"Success is its own reward, but failure is a great teacher too, and not to be feared."
These wise words on success and failure are attributed to the fearless US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor .
And with sincerest due respect to the highest court of the fabled land of the milk and honey, the Bicolano Penguin would like to append a few choice words so that the dictum will now read like this:
"Success is its own reward, but failure is a great teacher too, and not to be feared but to be celebrated with some sugar."
Following this dictum, the Bicolano Penguin planned to visit Fundacion Pacita in the hills of Basco, Batanes on that eventful Saturday (June 15).
The purpose of the BP: to treat myself to the best dessert I could find in the whole province of Batanes. The BP just had a DNF at the Batanes 360 Marathon held earlier on that Saturday morning. To a runner, a DNF is a moment of deep failure. It can be the start of a slide to the dark nights of depression. But there are sane ways to deal with a DNF as well as with other failures in life. Embrace the failure. In the words of author and growth expert David Reynolds : "This philosophy encourages individuals and teams to get comfortable with failure, learn from it, and, most importantly, build upon it. The idea here isn't to glorify failure but to recognize its role as an essential element of growth."
So in the interest of healing and growth, the BP visited Fundacion Pacita and I had a delightful time having an early solo dinner at Cafe du Tukon . Had to thank Batanes 360 Marathon champion runners Atty. Star and Boi for suggesting this place.
In itself, visiting Fundacion Pacita is a much gratifying treat already. Nestlted on top of a glorious hill overlooking the mighty Pacific Ocean, Fundacion Pacita is a bastion of Ivatan culture. This vacation lodge is named after the Batanes-born and world-renowned artist Pacita Abad , who had the studio- home built on her father's old cow pasture in Sitio Tukon, Barangay Chanarian. Pacita designed and started building her studio in 2001 with the help of her husband Jack Garrity, and her brother Butch Abad. Sadly, Pacita never got to use the home-studio as she passed away of cancer in Dec 2004.
After her passing, the property was converted into a bed-and-dine operation run by a nonprofit foundation which supports heritage conservation, local livelihood, and art projects, and provides college scholarships for Ivatans. In a 2018 post, blogger Karen Young noted that "Fundacion Pacita employs 100% Ivatans in alignment with the principle that the productive end of any sustainable community-based ecotourism should primarily benefit the local people."
This vacation lodge is also a museum, art space, topiary garden and a cafe restaurant. At this point, will let the photos do most of the talking:
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| Entrance to Fundacion Pacita. Just looking at the signs, one gets the feeling that Fundacion Pacita is a special place where the creative spirit is nurtured and celebrated. |
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| The Taksicle (the Batanes wooden tricyle) driver told me that he can only bring me up to the Fundacion Pacita entrance and I have to walk the rest of the way to Cafe du Tukon. I was cool with it. The hundred fifty meters of walk would hike the BP's appetite up. |
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| A view of Cafe du Tukon. Excitement ramping up. |
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| Native trees line the gravel trail leading to the restaurant. Aside from providing much needed shade from the scorching sun, the trees serve as windbreaks. |
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| Entrance to Cafe du Tukon. Can't help but think of a cozy place somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, perhaps Provence. |
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| Lots of paintings and color inside Cafe du Tukon. I believe Cafe du Tukon is never a boring place. |
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| After ordering my early dinner, I took the opportunity to tour the garden outside the restaurant. |
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| I asked the waiter what is the name of the tree prominently displayed in the verandah area overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He confidently said that locals call it "Vutalao." Scientific name Calophyllum inophyllum, the wood from this tree is the one used to build the wooden body of the Taksicle. |
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| A statue of Pacita Abad stand proud in a most picturesque location. Gotta have a photo wearing my LaCo ruby hoodie. |
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| Such a calm place the topiary garden is. |
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| As promised by the waiter, the food was served in 20 minutes time. Two delightfully-looking entrees for the Bicolano Penguin. |
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| Ordered "Market Fish & Orzo" which is pan friend market fish with lemon cream orzo. Honestly, I really did not like the orzo but the freshly caught fish from the sea had me going. Kudos to the Cafe du Tukon chef for following these wise words of celebrity chef Curtis Stone: "Good food starts with good ingredients. Respect the quality of what you cook with and let it shine." |
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| The menu simply refers to this entree as "Grilled Pork Belly" but there is nothing simple about this tasteful meal. The symphony of toum dressing and chermoula sauce made sure of that. Wondering how my son Marcel, the family subject matter expert on all things liempo, would rate this Cafe du Tukon special. |
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| The Tubho Iced Tea is highly recommended by the waiter at Cafe du Tukon. After sipping from the 1st glass, I ordered a 2nd glass of Tubho Iced Tea. It is that good. |
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| The piece de resistance of my meal is the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. The BP needed some sugar that day. The BP normally does not like cheesecakes but surprisingly this Cafe du Tukon offering is not heavy but light on my tummy. This dessert is an embodiment of the adage: "Looks delicious, it must be delicious!" |
Cafe du Tukon serves a flavorful selection of local specialties and continental favourites. The BP enjoyed the food and drinks, especially the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and the Tubho Iced Tea. Beyond the gastronomic delight which is good, I feel fulfilled of dining in Cafe du Tukon because of the fact that this restaurant supports Ivatan farmers and cooperatives by sourcing vegetables, beef and pork which are organically raised by farmers of Sitio Tukon. Just counting the number of SDGs addressed on a micro level by this initiative of Fundacion Pacita is a bonus for ESG-minded diners like the BP.
All in all, my soujorn (albeit brief) in Fundacion Pacita is an A+ experience. The food is good and the ambiance in Cafe du Tukon is great. Strolling in the garden of Fundacion Pacita, I felt transported in time, to the time when artistic and literary rock stars like Hemingway and Picasso roam the land. The solitude in the face of nature at its pristine best is the kind of cool vibe which would have attracted the likes of Hemingway and Picasso (if they were alive today) to hibernate in Fundacion Pacita, escaping from the noisy buzz of commercialism, as they ponder starting on their next masterpiece. Quite a bonus indeed for the BP to celebrate failure in such a fascinating place. In embracing failure, we move forward.
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| The BP with Butch Abad as the Altra-wearing former Cabinet Secretary was about to start his late afternoon walk. The man helped his sister Pacita build Fundacion Pacita. |
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| The view from Tukon Chapel of the West Phil Sea sunset. |
When the tricyle picked me up already, I requested that on the way back to downtown Basco, roughly a few hundred meters away from Fundacion Pacita, we dropped by this awe-inspiring chapel on a hill overlooking both the West Phil Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Stunning in its sturdiness, the Tukon Chapel or the Mt. Carmel Chapel is another one of those sceneries that takes your breath away in Batanes. I visited the chapel to offer a prayer of thanks for the blessing of being able to enjoy good food and drinks at the lovely Cafe du Tukon, as well as thanks to the Good Lord for the infallible guidance during the 2024 Batanes 360 Marathon.
There is really much to be thankful for in my visit to Batanes. Dios mabalos!
1 comment:
A good read! Made me hungry though because of the palatable food you had.
You're an effective storyteller and motivational writer, Bicolano Penguin.
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