Ilocos Trip in Pictures.

i had the chance to travel up North last November 13-16, 2012 along with few friends in tow. i am very ecstatic about this trip as we have planned it way ahead since the first quarter of the year. each one has his/her task to research our personalized itinerary as we chose to not purchase package tours we've seen online or in any travel agencies we know in the area - we want FREEDOM! haha. it also helped that some of my peers were able to visit Ilocos few weeks earlier thus i didn't let it pass to ask them for tips good places to visit in Ilocandia, gastronomic finds, necessary stuff to pack, etc.

it is around 11pm when we arrived in Cubao bus station where we bought our tickets which roughly cost us p550/pax, one-way. our bus left at about 12mn and we have set our minds that we will embark on a very long road trip. coats and blankets on, played music on my iPhone and tried to close my eyes and sleep... and tried again and nothing happened. I.AM.WIDE.AWAKE. darnit!

we're glad we had a very smooth trip and we arrived around 8am,Wednesday. i managed to get some decent naps from time to time but the scenery outside the window won over that shuteye is impossible. we were invited as house guests to my colleague's abode(he happens to live there,yay!), and we are tad grateful. free lodging means less expenses for us. winner di ba?

their family van waited for us and his(colleague's) older sister served as our driver/guide. she's the sweetest and she took us to their place which is literally beside a vast rice field which probably belong to them and to their neighbors. i love the simplicity of the place and even compared it to an amorsolo painting.

we were served with native chicken tinola and a veggie dish for breakfast that we all loved until no trace of it left. patay-gutom lang talaga! and were set to start our day.

these are taken in Fort Ilocandia. this is where we first went.

our first shot together. thanks to my tripod. :)

then, we're told that next on our list will be the Malacanang of the North and entrance  fee is 20pesos.

amazing that it was built near/fronting Paoay lake. just like the real Malacanang fronting Pasig river.

president's office.

patapat viaduct.

san juanico strait.

up close.

this is Bongbong's room.

look at the floorboards!

the portraits above are Bongbong's and Imee's.

(l-r)gelo, cheann, pam.

i am loving this capiz  window. so much.

the front lawn. 

the master  bed.

one of Imelda's terno on diplay. i cant imagine how many she owns.

i took this photo of me in one of the dressers mirror.

outside the main house, we spotted a (non-working)swimming pool (i'm not certain if its Olympic-sized), a basketball court and an outhouse we're spooked out to take pictures at. ewan ko ba. the malacanang of the north definitely is fitting of the head of the republic - or at least that time. it is GRAND but very filipino.

we then proceed to our van waiting just outside and off we went to see one of the baroque churches of the philippines, Paoay Church which deserves a different post along with what we had for lunch/merienda plus the last place we visited for the day, the Marcos mausoleum.


ciao,
tristan