Not proud of

When I was about in fifth grade, I was kinda addicted in playing basketball. The thing is, I am not really good at it. One time I was out in an outdoor basketball court playing. From afar I saw my father and my sister watching me play. They were kinda passing the area going somewhere else. When I got home they told me that I was not shooting the ball, I am not getting it aside from inbounding it after the other team scored. My father thinks I sucked at it, that's how fathers are.

In another story, when we are about to be bequeathed as senior boy scout leaders on my junior year in high school there was this obstacle course on our final camping where I had this photo where I was wearing a white t-shirt doing pushups then these officers pouring mud on me. The push-ups was a part of the course, the mud, something senior leaders do to improvise. I sneaked that photo from the archives then I brought home. My mother saw that photo and asked me why the hell am I in that situation. It sucked explaining that picture. It is an embarrassing photo. I know my mother had a difficult time washing that shirt.

Anyways the point is, who the hell wants their love ones see them in a bad situation: getting beat up, defeated or in any bad situation you are not proud of. In a way, nobody wants their love ones see them suck in anything. Why the hell do that, when there are other facets in life that you are good at that they can see you kick ass.

Boldstar

mula sa facebook

Hindi ko sila napanood noong may gig sila bago ako magpunta ng US noong 2011 hahaha. Hindi rin ako nakapunta noong Pebrero. mabuti na lang may gig sila kagabi at nakapunta ako. Hahaha. Ewan. May nagtanong ano bang sikat nilang kanta. Wala. Pero gusto ko sila mapanood. Wala na rin silang bagong album, parang side project na lang talaga pero solid kasi yung album nila dati. 

Ayos nga kasi Martes, madalang ang tao. Ang hirap makipagsiksikan sa Route 196 kapag Up Dharma Down e. Ok din kasi hindi sila kasing sikat hehehe. Apat na kanta lang din. Bitin. Marami naman kasing banda ang tumugtog tapos pakiramdam namin kami lang ang customer doon na hindi kilala ng mga banda, yung totoong customer. Kahit ganoon, nakiki-sing-along pa rin naman ako, ako lang mag-isa. 

Ok din naman yung iba sa line-up. Buhay pa pala yung Frio, at may pangatlong album na daw. Dati walo sila, ngayon lima na lang. At least kahit ganito, buhay pa rin naman ang OPM.

Saigo No Iiwake

A 90's kid will definitely know this song or any rendition of it that existed.

Dagupan

The whole city is covered by the faces of these politicians

From Alaminos, our next destination is Manaoag church. To get there, we need to ride a van to Dagupan first then from there we could ride a van or a jeepney.

Last time we were in Dagupan’s Bangus festival was three years ago. It was also election time. I remember political billboards in front of what I think is a mall. Now it is election time again and I know there are new restrictions on the size of the political posters and shit. I have been to places and so far Dagupan is the most untidy place I have seen with regards to political shit we can see on the streets. It was Bangus festival so there are supposed to be a lot of these campaign materials everywhere. 

From where I am from, posters of small sizes are still widely used but in this city, they have a different norm.  So the political rivalry is between Lims and Fernandezes I suppose with the big posters of different candidates for several local positions with common surname. What sucked big time is how they position the rubbish on the streets. Imagine an establishment with a panaflex signage up front like "Ben’s TV Repair Shop". What these fuckers do is place a big billboard I suppose is the size limit approved by COMELEC on top of the panaflex signage. The political billboard has almost the same height as the original panaflex signage. In effect, what I see is just the face of the politician and the prominent surname and not the name of the establishment and both running parties do it. What sucks more is that almost every establishment has one. It feels like every establishment is owned by either one of them.

Bolinao

Watching Lakbay TV and other travel channels when I was younger  made me want to visit Bolinao especially that lighthouse. So from Alaminos we rode a van with fare of 50 pesos to Bolinao town. The trip does not last an hour but waiting for the van to be fully filled took a while. We alighted in the town market where the driver told us a tricycle would take us to the lighthouse and the beach for 200 pesos one way. There is supposed to be another destination which we would love to go to also, Tara waterfalls. The tricycle driver demanded 800 pesos to bring us to all that. We found another guy who said he would take us there for 500 pesos only. I did not know that the waterfalls was out of the deal because it is off another route. We should have taken the first offer. We also have to see this first beach first because we chose him instead of the first tricycle.

I forgot the name of this place

This was our ride

There is no beach. Just rocks

Anyways, we bought us some packed lunch in the gotohan near the Five Star bus station then headed our way to the first beach. We took some photos then to the Enchanted cave. This place has an entrance fee, 90 pesos if you just want to enter, 110 if you want to swim. We only want to see what the fuzz is about. We went in then my group decided they want to swim as well. So we ate our lunch there then swam. Inside the cave there's this pool. There are lights and a cooling system consisting of a heavy duty fan.

 

 

We did swim in there

Next to the itinerary is to see the lighthouse.

The guy selling ice cream took this photo.

After that is Patar white beach. I remember also paying 200 pesos for the cottage we used there(nothing is free anymore). 

from the cottage that we rented

It was almost 5PM when we finished so going to the waterfalls is not an option anymore. Good thing though because we were able to catch the last bus from Bolinao to Manila which would also bring us back to Alaminos.

Alaminos

Spirit of 1896 statue

We were supposed to see Bangus Festival this year but my officemates’ schedules and shit won’t allow it. We could have been in Pangasinan for four or five days. Anyways, there’s another group going so I went with them. I was just a guest on this trip so I just go with their plans and itinerary. We went on a 4AM Victory Liner trip lasting 5hours to Alaminos. When we arrived there, there’s this mob of tricycle drivers asking where the people alighting the bus are going. I kinda expected this, I asked Chast to text the others on how much is the fare going to Islandia Hotel but they are not replying; they were all sleeping. Anyway we paid fifty pesos, we learned that others only paid forty therefore the notion that tricycle drivers in Alaminos are scammers. I felt kinda helpless because we utilize this kind of transportation all the time and yet I don’t know if we were paying too much.
Islandia is located in Marcos Ave. what I noticed in this towns and others nearby is the abundance of rural banks. Of course there’s a Land Bank and BDO but there are others. I found this list showing establishments in Alaminos and banks are plenty. It just shows people there knows how to save money. Kudos!

A few steps from Islandia is 3J’s Kambingan. Here is where we have our first breakfast. The papaitan and kilawin that we ordered were delicious. 160 pesos for everything. For the next days, we ate at the hotel’s complimentary breakfast. Longganisang Alaminos tastes good too.

The plan for the first day is to see the hundred islands. We got a tricycle that fits the five of us then head to Lucap. When we got there we hired a boat, snorkels and aqua shoes, everything for 2500. Again, I don’t know if we got a good deal with that. The boat was big for the five of us. The deal with the snorkels and life vests could be reduced because vests are already available in the boat. Every boat must be equipped with that. Its just now that I read stuff about Alaminos and I see experiences of opportunists as well. Too bad I was just a last minute guest on this trip. I could have do some research and shit before the trip.  There were a few transient houses there so it could have been a better place to stay instead of Islandia, budget-wise. 

It was almost lunchtime so we get ourselves packed lunch we would eat on any one of the islands.

Governor's Island

Governor's Island View Deck

Our first stop is the Governor’s island. Our boatmen showed us the PBB house, a house built by ABS-CBN on the island on in effect bastardizing the place. 

Marcos Island

Marcos island is where there’s Imelda cave, a bat cave where there’s water underneath. People go there to jump into the water. We did that too. I could have jumped twice but there’s this fat guy holding on to the rope which would took us up on the ledge again. Instead, we have to go outside through the ocean then around the beach. When we reached the beach we just go our way into Quezon Island for lunch. We paid 200 pesos for using a table. After that we snorkel a bit then swim a little in Children’s island and took photos inside Cuenco cave.

Inside Cuenco tunnel

Ilocos, Holy Week 2013

from Google Treasure maps for April Fools Day

It was holy week once again and therefore time for four-day long weekend. We could have join a group going to Baler but we already have other plans to go to Ilocos. One aim of this trip is to be on a tight budget. We did not bring our own transportation instead we rode a bus. RCJ Trans going to Banna was 650 pesos. Going back from Laoag with Partas was almost 800 pesos. We left by Wednesday night. Good thing we had reservations for it is peak time.
We stayed at Chast’s house in Banna to save from hotel expenses. Their house is big enough to house the six of us. We used just one room. The plan is to go to Batac and Paoay on Thursday; lay back and go to church on Good Friday; go on a Pagudpud road trip the next day then catch an early afternoon bus to Manila on Easter Sunday. To go around, we have Chast’s relatives to drive us around and we took care of gas.
When we arrived on Thursday morning, we went to the market to buy stuff to cook and something to eat. After that we went to bed. We went on the trip to Batac and Paoay in the afternoon after lunch. 

Periwinkle at the side of Paoay Church

We went on the usual attractions, the Marcos Museum, eat empanada at the nearby empanadahan, see Paoay church then Suba in Paoay church. 

Paoay Lake

The place is beautiful. its just that my prime lens can't capture it all

On our previous trips, we always pass by the lake but it was my first time to see Malacanang of the North. It has some entrance fee and it closes by 5PM but it was good to see it for the first time. The elegance and beauty of the place was awesome.
We just laid back on Good Friday. Angel told us it was accustomed in her family to NOT travel at that day so we didn’t. We played cards to kill time then went to church for the 3PM mass. It was difficult for me to understand the mass in Ilocano so I guess the others had worse. After the mass there was a procession. We had merienda there then bought this big candle which we take turns in carrying. It was fun.

This is Pagudpud. It aint this crowded 10 years ago

This zipline is more than a kilometer

I remember there was no cellphone signal here before. Now there's that BTS

 
On Saturday, we head out early. We had to because Pagudpud will surely be packed. There are some places along the way we could stop into but we figured to get to the beach first to get not a good spot, but to at least get one. When we got there around 9AM, the place is full. Hanna’s is fully booked and we had a hard time finding a hut. We did find one although it cost a lot. When we were settled in, it’s time. Sunburn it is! We enjoyed the beach until 2PM.

Patapat

Bangui windmills

After that we went to see the long Patapat bridge, my first time there also. We were also supposed to see the waterfalls but we had no time and energy for that. 

Kapurpurawan

We went to see Kapurpurwan then Cape Bojeador. We got there exactly 5PM, they were closed so our friends were not able to get in. we had our dinner in this cool American inspired diner in Laoag which serves Filipino dishes. They have this old jukebox that I tried to play Hotel California. It was not programmed correctly because instead of hearing my song, we found ourselves listening to this birthday song. I know I pressed the correct buttons. After dinner I asked to be dropped at my grandmother’s where I spent the night. It was cool to at least spend one night there. I was not able to see two of my cousins who went there for lunch earlier. It would have been fun.
On Sunday, my uncle toured me around the neighborhood then they prepared a box of things my mother asked for: cultured mushrooms, tupig and some vegetables. I had an early lunch then ride on my uncle’s tricycle to Laoag. Just the tricycle because my cousin took the car for his family outing in Curimmao. I met up with the others in the McDonalds where Chast also met up with his brother’s family for lunch. After that we went on the Partas station but I had to stop on an ATM first because I was empty on cash. We got this 3PM trip which lasted 12 hours until we reach Cubao.