New Year 2009 Road Trip - Day 3

Hap and I woke up at around 7 AM on New Year’s Day. We ate our free breakfast (gourmet “tuyo” for me) and headed out for the highly-reputed Maira-Ira beach, ugly clouds and searing winds notwithstanding. After walking a few kilometers westward, up to the stretch of beach in front of Hannah’s, I gave the turbulent Blue Lagoon waters the old college try (Hap took care of the pictures). I didn’t need to go very far before I felt the ankle-deep water transform into a brutal shoulder-high wave that, at first, pushed me harshly towards the shore and then, almost instantaneously and without warning, sucked me back into the angry waters. I was not even able to use my snorkeling gear; I was literally being pushed around by the wind and waves like a rag doll. Only when a wooden flotsam, complete with protruding rusty nail, hit my arm did I realize that I was unwelcome and that it was time for me to quit.

Hap and I headed back to Kapuluan and unceremoniously packed our things and headed back to where the sun did shine.

We made a brief stop to see the Cape Bojeador lighthouse, the one thing we missed when we were on our way to Pagudpud. We arrived in Laoag around lunchtime; we decided to eat at Dap-ayan ti Ilocos Norte, where the food was unremarkable but pleasantly cheap. After taking some pictures of the belltower of St. William’s Cathedral, we headed back for Vigan.

When we first passed Vigan on our way to Pagudpud, we weren’t able to spend much time soaking in the sights and culture of the historic city. The second time around, we made sure to spend enough time to chat and haggle with locals, and to buy bagnet and a few souvenirs. Still, we were pressed for time; we did not want to reach Baguio in the wee hours of the next morning. So as soon as our business in Vigan was done, we quickly headed off.

The trip from Vigan to San Fernando, La Union took a good chunk of 4 hours. During the whole trip, I took significant pains fighting off sleep, and fortunately succeeded. It was already past 6 PM when we reached San Fernando, and we decided to take a much needed break.

We finished our Jollibee dinner at around 7:30 PM and immediately headed for Baguio.

After much dilly-dallying and despite Hap’s apprehensions, we eventually decided to take Naguilian road. The hour-and-a-half ride was relatively and surprisingly smooth despite a) long, unlit stretches of the highway, b) drunken locals leisurely and dangerously strolling along (and sometimes even across) the road, and c) that crazy motherfucker who lit a loud firecracker the very moment we passed him.

We finally reached Baguio ten and a half hours after we left Kapuluan Vista Resort in Pagudpud. It took a few more moments to reach Mae’s pad.

(I hope it isn’t too obvious that I am desperately scrambling to reach this portion of our tale.)

Mae’s welcome was pleasingly warm amid the biting Baguio cold. Jane was there, too; she had been in the city since a few days after Christmas. At that time, I didn’t really know Mae and Jane very well: I had only met Mae in a couple of drinking sessions before, and I only got to talk to Jane once and only briefly ages ago in Conspiracy. Still, with all due respect to Hap, seeing the two after two whole days of seemingly endless travel felt like falling in the arms of long lost family (I can only imagine how Hap felt since he had been the only one driving). So what else were we to do but drown our weariness in booze and conversation?

Mae, unfortunately, had to go to work at 10 PM, so Hap, Jane and I were left to keep each other company. Talk was casual and light, the alcohol was flowing freely (beer, Tanduay lapad, Johnny Walker Black, Tequila Rose, and the oft-maligned Piikit rice wine), and the three of were just having a grand time. At around 2 AM we picked Mae up for her lunch break. While she was unable to partake of the drinks (because she still had to go back to work), Mae still was able to join the fun, either by dunking slices of Gardenia bread in Coke, or by showing us her inane Ilonggo videos (of her dad and some other relatives, and of the Ilonggo version of “300”). That night was quickly turning out to be the highlight of the trip for me.

Mae went back to work, and the night (rather, early morning) wore on. We just continued to laugh, and drink, and be happy – even when Hap started dozing off in the chair, until he eventually decided to sleep in one of Mae’s beds, even when it was just Jane and I talking about anything and everything we could talk about, even as Mae came back home from work and we realized that the sun had already risen and it was time for us to sleep.

For a not-so-sober take on this part of the trip, visit Hap's blog.