After going around the Pagudpud area on Day 3 (details here), we weren't really able to go to the beach and relax. We were hoping we can do this on our last day before we drive back to Vigan.

Imaginary conversation between Y and E:
E: Pagud na ako. Ikaw?
Y: Pagud pud.
LOL. Funny only if you know both Tagalog and Cebuano. If you don't get it, don't bother, it's not worth the corny-ness.haha

DAY 3. Sunday, January 22

Pagudpud.  Our third day in Ilocos was spent in the bright and sunny outdoors. I overdosed on sunblock (if there is such thing.haha) By the way, special thanks to my sponsor/dermatologist, Auntie Marissa, who keeps me loaded with sunblock pills for my outdoorsy days. So I took the pills, plus my Beach Hut SPF75 sunblock spray (my new favorite). It's so annoying how a little sun exposure immediately darkens my skin but it takes forever for my skin to go back to normal. Boo.

Last January, Yza and I went on a 4-day road trip to Ilocos. Day 1 was spent mostly on the road and ended in Vigan where we spent the night. Read more about it here.

DAY 2. Saturday, January 21

As Yza mentioned in the last post, we were planning to meet up with Chester and friends somewhere in Ilocos on this trip. We decided to do it in Laoag so this was the first agenda in the itinerary for the day.

But before leaving, we had to claim our free breakfast from Vigan Hotel first, Vigan Longganisa!



At a rate of Php895/night/2pax in Vigan Hotel, it was already a good deal given the free breakfast (delivered straight to your room!), wifi, aircon and extra ghosts thoughts (diba Yza? haha).

I already got my well-deserved rest (I was ~36 hours awake prior to the Vigan Hotel stop, involving an 11-hour drive… well, not counting the accumulated seconds/minutes I fell asleep while driving. hehe) so I'm ready to hit the road once again.

Vigan to Laoag was approximately a 1.5-hour drive.

One of my dreams has always been to visit Ilocos. I’ve seen too many pretty pictures of the place and it’s just crazy to not want to go see it myself.

I am  a Fire Tiger (9 February 1986 – 28 January 1987), while E is a Fire Rabbit (29 January 1987 – 16 February 1988). Our birthdays are sort of confusing because they fall close to Chinese New Year, and do not exactly follow the general zodiac of the year (ex. I was born in 1987 [year of the rabbit] but Chinese New Year in 1987 was on January 29, so technically, I'm still under the previous zodiac; Eliel was born in 1988 [year of the dragon] but Chinese New Year in 1988 was on February 16, so he's actually a rabbit, not a dragon). 

E's fortune:



xoxo,

Disclaimer: This is a very delayed post. We wanted to do this earlier, but December was not a good month for singing because the cough and colds just moved from E to me and before we knew it, it was New Year's Eve and we had to do it, ready or not. (Like it would actually make a difference!lol) But better late than never. And it's the thought that counts, anyway. Besides, we promised Ago of K.I.D.S. Foundation that we'd blog about this.hihi ;)

The photos in the video below are from our P6 (Pasko ng Pagbabahagi 6) outreach with the Dumagats, an indigenous tribe from the Antipolo area. This is organized by the FEU Tamaraw Volunteers and participated in by various student groups, as well as the K.I.D.S. (Kabataang Inyong Dapat Suportahan) Foundation. The experience was truly amazing because of all the people who were there to help. Hundreds of Dumagats arrived for the medical and dental mission, gift-giving and games. And while we'd like to think that we, the volunteers, touched the lives of the indigenous tribe, we know that the Dumagats touched our hearts more.

I won't be saying a lot here because (hopefully) the video says it all. There's just this amazing feeling that comes with sharing your blessings and making the less fortunate feel the spirit of Christmas. With everything we've received the whole year round, it's great to make others feel that it's Christmas time again. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!
Cheers,

+ 

A few weeks ago, E and I went on a 3-day Hong Kong holiday. With us were my girl friends Pat, Jes and Riri, plus Riri’s mom. We shopped at every corner, ate whatever looked interesting and toured until our feet hurt.

The culmination to our Hong Kong vacation was an overnight stay at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel and a full day of reliving our childhood in Hong Kong Disneyland. (Read about our other HK adventures here and here.)



After our second day of touring, we packed our bags and took the MTR to the happiest place on earth. Even while we were still on the train, we already felt the Disney spirit.

As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, E and I (together with my favorite girls Pat, Jes and Riri plus Tita Ceres) went on a Hong Kong vacation early this November. On our second day, our itinerary included a trip to The Peak, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and a city tour aboard the open-top buses.

Before heading out, we couldn’t miss breakfast at the Very Good Seafood Restaurant. It was on the same building as the Taisan Guesthouse where we stayed for a couple of nights, so we walked by it a lot of times. We actually thought it was a take-out counter and were surprised when the lady led us to an underground restaurant. An actual restaurant. (As Ria pointed out, it’s like Cebu’s Grand Majestic.lol)

Since it was still early, they only served breakfast fare, meaning mostly dimsum. Hai, I’d love to eat dimsum every morning for breakfast.




After a that big, yummy breakfast, it was time to start another day of touring.

The Peak is located on Hong Kong island, which we’ve been to the day before. But instead of taking the ferry, we took the MTR. The train actually passed underwater and we didn’t even feel it. Once we were on Hong Kong island, we walked from Central Station to the Peak Tram. This time, we saw the buildings in daylight.