Attraversiamo 2012: 13th Leg Destination Ilocos Sur and Norte

We've planned and saved for this for a long time. We made it happen! Here's an account of the places, food and experiences we gained from this trip.

Places

1. Pagudpud Beach- be captured by the serenity and beauty of its white sands and clear water.  Pagudpud is tagged by some as the 'Boracay of the North".

This side of the beach gives you a view of the Bangui Windmills.

Pagudpud Beach also serves as a source of income to around 935 fishermen (as of 2011, in Pagudpud alone) according to the Provincial Agricultural Office of Ilocos Norte.

2. Kapurpurawan Rock Formation- Kapurpurawan is an Ilokano term which means "pagkaputi-puti". It refers to whiteness, which is the nature of this rock formation. It is found in Burgos.

Aside from the aesthetic beauty of this rock formation, you will be more amazed by the view around it. The cold breeze, fresh air and strong waves from the West Philippine Sea make the experience worth telling.

3. Bangui Windmill - This isn't my first time to see this place but it made no difference. It is astounding as it was the first I saw it. You see it from afar and as you go nearer, the excitement builds up.

These windmills generate electricity while reducing the greenhouse gas effects that cause global warming. Ain't that A-mazing?!

4. San Agustin Church - This church is considered as one of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines and is a World UNESCO Heritage Site (just like the Church of Miag-o in Iloilo).

5. Shrine of Our Lady of Charity - A Parish in Bantay, Ilocos Sur built in 1590.

6. Bantay Bell Tower - just a few steps away from the Bantay Parish, you will find this bell tower below.

7. Vigan - Like Paoay Church, Vigan is also cited as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Recently, Vigan was, yet again, recognized by UNESCO as a model of best practices in World Heritage site management, at the occasion of the 40th anniversary in of the World Heritage Convention. (Reference: UNESCO)

This photo was taken two years ago.

8. Marcos Museum and Mausoleum - Marcos Museum showcases memorabilia of the rich life of former President Ferdinand Marcos, and his first Lady, Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

Cameras are not allowed in the Mausoleum where you can find the preserved remains of Marcos inside a glass.

Experiences

1. Food - We work around a certain budget every time we travel. This means we plan not just our experiences and fares, we also plan our food expenses. Traveling to Ilocos Norte from Manila and then moving to Ilocos Sur can be a bit expensive. We opted to going for home-cooked meals - affordable, safe and oh so delicious!

This SPECIAL ICE CANDY sold by Ate MJ in Kapurpurawan Stone Formation is indeed special. It costs P15 a piece. She even apologized for it. She explained that it was expensive because it is special. With the time and effort she had to put into making it, selling it and walking to that area? P15- is not enough.

We also tried this Macy's Diner when we got to Ilocos Sur.

We are not leaving Ilocos without trying the famous Batac Empanada.

Empanada Special costs P35 each. You can already enjoy your empanada with egg and longanisa.

2. New Things - a travel is never a travel without new experiences and these are a few of them.

The owner of our accommodation brought us to this for place for an errand. I didn't know it will give me a chance to feed this cute little creature. He did well. This small branch of leaves just took him two minutes to consume. Those two minutes gave me a certain sense of fulfillment that I may not ever get again.

We enjoyed using this pump as our water source.

I finally got a chance to get on a calesa. I'll probably not to do it again. It was too bad that the horse carrying this calesa was thin and looks sickly that watching it made the trip a long agony for me.

I got to talk to the kutsero, what we call the one who 'drives' the horse. I asked him how often the horse gets a bath, water, food and a horseshoe replacement, or at least how often the hooves are trimmed. He gave me safe and indirect answers and I could tell from our conversation that he doesn't own it. It is probably owned by someone who also owns the other calesas. Mang Kutsero seem to be a decent man who earns around P300 a day. I really hope the calesa owners become more responsible in handling these horses who give them money and bring food to their table.

Although the kutsero showed me how he fed and gave water to the horse on our first stop, I had to cut the trip short. I couldn't take it. I paid him more than agreed. I may be wrong doing it but I did tell him to take care of Kate very well. Kate is the name of the horse which I asked even before asking his name.

(You will find this in my RIDE SERIES soon.)

Jem, Sugar and I have already been to Vigan two years ago. It was Thel's first.

3. Old Things - Some good things never last. All throughout the trip, we never get tired of talking and talking and learning. In fact, even in our silent moments, I'd say we were learning.

4. Travel - A lot of our time during this vacation was spent traveling. Look at these figures:

Manila to Pagudpud (Night Trip)             - 12 hours
Pagudpud to Paoay                                -   4 hours
Paoay to Vigan                                       -   2 hours
Paoay to Manila                                     -  12 hours

These hours do not include our short trips to the other tourist spots we've been through like Bangui and Kapurpurawan.

5. Family

Family's family is family. This is exactly how Jem's family has treated us during our stay in Ilocos Sur. The accommodation was warm and friendly. Here's a photo with three of his cousins.

This is a short trip to Bangui Windmills Pasalubong Center where we bought ref magnets for friends and family.

6. God's Faithfulness

How often do you see a rainbow from end to end during a travel? 

7. Friendship

 I have traveled with the same friends in the past but we never seem to get tired of it. Every new and old things we discover in any of our travels was made more special because of each other.

 You see, this travel wasn't a walk in the park. There were mishaps, wrong moves, unexpected turn of events, heated discussions and a lot of disagreements. Surprisingly, I found it as the 'balance' I was looking for.

Before I left for this trip, I placed this travel quote on my Facebook wall.

"You lose sight of things...and when you travel, everything balances out." - Daranna Gidel

I can't wait to obtain balance once again.

And I did. This travel showed me all sides of things, experiences and beliefs and where I am in all of it. It taught me that there's more to what I believe is right. I learned that as we try to look at things around us in a very positive way, there are also those things and dilemmas that are worth losing sleep over.

Our choices were tested and what we are made of. We came out victors in all of it. And although we will not be able to talk about it freely on this entry, the lessons we learned from it will forever be tattooed in our minds and serve as a reminder of the balance we need to maintain to both live and survive.

Photos credits:

Fox Llante

Jem Aznar

Sugar Canto

Thel Suliva

Attraversiamo 2012: 11th Leg Destination Tarlac

Life in the city can get to you at some point - noise, business, fast-pace life and loads of work. We decided to go to Tarlac, visit Thel's family and enjoy a very simple weekend.With the very warm hospitality from Thel's family and the warm fatherly accommodation we got from her Dad, the stay was awesome.

We went to the nearest farm, got ourselves a big pitcher of fresh buko juice, watched the farm animals and enjoyed our time like we're never going back to Manila. Ha!

Prior to this travel, we've gone to Boracay. I never get tired of traveling. We never get tired. It keeps us alive. It makes us want for more. It calls us back because it is who we are.

THANK YOU, Other Group of People

Thanksgiving Day!

I was trying to figure out what to write today. I wanted to take the opportunity to thank people who have been a great part of my life and use the holiday as an excuse to be a little mushy. Ha!

I changed my mind. I remembered a scene from a TV show I used to watch when I was younger, Dawson's Creek.

Abbie Morgan, infamous for being a first class bully (bully, i tried to use a term that sounds a little better) to almost everyone, died. One of her favorite subjects of ridicule is Andie Macphee. Ironically, Andie was chosen, more like pushed, to give eulogy at Abbie's funeral. These are her words:
 

There are people in my life who give me comfort. When the going gets tough, as it invariably does, I can count on them for a shoulder to cry on. They will lift me up when I fall. They will hold me in their arms as I cry and tell me, "Everything's going to be okay." I am so thankful for those people. They are priceless.

But there is another group of people, just as important, just as priceless. They are the people who challenge me, who push me to the breaking point and force me to muster courage I never thought I had...

Like Andie, I am more than grateful to all those who never get tired of lifting me up. But at this point in my life, I'd say I am equally grateful to those who have put me down.

From the teachers who have embarrassed me in class, to those who fought me at my back, to those who did not believe in what I can do, to those who betrayed my trust, to those who broke my heart, to those who discouraged me, to those who maltreated me, to those who made me cry, to those who caused me to hit rock bottom... my list can go on and on.

You have all made me the person I am today. You all became my teachers.  In those moments that I was hurting because of you I never failed to tell myself, "Am supposed to learn from you."

THANK YOU.


Photo taken from this link.

Warning! For Adults Only (The Second Coming of Age)

Image not mine. I don't want to know where this image really came from. It might lead me to unwanted links.

(This entry is a sequel to an old writing I entitled Coming of Age.)

I am of legal age. Scratch that! I have been enjoying my legal rights for a while now. Law and Science consider me as an ADULT. But I asked myself today, Am I really an adult?, in the real sense of the word beyond its legal and scientific meaning?

Many times I have disillusioned myself that I know better than others. Being a very open and opinionated person that I am, I am usually very direct talking about my side of the story. In most cases, I find myself on the right side of the table. In some, I am in the wrong one. In some, I find myself still on the right side of the table but, for some reason, I am hanging by a thread. My opinion, no matter how right it sounds, doesn't feel like it goes down easy.

A month ago, I got into a situation where I made two people talk hoping they could fix things and put a closure on whatever misunderstanding they had and move on. One party did not show up. I got frustrated because I did not understand why one adult will not take that rare chance. I mean what is there to hide? I thought it was utterly wrong because I am used to expressing how I feel freely. If I have issues with my friends, I keep the lines open and send the message across in the most reasonable way which is to talk.

As a result, I wrote this status on Facebook.

And a different scenario akin to the first - 

Although there is, indeed, a lot of truth in it, it is also good to turn the table and see through people. It happened to me. I was brought to the other side without my consent, of course! The side where handling conflicts in my adult version way doesn't feel right at all. I did not come to terms with the issues and I failed my own standard of adulthood and got a dose of my own medicine.Although I generally still want to handle conflicts head-on, my mindset changed. I came to age.

Another one -

 
I got fed up hearing complaints about feeling out of place. I found it difficult to understand because I thought the solution was easy - involve yourself. Until I got my own cold treatment. It was painful to involve yourself and make your voice and presence counted only to be ignored and wiped out of the scenario. There must be a valid reason why people would shut their door on you and I respect that. But one thing is for sure, it was extremely painful especially if it is coming from the person you least expect it would. Imagine traveling with someone, getting into an argument, then going to the rest room only to find out he left you on your own when you came back. That's the feeling! It can be excruciating!
 
I can enumerate many more instances that humbled me in a million ways. Sides where I found myself surprisingly accepting of the reasons behind it.

I wonder, do we really reach adulthood in the real sense of the word beyond its legal and scientific meaning? Can someone really say, I am an adult? Can we really say we become better adults if we can't even say we are already adults?

There is more to adulthood than age, license, privilege to vote, emancipation or legal rights. Adulthood goes deeper than any of those. It is something that you aim for without an end. We age but we don't really become adults or better adults. We learn with age. It's like a pursuit. Maybe we are not meant to attain adulthood. Maybe we are destined to just pursue it until our last breath.

We just become older and wiser but can never really call ourselves an adult. Because only an adult can talk about being an adult. And will all these realizations, no one measures up.

What if i just give up my pets?

I would lie if I say that it did not ever cross my mind.

I live on my own. While there are a number of perks in living independently, there are also struggles. While you do not have to deal with anyone going up in your grill, you also have to deal with the idea that everything will depend on your own actions. If you don't cook, you won't eat. If you don't clean up, you'll go home dead tired and pissed off arriving at an untidy crib. If you don't do the laundry, you won't have anything to wear. The list can go on and on.

I have two pets - Maxee and Champ. Maxee was rescued and Champ was adopted from an animal shelter. I used to share the responsibility of taking care of them until I had to take over and own it. As adorable as they are, it's not all skittles and melodies and rainbows.

MAXEE - a Siamese.

CHAMP - a PUSPIN

You cannot be too tired when you get home even if you really are. You have to attend to the needs of your furry companions because they can't do that for themselves. There are times when all I want to do is to lay on my bed and sleep. I can't do that. On top of the usual house chores, I have to clean the litter box, give them a hair groom, clean the feeding dishes and give them food and fresh water. If I'm lucky, I'd still be sleepy after all the action, I manage to sleep right away. In most cases, I find myself doing something else because I just lost my sleepiness.

The party doesn't end there. For the last two years now, I've struggled looking for a place where pets are allowed. I have found affordable, nice, convenient places for myself only to be rejected because of my pets. I have attempted, many times, to explain that my cats live indoor, are litter box trained, well-fed and vaccinated. Some did not even understand a word I said. Sadly, their picture of a cat is like that one they see on the streets - dirty, thin, tick infested and steals food. There were even times when I regretted not bringing photos to show them they don't look like that at all. There's even one who showered me with questions as if I was into some kind of witchcraft for getting animals to live with me. I immediately dismissed considering her as an option. I can already imagine her questioning the colors I will wear every day.

When you're a successful, single, professional female who decided not to settle down yet but have been given a privilege to make a difference in the life of one small soul by adopting or rescuing a cat, you know that you can be lined up as a candidate to the 'Crazy Cat Lady' title regardless if you chose to settle with just two to ensure you can afford it and that you do not cut corners in any angle. Even if you travel a lot, do charity work, engage yourself in church activities, go out almost every day, and maintain really great friends, there will be a number of self-righteous homo sapiens who will box you into someone who does not have a social life. I do not understand what's crazy about rescuing a thin, almost lifeless cat from the street and giving it another chance at life even if it cannot thank you in words you will understand. I do not understand what's crazy about adopting a Filipino cat from an animal shelter to free up one space for another animal in distress out there. I do not understand why buying a foreign breed animal from a pet shop comes across as a cooler choice. I have a Siamese and a native and I tell you both are capable of giving the same amount of affection.

Young CHAMP

Getting a pet isn't easy. It will turn your life around. Giving them up can make my life so convenient in a snap. But every time it crosses my mind, I make a decision to keep them. We cannot let people (and animals) into our lives and then give up on them the moment we see a chance to or when times get rough. We gotta keep goin'!

I don't give up on people (and animals) as long as they don't give up on me. I will not give up on my pets. And I don't think they will ever give up on me.