Ilocos Trip: An Amazing Long Weekend Getaway!

After planning the trip last Dec 2008, we finally fulfilled our trip to Ilocos. This time, I want to outline our trip (with side comments) from Day 00-Day 03 because there's just to many to good experiences that I want to reminisce in this trip from time to time. Just a note, going on this trip, I have in my mind my must-see places namely the Patapat Bridge, Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, Bangui WIndmill, and the Crisologo Street in Vigan. Will I ever fulfill my dream to visit these places in Ilocos?


Day 00

5:30 PM --> We are all set to depart from the office to the Florida Bus terminal in Sta Mesa. Since we had a hard time looking for a cab, thank God my officemate's house is on the way and told us that she can drop us to the terminal. Since we are 8 from the office, the other 5 fortunately got the cab on time.

7:00 PM --> We arrived on the terminal. We are 11 pax. Me, Louie, Dexter, Chum, Rose, Em, Shobe, Atchi, Katkat, Cari, Vjoy

8:10 PM --> The bus left the terminal. The bus is freezing cold so we had to take off some of our towels from our bags to use it as blanket. Along the way to Pagudpud, the bus on board video is "Taken" which I don't feel to watch so I took a nap and woke up around 1am to our 1st Stop over in La Union. We ate a not so good arroz caldo c/o Vjoy there. The 2nd stop over is in the Marcia's Delicacies in Laoag. I like to buy the Royal Bibingka and Brownies but thought that I might just buy on the way back as pasalubong. I slept again after that and woke up around 6am and never close my eyes again because I'm really used to wake up 6am. The bus started playing Jologs songs like Kailanman by Maso, Luha & Basang basa sa ulan by Aegis, Miss na miss kita by Father and Son...repeatedly (maybe the driver liked them so much!) Ü

Day 01

8:00 AM --> Arrival at Panzzian Beach and Mountain Resort. We took a delicious Tapa with Egg breakfast. We rested for a while and prepared for the trekking at the Spring.
9:30 AM --> Gosh it's raining and the way to the Spring is not so pleasant at all. Just look at the pictures... Even if it's raining, I managed to grab my camera and took some pictures. Interestingly, I really find the trekking kinda easy considering that I am carrying my camera. It's just that the mud is very slippery at times. I think my gyming twice a day everyday helps me a lot to have the endurance and be strong (hahaha!)

10:00 AM --> We reached the mountain spring, took some pictures, and got bitten by big mosquitos. I hate it. Personally, I think we should never went to the Spring because it's not worth it. I thought there is a big falls after the trekking but the tour guide said that if we want falls, we should go to Kabigan Falls which is an hour trakking. With the state of the weather, we decided skip the Kabigan Falls trip.
11:30 AM --> We enjoyed the beautiful scenery at our resort and took many many jumpshots haha!
12:30 NN --> We all took shower. Had our lunch at the resort. Waited at our rooms before the Pagudpud tour.
1:30 NN --> Start of Tour.

Cagayan-Ilocos Norte Boundary Viewdeck - Since it's cloudy because of a bad weather, we didn't see much of the said to be wonderful view up here. Rose slipped here (maybe tired? haha)
Patapat Bridge - Wish come true. The Pagudpud Viaduct is just an amazing elevated highway on a mountainside.
Bantay Abot Cave - Here we experienced a mild sandstorm hahaha! Super major challenge going up because of the very windy situation up there. It is a cave that has a hole in the center. It's good for picture taking.
Saud Beach White Resort - I just realized that our 12 hour trip is worth it just seeing the fine white sand of Saud. Entrance fee is just P20 but we didn't swim here though. Just took "energy" pictures.
Blue Lagoon or Maira-Ira Beach - Gigantic waves. That's all I can say. Not a good place to swim because even if I'm just sitting on the shore, I got banged up by the "super" waves. Still, we still got fascinated by it and made it as our nice background for the photo ops. The beach is not crowded, just perfect to chill and relax.

6:00 PM --> Got back to the resort for shower and dinner.
7:00 PM --> Dinner.
8:00 PM --> Bonfire
9:00 PM --> Lights Out. Whew! What a day! Ü

Day 02

8:00 AM --> Breakfast
9:00 AM --> Start of Tour.
Bangui Windmill - Another dream come true. Wind situation is milder than in Bantay Abot Cave but still we didn't have the good shots here because of the wind. Too bad we stayed just short minutes and didn't capture the sunset because of the gloomy weather. I was planning to take pictures more but the place is crowded.
Cape Bojeador Lighthouse - A must see place dream come true too. We didn't have the time to go to the lighthouse itself because there are so many people lined up. We just stayed below and enjoy the scenery from there.
Sta. Monica Church & Belltower (Sarrat Church) - Flanking the Church is the Casa del Palacio Real which is a brick-wall convent. Bats are flying below the ceiling of it.
Malacanang of the North - A huge huge resthouse of the Marcoses during his regime. Place is a bit creepy for me maybe because of the old beddings and chairs. Entrance fee is P20/pax.
Marcos Museum - I saw the waxed replica in a glass casket of Marcos. No cameras allowed inside but I sneaked in mine but didn't take a picture. I have no plans at all.
Fort Ilocandia Resort - Wow. One of the most sophisticated resorts I've ever seen.
Paoay Church - Amazing architecture of the Church. I believe this one's the most famous of all churches in Ilocos. My shots are postcard-like. Just too beautiful.
Baluarte - Chavit Singson's mini zoo. We are a bit late since we arrived around 4:45 PM here closing is 5:00 PM. The butterfly garden is already closed. But assorted animals like camel, mini ponies, tigers, deers, ostrichs, reindeers and others are still very photogenic for the photo sessions. Entrance is free. Ü
6:30 PM --> Check in @ Granpa’s Inn.
7:00 PM --> Dinner @ Café Uno in Front of Granpa’s Inn.
8:30 PM --> We went to Partas Terminal to check the bus ticket schedule to Manila. We also checked out Dominion Bus Lines. After that, we visit the famous heritage street of Vigan – Calle Crisologo.
Calle Crisologo - OMG. My most must-see place. Didn't thought it was more beautiful at night. When I took the pictures, it's like in Sepia effect but it's not. Looking at the Spanish buildings and houses made me feel like I'm back 100 years in time. Too bad I didn't have the time to ride the Calesa.
12:00 MN --> Sleeping time.
3:00 AM --> Some of us already left to Manila – Em, Shobe, Atchi, Cari, Vjoy, Louie. The rest of us – me, Katkat, Dexter, Chum, and Rose will ride the 2PM bus the next day because we still want to explore more of Vigan.


Day 03

8:00 AM --> Breakfast @ Kusina Felicitas.
9:00 AM --> We went to Public Market to avail some of Pasalubongs.
10:00 AM --> Went back to Calle Crisologo to avail some Vigan souvenirs.
11:00 AM --> Early lunch @ McDo near the Plaza since Café Leona is still closed 
12:00 NN --> Check out @ Granpa’s Inn.
12:30 PM --> We went to Dominion Bus Lines early because there is no ticket reservation but unfortunately, the next trip is 5Pm instead of 2Pm so we went straight ahead to Partas and luckily, there’s a bus to Pasay waiting and so we are are way to Manila ahead of time. We are so fortunate whew!
10:00 PM --> Because of the traffic we experienced in Tarlac and Pangasinan area, we arrived late but I still don’t feel tired. My family’s waiting in SM North Area to pick me up and we went straight to my apartment.
12:30 MN --> After unpacking my things and taking pictures of some souvenirs, it’s sleeping time for me. What an experience! All my dream places to visit came true. Very memorable and I really had fun. Ilocos is a very beautiful place and given a chance, I will still come back next time. 

Chapter 9 - He's Just Not That Into You..

Bolinao + Hundred Islands, Pangasinan Weekend Trip

At first I was hesitant to go with this trip because (1) My family is yet to celebrate my mother’s birthday last Mar 27, (2) I have my monthly period, (3) I am sick – “tamaditis”, and (4) I am choosing mind over heart. But when I got home last Friday, I thought that I miss my friends and I’ve never been to Pangasinan before. It outweighs the 4 reasons I mentioned before. I thought that it’s good to go out and see other places so I pack my things in a rush and get ready to a weekend getaway with them.

They were supposed to meet me in Meycauayan at 5:30 am but someone got late (thanks Ronald! Haha) So they arrived in our town around 8 am. 

We have no plans on where to stay and where to go but we headed to Pangasinan with only Harvey’s directions stored in his camera. When we reached Alaminos, Pangasinan, 

Mark’s tire got flat so we went to a vulcanizing shop to fix the damage. Afterwards, Mark’s aircon just exploded because it’s been running in full level for around 6 hours. So we opened the window and smell the fresh air of Pangasinan. Unfortunately, it’s very hot that time so we were like getting toasted inside the van and we need to go through a 15 mins rough road to Bolinao. It was very hot that we all want to just jump into the water when we see the beach. Luckily, we arrived safely to Bolinao Beaches. So, because we have no reservations and it’s a long weekend, we had a hard time looking for a convenient place to stay. We searched the whole beach resorts in Bolinao. In the end, we are torn between Garden Paradise and AMS Beach Resort. 

For the Garden Paradise, the only available for 9 persons is the non-airconditioned 3 bedrooms + 3 fans + 1 CR for Php 2,500 per night. For the latter, its Php 7,500/night for 3 airconditioned rooms with TV, Ref, Sala, and 2 very clean CR. In the end, only one factor made us decide which resort to choose from – the hospitality of the sraff in the resort. We chose Garden Paradise over AMS. The staff who welcomed us in AMS is not polite and so “hambog”. We even tagged him as “unggoy” haha! So we decided to stay in Garden Paradise Beach Resort because eventhough the rooms are not airconditioned, people there are hospitable and friendly.

It’s almost 4pm when we had our super duper late lunch so no talking policy while eating haha! After the uber busog lunch c/o packed lunch of Ronald litsong kawali and adobong baboy, we changed outfit to go swimming! But before that, since the sunset is so beautiful, we abused it by taking many pictures with it. Jump shot kung Jump shot! 

Maybe it’s around 5:30 when we go for the swimming but we didn’t last the water because we felt like some living things are biting us because it’s itchy and the water is not that clean as there are many buried seaweeds haha! 

So we just stayed along the shore, just enjoying the cool breeze of the water flowing. Of course, we took too many jump shots again.

Come dinner time, we went to the other side of our resort. Aside from the litsong kawali and adobo leftovers from our lunch, we ordered additional fried chicken and sinigang na baboy. After eating, we had another photo sessions with the resort. 

Around 10 maybe when we settle in our “kubo” and drink few glasses of bailey’s and red horse while we play cards – pekwa, unggoy unggoy, tong its. Maybe it’s around 1:30am when we decided to pack up and sleep because we have another day coming. Because there is no aircon, we settle with the electric fan and fortunately there are no flying insects inside our room – just some small bugs.

I’m the first person to woke up around 5:30 and I can say that I had a very good sleep eventhough I had a  mild cramps in my legs because of our sleeping position but it’s tolerable. Since I’m the only one awake, I headed towards the beach alone along with my tripod to take pictures. Unfortunately sunrise is not on our beach side but I found this Nipa Hut in the water to take pictures on. 

It’s a very beautiful scenario because it’s low tide and you can walk near the Nipa Hut. So I set up the tripod and did my thing – picture! Picture! Haha!

Maybe it’s around 7 when I headed back the room and took a shower. Others are still sleeping but by around 9am we are all settled. We pack our things, took our last pictures in the beach and say bye bye to people of Garden Paradise Beach Resort. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t got the chance to go to the Bolinao Lighthouse and the Enchanted Cave because our way went the opposite direction. So we just decided to go to Hundred Islands since it is really the main agenda of trip. It’s around 11am when we had our brunch in Nepo Mart in Alaminos. Ronald, Harvey, and I chose Cindy’s Restaurant over Chowking since we want to try something new. 

But Harvey and I also ate Halo-Halo in Chowking afterwards. It rained so stayed a little longer inside chowking. Others think it’s Donna’s fault because she bought a new shades against the sun but it jinx and it rained haha! When the rain becomes mild, we then took off to Hundred Islands.

Around 2:30 when we arrived in Hundred Islands and we had Island hopping. Our first stop is the Governor’s Island where we need to go to the top to see the nice view of some islands. Funny story here is that Ronald, Harvey and I were lost upon going down because there are three ways and we didn’t see the right way at first. We lost their company and we just waited in the boat where we were supposed to be at. 

They were late because they went to Big Brother House. Our next stop is the Children’s Island where there is nothing much just another Island for the kids. We took pictures and headed back to the boat for the next island which is the Manuel Island. Here, Ronald go for swimming and while we are waiting for 5:30 (the end of the tour), we search for something nice in the island and we found the Manuel Quezon statue which we abused for picture taking. So our tour is finished and we upon returning the shore, we bought some pasalubongs like shells, T-shirts, and key chains. I changed my T-shirt and had a very solid facial wash to freshen up. Time to go home by 6pm. For Dinner, we ate in KFC somewhere in Tarlac. Mark dropped me by Meycauayan Exit around 11pm and it’s time to say goodbye to my friends.

Overall, I had a very fun trip with my friends which outweighs all the hassles we had. It is still full of wonderful memories and now I can mark out Pangasinan from my lists of next destinations since I have already visited it. Next stop – Pagudpud, Ilocos.