It was late last year when I noticed that I had been spending quite a lot on traveling and thus, decided to limit my travel sprees and focus on a handful of destinations for this year. I was feeling adventurous when I picked Babuyan Islands up north and Tawi-tawi down south as my main travel destinations for the year. There was hardly anything about them online so researching was pretty tough but I’ve managed to come up a list of towns to visit and destination descriptions on a text file. Come January, I still didn’t have any idea on when to go or where EXACTLY i ought to go but have started inviting friends to join me. It was JF who had mentioned during one of our YM conversations that there had been a whale watching safari before somewhere in the Babuyan Islands last year that she missed but had wanted to join. That prompted me to consult with Mr. Google who led me to this ShutterBox post. I immediately emailed Rolly, and the rest, as they say, is history.
a prelude to my Babuyan Islands adventure
Posted in Philippines with tags adventure, Babuyan Isands, Philippines on April 19, 2008 by kateHow much of the Philippines have you visited?
Posted in Philippines on April 5, 2008 by kateMy Lakbayan grade is C+!
How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!
Created by Eugene Villar.
Caleruega
Posted in Philippines with tags Caleruega, churches, Philippines, Tagaytay on August 30, 2007 by kate
Last Monday was a holiday here in the Philippines, and since I haven’t really gone out in quite a while, I drag him into spending the whole day with me. Before I go to bed, I thought I’d leave you with three of the better photos I took (or so I think…)



my Secret Garden
Posted in Philippines with tags garden, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines, San Agustin on July 1, 2007 by kate
Father Blanco’s botanical garden is located at the back of the San Agustin church’s museum inside Intramuros. I first knew of this from my brother’s gf’s multiply page. I got curious so I decided to check it out myself. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bring my camera with me so I ended up with these photos I got using my phone instead.
The last time I went there, half of the garden had been cleared in preparation for the restoration of one of the monastery’s wings. Though I was a bit disappointed on seeing excavations and a huge mound of earth in place of a walkway and half of the beautiful garden, I still am looking forward to how it’ll turn out.
I suggest that you visit the place after the completion of its renovation project to avoid any more disappointments..
Philippine history 101 inside the walled city
Posted in Philippines with tags Intramuros, Manila, Philippines on July 1, 2007 by kateI’ve been to all the places he brought us to beforehand but I didn’t mind seeing them again in a different light. It wouldn’t have been better if I was able to join a tour scheduled on an earlier date since I had been looking forward to taking more beautiful photos of Fr. Blanco’s garden, but I guess that won’t ever happen again as the place had now been demolished in preparation for the re-building of a monastery wing in its place.
Roland, Leah and I got to Intramuros early so we decided to walk around and take pictures first before heading to Bahay Tsinoy.
The tour didn’t end there yet, but I’ve ran out of photos (hehe..) so I’m leaving you with this one I took of the Filipino shop we found beside the Church. ![]()
Sanctuario del Santo Nino or Church of San Juan del Monte
Posted in Philippines with tags church, Manila, Philippines, San Jaun on June 23, 2007 by kateThe church and convent were built in 1602 to 1604 by the Dominican Province
of the Most Holy Rosary on a site donated by Capitan Julian de Cuenca. Both
buildings were burned during the Chinese uprising of 1639. The new church and
convent constructed in 1641 were set on fire in July 1763 during the British
occupation of Manila. The present church and convent constructed in 1774 were
used by the insurgent forces of the revolution of 1898. This Sactuary is the
seat of the cofraternity of Santisimo Cristo de San Juan Del Monte approved by
Pope Innocent X on March 4, 1648.- Historical Research and Markers Committee
Hmm.. Come to think of it, the town of San Juan could actually have been named after this Church.
Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte: Boracay of the North
Posted in Philippines with tags Ilocos Norte, Pagudpud, Philippines, roadtrip on June 16, 2007 by kateRC fetched me from work, where we met up with R. We picked up M on our way to my place where A, JP, J, D and B had been waiting for us. By 1130pm, we were on the road. Unfortunately, before we even got to NLEX, 2 police officers in a car apprehended us. Don’t ask. They seemed like they were power tripping. After they let us go, things went smoothly til we got to Bangued where the van started to uncontrollably heat up. We had to make a series of stops to revent it from overheating. It was all good though, we got to take a bruch break at Vigan where most of my companions had never been to. After some photo op, we were back on the road.
When we finally saw a radiator shop in Laoag, B decided to have the problem fixed once and for all. We probably spent an hour or so there, watching manong and his assistant work. When they finally finished, we were on a roll! We did get lost a couple of times but this didn’t really dampen our spirits. We even stopped for a bit to take pictures of the gigantic windmills that can be seen from the hi-way. We finally reached Saud at around 5pm. I wasn’t sure if everyone was with me then, but since we were already near the infamous Blue Lagoon, I ad begged for us to find it.
The trip to the Blue Lagoon was probably the longest 15 minutes of our lives. There was a time when we thought we’d never get there. But after a number of heart-stopping turns up, and down the steep slopes of the national highway, we finally saw the turn, lolo, the last person we askd directions from, was talking about. We had to deal with 5 minutes or so of another stretch of long steep roads until we got to the picnic area. We drove off further til we reached the first resort in sight.
After more than 18 hours on the road, we finally settled at Agua Seda, a resort owned by a former school teacher from Bais, who was very accomodating. We did take a dip in the lagoon for a bit before succumbing to hunger and weariness. We had some sinigang and grilled parrot fish for dinner which we bought from the locals. The following morning was spent exploring the area and of course, enjoying the sun and the sea.
The blue lagoon is simply spectacular! The water is clear, the sand’s color is indeed comparable to that of Boracay’s, and best of all, we had it all to ourselves.
We finally left the place a few minutes before 12noon but decided to pass by the stalls in front of Bingbong’s Restaurant as suggested by the resort owner, where we were able to buy lobsters at P300/kilo.
We would have probably enjoyed our trip better if we exactly knew how to get there and if we weren’t pressed for time.
Note: The only resorts within the area are Agua Seda Beach Resort (for inquiries, you may contact the owner at 0920-2431832 or 0920-4252709) and Kapuluan Vista Resort.






