Fort Ilocandia

About 3 weeks ago, Gregory and I went to Ilocos Norte. To those of you who know me, my dad's family is from Ilocos Norte so yeah, Gregory met my dad and some of my relatives there.

This was kinda planned about two weeks in advance so it wasn't really something that happened on a whim. 

When we got to Ilocos, after a 10 hour bus ride, dumeretso kami sa bahay ng tatay ko. Nakilala ni Gregory and lolo at lola ko, pati narin sina Papa at mga kapatid ko. Nagrequest ako kay Mamang, ang aking lola sa side ni papa, na magluto ng aking favorite ng longganisa. 

After naming tumambay sa bahay, hinatid kami ni Papa sa hotel kung saan kami magsta-stay.

We stayed in Fort Ilocandia because we were only planning to stay in Ilocos for two days. The room was booked through Agoda so we were able to get a discount. Buti nalang kasi ang mahaaaal ng rooms dun.

The beds were nice although the pillows were micro-fiber. Considering the the prices they have for rooms, you'd think they could spring for feather or down pillows. Just saying. It was comfortable enough though. It took us a while to make the air-conditioning system work though because the control knob is by the wall and isn't really labeled properly.

The room was spacious enough for the both of us.

The bathroom could be improved in more ways than one. The sides of the mirror was a bit dirty.

I dont know if this could be called a terrace but the room had one of these. Good for me because I can smoke here.

Here's the view. It's kinda relaxing.

The rest of day was spent going around Laoag with some of my relatives and taking pictures.

Since we only booked one night, we had to check out the next day before going to Vigan for a day tour. I dont really have the pictures because we used Gregory's camera. 

Once he gives me a copy, I'll post them here.

Nina Unleashed!

Gregory likes listening to the songs of Nina. He actually has her albums, scary I know. When he found out that she had a show, he asked me if I wanted to go watch.

I used to listen to Nina when I was in college. In fairness, I like her naman but I'm not that big of a fan. I told him I didn't mind and we could make it a date night.

Natuwa naman siya.

The show was at Metro Bar in West Ave and it's a good thing I've been there before so getting there was a no-brainer.

The show was scheduled to start at 8PM. Completely forgetting the concept of 'Filipino-Time', we were there on time. So 8PM the hosts were on stage, comedy bar queens, entertaining everyone. After an hour, there were some kids who came out to perform. I guess they were the front act or something.

I went out for a smoke because it was unbearable for me. Medyo hindi kinakaya ng ear drums ko eh.

It was already 10:30PM and the Soul Siren hasn't come out yet.

"This bitch better deliver because we've been here for almost 3 hours and I'm getting annoyed" I told Gregory.

He just smiled at me.

Nina came out at around 11:00. Finally!

To be fair to her, she's still got it. The pipes on this woman, oh my god. Effortless and high notes. 

She excused herself and let some guy named Kristofferson or something sing. Naturally, I went out to smoke. Kiber ko dyan.

She came back out wearing this white ensemble. Maganda yung damit in fairness. She sang a total of 12 songs I think. Not bad narin.

When she sang her last song, people asked for more. She sang her infamous rendition of 'Through The Fire' and oh my, she slayed it. Parang yung audience pa ang na-ihi para sa kanya dahil sa taas ng notes na naabot niya.

It brought me back to my college days when I used to listen to her music. Like most people, pag heartbroken ako noon, ang theme song ng buhay ko ay 'Someday'. Oh diba?

Her dressing room was near the stage and Gregory wanted to have his picture taken with her. Nakipagpicture-picture narin ako. No one pass judgement!

I was annoyed at the fact that we had to wait for 3 hours but I must admit, I enjoyed the show. I guess, the long wait was worth it. In fairness sa kanya, she's really good live.

Overall, I had a good time. I wouldn't mind watching her show again. The only comment I have is sana she sang more songs from her Dianne Warren album. Yun lang.

Leaving The Island

We only spent 3 days in Bora because it was a long weekend. When I woke up, Gregory had bread and coffee. He usually wakes up before I do but that's because he goes to sleep first.

So we packed our shit and left at around 8AM. It was kinda annoying that the day we were leaving was the day the sun decided to come out. The sea was calm as well :|

While we were on the boat on the way to Caticlan, I snapped some photos. These islands look really cool. I'd love to visit them next time. Also, the water was crystal clear.

From Caticlan, we took a van going to Kalibo. We were early. We got there at 10 and our flight was at around 11:30AM so we decided to have an early lunch at this restaurant near the airport.

This is the view from where we were sitting.

While waiting for the plane to leave.

Boarding the plane. I must say, my phone takes good photos ah.

When we arrived in Manila, we went to my house first to rest.

The trip was a spontaneous thing and I am so glad we did it. Escaping from the busy city life was good for us. We had so much fun and being by the beach with each other was the best way to spend our vacation. Even though it was only for 3 days, it was magical, for the lack of a better word.

This was the first of many trips Gregory and I will take. Where will we go off to next? I don't know. Who knows where our crazy antics would take us. All I know is, when I'm him with, I'm happy and make a lot of memories with him. I'm happier than I've ever been. It's one of the reasons why I love him. He makes me feel happy and loved everyday. (To the tone of Charlotte from Sex and The City The Movie) Not all day, everyday. But yeah, everyday. :D

Around The Island

After the rain and shit on our first day, we woke up the next day and the winds were a bit strong so the wind catchers were put up in all the establishments by the beach.

People were still by the beach despite the strong winds.

We found this really tiny sand castle. Apparently, building sandcastles are no longer allowed in Bora. Not sure if this is true though.

Gregory wanted coffee so we went to 'Real Coffee'. As luck would have it, this was the place that sold the calamansi muffins. I've heard about them but I didn't know where they were sold.

In fairness, it was really good. It costs 45php a piece. Gregory loved these muffins. He was tempted to buy more.

Gregory wanted coffee but when he saw that they had Ginger Tea on the menu, he ordered that instead.

D-Mall which was filled with foreigners.

There's me, answering e-mails on my BlackBerry. Taray. Work mode while waiting for lunch :)

 For lunch, we went to Nigi Nigi Nu Noos Restaurant to sample their seafood platter.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around station 2 and 3.

Of course, I had to bring my poi and start zipping when the sun started to set.

For dinner, we went to this Mongolian Deli place and we were planning to go to the bars but I had a migraine attack so we went back to the hotel so I could rest. I guess it was okay because when we were on our way back to the hotel, the rain started to pour again.

Despite the rain, migraine and shit, it was a fun day.

Reef Walking

When Gregory asked me what I wanted to do in Bora, the first thing I said was Reef Walking. I don't care about paraw sailing or kite surfing or banana boat riding. I wanted to swim with the fishes :)

Plus, I knew that Gregory loves looking at fishes and I was sure he would love this.

We managed to find this guy outside the hotel offering activities around the island and they had Reef Walking. Yey!!!

It was actually pretty cheap. We paid 400php each and we were underwater for 30 minutes, plus it came with a CD that had pictures and shit.

They taught us how to de-pressurize and shit which was something I already knew how to do.

If we were under the water for 30 minutes, I was singing 'Under the Sea' and 'Part Of Your World' for 30 minutes :)

Here's Gregory trying to kick me underwater.

OH MY GOD!!! It's Nemo!!!

While they were burning the disc, I asked the guy manning the boat if it was safe for me to swim around and he said it was. Gregory didn't join me because he doesn't really know how to swim.

To sum it up, we had so much fun underwater. There's just something about being underwater that's so relaxing. The next time I find myself in Bora, I'm gonna go walk and swim with the fishes again.

On a Rainy Evening in the Island

"Where do you wanna eat dinner?" He asked.

"Uhhmm... I wanna try those eat all you can seafood places here if we can find one." I answered.

We walked around the island and finally found a place near Victory Divers.

They had meat and seafood. Perfect, I thought.

We got a table outside the restaurant so I could smoke, it's a good thing that even if the place was packed, the waiter managed to get us a table.

We were enjoying our dinner when it started to drizzle.

The waiter moved us to another table.

The drizzle turned to rain.

We were still eating.

The rain turned to a storm.

Oh shit.

We were stuck at the restaurant.

I told Gregory that we could just run to the hotel since it wasn't that far.

He didn't want to because he didn't want to get wet by the rain.

We got another serving of clams and mussels.

The rain wasn't stopping and we were at the restaurant for about two hours already.

He finally gave in and said we should make a run for it.

We stepped out in the rain.

He grabbed my left hand and we started to run.

I could feel the cold rain and strong wind on my skin as we were running.

We managed to make it back to the hotel.

And his hand was still holding mine.

From the restaurant, we braved the rain and made it back to the hotel.

And the entire time, he never let go of my hand. :D