Linggo, Enero 5, 2014

Sagada - Mountain Province

It's been awhile since Lozano Clan had a family vacation... how about SAGADA?

We stop over and had dinner along NLEX to prepare us for the long ride.
Shell Station, NLEX
Our first stop was Banaue Rice Terraces. While we were taking pictures, I accidentally fell on the rice paddy! As you can see, I'm not wearing any shoes!

We did also took pictures of Bay-yo Rice Terraces.

Banaue Rice Terraces
Bay-yo Rice Terraces
After that we actually thought our travel was near its end until we saw this!!! This maybe the reason why it was called "mountain province". Along our way we unpack our lunch and eat on one of the road stations beside a natural spring. 

mountain province

my younger brother having the time of his life!
We arrived in the town of SAGADA and spent two (2) nights at Indegenous Inn.


Our first morning activity was Spelunking! They offer two (2) options wherein people can choose the easy way or the hard way... and guess what, we've decided to make our lives more miserable by going through Lumiang burial cave and exit through Sumaguing cave which would take 2-3 hours for professionals and 5-7 hours for beginners. See for your self!

Lumiang burial cave
Spelunking - meaning to explore caves
Insertion - act of placing yourself inside an opening hoping you fit
Water levels here change depending on season


minor rappeling
light at the end of the tunnel... WE SURVIVED SAGADA!
My wife requested that we try Sagada's famous lemon pie and it really was something that every tourist should taste!


The Sagada Lemon Pie House
Our second day was not a walk in the park. I really can't remember how long we literally utilize our legs but it pays off once you get there. As the saying goes "there is no easy way to a place worth going to". Our destination was Bomod-Ok falls which mean "Big Falls". We carried sticks for safety since the path varies in slope.
Off to Bomod-Ok Falls
We're halfway there... I guess
Bridge over troubled waters...
Big Falls indeed!
Best way to enjoy it is to take a plunge!
I can't tell you what happened on our way back. Just imagine things got really harder! Anyway, WE SURVIVED SAGADA!


Later in the afternoon we visited Ganduyan Museum, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Calvary Hills, Echo Valley and Hanging Coffins all located within reach.

Inside Ganduyan Museum you won't be roaming around to witness exhibits, instead you will actually do time travel headed by our strict but sweet ol' lady. Once you're there you will definitely be proud of what the locals did for this land and for our country.
Ganduyan Museum
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
On our way to Echo Valley
You might notice that stones and rock formations here in SAGADA was somewhat similar to Palawan. The elevation of this province was no joke! But did you know that this area was actually under water million years ago?
This may be the echo valley but it can't echo Ella's smile
Hanging Coffins
That evening we went to a nearby souvenir shop to get some goodies!




Dawn of the next day, which was our last day of course, we went to Kiltepan to view sunrise which kinda sad since all we saw was clouds. Then after we took pictures of the priest-engineer monument. Still, we manage to wear a smile 'cause SAGADA taught us how to persevere, be strong and patient.
Family Pic with Kuya Choy!
Reverend John Armitage Staunton Monument
On our way to Manila we took a break in Atok, Benguet which was the highest point in Philippine highway system while everyone enjoyed the view and ate "balot". We had lunch in La Trinidad and did a final stop at the Lion Statue.

Atok, Benguet

La Trinidad Strawberry Farm
Lion Statue
All in all SAGADA's journey and experience was not for the faint-hearted. I'm really proud of everyone especially my mom who had shoulder surgery but still managed to join us in this adventure. Also, this vacation wouldn't be possible without our regular service and vacation guide Kuya Choy. 

We still have a long list of places to visit which surely means this was another beginning.

IT'S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES!

Me and Kuya Choy


Martes, Setyembre 10, 2013

Davao

Yipee! It's our second wedding anniversary! We will be celebrating it in Davao together with our little angel Ella.


We arrived around 6am at NAIA terminal 3 and everyone was excited and sleepy. Our plane departed earlier than expected so let's get that shutter working. We took pictures of ourselves and Ella while looking outside the window trying to touch the clouds. If she could speak she would probably say "Look, I'm touching the clouds!". We arrived 9:30am and the smell of durian was all around...


Day 1. Our first stop is Malagos Garden Resort. The area was huge and inside was like a modern jungle. The place houses animals of various kinds and it's really a unique resort because it's actually a zoo inside a park with amenities! What we enjoyed the most were bird and fish feeding. The place really offers alot of fun activities for recreational and team building purposes but all we could actually do is roam around it.

Malagos Garden Resort

Next stop is the famous Philippine Eagle Center where we actually found lots of eagles hehehe... Introducing Scout Binay, a monkey eating eagle only found in the country.
The Philippine Eagle Center

Lunch time! While our driver run down names of famous restaurants our tummies keep on telling our brains it's time to eat our fill. Since our schedule was really tight we ended up eating catfish "hito" on a restaurant along Los Almados. I'm telling you people, deep fried hito rocks!
Evy's Hituan

Ella and I amused ourselves on our way to Japanese Tunnel. When we finally got there and went inside, we found ourselves trap in the past as prisoners of war.
Ella & Daddy playtime

Japanese Tunnel
We couldn't possibly forget the pasalubongs for everyone waiting for us back home so here we were inside Lola Abon's durian factory.
Lola Abon's durian factory

We also visited Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague and the nearby Jack's Ridge restaurant. Our tour guide mentioned that families usually attend Sunday masses here and spend lunch after. That's what you call quality time!
Shrine of Holy Infant Jesus of Prague

Jack's Ridge

On our last stop, we went to Butterfly Garden, Crocodile Farm and Tribu K'Mindanawan. What I won't forget here wasn't the crocodiles but their ice cream. Go check it out for yourself!
Butterfly Garden (while Ella is sleeping)

Crocodile Farm

The famous crocodile flavored ice cream!

Tribu K'Mindanawan

It was really a long day and we felt exhausted. Still, we managed to put a smile on our faces on our way to Paradise Island Resort where we will be spending two nights of our stay here in Davao.
Paradise Island
Day 2. We woke up early but can't get out of the bed so we took these snapshots.

On our way to Pearl Farm, Ella watched the boat while it cuts through the waves. When we arrived, the resort offered us free room accommodation for our 8mos old baby. TALK ABOUT PRIVILEGES! We spent whole day relaxing and enjoying the majestic view of nature and filling our bellies with delightful cuisines.
Our Ella while she watches the waves
Pearl Farm
The staff here really pushed themselves to deliver high quality customer service and they even bid farewell by waving their hands while our boat run off shore.

When we finally got back to Paradise Island, we spend our last night with dinner over fire dance show and live music.

Day 3. Here's a photo of our room before we took off to Eden Nature Park.

Eden Nature Park ambiance was similar to Camp John Hay located in Baguio. The guided tour here will take you around with a multicab. The place offers a variety of flora and faura. Here you will also see history of indigenous tribe Tinubdan, their protector Bagani and a house called Balai-Kalimudan exclusively for Datus.

Nearby you'll find Fishing Village and another new attraction they called Skycycle. Unfortunately we were not able to try the Skycycle so we just took photos of the area.

Next stop were Davao Museum, St. Peter's Cathedral and Aldevinco Shopping Center.

Finally, on our way to the airport we were given chance to visit a fruit Market to purchase more pasalubongs to take with us back home.

Exactly noon we arrived at Davao airport and spent time to rest while waiting on our flight back to manila. 

We will definitely bring with us Davao's spirit... the smell of Durian!

Happy 2nd wedding anniversary to my dearest wife Eva! I love you very mucho!