Baguio Part 3
DESTINATION?
We were supposed to go to Vigan for Jovan’s birthday, but unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling well, so I requested for a ‘nearer’ destination. We ended up going to Baguio again, partly because the boys wanted to bike to the “Radar” as Mike T had recommended. Again, we were the usual suspects – Jovan, me and Mike O – since no one else could go on leave on December 18 (Monday), Jovan’s actual birthday. Mike O still had some leaves to use up. (Just to explain, we have 15 vacation leaves per year, and we’re only allowed to carry over 7.5 to the next year. This means that we are required to use up 7.5 VL’s for the year, or these will be forfeited.)
HOTEL VENIZ PART 2
We chose Hotel Veniz again since we really liked their service the last time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same this time around. Service wasn’t as good, the room we got for the first night, though more expensive, was so much smaller. The rate was for the view, I learned – something which we didn’t care about. During check-out, there was mix up with the amount, so we had to explain (almost argue) with the people there.
HIGHLIGHT
I wasn’t feeling 100% okay so I just let the boys do their bike ride while I watched the Tour de France in the hotel room. The highlight of the trip for me was the strawberry juice first discovered during Baguio Part 2. It was so funny because I took a photo of the juice and sent it to the girls, and everyone reacted! When you’re in Baguio, it’s a must that you go to Strawberries and Ice Cream at The Filling Station. The strawberry juice there is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted in any juice place here in Manila. Strawberries, sugar, and ice. That’s it. YUMMY!
Bolinao, Pangasinan
The usual suspects went to Bolinao, Pangasinan last October 27-29. The original intent was to go to Hundred Islands, but when we got there, it didn’t appeal to us, so we skipped the island hopping. We just took some pictures, watched the sun rise, and then headed for Bolinao, which was an hour away. How did we find out about Bolinao? Of course, through the ever-reliable Lonely Planet.
We arrived in Bolinao at around 7:30AM. After referring to our favorite book, we chose El Pescador, which thankfully accepted our early check in. Took a nap, had breakfast, then took a longer nap and woke up at around 2PM. We went around and looked for a resort to stay in to watch the sunset, and had halo-halo. After sunset, we went back to our room and rested. For dinner, we went to “Short Time”, a small canteen-type restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet, which served really good and affordable home-cooked food.
Here are some pictures from that trip:
Watching the sunrise.
Beautiful Sunset
La Union
Went to La Union for the 3 day weekend. We were supposed to go to Pagudpud, but we were only sure about the weather on Friday, we chose La Union instead. We went to Bauang, which is the town right before San Fernando. Of course we referred to our ever reliable Lonely Planet, which, I’m sad to say, failed us this time. For accomodations, we checked out Bali Hai and Coconut Grove Beach Resorts, two of the listed resorts. Since the resorts were beside each other, we checked out another one, Cabana. Since we were divided (the boys were okay with Cabana but I wasn’t), we checked out the next place, which was Villa Estrella! And it was ‘perfect’! The room was okay, the bathroom was big (old yes, but clean), and we got a corporate discount! We ended up paying P1,500+ per night and for 3 people, that’s P500 per night. Not bad at all. It was not listed in our beloved Lonely Planet book, but I’ve accepted the fact that it won’t be able to list down ALL options.
The weekend was about exploring a new place, and watching Tour de France. Jovan ordered the 1999 – 2005 set (Yes Vic! 28 hours of Tour de France glory!). In between gimmicks, we would watch the videos – we ended up watching until 1999-2002. We explored the places mentioned in Lonely Planet – the most notable of which was Freedom Park. To see the whole city, we had to climb more than 100 steps (I can still feel the pain in my legs until now, hehe). It was beautiful! We had lunch at Mandarin, and merienda in Cafe Esperanza, both suggested also by Lonely Planet. I’m telling you, P1,400, that book is a steal!
Here are some photos:
Baguio Part 2
Second time to go up to Baguio for the year. This time I was with my VAS family and Jovan. That’s me, Jovan, Mike O, Clar, Mike T, Cathy, Cookie, Angie, Shawi, Rina, Jil and family, Binky and kids, and JT. It wasn’t a major tourist-in-Baguio trip. We just lounged around, learned poker, watched scary movies (I refused to though hehe), and ate. Great way to relax after a week of non-stop work.
I’m trying to get back into photography, so I took a lot of photos. I really want to take up photography again. I hope it’s something I can sustain. 2 or 3 more trips like this, and I might just buy that Canon EOS 400. 
View from the window…
Majestic Cathedral
Behind Little John’s
Flower Power
Flower Power 2
View from SM
Some random photos…
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Roadtrip
Jovan, Brother Mike and I went to Batangas last saturday, not thinking about the typhoon. Jovan and Mike were supposed to go around Batangas to check out the route of the Batangas Race. Since he went home at 4AM from a party, Mike didn’t bring his bike anymore. Going to Batangas City was like going to a disaster area. There were trees on the road – big, uprooted trees – every 500 meters or so. Obviously, there wasn’t going to be any ride. First stop was Goto King for breakfast. Brownout everywhere! Second stop was Tita Carme’s house, where we ate santol and indian mangoes. YUMMY! Then we went to Atty’s house – there, Jovan, Nilo and Atty discussed the race rules. Next stop was Tita Carme’s house again – but this was a quick stop because we headed right away to SM Batangas City for lunch. We chose Flavors of China so that Jovan had many choices. We ended up shopping afterwards (shopping in SM Batangas!). Great finds really – two Batangueno shirts for Jovan and a martial law shirt for me. Cute! We left Batangas at 3PM, after they had drinks in Starbucks.
We didn’t have a destination. We had four options, but we chose Caliraya, not knowing where we can stay there, but hoping for the best. The ride was interesting, what with three crazy people in the same car! We stopped over at Bay to buy monay, but unfortunately, ubos na. We arrived in Caliraya at around 6PM. First stop was Lagos del Sol – but we thought P1650/person was too expensive given that we arrived so late. If we were there for the whole day it would have been worth it. So we looked for another place. we ended up in Villa Ruthman – not bad really, P650/person for the venue and P150/person for two meals. By 8:30PM we were not doing anything anymore so we just ended up with kwento, more kwento, and some stupid ass magic. Ahahaha! Lights out by 11PM, but I had a hard time sleeping – I think I ended up sleeping at around 1AM.
The next day we had breakfast at around 9AM, then took off at around 10:30AM. We took the ‘backdoor’ route, and ended up in Antipolo and Marikina. And of course, as usual, it was a crazy ride. We checked out the Oakleys at Joven Bikeshop in Marikina, then had lunch at Kenny Rogers Katipunan.
Despite the typhoon, even if we didn’t have plans, I really enjoyed and I would do it again anytime. (I’ll probably get a place with a better bathroom though. )
Another Great Weekend
Didn’t use “perfect” because of the heat! Spent the first part of the long weekend at Calatagan, with Jovan, Brother Mike, and King. They rode their bikes from Sta. Rosa to Calatagan and I followed them in the SAG, Jovan’s car. We brought a driver along so that Jovan can ride. I think they had fun even if it wasn’t an easy ride – it was definitely close to an “epic” ride which was really their goal. We arrived in Punta Baluarte at around 12:30PM. We stayed in a cottage owned by King. We had lunch in the clubhouse and then slept in the afternoon. At around 5pm we decided to go to the ‘bayan’ and look for a place where we could have dinner. Then Mike saw Bomboy, a biker friend of theirs, who invited us to their family reunion. We heard mass there, then we had dinner. WHAT A DAY! Everything just place into place… We went back to the cottage at around 10pm, then slept.
Home for the Day
Mike and Jovan – Still smiling after biking 92 km…
Next day the boys swam in the pool, was too sleepy to join them because I didn’t have a good night’s sleep. We had brunch in the clubhouse, slept, then left at around 2PM. Traffic in Tagaytay, took us almost two hours to get to Carlo’s Pizza, where we had merienda-cena.
Who’s that guy?!
Caramba! (At Carlo’s Pizza…)
Punta Baluarte in Photos
Road Trip
Big bro Michael O invited me, Jovan, Mads and Clar to Bay last thursday, and we were all game! No definite plans, just a road trip with friends. And we ended having a blast, as usual. I’m convinced – it’s really the company. Not the activities, not the destination. But of course these add to the fun.
Jovan and I met up with Clar in the house at around 6AM. We picked up Mads, then met up with Mike in Filinvest at around 7AM. We had breakfast in KFC in SLEX, and then it was road trip time! We went to Mike’s Tito’s house in Bay where we were served the most delicious monay ever! After that we went to Sampaloc lake. On our way to Liliw, we stopped for scramble, which Clar and Mads did not enjoy. In Liliw, Mads and I shopped for slippers and shoes like crazy. It was so freaking hot but that didn’t stop us! We were planning to go to Lake Caliraya but we felt really drained already, so we ended up eating at a binalot place in Pagsanjan. In the afternoon, we went to Woodrose and I showed them around.
We had so much fun – I can’t count the times we laughed together. We all took turns being the DJ with the iPod. Plus, we started discussing our plans to put up a business together. I really hope that will push through.
Here are some pictures:
(click on the photo for a bigger size)
Just arrived in Bay!
Picture taking at Sampaloc Lake
Shopping for shoes at Liliw!
Trying on a hat!
Picture muna before lunch!
Having fun in the CRV