The Floating Restaurant You Should Not Miss! + A Gift from God

Note: Hey, Nina here! this article was made during my College days year 2017 as it was the first-ever blog I was supposed to publish but got delayed after 10,000 years and now I just decided to preserve the content so this post is the college me speaking hahaha.

Mom suggested going to Bolinao, Pangasinan for lunch since we haven’t had a getaway during my lucky one week vacation from school. I was excited because it would be a great day to start my first blog. Although I had second thoughts of whether it would be interesting enough, I just grabbed the camera just in case.

My family and I had a long drive which took 2 and a half hours to arrive at Bolinao from Mangaldan, Pangasinan inclusive of a little traffic, stopover, and the experience of being lost because it was a long time since we went to Bolinao. The time was already 4:00 pm in the afternoon and we were already “hangry!”(Hungry + angry) we just hoped the long drive was worth it.

The restaurant we were going for was Sungayan Grill, it was our first time to eat there so we didn’t know where it was and just asked for directions from the locals who thankfully knew about the place and were happy to help us.

We finally arrived at the restaurant which was behind the river. Here is a glimpse of the entrance as we walked down.

I personally thought it was just a typical restaurant like the ones in Dagupan who served seafood and other Filipino specials but to my surprise it was different. We can actually do a river cruise while eating! Although we experienced this in Bohol, it was still worth trying because there are separate boats for different groups of customers so we ate in private. Aside from that, we have the whole river and the restaurant to ourselves since it was a weekday and we were the only customers that time (So yay)!

Restaurant Hours: Open at 9am to 8pm Everyday

Here is the Menu 😍 Updated from their Facebook Page

Then after ordering, we waited 20 minutes for our food and while doing so, I just enjoyed taking a pic of their restaurant view to test my photography skills. What do you think?

Finally, the food was served in the “kubo” wherein a boat will pull it towards Balingasay river. The cost of the river cruise is P1,000 for max of 12 people.

The food was really amazing! We ordered the Fiesta Bilao Grill 2 wherein the seafoods were fresh and delicious! Super thumbs up as you can see.

All aboard! As the cruise started, we, of course, ate with our very own hands (fork and spoon is so overrated haha).

Don‘t worry there is a washing area in the kubo that has soap, bucket of water and “tabo” that you can use to wash your hands.

Aside from the excellent food, the environment was breathtaking! You can feel the fresh air, the calming sway of the mangroves, and the serene movement of the river while you bask in a little ray of sunshine as you cruise down the majestic river. It was a great way of forming a great bond and appreciation for nature that it felt like problems did not exist.

I managed to get a pic of the wonderful flock of birds if you can spot it hahaha.

The cruise took about 30 minutes to 1hr but it was enough to finish our nice meal and enjoy the view while emoting about life haha or just take photos

Our overall dining experience was great! A total provincial experience eating seafood and enjoying the wonders of nature out of the city so if you visit Bolinao with friends or family, you definitely should not miss this.

After that relaxing experience, we talked about going to the lighthouse but my mom thought it was getting dark and ghosts may come out (LOL hahaha!). I said that the lighthouse was for sunsets so we definitely have to go.

College Student Nina says Hi! Hahahaha

It was 6:00 pm and dad drove in a long unending road to the lighthouse. The beautiful sunset was already making its way to the sea so we were all panicking because we will miss it. I kept on saying “Please Stay!”. I prayed to God to let the sun stay for a while so I can capture this moment, especially for the blog. I was pressuring Dad and he drove fast like a need for speed race.

As we finally arrived, I quickly came up the hill even if it was tiring (yep so much for my physical fitness 101). Then when I reached the lighthouse view, there were no tourists it was just me and the sunset. I quickly took a picture of it; I was really happy at that moment.

Then suddenly the magic happened, mom said to turn around so when I did this was the view.

A rainbow on the lighthouse! it was the most beautiful thing ever like a painting! I really fell in love. It dawned on me that I was now surrounded by God’s beautiful creations. This is where He did His magic and I’m very happy that I was able to see it. It’s not every day you see the sunset going down on the sea through a cliff view and the rainbow by the lighthouse on your back view. (I think I only see those on windows computer wallpaper lol)

At the end of the day, I was still happy and kept on saying to God “I love you, Lord!! Thank you!” I almost cried (yes I’m emotional to views like that :P) it really felt like God wanted me to do this blog so He had given me the greatest gift.

I can totally relate with the saying “Your plan is good but God’s plan is better”. In life, we plan and get disappointed but we don’t know that God has better plans and this day was one of those moments.

Sometimes when you plan for just an unsure sunset, God unexpectedly gives you much more better ones which is both the sunset and the rainbow, even the thunder at night. This day was not the typical best day like when you got accepted to this university or I got a gift worth a thousand pesos, it was just simply a magical day to appreciate and be honored to see God’s wonderful creation — letting you experience His presence.

In our lives, sometimes we must stop the things we do for a while and just look outside and appreciate what God had created. Think about the things He has done for you that you failed to notice and be thankful for it. We are too busy with our lives that we forget the meaning of it.

Remember, no money or even your manliligaw! can give you the stars, the moon, or even the universe but with God by your side everything is possible and that’s the greatest gift of all.

P.S at night there was lightning and rain so every element of the sky was present on that day and I’m just amazed.

So how about you? What was the greatest gift you ever received? I want to hear it too 😊

Sunshine and rainbows,

Mz. Nina ☀️🌈