The Trip Up North: Pagudpud

If I remember correctly, it all started with a simple conversation while on a cab ride going home after a fun trip around Mind Museum (my birthday!). The talk centered around where 'C' wanted to spend her birthday this year. While we floated around several ideas like Bali (!) and Boracay (we have a thing about 'B' destinations, you see), nothing was settled that day except for the fact that we absolutely had to be together for her day, a marked difference from a year ago where our only connection was from a single FB greeting on her wall. *kilig*

Fast forward to the 28th of September and we find ourselves at C's favorite Terminal 2 meal source, feasting on an early morning breakfast of french toasts, soft-boiled eggs, a tea, and an iced milo while discovering and being surprised that the light-colored soy sauce (?) is much saltier than the darker variant. So much for stereotyping our eggs' companions. We then proceeded to our boarding gate, and after a short wait, coupled with a short discussion on why the passengers were so eager to line up already, we were well on our way to our first air transportation together towards the northern tip of our country: the Ilocos Region.

Getting good at selfies, I see?

An hour later, we landed safe and sound at Laoag International Airport and here, as cliche as it sounds, is where our adventure began. While we did devise a sound plan for this trip beforehand (making the necessary reservations, getting travel directions, scheduling our preferred activities, etc.), unfamiliarity with the place and reliance mainly on our commuting skillz brought a cloud of uncertainty over our heads. Luckily for us, a very helpful tourism officer blew away the nervous atmosphere with her detailed instructions and charming demeanor.

Practice makes perfect.

What followed was a series of interesting public transportation scenes: riding a tricycle (which was bound for the bus terminal) that featured our driver just conveniently placing C's brown bag in front of him during the whole ride; getting on a bus that we coolly assumed would lead us to our beach destination; getting off the bus in what we again complacently thought was the correct drop-off point; and finally, receiving a calling card from another trike driver as we took our bags from his tricycle and prepared to check-in our resort. Hello Kapuluan Vista Resort and a sunny, warm Pagudpud welcome to us!

That's what you call The North.

Since we arrived a bit early, we were told to wait first in a nice, windy bar offering an amazing view of the sand and sea. We wasted no time sipping our welcome margaritas, snapping selfies and postcard-worthy photos, and lazily lying (to the point of sleeping) on the somewhat comfortable cushions. A couple of minutes later, we were informed by the helpful staff that our room was ready. Dragging our tired and sleepy bodies (remember that we've been traveling since early morning), we took our stuff and happily proceeded to our assigned room. We sure could use the cold comforts of air-conditioning at this point, right?

Talk about laziness.

As if an indication that we are now in heritage-house country, I noticed that our room had old sliding doors which resembled those used in an ancestral home back in Bataan. A slight push to the side on both doors led us to a simple yet adoring set-up: a clean, white queen-sized bed adorned by gumamela flowers; a square wall-mounted, cloth-covered structure that serves as a light source; and a lovely Zen-inspired garden inside the bathroom. That's right, a garden inside the bathroom. No wonder that after chomping on a late lunch of dinuguan topped with bagnet (devilishly good!) and a quick stroll to the nearby Blue Lagoon to produce more selfies (we're getting good at it!) and procure a bottle of Coke (!), we retired early for the night completely ignoring our plans to get some happy hour drinks at the beach bar. Heck, C didn't even realize that electricity was cut off for a few hours! Sleepyhead. *grins*

A bed to lie on..

...and a garden to die for.

After a recharging snoozefest, the following day greeted us with a delectable Ilocano breakfast featuring Vigan longganisa, bagnet fried rice, and cute dogs running around. I think we spent more time muttering how good the food was than actually consuming it. It was that DAMN delicious. Being floored by such godliness of Ilocano cuisine probably attributed to our hypnotic, post-breakfast wandering along the rocky shorelines without the protection of ray-shielding agents. Nevertheless, the resulting sunburns were worth it as we uncovered a magnificent stretch of fine sand, untouched, clear waters, and a pair of strategically located land mass. Oh yeah. I wonder why C didn't like it that much though. Heh.

Simply stunning.

With the sun already doing its fine work on our precious skin, we headed back to our room, took a quick, much-needed bath, packed our stuff and belongings, and diligently checked out of the resort. A quick trike ride, highlighted by a last-minute photo ops, back to the highway to catch our next bus trip, ended this fabulous start to our week-long vacation-slash-celebration. Up next: The Vigan Coma.

Happy travelers.