Coron Adventure Day 4: Cashews and Sad Goodbyes

As Jigs and I woke up, we were confronted by the sad reality that we have to leave for Manila by noon. Neither of us wanted to go home. Of the places we’ve been to in the Philippines, Coron has been by far, the most fascinating, most refreshing, most diverse break we’ve had in years.

Over coffee, we relived each day we spent we spent in the island: the majestic cliffs and limestones, the secret lagoons, the enchanting marine gardens, overwhelming shipwrecks, beach pockets that could easily outplay that of Boracay’s. How each day seemed not enough for the beauty it has to offer and how much fun we’ve had together.

But nope. ‘Tis not the time to go melodramatic. Yet. We have to buy more pasalubongs!

Before breakfast, we took on a tricycle to take us to the most famous (and purportedly, the original) one of cashew (or kasuy, in Tagalog) factories in town: L. Escarda’s Coron Harvest. The small factory is just a few meters away from Darayonan, on the way to Maquinit Hotspring. The harvest has been featured in documentary shows and is one of the leading suppliers of cashews in Manila (we were informed that even the cashews in Antipolo are imported from here). They grow their own trees and do all the manual labor, from peeling the shells to packaging.

With the owner of the cashew factory

Here we met the owner herself, and her small (read:3) group of workers led by her sister-in-law. We were given a quick tour of how that tiny bit of delicacy is exhaustingly delivered:

Step 1: Picking the nuts from the tree

Step 2: Cutting the nut into half by a hand-driven metal slicer

Step 3: Removing the hard outer shell with a small knife

Step 3: Removing all other debris by hand

Step 4: Packaging

Voila! You have the finished product.

Now we know why kasuy is so expensive.

We were given free taste apart from the 3 mini cashew packs for free. I don’t like cashew nuts at all,; the ones I’ve tasted in Manila are not crispy and taste like cardboard. But I swear by the quality of this nuts; they’re unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. They’re full of crunch, delightful in taste (even if they’re not garnished or salted) and simply fresh.We bought 4 medium sized packs (P50) and a large pack (P100).

After breakfast, we just spent a few hours rewinding things in our heads again before finally leaving. Closing the door of the room was just as tricky.

As the plane took off, my heart became heavier. It’s hard to leave Coron. Its spectacular beauty, its people, left me drunken on a spell. It leaves a mark on your soul. Jigs and I even swore that if we become millionaires, we’d purchase a piece of land there, build a small resort and spend our retirement age in the island (as we Filipinos like to say, Dreaming is free; If you have to do it, do it big!) We’ve had a fantastic first anniversary as husband and wife, thanks to Coron.