holy weekend (day 2)

Continuation of my previous post--yesterday I visited the Callao Caves and Pinacauanan River in Penablanca and the St. Philomene Church in Alcala (all three still located in Cagayan Province). I hope this post encourages you to visit Cagayan, it's such a spectacular province to explore.

Of course I had to take a tourist shot, haha! Welcome to the Callao Eco Tourism Zone! :) The entrance fee was just 20 bucks. It's required that you have a guide to the cave, and I noticed that most of the guides were kids.

You need to climb 184 steps to be able to get to the cave's entrance. I was not prepared 0_0 By the way, that's Jaylord (yes, that is his name) my 15 yr old guide. He's been a tour guide in Callao for the past 5 years. He's also quite an "expert" in taking pictures, I guess due to lots of practice with the tourists who ask him to take their pictures. He even pointed out the perfect spots where to take pictures, where the good lighting was, what kind of setting I should use for my camera inside the cave, etc....

The chapel in the 2nd Chamber. There are 7 Chambers inside the cave, but was only able to reach the 5th one because it would be difficult for us to go to the remaining two already.

The Pinacanauan River. I don't know if I was duped, but the round trip boat fare cost me Php 500. Now, I really didn't mind because I don't think the boat man would earn that amount daily. My way of helping him out, heehee .

Too bad I was by myself, because you can dock on one side of the river and have a picnic there. You can also swim in the river, by the way!! I can assure you the water is SO CLEAN. I have never seen a river that clean, as in almost crystal clear clean.

The St. Philomene Church, or the Alcala Church as locals would call it. It's found in Alcala, Cagayan Province and is about 40+ kilometers from Tuguegarao City. Oh the lengths and distances I'd go to just to visit old churches. Srsly people, I have a weird fascination (read: obsession) with old churches. There's just something about these structures that inspire and intrigue me at the same time.

** Directions:

To Callao Cave/Pinacanauan River - From the provincial highway going to Tuguegarao coming from Isabela, turn right at the road leading to Penablanca (which is right after the arch of Penablanca haha!). Just go straight, it'll be a loooooooooooooong drive to reach the entrance of the registration area of the Callao Eco-Tourism Zone. The road's a bit bumpy as well because of repairs currently being done.

To St. Philomene Church - Take the same route as going to Iguig (refer to my previous entry). Go past Iguig and you'll reach the town of Alcala. Believe me, just go straight and you'll spot the church on the right side of the road. It'll feel like a long drive (because it really is one) but just enjoy the view and trust that you'll see the church and that you're not lost ;)

holy weekend (day 1)

Not holy holy.... Can't think of a blog entry title that could describe how the weekend has been for me. I'm spending my last night in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan Province in my hotel room--enjoying the AC, cable TV, and free wifi! I decided to just spend the entire weekend not in Isabela because I really wanted to just get away and explore. I was supposed to spend just one night here, but opted to extend it for one more night so that I could rest before driving back.

As much as I love road trips and old churches, it would be more fun to have friends or family with me. Alas, I need to get used to going solo on my trips for the next few months. I am hoping that the group trip I've signed up for going to Sta. Ana Cagayan Province will push through.

Anyway, I do hope you enjoy these pictures I've taken during my stay here in Cagayan this weekend :) I'm sharing the Friday pictures first--taken at the San Pablo Church in Isabela, and Calvary Hills/Iguig Church in Iguig, Cagayan Province.

San Pablo Church, San Pablo, Isabela Province - the oldest church in the province! It was built in 1646 during the Spanish colonial period.

Here we go again with my bell tower obsession, hehe...

View from Calvary Hills, Iguig, Cagayan Province

Iguig Church, Iguig, Cagayan Province

The Calvary Hills are known for the life-sized statue depictions of the 14 Stations of the Cross. These are located on 4 hectares of rolling hills (according to the Iguig website hehe). Can I just say the pictures do not do justice to how amazing and beautiful this place is.

View of the Iguig Church from afar. Spectacular!

** So here's what I noticed...whenever I research online about where to go and what to do in different provinces, I rarely see articles with directions. I will try my best to remember how I went to each place I visited, hehe...

San Pablo Church: Take the left side of the juntion on the national highway (Maharlika HIghway) coming from Isabela going to Tuguegarao. The landmark is the carabao statue with the San Pablo sign (duh, hehe). Once you've entered that road, just go straight and you'll see the San Pablo Church on the left side of the road.

Calvary Hills: Take the national highway (Maharlika Highway) going to Tuguegarao City. You should be able to pass by the Provincial Capitol, DOST, NSO, and BFAR (these are the ones I remember). Once you reach Rizal Ave (landmark is the Flying V Gas station on the left), turn right on that road and just go straight. You'll see the arch of Iguig and just follow the road. You'll pass by stalls selling pottery. Still go straight and you'll see a sign on the left side of the road indicating Calvary Hills. Calvary Hills is about 17 kilometers from Tuguegarao City.

new year goals

At the start of each new year, I set goals that I aim to accomplish. I don't really expect to do everything in just a year, which is why my list of goals seem to just get longer and longer (haha!). It's okay, that just means more things for me to do and to aspire to accomplish.

so instead of saying that these are my 2012 goals, I'll just declare the following as my life goals in general.

1. Travel to the different provinces in Region 1 and 2.

- Okay, this is going to be a bit easy for me to accomplish since I'll be based in Isabela for 7 months. I can easily take a bus and go on an adventure anywhere in the northern part of the country.

2. Go on an out-of-the-country trip.

- I was supposed to visit my friend Annick in Sydney, Australia this April. However, my forever erratic work sched sorta ruined my travel plans for the year so I'm thinking of moving my trip to later this year or early next year. Also, I've started planning a few trips abroad to be spread out in the next 2-3 years..

3. Make my 'Tricycle Chronicles'.

- Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao -- the tricycles all over the country have very different looks. I've been thinking of recording the trikes I've seen during my trips but didn't really do it since it was just an idea swimming in my head. Now, I've decided to finally do it. I find that the differences in tricycles are affirmations of how different each region is from one another. I mean, it's like Filipino cuisine. We all know what adobo is, and we all cook it, but the adobo in Manila is different from the adobo in Ilocos--the texture, the taste, the way it's cooked. So yeah, maybe tricycles all over have the same purpose but are different in built and style.

4. Food trip

- I don't think I need to explain this. I mean, who wouldn't want to go on a food trip?!

5. Continue working for the betterment of the country, and to be able to do more.

6. Be financially stable and financially wiser.

- Being a woman, this ain't easy hahaha! But, I must learn to spend wisely and save more.

These are just a few of the things I'm aiming to accomplish, the rest are a bit more personal hehe. Mind you, the goals listed down are not in order of importance.

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year, everyone! It's been more than a month since my last post. I'm back in Manila, but I'll be leaving by the end of the month or mid of February. Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful 2011. I know I did :) Life in general was pretty awesome last year. Things are looking up for me in 2012, and I hope it'd be the same way for everyone.

Why not start this year's post with a food entry?! :) I want to share with you my experience at Yabu - The House of Katsu. I first heard about it from my brother a couple of weeks ago. Then just last week, I had a reunion dinner with my former colleagues and our resident planner Richmond informed us that it'd be at Yabu.

I was the first one to arrive so I was able to get our group the largest table. Good thing, because by the time the 4th person arrived the place was packed already. Was so excited to order already since I was so hungry and having browsed through the entire menu my mouth was watering already. Tonkatsu is not something I'd normally go for in a Japanese restaurant, but since I was in an all-katsu place...err...no choice, haha!

I got the Rosu (pork loin with trimming of fat) Tonkatsu set. In one set you'll also get Japanese rice, a bowl of miso soup, unlimited shredded cabbage, and a bowl of fruit. Awesome!

Seriously, I've never had tonkatsu that good--considering it's all pork and breading. I will definitely go back, because I honestly think that the only place I'd eat tonkatsu in is Yabu. Comparing the katsu in Yabu and in the Japanese restaurants I've had katsu, the ones at Yabu are by far the best. Duh. It obviously should serve the best considering it is the house of katsu.

If you want to try the katsu at Yabu, it's located at the 2nd floor of the Megamall Atrium. For big groups, I suggest you reserve ahead because there is only one big table large enough to accommodate a group of more than 5.

hello from the Philippines' rice bowl!

Not sure if that's the exact title, but yeah hello from Isabela--the Philippines' largest rice-producing province! :) I'll be based here for a year for work. We have a really big project, and (still) work's going to take up most of my time but what the heck I'll be able to go on more adventures! ;) I haven't been able to go out and explore much, though. Been here for 3 1/2 weeks already but it's been raining a lot. My car's not here yet so I've been taking the public transport. Yay because everything's cheaper in Isabela--from transport cost to food to rent. Thing is, the day ends sooooooooooo early here! I mean, you don't see a lot of people out on the street as early as 7 p.m. I have discovered three coffee shops I can hang out in, heehee. The nearest one is about a 2-min. tricycle ride from the house I'm renting which is in the old centro of Ilagan. The farthest one is about 8.2 km away, haha! I'd love to share more about my stay here, but I can't because there isn't much to say hehehe. Well, I was able to visit a few old churches. Hired a trike to take me around like a local turista.

the world's largest butaka (a local type of chair. apparently you'll find one in every household here, haha!)

St. Rose de Lima Church, built in 1726, is found in Gamu, Isabela

there are A LOT of cows here..

I'll try to post more pictures as soon as I'm able to go out and really explore the province. I am going back to Manila next week because of course I'll be spending the holidays with my family and friends. I'll be back in Isabela by January and will basically be based here for almost a year 0_0 Crossing my fingers about my trip to Singapore this January to visit my girlfriends Esther and Tin :)

random

Again it took me a month to blog again, haha! Anyway, just to update everyone I'm not in Isabela province, waaaaay up north in the Philippines. I'll be staying here for a month to start setting things up for one of our projects at work. I have loads of time to make blog posts, but the internet connection sucks :| I'm literally in farmville country.

hello!

God knows how many times I've had to say this but I'll say it again *sigh*.....People, I'm still alive!! I haven't had time to blog because work's been keeping me really busy. I do have the weekends for myself, but I'm too tired or lazy to get up from bed and write haha! Anyway, yes I just dropped by to say hi to everyone and let you guys know I'm still here. I really want to be able to blog again because I've gone to quite a few places already and I'm dying to share these with y'all. Crossing my fingers I'll be able to blog this weekend....till then! :)