Ilocos Norte Tour: Day 1

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Most tourists do not visit Ilocos Norte because it's far from Vigan. I would agree, the travel time from Vigan to the Capital of Ilocos Norte ( Laoag) is approximately 2 hours.

If you are planning to go to Ilocos Norte, there are 3 ways to get here:
          1. Plane ( Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific)
                    - They usually have 1-2 flights per day
          2. Provincial Buses ( Farinas, Florida, Partas)
                    - They have their terminals around Espana Area and Cubao.
                    - The fare ranges from 500- 700 pesos.
          3. Car
                    - Just bring a GPS, and you wouldn't get lost.
                    - Note that gasoline/Diesel price in this province is higher by 10%.

As for our Day 1, We went to these places:

Day 1: Ilocos Norte

Burgos Light Tower

Purpurawan Rock Formation

Windmills

Pagudpod Beach

Burgos Light Tower

Being here, relaxes you as you see the beautiful site of the ocean and the town that surrounds it. However, you can't go to the top most part of the lighthouse, since the government close it for the safety of the tourist.

They also have a museum here, but for the 3rd time I've been here. It was always close. I'm not sure if they would ever open it again. 

Entrance Fee: NONE.

It's absolutely free. 

Purpurawan Rock Formation

This is something new to most of the tourists who have been to Ilocos. I only discovered this place last 2011. I really like the whiteness of the stones. It looks so soft in the pictures, while it gives you an outstanding photo because of it's simplicity and elegance. 

View from a far

More views

Lam-Ang Story

Tourists would have to walk for 1.5km from where your car is parked. I suggest you guys to bring water and umbrella, because it's really hot there. Else, you can buy these things to the merchants there.

There's this part here, where you can stand to have a good background photo. I love how nature do it's best to have a wonderful scenery. If you can see here, there are so many elements in one picture: the sky, the sea, the stones, the plants. I just love it. It's pleasing to my eyes. :))

Entrance Fee: 

Adult - Php 15.00 

Children/Student- Php 10.00

it's an environmental fee. To preserve the beauty of the place. 

Optional Fees:

Riding a horse: Php 50.00 - Php 100.00 (One way)

Bangui Windmills

Every tourist spot here in Ilocos Norte, there's always a beach involved. But hey, it gives the tourist to relax by listening the sound of the waves and enjoying the beauty of the surrounding.

Souvenir

Bangui Windmills, was our 3rd stop for this Day 1 trip. I have been to these place twice, and I still enjoy how big those windmills are. They actually power the electricity of the whole town. We went here to have jump shots, solo profile pics, and Instagram worthy posts. 

If you are planning to buy Windmill key chains  shirts, pearls, or souvenir. This is a perfect place to buy one since a lot of stores selling different products.  they have 5 key chains for Php 100.00. However, according to one of the seller, they can't give huge discounts because most of them earn through a commission based from the products they sell. 

Just try to bargain, they might give you free stuff :)

Entrance Fee: NONE

Pagudpod Beach

Our last stop for our day 1 Ilocos Norte Trip. We had our lunch here, where we rent one cottage for us to cook Barbeque, and other grill-able food. We spent the half of our tour to enjoy the beach and fine sand in this area. 

Some people would call Pagudpod as the "Boracay of the North" because of how fine the sands are. We enjoyed building sand sculptures. Look at our artworks :) We spend 1-2 hours competing with the other team.

You can visit the beach anytime, it's not own privately.

Cottage Rent: 
Php 600.00 for 6 Hours

Restroom/Shower Use:
Php 50.00 - Unlimited use
Php 25.00 - One time use.

We ended the day with a dinner in Macy's Diner at Laoag City. It's really fun having a road trip with your friends :)

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Ilocos Tour Itinerary

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I would like to share our Ilocos Tour Itinerary with you when my friends visited Ilocos. I lived in the north, so I became their tour guide and tour planner for 4 days. We want to visit as many places as possible. We use our own car to travel around these places to maximize our time.

This is our Itinerary for our 4 day Ilocos Trip:

Day 1: Ilocos Norte

Burgos Light Tower

Purpurawan Rock Formation

Windmills

Pagudpod Beach

*The first 3 places are relatively close to each other. So you can visit them all right away. It’s not budget friendly if you miss one of the 3 places, and go back to it the next day.

Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

Day 2: Ilocos Norte

Kaibigan Falls

Paoay Church

Malacanang of the North

* Kaibigan Falls is at the middle of Pagudpod Area and Laoag Area. We opt not to go there during our first day because we want to swim and enjoy the Pagudpod beach. This is our activity for day 2 because it rained so hard that afternoon.

Paoay Church

Day 3: Ilocos Norte – Ilocos Sur

La Paz Sand Dunes

Pangil Rock Formation

Juan Luna Shrine

Sinait Beach

* This trip is from North to Ilocos Sur. We stayed in our house in Ilocos Sur, so we made the tour like this. We put sand dunes to be our first activity because the sun was shining brightly. We do not want to sand board when it rains.

Places like Sinait Beach and Pangil Rock Formation is not very popular when you search for an Ilocos tour. But, I assure you, that these are some places you can visit to relax and enjoy peaceful view. 

La Paz Sand Dunes

Day 4: Vigan Tour

Baluarte

Pagburnayan

Hidden Garden

Bantay Church

Bridge

Calle Crisologo

Vigan Musical Fountain

* Vigan has a lot of place you can visit to. They have several museums, churches, and shopping area. I would suggest that if you visit vigan, limit it to 1-2 days stay. There are more things to visit in the north (Ilocos Norte) than in Vigan.

Vigan Musical Fountain

For my next post, I will share to you in detail what are the things to expect when you go to these places. I would bring you to the wonders of Ilocos. I hope you can visit these beautiful places because I know you’ll surely enjoy it. 

Enjoy! ^_^

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Viva Manila Tour: Carlos Celdran

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In my previous post, I showed you all the highlights of our tour during the #vivamanila tour. You can see the post here: Viva Manila: A Carlos Celdran Downtown Tour. Now, I will share to you what we see in the places that we visited. 

Viva Manila Logo

The flow of the VIVAMANILA Downtown Manila Tour

Visit and educate yourself at the MMDA Safety Park 

Jeepney Ride to Mabini St.

Visit an art museum ( Maria Closa: Arts Primities Antiques)

Visit a 1945 store (Tesoro’s)Visit a Hotel [Lotus]

Visit Solidaridad Bookstore

Visit a famous bakery – Hizon’s

Visit HIRAYA Gallery

Free Pika-Pika food from JadeVine c/o Manila City Hall

 Visit Miramar Hotel for their Art Deco 

Group Picture in Luneta/ Rizal Park

September 8, 2013 (Sunday) was a gloomy day. Our meeting point was at MMDA Safety Park. Our tour would start at around 3PM.

Visit and educate yourself at the MMDA Safety Park 

The MMDA Safety park is a place where kids can learn the different street signs. They have miniature traffic lights, pedestrian, bike lane, underpass, overpass and rotonda. It's a perfect place for children to bond with their parents while learning different rules we have in Metro Manila. 

At the MMDA Safety Park

MMDA Park is located in front of Manila Zoo. If you want to have a group tour here, MMDA would be willing to facilitate the tour. 

Visit  an art museum ( Maria Closa: Arts Primities Antiques)

This art museum is along Ermita, Manila. It's a two-floor museum full of paintings and sculptures. The artworks that you can see here are very Pinoy, since most of their works are craved from wood. I'm not sure if they have artworks for sale.

Their Signage

Some of the artworks you can see inside.

Upon leaving Maria Closa, we decided to take a group picture outside with the signage. We were very fortunate to have Mr. Carlo Celdran in our picture. He went to our group and joined the group picture. We were so happy because we don't need to have a picture with him at the end of the tour, where it would be hard for us to squeeze in with other people just to have a decent picture with him.

Have a good picture with him - DONE!

Visit a 1945 store (Tesoro’s) and Visit a Hotel [Lotus]

Tesoro's shop is one of the oldest shop here in Manila that sells Filipino products. They have Barong, Baro't Saya, food from different provinces, keychain, Capiz products, figurines, fans, and many more.

Since we only have 20 minutes to visit 3 places ( at our own pace : Maria Colosa, Teroso and Lotus Hotel), we spent our 5 minutes here to discover the products. There are many interesting product that I'm sure tourists would really love. 

As for the lotus hotel, I have no picture there. Also, I didn't fully understand at first why we were there. I though it's a sponsorship part of the tour, where they would promote their hotel. It turns out, that their art decoration there is beautiful. We didn't have time to appreciate these things. 

Visit Solidaridad Bookstore

This is a bookstore beside Ibarra's Garden. I haven't been here, but I saw a post from Carlos Celdran about the book "Altar of Secrets" by Aries Rufo. This book is usually out of stock if you go to the local bookstores.

Unfortunately, the bookstore was closed. Mr. Carlos Celdran visited this store a day prior to the viva manila tour. They said, they would be open for the tour group of Mr. Celdran. The lady wearing purple ( behindi Mr. Celdran), is very funny.

Not the exact statements, but it goes something like this (translated to english):

Mr. Celdran: They said, they would be open for us. It's already 4:05PM. I even bought a book here yesterday.

Woman wearing purple shirt: Oh they would be open at around 5......

Me: (hoping that it would open....)

Woman: 5 in the morning ( 5:00 AM, the next day)

Me: (laugh)

Because of this unfortunate event, we would then go to Hizon's.

Visit a famous bakery: Hizon's

As far as I can remember, Hizon's is inside Za's Cafe, in front of a "Collezione" store. They sell ensaymada from 85 pesos to 130 pesos. There are 2 sizes ( big and small)

Ensaymada: Quezo de Bola

Quezo de Bola Ensaymada is worth 130 pesos(Big) and 95 pesos(Small)

Ensaymada Cheese is worth 115 pesos(Big) and 85 pesos(Small)

According to the lady there, Quezo de Bola is their popular brand. However, when I tasted the ensaymada, I can't distinguish how is it so special compare to local Ensaymada brand. I might not buy another ensaymada there because it's a bit pricey.

Visit HIRAYA Gallery 

Hiraya Gallery Signage

This is my favorite part of the tour. The paintings being featured on the first floor is from an artist in Batanes, Philippines. I think his idea is about how art now a days are being under appreciated or soon be removed from the picture. 

It's  about the Spolarium at the National Museum

2nd floor painting. I don't know the artist.

These paintings are very catchy to the eyes and I love the meaning behind it. I also agree to the owner of the gallery, she said, one of the prerequisite into being a painter is your capacity to draw. The art would serve as an avenue for the artist to express his ideas for the audience to learn something from it. I am not totally against color splattering artworks, but I am a huge fan of paintings like these.

Free Pika-Pika food from JadeVine c/o Manila City Hall

We were offered by iced tea, coffee, tacos and sandwiches c/o of Manila City Hall Mayor Erap Estrada and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno. I didn't expect to have free food since this is a Free tour. Just to be part of a tour, where Mr. Celdran is the tour guide, is what I look forward from this tour. The free food is a bonus in this tour. 

Beef Tacos = DELICIOUS!

My favorite food, is the Beef Tacos. I swear, the food is really delicious. It has a mexican taste, and not spicy. I like the cheese topping because it gives a bit of balance to the saltiness of the beef. I like the classy presentation of it because of it's bite-size type. I ate 4 beef tacos and 2 sandwiches (Cheese Pimiento and Mayo & Egg spread). 

Visit Miramar Hotel for their Art Deco 

After the yummy food, we visit this hotel to see the different art decorations that they have. This time, I understood that, it's not a sponsorship perk, why we are visiting the different rooms in a hotel. This hotel is along Roxas Boulevard. 

One of my favorite rooms in Miramar hotel, because it's too spacious. and I believe, this is the most expensive room. It has a living room and a bar. The paintings/art deco are all over the hotel. You can see some from the staircase, hallways, rooms, and function rooms. 

This hotel is where Carlo Celdran stayed when the 9-11 event happened. He was watching the news at his room.

After the Miramar tour, Gawad Kalinga offered us a drink. It is the Bayani Brew, made from GK Enchanted Farm.

It was a great way to quench our thirst from the 2 hour walk tour.  There were two flavors, and I picked the yellow one. I personally, don't want how the pink one taste, but my friend loves it. It's a healthy drink, and there are many ingredients involve in each drink. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH GK FOR THIS ONE! 

Group Picture in Luneta/ Rizal Park

A great way to end the viva manila tour, is to visit our national hero's monument. Mr. Carlos want to point out in this part how beautiful Luneta is. However, a Real estate company is building a condominium that would ruin the background of Luneta because the building is 50 stories high. As of now, you'll be able to see the crane building the condominium one by one. 

Group picture with my HS friends

Soon, there would be a building behind this magnificent monument.

We were encouraged by Mr. Celdran to sign a petition to limit the height of the condominium so that, it would not destroy the Luneta Park view. I agree to this cause because we only have very few tourist spot in the Manila, and we want to preserve it. So i signed, the petition.

If you want to sign in the petition, here is the link:

http://www.change.org/petitions/no-to-dmci-s-torre-de-manila-project

I really enjoyed the whole trip. I'm looking forward for his next VIVA Manila tour. I hope it would be around Binondo and Quiapo Area.

Enjoy reading! ^_^

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Viva Manila: A Carlos Celdran Downtown Tour

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Carlos Celdran is Filipino tour guide, cultural activist and performer artist (from Wikipedia). I would agree to this. I attended his tour and he was a great tour guide. I am supporting his petition about the Torre being built that would destroy the beauty of Rizal Park. Lastly, I saw him sing a song at the Miramar hotel. He is very famous for his Rabbit Ears headband.

Reminders from Mr. Celdran at MMDA Safety Park

He has been offering tours to the people, both foreigners and locals, to appreciate the beauty and rich culture of the Philippines. Some of his famous tours are: Intramuros Tour, Binondo Tour, Imelda CCP Tour.

We joined the 2^nd Viva Manila Tour last September 8, 2013. Although it rained, it doesn’t stop us to continue the tour and enjoy the magnificent downtown manila. We had a walk tour around Padre Faura, Malate, U.N Avenue, Roxas Blvd. and Ermita. You will learn a lot of fun facts from Carlos. It’s a FREE TOUR, which makes it more FUN.

We discovered this free tour in his Fan Page in Facebook. Here is a sample post that he has.

Some of the facts, I remembered:

1. Imelda Marcos established MMDA. She’s the Queen of MMDA ( Acts like a governor)
2. MMDA top position is not as important as before. (Janitor of the mayors)
3. Imelda is the brain of why Edsa existed.
4. She’s also responsible for the commercialization of the Harrison Park.
5. Ermita was named after the word HERMIT ( I forgot why, forgive me)
6. Carlos lived at the Miramar Hotel and watched the 9-11 news there.

JadeVine's Sign for our tour group 

The flow of the VIVAMANILA Downtown Manila Tour

Visit and educate yourself at the MMDA Safety Park 

Jeepney Ride to Mabini St.

Visit an art museum ( Maria Closa: Arts Primities Antiques)

Visit a 1945 store (Tesoro’s)Visit a Hotel [Lotus]

Visit Solidaridad Bookstore ( unfortunately, the store owner didn’t open for us)

Visit a famous bakery – Hizon’s

Visit HIRAYA Gallery

Free Pika-Pika food from JadeVine c/o Manila City Hall

 Visit Miramar Hotel for their Art Deco 

Group Picture in Luneta/ Rizal Park

My Latest Luneta Pic without any building behind.

  

The whole trip lasted for 3 hours, but it was really worth it. You’ll appreciate how beautiful Manila is. I fell in love with the rich cultural heritage that still exists. After the trip, it made me realize that there are still more places to visit around Manila. I hope that more people can visit these places.

I can't hide my happiness because Carlos Celdran re tweeted, favorited and liked my photo in Twitter and Instagram :) I know he's the admin of his own account and not just any person. :)

I will post our experiences for each destination we been to throughout this trip. I would just like to share to you a glimpse of what a VIVA Manila tour is. Watch out for the next Viva Manila tour on the 3rd week of October.

Enjoy!

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Things to bring in Boracay

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Hi there! I have this post in my other account. Well i'm just inspired to share to you all, the things i bring in Boracay that maximized my vacation there! :D


Boracay is known for their white sand beaches, awesome sunsets and different water sports adventure.
You must know what are the things that you should pack in your Backpack :)

So whenever you are going out of town/country, Create a checklist.


  What's on my checklist?
  The usual stuff:
1. Set of clothes
2. Toiletries
3. Medicine
4. Plastic Bags ( for used clothes)
5. Towel
6. Flashlight ( during teambuildings only)
7. Whistle ( if like Hiking or what)

To fully maximize your beach experience, here are my suggested list of materials that you should bring with you :)

1. Sunscreen/ Sunblock 

Why do you need this? 

• It can decrease the chances that you'll get sunburn :)
• You can prevent Skin cancer cause by UV rays.  #creepy 

About SPF: 

The SPF number that you can see, doesn't imply the effectiveness of a Sunblock from blocking the UV rays. Some people may say, that the higher the SPF number, the effective it is. 

The SPF( Sun Protection Factor) - is actually a multiplier stuff, say your skin can take 10 minutes before it gets red from direct sunlight, then you have a sunblock that has 30 SPF, so 10mins x 30 = 300mins. That's the number of minutes that your sunblock will remain effective :)

Trivia told to me by my friend: 
After being exposed to direct sunlight, when your skin gets red ----> It's hard for you to get dark
Else, if your skin gets dark right away, then It's easier for you to get dark. 

Please buy one before going to beach, coz they are quite overpriced, when it comes to sunblocks :)
I saw there that their BANANA BOAT 80 SPF is 495 pesos.


2. Sunglasses

Why do you need this?

• It will protect your eyes from UV rays
• Comfortable to the eyes ( doesn't let your eyes see too much brightness)
• It's fashionable :)

Does your sunglasses perfect for the shape of your face?
Oval shaped Faces - Most style will work for you
Rounder Faces - Avoid Round Frames, but rather straight or angular shapes
Square Faces - Slightly rounded frames will do
Triangular Faces( Broad forehead, narrow chin) - Try a thin rimmed sunglasses :)



3. Waterproof Bag

Why do you need this? 

• It will not let your things get wet, while having fun in the beach :)
• It's light

I didn't bring one, when we went to Boracay. On the day of our Island hopping, I am forced to buy one from a store near our hotel. The salesman said, the bag costs around Php 100.00. I tried to haggle it for like 50-80 pesos, but he didn't lower the price. 

I bought this thing, because i remembered in one bazaar that, something similar to this, costs around 120/pc. 

Given that fact, plus the Boracay being imprinted in that bag, made me decide to buy 1. :)

4. Waterproof Camera

Why do you need this? 

• You can have underwater shots
• You can bring it with you in the beach, pool, etc. 
• You would capture all your fun moments ;)
• These kind of cameras have dust proof, shock proof, Freeze proof also 

I have a Sony TX-10, after reading several blogs and posts about which camera to choose. I picked this one. :) actually, I used a site recommended to me by one of my favorite blogsite for gadgets :) 

Try this link, they would compare cameras you choose. 

Visit Snapsort.

We actually bought this camera for our Boracay trip, and yeah! It is worth it! :D

What made me decide to buy this camera? 

• Cheap compare to other waterproof camera.
• Easy to use
• They have this feature where it's easy to change settings (Gourmet, Beach, Fireworks, Snow, etc. )
• They also have this panorama shooting, 3D and burst shot ( up to 10 pics)
• It can also record an HD video 
• My favorite: YOU CAN EDIT THE IMAGE RIGHT AWAY ( Crop, Paint , etc. )

I seriously, LOVE USING THE CAMERA! :D

5. Body Bag

Why do you need this?

• So you can still carry you valuable items with you, even if you are wearing a Board shorts (w/o pockets)
• You can bring a lot of stuff with you( wallet, camera, cellphone, Itouch, etc.)
• Light and Handy

This is the bag that I used in our Borcay trip. 

Inside my bag, I have these following items with me :

• Cellphone
• Itouch
• Wallet
• Monopod
• Ice Breaker Candy ( Try This!) 
• Waterproof Camera

There! I have those things near to me, so that if i need to take a pic on something, call someone, Listen to my favorite song, buy something. 

You may say, that it might be heavy? 
-> you can pack light! :) On my 2nd day, I removed the following items, wallet, Monopod, Candy and Itouch :) Instead of using a wallet, i just got my cash instead :)

6. Monopod

For me, a monopod is something you must have in order for all of you to be in the picture :)

Why do you need this?

• Everyone can join the picture
• It's lighter compared to Tripod
• Smaller - easy to carry
• You can rotate it, up to 180 degrees

We'll I ordered my monopod a day before our trip, I got it for Php 850.00 from sulit :)

I was actually choosing between an 850 pesos worth of Monopod, or the 1300 pesos worth of Monopod w/ accessories ( it can stand alone). 

What made me decide to buy the 850 pesos one:

• It's cheaper
• Stainless over Aluminum (aluminum metal corrode faster)
• Meeting place is near my area, the other one is in Makati/Ortigas ( i forgot)

Where to Buy?

• Travel Club ( 400, 600 and 1300 worth of Monopod)
• Online Stores 

**photos are taken from my other blog :>

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