a prelude to my Babuyan Islands adventure

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.

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My Lakbayan grade is C+!

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Created by Eugene Villar.

Caleruega

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. He fetched me at around 8am I think, then we drove straight to Tagaytay. First stop was Ming’s garden, but we didn’t really stay long there. After which, we passed by the wet market, bought some fruits (ponkan, dragon fruit and my favorite, mangosteen!!!) before heading off to Caleruega, where we spent most of our time at. It had been raining on our way there, to the point that it got so foggy, we were scared to our wits! Good thing, the rain subsided after we got there. I was my ‘wannabe’ photographer self again, and had a flower shooting spree! I was happy with the outcome a handful of photos I took considering that the camera I took with me was my underwater camera, which doesn’t really take sharp photos with vivid colors. Aside from that, It was a great opportunity for us to just enjoy each other’s company, since we rarely get to go out together as a couple. After exploring the property, we decided to pass by the Flower Farm which unfortunately, was closed so we drove off to Paradizoo instead, but didn’t quite liked the place. We passed by a sign pointing to Hacienda Isabella on our way there, so instead of driving straight out of the area, we passed by that as well. It was closed though, so we weren’t able to look around the place. After driving around, we finally made a food stop at the Mushroom Burger joint. I’ve already tried their mushroom burger at their Quezon Avenue branch but I didn’t like it. It tasted too ‘earthy’ for me. I’ve been hearing a lot of raves about it so I thought I’d give it a second chance thinking that maybe their main store in Tagaytay sold better sandwiches. My perception about the place and their food didn’t change during that trip, as I thought their sandwiches/meals could still be improved. I guess we should have waited longer at Bag of Beans instead… oh well, there’s always a next time. Our Tagaytay tour ended there, but I wanted to get myself a new pair of swimsuits, so we were decided to pass by Paseo de Santa Rosa before heading to MOA for more shopping and dinner. We did get to go look around Santa Rosa but our plans stopped there. Don’t ask. Things that happened after that, somewhat ruined the day. hay.. oh well. In any case, I did enjoy the trip and might drag him again for another road trip. Maybe, things’ll end on a sweeter note the next time around.

Before I go to bed, I thought I’d leave you with three of the better photos I took (or so I think…)

Enjoy!

my Secret Garden

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..

There’s an entrance fee to the museum so do prepare P75 if you ever decide to go here.

Philippine history 101 inside the walled city

I finally had the chance to join one of the much lauded oldmanilawalks‘ walking tours last Sunday. It was the Manila day’s edition of Ivan’s walls of discontent 3-hour tour which was fantabulously entertaining and educational! I was a bit hesitant about asking my friends to join me since I knew that it wasn’t really their thing so I was glad when I found out that they enjoyed it. We’re now even planning to join their Binondo walk with more friends.

I’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.

Plaza Roma

Manila Cathedral

its lovely wooden door

inside the Cathedral

Palacio del Gobernador

Manila Cathedral again, but at a different angle

The tour started here, where we had our early Philippine history crash course complete with interesting tidbits that you’d probably never get from any of your high school teachers.

We made a quickstop here before heading to San Agustin Church.

a memorial for the WWII victims

We then proceeded to the only establishment in Intramuros that was spared by the WWII bombings.

one of the oldest Church of the Philippines

inside the church of San Agustin

half of the garden have been cleared already…

good thing they spared her

the stairway that leads to the 2nd floor

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.

this is where the parish I go to once stood

Sanctuario del Santo Nino or Church of San Juan del Monte

One of the nicest churches I’ve been to is Sanctuario del Santo Nino tucked away in San Juan, Metro Manila. I first passed by this Church when I went with my mom to pick up my sister currently working as a nurse at the St. Martin de Porres Charity Hospital situated beside the church. I was awed by the simple but compelling beauty of the church since then.A bit of history.The marker found beside the entrance to the convent shares a bit of history about the chuch known also as the Church of San Juan Del Monte.

The 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

inside the Church

Hmm.. Come to think of it, the town of San Juan could actually have been named after this Church.

The long wooden beams give a rustic feel. I loved the stained glass windows too.

So how do you get here?

Sanctuario del Santo Nino is tucked away in the middle of San Juan. Coming from Quezon Avenue, you’d need to make a turn for Araneta Avenue. Just follow the road til you reach the end of it where you’d have to take a left turn. Make a right turn at F. Blumentritt St. (you won’t miss it, there’s a 711 convenience store by the corner) and go straight ahead. It’s right after the Dominican College. You’d definitely see it right away.

Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte: Boracay of the North

Early this year, R expressed his intentions of heading out to the beach. We agreed on a date, but failed to really prepare for it. We were suppose to take the bus but RC volunteered to bring their van. I was able to invite a couple more people, and everything was set a few days before we actually took off.

March 30. Friday. Destination: Pagudpud.

the arch that says it all

RC 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.

by the rocky part of the cove

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.

sunrise in Pagudpud

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.

enjoying the makeshift balsa and the sea

the lagoon

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.

with the lobster

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.