Churches: Pangasinan to Vigan route

We checked out from our hotel in Bolinao, Pangasinan at around 8:20 A.M. Our next destination was Vigan in Ilocos Sur. The estimated travel time was more or less 7 long hours. We both agreed that visiting churches along the route would be a good way to endure the long journey, to stretch our legs and say a prayer.

1. Parish of St Fabian, Pope and Martyr - San Fabian Pangasinan. 

2. Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Charity - Agoo La Union

3. Saints Peter & Paul Parish Church - Bauang, La Union

During the Philippine-American war, the 400 year old San Pedro bell was taken as a war booty. More than a 100 years later, the US returned it to its home and is prominently displayed outside this parish in Bauang, La Union.

4. San Nicholas de Tolentino - Balaoan La Union

A slight traffic buildup allowed me to snap a quick photo of this church. Located along the national highway, it was closed when we passed by.

5. Saint Lucy Parish - Santa Lucia, Ilocos Sur

6. St. Stephen Church - San Esteban, Ilocos Sur

Casa Almarenzo Bed and Breakfast, Bolinao Pangasinan

A quick search of the available hotels in Bolinao revealed that most of them are beach front resorts while a few were located near the town proper. I wasn't keen on booking a beach front resort because I conditioned my mind that Pagudpud would be the better locale for us to frolic in the beach. I read countless reviews, checked if the rates were within my budget, its proximity to attractions, if the rates came with free breakfast and whether they had a secure parking space.

Casa Almarenzo Bed and Breakfast was a relatively new establishment, also on Patar Road where most, if not all of the hotels/resorts were located in Bolinao. It does not have its own beach yet has an infinity pool which was swarming with guests because the climate was really warm.

We were given a room on the second floor which also had another room but a dormitory type. The occupants were really noisy as they chatted away the entire night in the porch area of the balcony that was located right outside our tiny room! I am a light sleeper so I hardly slept even though I was really tired. On the other hand, D slept like a baby. Not fair!

Pictures of the sunset and the sunrise taken from the balcony outside our room.

The sun setting over Bolinao

Sunset

Early morning shot before sunrise

Sunrise at 05:33 AM

Wakey wakey the mighty sun is up 

After a hearty breakfast, it was time to head to our next destination. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to explore the other attractions on my list like visiting a supposedly enchanted cave, going on a river cruise as well as hiking to some waterfalls.

In fact, we saw a sign posted on the road leading to some waterfalls. It was off the main road. After 2 minutes of going deeper into some forested, jungle like setting on an unpaved dirt road, I told D we should just return to our hotel. I did not want to get stuck in this isolated area as our vehicle was not a SUV, we also had no idea how far away the waterfalls was (there were no more signs) + my phone lost its signal.

So someday, we shall visit Bolinao again! =)

Bolinao, Pangasinan

We lost almost 2 hours of travel time because we took the wrong exits off the expressway. So we passed this arch welcoming us to the province of Pangasinan at 11:20 A.M.

The long drive was now on national roads which connected several towns. Certain stretches had road repairs and renovation on bridges so there would be a few minutes stuck in traffic. But basically well paved roads which did not collect any toll fees.  

Located at the tip of a peninsula, Bolinao is a coastal town with several beach front hotels. It is also a good point for nature tripping as there are several caves and waterfalls to explore. 2 hours of driving from the 'Pangasinan' arch, this image greeted our now grumbling stomachs. 

A quick online search revealed the Giant Taklobo Resto Grill was the nearest place where we could have a late lunch at 2 P.M. We feasted on a saucy almost soup like Pinakbet and fried Boneless Bangus with local seaweed.

We then rushed to check into our hotel for the night, the Casa Almarenzo Bed and Breakfast. I will blog about his accommodation in a separate blog post. It was already almost 3 P.M by then so after leaving our suitcase at the room, we set off to explore which ever attraction was nearest to the hotel. 

The Cape Bolinao Lighthouse was about a 10 minute drive from the hotel. This road was paved and lined with several beachfront resorts on our right and a deeply forested area to our left. The lighthouse was towards the very end of the road, at an incline. Then you need to park at a sandy vacant lot and walk up to a steep path leading to the lighthouse. It was scorching hot and also a bit humid because it is near the coastline. We were both drenched in sweat! 

Some local folks told us that Patar Beach is just around the corner. All sweaty we get into the car and drove in the direction of the beach. We reach a stretch of road with resorts, hotels and small inns. All of them offering various offers from all day cottages for picnics, all day swimming and most of them charged entrance fees. 

Honestly, I wasn't in the mood to get more sun to kiss my skin. I was tired and just wanted to return to our hotel to rest. True to form, the hubby was eager to catch the sunset and our place had a good vantage point that offers a fantastic view. Back at our room, while unpacking I fell asleep. While D was outside snapping away as the sun set over Bolinao, Pangasinan.

We learned that the hotel does not serve any dinner at their small restaurant. So we head out and found a place along the same road we took earlier. The Mangunguna Seafood Bar and Grill was an open air eatery with nipa hut style roofing, lanterns and wooden furniture for seating. We ordered their (grilled) seafood bilao with rice and iced tea. With the sound of crickets and the occasional passing by of cars along the dark, unlit road - it was a good way to end the first day of our road trip.

Road trip: getting lost

So when we were set on Pagudpud, I consulted google maps to sort out which towns we would pass by during our road trip to reach our final destination. The provinces I saw on the map were Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union and finally Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

From Pampanga, I wanted to pay homage to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Manaoag, Pangasinan. I read that with the TPLEX (Tarlac - Pangasinan - La Union Expressway), it now takes only about 3 1/2 hours instead of the normal 6 hours to get to Manaoag.  Yet D deemed it would be better if we made this side trip on our way back home.

A colleague of D mentioned the town of Bolinao was a good place to visit in Pangasinan. So I read up on its attractions and found out from Bacolor, Pampanga to Bolinao it would take roughly about 5 hours. 

At the San Fernando exit, we had a quick McDo breakfast and by 8:22 A.M we were again on the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway), then on the SCTEX (Subic - Clark - Tarlac Expressway).  

D was going 100 - 105 kph on our 20+ year old vehicle and I was simply enjoying the imposing presence of Mount Arayat, the now inactive volcano.

NLEX - SCTEX - 240 pesos toll fee

SCTEX (Clark Airport Exit) 67 pesos toll fee

SCTEX - TPLEX entrance - 104 pesos toll fee

We had just entered the TPLEX when things got complicated. I was using WAZE on my mobile phone to guide me through the numerous exits. The app told me we should take the Tarlac City exit. But D said we should take the Ramos Paniqui exit. 

Confusion ensues but to make the long story short - we did INDEED take a couple of wrong exits. It certainly didn't help when the toll booth tellers themselves told us differently and kept referring us to the next toll booth operator for directions. We ended up paying more (unnecessary) toll fees and also lost about 2 hours of travel time.

Toll fees weaving in and out of wrong exits -  251 pesos

This brings me to several factors which may or may not have contributed to us getting lost on an expressway, of all places: 

• Inadequate road signs - our expressways sorely lack appropriate road signs. They don't list down all the exits. So what you get is like ‘Next exit: San Fernando 500 meters.’
• Using WAZE - for me this mobile app is very useful. Yet it does have a tendency to occasionally point you to a dead end, a one way street or a really narrow street where you suddenly come face to face with a 4 wheeler truck!  The thing is D doesn't completely believe in this app ... ergo he tends to just go on his gut (yet mostly WRONG) instinct.  
• Asking for directions - when we were already in the national highways which connected towns, we could just stop by the side of the road to ask tricycle drivers if we were on the correct path.  Yet when we asked the toll booth tellers, they all gave us wrong information. We even got lost just making a U-turn to return to the expressway.
• Be prepared - I did mention that I only had two weeks to figure everything out. From researching about attractions to booking accommodations and reading about dining options.  I admit that I failed to properly map out the expressway exits. But I did have a million and one things to arrange before our road trip that I simply ran out of time. In fact, I was hoping that D would be the one to research about the exits but he would come home really tired so barely was online to look up google maps.

Despite getting lost, I'd say the road trip was a resounding success. I like to credit D for not blaming lil old ME for the snafu. He just drove and would shake his head when we made a U-turn to return to the expressway. He would lament how the tellers would trick us and wished there were more road signs for guidance. Bless him! =)

Pampanga: Guagua & Bacolor

So despite all my apprehensions and the stress from last minute bookings, we shoved off at 4:40 AM early Monday morning, May 21, 2018.

Mindanao Ave - entry of NLEX - 45 pesos toll fee

Pampanga holds a special place in our hearts as my mother and D's father hail from this province albeit from different towns. I believe we still have relatives there but haven't kept in touch as it has been decades since we all got together.

I know there are many beautiful churches in Pampanga but foremost on my list and made part of our itinerary were the Betis Church and the one in Bacolor which is my mother's hometown.

NLEX (San Fernando Exit) - 124 pesos toll fee

Just a few minutes before 6 A.M, we reached the St. James the Apostle Parish Church aka the Betis Church in Guagua. Just in time for the 6 o'clock morning mass and it turns out it was in the Kapampangan dialect. I don't speak nor understand a single word of this dialect but the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is universal and I know it was a good sign, we started our long road trip by hearing mass.

About 8 minutes drive from Guagua, we reached Bacolor which is my mother's hometown. This town along with several towns in Pampanga was devastated from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991. Its main church, the San Guillermo Parish still stands erect albeit it is half buried in lahar. Only the top most portion of the Baroque style edifice and its belfry is visible now.

Nowadays, they use the upper portion of the parish and it has been converted into a full blown church. My mom's father tomb was located behind the church but the entire cemetery was also buried under the ash and lava flow from the mighty volcanic wrath of Mount Pinatubo. So I think they merely light candles in remembrance of those buried in that cemetery.

Unfortunately, the church along with the nearby archives and museum was closed when we got there. Several years ago, my parents, sister and I were able to visit its interiors and I remember it still retained its colonial grandeur.

Planning a road trip

Once 2018 rolled in, I was already scouting for places to visit for our tenth wedding anniversary. I had several local destinations in mind. Some accessible by land and others via airplane. I kept browsing and researching online for hotel rates, airfares and attractions to visit. Months passed and I still didn't have any clue nor idea where we would go.  Our anniversary month of May rolls in and I was keen on going to Bataan and already mapped out places to see and compared hotel prices in that region. 

Until one day, D says Pagudpud would be a great place to visit. I was shocked for several reasons: (1) I thought he was just kidding (2) It is very far, by land it would take almost 8 - 10 hours of driving. (3) Our car is over 20 years old! (4) I won't have enough time to book everything.

Well D was really serious and assured me he was in good form to do all that driving but told me we only had 4 days (Monday - Thursday) to make it happen. Fridays, we are coding + he works on weekends. We also needed to rest overnight in some towns along the way. You see the thing with D (which constantly vexes me!) is he takes everything lightly. 

This leaves me to plan EVERYTHING because I am not a haphazard type of person. I researched, compared prices, read all sorts of reviews, made local distance phone calls, googled, listed down attractions and came up with an itinerary for a 4D3N road trip. 

Then I booked all the accommodations within 10 stressed filled days before our road trip. This kept me up for nights as I was overthinking every single detail. From the good & bad reviews of the accommodations, to places where we could have our meals en route or in the place itself, the stopovers, the places where we would spend the night, the distance in kilometers between the towns, the hours spent driving to these destinations, where we could buy pasalubongs their prices and how many we needed to buy. 

During the early stages of planning this trip, I would consult D about certain decisions we needed to make and his standard answer would always be 'bahala ka na'! Gosh, you would think he could offer some suggestions or anything relevant but nah he either can't be bothered or was too tired from work. 

So yes I am saying it right here in my blog, with pride, mind you. This trip was entirely dependent on my ability to plan, decide quickly, and map out a concrete itinerary without going broke and without going bonkers because I only had TEN days to make everything happen or go bust. 

For the most part, I'd say about 90% of the entire road trip/adventure was successful. I would also to add that if it wasn't for his stamina and endurance to drive all those distances, this road trip would not have taken place, period.

So I reckon we are both on the same page, equally and mutually responsible for the fun, sun filled adventure we experienced. Just like our decade long marriage, there were upheavals and struggles but together with all our flaws and imperfections, we continue (with the guidance of the Almighty) to strive to make it as fun, funny and tolerable as we both possibly can.   

AMEN!