Paoay Church

First, my apologies for the relative lack of activity in this blog for the month of June.  Recent technical problems with the internet connection  in the more remote areas of the Philippines have severely limited my ability to update this blog.

Nevertheless, the show must go on so I continued making more travels to remote places here.  I am also looking for alternative sources of broadband connection to avoid being at the mercy of the iffy cellular and  home wifi connection.  This blog post was actually written in a Net Cafe at a mall.

Jeepney terminal to Paoay:
located near the Laoag UCCP Church and the Farinas Bus terminal 

Three weeks ago I some parts of Ilocos, which is a northern province in Luzon.  And one of the places I visited was the centuries-old Paoay church, located just a couple of kilometers south of Laoag, the city that  serves as the airport hub for Ilocos.  You can take a van, jeepney (see above photo) or tricycle going to Paoay; it takes only around 30 minutes of land travel.

Anyway, since my Internet connection is still limited, this post would be mostly a photo blog.  But I promise to supply more details when I fix the technical issues here in the Philippines.  Or when I get back to the more broadband friendly United States. :-)

This might help you find Paoay church

Back of Paoay Church:
It was almost noon; the sun placement was less harsh at the back 

Paoay Church Garden

Paoay Church is one massive ancient Philippine church

The church grounds are spacious as well

CR (Restroom) near Paoay Church:
5 peso fee

Kabigan Falls, Pagudpud

Here in the Philippines, summer ended last week, and now Filipinos have to endure the rainy season, which will last for another 4 to 5 months.  You can still go to the beaches, but most of the time you will probably have to endure sudden downpours especially in the afternoon.

Well since beach activities are now limited during the rainy season, you will have to look for alternative outdoor activities in the Philippines.

And one such activity, which is usually better during the rainy season is exploring waterfalls. I realized that obvious fact when I flew here first week of May and immediately explored a waterfall near Boracay.  Unfortunately, the four months preceding May usually are the driest months in the Philippine weather system. So I was relegated to watching water trickle down rocks instead.

A month later I traveled to Pagudpud in the northern Ilocos regions.  The tricycle drivers (think of a motorcycle with a covered sidecar) there were offering half day tours of nearby areas.  I decided to avail of the Northern tour since it included Kabigan Falls.  Note: I will discuss the other areas included in the tour in a separate post.

The entire Northern tour cost me only P250 (US$6) and the first destination was Kabigan falls.

The jump off point (which houses a tourist center) is a 25 to 30 minute tricycle ride from Saud Beach in Pagudpud.  If you are going to Kabigan via private vehicle, you won't miss the jump off point as there is a sign along the provincial road.

The Balaoi primary school is opposite the Kabigan tourist center so you can also mention it as a reference point when asking locals for questions.

Kabigan Tourist Center with green shirted Guide

Kabigan visitors are required to register at the Tourist Center and pay the P10 fee and hire a required guide for P100 (US $2.50)  I found the guide rate relatively cheap compared to more touristy areas in the Philippines who charge around P500 ( US $12.50)

I was the first tourist of the day since I left Pagudpud  at around 8AM and arrived in Kabigan after 30 minutes.  I strongly recommend going to Kabigan as early as possible in order to avoid the harsh rays of the sun.

Small wooden bridges: More fun in the Philippines?

Rice Terraces LITE

The 30 minute trek offered a lot of photo ops if you are into enjoying rural or provincial scenes.

Ay "Kalabaw": Asian Water Buffalo used for farm work

Ay mga Kalabaw!

Midway,you'll see the "CR" structure:
It serves the same purpose as a toilet or restroom

Note that this 30 minute trek (1 hour roundtrip) would entail crossing some makeshift wooden/bamboo bridges.  It is not that difficult, but there's always the risk of slipping and crashing into the water and rocks just a few underneath.  So if you are carrying your DSLR camera and other tech gadgets, make sure to put them in waterproof and shockproof cases.

It also rained for 3 hours the night before according to the guide.  So the trail was still somewhat muddy and slippery early in the morning.  Wear the appropriate footwear as there is a very good chance your feet will get wet or muddy.

The nice thing about travelling early is you arrive earlier than the crowd.  It makes it a lot easier to shoot photos. 

The Kabigan waterfalls was at its peak volume, as the tour guide stated that it rained for 3 hours the previous night.

Underwater shot: No visible aquatic life though

She also mentioned that swimming is allowed and the waters look cool, clean and really refreshing.  But I just chose to enjoy the Kabigan view and take photos as I did not have enough time.

After about 30 minutes, I decided to head back. We encountered a few more tourists coming in to visit the falls.  One last observation, the few tourists I saw coming here looked like nature lovers and hikers.  Not those types who want to bring parties to the mountains and beaches with their ice coolers, loudspeakers, and other party stuff.  As such, I saw very minimal garbage in the trail going to Kabigan.  Hopefully it stays that way.

Vendors sell Buko (coconut) juice for
only P25 (US $0.60) near the tourist center

Evolution of City Center Las Vegas

Ok yep, this is another Las Vegas post. But wait, trust me this one is a little different and it doesn't require J2 blog site visitors to read a lot of conjured up paragraphs by this blog's owner (ME)

I was organizing and archiving some of my older photo albums when I came across more Las Vegas photos from my ancient Canon Rebel XT and Nikon D40 cameras. It dawned on me that I could come up with some sort of short pseudo time lapse of the biggest ever private construction project in the US: MGM Resorts' City Center in Las Vegas.

Scale model City Center at TheHotel@Mandalay (another MGM Resort hotel)

Aug 2008: Ongoing construction at the Mandarin Oriental

Aug 2008: Ongoing construction at Crystals Mall

Dec 2009: City Center opens

Aria is  the centerpiece casino hotel at the City Center.  The other hotels, Mandarin Oriental and Vdara are non-gaming hotels that cater more to tourists seeking a peaceful and quiet form of Vegas vacation (i.e. NO wild pool parties and nightclubs). Hmm....I never thought the words "quiet","peaceful" and "Las Vegas" could exist in the same sentence.

City Center also has a tram that lets visitors navigate the different properties housed in this massive complex.  It also makes stops near two adjacent MGM Resorts properties: The Bellagio and the Monte Carlo.

A familiar global sign of hotel luxury 

the view from the Mandarin Oriental

The views from the Mandarin Oriental get even more spectacular at night

Mandarin Oriental's Tea Room

Jan 2011: Crystals Mall

Adjacent to Aria and opposite the Mandarin Oriental is Crystals, a high end shopping mall that houses luxury brands such as Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Bvlgari, among others.

Jan 2011: Aria

Jan 2011: Aria fountain

April 2013: The airA (sorry about that, I shot from the inside) 

These sequence of photos just made me realize that I have spent way too much time in Las Vegas the past 5 years.

One more thing, I also just want to state here that this is not a sponsored  post or advertisement.  All my travels I have posted so far have been paid for using personal funds or by tagging along with  relatives.  It also helped that my previous employer in California provided a nice corporate benefit of hotel discounts in Las Vegas, San Diego, and other US cities.  And no....they never encouraged employees to join wild Vegas parties. :)

April 2013: The Aria Express