Best of Ilocos Norte: Bangui Windmills

The only place in the whole Philippines that harnesses wind power as energy source. It is definitely one of the places one must visit when you're in Ilocos Norte. From the Pan-Philippine Highway or Manila North Road you can see from afar twenty of these windmills that are lined up along the shores of Bangui town. Our driver said that it stands 70 meters tall and it provide almost 60% of Ilocos Norte's energy. There is also another wind farm under construction at the nearby town of Burgos and I guess, the plan is to eliminate the province dependency on coal and diesel plants. 

Totally genius. ^_^. 

Bangui Windmill, Ilocos Norte Philippines

Best of Ilocos Norte: Kapurpurawan Rock formation

I did not expect to fall in love with this white rock from Burgos town but I did. I think the way that it was set up made it really worthwhile to visit. Mother Nature truly is the best craftsman of all. The raised rock already stood out from a distance. My mother, who cannot make it down the trail because of her weak knees enjoyed the view from a kubo (hut) on top of a cliff with our driver. The view surrounding the rock painted a different scenery. I haven't seen a beautiful landscape like it from all my travels in the Philippines so it automatically made an impression on me.

Kapurpurawan Rock formation, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Breaking Dawn: Notes from a 12 hr bus ride to Laoag City

Partas Night bus

It's 11PM now. I woke up after 2 hours of sleep, where are we? I have no idea. We left Partas terminal in Pasay at 9PM and headed North. As our driver pulled over to what looks like a pit stop, I saw a signage that says Tarlac. Ah, hometown of President Noynoy and the Cojuangco clan.

 We got off the bus to stretch our legs. Decided to buy Chicharon (Fried Pork skin) and made sure we were able to pee. I have no idea when the next pit stop would be so even if I didn't need to go, I made sure I did. I can't go back to sleep now even if I wanted to. The driver turned off the bright white light inside the bus as he started to back up and headed to face the dark highway again, the only light that I can consistently depend on now is this annoying red light over my head supposedly good for reading. But, for some reason all it does is give me a headache. I've heard of unconventional writing techniques but tonight, I think I'm using the most unconventional one. I am not looking down at all to see what I'm doing to avoid getting nauseous, keeping my hands as steady as I can while I continue to write like a mad blind man would and just hoped for the best that I will not get any words written over so I will be able to  read it after this trip. Fortunately for me, I was able to second guess and translate some of the things that I've written when we took a 12 hr night bus ride to Laoag City.

Unwinding at Arena Island, Palawan

Instead of heading to Singapore, an unexpected turn of event led us to reroute our flights to Palawan, Philippines and bum around in a small island 4 hours South of its capital. 

I was not expecting for a "slow" vacation and was really looking forward exploring Singapore's busy streets but I must admit, after spending the whole day exploring, swimming and snorkeling the rich waters of this turtle and marine sanctuary, I was converted.

Arena Island, Palawan, Philippines