Taiwan 4: Airport, November 2011

The airport as of November 2011, my first and last visit to that country, was under renovation and expansion.

Not many duty free shops. Maybe after the expansion, more shops were opened.

Not too many flights too.

The departure lounge. It's spacious and clean, more spacious than the NAIA Terminal 1 in Manila.

See also:

Taiwan 1: Skyways, November 21, 2011

Taiwan 2: Evergreen Laurel Taipei Hotel, February 27, 2012

Taiwan 3: Chiang Kai Shek Garden, April 18, 2013

Taiwan 3: Chiang Kai Shek Garden

First and only time that I visited Taiwan was in November 2011, to attend the Conference of Generic Drugs Asia (CGDA). My previous blog posts about Taiwan were:

Taiwan 1: Skyways, November 21, 2011

Taiwan 2: Evergreen Laurel Taipei Hotel, February 27, 2012

After the conference, one of the top organizers of the conference, Joseph Wang, toured four of us – fellow Filipinos Leonie Ocampo of PPhA, Nancy Tacandong of FDA, myself, and Dr. Nam from S. Korea. Among the places we visited was the Chiang Kai Shek Garden.

The flowers are well-arranged in small iron wires, the stem of the flowers may be dipped in a wet object to make them stay fresh. I don't know how often they replace the flowers.

These flowers are planted on the soil, so no more wires attached to them.

From left: Joseph Wang, Dr. Nam, Nancy and Leonie.

Thank you very much Joseph, for that wonderful tour.

Vietnam Rice Terraces

I have been to Vietnam twice. In 2000 for a tour, and in 2006 for a seminar. My previous notes about Vietnam are here,

Hanoi, Vietnam, Dec. 2000, December 21, 2005

Ho Chi Minh, December 2000, December 21, 2005

Vietnam-Cambodia border, Dec. 2000, December 22, 2005

Hanoi, Vietnam, 2006, June 07, 2007

Below are photos from Dr. Samran Sombatpanit's facebook wall. Doc Samran is a friend, he's the Past President of the World Association for Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC) and he hosted me and my family in late May 2008 in Thailand.

He went to Vietnam in December  2012. Fantastic rice terraces. In Sapa, northern Vietnam, near the border with China.

One of the 54 different ethnic groups in Vietnam

Ricefields on both sides of a river.

Thank you, Doc Samran, for those wonderful photos.

Pagudpud-Laoag-Vigan

This is another guest post from a friend, Patty Soliman. All photos from her too. Enjoy.
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SITES, SANDS AND SUN OF ILOCOS
March 25-27, 2013

Patty Soliman

The long wait has finally come after 2 months of preparation when we boarded 7PM Florida Bus going to Pagudpud last March 24, 2013. My cousin, Lizet, requested me to arrange an Ilocos Tour for her and 3 children. As a return favor, she included me and Noly in this escapade. For a mom working abroad, to bond with their children is the best way to catch up for lost times. I wanted so much to bring along my children but their work hinder them from making this trip. Ate Lizet gave me a specific budget and the rest was all up to me planning for this tour. Like always, reading blogs from previous travelers gave me an idea on how to begin my planning. For a date traveling on a Holy Week, it was quite challenging to get the best and yet reasonable place to stay. Almost every best resort in Saud Beach was fully-booked as early as February. The finer the sand from its beach front, the more expensive the accommodation would be in Saud. I didn’t waste time and booked Madrid Beach Resort immediately after knowing that they still got room available for 6 persons. Madrid’s beach front is rocky and so, room rate is cheaper.

Ilocos Norte's northernmost municipality

My next agenda is to hire a van that would bring us to places and sites in Pagudpud, Laoag and Vigan. I inquired to about 3-4 prospect guide that would offer good price. I end up hiring Ricky as the lowest bidder and immediately made our down payment through Western Union. It’s the same process booking Madrid Beach Resort. For our Laoag destination, I requested, a friend from high school, who is based in Laoag, to help me inquire for rooms that can accommodate us at Northview Hotel. I find this hotel fitted to our budget. At that time, I was having hard time calling the hotel through long distance. Just when I’m about to ask for follow-up, I was surprised and grateful of her for covering the expense. I really appreciate the gesture. As for Vigan tour, I prepared our itinerary and bus to take us back to Manila. I think Partas Bus is the only reputable commuter that can take you to and from Vigan. After more than a month of inquiries, bookings and reading blogs, I gave the itinerary and estimated expense to cousin Lizet.

Pagudpud beach, Ilocos Norte

The trip going to Pagudpud took us 11 hours to reach. We arrived 6am on a clear morning sky. Ricky was already waiting for us when we got there. I informed him earlier about our estimated arrival and he offered to bring us to Madrid Beach Resort. Upon dropping us off at Madrid, we briefly discussed our routes and itineraries that would start at about 9AM. Heading to our room, we checked our beds and of course, the bathroom. I could not expect more if the rate is not that much. All I can say, the price is good. I ordered breakfast for us through texting Ms. Ana, the owner of Madrid, night before we left Manila. And yes, as expected, there is the famous Longganisang Ilocos on our table with fried eggs and hotdog and the unlimited fried rice complimented with 3-in-1 coffee prepared by the resort’s kitchen staff, Manang Lei. Not bad for a P100/head meal. Right after breakfast, we prepared for our Pagudpud North and South Tour with our shades and cameras ready.

The author with husband Noly, at Cape Bojeador lighthouse, Ilocos Norte

Our first destination was the majestic Cape Bojeador, a light house that was built 1892. The view of South China Sea from its step was breathtaking. Reaching the top was quite difficult for Noly but just the same, he wouldn’t miss this awesome site. Our photo shoot started when we saw antique brick walls and rustic windows of this light house. Miguel and Nicole were excited taking shots of their sister, Jaja and their mom. As for Noly and me, we pretended as couple on their pre-nup shoot. Noly has been patiently teaching Miguel and Nicole on how to use their Nikon camera, from the opening, angle and speed. Posing for a creative shot was beginning to be fun. 

Then, we head to Kapurpurawan, a limestone rock formation by the shore. Heading near this awesome rock formation would need horseback riding. Noly and Ate Lizet decided to appreciate Kapurpurawan looking at it from the view deck. And the rest of us took our horses and off near this fascinating rock formation. The natural beauty of this site is really amazing. For the longest time, I began to enjoy taking pictures again, just like in my college days from my photography class. It was really fun holding our cameras as we capture the beauty of this place.

Kapurpurawan rock formation, Ilocos Norte

Atty. Vicente D. Millora is Turning 80

The patriarch of the Millora family, Atty. Vicente D. Millora, will turn 80 years old next week, February 22, 2013. Party-party-party! Party-party-party! :-)

Below, upper photos taken sometime in early 2012 or late 2011. Lower photos, the nuclear family, from left: Vvon, the 6th and youngest in the family; Monette, the second; Mavi, the 5th; the patriarch, the matriarch Lilia, Mico, the 4th, and Judea, the eldest. Not in the picture is Mil, the 3rd in the family. He died in a car accident in 1986.

The man is a famous lawyer, being a former National President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the organization of all lawyers in the country. He was a bar topnotcher in 1957, a former Assemblyman from 1978-84, and was an acting Governor of Pangasinan.

I mentioned above the 3rd son, Maximilian "Mil" Millora. That guy was cool, intelligent and very friendly when he was studying at the University of the Philippines. He finished AB Political Science, took a few masteral units in Philippines Studies, then pursued AB Law, also in UP.

Mil was a good friend of mine in our student org, UP Sapul and was a classmate in some Political Science subjects. Here's one photo I got from our Sapul yahoogroups, taken sometime in 1983 I think, in one of Sapul activities out of town. From left I'm the 3rd, Mil on the 4th.

When Mil was still alive, he would welcome me to sleep in their big house in North Fairview, Quezon City. I sort of abused it, I would sleep in their house once a week for more than a year sometime in 1985-86. And that is how I got to become close to his family.

Sometime in 1989, the entire family was planning to migrate to the US, so they asked me if I can stay in their house as I used to live there often anyway. I immediately said Yes as it would mean free room rental for me as my work was in UP area at that time. Since then, I called Atty. Vic Millora and wife Lilia as "Daddy" and "Mommy". I became a belated adopted son of the family.

I have lived in that house in North Fairview until it got burned sometime in 1995 I think. Then the family moved to another house in West Fairview, they invited me and I joined them again, until about 1999.. Around 2000, I stayed with my sister in her house in Makati as I changed work. I left the Millora residence after 10 years, wow.

Needless to say, I became part of the Millora family. And they have also became my second family in this planet. I joined the yearly family reunions whenever possible. 

I got married and my own family became part of the Millora reunions. Below, during Daddy Vic's 78th birthday celebration two years ago. See the big family including the grandchildren.

Mavi has four kids (girl + 3 boys), Vvon has four too (2 girls and 2 boys), Mico has three, all boys; Ate Dea has two. Only Monette is unmarried, but happily single.

Trees in Our Farm, Part 2

I went back to the Millora Farm in Bugallon, Pangasinan, last Sunday, more photos here. These are mahogany trees near my treehouse. I like visiting the farm and walk in this area. This used to be a marginal and cogonal area with no big trees.

We planted these trees sometime in 1993-94 I think, so they are about 20 years old now. We -- together with the farm caretaker, Nong Endring Paragas, plus his boys now grown up Danny and Junjun -- actually  started planting in 1992, just a few hundreds of seedlings that year.

It's a hilly area so soil quality is not really good as topsoil can easily get eroded during heavy rains. But the trees have managed to thrive. The stone terraces we constructed greatly helped in stabilizing the soil and keeping some of the rich topsoil.

In the mid-90s, we grew our own seedlings and we were able to plant several thousands of young mahogany seedlings then. And only from June to August or even September, where there are lots of rains. We planted at an average distance of 2-3 meters apart.

Philippines' Biggest Hotel in Aklan Soon

I got this story from one of the facebook walls of my friends. Originally from the fb page of "Province of Aklan". This is good news, reposting, below.

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Once the Boracay Airport complex spanning Caticlan and Nabas in Aklan becomes fully operational over the next few years, some of its structures will set Philippine records for sheer size. And for environmental friendliness.

The most imposing structure in this $300 million airport complex will be its mammoth 5,000 room budget-hotel. When completed, this hotel will be the largest budget hotel in the Philippines. It will also be the largest hotel in the country, and probably in all of Southeast Asia.
In comparison, the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, considered the largest Philippine hotel, has only 562 rooms, or an eighth of the number in the soon-to-be-built budget hotel at the Boracay Airport complex.

Room rates at the budget-hotel are expected to range from P1,000 to P2,000 per night. The rates compare favorably to budget room rates on Boracay and are, therefore, clearly affordable for inbound tourists. The budget-hotel is intended to help decongest Boracay, which will be flooded with about a million tourists this year and probably up to three million in the next few years.

The budget-hotel will be developed by San Miguel Properties, Inc., a San Miguel Corporation subsidiary. It will be run by local businessmen since the company expects more budget conscious tourists to visit Boracay once plane fares are slashed.

The planned dome-shaped convention center will be able to seat up to 25,000 persons, or 10,000 more persons that the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City in Metro Manila. It will become both the country’s largest convention center and its biggest indoor arena.
The new terminal building will be the “greenest” terminal building in the Philippines. Its large windows will allow the free flow of fresh air throughout the building thereby reducing the need for massive air conditioning.

It will derive part of its electricity from solar panels; will install a rainwater collection system and will have its own wastewater treatment plant.

And, of course, the new Boracay Airport will set records of its own. Once fully operational, it will be able to accommodate some three million Boracay-bound tourists annually or 10 times the capacity of the old airport.

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The last time I went to Boracay was more than four years ago, sometime in mid 2008 I think. The airport in Caticlan was indeed small, only small planes could land and take off. The bigger planes have to land in Kalibo, the provincial capital of Aklan, and it is nearly two hours away from Caticlan by car. 

With this projected big volume of tourists in the coming years, one problem will be the disposal of solid wastes. A good alternative would be to use the compacted, dried wastes for land expansion and reclamation on the Antique side of Aklan. Using previously solid wastes as filling materials for a land reclamation project by the sea was successfully done in Tondo, Manila, using mountains of wastes from the previous "Smokey Mountain".

Anyway, modern technology keeps improving and "big problems" today would be easily addressed tomorrow.

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See also:

Going to Boracay, January 16, 2008

Manila-Mindoro-Iloilo, 2003, November 20, 2005

Exploring Sagada, Mt. Province

Here's another guest post from a good friend, Patty Soliman. Patty and husband Noly were my housemates at Monchit Arellano's house in Marikina in the late 80s. 

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EXPLORING SAGADA
January 11-13 2013

by Patty Soliman

It was a dream-come true for Noly when we finally set foot to this marvelous place called Sagada. I promised him last December that if ever my weddings turned-out OK, I’ll make sure to bring him there. I always hear him say ever since we got married about how he wanted to explore the place. On those years, going there was not in our priority lists.

We took the 10pm Baguio trip via Victory Liner last Thursday, Jan.10, 2013. We arrived on a very cold dawn time in Baguio after six hours. As soon as we got off the bus, we got ourselves taxi to bring us to Good Taste Restaurant. That made us warm from having Beef Mami and Brewed coffee. We waited for the Ticket Booth of G Lizardo Bus to open. By 5:30am, I was finally able to get ourselves front seat tickets of the bus. This means getting a better view of our trip. Well, our entire trip, back and forth, were on front seats as privilege for Noly’s condition.

By 6:30 am our bus started heading to Sagada. We were fascinated with those vegetable plantations along the way as our bus goes higher and higher to mountains of Benguet. If only I can ask the driver to stop for awhile for me to pick some flowers I see on the side of the road. Heading there was a bit breath-holding as there were some roads that were on a one-way. I commend our bus driver for maneuvering the bus carefully whenever he needs to give way to another vehicle coming. And this means taking the narrow road with cliffs on the side. By 8 am, I informed Ms. Sigrid of Misty Lodge and Café that our expected arrival time would be around 12:30pm. I requested her to help us prepare lunch for I know the next diner is a bit far from their place. Their cook at the time of our arrival was on post-Christmas break and told her we don’t mind having any Lutong Bahay. 

We arrived an hour early from our expected arrival time. I was hoping the bus driver will take us off in front of Misty Lodge but he missed. We got off in front of Sagada Weaving and immediately called up Ms. Sigrid asking her how to get to their place. In a few minutes, her husband, Awing fetched us. Upon arrival to Misty Lodge, Noly and I got awed with the place. It was made from Pinewood that we enjoyed the scent of Pine Trees both in and out. The entire lodge is surrounded with Pine trees. We immediately fell-in-love with the place most especially the room assigned to us. Dining hall is cozy which has a fireplace and beautiful French windows with view of Sigrid’s garden. We got the perfect view of Pine trees from our window room.

After a few minutes of rest, lunch was served having fried boneless Bangus and Salad. The crispiness of the cucumber and sweet tomatoes complimented with our Deep-fried Bangus. The place didn’t fail us from the minute we entered the comfy ambiance of the lodge until the last minute we were there. Everyone was so hospitable and making sure your needs was attended properly.

We started our walk heading to town proper around 3pm. We first bought Noly’s walking stick in the souvenir shop across Sagada Weaving. We entered Sagada Weaving hoping to see the actual process of weaving the Igorot cloth. But most of them were busy sewing the weave cloths through the sewing machine. We then started walking again towards the town proper. We saw some people on the road setting up their items for the next day’s market day. I was told Saturdays is market day in Sagada. We then registered ourselves in the Municipal Hall as part of requirement for all tourists visiting Sagada. After which, we headed to St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church. There were some local tourists around the church bell so we failed to get near the famous bell of the church. Noly got impressed with the old stained glass windows of the church. He immediately requested me to take pictures of them on a different angle. We explored the place until we saw sign of “To Echo Valley and Cemetery”.

We then took our chance of exploring the place without guide until we saw 3 wandering ladies from Aklan asking them if they were the 3 ladies I saw earlier heading to lower end of the school. They said they got lost. They were hoping to find the Echo Valley. They were navigating the place with a piece of printed map with them. I said we are also heading to the place. And the 5 of us happily taking chance of finding Echo Valley. We saw the Cemetery and took some pictures from there. What a way of making record of the places we’ve been, including taking pictures in the Cemetery. We trekked the narrow road to Echo Valley. It was quite scary, if we make the wrong step, we’ll end up rolling down the high rocky mountain. Upon reaching the view point we took our camera lenses zoomed-in to view the hanging coffin. It was really mystical and so amazing, wondering, how Igorots from early days, got to place those coffins hanging on the edge of rocky mountain. We enjoyed another shots of picture taking with these 3 ladies with their funny poses. Making poses of See, Hear and speak no Evil.

Heading back is quite manageable, telling Noly to hold on to my shoulders back as I move forward. Step by step we were able to head back to the church. Sunset was almost over so we took early dinner at Kimchi Restaurant. What’s so funny about this place, well, it’s supposed to be a Korean Restaurant, but the entire interior was set with Bob Marley’s posters, Hippie-style curtains with background of progressive jazz songs. We ordered for Sweet and Sour Pork and Fried Pork with Vegetables. The taste is just ordinary and the meat needs more cooking time for tenderness. After dinner, we were prepared to head back to Misty Lodge using the flashlight lent to us by Sigrid earlier, until Awing saw us and gave us a lift. Upon arrival, I coordinated with Sigrid for a tour guide to help us explore the Sumaguing Cave and the Kiltepan Peak for sunrise viewing. I met with the guide, Errol who happens to be at Misty Lodge. He explained that entering the Sumaguing Cave would be difficult for Noly so he encouraged us to have the Kiltepan peak Sunrise viewing and the Lake Danum sunset viewing instead. And I was more satisfied with the suggestions he gave me.

After talking to Errol, we prepared to take showers before calling the night off for tomorrow’s next activity. The Bathrooms in Misty Lodge is common, so every guest were politely taking turns in using them. Though they have hot shower, it was still difficult to take bath on night time due to the very cold temperature from outside. Our first day in Sagada ended at around 9pm exhausted from the 12 hour trip, trekking from Echo Valley and strolling around town proper. Cuddling our soft blanket kept us warm from very cold temperature.

The next day was set to visit the Kiltepan Peak but the rain was drizzling outside. We had breakfast at the lodge’s dining hall prepared by the lodge’s cook Mico. Noly had Ham, Bacon and Egg with toasted bread. Mico cured their ham which I can honestly say, tastes so good. While for me, I had waffles with Strawberry Jam. Mico also makes the jam. I also enjoyed my waffles with Mico’s Strawberry jam. Not too sweet. We both enjoyed our Sagada coffee. For Noly’s personal opinion, it is much better than in commercial coffee shops in Manila.

After breakfast, Awing brought us to the town proper together with other 3 lodge guests who were set to visit Bomod-ok Falls with their guide, Errol. As for us, we set to see the entrance of Lumiang Cave for the coffins and to have market buying. Saturdays in Sagada is Market day where people from nearby towns bring  to Sagada their crops and other sellable items. Just like the Tiangge in Manila. We enjoyed buying vegetables on a very cheap amount. We bought 2 kilos each of Zucchini and Broccoli, 1 Kilo each of Bell Peppers, Big Green Tomatoes and Violet Cabbage all for 150 pesos. We requested Awing who was still around the town center to help us bring in his vehicle the vegetables we bought and we’ll just take it later after our walk.

While we take the road down town proper with rain drizzling, we met again the Aklan ladies we met the day before. We took another souvenir shots with them before they headed back to Manila. It was almost lunchtime when I asked Noly for the time, so we decided to take rest and have lunch at Lemon Pie House. I liked the interior of the place. They had small wooden chairs and low tables. For some tables, partnered with throw pillows on banig mats. I ordered Chicken Adobo while Noly had Chopsuey. After a few minutes, the girl who took our orders went outside. She then went back after another few minutes with handful of assorted vegetables harvested outside. The servings for both our orders were so full that seems good for two. We shared a slice of Lemon Pie and brewed Sagada Coffee for our dessert. Again, it was another tasteful meal for us for a very reasonable price. While having our lunch, two male customers came in. We had few chats telling us that they came to Sagada just to experience the Sumaguing Cave exploration without knowing how to get there. I told him to see guides from the Municipal hall or the Saggas team.

Right after lunch, we started walking again heading road to the caves. We enjoyed the views we saw along the road looking at another rocky mountain with coffins hanging. We were walking for more than 500 meters when the 2 men we met at Lemon Pie House offered us to give a lift. We finally introduced ourselves properly. They are Tony and Rey from Bulacan. Tony, the car owner, even offered us to join him explore the Sumaguing Cave with the guide he hired from the Municipal Hall. At first, I told the guide that Noly is a stroke victim that he might not be able to make it inside. He doesn’t seem listening to what I was saying and was just prepared to make the cave explorations. Tony was in full gear that he even lent us flashlights. We started taking the steps going down the entrance cave but their pacing were too fast that we decided to discontinue the exploration. We just reached the entrance of Sumaguing Cave and decided to just head back and try to see Lumiang Cave Entrance. We asked another guide around how to get there but his instructions was not clear that we missed it again on our way back.

The entire 2km walk for us was already satisfying. We got to view more rice terraces along the way. We had fun looking at some vegetable farms beside the rice terraces. We had chance of passing a small strawberry farm and most importantly, we enjoyed the scent of Pine trees around. I noticed from our long walk, that we see more foreign tourists exploring Sagada by foot and the local tourists by van. Well, we proudly made the entire walk back to town proper for about 30 minutes. By the time we reached the town center it was almost 3pm so we waited for Awing to be back with the 3 ladies and Errol from the falls and made few more market buying. We can’t resist buying additional kilos of Zucchini and Broccoli which I can’t buy in Manila for that amount. On our way back to our lodge, the 3 ladies who went to Bomod-ok falls were soaking wet and chilling. They still tried taking the dip from the falls despite the very cold water and drizzling rain. And they had fun. We had our snacks at Misty Lodge over pancake and Strawberry jam and hot Sagada coffee served by Bogan, Mico’s wife. Their staff made fire from the fireplace that made us warm from the chilling weather outside. The scent of the pinewood that was used made it so relaxing for all 5 of us who were dining in the hall complimenting jazz songs played on. 

We ordered Pizza and Green Salad for Dinner also made by Mico and was served on candlelight tables and the continued jazz songs playing. The ambiance of the whole dining area feels so relaxing from day’s exhausting activities. The pizza satisfied our taste buds too. Rain was starting to stop and I was excited to see stars again from outside. I then talked to Errol for our Kiltepan Sunrise viewing for the next day’s activity. He said we’ll push through with the plan if weather condition will be better. I was optimistic from the stars I see outside, I knew we will have successful viewing of sunrise. I set the alarm at 5am and expecting Errol to fetch us by 5:20 am. 

By 3:30am the following day, we can hear some guests preparing to leave for Manila catching the first trip back to Baguio by 5am. We continued our sleep and were awaken with the alarm I set. Looking at the window, Noly saw stars from outside that we were confident that we can successfully view the sunrise from Kitepan Peak. It was already 5:30 am when I got no words from Errol and tried calling his phone. He said sunrise may not come out due to rainy weather the previous day. And from the sound of his voice, I knew he was not interested to guide us there. I then texted Sigrid whom I thought went out to assists the guests who took the 5am trip to Baguio. Only to find out was only outside our room cleaning the other rooms that were used. I went out to see her and asked how and which road to take going to Kiltepan. She then offered that instead of hiring a guide, we can hire Awing’s vehicle to bring us to Kiltepan. I agreed to her suggestion and immediately told Noly to get ready to catch up with sunrise viewing. When we got there, some local tourists were already preparing to view sunrise with their cameras ready. The view of the rice terraces and the town down our peak site was incredibly fascinating and  both Noly and I were astonished by the bed of clouds we see down us. And in a few more minutes the transformation of colors of clouds from afar, yellow to orange until sunburst from the sky started to show. It was a fulfillment from this Sagada trip. We failed to see inside of Sumaguing Cave but we were lucky to view the sunrise from Kiltepan Peak. It was remarkably beautiful.

We happily went back to our lodge with a feeling of amazement inside us. We then ordered our breakfast. While waiting, we stayed at the garden as Noly continues to examine each Sigrid’s flower plants. I asked Noly where else he wants to go after breakfast. I was explaining to him that we can try walking again to finally see Lumiang Cave entrance and to experience pottery making from Sagada Pottery and head to Danum Lake for Sunset viewing in the afternoon. But he was already too tired to try them all and so we decided to head back to Manila on a mid-day trip to Baguio. He said those other places would be in my list for our next visit in Sagada. I knew that he had great fulfillment for having this trip and I’m happy for making his Bucket List #1 possible.

* See also Patty's other travelogue,  Amazing Trip to Puerto Princesa