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SOVERAINE X CYNOSURE X BLAUEARTH
Hello, 2014! Raine Calucag/Soveraine, Marianne Pasion/Cynosure and myself had our first ever day out to welcome the year. It took months to bring each one together, yet sunshine poured the minute we...
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A tree is known by its fruit
Man tends to abuse nature. We cut down trees and then we weep for no harvest. We treat the river like a big garbage dump and then we mourn its death. We shoot the birds and then we ask the skies where...
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A Horizon of Friendship
There are friendships that last beyond time and distance. Alma, my best friend since kindergarten, spent her elementary and high school years in Laoag. It’s not too often that she comes home, yet...
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OOTD: A Black and Cream Kind of Day
Thank God for weekends! The weather’s nice, pretty chilly in Ilocos lately. We hit Joe 10′s Coffee in the Iglesia Ni Kristo area in Laoag. The butterscotch frappe is so nice on any given day! They...
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OOTD: Tomboy Walk
Something funny happened right at the newly established Hero Walk. A friend who happened to pass by asked if I knew Pasuquin’s hero. Told him in all honesty I am poor in history. His friend said, but...
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Ilocos Sandboarding lately
I stumbled upon in the net a new travel guide book to the Philippines (from Insight Guides) authored by Ralph Jennings. In the Barnes and Noble book preview, caught on one of the pages a miniature...
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New place to visit in Norte: The Nueva Era Eco-Cultural Park
In my hometown of Ilocos Norte, it is still normal to find a little spot without effort and let yourself soak in the healing powers of nature. But sometimes, you need to fly a distance. The...
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Rice Coffee Providing Sustainable Livelihood for Women in Banna
The aroma of freshly roasted rice for coffee at 6 AM in my younger years is still evocative as ever. Not really coffee with caffeine, the rice brew is child-friendly and healthy. Rice coffee is said...
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I Heart Ilocos from Islands Souvenirs
Souvenirs are more than the kitschy stuff that they really are. If I like a place, I bring home something to remind me of the awesomeness that is difficult to part with. Just like on my first trip to...
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Discovering Banna Otap
True serendipity. If not for my uncle JBoy Abadilla, I wouldn’t have known Banna makes very good otap, a flaky sugared pastry. He served it at his home when we visited him today and I couldn’t wait...
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A One Day Cultural Heritage Tour Down South (Vigan, Paoay and Sitio Remedios)
People come to Ilocos commonly for its distinct landscapes with cultural and natural charms. For the first time, I did an all-heritage trail with my Manila-based in-laws. They crave the flavors of old...
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The new potato chips: Namnama’s camote chips
The underrated Filipino sweet potato has gained a lot of hype in the sphere of health and wellness lately. Known here as camote, the high in nutrients, zero-cholesterol and zero-fat root crop lowers...
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A Soft Spot for Burbur Abel
As fabrics have gone high tech, towels and blankets have become more sophisticated. Is there room for burbur in today’s homes? Burbur is a type of abel that is loom-woven in Paoay. It resembles bath...
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A school to learn how to break rules and take risks
Lucky are the kids who are able to develop their innate creativity. It is the whole idea behind the Special Program in the Arts (SPA) of the Ilocos Norte National High School. At this time, the only...
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You Ga Cha Go! Milk Tea
This is the tea place I told you earlier. Saw it on Ablan Ave. on my way to the SPA Rimat Recital and Exhibit last night. The young man behind the counter looks like two people I know. I was right,...
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Romancing Ilocos (with Kit and Ace Mandac)
Sometime ago last year, I got an email from a reader who chose Ilocos as her wedding destination. She had everything she wanted listed down, but didn’t quite know who to contact for such things such...
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Mr. T and Mrs. Y: Beef pares, budget meals and more
If you liked my last post, here’s another homegrown food house you may want to visit. Mr. T and Mrs. Y is only on its third day of operation. It is one of the stores around the St. William’s...
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My Journey in Northwestern University Botanical Gardens
By Erin Salvador Its amazing how an indoor lover like me who loves to stay at home locked up in her room watching TV, using the computer and wasting his or her summer indoors can turn into an...
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The Lake House
There’s that one white house that catches the eye of a visitor of the legendary Paoay Lake. Only a true lover of nature and serenity would want to build a house around it. The lake is a national park,...
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50-Peso Budget Meals at Ayenz Place, Laoag
Back to urban foraging. I was thinking of Evergreen, but my friend Konee suggested Ayenz Place, a few steps away from the Bangui jeepney terminal and so near Hotel Tiffany and Isabel Suites. It is a...
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