more of laoag






Laoag is a small city. It is the capital city of Ilocos Norte so both the city hall and the provincial capitol are sharing the same plaza. Thankfully Laoag still retains a lot of its old charms. We are not yet seeing the mallification of this countryside. However according to Buddha, a major shopping mall is being planned near Laoag. Of course you can find Kentucky Fried Chicken, Jollibee, Max's in the city center. Our first night we had a great dinner at La Preciosa where we sampled typical Ilocano dishes. Afterall the whole point of visiting a place is also to sample the local cuisine. Ilocano food agrees with me because of its simple and spare home cooked food. They do not have the elaborate sarsas that is present in the Pampango food that was fiesta fare in my parents' home town. Of course there is bagnet which is the Ilocano version of the lechon kawali, which I can only now manage just to taste. But I feasted in pinakbet, dinengdeng and there was one heavenly dish that had a name that sounded like the vernacular name of the female sex organ said twice over. Oh, before I forget, we did pass by Marcos's home. The museum was closed indefinitely. They however had a small display of his pictures near his maosoleum. I had to surrender my camera to Buddha when we entered the maosoleum which automatically plays a dirge when the doors open. I commented to my sister that the body of Marcos looked very waxy. Later we were told that a lot of people suspect that what is being shown is made of wax. Perhaps this explains the sign outside which says " No cameras and hard objects allowed inside". The work of just one vandal will be enough to reveal the truth. As far as Marcos is concerned, there are still many potential vandals. The biggest hotel to stay in is still Fort Ilocandia near the Laoag airport. However you should try some of the smaller places. Balay ti Blas was a place that offers good value and is located within the city of Laoag itself. The breakfast alone makes the stay worth it because it is oversized and will fill even someone who has a huge appetite. When visiting the North, it is best to stay in Laoag because Vigan is just an hour and a half away. After all you do not need to spend days to see the old town. Around Laoag are interesting churches the most prominent of which is the church of Paoay. From Laoag you can drive north to go to Pagudpud or even onto Aparri or Claveria in Cagayan. I asked Buddha if there are boat trips from Aparri going to Basco Batanes. He said there is none. I am assuming that this has something to do with the rough waters in that part of the country.

all photos © 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved

suba





It was a lonely beach. Perhaps no one was in the mood to go out. It was windy and the sky was overcast. We did not see anyone on the beach except for women collecting shells for their dinner. There was a solitary banca and two stumps of driftwood along the way. Behind us was the sand dunes with only a few grass was growing. Yonder were the huts, perhaps of the fishermen that are now staying away from the sea because of the strong waves. It was lonely, it was melancholy. Only our footsteps and the waves.

all photos © 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

lighthouse in burgos







This lighthouse, from the account of the caretaker dates back to the 1890's. His earliest recollection of the place was when his lolo (grandfather) took him to visit the place when he was a little boy. The lighthouse is still in use because Northern Luzon is prone to bad weather. While commercial ships are now equiped with radar equipment, the small fishing vessels going into the South China seas still need this lighthouse to guide the fishermen into safety. On the roof of the lower building near the lighthouse, I noticed some solar cells. I was told that the electricity gathered during the day is enough to power the light at night. The lighthouse compound is also equiped with a spanish style kitchen. It was really nothing fancy. It just meant that there was a few wood fired stoves, over it was a hood so that the smoke is enclosed and goes up the chimney. Nowadays, bats reside under the hood so the kitchen does not smell that nice. I wonder if it was really put into use in the lighthouse's early days. Perhaps in those days the cartakers families would stay in the compound and meals would be prepared in this kitchen. Now only one caretaker stays here. His son has left to go to school in Manila. Perhaps a couple of his relatives are in working in foreign countries just like me. all photos © 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

vigan, ilocos sur














Vigan prides itself of one of the oldest preserved towns in the Philippines. I think, the prewar Intramuros would have been much more magnificent, only it did not survive the bombing during the war of liberation of Manila in WWII. The streets of Vigan are lined with old adobe houses in varying stages of repair or disrepair. The main street is lined with shops selling handicrafts and faux antiques. However, for a small place, there does not seem to be a lot of market segmentation. After a while of walking around, I started feeling that all I am seeing are more of the same thing. There is also the matter of the persistent calesa driver who kept of following me even if I told him that I am not interested in taking his fare. Not that I mind but the smell of horse shit was starting to get the better of me. On the whole where the old house are maintained, the architecture is still very interesting. The houses are tall. Perhaps they have the entrecuelo that is commonly found in houses in the 19th century. My sister and I even visited on of the well preserved houses complete with the old furnishings they had. These houses did not have living rooms but had ballrooms! There were anterooms, formal dining rooms, azoteas etc.

Life goes on for the residents of the town, most are oblivious of the tourist moving from shop to shop. I even spotted a group playing mah jong. However I was wondering if they had a quorum because there were only three of them playing. I saw an old pump where a little girl was trying to get some water to clean her face with. It seems that she got dirty with playing in the street and her mother told her to clean up. I was smiling as best as I could but it seems that I scared the poor child when I was trying to take her picture. Perhaps it is not the old buildings that makes Vigan interesting but the fascinating people that are still choosing to live there and make their living.

all pictures © 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

tricycles







Aside from the jeepneys, you know that you are in the Philippines if you see tricycles going around. Thailand has tuk tuks and their mororcys, Vietnam has their cyclos and in Indonesia you have their becak. I like the term my mother used to call these contraptions, she used to call them motor calesas when I was still very young. Later on she adapted the more popular term for this mode of transport. It takes you anywhere you want to go. Sometimes you even get to share the ride with other people. Best of all it is less smelly than the real calesas specially if you find the smell of gasoline more tolerable.

Merry Christmas everyone!

all photos© 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

photos around laoag









most of these pictures were taken around laoag with the exception of two taken in Pagudpud and somewhere near Burgos. Laoag itself is still a small town compared to Manila. The streets are relatively clean although the place is bustling with horse drawn carriages, tricycles, jeeps, trucks plying the street. It did not take us long to get to places where we see rice fields, beaches and old churches. Even the way going to Malacanang ti Amianan had a couple of nice landscapes. My only regret is that we did not have enough sunshine in Pagudpud. The shine was up on our way back to Laoag airport on our last day in Ilocos. I found this weather beaten cliffs where people were collecting shells. I could not get any closer because we are in a hurry to get back. That is another place I will go back to. However, I still love the early morning shot from the Laoag bridge of the Laoag river where people are starting to work from their fishing huts. Another day had started for them. All photos © 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

paakyat, pababa (going up, going down)



I will probqably get a better hand print out of this scan so I photoshopped it to death. I took the going up and going down view of the stairs going to the lighthouse itself. Going up, it looks like it takes a long way and it is hard. Going down it looks like it will only take a short time. As in life, you have to work very hard on your way up. On the other hand it does not take a lot of effort to go down. Remember the saying be nice to the people on the way up because these are the same people you will meet on your way down. all photos © 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

bangui bay windmills




I have heard about the windmills of Bangui Bay since early this year. It had been covered extensively in the press dealing with alternative energy. Supposedly, the windspeeds in some parts of the Philippines are so fast that if energy from the wind is harnessed it is enough to supply a majority of the energy requirements of the country thus weaning it from dependency from petroleum. So on this trip to Ilocos, I asked Buddha to take me to the windmills. He said it took 3 years for these windmills to be constructed. If you pass by Burgos on the way to Pagudpud you will see the windmills towering along the beach. The wind was quite strong that morning but we only saw one of the mills working. Perhaps the wind was quite strong for one of the windmills to do the work of the rest. I do hope these windmills will indeed help augment the energy needs of Ilocos so that cost of electricity eventually goes down. Photos were taken using hasselblad 500c, Kodak Tri-X. All photos © 2005 daddywasabi, All rights reserved.

pagudpud rocks




We finally settled in a resort in Baranggay Saud in Pagudpud. The much touted visit to the Blue Lagoon was quite disappointing because of the blustery weather. There was an interesting cliff we saw along the way but the wind was so strong for me to safely reach a better vantage point. When we got back to the resort, I went to the rocky beach. By then the sun was setting so I was in a rush to get my camera and tripod. I tried using at a shutter opening of at least f/11. Then after a stormy day, we saw a wonderful sunset lighting up the beach of Bangui. Too bad by that time the cf card of my canon 10d were all full ( I was shooting in raw format). So I used the remaining frames in the hasselblad 500c. I tried capturing the sunset using the last frame of the fortepan film I was using. Unfortunately, I forgot to adjust the focus. So a slightly soft photo resulted. I am however still pleased with it. all photos © 2005 daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

driftwood




After visiting the church in Paoay, I asked about the sand dunes and Buddha drove us to Suba Beach. It was a desolate place with a solitary resort on the beach. The sky was overcast that day and we did not see anyone on the beach with the exception of three women gathering clams for their dinner. As we got further away, I saw this huge driftwood which seem to have weathered a lot of lashing from the waves. I took off my shoes and took out my hasselblad 500c and started taking pictures. I took my time trying to see different angles I can approach the subject. After we finished, we headed back for the van. The lady caretaker of the resort approached our driver for a Ps30.00 parking fee. A bit steep but I didn't mind because I enjoyed the time I spent in taking the driftwood. all photos © 2005 daddywasabi.