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I know that this is a little bit late but what the heck, I want to share this wondrous vacation to all of you. After Pagudpud Ilocos Norte our next stop was at Tuguegarao City Cagayan Valley. There are a lot of odd things in the northern part of the Philippines but it was amazing. Everything is slow up north, like the way they drive and the way they cross the street, man, everything is slow, Im not sure if we are just accustomed to the city life that everything moves in a fraction of a second thats why we find them slow or they are really slow as the cars are running in an average of 40 kph regardless of which thoroughfare, nevertheless it was a wonderful break from reality. In the next coming days, I will be posting the beautiful old churches, Callao Cave and Pinacanauan river we have visited up north.

“DELIGHTFULLY TACKY YET UNREFINED”

Hooters is finally OPEN in the Pearl of the Orient Seas. It used to be a question in my mind if they’ll ever consider on opening Hooters here. I heard that there were plans but the franchise cost is too big, I even heard of a different version of the scenario - for Hooters to open here, there should be five branches to open simultaneously on different locations here in Manila and not just one. But hey, for whatever reason, I think its cool that they have finally conquered the Philippines. I have first experienced Hooters when I was living in Florida. Man, they have the best Buffalo wings I have ever tasted in this magnificently beautiful earth. Hooters is also famous in having busty waitresses. This Saturday will definitely be our first Hooters Philippines experience. I’ll tell you more about it afterwards, and OH YES I will not forget the pictures. You’ll find the address below:

HOOTERS PHILLIPPINES

Building D, Units 1 to 6 San Miguel by the Bay
Mall of Asia, Pasay City
www.hootersphilippines.com
Hooters Hotline: 906-956-4066

Ironman exploded into the Box Office over the weekend, grossed an estimated $100.8 million in 4,105 theaters in the United States and Canada making it the highest grossing opening weekend of 2008.  Ironman is played by Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Starks) a billionaire industrialist and a master engineer in weapons, Pepper tots (Gwyneth Paltrow) is his assistant, Jet pilot James Rhodes (Terrence Howard) and Obadiah Stane played by (Jeff Bridges). It’s a Superhero film, directed by John Favreau. It is not like any typical Superhero movies characterized by Superpower abilities that come from within (i.e. Superman, Spiderman and Xmen). As a weapons specialist he built himself a powerful exoskeleton that comes with built-in weapons, rockets and has a flight capability. He has a strong power armor, powered from a miniature arc reactor a fictional power source Starks has invented. His chest is embedded with shrapnel which is protected by electromagnet that gets its energy supply from the arc reactor. It was Saturday when we watched it, prior to that, I wasnt really expecting much from the movie, for one, I was not really sure if Downey could pull it off. It was like I was dragged out of my habitual Saturday escapade just to see the movie. Can you just imagine Robert Downey a superhero and Gwyneth Paltrow together in a movie. Its just odd, I have nothing against Robert Downey jr. he is a very good actor, I just didnt think that he fits to be Ironman. But towards the first 20 minutes of the movie I was already in awe, wanting to see whats going to happen next. And as I watched scene-after-scene, I was magnificently astounded. The effects are superbly put-together. Jeez I wouldnt mind watching it over and over again. Robert Downey jr. is the man, so delightfuly perfect. I cant wait for the second movie which is expected to release in 2010.

I woke up at 9:30 AM and so did he. I hurriedly went to the washroom, brushed my teeth and washed my face. I turned off the washroom lights, shut the door and wiped my face with a towel. I entered the room and he was there lying still, cold and covered with blanket. I sneaked underneath the blanket hugged him closely and stared at his eyes then we snuggled, closed our eyes and fell asleep………….”I’m awake now, yes I am” I was telling him while he was trying to wake me up. I got up, poured some ice tea on a glass and drank it bottoms-up. He put on a shirt grabbed the car keys and hurriedly went to the door. The car is acting strange lately so he needs to take it to the doc. I sat on the bed, turned on the tv, dvd and the speakers. I watched “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and cried a little. I was cold so I curled up and covered myself with a blanket. It was still getting very cold…yes very cold….I reached for the air conditioner and turned it off. I turned the tv, dvd and speakers off after watching the entire movie and listened to the soundtrack. I lay on the bed for a moment staring off into space, moments later I got up and went to the kitchen. I started to wash the dishes when the door squeaked open, so I turned my head and he uttered “They are closed today so I had the car washed instead” I asked him “Are you hungry?” “yes” he answered briefly. I opened the fridge, took out garlic, onions and tomatoes. I was in tears while chopping the onions……….I hurriedly reached for the door, opened it and stood there for a moment. I went back to the kitchen and splashed my eyes with water. I opened a can of mackerel, turned on the stove and started cooking. After cooking, I sat in front of the computer as I was rumbling with my troubled mind. He is inside the room watching “Topgun” and here I am, just started my day….another lazy Sunday. I guess we are ready for lunch.

We left Vigan at 8:00 AM Black Friday, reached Baluarte after 15 mins. or so. You would love to see Baluarte if you are an animal lover. Animals to see are tiger, horse, snake, ostrich, pony, deer, orangutan and iguana. You can buy sliced veggies to feed the animals.

After Baluarte, we reached Paoay Sand Dunes at 1 PM. When reaching Laoag please don’t ever miss to see the Paoay Sand Dunes, you’ll know what I’m talking about once you get to see it. You will certainly feel the magic.

After the Paoay Sand Dunes, we stopped by at Cape Bojeador Lighthouse Ilocos Norte. You wouldn’t want to miss a beautiful view of the ocean from the top and don’t forget to click your camera. After Cape Bojeador, sit back and relax as you are almost reaching Pagudpud but before that don’t ever miss on stopping by at Bangui Windmills.

Our destination is Pagudpud for the Holy Week, but since it is a 12 hr drive, we stopped by at Vigan for a one night experience just to make the time spent for driving worthwhile. We left the house (Pacita) at 4:30 AM (Holy Thursday) and reached Vigan at around 6:00 PM. Everyone slept amid unbearable traffic in the NLEX (North Luzon Express Way) all the way to…….hmmm some place in Bulacan but I can’t remember….well, I was the only one awake, I guess it’s what you get after drinking a cup of coffee (with 1 1/2 teaspoon concentrated coffee). We stopped by at Tapa King (Petron NLEX) for breakfast. After finishing a plate of Tapa King, I arose from my seat and hurriedly went to the washroom but shockingly I ceased to walk after seeing the unexpected queue. It’s the longest washroom queue I have ever seen in my entire life just imagine, a certain portion of the MEN’s room is occupied by WOMEN (look at the pictures below), now how crazy is that? Despite my frenzied kidney cursing me for not letting it get off, I had endure the painful moment until we reached the next gas station not filled by leakers. We came across a bunch of people carrying a cross and some are hurting themselves by whipping their backs using a whip with metal thorns (I’m not sure what do you call that thing) but to commemorate Christ’s suffering, it’s their own way of contrition. We had our lunch at Nena’s Garden Restaurant along the Highway, I can’t seem to remember if it was in Dagupan or Pangasinan but anyway….the food sucks……after feeding our stomachs, we regretfully went back to the van and start hitting off the road again for Vigan. There were also numerous scenic views on the way so I never hesitated to take pictures (look at the pictures of the bridge and the estuary – river meets the sea). After two stops at the gas station we reached Vigan at around 6:00 PM and checked in at Cordillera Inn. I have tasted the famous Vigan Empanada in Tiendesitas before because a friend once told us that it is something that we shouldn’t miss and he is correct. A huge part of my expectation is to taste a genuine Vigan Empanada cooked from Vigan. After fixing our things in our hotel room, we went out to stroll at the streets of Vigan and along the plaza there was a pile of Empanada vendors making the much anticipated Vigan Empanada. I bought two and couldn’t wait to have my first bite but as soon as I had my first bite, for a moment there, I was in awe because of disappointment, it wasn’t like the ones I have tasted from Tiendesitas. I’m trying to compel myself to think that perhaps we just bought it from the wrong vendor. The food in the hotel where we stayed is also disappointing but the rooms are ok, so oh well, to sum up Vigan, it is not an ideal place for vacation but its still worth visiting, perhaps to stop by, if you have a long drive and spend a few hours is not bad. If you have an eye for Photography and has interests in antiques and heritage places then it is a marvelous place for you. Looking at the heritage houses, It seems as if you are back in Spanish time, some of them are even dilapidated because of time nevertheless you will be enchanted with enigma by the presence of the colonial remnants that surround you.

Please visit the gallery for more pictures. The rest of the trip shall be published in the days to come…LOL

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Ayala Av. branch officially opens (March 28, 2008 6:00 AM). As part of their Opening Promo, the first 300 customers got awesome freebies. The first customer got a 1 year supply of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, 1 dozen per week, plus he got the chance to have his photos taken and be published on several magazines (LOL aba publicity rin yan so kasama na rin yan sa papremyo diba, kaya wag kayo ma inggit I heard may interview din saka may autograph signing pa bwahahahah). The second customer got a six months supply, 1 dozen per week. The third customer got a 3 months supply, 1 dozen per week. Those who are on the fourth to 300th place got a one month supply, 1 dozen per week. The first customer is from Bulacan I heard that he was on the queue since 2 PM March 27 (grabe diba? adik sa donut san ka pa? wahahahaha) I even heard that the second to the fourth customers are the first customer’s friends (so adik sila sa donut diba). One of my friends is the 57th customer her husband is the 58th customer and their helper is the 59th customer, they were there at 3:30 AM (wahahahaha ang galing). CONGRATULATIONS JEANIE PARA SA AMIN IKAW PA RIN ANG NUMBER 1

April 1, 2008

We claimed Jeanie’s prize, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE ULTIMATE MAGNIFICENTLY AMAZING ORIGINAL KRISPY KREME GLAZED (1dozen) Yum Yum. As usual the queue is unbelievable but amazingly we were given special treatment because Jeanie is one of the winners. So we didnt have to take a queue, instead, one of the Krispy Kreme peeps got our coupon and delivered our donuts to our table instantly. Too cool huh?!

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