Now I had the Ride of my life!

Floro: Tara dun tayo sa taas ng jeep sumakay mamaya.
Me: Ok lang, kaso safe ba dun?
Floro: May bata nga na nakasakay sa taas eh.
Me: Hmmm. (sabagay, if there’s a kid on top of the jeepney safe na siguro yun!)

The Good News: riding on top of the jeepney for the Bontoc-Tinglayan trip was a good decision. You’ve get to see the majestic terrain of the Cordillera right in front of you. The Bad news: I forgot to apply face sunblock! LoL! Imagine on top of the jeepney @ 1:00PM till 3:00PM in the middle of summer season with no face protection, unlike Floro who has his shirt wrapped around his face or Dong who has a scarf while I didn’t have any is totally the stupidest decision I made on that day LoL! (Mental note to self: Don’t forget to apply/cover anything on your face if you’re riding on top of a vehicle on a hot summer afternoon).

After the joyful Banawe-Bontoc trip, we had our lunch at one of the few open eatery in Bontoc. Funny how I ordered papaitan which I just eaten on the night before we traveled to Banawe (and I must admit my mother’s version of papaitan is still the best!). After the quick meal we hurriedly positioned ourselves to the top jeepney to Tinglayan (which actually only have 1 trip per day according to the townspeople). All the boys were on top while the girls are inside the jeep (and after a couple of minutes they fell into sleep).

Floro all covered-up!

Downtown Bontoc

Downtown Bontoc, view from the top of the jeep

Based on my conversation with Floro and seeing the kid sitting lazily on top of the jeep so I thought this trip would be a breeze.

Boy, I was Wrong!

I thought the road was paved or as wide as the Banawe-Bontoc road. I was wrong again! Almost 40% of the trip we passed through a dirt road courtesy of the landslide!

OMG! Dirt road + On top of the jeepney + deep ravine = Praying!

My sitting position is not also comfortable, thank god for squat exercise and tight grip control at the gym, I manage to endure the pain during the whole trip =D.

I remember one particular bumpy ride where were on the single lane, dirt road, on its side is a very deep ravine which really shook the hell out of me! It was so rugged the jeep literally moves sideways a little more on the side of the ravine. Scary noh?!


(When we’re in Tinglayan, the caretaker of the Inn told us that the driver knows the road so well they haven’t got a major accident like falling into cliff or river and people died. Only minor accident they encounter like overturned jeepneys and flat tire and stuff like that. People trust their drivers so well they don’t worry about accidents like that)

River deep, mountain High!

Besides the scary thought of me falling on the jeep or the bus roll over to the ravine, the trip was actually awesome! The view of the mountain, the mighty Chico River below, the blue skies, the rice terraces, the rickety bridges, and the green and brown mountain landscape was truly breath taking. Sadly I didn’t take more precise or dramatic picture of this views coz I was holding on for my dear life while the jeep we’re moving! LoL! Luckily Dong got a better seating position and took a couple of pictures while we are on the road.


Truly it was a wonderful experience. Will I do it again? Why not, given a chance!

Onto our next adventure..The Tinglayan Immersion experience.

Banawe! Banawe!!

Nope, it's not Banawe, Quezon City where you can buy cheap car accessories (and sometimes if you're a victim of car thief, the stolen parts ends here) but the famous Banawe of North Luzon what 'm talking about. Let me give you a glimpse of the 4 day-3 night stint which happened over Holy Thursday-Easter Sunday and spent on our wonderful trip in the mountains of Northern Luzon.

Just a little background, I wasn't planning any trip for the Holy Week actually but when I heard Dong and JC talking about the trip to Masbate for the Holy week I invited myself to their trip. I've never been to Masbate before and surely my cowboy hat (which I bought in Iran 5 years ago!!) would certainly be fit there (yes, they are called the marlboro country of the phils.)

Then plans change, from Masbate the trip was diverted to Kalinga!! But the problem was how to get the ticket to Kalinga =(. So, before the Holy week i made rounds of calls to bus stations inquiring for available booking for the trip. Alas, all trip going to Ilocos, Abra, Tabuk and Banawe are already fully booked! As the hope dims Dong told me to check out Ohayami bus in Espana. And as if my lucky star is upon me, i get a chance to secure a booking for the Banawe trip! And come Palm Sunday, as me and my college friends are having lunch at Sonya's garden I invited them to the trip. After they said yes I ask Dong's permission to have them on the trip.

Come Wednesday night, off we go to Banawe: me, dong, olive and rose (my college buddies) and floro. The trip was actually not comfortable because the space in our seats are small. "Hirap talagang maging long-legged" LoL!

Then morning came we find ourselves in Banawe already. It was drizzling when we got off the bus and it was cold and foggy which I truly loved!! After the meet-up we headed to the "name of resto" to get some breakfast. The view from the resto is awesome! See....

Floro having his coffee by the window

The fog slowly rising from the rice terraces

Slowly...

Slowly...

And gone =)

After eating breakfast, photo-shoot here and there and charging our cellphones, we managed to get a van that will bring us to Bontoc, Mountain Province. Luckily Dong is very familiar with Banawe and he managed to ask the driver to stop at the viewpoint sections of Banawe for much-needed profile picture for Facebook (c'mon admit it, you like to update your facebook profile pic given a chance =P )

Olive and her crazy peep-thru-the-window pose

Oh-lalala Banawe Rice terraces!!

More of Rice Terraces!

What's with the arm spread thingy pose?! LoL!

Shopping! Shopping! Shopping!!!

As we headed to Bontoc, Mountain Province, we did pass some landslide affected roads leading to Bontoc. My first thought was we're lucky there's only one landslide affected road and it's easy to navigate the road. Little did I know this is just a "patikim" of the more "rugged-death-defying-holding-on-to-your-dear-life" trip from Bontoc to Tinglayan. I'll share you that experience on my next blog post. 

We did pass another viewpoint and we just have to ask the driver to stop. Luckily he obliged.

The communities are on the side of the mountain, it was awesome! And down below is their river (that I assume will pass thru Banawe as well).



A lot of awesome scenery can be scene on our way to Bontoc. But unfortunately we can't ask the driver to stop because we have other people riding in the van going to Bontoc. So we just settled ourselves with taking pictures while the van is moving, hence the blurred and not-so-great photos of the mountains and rice terraces.

Here are some shots while the van is in motion (thanks to Rose for the other pics below jejeje. Ikaw na naka-galaxy tab sa bundok!)










The best experience is yet to come....ABANGAN!!!

Celebrating Friendships at Sonya's Garden

Last Palm Sunday, me and my college friends decided to visit Sonya's Garden in Alfonso, Cavite. Though it was a long drive, the bonding experience with the girls was priceless.

I was actually in the place a couple of weeks ago, and since we didn't get an reservation for a lunch, I decided to return to that place (with a reservation in tow). Here's the pic of the girls (all Mechanical Engineers) I'm with at Sonya's Garden.

(from Left to Right: Olive, Otly, Joy and Ka Kenny)

If you're into vegetarian food, Sonya's place is the place to be (parang wendy's lang jejeje) If only my crush agreed to have our date in Tagaytay, I should hvae brought her here. Kaso we parted ways before I even asked her out. (insert sad song here, lol)

(The main entrance of the Lunch Hall)

(Inside the Lunch Hall)
The place is full of organic/flower/plant-thingy, even on the shot glass! Gah, the ignorance in me complained to the waiter why there is a leaf on t he glass. Turns out it's some kind of a fly repellant. Wow!

(Sir di po ako dumi, pang-design po ako sa table.Duh! - dahon sa shot glass)

First meal course was the bread and ceasar salad. Since we arrived past 1:00AM already we we're patay-gutom na when they start serving the appetizers.

I think we had a second serving of the salad coz it was just totally delicious. yes i'm a sucker for green-and-leafy vegetables.

Second meal course was this fried salmon, though it was malaman, i didn't like it's taste =P.



But my biggest discovery in this trip is the so-called "taragon tea". The smell is so sweet and the taste is so sarap! One mistake though, i didn't bought a taragon plant at Sonya's. Shucks. Mental note to self: BUY TARAGON PLANT IN TAGAYTAY!!


When we we're in the place, there was a wedding reception to be held later in the afternoon, so we got a chance to see the intricate details and design of Sonya's Garden for wedding set-up. Look at this wonderful napkin design. At least you have an idea on how your table set-up would look like if you plan to hold your reception here =).






Oh this is not included in the wedding table set-up, this is our table lang, hehehe. I've notice also the design in the napkin is not the same as the other napkin. No two napkin are the same ( i think).




Outside the restaurant are the myriad of plants, shrubs, and flower where you can enjoy the relaxing surroundigns of the place. Also, you can buy freshly baked bread on their bakery and some pasalubong on the store. All are affordable in fairness.

(Sonya's store) (Flowers are abundant in the place, but no picking of flowers ha!)

(Roses are not always red, there's pink and white too)

(Inside the bakery for pasalubong)
(One fo the mini-water fountain inside the garden)

(Tourist buying pasalubongs)

Though the place are a bit far from Tagaytay rotonda where most of the restaurant are located, it is still worth the effort if you're really looking for a relaxing weekend get-away.