Bulawan Floating Restaurant
Nora, a nurse, and Joey Virrey, an x-ray technician and physical therapist, left for Saudi Arabia in the 1980s aboard the same plane. They would not meet, however, and discover that the same plane brought them to Saudi, until they found themselves working in the same hospital. They married eventually and, in 1997, built the restaurant on the 1.2-hectare property that they initially leased. A true-to-life OFW success story.
Bulawan was built to be more than a restaurant. It was meant as a fish pond in the literal sense where guests can throw lines and catch the tilapia and hito that swim freely in the water. They can choose to bring home their catch for P80.00 per kilo or have the fish cooked, served and enjoyed as a Bulawan meal.
Today, fishing activities take a back seat as the planned renovations, expected to be completed within a few months, are given priority. Hopefully, by December when the sale to the Virreys of the property on which Bulawan sits is complete, I will go back with my family. Perhaps, we can try to catch some tilapia and hito, have them cooked, lay back, savor the view and the ambience, enjoy the food and each otherÕs company, then go home feeling good that there are gems like BulawanÑunabashedly and proudly Filipino.
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have heard a lot about the place. could u give directions on how to go there? i plan to bring my balikbayan friends there. thanks.
Hi, Atty. Veneracion, I purposely looked for a way to email you because I wanted to share something with you that you might want to mention in your writings. I chanced upon The Sassy Lawyer last year in a bid to look for another Filipino vegetarian (I am one), and have since been coming back to it from time to time.
Imagine my surprise to find out that you have been to Bulawan, a favorite hangout for myself and my two nephews (who love fishing), which is just a town away from Jalajala, Rizal, the place I wanted to write you about.
Yesterday (All Saints’ Day), at the cemetery, I was able to sample very fine organic chocolate milk made from carabao’s milk, which tastes infinitely better than commercially produced cow’s milk. Their fresh milk, which I also sampled, was very good, too. The dairy is being produced by a farmers’ cooperative through the leadership and guidance of their president, Mr. Roxane T. Halili (who was peddling the milk, too–that’s how much he believes in their products). Mr. Halili is a UP Los Banos-trained dairy farmer, and worked for a long time with Carnation, and for a dairy farm in Saudi Arabia.
Organic carabao’s milk is healthier than any milk or dairy product you can find on grocery shelves, which are made from big-farm cow’s milk, from cows which are fed all sorts of hormones and anti-biotics that find their way into one’s food. Maybe it’s worth your time to try it, and enjoy a scenic drive along one of Rizal’s most beautiful coastal towns, on concrete roads made some years ago by the JICA. I think Mr. Halili lives in barrio Llano or Bayogo.
I hope that you can help the farmers promote their milk and dairy products (they also have pastillas but I didn’t sample it because I was avoiding too much sugar). It would be such a waste if their project isn’t able to take off; something so healthful and delicious (as well as with noble intentions) deserves some push. Ang galing kasi ng Pinoy!
Thank you so much in advance.
Heidi P. Cruz (a panyera since 1999)
ricky, manila east road (national highway), pililla, somewhere near km 59. go by way of antipolo, then on to teresa, tanay… pililla.
Heidi, wow, I wonder if you have read my older entries about UPLB’s DTRI–how I rave about the dairy products. I do love promoting local dairy products primarily because I hate being dependent on imported items hehehe
I would love to try the chocolate milk. If I can have more details where exactly in Jalajala I should go to… it’s really not that far and I’d love to go. Thanks.
Hi, Atty., sorry for responding so late; I had been very busy lately and was unable to check back until today. I heard from Mr. Halili that the processing station is temporarily housed in the “private high school” and that it is in Sitio Llano, Barangay Bayugo. It is difficult to lose your way in Jalajala because it’s just one major road throughout, and everybody seems to know everybody. I do have Mr. Halili’s cellphone number, though, 0906-506-0137.
Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoy your trip (I enjoy mine every time I go there–I learned to drive in that area).
hi. id love to try bulawan. i was wondering how much your lunch was? so i can prepare my budget before going there.. thanks!
Thanks, Heidi. I’ll get in touch with him.
A little over 500 pesos, Angel.
I read in one announcement that the cooperative will be featured in an exhibit sponsored by the DAR and the DTI from November 25-26. I hope you can meet Mr. Halili there, if you have time. Thanks!
I’ll contact him over the weekend to ask for details. But what I’d really love is to see his actual place.