PH & Beyond: Lake Park, Angono, Rizal Wednesday, July 30, 2014

I'm always reminded that before dying to see the farthest destination is at least find time to explore some nearby places. Angono is just an hour away from where I’m living. Although I’ve been already there for twice before, I never had the chance to explore the whole town.

I’ve been eagerly wanting to visit the said town for quite a while now however, due to work and other commitments, plan of revisiting it was always put on-hold. Today, with the assistance of my boss from my previous job who is a proud local of the municipality, I was able to explore the colorful Angono once more.

The Lake Park wasn’t our first destination, but it’s one of the most I have enjoyed. I could actually feel the cold air touching my skin while walking around the lake, and made me miss my own town. Locals call it Wawa or Lawa in Filipino language. It is part of the Laguna de bay, the largest lake in the Philippines and one of the primary sources of freshwater fish in the country.

Everything about the experience reminds me of living in the province, no traffic, can get around the town proper by just walking and most especially everyone seems to be relatives or friends. 

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PH & Beyond: Blanco Family Museum, Angono, Rizal

I do have a huge interest and appreciation for arts. That’s always in me ever since then. Every destination should have at least a gallery or art exhibit that I should visit. When I first heard that Angono is being called as the Arts Capital of the Philippines, I just told myself that I need to find out why and satisfy this curiosity within.

Blanco Family Museum was our first destination in Angono. It showcases the tremendous collection of beautiful paintings by the Blanco family who are all passionate about making wonderful masterpieces of arts. The paintings are arranged from the youngest son’s to the eldest son’s artworks. It was followed by their mother’s gallery which, according to our tour guide started painting at the age of 48 and was trained with her children by Sir Jose “Pitok” Blanco, the Filipino Master and Patriarch of the Blanco Family.

The museum is filled with more than hundreds of masterpieces portraying folk realism style. The different Filipino culture and tradition,  landscape, way of life in rural places and each other portraits are mostly their favorite subjects.

Each Blanco artist are just all good at reminding through their paintings as a medium the colorful yet simplicity of life way back then.

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AngNewNo Cafe, Angono

I had so much catching up with my colleague from my previous work when we dined in this quaint and lovely cafe after our brisk walking around the town of Angono. We had a lot of talk table topics about anything and everything while enjoying our food and being surrounded by arts.

If you happen to be on a trip somewhere in Rizal, I would highly recommend this art cafe called Ang New No located along the Manila East Road. Their food is fairly cheap, and at the same time taste really good. The cafe’s interior is furnished with comfortable wooden chairs and tables.

There are lots of art pieces in every corner, from paintings hanging on the wall to small novelty pieces placed everywhere in this three story cafe. The laid back atmosphere makes this cafe an ideal place for a quick treat after a day of wandering the town.

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