Bike Chronicles: The Best Halo Halo in the Southern Tagalog Region

A few days ago we were in Ethel's hometown, the wonderful place of Cavinti. It was a warm day, nearly noon, and we were craving for halo halo. Now Cavinti has its own great halo halo offering, Aling Nilda's which is situated in the local palengke. Unfortunately they offer that only during summer and are now closed for the season.

So we had to go elsewhere. Our requirement is that we have to bike so we can offset the calories. The nearest famous one is some 8 kilometers downhill, Aling Taleng's in Pagsanjan. The last time we were there though, the place was teeming with tourists, and we were served halo halo in disposable plastic cups. We vowed to go elsewhere.

We decided to go uphill the other way  Lucban, where we know of another great halo halo place. Cavinti is an idyllic town in the mountains between Pagsanjan and Lucban and that meant we had to bike some 23 kilometers uphill. It was a hot day, and we were a little bit crazy perhaps for biking near noontime but we were rewarded by peaceful sceneries and cool tree shaded places along the way.

The Pagsanjan-Lucban Highway is also being widened into a 4 lane road. This is a welcome development as it gives much space for vehicles to navigate. It will also make cycling in these mountains safer.

We finally reached the border of Quezon Province after a while. We were rewarded with a majestic view of Mt. Banahaw, which accompanied us from then on.

And soon we were in Lucban. Salud Refreshments is easy to find through Google Maps, it is a few blocks away from Lucban Church. 

The place is an unpretentious establishment at the side streets of Lucban. It has great provincial charm, and has been that way for 70 years, residents say. The people there are very friendly - we got into a long entertaining chat with this old timer.

The inside has the typical high ceiling of old architecture, which ventilated the place well, aided by Lucban's cool climate. Customers sit on wood benches and wait on formica-topped tables, conversing happily in anticipation of the treat to come. I realized that many are locals, unlike in Aling Taleng's whose main clientele are tourists.

The menu is simple and limited to 3 items. Such is the secret of their success for many years.

And then our halo halo came. It was served in a rustic plastic glass, and the ingredients were just enough that you could finish it before the ice truly melted. It was finely shaved ice covering a melange of sweet beans, gulaman, leche flan, crunchy pinipig and ube, drenched with a stream of milk. I learned later that all these ingredients were made from scratch. I was so hungry and tired from the ride and anticipation that my halo halo was gone in about or so, and I only took a few photos of it.

I was still hungry so I went a few doors down where a lady was selling homemade potato chips and maruya, which is some kind of fritter. The dark one was made from malagkit, or glutinous rice, and the lighter one from gabi, a local rootcrop. All were delicious - I got seconds. Hey I biked a long way for this, remember?

And thus we went home to Cavinti, our craving sated. It was an easier ride because much of the slopes were downhill on the way back. Was it worth the ride? With the adventure, experience, food, and company, yes it was very well worth the ride.

Bikes Used: Ethel used her Tern Verge P18, an 18 speed folding bike with 20 inch wheels. I used a Bickerton Pilot 1707, a 16 inch wheeled folding bike with 7 speeds. Unknown to many, small wheeled folding bikes are actually very good climbers and worked well during this 46+ kilometer ride.