2011

i was gonna make the usual new year's resolutions but then i realized that my resolutions never do get followed. so instead of depriving myself with those "i will stop/not --" resolutions, i decided on making 2011 the start of an enriching experience for me. and by "the start" that means this is not just gonna be for 2011 but from 2011-2015. see, 2015 is the year i turn (gasp!) 30. so i decided to get a jumpstart on my goals and here i am, presenting my 10 goals for the big three-oh.

1. learn a new language. - thinking of taking up mandarin classes by january. i have always been impressed by people who knows how to speak other languages.

2. finish my  degree - i am serious. i have to complete this by june or all my plans are gonna fall apart. i'm gonna need a lot less of the lazy's and grab more of the focus.
 
3. get a non-call center job - because yes, this is the dream. haha. seriously, there is nothing i want more than to get away from irate callers. i don't care of the workload is heavy or if the pay is low. i just want out of the call center industry.

4. take photography seriously - i've been eying some dslr cameras for a while now. no budget, though. so i've decided that this is the first thing i'm gonna be saving up for once i get a job. might also take some photography classes to enhance my photography knowledge.

best onscreen kiss ever

i was re-watching cloudy with a chance of meatballs earlier today and i just had to post this. so sweet. :) best onscreen kiss, indeed. :)

destination: ilocos - batac and paoay tricycle tour

we originally planned on commuting from one place to another in batac and paoay. but while talking to mang arnel during our ilocos tour, i decided to ask him if he knew anyone so he referred us to kuya wawie. we enjoyed the pagudpud tricycle so much that we decided to save ourselves the hassle of commuting. i called kuya wawie and the deal was struck at 600php for an afternoon tour plus the ride to the airport.

we took a bus from laoag to the paoay checkpoint where kuya wawie picked us up. we immediately went to the marcos museum and mausoleum where former president ferdinand marcos' remains are kept and preserved for everyone to see (no pictures, though). it was really eerie with the dimmed lights and somber music. plus, it was like a private viewing of the his remains since it was only me, my friend and the caretaker inside the mausoleum when we viewed it. near the mausoleum was a photo gallery where (you guessed it!) they have hundreds of pictures of the marcos family on display. in this gallery, one can also see a mural of the marcoses painted on one of the walls. i simply caught myself staring at the pictures of young imelda marcos. she was such a beauty in her prime. i was also impressed at ferdinand marcos' bar exam results.

we then got back on the tricycle and started our trip to paoay. we stopped to view the paoay lake. according to legend, there was once a village that stood on the very spot the lake is on right now.as per how the usual legends go, because of the rivalry between people and their greed to have more than others do, the gods got mad at them and flooded the place. so the village was submerged by water and a beautiful lake emerged in its place.

unfortunately, the malacañang of the north was closed that day due to renovations. so we headed to our next destination: the paoay church.

on my first trip to ilocos back in 2004, we mostly went to see the churches since it was for an art class and we checking out the architecture of the different churches. my friend, on the other hand, lived in vigan in his younger years and has seen most of the churches as well. so for this tour, among other churches, we just wanted to go back to paoay church. what i love most about our visit to paoay church this time is that we got to climb the bell tower. the steps were steep, since the friars back in the days of the church's construction were mostly spanish and much, much taller than the average filipino. i think my friend must have been a little miffed at me because he doesn't do well with heights but  i insisted he come up with me anyway. as slow as he was going up, he was in full speed going down. well, i say conquer your fear of heights! (if you're reading this, lv, i do hope you had fun anyway. :D)

and to close our whole ilocos escapade, we went to fort ilocandia: a high end hotel in ilocos that has become a tourist destination in itself. probably because it's too pricey for an average person.

this concludes our trip to the north. we headed to the airport, had a couple of beers while waiting for our flight and with heavy hearts, boarded the plane back to manila. a bit tired, yes. but will forever have the memory of the beautiful places we visited on our journey up north. :)

destination: ilocos - vigan walking tour

getting there:
we rode the first bus out of pagudpud which happened to be a non-aircon bus to laoag. the bus broke down mid-trip and we had to wait for an hour for it to get fixed (see this post entry for evidence. heehee.). once we got to laoag, we took a tricycle to partas bus station and hopped onboard a bus to vigan.

was stuck on the bus but on the brightside,
witnessed this beautiful sunset

settling in:
we were dropped off at vigan city hall from where we asked the information center for directions to vigan hotel. to our advantage, everything in vigan is within walking distance from each other and we were able to find our hotel in just a few minutes.

tummy filler:
we checked in the hotel and i got a bath while my friend took a little catnap. then, we had dinner at cafe leona but we really weren't that hungry so we just had sandwiches. mine was a longganisa sandwich which was surprisingly good. :)

the lonely cafe leona at night

hotspots:
i really wanted to see vigan at night. i think there is something hauntingly beautiful with the old buildings and almost empty streets adorned with vigan's dim lights. so after having dinner, we walked around crisologo street and the plaza before retiring to bed.

the following day, we got up early and after a brief examination of our vigan maps, started a walking tour of the city. we had breakfast at (guess where?) mcdonalds simply because we couldn't decide on where to eat. i have to say that i have always admired the way they keep the restaurants' facade to keep in style with the rest of the city. after breakfast, we headed to the burgos museum. unfortunately, we got there a bit too early as it was still closed. turns out the museum doesn't open until a little after 9am.. so we waited a few minutes, walked around the vicinity a little, and after getting back, we became burgos museum's first tourists of the day. :)

we resumed our walking tour. first, stopping over to see st. paul cathedral (which reminded me a little of quiapo church for some reason) and the arzobispado nueva segovia (the archbishop's residence).

after just a few more steps, we were back at calle crisologo to check out souvenirs. i was really impressed by escolta de vigan as they have very unique shirt designs. we were also able to talk to the shop owner (who happens to do the shirt and other souvenir designs as well).

we walked a little bit further to see the syquia mansion and WOW! i don't think anyone, after seeing this, will not be in awe of the wealth of the syquias. oh, and i was surprised to find out that they still stay at that house whenever they're in town.

museum marker

another house-turned-museum we saw was the crisologo museum. i was a bit disturbed with the assassination pictures, though.

a little more walking and we were at the simbahan abassit chapel which is another unesco heritage site in vigan. a cemetery is situated behind it and it is in this cemetery where the graves of the town's eminent people are buried.

from the chapel, we took a tricycle to chavit's baluarte. it's a free zoo for everyone funded by chavit. it's great that he maintains a place like this but i do feel sorry for those poor animals they let people ride on.

that about sums up our vigan adventure. :) up next, paoay and batac! :)

destination: ilocos - bangui and batac tricycle tour

this is the second half of our 1200php-worth of tour with mang arnel. though covering only three locations (or four if you count the bangui viewing deck which simply gives you a view of the windmills from afar), these three locations all made an impact on me and inscribed vivid memories in my mind.

first stop: the bangui wind mills that makes you feel like you're somewhere out of the country. it is amazing how these beautiful windmills actually produces electricity to the residents. fun fact: pag tumigil na ang pag-ikot ng elisi ng mga windmills, ibig sabihin puno na ng kuryente ang windmill na un. :)

next stop: kapurpurawan rock formation. super rough road. i was kind of worried for mang arnel's tricycle. pero naisip ko, at least twice a week naman siguro nya pinapadaan ung tricycle dun. hindi naman siguro masisira ung mga gulong ng tryc nya. :P we had to do a little trekking to get to the place. actually hindi lang pala a little yun. ilang minutes din kami naglakad papunta sa rock formation. btw, if you're planning to go there, wear rubber shoes or super kapal na tsinelas. masakit sa paa ung parang corals na field na dadaana nyo to get there. BUT. the difficult trek is all worthwhile once you see the rock formation. medyo may black parts nga lang nung pumunta kami. sabi ni mang arnel, mga molds daw un pero pag summer, puting puti daw ung buong bato. still, the kapurpurawan rock formation was such a beautiful sight. :)

our last stop for the day (and for the whole pagudpud tour with mang arnel) was the cape bojeador lighthouse. it stands at 65 feet and has been in operation for more than 100 years. we climbed to the very top of the lighthouse and enjoyed the beautiful view of the south china sea while checking out the lamp that provides a beam of light to ships at night.

next stop: vigan

destination: ilocos - pagudpud tricycle tour

getting there:
from laoag, we took a bus to pagudpud. we told the bus conductor to drop us off at maoini, pagudpud (where our tour guide/tricycle driver picked us up). unfortunately, the conductor must've been a real meanie forgotten our stop. good thing i asked the lady i happened to sit beside with how far off we were from maoini a few minutes before we got there. and she told us that this was where we should hop off the bus before it left the stop.

recycling this picture from my older post:
this is where you get off the bus if you are meeting your tour guide at maoini

destination: ilocos - laoag walking tour

on the 30th of november, i hopped on a plane to Laoag and finally completed one of my travel wishes: to be able to go back to Ilocos. finally. six years from the last time i went there and 2 months of intensive internet reasearch to make my Ilocos backpacking escapade successful, i can now cross it off my bucket list. :)

the flight:
thanks to cebupac's promo fare, we got our plane tickets at 370php for a round-trip fare per person. the plane was scheduled to leave at 12:20pm but the flight was a bit delayed because some other plane was still on the lane waiting to depart. it was quite an experience as this was my first flight on a propeller plane. it was, as expected, small but i wasn't prepared for the temperature: it was hot inside the plane. AND there were no travel magazines to read. :( on the bright side, i was able to buy the cebupacific weekender bag which i've wanted since one of my friends bought one during our return trip from cagayan de oro. well, what can i say? orange is my favorite color and black is a close second so my eyes are really feasting on the simple bag design. i do hope it's sturdy, though. :)

(side note: i think shopping on the cebupac plane is fast becoming a hobby of mine. :P i bought the blanket and sleep kit from the flight to CDO, the weekender bag from this trip, and now, i'm eyeing the new jumbo tote they have. uuuuggghhhhhh! it's my love affair with orange and black. i can't seem to resist. :P)