Ilocos, when will I ever visit you again? part1

It's been 3 weeks since my Ilocos trip with my mom and grandmother. I know I was supposed to blog about it right away, but I didn't have the luxury of time to do so with work and all. Anyway, what can I say about that trip? It was great! It was the first time my mom, grandmother, and I went to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. I was really looking forward to going on this trip because my mom and I wanted to take my grandmother out so she could just get away from the city even if it was just for 3 days. She's been holing herself here at home, which is so unlike her--but understandable. Also, I needed to get away from work. A few of my friends know how much time I've been spending at the office I should practically pay rent already.

Our trip was from August 29 to the 31st. We woke up quite early since our flight to Laoag City (Ilocos Norte) was at 10 a.m. and we had to be at the airport at least 2 hours before to be able to get decent seats. The flight was okay, the landing wasn't. Hahahahaha! Anyway, I really felt like I was at Ilocos when we got out of the plane. The airport was made of bricks...had that old Spanish feel to it. And yeah, it was sunny. We were afraid that it was also raining at Ilocos since it was (and still is) raining a lot in Manila.


I had all the arrangements for the trip done, so we had someone pick us up at the airport and bring us to our hotel. It wasn't really a hotel...more of a tourist's inn. La Elliana isn't that fancy, but if you just need a place to sleep and take a bath in, then it'll do.


What's great about La Elliana is that directly across it is La Preciosa Cafe! So right after we settled in our room, we had lunch at La Preciosa. The food's soooo good! I fell in love with their pinakbet! Actually, my mom and lola were also raving about it. I think that's why for the entire 3 days we were at Ilocos we ALWAYS ate pinakbet--I'm serious!



After lunch we visited the Museo Ilocos Norte and Sinking Bell Tower (which sinks a quarter of an inch every year). We were supposed to ride a kalesa around the city but I really wasn't in the mood for it so I had to persuade my mom and grandmother that we should just ride a trike. We ended up taking a kalesa back to the hotel. Hahahahahaha!

Museo Ilocos Norte

The interesting artwork that greeted us when we entered the doorway

Very nice installation :)

Inside a typical colonial (Spanish occupation) Ilocano house

My mom with a traditional weaving loom to make cloth
I think this is how they traditionally dry tobacco leaves before they roll them to make cigars :)
A kalesa
I think this is the municipal hall of Laoag City..not sure though :)
The Sinking Bell Tower..not a good shot of it, though :p
View from our kalesa ride back to the hotel

After our mini-adventure after lunch, we opted to just rest in our hotel room before heading out for dinner. We saw Saramsam, a local restaurant, on our way back to the hotel that afternoon so we decided to try it out there. I loved the interiors of Saramsam, the servers were very nice and accommodating--even explaining to us every dish we ordered and the background of the restaurant. Again, we just had to have pinakbet.

Lovely interiors

Pinakbet (again)
Yes, those are chili peppers...BUT, they're not spicy at all! Quite expensive here in Manila...that's why I had my fill while I was at Ilocos :p
Basil Iced Tea :)

Our yummy dessert (though we couldn't finish it anymore because we were sooo full already!)

More interior shots..

My mom, grandmother, and I--3 generations of Ortega ladies :)

After dinner, my mom and grandmother decided to just rest already since we had a whole-day tour scheduled the following day. I, on the other hand, decided to get some coffee and a bit of me-time at La Preciosa. I was able to try their carrot cake (which is sooo good, by the way...it can rival mine! Hahaha!). I also had a latte (you can't imagine how happy I was when I saw that they had an espresso machine!). I basically just stayed there for a couple of hours and enjoyed being alone and doing nothing--not thinking about work. I was also able to talk to the owner of La Preciosa, Pam Aragoza. The restaurant was her mom's and was passed on to Ate Pam. She's such a very friendly lady, and we were actually able to talk about a lot of things other than La Preciosa! I'm blessed that everytime I visit a restaurant, the owners are so nice. I definitely recommend La Preciosa to anyone who plans to go to Ilocos. And when my friends and I do manage to go up North, I'll bring them to La Preciosa because I'm sure they'll also love the food and ambiance of the place.

La Preciosa's carrot cake

La Preciosa's interiors

Of course I had to get my picture taken with Pam :)

Whew! That was quite a long entry...and my next Ilocos entries will be longer! Hahahaha! This was just day 1, people :)