North Tour; Day I. (LAOAG)

At 5:32AM I decided to go outside. The cold, the noise of the birds, it was refreshing. This kind of moments I'd surelly miss when I go back to the busy city of Manila.

Sitting in front of our room.

Farm Side Hotel

We ate our breakfast sa isang Carenderia since wala naman ibang masyadong makainan malapit sa hotel. Since we are not familiar pa sa mga kainan, we asked one of the tricycle driver para ihatid kami don. And it wasn't that far. So we stopped in front of Dawang's Carenderia, the food selection wasn't that many so we asked and selected the tinuno (which in our own version is a grilled porkchop) and nateng (it's like pakbet). After we ate, we decided to walk. It's only 8-10 minutes walk, enough na para bumaba mga kinain namin. 

Tinuno and Nateng

At 9:00AM, We took a shower so were all set before our tour guide/driver came. At 9:30 we started our City Tour.

First Stop, Marcos Museum: Andaming tao, so medyo crowded ang place.Nakita namin don yung mga achievements ni Marcos, 11-days romance nila ni Imelda saka yung nakapreserve na katawan ni Marcos.

Ferdinand E Marcos Presidential Center

In front of Ferdinand Marcos House

And then dumaan na lang din kami sa Batac Church. And since medyo nagutom sa byahe we also tried the famous Empanada(longganisa, gulay, egg).

Batac Church

Empanada

Second Stop, Paoay Church. This is the most exciting part of the trip. So looking forward na mavisit yung place and today finally nakita ko sya. Yay! True beauty. The exterior and how it was built was amazing. Sayang lang hindi napreserve yung sa loob ng simbahan. Also outside ng Paoay Church may garden don, you may wanna check it out. It's called Jardin De San Agustin (Prayer Garden).

Paoay Churh

Renovated Interiors of Paoay Church

Gumamela at Jardin De San Agustin

Putting this picture here because this is a legit candid shot. HAHAHA

After that nagpunta din kami sa Paoay Lake, tas yung tour guide namin na si Kuya Rommel sinabihan kami about sa story ng Lake tas ansabi isang village daw lumubog don tas kapag inikot nyo yung lake, may makikita pa kayong houses na nakalubog don.

Paoay Lake

And then we also visited Fort Ilocandia, the most famous, the biggest and most well-known hotel/casino here in Ilocos. We also asked Kuya Rommel to drop us to the nearest beach and he did. We didn't swim, nope. Ang init kasi.

And since it was a long day and wala kaming baon na food. Googled some of the famous resto located in Laoag. And without second thought we both said yes to Saramsam Ylocano Restaurant. The place was cozy and quite. We ordered 2 types of Pasta and 1 pizza. Saramsam Pasta is their best seller so we ordered 1 since according to the waitress it's good for 2. Also for my choice I ordered Oriental Pasta it has the ingredients of Pansit and it was delicious. For the pizza we ordered Tropicale Pizza (Hawaian Pizza, thin crust). Yum, we didn't regret it eating there. It's worth it. Di pa nga namin naubos e.

And so it ends. More blog for tomorrow.

PS.
Happy birthday to my Nanay. Love youuuu.

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Expenses:

Tour Guide/Driver: 800/2 = 400php

Entrance Fee to Marcos Museum: 100/2 = 50php

Empanada: 40php

Hotel: Farm Side Hotel
Sobrang bait ng mga tao don. Ang bilis ng wi-fi nila. Medyo papasok lang yung place pero safe naman at sobrang tahimik. If di nyo naman balak magtagal sa Laoag, yung standard room nila, pwede na at sulit na.

Please do check Saramsam Ylocano Restaurant:

Googled a place to eat located in Laoag and I found Saramsam as the most suggested resto. So we tried. The place was quite, cozy, relaxing. The food wasn't so bad. (Saramsam, Pasta Oriental and Pizza Tropicale) is a must try.

Tour Guide/Driver:
Please contact Kuya Rommel on this number provided below; (Please take note that prices may change depends on the number of pax)
Mobile number: 0999-746-4213