83 Gallery Cafe

Our Parish Priest is very fond of telling stories followed by a short "sermon". So he told us the story of 'The Frog and the Princess'. And then after the long story he asked the parishioners, "What is the connection of the story to Father's Day".


And then he showed a slide of a cartoon of "Dennis the Menace" asking her mom "How long was Dad a frog before you kissed him?" That is the connection, said our Priest.


Happy Father's Day!


Mother's day was lunch at Joe's beside the National High School in Umali's Subdivision. It is an Italian restaurant, good pastas - you have to wait for about 20 to 30 minutes or so - because they cook from scratch, they are closed on Sundays though.

So my 2 boys and my lovely wife decided to treat me for lunch somewhere else, where? 83. What? 83 Gallery Cafe. So we drove leisurely from Los Banos, passing by Bay and Victoria. We slowed down near the Duck and egg (Itik) statue just to test how accurate my personal gps (Global Positioning System navigation device) is when it comes to locating known waypoints (locations). By the way, our Lady Governor is pushing for one-industry one-town motto. Los Banos has buko pie, Victoria has the duck raising, Lumban for embroidery or the Barong industry, Lilio (Liliw) the tsinelas, etc.. The "Duck" was shown on the "Amazing Race" when the Philippines was included in the series. I have marked some locations in Laguna and Batangas with my gps receiver whenever I had the chance to stop - I hope I will have the time to put them all on a worksheet, to share.

So having shown my 2 boys and my wife how the gps works, we continued on, passing by Pila and Sta Cruz. Right after the huge arch marking the boundary between Sta Cruz and Pagsanjan there is a road (on your right) that goes to Magdalena.


A friend of mine, Mario who comes from Lucban, Quezon (who is also a ham radio op) told me that there is a shorter route here going to Lucban. I haven't tried it yet, but someday, I will. I have only tried the route going to Lucban, Quezon via Pagsanjan ( that would be another future article here, maybe!). Before reaching 83 Gallery cafe, there were a lot of "boaters" flashing the sign "to Pagsanjan Falls", so if you are not from Laguna you would turn to their direction. Be careful, that is not really where Pagsanjan Falls is, it still much further away. My wife told me that one of his friend in the office got victimized by these "boaters" and ended up paying exorbitant fees and all. So don't fall for this.


A few meters after the Pagsanjan arch comes km 91 post, and of course 83 gallery cafe. If you see a six-foot-tall lady statue beside a driveway then you are there. And if you see a new Strada pick-up truck parked on the driveway you are lucky Mr Santiago (the owner) is home. I usually make a u-turn and park beside a huge santol tree beside a very old house (with character) across the restaurant. So we were welcomed by the waitress (cashier also) - she knows us already, having eaten there several times- and we sat down on a table for six. The chairs where we sat are folding and made of local hardwood- very comfortable to sit on. The cafe has "antique" chairs and tables which were designed by the owner himself Mr Ernest Santiago - a very famous Manila designer who now makes his home in Pagsanjan. When we were seated, Mr Santiago came out and greeted us and we exchanged some pleasantries. He told us that it is in Los Banos where he buys plants that he uses for his landscaping projects. We exchanged data, unluckily I'm selling plants that he does not need! He no longer designs clothes, he is into furniture design. At the back of the restaurant, he has created beautiful landscaped rooms of Filipino-Indian motif- that would be another article here, in this blog.

I usually order "Binagoongang Baboy" when I eat there, but this time I would order something I have not tasted yet. We ended up with Karekareng Baka, Pansit Lukban, and Pako (Fern) Salad for all of us. My older son ordered Pasta with Kesong puti and my younger son chose "Corned Beef" for lunch. I told him to order something else, but he won't budge - so let it be. Pako was served first, after saying grace we started to devour the fern salad. They put kesong-puti on top and had spiced-olive oil as dressing. I hope when you come, you try this, it tastes like heaven, hahaha. Then came the soup bowl, we were wondering - we didn't order any soup, how come there is one. The question was answered when the Karekare was served, in came in a huge bowl - a large serving for four! And so the pansit came next followed by three cups of garlic rice. O my, this Father's day I had a very good lunch! Oh I almost forgot we had to order extra garlic rice. Desert, was a llanera of leche plan with macapuno on top. As I had with me a food police - my wife, I only got a small slice- it's bad for my diabetes, she said. So my 2 boys feasted on the leche plan while I watched with envy! To finish up, we had brewed coffee served very hot - no! the two boys had cold water instead.

After a full lunch, we crossed the street to the car, my wife saw a bakery-that was described on a blog on the internet. The bakery's name is "New Ilaya Bakery". So she bought some ensemada, cheap 9PhP each for a serving as large as a fist and some bread for my son's school baon. We made another u-turn because my wife decided to buy some embroidered blouse next town - which is Lumban. We went to Magano's Embroidery (main) which is just about 300 meters after the Lumban bridge. They have another branch before the bridge, but we usually go to the main store. My wife and my older son could not get a larger size, so we ended up going back to their branch, yes! before the bridge going to town. Still no good fit, so the clerk suggested to have a size made for her, that they would deliver it via LBC - by Friday. That's not so bad, I don't have to drive back to Lumban to get the dress - good on my gas money! My older son got 2 colored Polo Barongs, and I got none - I don't mind, cause I still have 2 or 3 good Barongs hanging in my closet.

When all business was done, we started the drive home. I told my wife I would not have dinner when we get home cause I am still full. What a wonderful Father's Day.