A Recap of My 2014

2014 had been a great year to me in terms of travel and adventure. We’ve been out for almost every month of the year enabling me to get some respite from work, bond with friends and love ones and rejuvenate my energy to face the demands of my job.

First off, we started the year with a climb in the majestic peak of Mt. Pinatubo in January together with Kuya Ja & ate Pearl, Jex & Jean, Rick & Antoi.

February was spent TWICE in the north. First was around valentine weekend in Baguio together with Rafi’s folks followed by another trip to the Mountain Province, specifically in Sagada together with Andeng, Tin and Biteng. 

LOWCAL also had a quick trip at Bataan where we enjoyed the shores of Westnuk Resort.

March was Bruhildas initiation in Baler. It was my second trip to the place but it was our first trip there as a trio. And it fanned everyone’s desire to do surfing again and again and again. So it wasn’t the first and only trip to Baler that we did for the year.

April was spent in the beautiful islands of Calaguas in Camarines Norte, where we stayed for two nights. On our last day, we had a side trip in Bagasbas where I did a bit of surfing again. :D

In April, the company where I work also treated us to an overnight stay in Pico Sands in Batangas. 

May was spent in the beaches of Padre Burgos in Quezon, one of which is the famed Borawan, together with Lowcal.

In June, Rafi, Andeng, Tina and Biteng gathered together again for another road trip in Subic. We went to Zoobic Safari and Clark this time around.

July was supposed to be spent discovering the Seven Lakes of San Pablo City and Liliw but work commitments and typhoon halted the plans so we moved it to August instead.

Also in August, I convinced Rafi that we spend the long weekend on a trip to a destination less travelled. And so we packed our things and braved the buses going up north to explore what Quirino Province has to offer. 

In September, the girls went to Baler again to satisfy our craving for surfing, this time with Peiglet.  This time around, we went to the breathtaking Dicasalarin Cove. There’s always something new to see in Baler! Plus the great food - Baler longganisa, Kusina Luntian's liempo and paco salad! I'm drooling every time I remember it. I just hope they get to serve food faster next time. ;)

In October, we got to travel twice up north again. First was with Lowcal in Ilocos Region and it felt awesome to go back to the place that sparked my interest to travel to other Philippine destinations. It was also great to see that there are more windmills now than when we first went there. Pagudpud however is not the same pristine and virgin strip of beach that I remember it to be.  But I was still happy that I got to try surfing here, and was able to do a couple of long rides despite the challenging waves.

One of the brightest, greatest highlight of my 2014 was when we finally got the chance to travel to Batanes, one of the ultimate travel destinations in my list – precisely because not everyone is able to go here due to its isolation, expensive transportation and unpredictable weather. What’s more awesome was that we stayed there for a week, enabling us to be laid back for 7 days but still do a bit of adventure as we went to Itbayat, the northernmost inhabited island of the Philippines. We were told that not everyone who visits Batanes is as courageous as us to brave the waves getting there and some are also not as lucky as us since others get stranded in the island for a few days due to bad weather.

November was spent again in Baler (my fourth time overall, and third time this year) with Andeng to celebrate her 27^th birthday.

December was the most travelled month as we went to three destinations. First was in Taal Pusod Conservation Center to spend my birthday weekend. There is always joy and beauty to be found in simple things. No grandiose hotel accommodation nor luxurious food. But it makes for a perfect place to contemplate on things and be more grateful about all the blessings I received as I get a year wiser, sexier and prettier. ;)

Second for December was La Union with Bruhildas to satisfy our surfing craving again before we bid adieu to 2014. 

Finally, we went to Tagaytay with the whole family as part of our annual Christmas / year-ender tradition.

And as last hirit for the year, Lowcal celebrated our annual Christmas get-together in  Parque Espana in Alabang with games, exchange gifts and of course, lamon-galore. :)

ON OTHER THINGS THAT MATTERED IN 2014 :)

HOME

I have started refurbishing our tiny home in QC. The loft now has its wall. The stairs have already been wood-ified. Shelf for entertainment set has already been mounted as well as kitchen shelf. Next project is to paint and install tiles, to be continued this year.

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

This year was a better one for the company. I’m glad that our stress and occasional sleepless night had finally paid off this year. Thus, we can smell bonus come summertime of 2015. Yay!!! :) What’s also great is that, I am able to change my attitude now, thanks to workmates/friends who made working in an ever stressful environment more bearable. I am not the whiner type and I tend to work on my own but having people to share sentiments with from time to time is a good way to relieve me of any heavy feeling I may have at any point in time at work. These people also helped me to view things in a more positive light. Regardless, I still hope that 2015 at work will still be kinder, less stressful and filled with more blessings.

Add to this the small rewards and surprises that I received towards the end of the year. Happiness calendar entry and 70-day challenge participation come to mind. :)

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2015

2014 will be quite difficult to top in terms of travel and adventure but I am hoping that my 2015 will still be filled with adventure. As of this writing, we already have two international destinations lined up for the year. So we’re currently saving up and preparing our visa for these trips. I am praying that the weather, political situations, etc in these destinations would all be conducive for travel. I am also hoping to be able to scratch at least two new provinces off my Philippine map.

I also aim to lose weight this year as I have gained so much weight in the past two years. Specifically, I wish to be at least 110lbs again this year. Declaring this, so I get more pressured to fulfill it! :P I wish to be stronger and fitter too, so I can stand up that surf board with more ease and grace the next time I go surfing. Hence, I will combine diet and active lifestyle to make this happen. Perhaps I should add running a 10k this year. Why not? J

Also, we got to save up for that car and wedding in the next 1-2 years.

Finally, go deeper and stronger in faith and prayer and thankfulness to the Lord this year.

May 2015 be more awesome, travel-filled, healthier and fitter, more abundant for everyone this year. J

Travelling to Quirino Province: Another Philippine Destination Waiting to be Explored

I recently included being able to visit all the 81 provinces of the Philippines in my bucket list. Having this goal means I would also need to go to off-the-beaten destinations. This is the reason behind my decision to go to Quirino Province to make the most of the long weekend last August 21-25.

As a pastime, I like reading travel blogs and planning my own itinerary whenever we plan to travel. I tried doing the same for this trip but found that there are very few articles written about traveling to this place.  In fact, I have encountered a lot of people giving me a blank stare or asking me, “where is that?” or “what’s in there?” when I told them I’d be going to Quirino Province with Rafi. I couldn’t blame them though because Quirino Province is really not a popular tourist destination (just yet). Good thing though, the provincial website of Quirino posted contact details of their tourism office so I decided to contact them directly to help me plan the trip. Kuya Ian Nicolas was the one who helped me plan our itinerary for our two days and two nights of stay in their place.

Here’s a recount of those two awesome days that we spent in the province of Quirino.

GETTING THERE

August 20, 2014

Rafi and I planned to travel at night so we can start our tour the following day. We wanted to take the 8pm trip to Maddela via Five Star. We arrived at the terminal 10 minutes before 8 only to find out that no trip was going to Maddela that day and that the next trip would be 8pm the following day. I did not lose hope just yet as I know that there are other buses traveling up north. We could try to get into one of those trips and still arrive in Maddela morning the following day. So we went to Victory Liner in Kamias since they have several trips to Santiago and Tuguegarao. Unfortunately, we were told that the trips are already full and that we could line up as chance passengers. However, the queue was too long and we might not still be able to get into any bus until midnight. I was already thinking of ditching Quirino and going to the beach instead, particularly Baler or Zambales or even La Union. I told Rafi we should check out Genesis bus. The queue was short, however, when I tried contacting accommodations in Baler, I was told that they were already fully booked until August 24. My heart was almost crushed. I called kuya Ian to inform him that we might not be able to make it to Thursday and we’d catch the 8pm trip the following day. But he suggested that we travel in the morning instead, take the 7am trip so we could reach Quirino in the afternoon, take a rest and proceed with our tour Friday. That sounded like a good idea to me so my hopes were revived once more.

I also have apprehensions in the beginning because I thought travelling directly to this place is not as easy as travelling to other destinations in the northern part of the Philippines (e.g. Baguio, La Union, Tuguegarao or Santiago City). But then, I was wrong again. This experience taught me that there are at least two ways by which one could reach Quirino Province:

a.    You could ride a bus traveling directly to Maddela. These would include Five Star Bus, Florida (a.k.a. Dangwa) Bus, or Nelbusco. One way fare would cost you P489.00.

b.    You could also travel via buses going to Santiago, Isabela or Tuguegarao, Cagayan but get off at Cordon, Isabela. From here, you could ride a van going to Maddela. Fare from Cordon to their capitol in Cabarroguis costs P25.

You’d know you’re in Cordon when you see this junction.

When we arrived at the Capitol after nine hours of traveling, we met with kuya Ian who gave us a brief orientation, introduced us to his colleagues in the tourism office and showed us to our accommodation, the Abrasa MPC Hotel. We had a few hours of rest before we decided to head out for dinner in Palm Restaurant.

PLACES TO SEE

Day 1 – Trip to Nantugao Falls and Sinipit Falls

Day 1 was devoted to trekking two waterfalls. We left our accommodation at 8am, travelled for about 30 minutes going to Barangay Baguio Village in Diffun, Quirino, where we started our trek. It took us about an hour and a half to reach Nuntagao Falls including two rest stops.

Kuya Ian and Kuya Chris prepared our lunch while we enjoyed dipping in the cold water of Nantugao Falls. There is no basin though in Nantugao but you can bathe from one of the cascades.

A few minutes before 2pm, we started our trip down to Sinipit Falls. The cascade of Sinipit Falls was shorter than Nantugao Falls but bathing here was better than in Nantugao Falls because it has a wider basin.

Kuya Ian enjoying the waters of Sinipit Falls

Kuya Ian and Kuya Chris cut our bathing short when they saw that the clouds above already look dark and heavy. They were worried that the rain might catch us and make the descent more difficult. Indeed, it rained and we had to be more careful going down because the trail was already slippery. The rain drops mixing with my sweat felt refreshing.

We got back to our accommodation before 5 pm, our bodies tired from the day’s activity so we decided to have our dinner early from the panciteria across. 

Pancit Batil Patong

Day 2 

River Boating in Siniit River

I was excited for this trip. I was actually hoping we could do white water rafting but kuya Ian already informed me ahead that they only do river boating as of the moment.

Our starting point was the Bimmapor Rock Formation, named as such because it resembles a ship (bapor). 

Palawan? Nah! This is in Quirino Province :)

The formidable Bimmapor Rock Formation, the starting point of our boat ride

Dropped by this place to take our morning snack :)

After an hour and a half of boating, we took our lunch at the picnic area located at the end point of the boat ride. It is overlooking the bridge connecting Quirino Province to Aurora. From there, we were told that it would take another 3 hours to get to Baler if you have private car.

Spelunking at Aglipay Caves

After lunch, we headed to Aglipay caves. We only entered 4 chambers. Some of the ingress is too narrow requiring us to do a duck walk or enter lying down. Because we were only two, we were allowed to have a view of the secret chamber in Cave 2. Inside there were more rock formation and a wider room and higher dome where more bats live undisturbed.

I was informed that Aglipay cave has 38 more chambers but only 4 is open to the public as the other chambers has still not been explored. This is one of the challenges that the tourism office of Quirino is currently experiencing, as exploring the cave to come up with a map would be costly.

Kuya Ian making his way inside Aglipay Cave Chamber #2

Spelunking in Aglipay Cave marked the end of our tour. We had a trip to catch at 7pm that same day. Kuya Ian and kuya Chris helped us secure a ticket for our trip back to Manila. For our souvenir, we dropped by the place where fossilized flowers where being made. We bought some to bring home. Kuya Chris also took care of buying us tibukoy as additional pasalubong. 

Kuya Ian also opened his home to us so we could change our clothes prior to our trip back and have a place to stay while we wait for 7pm. It is during this time where we got to know our tour guides more personally as we had the chance to chat with their family. Kuya Ian also shared to us the plans to promote Quirino Province as a tourist destination.

During our two day trip to Quirino, I believe that what we have explored is just the tip of the iceberg. From what I heard, there are still a lot of places of interest, activities and eco-destinations in the province waiting to be explored – more waterfalls, caves and many more. For instance, water tubing in Siniit river is now under trial phase and wake boarding park in the Capitol is now being constructed. I really hope that the plans of Quirino Province to promote their province as a tourist destination would prosper and that more Filipinos will know that this beautiful place exists. 

DIY Trip to Seven Lakes of San Pablo + Liliw Side Trip

Another planned quick weekend getaway with my co-corporate slave girlfriends finally pushed through (August 2, 2014). We were supposed to go there two weeks ago but typhoon Glenda has just passed and Berna had to reschedule her fieldwork to CdO over that weekend. The weather finally somehow cleared during our visit although scattered rain showers greeted us from time to time. Grateful also to these friends that they tolerated my “adventurous” quirk, as they initially planned only to visit Liliw to buy shoes.

For posterity’s sake, I’m posting an account of our recent trip to the seven lakes of San Pablo and our side trip to Liliw.

Meet up

Liaa and I met at McDo Buendia around 7:30 am. As expected, Berna was late. We should really put a bet next time. Mahuli manlilibre ng lunch. Hahaha! 

She arrived before 8:30am and by that time, Liaa and I were already in the bus. 

The trip took us about 2 hours to reach San Pablo. We alighted at Jollibee near Medical. There, we waited for Kuya Aries (mobile number - 0928-877-5839), the tricycle driver whom I contacted to tour us around the seven lakes. Got his number from Mr. Jun Villegas, author of the Smartbackpacker blog. His regular rate is P1000.00 but I haggled to bring it down to P700 to which he agreed. Okay na daw basta matuloy lang. He arrived together with his son Dandan. 

Berna teaching Kuya Aries how to take a picture using Liaa's cam. Dandan the curious one.

Touring the Seven Lakes

1/7  Mohijacap Lake

Our first stop was the Mojicap Lake. To get to this lake, you have to go down a steep concrete trail. It was quite slippery because it had been raining. Dandan accidentally dropped his slipper off the trail, which his papa Aries had to retrieve using a raft. Berna also got herself wounded here as she did not notice that a sharp bamboo was sticking near the corner where she stood. This is my fourth favorite lake.

Mojicap Lake

2/7 Palakpakin Lake

It was effortless to go here – no need to hike our go down a steep trail. You can get to see this along the road, with a concrete bridge as your viewing deck. Looks clean but it is surrounded by residential houses so not quite a beautiful sight to behold.

Palakpakin Lake

3/7 Bunot Lake

Pretty similar to Palakpakin, this one is situated near residential areas.

Bunot Lake

4/7 Calibato Lake

As I said in my IG post, getting here is already an experience in itself. One would need to do a short hike and cross a small stream to see this lake. Tiring but also rewarding. My third favorite of all the seven lakes.

Calibato Lake

5/7 Pandin Lake

This one is the most tourist friendly of all the seven lakes. I think it’s also one of the cleanest. We took our lunch here while riding on a raft. It was my first time to taste pako salad and I loved it. They also served us hilabos and inihaw na tilapia. Quite costly at P360 per head but I’m a supporter of Philippine tourism so go! These communities also need to thrive sustainably so we gotta support them! My favorite of all the seven lakes!

Pandin Lake

6/7 Yambu Lake

Pandin’s Twin Lake. One way to see this is to ride a raft from Pandi Lake and do a short hike. Another route is by going to Nagcarlan. We took the easier and more convenient one – from Pandi Lake. It’s the cleanest and calmest of all the lakes, my second favorite of the seven lakes.

Yambu Lake

 7/7 Sampalok Lake

This is the biggest and the closest to the city center. Before, houses surround the lake but the government was successful enough in rehabilitating the lake and relocating former dwellers. Now, there is a small park were locals and tourists could chill, go biking around and eat street food. This is also where the annual festival is held which includes the balsa regatta. 

However, remnants of dirt and garbage could still be seen if you look up close. But it is not as bad naman as we thought.

Sampalok Lake

We finished our tour of the seven lakes around 4:30pm. We stayed longest at Pandin and Yambo lake as we took our time to eat lunch and relax there for a bit.

En route to Liliw

We then decided to leave for Liliw to buy footwear. From Sampalok, we took a jeep to Liliw / Nagcarlan. It took us about 45 minutes to reach Liliw. There are a lot of stores selling affordable but fashionable footwear. Indeed, it’s a haven for women who are crazy about shoes. :D

This whole strip of road is filled with stores selling footwear.

We capped our day by eating dinner at Arabela. They serve Italian food – pizzas, pastas and steak (is steak Italian? hahah). I loved my spaghettini anchovie. :)

For pasalubong, we wanted to buy yema cake but Liliw bakery did not have any stock left when we came. I bought Pianono instead which my brother and sister liked. 

Finally left San Pablo proper around 8:30pm and arrived in Buendia around 10:30pm. 

It was a tiring but adventure-filled trip, but I guess that's what makes us tick, sanity break that we need from the corporate world.

So here's to more adventure with my bwitches. Baler and Magdalena Laguna, you're next! 

My LAKBAYAN Grade

I have recently added traveling all of the 82 provinces of the Philippines to my bucket list, (well, hopefully before I turn 30)! It's cool that there is this website that helps me keep track of places where I've set my foot on already. I've gotten a B- so far. I have no idea though what it actually stands for, but definitely means more traveling needed I think. 


Here's to more travels soon! :D





My Lakbayan grade is B-!How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!
Created by Eugene Villar.

Sagada Adventure 2014

February has been an awesome month of travel and surprises for me. In an earlier post, I talked about the anniversary weekend surprise that Rafi prepared for me. The following Valentine weekend, we went up to Baguio with his parents on a tour. And on the week following that, we went to a trip to Sagada with my sister and some of her friends.

I am sharing in this blog the details of that cool adventure we had in that part of the Mountain Province.

Day 0

Our trip starts at 10pm of Wednesday at Victory Liner in Cubao. We decided to take the Manila-Baguio-Sagada route since Florida Bus has been suspended several weeks ago due to the tragic crash of one of their buses.

Day 1

The trip to Baguio took about 6 hours. It was smooth and uneventful and we were able to snatch a few hours of sleep along the way. We got off at the Victory Liner terminal in Baguio minutes before 4am. Knowing how busy the station would be on Sunday,  the day of our return to Manila, we decided to book our trip back in advance. Then headed to Dangwa Terminal where the Lizardo bus going to Sagada is stationed.

When we arrived, the ticket booth was still closed and only opened around 15 minutes after 5. Since it was still early, we decided to take our breakfast in a nearby restaurant.

The bus that will bring us to Sagada arrived before 6am. We hop on, although we encountered some problems with the seating arrangement as there were two elderly couples who sat in one of the seats that was assigned to us. But it was settled nevertheless and so our trip began.

There were two bus stops on this trip and I calculated it happens every 2 hours. The sights going to Sagada are breathtaking. However, if you are afraid of heights you may opt to sit on the driver side since the opposite side is on the cliff side..

The trip to Sagada took us another 6 more hours of uneventful and smooth ride (except for when we already reached Sagada, as there were road construction going on).

We went off at the terminal and pulled out my phone to see the map to the Sagada Residential Lodge where we were booked. Rafi read it since I am bad at map orientation.

Ate Angel, one of the caretakers of the lodge, showed us to our room at the basement. We took some rest before going out to eat.

That afternoon, around 3pm, we decided to start touring the place. We hired their van and kuya xxxx of Saggas was our guide.

Echo Valley

We went to the echo valley first – called so because the valley echoes your scream. But on the way up here there were some interesting sights that you could see:

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

Public Cemetery

Hanging Coffins

There was also a team offering rock climbing sessions. I thought that it was a bit pricey though so I did not attempt it.

Lumiang Cave

We also visited the Lumiang Cave – but only up to the mouth, where more coffins could be found. We were told that this is the entrance for the Cave Connection, which is the longer and more difficult type. But since we were tired from the trip, we opted to take the easier one.

Sumaguing Cave

The real highlight of this day was this one. I don’t remember how long this spelunking took us – probably more than two hours. We had to go down steep and slippery path, climb rocks, cross the other side using a rope and endure the cold temperature and water inside the cave. Tiring indeed, but it was worth the thrill and fun that we felt while doing it.

Kuya preparing the light for our tour inside the cave.

Start of the trek inside the cave.

Pic stop. Kakulay ang cave. :))

Day 2

We were supposed to see the sun rise on this day but we were so tired we didn’t want to wake up early. So instead, we decided to just see the Bomod-ok falls on this day.

We started past 9 since we had breakfast a bit late. 

Ate Shiela was our guide. She was very energetic and shared us stories about the culture and tradition of people in Sagada.

She was also gracious in letting us take pictures every now and then and also helped take photos of us. Some proof:

The Fidelisan Rice Terraces

Jump shot that caused the rice field to break. :P

The Bomod-ok Falls from afar :)

We all felt accomplished after reaching this point. :))

It was actually a record trek time. We did it in almost 5 hours, which was the slowest. Hahaha! Well, we did take our time trekking, enjoying the view and the falls. I never mind being slow on this one. :)

Day 3

We were already able to wake up early at 5am this day because we are scheduled to join the sun rise viewing at Kiltepan. So sad though that it was too foggy we were not able to see the sun.

 This was the spot where the sun was supposed to be seen. But a sea of fog covered the area. 

After the trip to Kiltepan, we went back to the lodge to prepare for our trip back to Baguio that afternoon. We went to buy pasalubong before checking out. Our plan was to buy tickets for the 11am trip and have our brunch while waiting. However, when we arrived at 10am, the bus for the 11am trip was already full so we had to wait for the 1pm trip. Got to Baguio in the evening of that day. 

Where to eat when in Sagada?

Yogurt House

My favorite place to eat in all of the places we tried in Sagada. Their yogurt is one of a kind – not like the commercial ones sold in Metro Manila. I even teased Rafi that he should bring me here back again for a food trip. They also serve other delicious meals and is open from breakfast until dinner.

Lemon Pie House

This is Rafi’s favorite. They serve really big servings of meals for very reasonsable prices. We ordered the spicy chicken something and we got two pieces of large chicken meat. I gave my other one to Rafi and he was so happy. Perfect if you’re really starving from your tiresome adventure during the day. :)

Kusina Ysagada

This is my next favorite place. The restaurant had a homey feel, the interior was simple but comfortable. The servers were warm and accommodating and the food was also good. It was here were we learned that there is orange marmalade in Sagada.

Salt and Pepper

The food was good but the interior was not so welcoming. The room was quite dim when we ate here.

Strawberry Café

The worst of all the places we tried in Sagada. The waitresses were so unaccommodating and snob. The food was not really that delicious. Don’t eat here. There are better places to try in Sagada.

St. Joseph’s

We decided to take our last meal in Sagada at St. Joseph's restaurant since it is nearer the bus terminal. The food was okay and the servers were nice, a lot better than Strawberry Cafe.

Note: Photos are not mine. Credits to Joseph Biteng and Cristina Amistad for capturing those moments beautifully. :)

Travel period was February 20-22, 2014. :)