once said that despite the redundancy of trips to key destinations, no two travels are ever completely alike. Yes, the destinations may be the same, but the reaction of each individual given the stimuli he is presented with, never will be. Thus, a true travel story is an account of the 360 degree experience of the journey... where every tiny detail will matter. I like thinking of it metaphorically as painting your own zebra – since no two zebra stripe patterns are the same. I bet a lot of you didn’t know that. And I bet a lot of you have yet to discover your own unique, Isuzu Alterra travel experience. After all, this vehicle was created “For the Journey That Matters”. Let me share you mine...

It was an overcast, drizzly Thursday morning in October when our small media team took off from the Palms Country Club in Alabang, riding in our respective 2011 Isuzu Alterras. We were headed for Batangas – a quick getaway sponsored by IPC (Isuzu Philippines Corporation) and supported by Caltex and Reebok.

En route to our first destination – the heritage town of Taal, Batangas – our team took a quick pit stop at the convenient Caltex station on the SLEX southbound, by Mamplasan Laguna. Here, we took advantage of the clean restrooms (hoorah for the ladies – you don’t find much of these en route, nowadays) and fancied the assortment of goodies that were in the Star Mart convenience store. To our pleasant surprise, we were also handed over Caltex Starcash prepaid cards worth P1000, which we were asked to spend in the Star Mart. And although the store was overflowing with tempting bags of my favorite imported chips, chocolates and goodies galore – all calling-out my name – I firmly decided to go healthy and got myself bags of nuts, trail mixes, some mineral water and er… one bag of the healthiest-looking chips I could find. (Come on, they were organic anyway!)

After having stuffed our fat shopping bags amongst our luggage in the, thank god, super large cargo space of the Alterra, our convoy hit the highway once more; and this time, I decided to exploit my “passenger” status and generously recline my second-row seat while I caught some much-needed Z’s. I love leather upholstery, by the way – and it’s exactly what the Alterra had – because they’re so comfortable to sleep on, and don’t give your skin that sticky feeling when the weather starts to get a bit warm. And sure, I was totally aware that this SUV was a complete entertainment package in itself – with its 7-inch wide-screen high-resolution monitors mounted on the headrests along with its fancy speaker system – but sleep was of the greater premium at the time, so I had to save the car entertainment experience for another day.

Getting to our destination was easy as the Alterra’s I-Nav GPS system was handy to give all the necessary directions, and as a matter of fact, we made good time on our journey as the Alterra’s 4JJ1-TC Common-Rail Direct-Injection Turbodiesel engine provided a continuous and generous supply of torque and power. Not to mention that I woke up completely recharged, after sleeping quite soundly, thanks to the fantastic FlexRide Suspension System this SUV had to offer.

Our first stop in Batangas was in a small house where some of the locals demonstrated how they made Panutsa (peanut brittle candy), a local delicacy in the province. I was given the opportunity to try cooking some, stirring the molten goo in their huge iron wok over a blazing fire, which was very hot by the way, and which emitted some pretty dense smoke, I could hardly keep my eyes open. It was not an easy job to do. Frankly, it was a craft that required a lot of getting used to. Kudos to our hardy Batangueño friends who still pass on their family recipes and continue to make this local candy.

Our next stop was at Villa Tortuga in Taal, Batangas – a heritage town famous for its Spanish-period stone houses and also for its Basilica de San Martin de Tours: an old church speculated to be the biggest Catholic Church in South East Asia. Here, we had the special privilege of viewing the preserved, colonial interiors of Villa Tortuga, an ancestral house considered as a great example of the classic “bahay na bato”. Back in the day, a typical “bahay na bato” would usually be constructed as a 2-storey house, with its ground floor typically made of adobe or any hard material. The upper floor would usually be made out of wood, and this would also be where the receiving area, bedroom and dining room would be located.

Villa Tortuga was just that – a silent storyteller of the past. Its lower floor was made out of hard rock, and is also where they kept portraits of colonial newspapers and documents... Towards the middle of the basement was a wide, wooden staircase lined with seashells, that led you up to its upper floor which was this time, generally made out of wood, accentuated with large windows made out of capiz shells to allow natural light to permeate through. It had high ceilings and a long, wooden table in the dining area. The house boasted of 17th century antique furniture, and rather disturbing pieces of religious images (these are the kind that look like they are staring right at you, no matter what your angle).

We were later presented with a 5-course, colonial Batangueño meal, which included dishes such as adobo sa pinya, and suman with chocolate-eh! The experience was nothing short of spectacular.

But my favorite part of all – was a special “dressing-up” part that Villa Tortuga offered to its visitors. Everyone in our party had the chance to dress up in colonial Filipiniana outfits, and pose for a picture that seemed somewhere lost in time! I took on a classic Maria Clara outfit, while other members of the media and IPC dressed up as prayle’s and mestizo’s and even a Guardia Civil! The experience was extremely enjoyable and definitely a big highlight of our entire trip.

Lastly, when all was said and done at Villa Tortuga, we proceeded to the luxurious holistic getaway known as The Farm at San Benito. The pathway to the site was a mixture of paved roads and dirt roads, and the Alterra took us there with no sweat and with great comfort. There, every member of the media was treated to a pampering massage, amidst fragrant essential oils and the relaxing sounds of nature. I however, begged to differ. Apt on painting a totally unique set of stripes on my travel zebra, I was the only individual who opted for the Farm’s medical wellness services. What I got was a Colema – a type of mild, colon hydrotherapy that is intended to remove toxic wastes that have accumulated and hardened in one’s colon, via irrigating with water. In other words, it was a coffee enema! And the experience was totally, er… liberating!

Being the last person to finish my treatment, I finally joined everyone else at our last stop – Uncle Cheffy’s restaurant at Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna for a sumptuous dinner finale. I could almost feel the curious stares of the rest of the party, boring into me... “How could she have survived that coffee enema?” they all must have thought. Frankly, it was a strange but fantastic experience to release all those toxins out of my body, and I would certainly come back a second time! Seriously.

The 2011 Isuzu Alterra was an excellent vessel to take me to all these places, on this unforgettable trip. Without any doubt, this was one of the most unique experiences I have ever had on a Batangas trip. It’s not so much always about the destination, actually. Like I said, it’s about the memories you take home from the collective of reactions you express, from the stimuli thrown at you in these places. And these vary from person to person, place to place. Only one thing perhaps is for certain – the Isuzu Alterra will not fall short in making your own journey, matter.