Sunday, December 14, 2014

Trip to the Ifugao: A 2014 Yearender


Around mid November, Leli and I planned of visiting Baguio as our yearend trip for this year, same as last year, but just last week, we changed our minds and opted to visit the rice terraces instead. And so the rolling began. We purchased our tickets Monday last week at the Ohayami Bus Terminal in Fajardo, Sampaloc, Manila. After securing our seats, we scouted hotels online and searched for blogs about Hungduan. We ended up booking the Banaue Hotel and so the trip began. 👍

We left at 9 in the evening, onboard Bus number One. After ten hours on the road with few stopovers spent on eating chips and other junks, we finally arrived.


Above was the view that welcomed us in our room. We arranged our tour with the front desk of the hotel. The tour they offered was more expensive than other online travel guides, but we still booked with them for the sake of convenience. 

At around seven in the morning, the rolling started. We had our first stop at the Ohayami Bus Terminal to claim our return ticket, then followed by a 30 minute ride to Banaue view decks.





We went back to our ride after few minutes of taking pictures for another one hour and a half drive to the town of Hungduan. Below is the Happao Village.



After registration of 100 pesos per vehicle, we started our trek.

The trek was easy compared to Batad. The roads are paved at the first part of the trek, followed by muddy rice path and cemented stairs. We passed by the rice fields on our way to the village. 





We had our first stop at the nipa hut after one hour of walk. 



After another 30 minutes of walk, we reached the hot spring.



The water, as expected, is hot, haha, and relaxing. We soaked for a few minutes and had a cold dip at the ice cold river nearby.


The water is so cold. Your body will numb for a few seconds.


We took a different route on our way back. We took the mountain trail. There was also a view of the terraces, but less, and is 100% safer, as roads are concrete and wider.

After an hour and and a half drive, we arrived our hotel and rewarded ourselves with a heavy lunch. 


We had our afternoon nap after our after-trek bath. We woke up for dinner and cultural show at the hotel's lobby.



The show was followed by a massage in the room.

Lights off: 2200H

Lights on: 0800H

Breakfast: 😍


After breakfast, we checked out the hotel's amenities. One of them is a 12-ft pool with a view of the mountains.



At first, i wanted to swim but when we went back to our room to change our clothes, we passed by a road sign, which changed our minds.


And so the trek started. ☀️

Wild flowers and fruits welcomed us on our way down to the village.


On our way down, a lady offered us a guided tour to the village.

Our first stop was a house with human skeleton. They said that those are from their ancestors passed from generation to generation.



They charge a mandatory "donation" to see the skeletons. They also have souvenir shops in the village.

After a short village trek, paddling to the muddy rice fields, we decided to go back to the hotel, as it already started to rain.


The trek upwards was shorter but exhausting. We paid the guide 200php as she requested.


At the hotel's lobby, we had our last minute pasalubong shopping until check out.

Bus left Banaue at 7 in the evening and we arrived MNL after 10 hours.

This again is another fun-filled trip.

Until our next trip. 👍








Sunday, November 9, 2014

Revisiting Cebu. Hailey's 2014 Birthday Trip :)

Hailey and I checked in at Crown Regency Suites in Mactan to celebrate her birthday.🎉🎊🎈

We celebrated her birthday eve with pool and coffee bonding (Crown's Best Brew) at the hotel lobby.☕️🍔🍕🏊





After some few hours of rest, we had dinner at the Fifties Cafe and capped the night with some booze. 🍻🍸🍹🍷🍟🍖🍤




Day Two: We fetched Leli at the airport, had lunch at Golden Courie and headed to our second destination, Be Resorts. ✈️🚣🏡


The day was spent again within the resort vicinity, beach and pool bonding until sunset.



We had dinner at a nearby restaurant and had SuTuKil (Sugba Tula Kilaw).


We slept early to prepare for our third day. 💤

So what's with our third day? Trip to Oslob! 😍😍😍💦💦💦🐳🐋🐳🐋🐬🐠🐟

And what's with Oslob? 

This. 🐳🐳🐳


And this.🐋🐋🐋


That's true! We swam with the whale sharks and the fishes. 🐋🐋🐋🐳🐳🐳🐬🐬🐬

After thirty minutes of whale shark interaction, we had a side trip at Tumalog falls.  
💦💦💧💧💧💦💦💦🏊🏊🏊

This was discovered only two years ago by some tourists, accordingly to one local. The falls can be reached by motorcycles. 🚲




This, for me, was the best part of this trip. 👍👍👍👏👏👏

Lunch was served after the side trip to the falls.


We left Oslob right after lunch and had another three hours of joy ride back to Mactan. 🚐🚐🚐 

At the resort, we capped the night with a relaxing pool and beach bonding and a night of pizza, pasta and shakes. 🍕🍝🍹🏊🍉🍌🍋





Day Four: 

First stop: buffet breakfast 🍚🍢🍡🍞🍩🍮🍦🍜🍣

After checking out, we had our side trip to Cebu City. 

Next stop: Brown Cup 😍


We went to Tops right after.





Above: Leli and Hailey with our ride 🚗

After some otap shopping at Shamrock, we headed straight to the airport. ✈️

And this, again, was another fun-filled trip.

Until our next trip! 🌅🌃🌄🗻