this is me.... & more!: Back from Ilocos!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Back from Ilocos!

too many stories to tell, i dunno where to start. the trip was bitin! a day more, maybe? the water ain't too pretty tho, my Gian was stung by effin' jellyfish. good thing they were only small. poor Gian. he told Dianne (the birthday girl), "tita, the waves bit me!" then D felt it too. back to shore. uggghhhh! damn jellyfish! bad, bad! Gian was brave though, no tears. he just held on to mama and he's fine. he just didn't want us to hold his left arm.

day 1, March 27, we arrived Batac Ilocos Norte at around 7am. Marcos Museum. can't miss it, loyalist ata ako! Gi and i gave a salute to the great Marcos before we left. eerie place! it was dark inside, cold, with eerie background music. next up, we tasted the ilocos empanada. errr... it was so-so for me. nothin' much.

we were fetched by tito jay (he's very nice i swear!) on the empanada stretch, Dianne's uncle (her mom's cousin) and went then went to Paoay Church. i can't remember if it's the biggest(?) or the oldest(?) church in Asia. i'll have to ask D again. haha. what i remembered was that, Ilocos Norte's churches have bell towers beside them, while in Ilocos Sur, the bell towers are across the church.

off to pagudpud, which i later learned was 88 kms from Laoag. tito jay drove us, back and forth, and back to Laoag again the next day! he's really so nice. anyways, we passed by the Burgos Lighthouse, picture picture. we were lucky enough to reach the top of the lighthouse, because for a time, the lighthouse was closed for renovation (last year, D and her teammates weren't successful). lunch. then off to Bangui Windmills. amazing! i have no decent picture there (i had to run after Gi because he was attacking the beach!), but my Gian did have a perfect shot (thanks, tito natz!). it was really great to finally see it live in action. haha!

yesssssssssssss! pagudpud na after! checked in at Villa del Mar Beach Resort. we wasted no time. ay, sila lang pala. i didn't swim, spectator lang ako. i was really tired, for not getting proper sleep the night before and running around chasing my energizer bunny. Gian did have a grand time at the pool tho (thanks again to tito natz). dinner was great, tho i didn't really get to enjoy it very much because i was carrying my sleeping baby while eating. back to barracks, then, inuman na!!! mikko and i stayed up, not as originally planned by the beach sana, because i had to be around just in case Gian suddenly wakes up. bitin yung drinks namin, deymz. had quite a challenge getting more booze, and my charms were tested. it paid off, we had matador shots from kuya (i think he's a staff of the resort). we were given a better offer, a whole bottle, which i refused because i can't afford to be so drunk coz i'm on call, 24 hours. hehe. a cupful was quite enough for us.

day 2, March 28, happy birthday, D! ayun, nature's gift to her, jellyfish! but Gi had most of it actually. because of that, i opted to stay by the shade with Gi, while the gang went farther off the beach and had a lot of very nice pics taken. im so inggit! i had few pictures on this trip. as katie said, i had a few na nga, and most of them were either i was carrying Gian or i was bent holding him. oh well. duty calls talaga. can't not.

did i mention that my body was aching all over? full body workout! ugh. i need a massage! anyways, back to my kwento... we checked out and had lunch at this great restaurant (where we also had our dinner) Emohruo Beach Restobar, situated in between Apo Idon and Evangeline's Resort. EMO!!! haha nice name. service was great, and food was amazing!

drive back to Laoag. met D's mom and sib. Gian calls D's mother "Mom." sweet. gusto na shang ampunin. hehe. had snacks, then off to the market. then we went to Sarat, went to Sta. Monica Parish and Irene's guest house which was donated and now converted into Sarat municipal hall. Sta. Monica ruins! spooky as Gi said over and over. from the tour's start to finish, mind you. gave me and katie the chills. haha! imagine how it was a torture chamber! mikko said it was featured in last year's MGB's halloween episode. loaded dude! well, Ilocos is loaded according to miks. picture picture. back to Laoag, walked around the streets and passed by a grotto of Saint Bernadette. i particularly asked to have a pic taken. hehe.

went back to D's for dinner (a feast, if i must say). the gang went with tito jay for the Earth Hour while i stayed home with D's family and Gian. tired na talaga ako from all the walking and the carrying. when i couldn't endure it anymore, i asked mikko and natz to carry Gi na that afternoon. we were walking around the streets, and i wouldn't risk having out of my clutches and run around. streets yun!

can i just say that my baby was already very anxious because he misses playhouse disney?! he was singing the mickey mouse clubhouse song, and saying "watch thomas train" or "where's thomas?" over and over and over. he finally settled for monsters, inc dvd that night. thanks to the kindness of D's family, they bought the dvd esp for Gian. i kinda dozed off while waiting for Gi to sleep, took a bath when i woke up, washed bottles, and went down to the gang where they were having a booze. had only a few shots tho, we're off to manila early the next day.

ill end my story now. just thinking about the trip back to manila is tiring enough. gosh! thank God for cup noodles! thank God that Gi was born a lakwatsero and endured long trips! he wasn't what i expected him to be since it was a day trip back, as compared to our trip going to Ilocos which was nighttime. to top it off, we were being charged a 100 bucks from UST to our place, just when we were already settled inside the cab, with me carrying the sleeping Gian at 11pm. i got really irrate and told the cab driver to unload my bags. and luggage. imagine!!! it wouldn't cost me 50 bucks if he flagged down the meter! we rode the trike instead, for 50 bucks. Gi was awake by this time that we were shifting transpo. good thing. bad cab driver, taking advantage of the situation!

summing it up, it was a great trip. lots of sights and places to see. great company, good friends. wished someone(s) were there tho. (they) would have enjoyed it, too.

ooopsss, i forgot about the 2 shoplifting lolas which i witnessed in action at the stop over on our trip back. katakot. i would have told the cashier, but it wasn't my territory. baka makulam pa ko. and i didn't spot any security guards. i chose to bite my tongue. i told my friends tho. it was really scary. miks was seated beside one of the culprit lolas pa naman.

posted by *~bLuSh~* @ 3/30/2009 09:07:00 PM

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Name: *~bLuSh~*
Home: Manila, Philippines
About Me: I'm: VAIN, hyperactive, outgoing, stubborn, impulsive, critical, lazy, paranoid.... LOVES: music, dining, reading, sleeping, my iPod, perfumes, cyberspace, bags, going out, pictures, GOD-family-friends *^_^*
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