DIY Trip to Seven Lakes of San Pablo + Liliw Side Trip

Another planned quick weekend getaway with my co-corporate slave girlfriends finally pushed through (August 2, 2014). We were supposed to go there two weeks ago but typhoon Glenda has just passed and Berna had to reschedule her fieldwork to CdO over that weekend. The weather finally somehow cleared during our visit although scattered rain showers greeted us from time to time. Grateful also to these friends that they tolerated my “adventurous” quirk, as they initially planned only to visit Liliw to buy shoes.

For posterity’s sake, I’m posting an account of our recent trip to the seven lakes of San Pablo and our side trip to Liliw.

Meet up

Liaa and I met at McDo Buendia around 7:30 am. As expected, Berna was late. We should really put a bet next time. Mahuli manlilibre ng lunch. Hahaha! 

She arrived before 8:30am and by that time, Liaa and I were already in the bus. 

The trip took us about 2 hours to reach San Pablo. We alighted at Jollibee near Medical. There, we waited for Kuya Aries (mobile number - 0928-877-5839), the tricycle driver whom I contacted to tour us around the seven lakes. Got his number from Mr. Jun Villegas, author of the Smartbackpacker blog. His regular rate is P1000.00 but I haggled to bring it down to P700 to which he agreed. Okay na daw basta matuloy lang. He arrived together with his son Dandan. 

Berna teaching Kuya Aries how to take a picture using Liaa's cam. Dandan the curious one.

Touring the Seven Lakes

1/7  Mohijacap Lake

Our first stop was the Mojicap Lake. To get to this lake, you have to go down a steep concrete trail. It was quite slippery because it had been raining. Dandan accidentally dropped his slipper off the trail, which his papa Aries had to retrieve using a raft. Berna also got herself wounded here as she did not notice that a sharp bamboo was sticking near the corner where she stood. This is my fourth favorite lake.

Mojicap Lake

2/7 Palakpakin Lake

It was effortless to go here – no need to hike our go down a steep trail. You can get to see this along the road, with a concrete bridge as your viewing deck. Looks clean but it is surrounded by residential houses so not quite a beautiful sight to behold.

Palakpakin Lake

3/7 Bunot Lake

Pretty similar to Palakpakin, this one is situated near residential areas.

Bunot Lake

4/7 Calibato Lake

As I said in my IG post, getting here is already an experience in itself. One would need to do a short hike and cross a small stream to see this lake. Tiring but also rewarding. My third favorite of all the seven lakes.

Calibato Lake

5/7 Pandin Lake

This one is the most tourist friendly of all the seven lakes. I think it’s also one of the cleanest. We took our lunch here while riding on a raft. It was my first time to taste pako salad and I loved it. They also served us hilabos and inihaw na tilapia. Quite costly at P360 per head but I’m a supporter of Philippine tourism so go! These communities also need to thrive sustainably so we gotta support them! My favorite of all the seven lakes!

Pandin Lake

6/7 Yambu Lake

Pandin’s Twin Lake. One way to see this is to ride a raft from Pandi Lake and do a short hike. Another route is by going to Nagcarlan. We took the easier and more convenient one – from Pandi Lake. It’s the cleanest and calmest of all the lakes, my second favorite of the seven lakes.

Yambu Lake

 7/7 Sampalok Lake

This is the biggest and the closest to the city center. Before, houses surround the lake but the government was successful enough in rehabilitating the lake and relocating former dwellers. Now, there is a small park were locals and tourists could chill, go biking around and eat street food. This is also where the annual festival is held which includes the balsa regatta. 

However, remnants of dirt and garbage could still be seen if you look up close. But it is not as bad naman as we thought.

Sampalok Lake

We finished our tour of the seven lakes around 4:30pm. We stayed longest at Pandin and Yambo lake as we took our time to eat lunch and relax there for a bit.

En route to Liliw

We then decided to leave for Liliw to buy footwear. From Sampalok, we took a jeep to Liliw / Nagcarlan. It took us about 45 minutes to reach Liliw. There are a lot of stores selling affordable but fashionable footwear. Indeed, it’s a haven for women who are crazy about shoes. :D

This whole strip of road is filled with stores selling footwear.

We capped our day by eating dinner at Arabela. They serve Italian food – pizzas, pastas and steak (is steak Italian? hahah). I loved my spaghettini anchovie. :)

For pasalubong, we wanted to buy yema cake but Liliw bakery did not have any stock left when we came. I bought Pianono instead which my brother and sister liked. 

Finally left San Pablo proper around 8:30pm and arrived in Buendia around 10:30pm. 

It was a tiring but adventure-filled trip, but I guess that's what makes us tick, sanity break that we need from the corporate world.

So here's to more adventure with my bwitches. Baler and Magdalena Laguna, you're next!