Ilocos Tour 2008

Let me share to you the best trip that my friends and I had experienced last year.

We had planned this trip for more than a month—the flight sked…the hotel booking…the itinerary…everything! (Well, almost.) So on that Thursday late afternoon of June 19, 2008, we went to Manila Domestic Airport with our baggage stuffed with 3-to-4-day outfits. Our Laoag flight was 5:45 PM. After several minutes, we boarded ourselves to Cebu Pacific. The five of us were all excited and anticipating a great adventure in the northernmost region of the Philippines. But I was feeling more than that. (How do you think I felt as a first-time flyer? You'll soon find out. ) At the waiting lounge, I was still feeling pretty much excited. But when we got to the runway and saw the plane, my heart started pounding.

As I entered the airplane, the cute flight attendant greeted me, “Good afternoon!” After I responded and smiled back at him, my tension temporarily vanished. I was seated beside the window, next to my best friend. When we glimpsed through the window and saw the Asian Spirit aircraft, he just reminded me of that hilarious joke, “Sa Asian Spirit, pag sakay mo, Asian…pag labas mo, Spirit!” (At Asian Spirit, you get in as Asian...then you get out as Spirit!) I recalled how I laughed at that joke but this time, I was too nervous to even smile. Then the two flight attendants assisted the passengers. Later one of them went in front with some props while the other explained the safety reminders and Civil Aviation rules. All I remembered was the most important thing—the “sinturong pangkaligtasan” (safety belt). After a few minutes of waiting, the plane finally went off. On its first thrust upward, I felt the take-off gut feeling. After a few seconds, I was OK. Then I looked outside and saw the SM Mall of Asia getting smaller and smaller. Funny. From up there, it wasn't as big as it was.

Then I got my digicam and started taking pictures of my first views-from-the-top. Then I saw the metropolis on a bird’s eye view…then the white cotton clouds…and then the thunderclouds…and then lightning…Oh my gosh! I remembered there was an incoming storm that day. (Storm “Frank”, if I recalled it right.) I just hoped it wouldn’t "spoil" our trip. Several minutes had past, I experienced my first turbulence! That was scary. I thought of terrible things that might have happened to us but I just tried my best to relax. Then after almost an hour, I felt we were descending. And that was even scarier! For a couple of times when the plane would descend by a hundred feet or so, butterflies went crazy on my stomach. I even blurted out a hushed scream that Gary even heard and laughed at me. Mindless of him, I just hoped and prayed that we would "land" safe and sound…and NOT on front pages. A few more minutes and a few more prayers, I felt the touch down. Thank God, we did it with flying colors! Whew!

The next thing I knew, we were inside the Laoag International Airport getting our baggage. I noticed there were several foreign tourists there--some were Caucasians but mostly Chinese. Our two service cars were already waiting to take us to Laoag Renzo Hotel. We talked to our Ilocano driver and asked what to expect in his province. He told us some places I had in my list. He’s a friendly Ilocano for he even taught me an Ilocano greeting, “Maimbag na rabii.” (Good evening.) The cars stopped at the façade of a modern-style hotel. The bellboys carried our luggage up to second floor. We had two separate suites—the couple on the first, and the three of us on the other. Our room has two beds, mini-ref, cable-TV and bathroom with hot/cold shower. As we entered, we just lied comfortably on our soft beds. After just an hour, we left to eat dinner. We had no idea where to eat authentic Ilocano cuisine so we decided to eat at the next best thing…Max’s Restaurant. (LOL) Our dinner of their classic fried chicken, fried rice, kare-kare, lumpiang sariwa and halo-halo was a hearty meal. Then we went back to the hotel and slept early.

We woke up by 8 AM. It was a beautiful sunny day. We took a quick shower, dressed up and went downstairs to have our breakfast. Then the five of us hit the road and followed our itinerary list. Out of hotel lobby, we took a 5-minute tricycle ride. Our first stop was the Sinking Bell Tower . We just had a couple of pics and that’s it. Just across the street was the Tobacco Monopoly Monument . We had several shots more. Within the vicinity, we saw The Marcos Hall of Justice and The Ilocos Norte Capitol Building. At this point, we’re still not enjoying much. Then we asked the locals where to find the Ilocos Norte Museum . It was a few hundred meters away so we preferred to walk. Finally, at the museum, we paid 20 pesos each to enter. It was a typical museum where you’d see the various farm and fishing tools, basketry and pottery used by the ancient Ilocanos during Spanish period. I almost got bored until I saw the the Spanish colonial house within the museum! It had 18th century muwebles, from furniture, clay pots to kalan. We saw a vintage radio (the oldest I’ve ever seen in my entire life) and an old harp. We were also amazed when we saw an old heavy flat iron (plantsa) which generates heat from burning “uling” (charcoal). Moreover, inside the museum, they had a souvenir shop where I bought tabako (tobacco), pipa (pipe) and abaniko (fan). While still inside, it’s only then we enjoyed taking pictures like eager tourists. Afterwards, we went outside and asked the two tricycle drivers to take us to our next destination. They were not really sure where's the exact place so it took us more than half-an-hour ride moving back and forth until we reached the perfect spot.

On our first day in Ilocos, I enjoyed most the unique landscape of La Paz . It was an exotic place in Laoag; a barren, desolate area under the scorching sun near the sea. Going there, we passed through this creepy wooded area of Pine trees which I called “Blairwitch”. Then a few minutes after, the scenario transformed into a small desert like in an Arabian country but it’s actually a formation of Sand Dunes molded by the wind current. So we got off and climbed one of the sandy hills to see its panoramic view. On top, we were just mesmerized and automatically took dozens of shots. Our tricycle-driver/tour-guides told us that the late King of Philippine Movies, Fernando Poe Jr., and the Superstar, Nora Aunor, shot their background scenes here in their famous films, "Panday" and "Himala", respectively. After our almost endless pictorials, we headed back to the city, ate lunch at Chowking (still couldn't find a reputable Ilocano restaurant) and went back to our hotel by mid-afternoon. We got tired and slept until early evening. Meanwhile, two of our friends from Manila came that night. They arrived at the airport by past 7 PM and proceeded to our hotel. We had dinner at Max’s (again?), then decided to tour around the city to experience their nightlife. We went to this Engineering Bar; had some cocktails and beers, and some pulutan. The crowd there was "conservative" compared to Manila . We got bored and went home before 12 midnight.

The next morning, we were all excited to discover the northernmost point of Ilocos. It was again a beautiful sunny day. We left the city by 9 AM. Our driver took us to Bangui where the famous windmills of the north stood mighty and proud. This was actually one of the top three tourist spots we’d like to see in Ilocos. (The other two were Paoay Church and Vigan Colonial Houses. These were recognized as World Heritage Sites!) When we got there, it was fascinating to see the tri-bladed windmills considered to be the first and only of its kind in Southeast Asia . So once again, we did what we had in mind. Picture picture! It’s fascinating to see the 15 modern white poles of wind turbines (more are planned to be built), with moving giant blades hovering over our heads, near the waves and pebbles along the Northwestern Luzon coast. About an hour away was Pagudpud Beach . They say it's the Boracay of the North. Well, I just have to see it for myself before I believe it, I thought. When I saw it in my own eyes, true to its reputation, Pagudpud was absolutely a lovely white-sand beach, better than beaches I visited in Batangas and Cavite . Since my friends didn’t bring any bathing suit, only two of us had the chance to take the Pagudpud plunge. The seawater was crystal clear, the waves were gentle, the sand grains were fine, the breeze was refreshing, the sun was beaming…simply perfect! (Although at some parts, the water was deeper.) After 30 minutes of swimming and sunbathing, we left Pagudpud and had our late lunch at a nearby eatery. I thought we’d just have an ordinary meal but it turned out to be a seafoodfest. We were served lobsters, crabs, sweet and sour parrot fish, spicy-sauced squid and dinaing-na-pating (salted shark)! We we’re gastronomically satisfied. I never had much seafood meal before. (And it was an unforgettable meal for it caused me allergy the next day. I had rashes on my arms. Fortunately, they disappeared in the afternoon.) After a few more stop-overs for pictorials, we headed back to hotel. After a few hours, we went out for dinner. This time at the Ati-Atihan Restaurant. Their crispy pata (deep-fried pig leg) was too delicious for our hungry stomachs to ignore. After dinner, we went back to the hotel. Inside the hotel room, we drank some cocktails and even played "charade" while watching Regine Velasquez' musical show, "Songbird". We just got tipsy that made it easier for us to sleep that night.

The third day was our last day in Ilocos. Again it was a beautiful sunny day and we thought the weather was fine all over the country. (Until one of us received an alarming text message that Metro Manila and other nearby provinces were devastated by strong typhoon! And we're all clueless.) This time, we would conquer the southern province—Ilocos Sur. Our first stop was at Fort Ilocandia but it was still closed at that early 8 AM. So we proceeded to Marcos Mausoleum. We saw the ex-President's memorabilia but we didn't see his cryogenic coffin. There was a schedule for public viewing but on our turn, the time was up. Too bad. Though already dead for decades, the former president still couldn't be disturbed without prior notice. Just a thought. Several minutes away was the Juan Luna Shrine. The 2-storey brick mansion of the 19th century world-class Filipino painter was now transformed into museum and all his masterpiece paintings were on display on the first level. Unfortunately, they were all just reproductions. (Side story: One of us had a creepy experience. When he was near one of Luna's paintings, someone or something just blew off his ear. The museum caretaker told him afterwards that it was not the first time it happened. Boo!) On the second floor, we saw Luna's majestic room and his other muwebles. Outside his room was a wide veranda. He also had a small chapel. And at the back was a brick well and his modern karetela. By his antique possessions and impressive residence, you wouldn't have second thoughts that Mr. Luna was rich. I was lucky to have visited his mansion.

So after several photo ops, we went to Paoay Church. The 17th century earthquake-resistant church built from coral stones and bricks was an awesome structure. Its Baroque, Gothic and Oriental architecture was so evident. No wonder it became a World Heritage Site. This was the best tourist spot so far and all of us just couldn't help but take pictures for more than an hour. From this moment, I was so eager to see the Vigan Colonial Houses. It took us 2 to 3 hours to go there. But before that, we stopped at Baluarte first. This was the newest tourist spot in Vigan. It's actually Governor Chavit Singson's zoo, open for public. There were several ostriches, camels, orangutans, tiny horses, python, peacock, other smaller mammals, and tigers! In one of our moments with these carnivores, one of them roared that everyone, especially me, was shocked how loud it was. From then I knew how a tiger could petrify and kill his prey. Thankfully I wasn't his lunch that day. LOL Afterwards, we went straight to Calle Crisologo. This was one of the best preserved 18th century streets in Vigan Colonial Town. I noticed the street was clean and very orderly. The ancestral houses were tightly lined up on both sides as we moved along the cobblestone pathway. There were many antique and souvenir shops stalled on every corner, and several calesas were roaming around. While some were busy shooting pictures, others were shopping for pasalubong. As a first-time tourist there, I really felt I was transported back in colonial times. Eventhough we spent a great time posing pictures on every nook and cranny of Calle Crisologo, I would definitely go back there and feel its colonial ambiance once more. Truly, Vigan was a place like no other! But before we left, we still had to taste their famous Vigan delicacy, the "empanada." It's different from the usual empanada here in Manila for its crust was made from rice flour. Its filling was a combination of grated green papaya, egg and Vigan longganisa. So we found this Irene's Empanada, reputably the best in Vigan. (Though some of us preferred the Batac empanada.) As I tasted it, I truly loved it. With colonial houses and best empanada, could anyone ask for more? And so we ordered 3 boxes of empanada and went back to Laoag. We arrived in the city past 5 PM. For a few minutes, we visited the Laoag Church and prayed for our safe travel back to Manila. At the hotel, we quickly packed our things and went down to the lobby to check out. Our service car was waiting to take us to Laoag International Airport.

Going to the airport that early evening, I was a little nervous. We all knew that time Manila was struck by a strong typhoon. But then we realized we didn't have lunch but empanadas. So we bought some iced tea and pastries to pacify our growling intestines. After almost an hour of waiting at the airport lounge, a voice over finally announced that our flight was cancelled. Thank God! With typhoon signal number 1 still up in Metro Manila, I was not really excited to fly that time. (Later, we found out from the news that several provinces in Central Luzon and Visayas were under the state of calamity!) So we took the bus. Unfortunately, it was a 10-hour long trip. It had a couple of stop overs for visiting the restroom or going to the carinderia. When we got out of the bus at around midnight, it was breezy cold. So we had coffee to warm our freezing bodies. Back on the bus, we're all tired and rarely chat. We just fell into deep sleep. When we woke up, we're already back in Manila! It was raining that morning when we went outside the bus terminal to take a cab. But taxis were hard to find. Instead, we rented out a jeepney to take us home. Finally, we're back home. We had some hot coffee and cold empanadas (again!) and talked about our wonderful trip. Later, my balikbayan-friend bid farewell to us for he's going back to Canada in a couple of days. He said his homecoming this year was the most memorable. And he's looking forward for our next adventure soon. So when he and his friend left, we started packing our stuff. Then one by one, we hit the sack and slept for many many hours.

And that's how we ended our fabulous Ilocos trip! :)