Confession: I have not seen a lot of places in my own country. I grew up in the city, the south side of town, Makati, to be a little more specific and my weekends are normally spent either at home or at the malls near my place. But I do want to travel. See the world… I haven’t been anywhere outside the country yet. Still dreaming, planning my first out of the country trip… I figured I should start my travel right here in the Philippines. Be a local tourist first before becoming a foreign one.

And so on a long weekend in August, my friends and I let the wander bug bite us. It took us to the north side of town with the city of Marikina being our first stop. We’re all from the south side of town so we were all local tourists.

How did we get there? We all met up at MRT Taft-Rotonda and went down Cubao station. From there we took the FX that had SSS village signboard. Our destination was Pan de Amerikana. It was almost lunch time when we got there. We initially planned to meet up at 9am but some of us are perpetually late comers so when we finally arrived in Marikina, our timing was just perfect.

Let me walk you through the place:

When my friends and I got inside, we all couldn’t help but go “Wow”. It’s so nice here! The place even has a swing and a second floor rooftop footbridge…the kind you’d see in those movies with jungle scenes…

The food we ordered: Good food served at Pan de Amerikana. Pretty affordable too.

My adventure friends:
Marikina is a very clean city indeed. And though it was quite far, with the company of my friends, it was truly a fun day. Would I do it again? Heck yes! It’s great to play tourist in your own country. Plus it’s nice to get out of your comfort zone from time to time.   
Note: Most photos are taken by my budding photographer friend, Ryan.