Among all the places we went to in Ilocos, the one Jay and I most looked forward to showing our children was Calle Crisologo in Vigan. We’ve been to Vigan together twice in our youth, and in both times, we performed with our band at the city square, front lining for the then popular band True Faith at the annual San Miguel Oktoberfest. Playing in Vigan with our band was one of our fondest memories — getting on the rented van right after our gig at Strumm’s in Makati, and heading towards north with our bags and instruments; just a […]
Maira Ira Beach (The Blue Lagoon) of Ilocos
Maira Ira beach is part of the famous blue lagoon of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte. According to our tour guide, it used to be owned by the same people that run Hannah’s Beach, which by the way, still exists. Entrance to the beach was PHP 300. Our tour fee with Byaheros PH already included the hut rental fees, so I don’t really know how much it cost. But they were spacious enough to have lunch at and stay at. There weren’t too many people when we were there, in fact, our tour group was the only ones there, perhaps because […]
Kapurpurawan Rock Formation Site and Bantay Abot Cave in Ilocos
We’ve been to so many beautiful sites in Ilocos, but my top two favourites were the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation site and Bantay Abot Cave. We dropped by both sites on our way back to Laoag, where our B & B was, from Maira Ira Beach in Pagudpod. Kapurpurawan Rock Formation site is in Burgos, while Bantay Abot Cave is located in Barangay Baloi. (READ: Getting to know Ilocos in 3 Days) I’m not exactly geographically adept, so I can’t tell you how to go there, but I think that it’s along the way to Pagudpud where the Blue Lagoon is. […]
The Food of Ilocos – Fully Housewifed
One of the things that we want to do when we do family trips is to eat the food. There’s so much to learn about the culture of the people living in a place when you eat their food. Food can sometimes be identified with people. For instance, we all know that Bicolanos love spicy ginataan (coconut cream) dishes, Bulalo is a popular dish in Tagaytay and Batanggas, Laguna is known for their buco pies, and Chicken Inasal is best served in Bacolod. And we all know, Ilocos is known for many traditional dishes that grace our tables often. (READ: […]
The Historical Churches and Bell Towers of Ilocos
Our Ilocos trip included visits to a handful of historical churches and bell towers, such as The Paoay Church, the Bantay Bell Tower, Bacarra church, the Sinking Bell Tower, and the St. Paul Cathedral. There really must be something about growing up because I never used to see how beautiful these old structures were until only recently when I’ve learned their stories. And they’re pretty interesting stories, too! For example, they said that looking out a window of the Bantay Bell Tower, they used to see the favorite ”tagpuan” (date) place of Philippine revolutionists, Diego and Gabriela Silang. (READ: The […]