Travel: Tarlac trip - Day 1

January 16, 2015

We were running a little late because I went and saw Pope Francis as he travelled along Nagtahan on his way to Malacanang Palace.  Instead of leaving early, we were only able to take off around 1130 AM.  It was still a fast drive since we reached our first toll booth at around 1215 where we paid P45.  By then, everyone was hungry and we ended up having lunch at Jollibee Shell Station along NLEX.

Even after finishing their lunch, the kids were still hungry in the car and started eating their Sweet Corn snacks.  This kept them entertained during the long drive.

Eventually, we reached our 2nd toll gate on the NLEX.  We were exiting at Dau to reach the SCTEX and at this Toll Booth, we paid P173.  There was a bit of traffic with a number of cars heading to Subic.  Good thing that they set up extra toll booths along the extent of the highway to cope with the volume.  We paid P104 to use the SCTEX.

 

We continued driving and the kids were fascinated by Mt. Malarayat in the background.  

We reached the TPLEX (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway) in no time.  It took about 20 minutes from the SCTEX to reach this point.

It took another fifteen minutes to reach the exit at Pura, Tarlac from the TPLEX.  At this point, we paid another P58.  The total travel time was around 2 hours since we entered the NLEX at 12noon and reached the Tollbooth at Pura by 3PM.  It took one hour for us to eat our lunch.  That was a fast drive considering it used to take us around 3-4 hours before.

We would have reached our destination in Gerona in a few minutes but we chose to drive to Pura instead to visit our Tita Flor but unfortunately, she wasn't home.

All in all, we paid P380 for the toll fees.

When we reached Uncle Bebot's home, we got settled in first.  Later in the afternoon, we tagged along with JR when he did his errands about town.  We went to SM City Rosales (didn't take pictures because SM malls are relatively alike) and then to City Walk in San Roque, Tarlac where we had snacks at Nathaniel's.  Their Buko Pandan Salad is to die for :)

Inside City Walk

Buko Pandan Salad

That wraps up our first day in Tarlac.  Technically, we all had a busy day today starting with the Pope and it's good to end it with family and good food :)