UPDATED: It All Started With A Videoke Machine

Pardon the story telling...pansin niyo mahilig ako umeksena sa mga long narratives in some blog entries. But I have a point naman! Hahaha!

It was in 2009 when I went back to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte with Steph and Par. The first time I went to Pagudpud was in 2006 marami kami sa barkada non, the summer before our senior year in La Salle. I also came back with officemates early this year! So hindi talaga obvious that I love the place!

We were supposed to be like 4 or 5 on that trip, but some weird stroke of luck happened, and the 3 of us ended up going. Dakilang mga lakwatsera talaga! We took Steph's mom's trusty Ford Everest, and off we went on that 13-hour drive up north. Since it was just the 3 of us medyo slight titigan ang ganap because Pagudpud isn't exactly like Boracay with a wild nightlife. BUT! In Polaris Beach Resort, there's a videoke machine, and being the true Filipinos we are, we (meaning Steph) just wanted to take a whack at it.

BUT (#2)! There were 2 girls who got there before us! Actually, it was Steph who wanted to sing, kating kati ang lola niyong bumirit that's why we egged her to talk to the 2 girls so we can all share the microphone! After a couple of hours of singing, we went upstairs to to our room (which had a veranda) to drink and play cards. Mega bonding ang ganap, that went on to talking about our schools (they were engineering graduates from Mapua (BIGATIN!)), why it was just the 2 of them and the 3 of us there, and at hindi mawawalang LOVE LIFE! :p

Pagudpud circa 2009



Their names were Shera and Mitch....and as they say, the rest is history. Even after we left Pagudpud, we've been in touch through twitter, facebook, and text messages. We've managed to squeeze in one drinking session before, and of course we're planning more if time permits. We've been busy with work and other things, and the other got married and got a kiddo now, but hey, we're still friends! :)

Ondoy Relief Operations, Bulacan, 2009



Post-Christmas/Pre-New Year Inuman Session, 2010



So it was really touching when Shera who gave birth to a cute baby girl 3 months ago, asked all 3 of us to be Ninangs (godmothers) of her panganay. How can we say NO, right? I probably got a good track record because Syb is like my 2nd inaanak this year! Naks!

So October 1, after my Strategic Planning class, I drove to Pandacan to attend Baby Syb's baptism!






Borlogs ang bagets the whole time. Even when the priest was pouring Holy Water on her head, deadma! She was the cutest, and I didn't even see her cry the whole time we were there! She had the plumpest cheeks (which by the way I wanted to bite and pinch).

And after, it was off to their abode for the reception and the drinking session at 3PM. Yes, 3 in the afternoon! It was Tanduay Ice and shots of Emperador Light! Plus, I got to meet the rest of Mitch and Shera's Mapua barkada - Yaw (na super benta na Ogie Alcasid ang peg), Chowkie, Johnny(boy), July, and Ida (forgot the rest...sino na nga ba yung Dume-Derek Ramsay at si jowawers niya? HAHAHA)!

It was super fun! It was really nice meeting you guys! Dance Central na ulit sa bahay nila Johnny! Hahaha oha! May puntahan na sa bahay na naganap, feeling close, etchosera! :p Fierce ang barkadang ito, betchicola ko kasi lahat bakla (literally and figuratively speaking). THE BEST! I'm glad I went to the reception, salamat na rin sa pagpilit Mitch! :D

So see...it all started with a videoke machine in Pagupud! Friendships can be formed in the weirdest sense, but it can go all the way. Thank God for Steph's addiction to videoke, because if she didn't, we wouldn't have met them! :)

So kayo, you guys got the same story as ours? Share kayo! :D

Ilocos Tour Part 1: Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

I have never ridden so many buses in a span of 3 days. I love long road trips, the view relaxes me despite the growing pain in my butt and legs. To those who were able to read my teaser blog, yes it was a long bus trip to Ilocos - land of the bagnet, longganisa, the Marcoses, Crisologos and Singsons.

We left Manila for Pagudpud, Thursday, 11PM. We took a bus (Partas in Cubao) up to Laoag, Ilocos Norte. We arrived in Laoag a little past 7.45AM, then we had to take a trike to get to the station of the mini-buses that go to Pagudpud. We finally got to Pagudpud at around 10.30AM. We were all happy our trip took less than 12 hours!

After enduring an almost-12 hour trip, 2 bus rides, and 2 trike rides, we were more than happy to plop down on the bed in Polaris Beach House in Barangay Saud. Owner, Ate Mhe-Ann still remembers me (I've been here THRICE and feel very much at home here, plus there's FREE WIFI NOW! :D) and had been of great help during our trip.

This was our room, the room we also slept in when we were in Pagudpud in 2008. It's a small room with one queen-sized bed and one single bed. But what I love about this room is the balcony, great place to hang out in and look out in to the ocean.



After a brief rest, we all went down to have late brunch. The food in Polaris is good for sharing, they're used to having huge families staying here.

I suggested we order Sinigang na Baboy. I remember the first time we went to Pagudpud, we were 3rd year college students in DLSU, we had the sinigang every single meal!

It's been almost 5 years, their sinigang still tastes the same. Still yummy and generous with the servings.

We also had Adobong Manok.

I liked this dish, it's not exactly our helper's adobo (she makes great adobo by the way), but it'll do. The chicken was tender, and when you mix the sauce with rice it was a big WOW! :)

Our trip was short, so we decided to go on the tour right away. We just waited for the rains to stop (yes, it was raining and it was COLD) before asking our tricycle driver to pick us up. Funny cos after lunch we all lounged around and FELL ASLEEP. We asked our trike driver to pick us up at 1PM, but we woke up at 1.30PM! It was a good thing he really waited for us! :)

We couldn't do the North Tour because it was raining. So we had to make do with the South Tour which covers the towns of Burgos and Bangui.

So first stop, is the famous Bangui Windmills. Seen in postcards and even in the Magic Sing, the windmills have become an iconic landmark in Ilocos Norte.


Completed in June of 2008 and spearheaded by then Gov. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the 20 wind turbines powers the electricity for the towns of Burgos, Bangui, and Pagudpud.

The winds are so strong it made really cool ripples in the sand. Check this out! It's like the Sahara Desert out there!

After fighting to not get blown away, we then trudged on our little trike to go to the Bangui Viewdeck. Nothing really great here except that you get to have a bird's eye view of the town of Bangui.


There are also vendors here who sell wooden replicas of the wind turbines. They're actually really cute, and I couldn't resist buying one of them for P60. And they actually work!

From the viewdeck, we chugged on further south to the town of Burgos to get to the famed Cape Bojeador Lighthouse.

Built in 1890, the lighthouse has served as a guide for boats since 1892. Despite it looking like it's about to collapse, the lighthouse is actually beautiful! Plus it provides a great view of the town of Burgos and the South China Sea.



After the Lighthouse, it was time to go back to Pagudpud. But we just had to make a short stop at this beach. It was low tide, and the coral formations were jutting out of the water. It was stunning.


And just like in Baler, we used a trike to go around. Unfortunately, comfort wasn't part of this trip hahaha! Here's Milds and Kim cramped in that tiny space of a trike!

We got back to Pagudpud after a short sight seeing trip care of Kuya Mark our trike driver. Thanks to him, we got our group pictures!


We got back to Polaris in time for the sunset. Good thing the rains stopped, and we had one beautiful bright orange sunset. We just hung out at Saud beach, savoring the fact that we were the only ones there. Too bad it was too damn cold to swim!


The next day, we once again woke up to gloomy, rainy morning. We packed our bags and went down for breakfast, all set to get on a bus that'll take us to Laoag, then to Vigan.

We made a promise to return to Pagudpud when the sun is actually high up in the sky. Kim and Milds still have to see the Northern part of Pagudpud which we had to miss out on due to bad weather. There's still so much to see!

Tips for your trip to Pagudpud via bus:
1. Take a bus from Manila. We took Partas in their Cubao station. The trip costs P701.
2. When you get to Laoag, take a trike and tell the drivers to take you to the mini-bus station that goes to Pagudpud. The short trike ride costs P70. DO NOT TAKE THE DRIVER'S OFFER TO TAKE YOU ALL THE WAY TO PAGUDPUD! THEY'LL CHARGE YOU P1500 AND THAT'S REALLY WAY TOO MUCH!
3. Take the mini-bus that goes to Pagudpud, it costs P60. When you reach Pagudpud get down in front of the municipal hall and hire a trike to take you to your resort. Our driver asked for P40 for the ride from the municipal hall to Polaris.
4. For the tour, they already have an organized thing going on. Both the North and South tours costs P600 each.

Here are the numbers for our resort, bus, and trike driver:
1. Partas -> 727-8278
2. Ate Mhe-Ann (owner of Polaris Beach House) -> (0919)3078803
3. Kuya Mark (trike driver) -> (0929)5962524