Ilocandia Trip - The Best of Ilocos

I'm trying to improve my Trips and Tours page so now I'm adding new features such as Pasalubong Guide, Itinerary, Travel Tips, Budget, and the most important Contact Numbers at the end of the post/entry. Enjoy!

My college friends and I caught a plane (Cebu Pacific) to Laoag at lunchtime to start our exciting long weekend last month. It was certainly an adrenaline-filled Ilocandia trip as upon arriving, we just had a good lunch (hello Poque-Poque Pizza!) and then went on to ride our 4x4's en route to Paoay Sand Dunes for our sandboarding experience.

Poque-Poque and Dinardaraan Pizza on the menu!

A 4x4 ride to the Sand Dunes to meet our fate!

From sandboarding about 2-3 hours, we rode a bus to Pagudpud and basked in the glory and beauty of Blue Lagoon (Saud Beach is the more commercialized beach in Pagudpud, we opted for the privacy of the former).

Sandboarding down the dunes.

Waking up to this scenery that is the Blue Lagoon. Fall in love!

We stayed at Pagudpud (Agua Seda Beach Resort) and started our tour. Yes, Blue Lagoon is as beautiful as you can imagine it to be. It is secluded and only a few establishments are in the area. Nonetheless, the sand is not as white and fine as Panglao nor Boracay, but it serves its purpose.

I'm Listening

Listening to the radio on a dreamy weather, with God's messenger singing, turns an unfortunate day to a positive one.


"Paano kapag hindi ko type yung gusto ni God para sa akin?"
"Puwede ba yun. God loves us too much, He knows the perfect one for us."


"It's not in His will that we keep on getting hurt. The waiting for it was long but when it came, it was at the right time."


"I don't want to just try and be out of the market. I surrender everything to God and He will make my love story."

They Found Love

We're already nearing the end of July and most are thinking of how can they whip up August in the air. I haven't even blogged anything! This only means one thing: July has been as hectic and exciting as it can be.

Grandma being rushed into the ER, my aunt flying home from the US, Palawan, groupon site mishaps, project on steroids, and loads of pizza.

I'm not dead yet!

I found love, didn't even know I needed it
But I found love, never even crossed my mind
I found love, had a garden never weeded it
But I found love, took an apple just in time

I found love in the fall and it did not hurt at all
I found sunlight, flowers, soft summer showers
I can feel my heart touch my Adam's apple
I can feel the feather in my head
There is a lightness, politeness, fingers tingle, tootsies tap
'till dawn comes and finds me never in my bed

I found love, didn't even know I needed it
But I found love, never even crossed my mind

I found love in the spring and I did not lose a thing
I found love in the fall and it did not hurt at all
I found sunlight and flowers, soft summer showers.
I can feel my heart touch my Adam's apple
I can feel the feather in my head
There is a lightness, politeness, fingers tingle, tootsies tap
'till dawn comes and finds me never in my bed

This July, We're A Firework!

July is my project's much-awaited grand performance. The team has been toiling on this for almost 9 months like a baby. Now it's time to birth it out into the world. Hmm, that was not a pleasant picture. Anyway, from the last time I have blogged, my movie and series watching time has been cut off and working on hyperdrive has been a norm. I'm not complaining. I made the effort before to catch-up with my life and this time, I need to slow it down for other important things, too. Yet I'm not all work as I managed to slip in Transformers 3 on IMAX 3D (SM's online reservation is as wonderful as you can think of) and my daily book-reading moments before sleeping have made me finish 2 books (The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dilemma and Montmorency) and I'm currently internalizing this thick book of complete Sherlock Holmes' stories. Uh-huh. Not to mention I was able to do my 3rd 5K fun run last July 3 at MOA. Yes, it's still a charity run for Ideal Vision's foundation.

Who said I suck at work-life balance? I still owe this blog my Ilocandia Adventure post, as well as a fun run post (or should I wait for my August run?) and tomorrow, I'll be hopping on a plane to Puerto Princesa (Palawan). God bless my soul.


MORAL: Work hard, party harder!

The Roommate is Minka Kelly and Leighton Meester

Warning: Photo alert.


So we're on a roll! We have kick-ass pairs in the movie screen, coming from the previous Pretty Beautiful post. When twin sisters Minka Kelly and Gossip Girl Leighton Meester star in a movie, you want to expect yourself getting confused on who's who at times. And then you add The Vampire Diaries stars Nina Dobrev and Katerina Graham (Bonnie) in the equation, you'll definitely get a chick flick on drugs, right?

Oh crap, sorry to disappoint you. The Roommate is not really a chick flick. It's a psycho-thriller and that's how it should be. Clingy psycho rommate (who looks like you) alert! Dundunduuuuuun.

These are tv stars thrown into a Mongolian bowl of a film. Minka Kelly comes from Friday Night Lights popularity while Leighton Meester is the Queen Bee of Gossip Girl. Then we have The Vampire Diaries kiddos namely Nina Dobrev and Katerina Graham on cameo. Well, the latter are reserved for another entry, once The Vampire Diaries airs its third season soon. Are there really loads of psychos prowling around? Scary world, it is!

Camilla Belle plus Nicholas D'Agosto

Let's hit two beautiful birds in one stone. My brother for some reason downloaded the movie From Prada to Nada and so I plugged it to watch in our television. Two familiar favorites showed up in our screen, the lovely and mouth-watering duo of Camilla Belle and Nicholas D'Agosto. Okay, they look kind of similar, they could pass of as siblings.

Camilla Belle was brought into stardom (or semi-stardom whatever) from When A Stranger Calls showed in the big screen. Then next would be the silent movie 10,000 BC and also from that awesome movie, Push. Yes she has striking co-stars in the last 2 movies mentioned and this time, she has Nicholas D'Agosto for From Prada to Nada. Lucky girl.

Yes we know you have lovely eyebrows.

You already!

Y SO PRETTY?!??!

Nicholas D'Agosto first caught my eye in the movie Rocket Science but you would probably recognize him from the tv series Heroes in season 2. Next would be from the movie Fired Up! which was a little bit annoying but hey, seeing him and his smile was totally worth it.

Y SO GORGEOUS?!

Dios mio!

Now let's all bask in the goodness of nature and how they made Nicholas and Camilla perfect by staring at their photos again.


MORAL: Blondes do not necessarily have all the fun.

Will Still Run for A Cause

My personal choice of joining runs that are for a cause still holds true as a psychotic friend and I signed-up for 2 runs for July and August. The Ideal Vision Center's event Vision in Motion Fun Run on July 3 will benefit their Save Your Sight foundation providing free eye consultation, reading glasses, and other eye care services to poor Filipinos. Another would be on August 7, a company event that would benefit certain wards in Philippine General Hospital. See, there are no problems with the events, it is just that I haven't ran this June and that June 27-July 1 would be a very critical time for my project. Even though it's just for 5K, my July 3 event would see a running zombie - which was initially thought to be anatomically impossible but then Resident Evil and Dawn of the Dead happened. How about the August 7 event? It would be my first time running uphill with a 9-kilometer distance. I would definitely, definitely bring a skateboard or some roller skates when it comes to the downhill part. I remember mentioning my endurance sucks so well like a vacuum cleaner, right? Wish me the best in all the world just like it's my birthday.


MORAL: Sometimes it takes a demented friend to push you out of your comfort zone. You'll never know how far you could go until you try.

Ours is the Earth: If

If

Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

But make allowance for their doubting too; 

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, 

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, 

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; 

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; 

If you can meet with triumph and disaster 

And treat those two imposters just the same; 

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken 

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, 

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club - Nasugbu, Batangas

Drafted last April 10, 2011 and I know it's June already. No judging! :p
Yes, there are a lot of photos here.

The wonderful pools of the Country Club, with the view
of the still unfinished column of buildings.

See the contrast of the finished buildings and those still under construction.

Hamilo Coast. 

Hamilo Coast goodness of Pico de Loro.

Top-view from the Beach Club deck.

Situated along Hamilo Coast at Nasugbu, Batangas, Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club is an exclusive resort developed by SMDC (yeah, "the good guys"). Thirty minutes farther from Punta Fuego and Tali Beach, it would seem like either you're in the wrong place or this place is at the other side of the world. Definitely a swimming beach and do not have yourself fooled if it's the same with the famous mountain of Pico de Loro. They are NOT the same, I wonder where SMDC got the name.

Overlooking the cove. This is where they bring potential buyers.

Pristine waters.

In any case, to be able to get inside you must either be a member or a guest of a member. I don't get it, honestly. Pay so much for a beach/country club? Just travel to all of the breathtaking beaches around the country if you have that much money to buy stocks in a beach club! Opinions aside, Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club has awesome residential buildings, a man-made lagoon with a boat ride, and of course, the shuttle service (just like in Anvaya Cove, Punta Fuego, etc.) which is just a call away. Amenities are complete for the Country Club, they have lots of courts (badminton, tennis, basketball), gym equipments, a library, and a kick-ass pool.

Country Club at night. :)

In all honesty, Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club is really a very radiant pleasing place having a modern view/feel to it and it is new. Being new is a factor because (I believe that) SMDC has a tendency to overdevelop (or overpopulate) their sites and I am not quite sure of the future beauty of the beach club if they finish the other side of the residential buildings - when we went there, only the other side of the row of buildings were done. We experienced Pico de Loro during April, definitely peak season so throngs of people are to be expected but the number that welcomed us considering that it prides itself as an exclusive resort and only half of the place has been developed, I just hope the cove will be as beautiful in the future as it is enthralling at present.

There are available water sports equipment.

The Beach Club has one swimming pool.

MORAL: When you're out there, bask in the glory of the sun. Sand, sun, and the seawater. The world is for your taking.

Unit where we stayed.

Waterproof tag.