Ahoy Guam! – Part 2: It’s crunch time

Monday to Friday was an eventful week. I braced myself and prayed so hard not to, well, f**k up because I had been briefed how stressful this regional meeting could be. The moment the delegates started arriving at Guam, chaos followed.

I always eat a FULL MEAL with lots of meat and carbs to ready myself of the ensuing onslaught. I usually have two trips to the buffet table to protein and carbo-load, then followed by fruits to keep me full.

The view from La Mirenda

The view from La Mirenda

The paradox of working at an organization making a pronouncement of how bacon is carcinogenic and finding a pile of it on my plate

The paradox of working at an organization making a pronouncement of how bacon is carcinogenic and finding a pile of it on my plate

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Ahoy Guam! – Part 1: All prep stuff

(Note: I normally post things per day concerning a trip, but thought that it would be too long to post for 10 days. I just divided this Guam trip to three thematic parts as it made more sense.)

The last time I was out of the country, it was during our winter trip to South Korea in late 2012. As you very much know, I got sick and had to make a lot of adjustments — and traveling overseas for a vacation took a back seat.

But fortunately, part of the reason why I was excited to join this organization was the prospect of going to Guam for the regional meeting. When the post was first offered to me, I was immediately informed that this year’s meeting will take place in Guam. Come to think of it, regardless if it were to be held in Manila like almost every year, I would still say yes. It might be work but I still consider the opportunity to travel as a perk.

NAIA Terminal 1

NAIA Terminal 1

Contrary to what usually happens when we have to go to the airport, the travel going to NAIA was a breeze because I was picked up near the apartment. All I did was wait with Mon for the shuttle to arrive, cramp my bags at the storage and sit.

It was my first time to travel overseas without Mon and it was honestly unnerving. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I had a separation anxiety as well, but as they say, there is always a first time for everything.

Our flight leaves at a very untimely hour and we were to land in Guam before the dawn. Four hours flew by because I almost slept during the whole trip and I woke up with the fidgeting sound of people itching to disembark the plane. Here we are, finally, and Hafa Adai!

Hafa Adai! Welcome to Guam

Hafa Adai! Welcome to Guam

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Finally in Coron – Day 5: the case of the lost luggage

Last day today, or last morning since we have to be at the airport by noon. We have already arranged our transportation the day before. We did not arrange anything while waiting for our departure, except buying souvenirs and other pasalubong for our loved ones.

The market was just two blocks away from the lodge, and we immediately went souvenir shopping after breakfast. But on our way back after buying stuff, Mama asked me if I can look for some freshwater pearls for her since we were already in Palawan

Day 4 breakfast

Day 4 breakfast

I had no idea what to look for to be honest, and I read up on this while walking and looking around at stalls. Anyway, I ended up buying this string of freshwater pearls from one of the stores near the rotonda. We haggled like mad to bring the price down, and eventually got this and another bracelet for Php 1,200.

A string of freshwater pearls

A string of freshwater pearls

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Finally in Coron – Day 4: Malcapuya Island

I think I can never get too tired with the breakfast that they serve, particularly that fish (I forgot the name) that was very soft and not at all salty. The serving might appear a bit small, compared to the usual serving of food that I eat.

It was also the birthday of Papa and my brother, as well as a couple of my friends. I’ve sent them my greetings, knowing that we might not have a cellphone signal once in the middle of nowhere.

Breakfast Day 3

Breakfast Day 3

We reached the travel agency earlier than usual, and we were also with some people who were with us the day before. Our destination, Malcapuya Island, was quite far and it would take us hours to go there.

Unfortunately, as if the travel time was not enough, there was one tourist boat whose motor malfunctioned in the middle of the sea and we had to go back a bit just to get them and tag their boat along. That severely slowed us down and it was already past lunchtime when we arrived in Malcapuya. =(

Our boatman

Our boatman

Look, I'm at the edge of the boat

Look, I’m at the edge of the boat

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Finally in Coron – Day 3: Island Hopping

Third day and we would be finally able to experience the sea! Again, breakfast must be arranged the night before. We were rushing so much that I had to wolf down the contents of my plate in four go’s. LOL

Breakfast Day 2

Breakfast Day 2

Again, the tour agency was a couple of blocks away from us, and we were just in time before we started walking to the port. Having heard the unfortunate news of a guy getting allegedly killed by a sea urchin, we opted to borrow beach shoes.

Enjoying the boat ride

Enjoying the boat ride

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Finally in Coron – Day 2: Getting around the town

For the second day, which is technically our first day for the trip, I woke up looking forward to the food that the lodge has for us. Normally, they would ask guests to pick from their menu the breakfast that would be served for tomorrow.

Breakfast Day 1

Breakfast – technically Day 1

The restaurant inside the lodge

The restaurant inside the lodge

After breakfast, we had the chance to go around the town proper and see where can we find the places that we need. There’s BPI about two blocks away from the lodge, then there’s Julie’s Bakeshop a couple of meters from us. The town proper is as idyllic as it gets. No brash noises and you can just walk around without worrying for your safety. However, I was worried more of the mosquitoes upon hearing that there was a dengue outbreak quite recently. We almost did not push through with the trip, but thought that citronella and Off! lotion can do the trick.

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Finally in Coron – Day 1: the arrival

If there’s one thing we have never done for years that we have been travelling, it would be a web check-in. But for our trip this time, we were compelled to do so as we were quite sure that the Metro Manila traffic would prevent us from arriving early at the airport. A few minutes on the road and we know that we were right. We left the apartment at 12:00 noon, but we reached the Domestic Terminal at half past 1: 00 p.m. The internet connection was spotty and it took two cellphones to make the web check-in successful.

Cebu Pacific's Turbo Jet plane

Cebu Pacific’s Turbo Jet plane

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Ilocos again! Day 3 – Vigan and be gone!

For our last full day in Ilocos, we went to Vigan. Leigh informed us that ever since it was declared as one of the new seven wonder cities of world, tourists were relentlessly flocking particularly on weekends. Good thing that we decided to go on a Monday, hoping that there’ll be less tourists when we arrive there. As we were already coming from Laoag City, we just took the bus from Partas, which has trips to Vigan every 30 minutes. We paid Php 137 to the ticket station and waited until 10 am before leaving. The travel took around 2 hours. It would have been faster if there were no road construction  during the trip. Only one lane was open on some points and we had to wait it out before we had our turn. It would also have been quicker if some of the motorists were attentive and disciplined to strictly follow the change between the red/green lights.

Cafe Leona

Cafe Leona

Eateries next to St. Paul's Cathedral in Vigan

Eateries next to St. Paul’s Cathedral in Vigan

Nilagang baka with tripe and a very big okoy

Nilagang baka with tripe and a very big okoy

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Ilocos again! Day 2 – Driving around

We woke up quite late today. My legs ached a bit from yesterday’s biking and I even had to use Omega painkiller on my legs. After our lunch, we’ll be driving a lot to first visit Dingras, and eventually to a cultural park south of Laoag. Tita Doris had been wanting us to visit Nueva Era Eco Cultural Park.

On our way to Nueva Era Cultural Park

On our way to Nueva Era Cultural Park

Welcome to Nueva Era Cultural Park

Welcome to Nueva Era Eco Cultural Park

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Ilocos again! Day 1 – Happy Fiesta Laoag City!

It has been almost two years since I last visited Laoag City. However, instead of taking the bus from Fariñas in Sampaloc, we opted to take the plane from Manila to Laoag City via PAL Express. We booked the flight last December 30 and it cost cheaper than Cebu Pacific (which was a surprise). The same roundtrip flight for both of us were around Php 10,500, while the same route was for Php 6,800 in PAL Express. O_O It was our first time to both take PAL Express and visit the Centennial Terminal. I underestimated the traffic situation as I thought it would only take us 20 minutes to travel from Makati, but in fact, we traveled for about 45 minutes. We were still early, though, and we still had time to correct our return flight schedule.

NAIA Terminal 2 - Centennial Terminal

NAIA Terminal 2 – Centennial Terminal

Waiting for the boarding gates to open

Waiting for the boarding gates to open

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