The second month of 2016 was supposed to see me lounging on a beach somewhere. However, some last minute schedule changes, well, changed that and I decided to explore something nearer (or so I thought) instead.
I know, I know, this post is so late that it’s almost halfway through it’s anniversary. I promise to make it up starting now.
I’ve been wanting to go to Pinto Art Museum and the Pililla Windmills for some time, so when beach plans fell through, I messaged a couple of rovers I know and made plans to meet up one fine Saturday morning.
The best things are unplanned, right?
So, first up. Pinto Art Museum (It’s pronounced same way as the Filipino word for door, by the way).
How we got there: We met at Starbucks Silvercity and took an Antipolo Simbahan UV Express along C5. Got off at Ynares Center then took a tricylce to the museum. What’s great about it is that you could easily find it. The UV Express drops you off right at the tricycle terminal, and the tricycle drivers know exactly where it is.
I expected paintings and sculptures. I got all that and more.
Pinto Art Museum is a private, open-air museum dedicated to works of Filipino artists. Its sprawling grounds is filled to the brim with installations using different media.
Here are a few of my favorites:
I really loved the whole place. It’s the “God-if-I’m-filthy-rich-my-house-would-look-like-this” kind of love. The structures are beautiful and interestingly phased, doorways (and yeah, I really have a thing for doors and doorways) are framed by foliage, the gardens beckon you to step out under the sun, and there are corners that compel you to sit and stay a while.
And the art. Oh, the art.
Varied. Abundant. Beautiful.
Forgive me for forgetting to take note of the names and creators of some of the following works of art.
I can spend the whole day there. In fact, we almost did. Because apart from the beautiful art and the comfortable little pockets of space where you can sit and pass the time, they also have a Cafe serving delicious Filipino-Italian fusion cuisine.
I have a feeling I’ll be back.
Now, the windmills. Okay, so this part is somewhat hazy. We were all not pretty sure how to get there and what to expect but since the day was young (it was around 3:30 when we got out of Pinto), we soldiered on.
How to get there: We took another tricycle from Pinto to the main highway and from there we took a jeepney to Tanay. After about an hour, we got to the jeepney terminal where there’s also a tricycle terminal. We rented a tricycle to traverse through the road winding around the hills of the Sierra Madre and bring us to the windmills.
After about countless twist on the winding road, we arrived at the steep entrance to the windfarm. I seriously thought the tricycle won’t make it but after a couple of minutes, we were at the top and getting off at the parking area. yes, I should not have doubted the trusty tricycle.
The Pililla Wind Farm is operated by the company that operates the currently much more popular Bangui Windmills in Ilocos Norte. It consists of 27 wind turbine generators. Not as tall as the ones in Bangui, mainly because they don’t need to be – they’re located up a hill overlooking Laguna de Bay.
It may not seem to be anything special and maybe it’s just me (and my friends) but we were really psyched about seeing the wind mills up close that we didn’t mind getting messed up hair because of, haha, the wind.
It was pretty cool. It’s ironic, though, that these windmills are built to generate electricity but the information center is all dark. Hopefully, they fix that soon.
From there, we took the same tricycle back to the Tanay jeepney terminal and then a UV Express back to Ortigas.
For even more photos, check out my Flickr album
Some notes:
- It’s best to allot around 4-5 hours to Pinto Museum if you really want to enjoy all it has to offer
- Entrance to Pinto Art Museum cost us Php 180 each
- Consider the traffic when going there. Ortigas Avenue and Ortigas Avenue Extension traffic going up to Antipolo is, on a normal and average day, horrible. Factor in about an hour to an hour and a half travel time
- UV Express from Silvercity to Ynares Center cost us Php45 each. Tricycle from Ynares Center to Pinto Art Museum cost us Php10 each
- Another Php10 each from Pinto to the highway
- Jeepney fare from the highway to Tanay jeepney terminal cost us P37 each. Yep, we kinda didn’t expect it to be that far
- Tricycle from Tanay terminal to the windmills and back to the terminal cost us Php300 (that’s Php100 each). Initially, we thought we were getting ripped off but agreed anyway because it was late. But after seeing the distance and road condition in some areas on the way there, we started feeling guilty because we felt like we took advantage of the driver’s kindness
- As with everywhere, take care of yourself and your belongings, respect people and culture, follow rules, minimize human footprint,and throw trash in the proper place
I think Imma come back.
Still chasing,
Lyra
lyrareyes.com 