Nueva Ecija is a land-locked province situated at the central plains of the Philippine’s Luzon island. Located about 180 kilometers from Manila, it is dubbed as the Rice Granary of the Philippines due to its vast plains of rice fields. Tourist attractions are few and far between across its five cities and twenty seven towns, but worry not, there are still places to visit in Nueva Ecija. It may not have any beaches, but it has an abundance of rivers to explore, a few waterfalls, and a lot of historical places.

Although Palayan City is the provincial capital of Nueva Ecija, Cabanatuan City is the more commonly associated one with the province and is easier to access than the former. I would be basing this travel guide with Cabanatuan being the point of destination.

A spread of pancit bihon, steamed veggies, barbecued pork liempo, lumpiang shanghai, salted eggs and buro on fresh banana leaf greeted us at Crystal Waves Resort in Nueva Ecija. It was lunchtime and we’re expecting a Jollibee meal, the spread was an unexpected suprise, it’s gonna be a boodle fight for us! Superb as the food was, this was but ordinary. During our two-day Lakbay Norte 6 romp across the province of Nueva Ecija, we’ve come across dishes and snacks most people would probably find quite weird—but for certified foodies, weird is good.

The landlocked province of Nueva Ecija isn’t really the first thing that would come to mind when one plans for an out of town trip. Heck, what can you even do there? That’s the usual thing I get when asked about my home province. And to be fair, I can’t really give a big-ass concrete answer. My mom’s home province is so laid back that until you really try and probe its farm-filled landscapes, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with any interesting things to do.

But yes, I just found out that there are more remarkable places to visit at Nueva Ecija besides those I’ve already listed on my Nueva Ecija Travel Guide. The next time you pass by the province en route to popular tourist places like Baler, Banaue, Sagada and Tuguegarao City, try to stop, spend a night and see what this quiet pastoral province is all about.

We watched from the shade of a craggy white rock as a makeshift bamboo raft effortlessly glided across the calm, coffee brown waters of Peñaranda River. We were at a the limestone gorge in the town of Gen. Tinio in Nueva Ecija and we missed the sparkling green waters of the Minalungao National Park by a single day.

NO GREEN WATERS AT MINALUNGAO FOR US

It rained the previous night, a sentry along the road told our van driver as we shelled out a few hundred pesos to enter the road leading to Nueva Ecija’s only Natural Park. We pushed on despite the warning. After almost an hour of driving, we were almost at Minalungao, it seemed such a waste to turn back now.

One after another, plates and bowls of hot steaming dishes clinked on the glass surface of our table. Soft music piped in across Rosenda’s Cabanatuan’s spacious dining hall. And the only patrons that night, us. Despite what our tummies were saying, we looked on with watering mouths.

ROSENDA’S DYNAMIC FACADE IN CABANATUAN CITY

We absolutely have not recovered from our supposed snack at NYOrK, and less than half an hour later, we were facing another dining table once again. That huge round table, reminiscent of my grandma’s—complete with a spinning lazy susan tray in the middle.

► SEE: NUEVA ECIJA FOOD TRIP

What the heck is NYOrk?! In hushed tones, I asked my seatmate as our van rocketed across the highway from Gapan back to Cabanatuan City. We were on the last leg of our Microtel Cabanatuan Nueva Ecija tour and we’re gonna eat again, this time at NYOrK. NYOrK?

INSIDE NYORK CAFE IN CABANATUAN

This was becoming more of a food trip by the minute than a provincial tour, but my friends don’t mind. Cabanatuan City has been surprising us with one excellent restaurant after another, so, I really don’t mind too.

And before dinner, we finally parked at The Podium, a two-storey modern building set in the quiet neighborhood of Kapitan Pepe. Hello NYOrK, we finally meet (and where’s Bjork, by the way?).

► CHECK FOR CHEAP HOTEL RATES IN CABANATUAN

Like little kids left to our own devices, we roamed around Gapan’s Delos Reyes Street snapping away with our cameras and posing against ancestral houses to our hearts content. I never knew that Gapan, a town we usually pass by en route to my mom’s hometown in Cabanatuan City, held such architectural gems from bygone eras. Like most locals, I usually dismiss Nueva Ecija as quite wanting when it comes to tourist attractions. I was proven wrong that afternoon.

GAPAN’S VIRGEN LA DIVINA PASTORA CHURCH FACADE WITH ITS CENTRAL BELFRY

Still catching my breath from a very Filipino lunch at Hapag Vicenticos, we again boarded Microtel Cabanatuan’s van and headed to the oldest town in the province—and one of the oldest in the Philippines—Gapan. The sun was hitting the stately edifice of the National Shrine of Virgen La Divina Pastora just the right way when we arrived.

Absolutely no one was paying attention to the four trays of karioka set on our food-cramped table at Cabanatuan City’s Hapag Vicentico’s. We were already starving, but it was our job to take photos of the food first before wolfing it all down. And the restaurant’s chicharon bulaklak was the first casualty of the day—everyone was taking potshots at it while we took pictures of the other dishes.

HAPAG VICENTICO'S BEAUTIFUL COMPOUND IN CABANATUAN

We just came from the Aquino-Diokno Memorial at Fort Magsaysay via Microtel Cabanatuan’s van. It was almost an hour drive and it was past noon when we arrived at this quaint restaurant fronting the city’s Freedom Park. I don’t easily use the word quaint, but once you stepped inside Hapag Vicentico's compound, you’d find yourself blurting out the words, how quaint!

► READ: CABANATUAN TOURIST SPOT