Month: December 2013

General

Road Trip

By on Friday, December 27, 2013

Went with the family on a year-ender road trip. James and I drove our cars in probably some of the best places to drive in Luzon.

  1. NLEx, SCTEx, TPLEx – Ripping through the smooth tarmac along the expressways. They sure shaved a lot of travel time and are fun by themselves.
  2. MacArthur, Manila North Road – Relaxed cruising along the roads to Vigan, Laoag, and Pagudpud. There are just the annoying slow trucks and buses that were a chore to pass.
  3. Naguilian Road – We reached Naguilian Road to Baguio at dusk. By the time we were at its twists, turns and uphill grades, it was dark already. Crazy. And fun!
  4. Santo Tomas Road – We missed a turn heading down from Baguio and went into a drive up the clouds. Twists, turns, and uphill grades in the fog. More fun!
  5. Kennon Road – A leisurely and picturesque route down from Baguio. Good thing the weather was good.
  6. Guimba-Victoria Road – Rally Stage! Tried to enter TPLEx at Rosales but it turned out to be still under construction. Instead of going back, we proceeded to Umingan-Rosales Road and then Nueva Ecija-Pangasinan Road all the way to Guimba. The two roads were pretty good. At Guimba, we then took the Guimba-Victoria Road. It felt like a road everyone forgot. There were asphalt, concrete, and dirt sections in various states of disrepair. Wished I had an STI or an Evo.

A good close the year in terms of driving.

 

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General

La Paz Sand Dunes

By on Monday, December 23, 2013

Believe it or not, there are actually sand dunes in the country and they’re in Ilocos. I didn’t know about them until fairly recently. I really should go out more. Activities include sightseeing, 4×4 rides, ATV rides, and sand boarding. We all rode the 4×4 and even Jeanne enjoyed the slow climbs, banks, and fast descents. She didn’t enjoy the sand boarding as much though as she (and I) ate some sand on our first (and her only) run. I gave it a few more gos and stopped as soon as I successfully made a standing run. We then went to La Preciosa at Laoag for dinner. Jack treated us to another round of yummy Ilocano food and one of the best carrot cakes ever. Thanks, Jack!

Ilocos Sand Boarding Adventures – Glenn and Donna Guerrero at  0908-885-3669 / 0910-947-4129 / 0915-456-1133 / [email protected]

 

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General

Pagudpud

By on Monday, December 23, 2013

While we were at Laoag, we made a trip to nearby (not really) tourist spots:

  1. Patapat Viaduct – a long winding coastal bridge in Pagudpud
  2. Maira-ira Beach – also known as Blue Lagoon. It’s not exactly a lagoon but rather a cove. But it does have blue water and white sand. I think it is better than Saud beach but recent development is taking its toll. There’s a zipline over the water! It was also cold and windy when we got there so we ended up just eating at Hannah’s Beach Resort
  3. Windmills at Bangui – these are windmills stretching along the coast and generating electricity for the area. We stopped over at Kang Kang Windmill Cafe which has a good view of the windmills as well as refreshments. While maneuvering for a good photo angle, my car got stuck in the soft sand (yesh). Fortunately, the guys at the cafe we’re familiar with the problem and quickly extricated the car.

We we’re actually planning to visit a few other sites:

  1. Kapurpurawan Rock formation at Burgos
  2. Cape Bojeador Lighthouse also at Burgos
  3. Pasuqin Church
  4. Bacarra Church
  5. Sinking Bell Tower at Laoag

But we were running out of daylight for our 4×4 ride and sandboarding at La Paz. And that we didn’t want to miss!

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Archery at Fort Ilocandia

By on Sunday, December 22, 2013

I’ve long been interested in Archery. I guess it started with my dad and uncles shooting arrows during one of our vacations when I was a kid. I never got to shoot that bow. I did make quite a few bamboo bows after that and was able to shoot an arrow or two off a recurve bow as part of a school report but that was about it.

A few months back, Leslie mentioned an archery range called Gandiva. I was very interested but we never got around to visiting. So when I learned that archery is one of the activities available at Fort Ilocandia, I couldn’t let it pass. And just as I’ve known all along, it was fun!

 

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Fort Ilocandia

By on Sunday, December 22, 2013

Our next destination on the family on a year-ender road trip was Laoag where we stayed at Fort Ilocandia. The hotel is really good. It has several wings with many rooms for any budget (as long as it’s not small). The hotel offers a wide array of facilities:

  1. Golf and country club
  2. Driving range
  3. Casino
  4. Several restaurants
  5. Beach for swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and jet skiing.
  6. Rides such as horses, carriages, ATVs, 4×4 jeeps, and even hot air balloons
  7. Sporting activities such as shooting, archery, tennis, and basketball.
  8. Swimming pool
  9. Gym

It’s practically a theme park (where the theme is being rich and famous, I guess) and you could spend all your time (and money) there. But seriously, although Fort Ilocandia is a bit on the expensive side, you do get what you pay for.

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