Marcos Museum (Sarrat, Ilocos Norte)

Marcos Museum

After our lunch and church visit at Paoay, we again boarded our bus for Sarrat, the birthplace of the late Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos.  Our first stop was, fittingly, the Marcos Museum.  The museum, overlooking the Padsan River, is actually the Edralin house where Marcos was born on September 11, 1917 to Mariano and Josefa Edralin Marcos, both school teachers from well-to-do families.  He lived here until he was 8 years old when his family moved to Batac.  

The museum’s ground floor

The house then was a traditional 2-storey bahay na bato, with a red brick ground floor for storage and the wooden upper level, with its hardwood floor, reserved for the living quarters.  It was renovated by  First Lady Imelda R. Marcos in 1977, the president’s  60th birthday, but was left abandoned after the fall of the Marcos before being restored again.   Many of the items on display were taken from the Malacanang Palace Museum as well as from the Malacanang of the North in Paoay.   

The museum’s second floor

On display are the 4-poster bed where Marcos was born, the old clock set to the time of his birth, the many barong tagalogs he wore on different occasions, musical instruments (harp, piano, etc.), many old photographs of the family, busts of Don Mariano and Dona Josefa Marcos, the license plates Marcos used for his cars, the Marcos family tree on the wall facing the stairs, as well as documents and old furniture (the escrihana used by Don Fructuoso Edralin y Carpio, the presidents grandfather, when he was vice-gobernadorcillo; the president’s swivel chair, aparadors, etc.).

Marcos Museum: Brgy. San Agustin, Sarrat, Ilocos Norte.  Open Mondays-Saturdays, 8 AM-12 noon and 2-5 PM.

Church of St. Augustine (Paoay, Ilocos Norte)

Church of St. Augustine

After our delicious lunch at Cafe Herencia, we still had time  to visit Paoay‘s most notable landmark, its Aztec-like Church of St. Augustine, situated near the banks of the Wawa River.  This fortress-like church, a premier example of Philippine Earthquake Baroque architecture, has been declared a National Cultural Treasure for its architectural style and cultural value and was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1994.  This will be my second time to visit the town, and the church for that matter, but it was only a stopover for photo ops and I never got to enter the church.

The gracefully curving and flowing, 
scrolled stone buttresses

Built from 1699 to 1702 by Augustinian Fr. Antonio Estavillo, the church was repaired in 1865 by Fr. Ruperto Rodriguez and Fr. Baldomero Real did major restoration work from 1889 to 1898.  The church was officially inaugurated on February 18, 1896.  The church has 24 2.5-m. thick, massive but gracefully curving and flowing scrolled stone buttresses that ballast the walls (found nowhere else in the country) and two exterior stone staircases (near the main altar transept) on both sides that reached the church’s roof.  Its 1.67-m. thick coral block walls were faced with bricks and sealed with a particularly hard lime mortar mixed with sugar cane juice.  The main nave, supported by 14 molave posts, is 60 m. long, 15 m. wide and 5.10 m. high.  The transept is 7 m. high. The church’s unique two-level triangular facade, divided by horizontal string courses, combines Gothic, Baroque and Oriental (Indian Madjapahit) designs. The buttresses are Baroque features and the decorative pinnacles are reminiscent of Gothic architecture.  Chinese elements are seen in the gable, while the crenellations and five niches (each with a large statue of a saint) topping the walls suggest Javanese influence.    

The church interior

Inside is a 3-storey main altar and two side altars each fitted with gilded retablos.  Over the wooden rail of the choir is a large wooden statue of Christ.  Its intricately designed pulpit and a statue of the Holy Family where brought from Spain in 1891.  Its separate three-storey, coral stone bell tower, was first built with 3.5-m. high wooden posts and three bells and enlarged from 1753 to 1756 by Fr. Tomas Torres with chopped 12 inch by 16 inch coral stones and molave braces put together.  The main entrance door was installed in 1793 and five bells were installed by Fr. Jose Nieto in 1818.  The bell tower was used as a watchtower by Katipuneros in 1898 and by local guerillas during the Japanese occupation.

The Surreal World of Kapurpurawan Rock Formation (Burgos, Ilocos Norte)

Kapurpurawan Rock Formation: The Sphinx-like “Head”

After our biscocho and salt making observation tour in Pasuquin, our Lakbay Norte 2 media group then boarded our bus and proceeded to the fellow Ilocos Norte town of Burgos.   From the National Rd. our bus turned towards a gravel road and traversed it for about 3 kms. until we reached a makeshift picnic hut, our jump-off point for the amazing, unique and Sphinx-like Kapurpurawan  Rock Formation, one of the best places to visit in the town, aside from the iconic Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, the country’s tallest.

Bonsai-like plants amid pools of limpid sea water

From the hut, it was a 30-min. walk, along concrete steps, dirt track and then, through a tidal pool.  At the tidal pool, sea water-filled coral rock pools, of varying sizes, and bonsai-like vegetation can be seen sporadically.  The rock formation was formed from sandstone naturally carved by weathering from wind, sand and water to create different surreal shapes such as the iconic “Head,” “Cradle” and the “Resting Dragon.” The word kapurpurawan was derived from the Ilocano root word puraw meaning “white” and these formations are said to be much whiter during the summer months of April and May.

This rock formation, possibly the “Resting Dragon,” looks
like a slithering cobra  about to pounce

Our short Kapurpurawan Rock Formation hike made us hungry and, as it was lunchtime, we proceeded to the nearby, picturesque town of Paoay for lunch at Cafe Herencia.

Check out “Restaurant Review: Cafe Herencia

Herencia Cafe: MacArthur St., Brgy. 14, Sangladan, Paoay, Ilocos Norte.  Tel: (077) 614-0214

Arrival in Laoag City (Ilocos Norte)

Laoag City Hotel and Convention Center

After our Adams adventure, it was back to our coaster for the 2-hr. drive to Laoag City  where we were to have dinner.  We arrived there by night time and were dropped off at the City Hall were we were welcomed by Mayor Michael V. Farinas and other city officials.

Courtesy call on Laoag City Mayor Michael V. Farinas

After a short presentation on Laoag tourism and Cebu Pacific (one of our corporate sponsors), a delicious dinner of longanisa, fried chicken, bagnet, empanada, etc., was served.  It was now time to call it a day and we were all tired after our grueling hike to Anuplig Falls.  Media colleague Gabby Malvar left our group at this time as he had to return to Manila.  Travel blogger Nina Fuentes left even earlier, prior to our Anuplig Falls hike.

Our bus brought us to the Ilocos Norte Hotel and Convention Center at the city’s outskirts, 5 kms. from Laoag International Airport, where we were to stay overnight.  Kim Madridejos and I in stayed in one superior airconditioned double room.

Check out “Hotel and Inn Review: Ilocos Norte Hotel and Convention Center

Double room


City Mayor’s Office
: Tupaz St., Brgy. 10, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.  Tel: (077) 772-1100. Fax: (077) 771-3168.

Ilocos Norte Hotel and Convention Center (INHCC):  Brgy. 41, Balacad, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, 2900. Tel: (077) 670-8817.  E-mail: reservations@ilocosnortehotel.com.  Website www.ilocosnortehotel.com.

The Adams Adventure Trail (Ilocos Norte)

Ferdz Decena crossing a hanging bridge
The sun shone brightly when we finally arrived at Adams’ town gym.  Here, Dr. Bielmaju Waley-Bawingan, wife of town Mayor Eric T. Bawingan, and a merienda of fresh buko juice and kakanin welcomed us.  Once carbo loaded, Dr. Bawingan briefed us on our next activity – a hike to Anuplig Falls, the most impressive of the town’s 11 waterfalls. She furnished us with 5 guides and, laden with bottled water, we now proceeded on our 2.5-km. hike, normally a 45-min. “walk in the park” for the townspeople, but double that for me and my group (and even longer for the others).
A small waterfall we passed

Though long, the hike was pleasant, the trail moderately graded (except at the steep shortcut we took up a hill), sometimes wide but often narrow. Again, we had fantastic views of forest-cladded mountains, hills and valleys; small, verdant, moderately-sloping rice terraces similar to those found in the Cordillera Region; crystal-clear brooks and rivers (one we crossed via a hanging bridge) and a small waterfall. 

Lush rice terraces

The swirling sound of the Bolo River heralded our arrival at the 25-ft. high Anuplig Falls, its two basins inviting us to swim its bracingly cold water.  Some of us (including me) bravely did so, with Frank Dizon at the lower basin: me (spraining my right foot in doing so), Ivan Man Dy and Ian Garcia climbing up to the second basin, and Gabby Malvar, Ida Noelle and Karlo de Leon moving further up to the base and back of the falls itself.  

Anuplig Falls

Ian, sprained wrist and all, bravely jumped from the top of the cliff safely down to the pool below (not recommended however).  The others just dip their tired feet, took photographs or interviewed Juan Agudo, a septuagenarian local farmer.  After an hour, we all retraced our way back to the town with yours truly, accompanied by Dandi Galvez and a guide, hobbling along on a sprained foot.

Juan Agudo

Mayor’s Office:  Municipal Hall, Brgy. Adams Proper, Adams, Ilocos Norte.  Mobile numbers: (0927) 668-1128 & (0921) 286-3470

Arrival in Pagudpud (Ilocos Norte)

The eco-friendly Kapuluan Vista Resort

We left the coastal town of Claveria, our last Cagayan destination, by 5:30 PM and it was already nighttime when our bus crossed the border into Ilocos Norte and the resort town of Pagudpud.  The weather still wasn’t cooperating with us and it was still raining when we arrived, by 7:30 PM, at Kapuluan Vista Resort where we were welcomed by Mike and Alma Oida, the resort’s gracious Fil-American owners.  Gabby Malvar, Dandi Galvez, Kim Madridejos, Roland “Jun” Fontilla, Frank Dizon and I were assigned to a six-bed dorm. Though not airconditioned, we certainly didn’t need it as the cool sea breeze wafted into the room.

Check out “Resort Review: Kapuluan Vista Resort

Grilled fish and liempo main course

The gloomy weather was somewhat offset by the warmth and hospitality of our young hosts and their staff and our delicious dinner, served on a banig place mat, which consisted of cilantro soup and garden salad with dressing for starters, a main course of tender grilled fish and liempo (pork belly) with tomato salsa, and buko pandan with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Most of the herbs and vegetables served here are grown and picked daily from the resort’s organic garden.  Breakfast, on the still raining and windy early morning, consisted of a Filipino breakfast of Vigan longanisa with fried egg and garlic fried rice.

Pagudpud – a new surfing haven

While dining, Mike, an avid surfer and fitness buff who can still speak fluent Tagalog, and the Ilocano-speaking Alma (whose roots are in La Union) regaled us with their story of how these newlyweds, who both worked for Ikea, were drawn to the waves and rustic beauty of Pagudpud’s Blue Lagoon six years ago, liking it so much that they resigned from their jobs, packed up all their belongings in the US and decided to settle here. They bought an 8,000 sq. m. undeveloped piece of heaven near the Dos Hermanos rock formation where they built their eco-friendly dream home and resort.

Kapuluan Vista Resort: Sitio Baniaran, Brgy. Balaoi, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.  Tel: (072) 888-2809.  Mobile numbers: (0920) 952-2528 and (0920) 928-5273.  E-mail: kapuluan_vista_resort@yahoo.com.  Website: www.kapuluanvistaresort.com.

Enchanting Claveria (Cagayan)

Claveria Cove

We left Buguey around 1:30 PM and our bus was to travel another 2 hours to get to Claveria, the last Cagayan town prior to entering Ilocos Norte.  It was now raining intermittently when we traversed the beach boulevard facing the town’s clean, 4 km. long brown sand Claveria Cove.  It was very windy when we alighted the bus for some photo ops and the waves along the beach were very turbulent.  On our left, we could sees the hazy outlines of the rock formations Punta Lakay-Lakay (“old man”), Punta Baket-Baket (“Old woman) and Punta Ubing-Ubing (“child”).  The onset of rain necessitated our return to the bus.

Lakay-Lakay Blue Lagoon

Back on our bus, we proceeded to Taggat to visit Lakay-Lakay Blue Lagoon. This lagoon is also located in a cove, albeit a smaller one.  As the bad weather prevented fishermen from going out to sea, the shore of this fishing village was filled with similarly-colored (blue and white with yellow stripes) fishing boats parked prow-to-bow and outrigger-to-outrigger. Minus the boats and in sunny weather, the panorama before us would have been a photographer’s dream.  Picture a lagoon enclosed by towering cliffs on both sides (the cliff on the right is topped by a cross) and jagged, rocky islands, all lashed and sculpted by the turbulent, churning waves of the sea.   Only in my dreams can I imagine such a scenery. In calmer weather and low tide, I could have swam to those rocky islets. Rain again woke me up from my day dream and we all had to run back to our bus.

Claveria town hall

Back in our bus, we next proceeded to the Claveria municipal hall where the amiable Mayor Celia Layus and other town officials welcomed us.  A merienda of buko juice, still in its shell, palitaw ( a sweet, flat and glutinous rice cake topped with brown sugar) and ginataan was prepared for us.  During the presscon, Mayor Layus narrated her plans to put up a zip line facility in the lagoon.  Personally, I would prefer that they leave the lagoon as it is and set up the zip line somewhere else in the town.

Buguey: The "Crab Capital of the North" (Cagayan)

El Presidente Beach Resort

After breakfast at Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort, we next headed west, to Ilocos Norte, with stopovers at Buguey and Claveria. We arrived at Buguey by 10 AM and were dropped off at the El Presidente Beach Resort where we were welcomed by town officials led by Mayor Licerio Antiporda III and his wife. The skies were overcast and it was very windy.  Before entering the conference hall, we were given a welcome drink of fresh buko juice, still in its shell, plus crab sandwiches.  While waiting for the start of the press conference, some sampled the Lamba Sparkle Berry Delight, a cocktail consisting of a 1/3 cup each of the following: native Buguey lambanog (nipa palm wine), sparkle and red berry juice, plus half a teaspoon of sugar; then garnished with lime and cherry and, finally, all the ingredients are shaken, strained and poured into a cocktail glass.

Lamba Sparkle Berry Delight

In his speech at the presscon, Mayor Antiporda enumerated his efforts to further boost the town’s tourism potential as well as to fortify its claim to being the “Crab Capital of the North.”  He also informed us that the local government-run El Presidente Beach Resort will soon be undergoing a total makeover, thanks to a PhP32 million loan from Land Bank, and will be turned into a U-shaped, bungalow-type hotel with 15 guestrooms and two dorms and will be renamed as the Buguey Crab Hotel.

Crab claws anyone….?

Afterwards, we were all invited to partake of the feast prepared for us: steamed shrimps; brackish water crabs, both steamed and cooked in the half shell; breaded prawns; seaweed, oysters, fresh fruits (mangoes, bananas) and bocayo (coconut candy). Some, foregoing the use of spoons, forks and knives, decided to dine kamayan style. While we were doing so, we were regaled with a bevy of native dances performed by schoolchildren and young adults.

Driftwood by the beach

After dining, some of us slipped out the conference hall to burn the excess calories gained as well as to check out the windswept black sand beach, observe people harvesting shells or children playing and to admire the high, turbulent waves breaking on the shore, a consequence of the converging waters of the South China Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the Cagayan River.  Prior to our leaving for Claveria, everyone in the media group was gifted with a bottle of Buguey lambanog to take home (I was given two).

A Second Taste of Luxury in Sta. Ana (Cagayan)

Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort

After our half-day Palaui Island excursion and lunch at the port, we were again picked up by our CEZA bus and brought to Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort where we were to spend our second night in Sta. Ana.  Our media group was welcomed, with cool welcome drinks and face towels (in lumpia form), by Front Office supervisor Mr. Carl Dulay and his cheerful and attentive staff.  Surprisingly, I was assigned my very own spacious ground floor airconditioned room .

Check out “Resort Review: Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort

My spacious suite

Just like Sun City before, it used to just cater to Chinese from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau but is now opening its doors to Filipino tourists, we being the first to do so.

The infinity pool

Since it was still early in the afternoon, some of the ladies went for a swim at the pool while Kenneth del Rosario, Sheryl Songsong, Ron Rivera, Kim Madridejos and  I had a pansit merienda and a chat with Mr. Dulay at a picnic shed by the beach.  Later, tired after our Palaui hike, I had a late afternoon siesta at my room.  I totally forgot my complimentary 15-min. massage. Dinner, consisting of a number of ihaw-ihaw (barbecued) dishes (fish, pork, etc.), sizzling sisig, grilled prawns in butter, etc., was served at the nearly finished clubhouse beside the pool.  After dinner, Ms.Ma. Theresa “Tess” Liwanag, the resort’s Asst. Gen. Manager and HR Head, hosted a number of team building games for our group.  My breakfast the next day, at the Chinese restaurant, consisted of longanisa, fried egg, garlic fried rice, coffee and fruits. C’est la vie.

Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort: Sta. Ana, Cagayan.  Mobile numbers: (0918) 916-0645, (0927) 808-5432 and (0917) 448-2123.

Breathtaking Palaui Island (Sta. Ana, Cagayan)

Palaui Island

We woke up very early in the morning to overcast skies and rain.  After breakfast at the Cagayan Holiday & Leisure Resort, we all checked out of our villa.  We left our luggage at the hotel lobby for transport to the Eastern Hawaii Resort, later to be our second home in Sta. Ana.  Thus unburdened, we all boarded our CEZA coaster for the fish port at Brgy. San Vicente. Point Escarpada, in Brgy. San Vicente, the sailfin capital of the Philippines.  It has the best fishing grounds for marlin, being at the confluence of several ocean currents that carry baitfish and the larger pelagic predators that hunt them.

White sand beach at Punta Engano

At the port, 5 motorized outrigger boats were chartered to bring us to the undeveloped and seldom visited, 3,850-hectare and volcanic Palaui Island, a 7,415-hectare Protected Landscape and Seascape with a shoreline of 20.6 kms., a length of 10 kms. and a width of 5 kms..  The island is inhabited by a community of Dumagats administered by a Filipino church group and is also home to different monkeys, wild pigs, deer, sea turtle and various endemic and migratory birds.  

Cape Engano Lighthouse

The skies were still overcast when we left port.  With me in the boat was Astra Alegre, Izah Morales, Kara Santos, Nina Fuentes and Kim Madridejos.  Our 45-min. boat ride was uneventful until we reached open water when the sea suddenly became choppy, creating mild to wild panic among the other boats but childish exhilaration (except for the visibly worried Astra) with me and my companions with every rising wave.  We first made short landfall at a gray sand Siwangag Cove for some photo ops then returned to our boats for our final landfall at a gorgeous bay with a curving white sand beach and well-preserved coral.  The beach looked really inviting but we weren’t here for swimming or snorkeling.   Instead, we opted to visit its picturesque old Cape Engaño Lighthouse (Faro de Cabo Engaño), the northernmost Spanish-era lighthouse in the country.  Located on the windswept headland of Punta Engaño, it was designed by Engr. Magin Pers y Pers, started in 1887 and completed on December 30, 1892. Upon reaching the end of the beach, we began our ascent up a mildly sloping to steep trail up the 92.75 m. high, cone-shaped hill, pausing at intervals to admire the Batanes-like scenery of its surroundings.

Dos Hermanas

After a 30-min. hike, we finally reached the lighthouse.  Though now run down and a little eerie, it was obviously a sight to behold during its heyday.  The back of the lighthouse had a panoramic view of the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean breaking on the beach and rocky shore, the rolling, green-carpeted hills below, the two rocky islands of Dos Hermanas beyond and, farther off, the Babuyan group of islands, leaving all of us awestruck by the sheer beauty of nature before us.  It was already drizzling when we went down the hill and returned to our boats.  The return trip was just as exhilarating as the previous.  Upon arrival at the port, a prepared lunch adobo and rice awaited us at the nearby picnic huts.