To the end of Luzon and back

We did it! We would mean my insane self, insane husband and insane friends. We went to Pagudpud and were back in Manila 53 hours after. If that is not insanity, I don’t know what else is.

We left Manila at 10PM, Friday. We arrived at Laoag, Fort Ilocandia at around 8AM the next day. We had breakfast and went to the infamous Sand Dunes. I never saw it the first time we went there so going there this time was a treat. It was a really nice place. It was like a desert with grass on it. Hehehe! We also went to the Sinking Bell tower then headed to Pagudpud with a stopover at the lighthouse and wind mills. Our friends were all photographers (One was a professional, check out his site: jps244.multiply.com and the others were can I say novice (?)). So we had these pit stops so they can take their pictures while John and I most of the time stayed in the car and snacked or slept.

We arrived at our resort at around 3-4PM. We went to our separate rooms and attended to our much injured hygiene. John and I (despite of him having 1 hour to no sleep at all) went out of our cave at around 5PM. We might as well make time for things since we really have a very tight time table and I badly need a dip on the beach. God bless my husband for putting up with me and despite the comfort of the bed, still went out with me and explored the beach. We first grabbed a snack, which was a mango crepe at a resort far from ours. We headed back to our resort’s beach front and tested the Pagudpud waters. Ah! The feel of the salty water against my body was so relaxing. I very much needed that. I strongly believe that having a dip in the sea recharges my body. And since I have been working my pretty ass off for the past week, I knew that I deserved that and it was indeed heaven! It was getting a bit chilly at around 6:30PM so I told John that we should probably head back to our rooms. We took a shower and I was in search for dinner. We missed lunch.

We had dinner at around 7:30PM. I would have to say that despite the reviews that food around Pagudpud resorts were pricey, the one we had was pretty reasonable based on price and it was also of good quality. Despite having difficulty due to my previous surgery, I was still able to eat plenty. We then decided to play Taboo since our stomach’s need ample time to digest the feast we just had. It was girls vs boys and what can I say? The girls won both of the games we played. I think we hurt our guy’s egos. We then headed for a much needed sleep since we all are starting to look like we’ve been hit by a train already.

7:45AM, Sunday. Bright and early yet we got out of the comfort of our beds and went to church. One problem though, the mass was in ilokano and the parts of the mass was not in the same order as we came to know. It slipped our tired minds to ask for the schedule of the English mass. Oh well. The weather in Pagudpud last Sunday was a bit unforgiving. It has been raining non-stop from morning until we left for Laoag. We got to visit the “via duct” bridge and Blue Lagoon and had a quick brunch at the resort and were on the road again for Laoag. At Laoag, we went to see Marcos’ remains. Our friends got to see him since my index finger got into a terrible accident.

After Marcos we went to visit Paoay church. That really is a beautiful church. And you know what else makes it more beautiful? The café right across it named Café Herencia. We had pinakbet pizza back then and John and I wanted to have our friends try it too! We also ordered Dinuguan pizza this time. And if we thought the PInakbet Pizza was good, we were blown away by the Dinuguan pizza! It was so good I think each of us can consume a box of our own. We then headed to Vigan for more pictures and food trips.

We arrived at the Vigan bell tower/church at around 5:20PM. They took pictures while John and I had our QT. Hahahaha! After that we headed to the old town and ate empanadas at the town center, bought pasalubongs and they again took pictures. John and I snuck out and got halo-halo from Max’s. Whenever they were busy taking pictures, John and I were also busy eating! Hahahahaha! I saw the grill feast that Café Leona was having. It was pretty interesting. They had like 5 siling pang-sinigang on a stick and it was to be roasted too. Yum! Too bad we can’t try that yesterday but I was told they always have the grill feast every Thursday, Sunday and Monday. I took note of that and promised myself to try it next time.

After all has been eaten, seen and photographed we then headed back to Manila. We arrived at JP’s place 3:30AM. And John and I got home at around 4:20AM. And later, I was in the office by 8. Sigh. It was tiring. I wouldn’t deny that but that was one heck of a very fun road trip! In a small amount of time we have accomplished a lot of our want-to-do lists! Can’t wait for the next one! =)