Let’s move from Pagudpud to Laoag! Luckily, we did not have to wait a long time until a Laoag-bound bus arrived. Mang Rene and Mang Windel even got the bus to go back since it was so fast, it went right by us. I know this may seem silly, but I have never had a bus move in reverse for me for any reason. Usually, I would have stayed awake to watch the view change as the bus speeds by all those amazing scenery.. but an hour after riding the bus, I was jolted awake by my sister when we got to Laoag. I was exhausted from the tour and all I really wanted to do is take a nice long bath before going to a deep slumber. You all might be wondering what my title has to do with this post, but it turns out that the term Laoag is Ilocano (the native dialect) for “light” or “clarity” (Wikipedia). Now I see the light/Laoag! Cheesy, I know. *awkward silence* However, before we go to where we are staying, we decided to eat merienda first. My family loves food, I tell you. We ended up going to this quaint pizza pasta place, C & E Pizza Pasta. The place felt similar to Balinsasayaw Restaurant in Palawan as if it is a really small part of the restaurant. I guess my mind associates the two either because of the nipa huts or that it was also one of those long vacations (my definition of a long vacation = 3++ days and we were there for a week). I half expected to find turtles swimming around here. One of the downsides of eating here was that it was not air-conditioned. It was sweltering and I could feel my braided hair sticking to my skin every time it comes in contact with it.
Quattro Pizza, 13 inches (Php 430). Frankly, I’m pretty sure we could make a better pizza at home but when it’s hot and you’re tired, you’ll eat anything. Fortunately for my parents’ pockets, none of us had much of an appetite and all we did was use dibs to decide on who gets to use the shower.
Dad can speak Ilocano since he studied in Baguio from high school up until college. This turned out to be an advantage since he converses freely with the locals. We found Balay da Blas Pension House quite easily because of it too! We had to wait a while for the receptionist, but no hassle checking in since mom’s quite a planner. She already paid our accommodation a month before we were going to stay.
Going up the stairs, towards our room, it’s hard not to feel the rustic vibe of the place. I have a fascination for miniature models of just about anything, and here is a miniature “Old Sautee Store”. Our room was thankfully situated on the second floor. The room is big for its price! Here is the “living room”-slash-Tan and I’s bedroom. Haha! The kitchen and dining room, where you cannot cook fish. I, for one, would not cook fish indoors if I was on a vacation. Even though you obviously can’t smell photos, I would not want to stink! The bathroom contains a generous amount of shampoo, soaps and bath towels. The bedroom, and the only air-conditioned room at that. It is okay though because Tan and I had an electric fan to ourselves and the television. The staff provided us with an extra mattress and turned this chair to my sister’s bed.
Dad and mom bought take out food for dinner because the three of us were too lazy to go out with them to eat. It also doesn’t hurt that ANTM was currently being showed on one of the channels, and sufficient to say, I was glued to the television. Haha!
teesh.blog 