After our mini food-trip around Laoag, we were now back in Balay de Blas. Some of us chose to rest, while playing Monster Hunter, and some of us wanted to…uhm…relieve ourselves. I had gone first, and partly due to the poor ventilation of the CR, partly due to the intensity of my power, it took Rhoy, who was next in line, a few minutes before he could acquire an immunity to it. It was very unfortunate to Rommel, the third person in line though.

After our little rest, we went out to find a great place to cap off our whole trip. And we went to one of the best places there is in Laoag. We had sinanglao, some insrabasab, and a few more dishes that I can’t now remember. For dessert, our resident cheesecake aficionado, Leon, decided he wanted to treat us all for cakes. He bought three kinds for us to share. The carrot cake was delicious. Sadly, it was the blueberry cheesecake that fell to last place. It’s not that it wasn’t good, but it was just mediocre.

Early next morning, we had breakfast served in our room (you have to order it the day before). It was delicious, but not extraordinary. Most of us had the longganisa. After that, we went through our final packing. And I would arrange my backpack for the last time.

Since I had neglected to talk about what my “light pack” was, I will explain it now. I brought my Targus laptop backpack, and naturally my Kohjinsha SH6 tablet netbook fit in the over-spacious laptop compartment. I had maybe six shirts, a few shorts, jogging pants, and a few other articles of clothing rolled up to minimize the air inside the pack. A towel was wrapped and strapped outside and under my pack where a tent or sleeping bag was meant for. My brother’s Manfrotto tripod, lightstand, and umbrella all fit in my Slik tripod bag, which I tied onto the front of my backpack. And my Lowepro Toploader 45AW housed my camera, flash, filters, flash gels, umbrella adapter, blower, flashlight, and harddisk and had bottle of water strapped onto it via my DIY velcro speedlight straps. So we checked out of Balay de Blas and got a tricycle to the Florida Bus Terminal, where our scheduled bus was waiting for us.

The previous day, we had a little bit of confusion as we got our bus tickets. After paying P550 for the 8:00 air-conditioned bus with CR, we were about to leave the bus terminal. It was a good thing Leon said “see you tomorrow” to the teller, because it was only then we all realized that we had booked for the 8:00 IN THE EVENING BUS on THAT DAY, instead of the 8:00 IN THE MORNING of THIS DAY. Any, she corrected the date and time of our tickets.

So now we were at the Florida Bus Terminal, and the bus we were (re)scheduled to ride on had no CR, and the ticket office was still closed. That just meant that we had paid P50 more for a bus without CR.

On the bus, still early that morning, we were subjected to a very gory movie called Masters of Horror: Imprint, which was about a man who was searching a mystical place in Japan filled with supernatural phenomena for a prostitute he fell in love with. Nice. Can’t beat bloody fetuses for breakfast… Joie promptly asked the conductor to change the movie. After that, they showed Jackie Chan’s Forbidden Kingdom, followed by Rush Hour 3! Cool, I wondered what was next…it was Vic Sotto and Dolphy…ok, I wonder what was up after this one….Fernando Poe Jr….damn.

There were a few stopovers on that Laoag to Manila ride, first stop was at Marsha’s Delicacies where I bought some longganisa and cassava cake for my family. Some of us bought the vigan bibingka, which was received with mix criticisms. Our lunch stop was over at a small carinderia, and on the final stopover somewhere in Tarlac, we found the last halo-halo stand of our trip. A happy and sad moment.

On entering Metro Manila, we had a quick meeting on the bus to decide where we’d be getting off. Some would be getting off sooner, while the others had to get off much further away. We decided since we were all hungry that we’d all stop at McDonald’s at Quezon Avenue to recharge before going our separate ways. After struggling with our heavy bags, navigating the no-walk zones, the pedestrian lanes, and the foot bridges, we found us a nice long table where we could lay down our cargo and relax a bit with our civilized burgers, a far cry from the delicious meals we had in our travels, but it was nonetheless nice to be able to bite into a McDonald’s McChicken again.

The original plan in 2009, as overlayed on a map of Luzon

Trip Details:

• 7 Days – 1 day in Hundred Islands, 2 days in Vigan, 3 days in Pagudpud, and 1 day in Laoag.

• Feb. 21 (night) – Depart from Manila
• Feb. 22 – A day in Hundred Islands
• Feb. 23 – Travel day to Vigan, nighttime relaxation
• Feb. 24 – Vigan tour
• Feb. 25 – Trip to Pagudpud
• Feb. 26 – Pagudpud tour
• Feb. 27 – Go to Laoag, take in the sights
• Feb. 28 – Going home

• Total budget per person inclusive of travel and lodging and BBQs and halo-halo and empanadas – roughly P8,000

• Average number of halo-halo eaten: 6
• Things Jeff dropped (but recovered): sunglasses in Dagupan, wallet in Vigan
• Distance travelled: MNL-Alaminos (182km), Alaminos-Vigan (250km), Vigan-Pagudpud (208km), Pagudpud-Laoag-MNL (615km) = 1,255km total.

Now who wouldn’t want a life like that?!
(If you want that life, contact me and let’s figure out how to get there)

In my last post on the wonderful sights of Pagudpud, I took you around the beaches, waterfalls, and lighthouses we went to during the day. Our Laoag leg was set to be the climax of our trip; our stop in Laoag would be brief and we’d just be winding down. So after our day trip around the sights of Pagudpud, we went to the market to buy ourselves fresh seafood. This time, Kenny and I were careful not to expose ourselves to the vendors, lest they give us “tourist prices” because we looked like Asian foreigners. That night, we had a feast of 12 lobsters, flame-grilled fish (inihaw na isda), sinigang na tanguige that was fit for 8-10 people! And it only costs us PXXX! (Later that night, I would go on to blog my last post).

The next morning, we woke up early for the sunrise. I had set my alarm for 4:30am to give us ample time to catch it. I was supposed to wake Rommel up, so I got my flashlight and was flashing it like crazy on his face. At first I saw him smiling, then laughing, before I realized that I had mistaken the bunk assignments and woke up Kenny instead!

So we went down to the beach, and I took some pictures of the stars. Leon was quite surprised to learn how fast stars move (he corrected me, it’s actually how fast the earth rotates). Here is a long-duration shot of around 8 minutes. Notice how long the streaks are? That’s how far the stars have gone across the horizon.

We waited several minutes more till sunrise. It was summer after all, and I was used to seeing the sun at around 5:30am whenever I’m out on vacation somewhere. It actually took us 2 hours since we woke up before we got first glimpse of the sun. And for waiting that long, we had a good 10-15 minute photo session with the sun before it got too high in the sky!

Down in Laoag, we got to Balay de Blas. It was a wonderful looking pension house with a beautiful facade and classy looking bedrooms. We had lunch al fresco in their garden with Insarabasab (sliced, roasted pork), bagnet. When we got back to our rooms, it was siesta time. The others were once again playing Monster Hunter, while I was channel surfing. Eventually I fell asleep dead-tired and had one of the most relaxing sleep I’ve ever had. When I woke up, I thought I had slept the whole afternoon away when it was really just an hour of sleep.

We started our mini-tour of Laoag, stepping out of Balay de Blas and peeking around streetcorners, when not a hundred meters from our place was a little shop selling, once again, empanda! Laoag empanada is said to be even more delicious than Vigan empanada. The empanada here is cooked a bit differently. They first cook a longganisa then scrape all its contents on to the bed of veggies in the empanada before the egg yolk is poured on and finally the empanada is wrapped and sealed.

A short tricycle ride later and we were at the Laoag market. A few blocks away, the Sinking Belltower was already visible. Magnificent as it still looked, the builders of old forgot Jesus’ teaching of building on stone instead of sand, and the entrance to the belltower, which once could accomodate a man on horseback, now required one to crouch to get in.

The St. Williams Cathedral was just a few steps away, and after checking the mass schedule we decided to attend the anticipated mass at 5pm. Since it was still a bit early, we decided to go the Ice Cream House first. Rommel, Kenny, and I orderd the Peach Boat while Rhoy and Joie had halo-halo.

After the mass, we went back to the market to pick up some pasalubong and Rommel and I promptly found ourselves again near a barbeque vendor where I had some kwek kwek and barbecued pork skin. There were some calesas nearby, and the driver offered to take us all back to our hotel. We really felt sorry for the horse: technically the calesa could fit 7 people including the driver, but, PETA-forbid, don’t! It’s just too exhausting to the horse. For his efforts, we gave a little tip and goodbye to the horsie.

To be continued… (and now, the continuation)

We had so many places to see, so many things to do, so many laps to swim, and so many food to eat that I just found myself happily exhausted.

We arrived in Pagudpud, the third leg of our Northern Exposure trip, two days ago. We left Vigan at around 9:00am on a bus to Laoag, then transferred to a St. Joseph bus to Pagudpud. At 1:30pm, we got off the town plaza of Pagudpud, surprised by the number of people that had gathered.

Apparently, former president Erap Estrada, Jejomar Binay, and Juan Ponce Enrile was arriving to address the crowd. As was the tradition ever since we stepped onto Vigan, we had been eating empanada everyday. And conveniently, there was an empanada vendor at the plaza! Curiously, I asked her who her candidate was and her reply was, “kung sino mananalo” (whoever will win), which kind of reflects the sad state of politics here. For the record, I have chosen my president to be Dick Gordon.

We soon found out that we were at the wrong place; we didn’t know we were supposed to ride the Cagayan Valley bus to our hotel, Hannah’s Beach Resort. After several minutes trying to hitch a ride, a van driver offered to charge us to drive us to Hannah’s for P500.

When we got to the Blue Lagoon beach just across Hannah’s Beach Resort, the view was breathtaking!

Courtesy of Leon's brand new Omnia Pro

Never have I seen a bluer sky, a cleaner, more tranquil sea, inside a cove that seems to offer its loving protective mountains around us at the same time implies the openness of the wide South China Sea.

On the day after, our driver, Mr. Ed Galat (the same driver that brought us to Hannah’s) toured us around Pagudpud for P2,500 (if you need a van and driver, you can contact Ed through his cellphone 09208274972).

First stop was the rocky coastline past the Blue Lagoon. The person on the rocks is Rommel taking pictures up-close.

Next up was the Patapat Viaduct

And then we went to a small shrine at the side of the road called Paraiso ni Anton. There was a small stream of water flowing down the rocks, and it was said that drinking that water had some supernatural effect on the body. We drank the water, regardless if we believed it or not, and it was quite refreshing.

We then went to the Kabigan Falls. It was a 30-minute hike to get to the falls, but the swim at the base of the falls was worth it. We then had buko juice after the 30-minute hike back out.

We had lunch in Pagudpud just across the town plaza at a local carinderia (a small eatery where you just point to what food they happen to be serving at the time) before heading out towards the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse.

The Cape Bojeador Lighthouse was a very high and very old lighthouse and you can reach the top through a set of very steep stairs. It’s not for the faint of heart, and although it was a must-visit place, the space up top didn’t give for much shooting.

Our last stop was one of the main tourist spots we wanted to visit on this whole trip. It was definitely the climax of our journey. The Bangui Windfarm is even more impressive when you’re standing below the towering windmills; the low whoosh of the propeller blades as they slice through the air is very audible.

This has been Batch6 reporting from Bangui Windfarm (not exactly, we’re already in Laoag as I’m typing this) saying COME VISIT ILOCOS!!!

Stay tuned for the next post about Laoag.

Northern Exposure posts: http://www.jplui.com/blog/category/travel/northern-exposure/

Feed URL: http://www.jplui.com/blog/feed/

Jeff: Walking away quietly... Tiger: Pretending I don't notice...

Been quite busy having a vacation. Just a quick post on the tigers in Baluarte and the old belltower in Vigan yesterday.

We’re in Pagudpud right now in Hannah’s Beach Resort (miss you, Hannah) enjoying the breathtaking scenery.

So, in the meantime, here are some more pics from our great adventure.

The tiger was pretty friendly enough. Here, Fish is all chums with the tiger.

And the tiger seems to want to sleep in Rhoy’s lap

Even with Rommel and Joie it seems so relaxed

So why is it that he kept looking at me like food??

Are you food?

In the afternoon, we went to the hidden garden (which was way below expectations) and to the belltower by sunset. The belltower was a very old Spanish relic. It had a couple of bells up top and it was quite interesting to learn that the different bells had different purposes. For example, one bell was used for weddings, one for emergencies, and another one for deaths.

Keep tuned in, I’ll be posting about our Pagudpud leg soon.

We woke up really early yesterday at about 4 in the morning; our tricycle drivers were gonna pick us up from Kylah Transient House at 5:30 so we could get on the 6 o’ clock Victory Liner bus to Dagupan (P61). While we were waiting for the tricycles, a bread man went by and we called him. He sold pan de sal, the nostalgic kind where you can still taste its freshly baked goodness. We arrived at Dagupan after about an hour and a half where we stayed for a few minutes so that Rhoy could recover from motion sickness. From Dagupan, we changed buses to go to Agoo (P47) which took us another hour. The Agoo basilica was just about a block away from where we got off.

From there, we waved down a bus that was going to Vigan. The bus was terribly slow, with frequent stops waiting for passengers. I estimate that the trip from Agoo to Vigan is around 4-6 hrs. It took us 7.

Immediately after getting off the bus in Vigan, we spotted an old sorbetero and quickly got us some ice cream to cool us off from the long, hot, tiring bus ride. A short tricycle ride later, we were at Grandpa’s Inn and shortly after that, not having eaten lunch, we started wandering around the area like zombies looking for brains while Rhoy and Joie were taking a bath (not at the same time). We found a nice little shop called Mang’s nearby.

First, it was cup cakes. It was probably baked in the morning, but it was incredibly soft and fluffy. And the salted egg on top lightly contrasted with the sweet cup cake. Only P10!

At the same shop, we also had halo-halo. It tasted good enough, and for only P15, it was fantastic!

After finishing off our glasses of halo-halo, we stepped outside and were delighted to find a fishball vendor. Although it’s the same fish balls whether here or in Manila, there’s something about fish ball sold at the street side.

We paused for a bit and walked around the block while Rommel had some business to take care of at the hotel. When we regrouped, we tnen headed to the plaza and to The Empanadaan, a small place at one corner of the plaza where famous Vigan empanada (P30) are made and served.

By now, we should have been quite full. After strolling through the plaza, playing at the swings, monkey bars, and see-saw, we then went back and again stopped by the little shop where we had our halo-halo earlier. They were now grilling some barbecue! Rommel had two longganisa BBQs and I had one longganisa BBQ (P10) and another regular BBQ (P12).

We went back to Grandpa’s and showered and rested for around 2 hours. Dinner time, we found Cafe Leona near the plaza, and we had another feast! Fried Calamares, Boy Sisig, morcon, Fish Florentine, Garlic Chicken Tips, and garlic rice, with a grand total of only P1225.

This morning, we had breakfast at Cafe Uno here in Vigan. The food tastes great; breakfast meals are all priced at P95 and servedwith garlic fried rice, egg, and your choice of coffee or tea. Their longganiza is very good, as well as the Damortis bangus.

This place is an absolute food trip!

After having Alaminos longganisa (around P65 with rice) for breakfast at the market, the first island we went to was Governor’s Island.

It was a very straightforward shot with two off-camera light sources. Since I was packing light, I had brought only an SB-600 flash. I used it bare at camera right to balance the light so that our faces wouldn’t underexpose. The second light was the sun which served as a nice kicker light. You can see the lightstand and flash in this setup shot. I upped the ambient in the final shot by adjusting my shutter speed since I felt it was a tad too dark (very moody, but didn’t fit the happy 100 islands mood).

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I used a Cokin P-Series Gradual filter to handle the bright sky

Right now, I’m packing my stuff (very densely) while three of the guys are playing Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the PSP. We had just spent the whole morning till about 3 o’ clock hopping from one island to another. We were able to get some pretty nifty photos, especially while we were playing around at Children’s Island. Here are some of the photos, most especially Kenny’s, whose pictures we all agreed seem to always looked great. After getting back to the inn, some of us headed for the shower while some of us bought halo-halo (P15) while waiting for our turn. After that, most of us slept, dead tired.

Dinner a while ago was fantastic. We ate at Maxine By The Sea. We wanted to try out their famous calamares. Maxine’s is probably the priciest place in the area, but the food was supposedly good. True enough, it was fantastic! We had the Maxine Special Calamares (P195), Bangus Bellies Sinigang (P220), Sizzling Gambas, and Tanguige Kelawin plus 8 cups of rice. All in all, it set us back only P1,287 (service charge included), but it’s a feast for six people.

Tomorrow, we’re off to see the Agoo Basilica so we’re getting up very early to catch the 6:00am bus to Dagupan where we’ll transfer to another bus to Agoo. And then it’s off to Vigan.

Stay tuned, more adventures up ahead.

Tripod curls using a heavy-duty tripod

As I mentioned last time, in a few days me and my buddies are off to our Northern Exposure trip. Since we’ll be travelling by bus, we’re going to be foregoing the luxury of trunk space and instead we’ll have to rely on our backs to carry all our luggage.

It’s important nowadays for photographer’s to stay in shape. This isn’t only for outdoor photographers to keep up with the rigors of on-location work, but also for studio photographer’s who might find it easy to just kick back and relax in the comfort of your studio. Fortunately, you can do these exercises without having to go to the gym and using equipment you might already have.

Disclaimer: I am a photographer, not a trainer. Do these exercises after consulting with your doctor or trainer.

Read on to start getting in shape.

For all the exercises below, I recommend going through them all with little or no break in-between. After going through the circuit, have a 2-minute break before repeating the circuit. Doing this, your body will warm up and burn more calories at a more explosive rate. While you will want to use heavier tripods/lightstands as weights, the general rule is to use weights as close or a bit heavier than the gear you’ll be carrying on your trip. Do this every other day or 3-4 times a week. And do the Brisk Weighted-Walking (see below) in betweens.

Crossover stepups to train your legs for uneven terrain

Crossover Stepups

When you’re traveling on foot, your going to have to give your lower body a lot of prerparation. Find a bench, stool, or in my case, a small trash can, or any other stable platform you can step on. Grab two light stands and hang them to your sides. Heavy studio-light light stands are best. Stand to the right of the bench/stool/trashcan and step on it with your right foot. Elevate yourself smoothly. Straighten your right leg but keep your left foot hanging. Step down by reversing the motion. Repeat this for around 8-10 reps for each leg.

Squats

Find a nearby wall, grab a medicine ball and put it between the wall and the small of your back. With your feet square with your shoulder extend your arms forward. Slowly squat down and then come back up. As an alternative to the medicine ball, you can grab a heavy-tripod or even your whole stand bag (containing your tripod and/or lightstands of course), hold it behind your head, and do the squats. Do 6-8 reps.

Tripod curls using a heavy-duty tripod

Tripod Curls

It’s equally important to keep your arms in shape, for those times when you’re going to be doing some lifting of your baggages getting on and off the bus. Find a chair to sit on, and with your tripod (preferably steel, carbon fiber tripods are too light. And you had better not be using those cheap aluminum tripods, for exercise nor for shooting!). Make sure you hold the tripod where it’s balanced in your hand. Start by letting your arm hang loose straight down then curl your biceps upwards. Do 6-8 reps per arm.

Camera Speed Twist

Hold your camera with both hands just in front of your chest and sit on the floor with your knees bent. Heavier cameras are best, which means no Nikon D40/50/60/5000 or Canon 350D/400D/450Ds. Raise your feet off the ground. Twist your body and cmaera to your right, then to the left, while maintaining your back-position and feet off the floor. Do 8-10 reps.

Other Exercises

Some other exercises you may want to include into the circuit.

Push-Ups

Chin-Ups/Pull-Ups – If you’re background stand can handle your weight, you can use that for chin-ups or pull-ups

Remember to go through the circuit with little or no break, and pause for 2-minutes before doing the circuit again.

Brisk weighted-walking to quickly build up stamina

Brisk Weighted-Walking

On days when you’re not doing the above circuit of exercises, go for a brisk walk around the block. With a fully-loaded light-stand/tripod bag, sling it over your shoulder. Walk briskly for a minimum of 30 minutes. The heavy load on your back should help you gain stamina quickly. Note, however, that this is not recommended for jogging or running because the weight would be an additional strain to your knees and ankles and could result in injury.

Conclusion

So there you have it, an exercise circuit that will quickly get you ready for your trip. You should start noticing results after 2-4 weeks of doing this.

I’d love to hear your opinions on these exercises, and especially your experiences after going through them. Hit the comments!

Next week, I’ll be heading off with some of my ACTION Batch6 buddies up North. Right now, we’re all so excited we can barely keep our shirts on. It’s gonna be a week-long journey up through the whole North Luzon coastline passing along beaches, churches, and other wonderful sights of the countryside.

Our first stop’s gonna be at the Hundred Islands; the last time I’ve been there was when I was still a kid. After that, we’ll be moving to Vigan and indulge in our old Spanish heritage. We’re then off to the beaches at Pagudpud, not to mention the wind farm in Bangui, then we’ll stay for a night in Laoag before heading back to Manila.

The last time me and my batchmates went on a long trip like this, we went up to Sagada for four days on a convoy of two cars. Jami brought his Pajero so it took the rocky, mountain terrain pretty well, but it sure gave my Opel Astra a beating.  This time, we’re foregoing the luxury of a car; we’re going to be backpacking through the terrain and traveling by public transport. On one hand, that’s a good thing for me because I won’t be driving. When we went to Sagada, Jami and I drove through the night for 12 hours! On the other hand, I have to carry all my gear on my back, so I have to pack really light.

It’s just sad my girlfriend’s not gonna be able to join us, even after I offered to pay her salary for her week-long absence. The Game Developer’s Conference is just around the corner, so they’re quite busy working on the game which they’ll be showing there.

I’m gonna be posting my checklist for this trip within the week, as well as an exercise regimen for photographers who need to stay in tip top shape for trips like this. Stay tuned on this channel for more updates on our trip (for those of you with feed readers eg. Google Reader, Liferea, etc., here’s the feed URL)