back from a "tour of northern luzon" : )

yay, i'm back from laoag, vigan & baguio!

i started my thursday rather early. nel woke me up with a call at 4:30, after which i immediately started packing my stuff. sabi na nga eh, crammer ako sa pag-iimpake. : )

in the end, maluwag pa ang bag ko. i had one big bag, & a small hand carry. here are the stuff stashed in my hand carry body bag:



i was supposed to meet nel and kuya arnold, nel's brother-in-law, at the shell station near pag-asa subdivision at 5:45. pero dahil nag-iinarte ang left eye ko, 5:45 na ako nakaalis ng bahay. i arrived at the shell station at 6:00. buti naman, nauna pa rin ako sa kanila.

since PAL ang sasakyan namin, hinatid kami ni kuya arnold sa centennial. because of the early hour, wala pang traffic. we were already at centennial airport at past 7.

when we got there, sobrang hindi namin alam ang gagawin! hehe! 2nd time ko pa lang kasi sumakay ng plane. the first time was when i was 3, so that practically doesn't count. si nel naman, first time sa centennial. kaya ayun, pumila na lang kami sa kung saan.

we ended up where we should be, buti naman. we had our luggage weighed. 5.1 kilos lang yung akin. yung lalaki na nag-weigh, bakla ata! nung tinanggal ni nel sa hand carry niya yung makeup niya, hinihingi ba naman! saan ka pa?!

we then got our boarding passes, which set us back by P200 pesos each. actually, hindi ko maintindihan kung para saan yun. nagbayad na naman kami ng P1766 for the plane ticket, right? ang gobyerno talaga natin. oh, well.

while waiting for ma'am maggie (our payroll officer) & kuya allan (our network engineer), nel & i ate sausage croissants from delifrance. ang pangit ng itsura! if you've seen it, you'll know what i mean. hehe. boring nga rin pala ang lasa. should have just ordered ham & cheese.

here's us just hanging out:



at dahil wala akong magawa, eto ang aming mga paa:



dahil maaga pa, we both needed a dose of caffeine. so we went to cafe nescafe. naaliw ako sa sign na ito:



how slang could one get?!

cafe nescafe features coffees from around the world. i got what i think is called cafe manila - a frozen coffee topped with whipped cream & pandan syrup. masarap naman.



in fairness nga pala, maganda ang centennial. i especially appreciated their small landscaped patches, which really broke the monotony of the place.



to pass time, i checked out the stores. we were waiting at s8, so i went all the way to the other end, near s1. doon ako nakita ni kuya allan. i asked him what he was doing there; after all, s8 kami dapat. as it turns out, s1 ang nasa boarding pass niya. he checked with the authorities, mali nga yung pass niya.

later, dumating na si ma'am maggie. wala lang, upo at kuwentuhan muna.




in fairness to PAL, on time sila. since our flight was at 10:10, we were asked to board at 9:40. unfortunately, s1 nga kami dapat. ang saya!

here's our plane:



at dahil ngayon nga lang ako nakasakay ng eroplano ulit, camwhoring na naman:




naaliw kami ni nel kasi may small screens na na ginagamit to demonstrate the safety features of the plane. dati kasi, stewardess lang ang gumagawa nun, di ba? at least, that's what i see in movies.



dapat, si nel ang sa window seat. pero inagawan ko siya. hehe!

i was generally restless before the flight. naaaliw kasi ako, e. i kept looking around. i observed how they were getting another plane ready for flight. i read the manual on safety tips. & of course, i took pictures.

i only started to get nervous when the plane was about to take off. hindi naman ako takot sa heights, pero i just didn't know what to expect. sabi lang ni nel, medyo nakahihilo raw sa simula.

so, how did i find it? it was scary for a while. first, the plane was just on the runway, then it gave a sudden lurch, & we were off to the sky, to an altitude of 26,000 feet.

after the initial scare, i started to enjoy the trip. it was so amazing to see the clouds up close. nakaka-addict! cumulus clouds look just like cotton candy - sobrang fluffy!





when i took this pic, we weren't so high up yet, so the land was still visible:



as the plane was going up, the types of clouds that could be seen were changing also. from cumulus, naging cirrus then stratus (cirrus ata yung parang feathers, then yung parang strips lang, stratus).





i think around halfway into the flight, they started serving snacks. natawa ako kasi eto yung binigay nila:



feeling ko tuloy, asa office lang ako. may happy peanuts din kasi ako sa doon, 2 flavors pa!

i think it was also halfway into the flight when the pilot announced that the plane would be descending already. naaliw rin ako, because i was able to take pics where the sky met the sea. ang hirap nga makita kung saan ang water, at kung saan ang clouds.




i also saw this long stretch of beach that was really breath-taking:



talagang blue-green ang tubig. unfortunately, i don't really know where this is. ilocos norte na, i guess.

since the flight was on time, we arrived in laoag at 11:10.




we were fetched by ma'am baby puruganan, the head of our laoag branch.

medyo mahaba na eto, to be continued na lang next time. ; )

= = = = = = = = = =

i took the lakbayan test again. may improvement na! i got a C- (D ako last time).

i'm actually looking forward to visiting other tourist spots here in the philippines. next on my list is boracay (bago pa siya lalong pumangit at ma-commercialize). tsaka na siguro ang puerto galera, malas ako, e. twice na akong hindi natuloy dun. : )