Y .Saturday, April 15, 2006.
Okay... here goes the long post of what happened two days ago. [BTW, I'm not requiring you to read this, I just want to preserve the memories in this blog entry LOL.]
Let's take a review. Last entry I said we would be spending 3-4 days in Ilocos. What we had in mind was to take a vacation at Pagudpud and Vigan at my Uncle's house. However, because my dad realized he can't drive for twelve hours straight, we decided to go around Baguio instead.
Anyway, we left Manila by 4:17am last Thursday, bringing anything we can and forgetting the everything we needed - let's just say the tent and the camera were some of those which we left at home.
Stopover [aga no? >:D]
Yep, we had to tank our car first with gasoline so we stopped at Shell in NLEX. It took us more than 30 mins to fill up because of the line of cars refilling with us as well. While dad and the others were waiting for their turn, they asked me to go to Cinnabon and buy some food for the ride [coffee and cinnamon rolls were nice, except for the freaking long line at the cashier =_=]. After I think 45 mins, everything was set and we started to head to Manaoag.
Manaoag, Pangasinan
It was almost 11pm when we reached Pangasinan. We went to the church first to pray. Surprisingly, there aren't much people praying... so we got the chance to kneel at the front and see the altar in a close view [I could've appreciated it more if i had brought my glasses with me]. Anyway, after praying, we went out and visited the Museum. Actually there were two Museums in Manaoag Church [one was for the collection of the vessels for the Lady of Manaoag and the other were antique tools which were used by the priests during the Spanish period]. What got my attention there was the cabinets full of perfumes donated to the Blessed Mother; some of them were about a century old, others were really expensive to be given away. I just realized that there were still a lot of devotees believing in the power of prayer that they were willing to give things to honor the ones they worship. Anyway, we also had lunch here and after that we headed to Baguio.
SM Baguio
Civilization at last. LOL.
We got at Baguio by about 1:30PM. Baguio was a bit hotter than it was supposed to be [I never got to wear my jacket until we reached the terrace in SM]. Anyway, SM Baguio deserved its title as the Mall of the Year last 2005. Unlike the other SM's, the one here is the most unique. The tiles were unconventional [they were made of green and red, and they're not as glossy like the other SM's have]. The center of the mall has no roof; instead, it only had a tent above that shielded the customers from the sun's rays. It also had space big enough for the tourists to take pictures with [the terrace on each floor was worth the visit, I think that's the place in Baguio wherein you can really feel the coolness of the air]. Because we forgot to bring the camera, my dad decided to buy a new one in Kodak. We also had our car key duplicated [he lost the other one months ago] and bought some refreshments. We never really got to see the whole of the mall, it's not like we can shop in Manila, right? Anyway, next stop - Baguio Cathedral.
Baguio Cathedral
Nothing much had changed in this place [except I guess for the paint and additional statues] since I visited it fourteen years ago [I never got the chance to visit it the last time we came to Baguio]. This was the time I prayed for a lot of things O_O. I don't know if it's the place or the people that got me to think so hard I prayed longer than I did for years. If it wasn't for my cold I would've stayed longer. My mom and I went to the drugstore and bought medicine for me. It was only 4:30, but because all of us were tired travelling, we looked for a lodging house to rest.
Lodging House
Hmm... the house we stayed in was a dormitory for the Nursing students in Baguio, but since it was holy week, the students were out on vacation and the owner decided to welcome tourists by making it a lodging house. The room we got had 5 double-decked beds, a colored TV [wow, may cable! XD] and a shower room. There were no ventilations except for the windows. It was a bit hot at first, but when you wake up by past midnight, you'll feel like there's an air conditioned unit in the room - even our blankets were useless in keeping us warm. Anyway I went to sleep as early as 6pm; I think I was even texting while I was sleeping back then. LOL.
Strawberry Fields
It kinda took us a while to get ourselves prepared the next day. Most of us were awake by 6am but we manage to leave the lodging house by 10. The first place we went that day was the strawberry fields at La Trinidad, Benguet. The 20-minute ride led us to the one of the places I really looked forward to visit. Upon getting there, the first thing I noticed is the traffic. Because we left the house late, there were a lot of tourists there looking for strawberries and other crops to buy. We bought three boxes of strawberries, 1 dozen of peanut brittle and kulangot [of all names, why that? =_=] and some chocolate flakes [me and my mom make them actually, pero iba pa rin ang gawang Baguio hahaha]. I also got my attention to "strawberry taho". I managed to buy one; unfortunately, someone accidentally pushed me and the taho... well, you know what happens next. =_=
Crystal Cave
Of all the tourist spots we went, this was the one not worth paying. We only got to view the place for less than thirty minutes [the other cave was closed; flooded daw], got my feet covered with mud, slipped a couple of times, got scared by the skull-looking stalagmite, and paid more than 200 pesos for such short visit. I'll say no more. <_<
Camp John Hay
We decided to have our lunch here. As we expected, most of the tourists were also here to eat, thus the traffic. We had a hard time looking for a parking place, and it was almost 1pm when we were able to find a decent spot. Mom was really furious at us that time [we left her with the food while looking for a parking place actually O_O]. Nothing much happened here [except for the weird moment I planned to take one of the pine trees home with us without the guards noticing - wait, was it mine or mom's idea? @_@].
Butterfly Sanctuary and Historical Cove
No, we didn't went here. We were planning to, but because of the sudden rain, we only stayed in the car to rest. One funny thing happened though; all of us except dad left the car, plunged into the rain with our umbrellas and went down to look for a comfort room. We managed to find one - however, the one we found requires a fee [it's like this: Ihi - 3.00 Bawas - 5.00 O_____O]. The idea never left my mind until we reached the mansion.
The Mansion
The Mansion's main gate supposedly was closed even to tourists. Today's an exeption - the President stayed at the Mansion and is starting to leave by the time we arrived. The gates were open so the tourists were allowed to see her excellence. My dad, my youngest sister and I went out to see her. With some stroke of luck, my sister managed to see the President face to face [I mean, almost magkatabi na sila, if it weren't for the bodyguard]. I think the President asked her to take pictures with her; pero dahil nahihiya siya, she refused. Wow, my sister refused the country's most powerful person's request. Lufet. Oh yeah, there's another thing I realized because of this incident:
The President is one of the most destructive persons I've ever known. She can create a stampede by merely walking out of her house, thus giving my foot more than mud. Now I like her more than ever.
Minesview Market
No, not Minesview Park, it's Minesview Market. The famous tourist attraction has now turned into a souveneir store. We even spent more time shopping for pasalubong than viewing the scenery of Baguio and taking pictures there. In addition, the smell of the trees isn't noticeable anymore. What you'll probably be saying once you get there is "ang baho!" because of the poorly-maintained comfort rooms at the sides. For me, this place is not worth visiting.
Lodging House
It was past six when we returned to the lodging house. Our relative in La Union is expecting us to arrive that night so we have to leave Baguio and head to San Fernando.
San Fernando, La Union
The two-hour ride led us to our last destination. Supposedly we would be heading to Ilocos, but because we found out our uncle and his family moved to La Union, we got disposed of the idea and got here instead. I'm not that close to Tito Jun's family, actually. But their hospitality got me to chat with them. I found out that their eldest child already graduated high school with really good grades. Aside from that, she is also helping her parents with their business at the wet market [my dad was staring at me that time - guess he's thinking that I'm...].
The next day we went to the Wet and Dry Market to buy more pasalubong [darn, more than half of our budget was spent on pasalubong =_=]. Compared to the markets we have in Manila, the one in San Fernando was clean. It was also well-ventilated, so customers don't have the feel of hustling when buying. After an hour, we got everything we needed to buy. We decided to head back to Manila now, since most of our pocket money was already wasted.
I was sleeping most of the time we were travelling back home. I guess I was really tired for the past days... I thought I wouldn't going to enjoy our vacation, but I guess I thought wrong. It somehow made me forget of some of the problems I have right now...
We arrived at Manila by 3pm. 71 hours well spent? I guess so.
