Our Ilocos Road Trip Plan

Exploring Luzon

Photo courtesy of http://bjruth.com

The Philippines has many beautiful places and beaches to visit, it's hard to choose where to go first. Many people have heard of Boracay, even those living in other countries, but the PI is more than just 'Bora' - we have other more beautiful and unspoiled beaches. Beaches where it's ideal to go to, to really do these things, "relax & unwind'.

When you say beaches, what comes to mind would be islands in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. What people from Luzon don't realize is that their island is abundant with beaches. In fact, some are not commercialized yet, which makes them more attractive in my opinion. Luzon has the beaches of Palawan, but I've read that geographically, they are part of the Visayas region. When it comes to regional administration, though, Palawan is one of the provinces of the Southern Tagalog region, a region in Luzon.

As part of my 'rebooting' this travel blog of mine, I have set-up a goal of exploring the beautiful places of Luzon, including beaches and historical sites. It's my way of getting to know our country better, and blogging about it is my way of sharing my experiences to other people. It's my way of encouraging readers to visit the places I will visit.

Cebu Pacific's Easter Surprise

Received an email from Cebu Pacific today, I'm pretty sure all the jetsetters out there will love to hear about it. Here it goes -

PISO be with you! Special Easter Seat Sale for every Juan!

More than 50,000 seats available

The Philippines’ largest national flag carrier, Cebu Pacific (CEB) offers you a special Easter Sunday seat sale on April 24, 2011 only or until seats last, for travel from January 1 to March 31, 2012.

CEB offers P1 seats to all four international destinations from Clark. CEB flies from Clark to Hong Kong and Singapore daily, to Macau four times weekly, and to Bangkok twice weekly.

P1 seats are also up for grabs to any of CEB’s 33 domestic destinations, namely: Bacolod, Boracay (Caticlan), Busuanga (Coron), Butuan, Calbayog, Cagayan de Oro, Catarman, Cauayan (Isabela), Cebu, Clark, Cotabato, Davao, Dipolog, Dumaguete, G eneral Santos, Iloilo, Kalibo, Legaspi, Laoag, Manila, Naga, Ozamiz, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, Roxas, San Jose (Mindoro), Siargao, Surigao, Tacloban, Tagbilaran, Tuguegarao, Virac and Zamboanga.

We operate 51 domestic routes from our hubs in Manila, Cebu, Clark and Davao, using the only 100% brand-new aircraft fleet in the country.

More than 50,000 seats are allocated for this Easter Sunday P1 seat sale, giving you a chance to avail of our trademark low fares! This promotion is only available via www.cebupacificair.com or through travel agents using the Amadeus global distribution system. Don't forget to select your seats in advance and avail of CEB’s online check-in service for your convenience.

KFC Taste of Summer Photo Contest

KFC Taste of Summer Photo Contest

Wear your best get-up for summer and join the KFC Taste of Summer Photo Contest to win exciting FREE trips to thrilling local and international destinations.

Just take a pic of yourself in your favorite summer outfit and gear in places or situations that could use the brightness and joy of summer– in the middle of a rainstorm, at a formal ball, in the middle of traffic, or at a library.

Bring one of KFC’s Summer Specials with you – Halo-halo or Buko Pandan Krushers, Fish Twister, or Ben 10 Bucket Meal for your photo to qualify for the contest.

Mechanics:

1. All entries, should be submitted via the KFC Summer Website from March 17, 2011 until April 30, 2011 only.

2. Deadline of submission of entries is on April 30, 2011 at 11:59 pm.

3. Last day of for voting is on April 30, 2011 at 11:59 pm.

Read the rest of this at: http://www.kfc.com.ph/summer

Hello Philippines! Hello World!

I'm back! Oh my, after 3 years I am entering a new post on this travel blog of mine, which happens to be the first blog I ever created (that's why it has a sentimental value of some sort to me). So, here's another shot to my dream of blogging about my adventures around the Philippines, to let everyone on this planet know what a great country we have here!

For those who have no idea where the Philippines is - take a look at a global map! Haha! Well, kidding aside, it's in Asia, Southeast Asia, to be exact. It's a small group of islands where you can find the most westernized people in Asia. That fact would be largely because of the many years that the Americans occupied our country. English is our second language, it's even the language used by teachers to, well - 'teach'. This statement may be overused already, but I'm still going to say it - we are known for our hospitality to visitors. We are really a friendly bunch! When there are no rooms available for guests, we Filipinos offer our own bed, while we sleep on the couch or the floor.

What I love most about the Philippines are our beaches. We have a lot, and they are mostly breathtaking. Some are frequented already by people, while some are still left unspoiled. Aside from beaches, there are other gorgeous spots to go to, like Sagada, the Banaue rice terraces, beautiful waterfalls, and many more. My dream is to visit each of the provinces in the Philippines, and this is my travel diary.

Potipot Island Getaway

Finally, I’ve set foot on Potipot Island, in the province of Zambales. I have been excitedly waiting a long time for that day to come, like a child drooling while standing in-front of a candy shop. I was not disappointed with what I saw and experienced.

We left Angeles City at 4:00 AM. I was with my hubby, my two sons Miguel and Sef, and our friends. I was so excited that I did not even sleep, I was awake from 9:00 AM the day before, until around 7:30 AM the following day. When I finally fell asleep during the trip at around 2:00 AM, I was already waking up my friends, calling them on their cell phones. At last, at around 4:10 AM we were on our way to our destination - Candelaria, Zambales.

It was such a long trip, my sons were so bored. Our first stop over was at a gas station in Subic, we went to the restrooms and bought some drinks - Sef got sick at the gas station, probably dizzy with the long ride. We stopped over again at Jollibee, still in Subic, to eat breakfast. Of course, before leaving, my friends had their yosi break.

Since it was all our first time to go to Candelaria, Zambales, we asked for directions leading to the town of Candelaria. The directions were not that clear, I had to call Ate Nina, the owner of the resort we're going to stay in, which is Alta Nina Resort. Finally, after 5 hours, we finally reached our destination - Alta Nina Resort in Brgy Sinabacan, Candelaria, Zambales.

I was the one who made the reservation in the resort, and what made me choose Alta Nina were all the good reviews that I have read online from people who stayed there. The resort's facade was simple, not that attractive compared to the other resorts in Trinidad Bay, however, the way Mang Noel, the caretaker, treats the guests - it was more than great. Great service, this is the main reason we chose the place, and definitely the most important point to look for when choosing a place to stay. I must say, the reviews I read proved to be true.

Trinidad Bay was the beach where Alta Nina Resort was located, you can see Potipot Island from there and it would take a 5 minute boat ride to reach the island. Although we were all excited to go to Potipot, we did not go to the island on our first day because it rained. Mang Noel discouraged us to go and we heeded his advice. True enough, the rain did not stop and continued through the night.

So we just stayed put and enjoyed the beach (played volleyball). The sand on the beach was fine and gray, and the water was clear, it only looks dark from afar because of the color of the sand. My sons were delighted and enjoyed the beach. It was my youngest son's first time to go the beach, and he was waiting for this trip for a very long time. From the look on his face, he was not disappointed.

After getting tired from our swim, my husband and I took a nap, while some of our friends went to the market to buy some stuff. I got up when my friends arrived from their trip to the market. I was glad that I got up because I caught the sunset. The sight was so beautiful, so I grabbed the camera, ran to beach and took pictures of it. The only nightlife in the resort was the videoke, so we asked Mang Noel to set-up the videoke machine. However, after a few songs, the videoke machine stopped playing, and since Mang Noel was nowhere to be found that time, we decided to play poker instead.

Our second day was perfect and the sun was perfect. We left for Potipot at around 9:30 PM, we were supposed to leave earlier but we decided to eat our breakfast on the resort instead. We bought some fresh caught fishes to grill on the island for our lunch. The boat ride was indeed only for five minutes and costs 50 pesos per person. The water was calm and it was a smooth ride.

Potipot Island was breathtakingly beautiful. The water was very clear, it's like you were in a swimming pool. The sun was not white (perhaps because of the coral), it was somewhat Tan or light brown and very fine. We all walked around the island to see if it will indeed only take us 30 minutes, and true enough, you can really circle the island for only 30 minutes, well 20 if you half jog. The depth of the water depends on where on the island you will stay, some parts go very deep once you go in the water, some are shallow, and this is where we stayed and swam since we were bringing along children. As expected, we cannot get enough of taking pictures of the island.

Lunch consisted of only grilled fish, since we left our rice in the resort. Rice is not the only thing we left behind, not one of us brought any money! Thanks to my husband, who brought with him the 40 pesos I left on the table during breakfast, the kids were able to buy and eat some ice cream. Although very hungry, we still enjoyed Potipot. The beauty of the island made us forget our hunger. Why would you go all the way to Boracay when Potipot is just a few hours of drive away? Well, if you only want to go to Boracay because of the nightlife, you should still go because you will not see that on Potipot, but if you love nature and wants to visit a great beach - I definitely recommend Potipot!

We're off to Candelaria, Zambales (Potipot Island)

My friends and I are planning a trip to Potipot Island in Zambales this coming Saturday - it's been 3 years since our last beach outing (that's what happens when everyone of your friends are married and busy with their jobs).

I'm very excited and looking forward to this trip! Well, mainly because i really love to be close to nature, and the other reason is that it's my youngest son's first time to go to the beach. So i'm just partly excited for him.

Aside from exploring the beach, i would also like to check out the town of Candelaria, Zambales, because it looks like it's so full of history with all the pictures that i have seen. My next post will be interesting to everyone who also wants to visit the place. I would put some pictures to accompany my narration of our trip. Godspeed!