Legaspi, Albay

I went to Legaspi in Bicol to attend a colleague’s wedding along six other workmates. Even if my purpose of visit is to attend a social function, I managed to take a few side trips. All of my other colleagues arrived in Bicol a day earlier while I took the Saturday morning Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight. It may have been a short flight but I still enjoyed the view from the plane but I got a bit confused with the surrounding because I couldn’t see Mayon volcano anywhere within sight. But, when I got off the plane, I immediately saw the volcano and heaved a huge sigh of relief because I was in the right place after all.

A nun friend from Bicol fetched me at the airport and dropped me off to Reynaldo’s Inn.  There, I finally met my workmates who were already preparing for the wedding.  Since it will start in the afternoon, I took the liberty of touring the city through the help of my nun friend.  

We went to Ligñon hill by merely walking.  By the time we reached the top, we were very tired and my shirt was drenched in sweat.  It was worth all the effort going to the hilltop since I saw an unhampered view of Mayon volcano. From there, I asked that we stopped by the inn so that I could change my shirt before proceeding to Cagsawa ruin. Although it was my fourth time to visit this place, I still insisted on going so that I could compare what I saw two years ago when the volcano just erupted and spew ashes.  The place actually looked better with some minor structural repairs.  I even bought some native products in the area as pasalubong for some friends.

We also went to Satellite (a pasalubong center in Legaspi) to buy other souvenir items.  For me, this is the best place to shop products made from this province.  The items were of export quality and the prices were very reasonable. 

Then, I asked that we check out Legazpi’s latest place to hangout – the Embarcadero. The place boasts off various shops and restaurants. I had a taste of their homegrown restaurant, Bigg’s Diner. The good thing about this restaurant was their trading hours (mention the time here in enclosed parentheses) and accessibility to our location. 

By 1 in the afternoon, I was back at my lodging house.  It was 2.30pm and all of us were ready to go to the wedding.  But unfortunately, our service car going to the Church did not arrive and we had no other better option but to take the tricycle. It was funny because we rented five tricycles to bring us to the Church even when everyone was wearing formal clothes.  We arrived very late at the wedding but the only good thing was our officemate was still able to sing during the picture taking.  After the wedding reception, my group went to Embarcadero to see and experience the night-life in the city.    Everyone agreed that instead of drinking alcoholic beverages, we would taste their local coffee shop called ‘La Mia Tazza’.  I ordered coffee with pili nuts and I delightfully enjoyed its flavor. We came back at the inn late in the evening just in time to take enough sleep before leaving the city early in the morning.  It was a wonderful day filled with activities. I hope to be back next year.

Visited last September 18-19, 2010