hello from laoag
15 apr 2007
it was south to north trip for me yesterday. from davao, i headed straight to laoag, ilocos norte via manila. i was so exhausted during the entire night bus trip that i slept during the 9 hours trip. as i expected, the farinas bus left 30 mins later than scheduled, which is the same as the delayed flights of cebu pacific. along the way, i ate balut and hopiang mungo in the 30 mins stop over in pangasinan.
i arrived at 7am and was fetched by my friend in the bus station. after freshening up a bit, we headed for the church and had a mcdonald's breakfast nearby. the road to ilocos and the province itself is impressively clean. like davao, it is safe to stroll along. now, it makes me think that manila is in a sad state of affairs ngek
on the way to pagudpud, i saw places of interest like the light house in burgos area and the windmills that supply electricity to some parts of ilocos. the more than 100 kilometers highway by the mountains is well paved. i just wonder if we could instead create tunnels that would traverse under these mountains so that we wont have to cut trees. i think that that would be more eco-friendly.
food here is really fantastic. after the opening salvo of mcdonald's longganisa, we went to pagudpud which is a bit less than 2 hours drive from laoag. wow, the foods were fabulous. pinakbet was a run away winner. it is laced with bagnet and i truly marveled its taste. the ilocano's pork adobo and sinigang were good too. i also enjoyed the traditional halu-halo. the ingredients are much simpler unlike the commercial ones available in chow king or other food chains. no complicated taste, just the home grown halu-halo that we know since childhood. and i enjoyed it in the sea side while watching fishermen doing their nets. it felt so nice to eat by the beach. hmmmm you bet im back to my native brown skin. for dinner, i enjoyed ilocano pinakbet once more (minus the kalabasa), bagnet, pokpok (seeweeds with tomatoes), and lakatan saging. i was told that they have haba titi. i wonder what it is? i'm interested to know hahaha
we watched mel and joey after the dinner and they featured the pizza pinakbet in my friend's restaurant. i'm excited to have a taste while i'm here.
please check out the Ilocos2007 photos and Ilocos vidoes.
hello from laoag 2
16 apr 2007
i visited batac where the remains of ex-prexy marcos, in his full regalia, lies. i learned that his body has been waxed and the famous airconditioning units are nothing but the usual a/c units that we see. but the 24-hours maintenance since 1989 would be too much to be borne by whoever. i'm not sure of the material of his barong, but i could see that it is well maintained save for the very minute dirt that i saw. i think it would have been wiser if they molded his face in clay, just like how the french saved a copy of louis pasteur's face.
the old house now turned into a museum is very big and the capiz shells are still complete. i saw various memoirs of the late prez like his cars' plate numbers, the newspaper when he topped the bar exams until he became a lowly public official, to his being a president. his diary of his current thoughts during the last hours of his regime is shown for public viewing.
since it was monday when i visited, the hall where they show case more of his photos was closed for cleaning, so i wasn't able to see much. not many pinoys went there. i heard one group of young visitors commenting and comparing the current administration.
nothing new in terms of what i ate. it was a replay of pinakbet, pork adobo (dry type) and royal tru-orange this time. halu-halo for dessert. i look forward for the exotic pizzas. will go to vigan tomorrow and leave for manila. next destination, bohol.
tid bits: surf's lumeng has 2 children now. the twin's of aga and charlene are now talents of jollibee. ang cute ng ina mo starring ai-ai is now showing lolzzzz
hello from batac
17 apr 2007
this is my last day in ilocos norte. today i went to vigan, ilocos sur and paoay, ilocos norte. but right now, i am in batac, ilocos norte again. don't be confused because these areas are not so far. if i am not mistaken, vigan is only one hour away drive from laoag. on the way to vigan, i saw big houses of politicos and very influencial families like the marcoses, farinas, et al.
vigan is simply amazing. the spanish influence is still present in crisologo street. this side of the country is a world heritage, i was told. the old houses remain although some are with touch of modernity. as i walked along the cobbled-stone streets, i could imagine dona victorina and ibarra in their costumes. did i see sisa pass by? hahaha only calesas are allowed to pass by in this street. the place is clean, and if you were a smoker, ashtrays can be found in every corner to throw cigarette butts.
i saw the abs-cbn crew of the tv sitcom let's go while they were preparing for their shooting. although i did not see the stars, because i think i was early, i saw their director edgar mortiz. i have a footage of him in my cam but i could not upload them yet because i did not bring my gadgets with me now. photos and videos to follow.
i also went to chavit singson's zoo were i had a free short pony ride. hahaha kinda of weird but the 9 year old pony driver tried to persuade me to pose beside chavit's submarine. i thought it was awkward to do so hahaha a submarine? what good would it do to me? lolzzzz in this zoo, i saw swans, ostriches, tigers, monkeys of all sorts, reptiles, butterflies. it is not a big zoo as you may think. i think it is more of a personnal collection made public and the entrance is free!
for breakfast, and i know you are waiting for this, i enjoyed bangus sisig in jollibee. i felt a bit hungry touring vigan i savored max's halu-halo. the vigan branch of this restaurant serves vigan longganisa, dinuydoy and the famous bagnet. for lunch, i went to herencia cafe in paoay were they serve the pinakbet pizza. this pizza is really unique. it is filled with mozzarella cheese, the usual ingredients like okra, sitao, and talong were there. pinakbet talaga. i ate it with rice hahaha i also relished the bagnet. i almost forgot my name with its crunchy feel. dinuguan was another winner. the food presentations were also outstanding. my soup was tinolang manok. hmmmm what a very hearty meal!
a few snap shots of the famous paoay church right across the restaurant completed my day. later when i get back to laoag, i shall prepare for tonight's journey back to manila.
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