Where to Buy pasalubong or souvenirs around Los Banos and UPLB

In UPLB Los Banos, you have a choice of food souvenirs and item souvenirs.

Let's go with food souvenirs first:
1) Carabao's milk and dairy products - at Philippine Carabao Center - open from 8:30 to 5:00 daily, no lunchbreak.

yoghurt, milk, chocolate milk, white cheese, mozarella cheese, frozen yoghurt, etc.
2) Meat products at Philippine carabao center - sausages mostly



3) Cow's milk and dairy products - at DTRI (D3) - open usually until 12 noon during Sundays and Saturdays

These are both found inside the animal science cluster, you will pass through the arc entrance of Animal Science. (this is a little bit near to Baker Hall or the football fields).

For the item souvenirs, you'd have to go out of UPLB onto "Grove",
the many shops lining the road from UP Gate. There are UPLB T-shirts, mugs, etc.
Don't worry, "these are student prices."

4) "Original" Orient Buko Pie - along the highway in Anos, Los Banos, Laguna
Opens at 6AM

5) Lety's Buko Pie
There are no queues, plus, it tastes better than the "Original" - there's a shop beside the "Original" and there's another shop in Lopez Avenue beside Mercury drug in Halcon Street

Feel free to drop a question in the comments.

Where to Buy Buko Pie in Los Banos [coconut meat pie]

You can buy buko pie and other pasalubong or souvenirs at the famous
buko pie stores in Anos, Los Banos, Laguna.
This is along the highway, on the side going to Manila.

The favorite store is The Original Orient Buko Pie, which sells different pies:
Buko pie, pineapple-buko pie (tropical), apple pie, cassava cake, etc.

There is only 1 main store of Original Orient. But they have added a branch on the road to Tagaytay.

There is also the famous Lety's buko pie along the many stores which sells
buko pie, Blast-frozen buko pie (which you can send through express parcel, or bring on
your trip abroad) without worrying about spoilage. Lety's also sells Espasol, Pineapple pie, cassava cake. Lety's has many branches, on the other hand: beside Orient, besid Mercury drug on the road to UP Gate, in Pansol there is also a buko pie store of Lety's, and in SM Megamall, they even have a shop so if you are unable to buy in Los Banos, you can just go to Megamall. :)

Aside from buko pie, there are many sellers of cassava cake, yema cake, silvanas,
and dairy products - goat's milk, choco milk, cow's milk, carabao's milk, and lambanog, plus many more.

There are also the peddlers of plants and kesong puti from Calauan Laguna.

The average prices of pasalubong are as follows:
1) Buko pie and other pies - P155 - P180
2) Cow's milk - P160
3) Goat's milk - P180-P200

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below.

Sore Eyes (Conjunctivitis) in Laguna

Conjunctivitis, also known as "sore eyes" is quite common these days in Laguna,
so much that drugstores such as Mercury has run out of stock of Tobradex,
the eye medicine drops usually prescribed for sore eyes.

According to the sales persons in 2 branches of Mercury Drug visited, Tobradex is out of stock
in all branches of Laguna, including Manila. Even Eye-mo and Visine are out of stock, too.

An alternative my friend told me is to buy the generic drug "Tobra-D" at the Generics Pharmacy.
It costs around P200, compared to Tobradex, which costs around P400. As for the difference,
I cannot say.

You can also search for home remedies. According to some of these, since sore eyes feel "hot",
remedies that cool the eyes are soothing - such as cucumber, mother's milk (yes!), and other cooling remedies.

Of course, prevention is better than cure. To prevent the spread of sore eyes, it is recommended to:
1) always wash hands
2) prevent touching of eyes / face
3) due to the highly contagious nature of sore eyes, isolate the patient until no sign of sore eyes remain.

Note: I'm not in any way connected to these drugstores,

Shortcut to Los Banos UPLB via PCAARD or Jamboree route

This shortcut will pass through magnetic hill in Los Banos.

This way is not for new drivers, the terrain is very hilly
and there are many switchbacks  and sloping turns.
Take care and check your brakes.

Just before arriving at Los Banos City Hall, on your right
is a road sloping upward. Turn right,
and just follow the road.

You won't get lost in Mt. Makiling...  :)

Shortcut to Pansol and Los Banos via Bacnotan

This will NOT pass through SM Calamba.

You will exit at Halang intersection.

At Real, Calamba,
You will see the FAG hardware on your right, and there's a small fork in the road.
Take the right fork, this street is sloping down.

Just follow the cars, you won't get lost.

Any questions? Leave a comment.

Shortcut to Los Banos and Pansol via Milagrosa Bucal Bypass Road

Shortcuts (longer but less traffic) for private transportation - light vehicles only
using BUCAL BYPASS ROAD
If you want to pass the "Bucal bypass road", this will cut your travel time immensely
as you'll skip passing Crossing Calamba (where SM is) and Halang towns. 

You enter at Makiling, Batangas and exit at Bucal, Calamba. Pansol is the next town after Bucal. 
How to pass this road?

• Exit at SLEX Sto Tomas exit. Continue on this highway (Maharlika highway)
• Continue on the road to Batangas to the entrance to the road. 
• Look to your right side You should pass by the following: Toyota cars, then Turbina bus stop, then Petron, Caltex.
• You will then pass Honda cars on the left side. 
• Then, on the right is Nation gasoline station. 
• Turn left just at the Ayala Greenfield intersection labeled with a tarpaulin -  the Milagrosa-Bucal bypass road. 

here's the map of Bucal bypass road:http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/94336146#map=18/14.17159/121.13795 

This is where you exit at Bucal, turn right here. 

Hotels Near Laguna Technopark and Greenfield Parkway

Visting Laguna Technopark or Greenfield Parkway?

There are many hotel choices in the area:

1) Technopark Hotel - in the heart of Greenfield Parkway, right beside the factories.

2) Paseo Premiere Hotel - Best Location. Just across the street of shopping area and restaurants Paseo de Sta Rosa, beside a hospital, walking distance to shops.

3) Seda Nuvali Hotel - inside Nuvali. Picturesque. Also walking distance to Nuvali restaurants and stores

4) El Cielito Inn - somewhat far, but with shuttle, beside highway and residential / commercial area. Near Waltermart.

5) Microtel - a little far, somewhere in Westgrove. Not at all accessible to public transport / far from the shops, except by tricycle.

6) AirBnb - well, there's always what you can find here..

How to Go To Greenfield ParkWay in Sta Rosa (Near Laguna Technopark)

Going to Greenfield Parkway and Technopark Hotel is
somewhat similar to going to Laguna Technopark.

To go to Laguna Technopark, here are the instructions:
http://viaexpressway.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-to-go-to-laguna-technopark-sta-rosa.html 

But the difference is, Greenfield Parkway and Technopark Hotel, you'll do some walking
(if you're using public transportation).

Tell the tricycle driver you'd like to alight at the highway, corner of Greenfield Parkway.
Then from there, it's walking time.

For Technopark Hotel, it's inside a gated zone.