Holy Week 2014: Went North to Abra, Vigan, and Ilocos Sur

This is another special trip for me. Aside from the fact that this is my first time visiting Abra, Vigan, and Ilocos Sur, this is also the first trip spent with two of my girl friends: Eula and Julie.

The idea was to go with Eula to her home province: Abra. Since it's holy week that spells an extra long weekend, we spent four days up north with Eula leading the way and allowing us to experience these beautiful provinces the best we could!

Let's begin. :)

DAY 1

It was holy Thursday when we reached Abra. We stayed at Eula's Aunt's house. Real good people. :) Upon arrival, we rest for awhile, lodged our bags, changed clothes, and out we went to Vigan. Yep. First destination: Vigan.

Of course, we rode the Kalesa. Here we are posing for the picture. :) This was after we had our fill of the Vigan empanada and some other local delicacies. Yum!

Calle Crisologo. Here we took dozens of photos which I will save you from. Hehe. 

After that, we went to the Bell Tower. We hired a tricycle and its kind and generous driver to tour us around. We were leaving Calle Crisologo when we arranged the deal with the driver. It was after we saw that he has a list of destinations in Vigan inside the sidecar of his trike, right in front of us. :)

The Bell Tower. Yes, it was high. And yes, we climbed up and enjoyed the view from the top. :)

Here's one of the views from the top. That's a cemetery.

There's a cathedral in the vicinity of the Bell Tower. We went there next. This is a shot of the garden outside the cathedral. Romantic, isn't it? :)

Next destination: Baluarte

The smile hid the fear. I was so scared of the ostrich since I know that they have tendencies of attacking people. Right? The camera angle was great. I was actually standing a little far behind that giant bird. Safe distance, you might call it. Hehe. And yeah, the smile and the shades helped hide the fear I was feeling right then. :P

We visited a lot other animals in Baluarte. Reptiles like geckos and snakes, ponies, goats (?), there's an aviary too, and of course, the tiger.

Next destination: Hidden Garden.

Now, you really have to give it to our driver. He found the Hidden Garden! Woah! Amazing! (LOL)

Inside the top secret garden, we found lots of interesting displays. Here are some of them.

This uberly rich Buddha

Eula and Julie wishing on a wishing well using shining shimmering, newly produced and not-so frequently used 10-cent coins of the Republic of the Philippines!!! *with conviction and pride*

Her

Uh. Out of season much? Hehe.

This witty trash can.

This beauty. :)

And the Bonsai Garden. Love these miniature beauties! :)

Next on the list: Pagburnayan or pottery factory. Hehe. Can it be called that? Anyway, we next went there and tried our hands on pottery making itself.

One look at this photo and it's easy to tell that, no, we didn't have the skills for it. :P

On our defense, they didn't show us how it's properly done before asking us to try it for ourselves. Had we known, we would've created the most unique pottery ever known to man! Okay, that's exaggerating. Hehe.

No, seriously, had we known how to do it, we would've at least made it look a little close to a pot or something. When the master potter (hehe) showed us how it's done, it looked sooooo easy! From that same lump of clay/mud, he was able to create one large jar in 20 seconds! uh-huh! Twenty. Seconds. Insane!

That was really fascinating and it's a great experience for the three of us to witness how each clay jar are made. This showed us that there is no identical clay products since all of them are made one by one, day by day.

Now here't the giant oven with which the clay products are being cooked to perfection. It stretches to, I think, at least 18 feet? I'm not sure. But yeah, it's long and the temperature near is really high.

We had an afternoon snack after coming from the Pagburnayan and then we tried to become kids once more by playing in the nearby playground. Fun!

DAY 2

Second day of the trip, we went to (if I'm not mistaken) the largest river in Ilocos Sur. But since it's summer time, the water have receded and we were left to explore the vast area of rocks that was the river bed during wet season. :)

What's uniquely province-y about the river is that we saw housewives washing clothes, naked children bathing..

and yes, carabaos bathing too! It's one hot summer, indeed.

and this dog! :)

Here's the vast expanse of the river.

We also crossed the river (the watered wide, hehe) and went walking through and on top of large river rocks. We saw cows and their manure, before finally reaching Eula's grandparents' house where we stayed for a while. Eula, his brother, and their two other cousins, of course exchange stories with their grandparents while Julie and I sat there, listening to them talk. We can't understand Ilocano, so that's all we can do. Hehe.

Still on the other side of the river, we climbed a huge rock, we think it's a part of the mountain, and stood there, trying to see far and beyond. Hehe. Not long after, we heard Eula's father shouting at us. Yep, across the river. The distance is a kinda huge, so it's an easy guess that he's been shouting at the top of his lungs for us to go down that rock and come back to the other side. (that sounded a little... fiction-y. hehehe)

Down we went and started making our way towards the part of the river that's shallower and safer for us to cross. That's when we saw a boat man and asked him to let us ride and cross the river. He agreed and soon, we were on the other side, listening to Eula's father's sermon. :P

We met some more of their relatives on the way to our hut made from tree branches. 

And this here is our humble hut for the afternoon. It's pretty cool inside and uhm, we were able to fit in just right inside. We were at least, 10 adults (?) But yeah, we fit right in and shared our yummy lunch inside and away from the scorching sun.

Back from the swimming/lunch by the river, we next went some place else. (I'm not sure I know the name of the place but that was to meet some more of their relatives). Eula and Ralph, Eula's brother, seldom go home to Abra, so it's a must that they meet all of their relatives whenever they do. So, on we went to meet them.

On the way there, we saw lots of food-bearing plants, showing us how simple life in the province really is. And aside from that, how low the cost of living in the province is. It's amazing. :)

Here are red hot chili peppers. Hehehehe.

This here, is tobacco. Yup! I didn't know until now that tobaccos actually look this pretty when their not dried and out to cause lung diseases to people. (Read any bitterness here?)

That aside, I'm totally thrilled that they stood taller than me (not that I'm tall or anything). It's just amusing for me. :)

Tobacco flowers. They're pretty, no? :)

We also saw this hut where the tobaccos are being dried and smoked. Eula's aunt and uncle also have this in their yard. They also process and sell tobacco, as what most residents do.

We met with their relatives and I just have to mention that yet again, Julie and I experienced something uniquely provincial. (can I use that word?) Anyway, the thing is, when we arrived to their relatives' house, they quickly fetch a coconut from the tree and gave it to us to drink.

Before, when it was still just a few people living in our barangay in Antipolo, we used to always drink fresh buko juice and eat fresh coconut meat. The experience sent me back in time. :)

On our way back to Eula's aunt's home, Ricky, Eula's cousin, took an upo from its vine. That was our dinner. Fresh and organic. How awesome is that, right? :))

And oh, also on our way home, we had this little incident where a cow got loose from its reins and everyone, except for the three of us, helped corner the cow and re-rein it. It was fun watching them. Heheheh. 

DAY 3

Okay, I'm getting confused now. I can't clearly recall what we did for the entire day except for the fact that, once again, we are aboard Ricky's tricycle, going around the province and passing through the boundary of Abra and Ilocos Sur.

From Ilocos Sur, and before getting to Eula's Aunt's place, we passed this tunnel that locals believed to be enchanted with something, and that we should scream whenever we pass there. So, that's what we did, and it's soooo fun! Haha!

I remember having a picnic of snacks and coke and some more snacks in this mini park just beside that said tunnel. Together with Eula, Julie, Ralph, Ricky, and I, we ate, took photos, and had a fun afternoon here.

I don't remember what that statue below signifies. Is that Gabriela Silang? I can't remember, but apparently, it's one known statue in the province. :)

And here we are enjoying the opportunity to be in two places at one time. And what better way to do that than stand on the sign that divides two provinces? :)

DAY 4

We all woke up early and as I do, I saw the family preparing our lunch for this day's swimming. This time, it's the beach. As I made my way to the kitchen and through the sink to brush my teeth and wash my face, I saw them cutting the neck of their pet chicken. Again, fresh and organic food for us. And again, this isn't the first time I witnessed the bloody preparation of one of the most favorite meat. of most people. We used to do this in Antipolo too. :)

Upon arrival to the beach, this is what greeted us. Good morning! :D

How soft and comfy do you think the sand is? :)

Here's the Valdez/Pira Family. The kind family that received us into their home, gave us a great tour of their province, and gifted us an experience like no other. :) THANK YOU!!

What I loved about this trip:

1. Met Eula's family.

2. Experienced Abra, Vigan, and Ilocos Sur  more of a visitor than a tourist. The distinction is thin, but I'd still like to call it that. :)
3. Escaped the city pollution for 4 whole days.
4. Enjoyed the fresh and clean air for 4 whole days.
5. Ate many delicious, fresh, organic, and authentic Ilocano dishes mealtime after mealtime.

It was a great experience indeed! :)

We were almost on our way home but one of Eula's uncles is celebrating his birthday, so she was expected to stay. We were asked to stay too, of course. While passing the time, we went and watched this basketball game which we did so without losing our knack of commentaries and senseless babble on the bleachers. Hehehe.

I didn't leave the court until I got a picture of this. Witty, isn't it? I thought so too! :)

Here's a recap of our northern Philippines adventure c/o Eula. :)

Now it's time to go home. I didn't let the chance pass without having this photo taken. Love that empty highway. :)

Anilao: Scuba Diving In The Middle Of The Cold December

Disclaimer: No underwater pics. (This saddens me too T^T)

It was an exciting day for me. Not a month has passed after getting back from my trip to Bangkok and now, I am set for another adventure: Scuba Diving.

Another first for me, I joined Extreme Outdoor Adventure this time (another travel group I found on Facebook). This is the same group I joined for my Calaguas Island trip last May of the same year, 2014. Yep, this is another uber late post. Hehehehe.

Today's destination--Anilao in Batangas. A place so famous for its diving sites because of its rich marine life. And yes, I witnessed and experienced just that. Let me share the story now. :)

We left Blue Wave Macapagal at around 4 in the morning on December 20, 2014. We had one stop over to taste one of the place's best lomi. It was good. :) We hit the road right after that and soon found ourselves staring at the sea with thoughts of the exciting activity we are all about to experience in a little while.

I've talked to some of my fellow aspiring scuba divers and learnt from them that I'm not the only first timer here. We shared and exchanged fears and laughed at ourselves while at it. It's fun. :)

Before we were allowed to go into the water, we signed waivers then listened intently to the orientation/crash course on the basics of scuba diving. We were to dive at a 20-feet depth and that we must be divided into groups ranked from our level of swimming ability.

I dare not join the first team (those who are confident with their swimming skills). I was tempted but I know I'm not that good at swimming and I am definitely sure doesn't want to endanger myself. So, I signed for the second group (the not-so good swimmers. Hehehehe)

The groupings was decided upon to help the pro divers gauge our abilities and the amount of "care" they have to give with each group. And since most of us are first timers, plus the fact that scuba diving also spells danger, ultimate care is needed.

During the orientation, I took a photo of these lovely gears. :)

After the orientation, the first group set out while the remaining groups remained at the resort. I will tell you this, we waited soooooooo long before our turns came. Apparently, setting the gear, carrying them to the diving dock, then equipping the divers with it could really take a looooooong time! If you know me, you know that I'm not very good with waiting. So, what I did was, I snorkel. Woot!


It's a shame that I don't have an underwater camera for the view underwater is sooooo soooo beautiful! I don't have to go far to see colorful fish swimming right beneath me and the pretty and much alive corals filling my eyes with colors! Words are not enough to describe them. You just have to take my word that it's pretty! Hehehe. Well, you can search Anilao diving site. For sure there will be shots of the corals and its inhabitants there. :)


It was almost 12 noon when I finally felt the chill of the December clime and decided to leave the water for awhile. It's time for lunch which was awesome, by the way. :)


I don't normally drink coffee. And especially not in the middle of the afternoon. But the wind is soo chilly my teeth are chattering. I had to have this. :)

The first group finally emerged from the water and was sharing their experience with us over lunch. My excitement is growing by the minute and I just couldn't contain it knowing that our group is next! Woot woot!

When it was finally our turn to dive, I had to stop myself from jumping up and down. I had to somehow try and become a mature adult even for once so, no jumping up and down for me. Heh!

Wearing the scuba gear, I realized just how heavy the oxygen tank is. Woah! Good thing though, the instructor told us to wear the tank while we were already in the water, so the weight was significantly reduced.

Here's a funny fact: Before wearing your goggles, it's a must that you spit on it then rub your saliva on the inner side of the goggles before rinsing it with saltwater. They said it's to be done to prevent fogging. Hahahaha! Some found it icky at first but that's not the first time that idea was introduced to me, so I quickly followed and did the deed. Hahahaha!

So what are we wearing now? Here's a rundown. Goggles, oxygen (tank and mouth piece), flippers, and weights. Yes, weights. To help us stay under the water since saltwater is naturally buoyant. 

We were taught to pinch our nose then blow as though blowing out snot and allowing the air to go through your ears. Well, that was the general idea. The first time I submerged into the water, I immediately felt the pressure in my hears, so I kept on pressing my fingers in them. The instructors signaled for me to pinch my nose but the painful pressure is still there. I had keep to on surfacing and submerging until I can acclimate myself to the pressure under water. They said it's pretty normal. While there are those that can easily level the pressure, there are those like me that would always have a hard time. At first, this scares me. And, honestly, I thought I wouldn't go scuba diving again after this. The ringing in my ear remained until we were on our way back to Manila. And that was I think 6 - 8 hours after.

Again, I tried to acclimate myself with the pressure and was soon swimming really close to the corals and the fish. I enjoyed it a lot that there was a time when the pro diver had to pull me on my flippers because I was swimming a little far from the group. I had to swim back to the others and try to remain where I can see them. Hehe.

Now here are the thoughts that are running in my head during the whole experience.

1. What if there is suddenly a shark and attack us?

2. If not a shark, a sword fish then? I watched a news before of a sword fish finding itself stuck in the neck of a girl who went out snorkeling. The girl lived. The same didn't happen for the fish since they had to bring the girl to the hospital with the fish still in her neck. 

3. What if I suddenly run out of oxygen?

4. What if my oxygen is enough but one of the other divers run out of oxygen and decided to snatch mine from my mouth?

5. What if.. what if..

Well, none of those happened. Thankfully. But there is one thing I hadn't anticipated that happened and it was scary.

But before that, I would like to share just how awesome scuba diving is. Well for one, I was able to touch and corals and try to reach the fish. These I couldn't do while snorkeling because I have to stay afloat to keep breathing. With scuba diving, since I have an oxygen tank on my back, I can do these things and truly enjoy the rich marine life right out of my grasp. It's awesome!

It's soooo awesome that I want everyone, every person in this planet to experience it. Soo good soo good! :D

As much as I want to delve on the good things alone, here's the inevitable bad news.

I was still swimming and exploring the world down under when one of the pro divers motioned for us to surface with his index finger pointing up. I forgot to mention that we were taught the hand signals we need to use in order to communicate while we were submerged. They're all fairly easy to remember, so we didn't have a hard time with that.

And so, we surfaced. And that's when I saw one of our fellow first time divers. Unconscious. White foam coming out of his mouth. And he's being carried by the pro divers.

Did I panic? I can't remember. All I know is that we swam back to the shore with the sight of an unconscious man plain in our views. Swimming back to the shore is not easy. Corals are really sharp and the flippers are making it all the more difficult for us when the water level only rises up to a little above my ankles. Also, now out of the water, the oxygen tank is weighing full blown on my back. And did I mention we were wearing 20-pound (I think) weights on our waists too? And the flippers! As much as they made swimming a lot easier, they make walking on corals (as uneven and as sharp as they are) equally difficult! And I can't take it off because the corals are sharp and would definitely slice my feet if I did.

All of that plus the heavy feeling of being recently out of the water plus the thought that one of us just drowned and was being rushed to the hospital. The good new is, he's alive. Bad news, he can't go back to Manila with us. We left him at the hospital after his sister went to attend to him. Yup. His sister traveled all the way from Manila to Batangas because of that grave news. 

I would never want that to happen to me nor do I want my family to go through those kinds of ordeals.

After much struggle, I finally pulled myself out of the water with all of my gears intact. By this time, everybody else was in the beach waiting for us. Some of them attending to the drowned guy and some tried to help us get out of the water. As I approach, some of the girls, who I get to talk to during lunch, congratulated me for surviving. I smiled and thanked them. Well, I am congratulating myself too. But of course, not without some scratches. (I scratched my knee on the corals while trying to swim since that proved to be easier than trying to walk above the corals. At a certain depth of water of course. When it got too shallow, I had to walk with the flippers and all the weights on.) Yep, I did great indeed. *beaming*

But only now did I realize that we could've swam back to the diving dock and made all our lives easier. But since we unexpectedly surfaced a little far from the diving dock, the first thoughts in our heads is getting to the shore as fast as possible because the pro divers who are with us are moving fast and away too since they have to rush the man to the hospital. So yeah. 

Here are my signature scratches. I can't seem to travel and not have at least one or two scratches here and there. :P

Despite the accident, the third group still went and took their turn. I thought of snorkeling again but the water temperature is getting higher and the wind is getting chillier. I washed up and changed clothes.

The day was generally gloomy, hence the low temperature. Because of that, this is the closest to a sunset we ever got.

Despite the would've, should've, could've been a traumatic experience, I would still love to go scuba diving again. Although I wouldn't aspire to be a professional diver, (mainly because training to have the license is such a hassle and I'm sooooo lazy to do all those) diving is one of the most fun adventures I've had so far.

And so, I am capping this story up with a smile. ^_____^