Day 1: Tuesday, 11 July 2006
This (honeymoon) tour is our gift to each other after months of wedding preparations which we both did first-handedly. My husband and I started our tour a day late because of financial and weather considerations. We were thinking of buying a videocam or digicam and/or two mountain bikes out of the money we would spend on this NLL tour, while the weather condition was just a
second factor. Typhoon Florita was said to head northern Philippines in three days time so it was not really our concern at that time. We packed our things on Monday night when we finally decided that this opportunity might not come again knowing that we both have tight schedules at work. So with a Revo jam-packed with a cooler, mini gas stove, frying pan, stock pot, airpot, easy-cook foods (composed of hotdogs, canned goods, instant noodles, etc.) iced tea, tetra-packed juice, bread, chips, chocolates, candies, two pillows, blanket, and a cuddly bear named smokey (heheh!), we headed on our way to begin our North Luzon Loop Tour (yahoo!).
Brian (staff of RD Brion), accompanied us to Our Lady of Piat Basilica, which is known to be miraculous. Around the Basilica are life-size images of the mysteries of the holy rosary. We were also introduced to a native delicacy, pansit cabagan (it’s from a town in Isabela) at Felicita’s, we were supposed to eat “batil patong” (somewhat similar to pansit cabagan) since it is the native delicacy of Tuguegarao City but we weren’t lucky enough to find an eatery which serves it. Pansit cabagan tastes good especially when seasoned with spicy vinegar (thanks to Brian for giving us a wonderful experience!). We both were full to still eat dinner so we just ate oatmeal that night back at the regional office. What we’ve missed in Cagayan was going to the Calvary Hills, seeing the Portabaga Falls and spelunking at the numerous caves such as the Callao Cave, Jackpot Cave, etc. It was not recommended at that time to go to those places because of the slippery roads due to continuous raining. Our parents, siblings and friends were all texting and calling us by that time because of the weather reports that the typhoon is at our area.
Manolet’s dad said that the rain in Antipolo City already caused flood along Marcos highway while my mom said that office work was suspended due to heavy downpour in Manila and that it was raining very hard in Meycauayan. Much to our surprise (and gratefulness to God), the rain back home in Antipolo and Bulacan appears to be heavier than it was in Cagayan where there was only continuous light shower.
Day 4: Friday, 14 July 2006
For breakfast, we ate our leftover rice together with cooked sardines (complete with tomatoes and onions, of course) plus hot coffee for Manolet and hot choco for me. It was still windy and rainy that day, not possible for swimming (sigh!). Afraid that we will encounter flooded roads, we advised the personnel of Tera Rica that we might be back if ever there are impassable roads along the way to Ilocos Sur, luckily, there weren’t any.
In Bangui, Ilocos Norte, just before Burgos (if you’re coming from Cagayan), you will see the Wind Farm. There are fifteen windmills along the beach, about 23-storey high each, which supply around 40% of electricity in Ilocos Norte. The sea is calmer at this part that day but we didn’t had a chance to swim because there’s no available area to change clothes or rinse off after.
This (honeymoon) tour is our gift to each other after months of wedding preparations which we both did first-handedly. My husband and I started our tour a day late because of financial and weather considerations. We were thinking of buying a videocam or digicam and/or two mountain bikes out of the money we would spend on this NLL tour, while the weather condition was just a
second factor. Typhoon Florita was said to head northern Philippines in three days time so it was not really our concern at that time. We packed our things on Monday night when we finally decided that this opportunity might not come again knowing that we both have tight schedules at work. So with a Revo jam-packed with a cooler, mini gas stove, frying pan, stock pot, airpot, easy-cook foods (composed of hotdogs, canned goods, instant noodles, etc.) iced tea, tetra-packed juice, bread, chips, chocolates, candies, two pillows, blanket, and a cuddly bear named smokey (heheh!), we headed on our way to begin our North Luzon Loop Tour (yahoo!). One tip for North Luzon Loop adventurers – use diesel-engine vehicle or else half of your tour budget will go to gasoline expenses (like in our case, we’ve spent around Php7,000 for gasoline alone).
We were supposed to attend mass but we both woke up late so we just made a church visit to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City (my husband’s hometown, just three blocks away). Then, we headed to borrow my brother’s videocam and the digicam of his sis-in-law (thanks to Kuya Caloy and Che, our sponsors, by the way, heheh!) since we still have to save for those gadgets (maybe next time we will be using our own travel gizmos… hope so). After that, we were all set via the North Luzon Expressway (NLE) at 4:35pm.
We passed through the province of Bulacan and left NLE in San Simon Exit and passed through the province of Nueva Ecija, eating Chickenjoy along the way. We passed through Nueva Vizcaya via the Dalton Pass. It was getting dark so we decided to spend the night at a lodge in Santiago City, Isabela. Too wasted to even eat dinner, we both dozed off.
We were supposed to attend mass but we both woke up late so we just made a church visit to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City (my husband’s hometown, just three blocks away). Then, we headed to borrow my brother’s videocam and the digicam of his sis-in-law (thanks to Kuya Caloy and Che, our sponsors, by the way, heheh!) since we still have to save for those gadgets (maybe next time we will be using our own travel gizmos… hope so). After that, we were all set via the North Luzon Expressway (NLE) at 4:35pm.
We passed through the province of Bulacan and left NLE in San Simon Exit and passed through the province of Nueva Ecija, eating Chickenjoy along the way. We passed through Nueva Vizcaya via the Dalton Pass. It was getting dark so we decided to spend the night at a lodge in Santiago City, Isabela. Too wasted to even eat dinner, we both dozed off.
Day 2: Wednesday, 12 July 2006
We woke up early and headed to the Magat Dam located in Ramon, Isabela. We ate breakfast within the vicinity of the Magat Dam. Spanish sardines did taste good with rice (cooked by Manolet’s mom Tuesday morning, yep, still not spoiled, thank God!), yumyum! Manolet taught me how to drive on the long stretch of highway in Isabela (with a picturesque view of the Cagayan Valley… really breathtaking!). We were supposed to reach Tuguegarao City within an hour’s time but since I was having my driving lessons courtesy of my husband, we arrived after two and a half hours. Manolet (aka Mr. Sungit aka Darth Vader, hehehe!) was scolding me for my driving skills (if ever I had them, heheh!) that’s why I wasn’t able to take a video of the stretch of the mountains which look like chocolate hills. I contacted my previous boss for possible accommodation at the regional office (thanks to RD Renato Brion of DILG Region 2 for letting us use his quarters). He was accommodating all throughout our stay in Tuguegarao City (same goes to all the other regional personnel of R2, thanks guys!).
Brian (staff of RD Brion), accompanied us to Our Lady of Piat Basilica, which is known to be miraculous. Around the Basilica are life-size images of the mysteries of the holy rosary. We were also introduced to a native delicacy, pansit cabagan (it’s from a town in Isabela) at Felicita’s, we were supposed to eat “batil patong” (somewhat similar to pansit cabagan) since it is the native delicacy of Tuguegarao City but we weren’t lucky enough to find an eatery which serves it. Pansit cabagan tastes good especially when seasoned with spicy vinegar (thanks to Brian for giving us a wonderful experience!). We both were full to still eat dinner so we just ate oatmeal that night back at the regional office. What we’ve missed in Cagayan was going to the Calvary Hills, seeing the Portabaga Falls and spelunking at the numerous caves such as the Callao Cave, Jackpot Cave, etc. It was not recommended at that time to go to those places because of the slippery roads due to continuous raining. Our parents, siblings and friends were all texting and calling us by that time because of the weather reports that the typhoon is at our area.Manolet’s dad said that the rain in Antipolo City already caused flood along Marcos highway while my mom said that office work was suspended due to heavy downpour in Manila and that it was raining very hard in Meycauayan. Much to our surprise (and gratefulness to God), the rain back home in Antipolo and Bulacan appears to be heavier than it was in Cagayan where there was only continuous light shower.
Day 3: Thursday, 13 July 2006
We headed early morning to Aparri to see where the Cagayan River meets the China Sea. At the farthest point, you can see the river and the sea circling around producing cyclones of waves.
We made a stopover after the Magapit Suspension Bridge to prepare our brunch (it’s already 11am) consisting of hotdogs and seafood noodles. By the way, it’s the 2nd month after our wedding and guess what, Manolet greeted me first. Well, he rarely gives in to mushy stuffs (what a lovely miracle! heheh).
It was a long drive and because the road was slippery most of the time, Manolet was back at the driver’s seat. I never had a chance to drive again during the tour (thank God ‘coz my knees shake whenever Mr. Sungit resurrects, harhar!). It was dawn when we passed through the Patapat Viaduct. You could see the Patapat Falls gushing through beside the bridge. We weren’t able to take more pix using the digicam because we didn’t have a digicam charger with us that’s why most of the beautiful scenery were captured in the videocam (how we wish we could show it here too). We saw the Mayraira Beach Cove (I think it’s referred to as Blue Lagoon by the local residents because it has a blue green color from afar). It has one existing resort, the Kapuluan Resort but we weren’t able to reach it because the road beyond was rough. But one can see that it was really more pristine than the Pagudpud beach stretch, it’s just that Mayraira Beach Cove isn’t fully developed yet.
We made a stopover after the Magapit Suspension Bridge to prepare our brunch (it’s already 11am) consisting of hotdogs and seafood noodles. By the way, it’s the 2nd month after our wedding and guess what, Manolet greeted me first. Well, he rarely gives in to mushy stuffs (what a lovely miracle! heheh).
It was a long drive and because the road was slippery most of the time, Manolet was back at the driver’s seat. I never had a chance to drive again during the tour (thank God ‘coz my knees shake whenever Mr. Sungit resurrects, harhar!). It was dawn when we passed through the Patapat Viaduct. You could see the Patapat Falls gushing through beside the bridge. We weren’t able to take more pix using the digicam because we didn’t have a digicam charger with us that’s why most of the beautiful scenery were captured in the videocam (how we wish we could show it here too). We saw the Mayraira Beach Cove (I think it’s referred to as Blue Lagoon by the local residents because it has a blue green color from afar). It has one existing resort, the Kapuluan Resort but we weren’t able to reach it because the road beyond was rough. But one can see that it was really more pristine than the Pagudpud beach stretch, it’s just that Mayraira Beach Cove isn’t fully developed yet.
We decided to stay in Tera Rica Beach Resort in Pagudpud instead because it’s safer due to the weather condition. We were the only guests at the resort aside from one family who also came by to spend their vacation. We were given a special price (an air-conditioned room at half the price) since it is not peak season and considering that there’s no chance for us to swim due to the raging ocean. We had snack – coffee and bread with cheese pimiento spread (made by Manolet’s mom).
Feeling like two cast aways but with a dinner fit for a king and queen (yep, we prepared our own sumptuous meal which consists of freshly cooked rice, crab and corn soup and salted eggs with tomatoes and bagoong), the night’s sleep really felt good. Zzzzz……..
Day 4: Friday, 14 July 2006
For breakfast, we ate our leftover rice together with cooked sardines (complete with tomatoes and onions, of course) plus hot coffee for Manolet and hot choco for me. It was still windy and rainy that day, not possible for swimming (sigh!). Afraid that we will encounter flooded roads, we advised the personnel of Tera Rica that we might be back if ever there are impassable roads along the way to Ilocos Sur, luckily, there weren’t any.
In Bangui, Ilocos Norte, just before Burgos (if you’re coming from Cagayan), you will see the Wind Farm. There are fifteen windmills along the beach, about 23-storey high each, which supply around 40% of electricity in Ilocos Norte. The sea is calmer at this part that day but we didn’t had a chance to swim because there’s no available area to change clothes or rinse off after.
After feasting our eyes with the scenery (well, it’s not everyday that you can see windmills, right? heheh!), we then headed to Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos, Ilocos Norte. We toured on our own and climbed up around the light tower. We didn’t had a chance to go inside the tower because Mang Ruben, the caretaker of the lighthouse, was not around.
First stop in Laoag City was at the Plaza to eat empanada. Empanadang Laoag is just like empanadang Vigan, only that its outer covering is orange in color and filled with Ilocos longganisa, aside from the usual grated papaya, monggo beans and whole egg yolks. We also went to visit some family friends from Antipolo in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. On the way there, we passed by the old house of the Marcoses where the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos used to live during his younger days. We proceeded to Marcos Mausoleum in Batac at 4:10pm. We didn’t know that the mausoleum and the museum close at 4pm. Fortunately, the gatekeeper was considerate enough to let us go inside the mausoleum after learning that we’ve come a long way from Manila. Inside the air-conditioned mausoleum (cameras are not allowed inside), is the glass casket of the late President Marcos, adorned with ceramic roses and with piped-in music resembling a Gregorian chant. The museum, which was already closed, contains memorabilia of the President Marcos according to Manolet (he had once entered the museum with his family years ago). After that, we went to see the Malacañang of the North (Malacañang Ti Amianan) in Paoay. It was a 15-minute drive from Batac so when we reached the entrance gate, it was already 4:40pm, and again, we didn’t know that it closes at 4:30pm (well, you can’t win them all). We decided to go see the Sand Dunes instead (this is the long stretch of sand which resembles a desert, frequently used in movies like Panday), which is also in Paoay. From the view deck on our way to the Sand Dunes, we just took a video of the Malacañang of the North overlooking the Paoay Lake.
When we reached the boundary of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, we ate some yakisoba for snack. We bought garlic at Sinait, Ilocos Sur (we are thinking of venturing into the garlic business… well, gotta start somewhere so that we can sustain our travels around the Philippines, or around the world… well, it’s not bad to think big, right? heheh!). Native garlic is more aromatic and tastier that’s why even if it costs twice or even thrice higher than the imported ones, it is still more economical to use because you don’t have to put too many cloves into your dishes.
At 9pm, we went to Plaza Burgos to eat empanadang Vigan (Manolet’s craving for this stuff never stops). Don’t go beyond this late because the empanada kiosks at the Plaza usually close at this time, especially when it’s rainy. We were just lucky enough (again) because before the last two kiosks close shop for the night, we were able to eat empanada.
We went to Bantay, Ilocos Sur to spend the night at my relatives’ place (thanks to the hospitality of Manang Ave, Manang Tita and Manang Lumen).
First stop in Laoag City was at the Plaza to eat empanada. Empanadang Laoag is just like empanadang Vigan, only that its outer covering is orange in color and filled with Ilocos longganisa, aside from the usual grated papaya, monggo beans and whole egg yolks. We also went to visit some family friends from Antipolo in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. On the way there, we passed by the old house of the Marcoses where the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos used to live during his younger days. We proceeded to Marcos Mausoleum in Batac at 4:10pm. We didn’t know that the mausoleum and the museum close at 4pm. Fortunately, the gatekeeper was considerate enough to let us go inside the mausoleum after learning that we’ve come a long way from Manila. Inside the air-conditioned mausoleum (cameras are not allowed inside), is the glass casket of the late President Marcos, adorned with ceramic roses and with piped-in music resembling a Gregorian chant. The museum, which was already closed, contains memorabilia of the President Marcos according to Manolet (he had once entered the museum with his family years ago). After that, we went to see the Malacañang of the North (Malacañang Ti Amianan) in Paoay. It was a 15-minute drive from Batac so when we reached the entrance gate, it was already 4:40pm, and again, we didn’t know that it closes at 4:30pm (well, you can’t win them all). We decided to go see the Sand Dunes instead (this is the long stretch of sand which resembles a desert, frequently used in movies like Panday), which is also in Paoay. From the view deck on our way to the Sand Dunes, we just took a video of the Malacañang of the North overlooking the Paoay Lake.When we reached the boundary of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, we ate some yakisoba for snack. We bought garlic at Sinait, Ilocos Sur (we are thinking of venturing into the garlic business… well, gotta start somewhere so that we can sustain our travels around the Philippines, or around the world… well, it’s not bad to think big, right? heheh!). Native garlic is more aromatic and tastier that’s why even if it costs twice or even thrice higher than the imported ones, it is still more economical to use because you don’t have to put too many cloves into your dishes.
At 9pm, we went to Plaza Burgos to eat empanadang Vigan (Manolet’s craving for this stuff never stops). Don’t go beyond this late because the empanada kiosks at the Plaza usually close at this time, especially when it’s rainy. We were just lucky enough (again) because before the last two kiosks close shop for the night, we were able to eat empanada.
We went to Bantay, Ilocos Sur to spend the night at my relatives’ place (thanks to the hospitality of Manang Ave, Manang Tita and Manang Lumen).
After eating breakfast (Ilocos longganisa and luncheon meat) prepared by Manang Ave, Manang Tita (my cousin) accompanied us to see the Baluarte, owned by Gov. Chavit Singson. There were ostriches and miniature horses roaming the wide lawn, aside from the caged tigers, lions, snakes, giant coconut crabs, ferrets, possums, wallabies, mountain goat, wild boars, monkeys, Australian white deer and Siberian huskies. There's also a butterfly farm where you could see numerous butterflies fluttering around. We also saw the stages of transformation of a butterfly.
Back in Bantay, we had royal bibingka and kalamay for snack. They have also cooked pinakbet, sinigang na butu-buto and crispy chicken for lunch (at last, real home-cooked food, burp!). At 2:30pm, Manolet and I packed our things and headed for home, but before leaving Ilocos Sur, we stopped at a number of scenic and historical places.
Back in Bantay, we had royal bibingka and kalamay for snack. They have also cooked pinakbet, sinigang na butu-buto and crispy chicken for lunch (at last, real home-cooked food, burp!). At 2:30pm, Manolet and I packed our things and headed for home, but before leaving Ilocos Sur, we stopped at a number of scenic and historical places.
We walked through Calle Crisologo, the cobblestone road in Vigan, where you could see the heritage village. Manolet bought some empanadang Laoag (yep, there is one house in Vigan who sells empanadang Laoag) for take home, afraid that the cravings won’t stop, heheh! We also went inside the St. Paul Cathedral in Vigan. Plaza Burgos is at the side part of the said church (this is where the empanada kiosks are) and Plaza Salcedo is at the front side. We then proceeded to Apo Caridad Church (my mom was named after her) in Bantay.
Adjacent to the church is the bell tower (also frequently used in the Panday movies). We were super lucky because Mang Agapito Pablico, the site caretaker of the Bantay church and bell tower, lent us the key to the bell tower. It’s my first time to go inside the bell tower (same goes for Manolet) even if I used to go here during my younger days because my mom is from Bantay. Atop the bell tower, you could see the Quirino Bridge in Santa, connecting the two mountains, the Quirino stadium, the Campo Santo (White Plains as they call, because of the white-colored tombs in the cemetery), the long stretch of the ocean, whew! Mang Agapito also took us up to the miraculous image of Apo Caridad inside the church. 
Located in Santa, Ilocos Sur is the Quirino Bridge (also known as Banauang Bridge) which connects the two mountains. There was a time, years ago, when this particular bridge was destroyed by a typhoon, making it impossible to go to the other side without taking a barge or by going through the North Luzon Loop via Cagayan. Before crossing the Quirino Bridge on the way home to Manila, we stopped over at the shop of The Sisters to buy Royal Bibingka (pugon-baked rice cakes made of glutinous rice and topped with cheese) and another stopover at the factory of Ilocos Chichacorn (fried corn kernels) to buy pasalubong for our family and friends. JR (a friend of my niece, Michelle) came with us on our tour around Bantay and Vigan, and also served as our cameraman, heheh (well, it’s hard to take pictures on our own, that’s why most of our pictures and video shots on the first part of the tour were either solo or close-up shots).
We bought Jolly Hotdog for dinner at Candon, Ilocos Norte (no time to stop and cook by this time). We’ve missed going to the Church in Agoo, La Union and to Our Lady of Manaoag because it was already dark when we reached those places. The first and only flood (ankle-high only) that we encountered during our entire trip was in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan. We passed by my parents house in Meycauayan, Bulacan at 12:30am (yep, it’s Sunday already) and ate kaldereta (continuation of dinner… well, who will say no to real home-cooked food? heheh!). We reached home in Antipolo City at around 3am, end of the NLL Tour 2006.
By Sunday morning, we were bound South going to Bicol Region… Oops! Sorry, I got carried away. That’s for our next trip… Until we’ve saved enough for another adventure, heheh! Kidding aside, we both know that our prayers and those of our loved ones and friends who prayed for our safe travel, made our tour a success. Amidst the typhoon which hit Regions 1 and 2, we were very, very lucky because we did not encounter any flood (except the one in Urdaneta on our way back, which was actually settling down), landslides (we saw a few fallen rocks along the road and some cracked mountain sides but nothing major by the time that we passed those spots) and any road mishaps. We made the tour as an opportunity for us to know each other more (plus I’ve learned lots of guts and determination, when Manolet was teaching me how to drive; while his share was learning to be patient with my kakulitans, heheh!); to be closer to God (we were able to pray the rosary everyday with reflections per mystery); and to be able to see the beauty in every little moment and every little thing that God gave us, such as amidst the typhoon signal raised in Cagayan and Ilocos Regions, we didn’t really felt the storm (we even saw that God gave us a good weather because instead of the sun scorching our skin, we were able to turn off our aircon because of the cool weather, it did save us a lot of gas).
We could have bought gadgets and gizmos out of the money we’ve used for this tour which we had thought of at first; but the experience and the memories we’ve created together are all PRICELESS. We wouldn’t exchange it for anything else.
Indeed, God is good all the time… All the time, God is good!
We bought Jolly Hotdog for dinner at Candon, Ilocos Norte (no time to stop and cook by this time). We’ve missed going to the Church in Agoo, La Union and to Our Lady of Manaoag because it was already dark when we reached those places. The first and only flood (ankle-high only) that we encountered during our entire trip was in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan. We passed by my parents house in Meycauayan, Bulacan at 12:30am (yep, it’s Sunday already) and ate kaldereta (continuation of dinner… well, who will say no to real home-cooked food? heheh!). We reached home in Antipolo City at around 3am, end of the NLL Tour 2006.
By Sunday morning, we were bound South going to Bicol Region… Oops! Sorry, I got carried away. That’s for our next trip… Until we’ve saved enough for another adventure, heheh! Kidding aside, we both know that our prayers and those of our loved ones and friends who prayed for our safe travel, made our tour a success. Amidst the typhoon which hit Regions 1 and 2, we were very, very lucky because we did not encounter any flood (except the one in Urdaneta on our way back, which was actually settling down), landslides (we saw a few fallen rocks along the road and some cracked mountain sides but nothing major by the time that we passed those spots) and any road mishaps. We made the tour as an opportunity for us to know each other more (plus I’ve learned lots of guts and determination, when Manolet was teaching me how to drive; while his share was learning to be patient with my kakulitans, heheh!); to be closer to God (we were able to pray the rosary everyday with reflections per mystery); and to be able to see the beauty in every little moment and every little thing that God gave us, such as amidst the typhoon signal raised in Cagayan and Ilocos Regions, we didn’t really felt the storm (we even saw that God gave us a good weather because instead of the sun scorching our skin, we were able to turn off our aircon because of the cool weather, it did save us a lot of gas).We could have bought gadgets and gizmos out of the money we’ve used for this tour which we had thought of at first; but the experience and the memories we’ve created together are all PRICELESS. We wouldn’t exchange it for anything else.
Indeed, God is good all the time… All the time, God is good!
