Ilocos Province

TRAVEL DATES: June 22 - 25, 2012

We went off to Ilocos Province boarding the 10:30 PM Florida bus from Cubao, Quezon City. The trip was about 8 hours and it was hard to think a lot of activities to do for the 8-hour ride, so I opted to sleep for the whole bus travel. We had two stop-overs going to Ilocos for passenger's bio-break and stretching moments.

6 AM, we arrived at Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

It was dubbed as the Philippine's most historic place because of its famous "PARIS-like" feel and several antique houses.

Since we arrived earlier than as planned, and our tour guide c/o Kuya Lee was a bit late too, we maximized our time to roam around Vigan's plaza while there were still few people.

 (Yes, we officially arrived at Ilocandia together with our tired and sleepy faces)

The view of Vigan's Plaza

Eating Ilocos' famous Sinanglao dish!

7AM, Kuya Lee arrived.

We then ate breakfast to fuel ourselves for the rest of the day. First stop, Calle Crisologo. It's a historic place in Vigan lined up with old houses, and it's like reminiscing the 1920's. Too bad we visited there while the sun was up because it should have been better to visit it by night time.

Our Calle Crisologo Moments!

...And Live While We're Young!...

It was expected to be a tough day of traveling and walking and traveling. Place after place, view after view. All of those were scenic! Some of the places visited were:

Baluarte Zoo by the Singson's

 

The Marcoses at the Palace and Sand Boarding at Ilocos Sand Dunes

More of the Marcoses.....

A tourist told us that when go up the tower, we will see the view of South China Sea...

Hidden Garden and Pottery Making

On our way to Laoag, the northern province of Ilocos, we dropped by Batac and Paoay. Paoay has the famous church and it sure was magnificent. Who would expect someone to have series of jump shots at the heat of the day?!

"Sa Paoay, Kumakaway!"

TRAVEL TIP: Never miss the opportunity tasting the local Ilocos Empanada! The cool thing was that they have their own festival and their "ambassadors" were "Empa" and "Nada"! Cool, right? :)

More views to satisfy your eyes!

Bangui Windmills

Cape Bojeador

Patapat Viaduct 

 

The art of taking pictures... naturally!

The most anticipated place on our trip was Pagudpud Beach. We arrived there though at 7PM  and too bad it was raining hard and the roads were a bit dark. Anyhow, as what they always say, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Arriving our hotel was the "light" we were looking for! Kapuluan Vista Resort Hotel was a perfect place to relax and unwind after a stressful day! The place was cozy, the air was fresh, and most of all, the food was delicious!

TRAVEL TIP: The road trip from Paoay to Pagudpud takes around 1.5 - 2 hours so be sure to go there before the sun sets because the road is kinda dark.

 Kapuluan Vista Moments

A View of the Kapuluan Vista Pool

A series of food pictures for your eyes only. Beware, the pictures below may result hungriness when viewed more than 10 seconds! :)
 

Sinanglao and other local foods

 Kapuluan's Alma's Margarita

 Ilocos Kilawin and Dinakdakan

Another Ilocos' Best: Bagnet!

 Ilocos Longganisa

 

 Dinner by the beach!

Total Budget per person: PHP 6,500.00 all in and you may view our itinerary from here!


I wanna go back to Ilocos again and just drop by all the places we've been to. Hope to have another opportunity to experience warm hospitality the Ilocano way!

Leave a comment and I'll surely appreciate it!

Splash Island, Laguna

TRAVEL DATE: March 18, 2012

Next province down south of Metro Manila is Laguna. It's thickly populated now jampacked with heavy traffic and noisy jeepneys honking all the time. With all the busy life in the province of Laguna, good thing there's still a place to unwind and relax.

Splash Island is a perfect destination for you to go if you're looking for a not-so-far and not-so-expensive outing experience with friends and colleagues. Splash Island is located in the Municipality of Binan (not sure if it has been already declared as a city) , about 30 minutes drive from Metro Manila through bus. Well, the bus fare won't cost you that much though given that it's already air-conditioned.

Splash Island Map

We got a 50%-Off Deal from "Metrodeal" for the entrance fee, and it was a good deal by the way, that's why we didn't had any second thoughts to go. The regular entrance rates for adults cost PHP 500 and we got the promo for PHP 250 only. You can try all the slides as much as you desire.

Splash Island offers a lot of amenities including heart-pounding water slides and nice gigantic swimming pools and wave pool.

A View at the entrance gate of the resort for entrance tickets. Since it was summer, there were literally a "splash" of guests visiting the place! :D

Spot the difference: Me vs. Totem Pole! :p Well, I only took very few pictures using my camera phone. Oops, why is my shirt having an optical illusion?

Tagaytay City

TRAVEL DATE: October 31, 2011

Well a day before, we went to Lemery, Batangas and on our way back to Metro Manila, we had a detour trip in Tagaytay City! Tagaytay City is located in the Province of Cavite and overlooking the majestic Taal Volcano. 

The Famous Taal Volcano

Taal Volcano is one of its kind because this volcano's visible tuff cone is only small since it can be found in the middle of the lake. Its last eruption was way back 1977 and it might erupt one of these days! *Kidding*

A View of Taal Lake

From Lemery, Batangas to Tagaytay City took us about 2 hours travel time and we rode from one jeepney to another since jeepneys can only travel up to their province's borders. Tagaytay's cold weather is just right for tourists who want to escape Manila's heat. 

Upon arriving Tagaytay City, we dropped by Starbucks Coffee to chill out and relax, and have some ice cold frappucinos. It must have been our luckiest day since we won the customer of the day! *Applause* We won another frappucino drink free of charge. 

We also took the time to make fun of ourselves by taking "alien warp" pictures. Cheers to us 20 years after: 
 

"Alien-ated"

Tagaytay's night life is very active in the sense that you can find a lot of hang-out places everywhere and a lot of acoustic bands playing which made the ambiance smooth-sailing. We had our dinner at a not-so-famous and not-so-big restaurant named "Handa Ni Erminda" which literally meant "Feast of Erminda". Honestly speaking, you will not be enticed by its facade but once you get inside the restaurant, you will be overwhelmed!

 "Handa Ni Erminda"

Foods served were very reasonably priced and delicious and they offered us their "KTV Room" which is only an isolated air-conditioned room with videoke machine. We got a good deal again since there were not much customers that time and they allowed us to stay overtime. If my memory is still intact, it was only around PHP 300 for 2 hours (non-consumable).

 Here comes the food part!

It was purely just a great night of singing and dancing and laughing at each other's jokes. A night to cherish and definitely a night to treasure!

We went home at around 10 PM I guess and we rode a bus bound for Manila and the travel time was around 1-2 hours. With our sleepy eyes and tired body, we surely enjoyed the experience.

'Till we meet again Tagaytay... :)

Lemery, Batangas

TRAVEL DATE: October 30 - 31, 2011

Part I: "The Unplanned Trip" Escapade

This is how it all started.

"The loooong vacation is coming"... and a day before the 30th of October, we decided to meet and  plan our travel outing to treat ourselves with a worthy relaxation day. Batangas was the place we instantly had in mind because it's near Metro Manila and the fare was cheap.

We searched the internet and found the place Lemery in Batangas. All of us didn't know where the hell this place was located but all we know was that its van terminal was located in Starmall Edsa. We looked for some places to stay and saved the places' contact details. And there we go, all set for the unplanned trip!

Call Time was 2PM but since we have the Filipino habit, we all arrived at 3PM! We then boarded the van to Lemery, Batangas and it took us about 3 hours going there. Well, we had fun moments and chit-chats inside the van and at the same time, we we're still contacting various resorts for a place to stay good for 6 persons. Text message sent, call here, call there!

We arrived Lemery Public Market at around 6:30PM and it was already dark. We rode the Tricycle going to "Villa Leonor", the place we all chose. Villa Leonor is a 15-minute tricycle ride from the Lemery market and the fare is around PHP 30 each.

TRAVEL TIP: Don't expect much from Villa Leonor since it's only an ordinary outing place for families and friends but it's not that bad though. :)

Pictures!

We stayed in a single non-airconditioned room with electric fan and a double-deck that can accommodate 4 persons and we asked for additional 2 mattresses with pillows and linens. The resort staff was very accommodating and very kind to us and that's a plus factor.

Room Accommodation

It was my colleague's 23rd Birthday so we also brought some cakes and drinks to celebrate it. Our purpose of getting here was to only relax and unwind, and escape from the busy Manila life, and the place was just perfectly right.

The next morning, we woke up kinda late and well, since it's an unplanned trip, we basically did not have any plans.

Since the place was just beside the seashore, we talked to some local fishermen and asked them if we could rent their boats and have a boat ride. Well, we had a good deal because we only paid PHP 50 per person for 30-minute tour. It's pretty cheap!

 

 After the short boat-trip, we joined a volleyball game together with other guests, and we also grabbed the chance to swim in the swimming pool and played water charades! (Please comment on this post if you want to know the mechanics of Water Charade!)

The experience was fun and carefree. On our way home, we passed by the famous Mang Inasal Restaurant along Lemery Public Market and we had lunch first. For everybody's information, Mang Inasal first popularized the "Kanin-all-you-can" promo or the rice-all-you-can promo in the Philippines.
 

We chose another route going home by the way. We rode the jeepney going to Tagaytay, where the famous Taal Volcano is located, and there we continued our journey...with our tired faces... :)

Travel Budget: PHP 1,100.00 all in!