A weekend in Ilocos

J and I brought my mom to Ilocos Sur and Norte two weekends ago. It was a whirlwind tour of the heritage sites. Short but sweet.  When I first went to Ilocos years ago, I was immediately enchanted and awed by its architecture, the old houses and churches, food and the old world ambiance, and I'm glad that I still had the same feeling when I went back.

Our travel time was approximately 9 hours from Makati to Ilocos Sur. Our itinerary:

1. Breakfast at Grandpa's Inn, Vigan, 9am

2. Check in at Villa Angela, Vigan

3. Proceed to Juan Luna Shrine, Bagoc (almost an hour away from Vigan)

4. After Bagoc, we went to Paoay to visit Marcos Mausoleum, Photo Gallery, Paoay Church, ate pinakbet and dinuguan pizza at Herencia Cafe, Malacanan of the North

5. Back to Vigan by 7pm, ate Ilocos Empanada at the Plaza

The next day, we went around Vigan, shop at the public market for Abel Iloco, visited 3 museums: Crisologo, Syquia, Father Burgos, photo op at Calle Crisologo, and lunch at Cafe Leona. By 1pm, we were on the road to home, with a quick stop at Santa Maria Church, Ilocos Sur and Agoo Church in La Union.

1. Breakfast at Grandpa's Inn. Their breakfast meal was pricey.Throughout our trip, we were amazed on how "red" the egg yolks were in Ilocos and finally we learned that the said color indicates that the eggs are fresh. Hmm, makes me cringe at the thought here in Manila, all the eggs that I ate have yellowish yolks.

Beef tapa

Dinuguan and Pinakbet Pizza, Herencia Cafe. Strangely delicious. It tastes like your average pizza with just a dinuguan and pinaket flavor.

Poqui-poqui, Herencia Cafe. Egg omelet with grilled eggplant. This dish was a bit salty for us.

Special Ilocos empanda. Sinfully delicious and filling.

Pinakbet, Cafe Leona, Vigan

Spicy Squid, Cafe Leona

HK Disneyland

J and I went to HK Disneyland last weekend with my mom, nephew and niece. After carefully studying all the packages offered by different travel agencies, Cebu Pac's travel promo, and PAL's Swingaround promo, we decided to book the airline and hotel tickets on our own via online booking. It still came out relatively cheaper because we booked them as early as March. Another factor for not availing of travel packages is that we dont want our movements limited or time-bound, that is, you are only given a specific amount of time to enjoy the place; plus we don't want the kids to  go through the customary factory visit because they will become impatient and bored.

Cebu Pacific Airlines

We got our tickets for 8k, more or less.

Disney's Hollywood Hotel

We availed of their Early Bird promo, that is, you get a 25% discount on the room if you booked 21 days before the scheduled check-in date. Thus, our Garden View room rate was HKD1,125 for Saturday and HKD975 for Sunday.

It's our second time in HK Disneyland and this place never fails to make us happy. I don't how we did it but we were able to cover more ground, that is, enjoy many rides and attractions than we did the last time we were here.

In ordinary circumstances, J and I would not stay at Disney's because I'm sure we can still find a much cheaper hotel room in Kowloon like YMCA. But since we were travelling with kids, it was convenient for us to stay near the Disneyland Park.

It's a totally fulfilling Disney experience seeing the priceless smiles of the kids. One can feel their tremendous happiness and excitement everytime they shout with glee during a ride, earnestly clap after a perfomance or their eyes lit up whenever they see a Disney character.

Mickey Mouse here, there, and everywhere

Disneyland Park, California

Disneyland Park California is divided into two big attactions: Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park.

Disney's California Adventure Park is adjacent to Disneyland and has a separate entrance fee. But there is a ticket that allows one to hop from one park to the other, of course, for a more expensive price. The adventure park's theme is the different famous culture, landmarks and history of California like Golden Gate Bridge, Hollywood, etc and it has restaurants, rides and recent movies from Disney like The Incredibles, etc.

Shuttle that would take us to the park.

 Some of the attractions in the California Adventure Park. This is like Mickey's Philharmagic, only less amazing.

Mr. Incredible himself

Mickey's Fun Wheel. The sliding gondolas creates a unique twist to this otherwise boring ride (there is an option for a stationary gondola). The gondola slide inward and outward or swing back and forth as the wheel rotates. It can be frightening, I actually squeal everytime our gondola slides and swings. From afar, it looks boring but when you're in the sliding gondola, you are in for a fun surprise, no wonder it looks like Mickey has a mischievous smile here.

One of the highlights of our visit in the park. The show was freaking hilarious, thanks to the Genie. He was super funny and the script or his ad libs were updated with the latest Hollywood buzz. J said that Disney could make this into a Broadway bonanza just like The Lion King.

Welcome to the happiest place on earth!

The Haunted Mansion. It was not scary but the high-tech special effects were amazing like the floating ghosts and dancing mannequins, the ones we saw in movies such as Beetlejuice and Capser. It was fun seeing those movie magic up close.

Columbia Sailing Ship. The leisurely boat ride through Frontierland.

Baon

Lunch

Wetzel Pretzel Dinner cum dessert

Hotdog

Two Drifters

"Two drifters off to see the world."

*NewYork*

*Washington,DC*


















*NewJersey*


















*Ellis Island*


















*Statue of Liberty*

*AtlanticCity*

*Philadelphia*

 *LosAngeles*

*Solvang, Sta. Barbara County, California*


















*Yosemite National Park, California*

*SanFrancisco*

"There's such a lot of world to see."

I thank the Lord for giving me the chance to travel to the US this year.

I'm also grateful to my friends and relatives for extending their warm hospitality and making our visit truly memorable.

Finally, I'm blessed to have my very own dream maker in J*,

"wherever you're going I'm going your way."

*but definitely not a "heartbreaker"

Green, green, greens at Getty's

The Getty's central garden is a work of art itself. It calms the soul and refreshes the senses. "All of the foliage and materials of the garden have been selected to accentuate the interplay of light, color, and reflection." (See http://www.getty.edu/visit/see_do/gardens.html)

Amazing maze of floating azalea hedges with our jeepney. My photo is so badly composed that it does not do justice to this beautiful garden.

Wispy deer grass

The Amphora Fountain. I was strangely attracted and fascinated by this structure. The different shades of green created by the moss and the indentation  has the effect of making it a unique work of art. 

The breeze that gently sway the leaves complements the shimmering waters in the fountain/pool.

My interpretation of the interplay of light, color and reflection.

Tree-lined walkway that leads to the plaza

Cabbage cactus

Greens from the museum's food cart

Scenescapes: Atlantic City

Boardwalk, Atlantic City.

The dusk made a beautiful play of the light, blue skies and the red sun that helped my N79 take picture- perfect photographs.

Blooms

A series of photos showcasing the lovely blossoms of Spring.

Rockefellar Center's Tulips.

At first glance, they looked so perfect that I thought that they were plastic flowers. The yellow tulips reminds me of my wedding bouquet.

Pretty in Pink Carnation.

A mother's day gift (for me, godmother) from St. Valentine's Church, Bloomfield, New Jersey. I love looking at this photo. It looks dainty and complicated and I imagine it to be a ballerina's skirt. Best of all, it is photogenic, lol.

From the gardens of the Getty Museum:

Isn't this a sight for sore eyes? Delightfully structured or sculptured bougainvilla.

Lusciously red roses

Purty pretty purple

Pure as white so lovely to the sight, hahaha.

My "order among chaos" photo.

J made me take a photo of this foliage. This was a difficult subject to shoot. I do not know which angle to take or how to compose it. 

Cute as a 'blue' button