The Paoay Sand Dunes

I watched the movie Panday when I was young.  I can't remember the story - I just remember the late Fernando Poe Jr. fighting his enemies in this desert.  I can't remember who in my family said that this was shot in Ilocos.  So - as a kid - I wanted to see this Ilocos desert. 

Last year,  my friends and I embarked on a quest - which we called the great northern Luzon journey. It started in Baguio and ended up in Pagudpud.  From Baguio to Pagudpud - with my driving,  it would have taken us close to eight hours - so we actually decided to break down the trip and going north,  we stopped by Laoag and Paoay.  The Ilocos desert - I discovered is actually the Paoay sand dunes.  I'm not really sure if it's an actual desert - but since it's actually close to the sea,  I'm thinking it was actually a portion of the land which was under water so many years ago ( actually I think there are a lot of deserts like that - except that those were actually lakes that dried up ).

Anyways - when we reached the Paoay sand dunes,  there's only one thing in our minds --- we had to ride the sand dune buggy.   I have heard of the first world version of this ride from people who have visited Dubai.   In the first world version,  you are strapped in.   You wear seat belts.  In the Philippines version,  there are no seat belts.   You just have to hold on to the bars.   You have to hold on tight for dear life.   If you are unlucky and you bruise up easily - you will end up black and blue.   But I must say this --- I think that when you have that thought that you can die from the ride - and you survive it,  you end up thinking that it was a lot of fun.

The whole ride is half an hour to an hour.  At the end of the ride,  you get to try sand boarding ( standing up or sitting down ).  Again - no safety equipment.  No safety briefing.  Just try to have fun - and if you break a bone ( or bones ) while doing it --- tough luck.

I guess the tag line for Philippines is right --- visiting the sand dunes in the Philippines is definitely more fun.   Especially when you survive it.

San Juan Surf Resort

When I moved to Baguio,  some of my colleagues talked about one of their hobbies - surfing.   They said that they picked it up since the San Juan Surf school is just an hour away from Baguio.  On weekends - they can drive down to La Union in the morning --- and by lunch time - they start driving home.  That sounded interesting - and I've been fixing to check it out but never really did.  Finally this year,  my best friend, dad, the dogs and I were able to check it out.

Yey!  Stand up like a boss.

Easy to find - google maps is spot on the location of the resort.  Urbiztondo

San Juan is now known in the Philippines ( and internationally ) as a surf spot.  Going there in May is good for beginners like me --- but it's not that exciting for actual surfers.   The waves that we caught were mostly less than two feet ( if at all ).   The best time to visit for good sizable waves is in July - onwards - although that can really be a challenge because that's also our monsoon season.  But hey - why worry about having the rain soak you when you're already swimming right?

The local kids

I call her the little mermaid.  She's sad that she has a fish tail instead of human legs.

Surfing - like any new skill - is easy for me to learn.  On my third attempt - I was able to get up.  Some people go through a whole hour lesson and not succeed in getting up.   Thing is - I wasn't very graceful and when I finally learned the skill - I started thinking about what I'm doing.  That doesn't help me any - I realized that my instincts are much better than my cognitive ideas when it comes to learning new things.   So after that successful attempt - I fell many times --- but in the end before my one hour lesson ended - I was able to get up and do it with grace.

I met a celebrity - River the Lab Ret"River".  He surfs like the humans.

I asked for another photo with him he said yes - as long as he still gets to look out to the sea.

The surf resort is dog friendly.  The three babies don't like the beach though.  Plus - I need to make them wear shoes next time because the sand is really hot.   Char Siew does not like wearing shoes.  So this is not his favorite place - shoes and water does not really give him good feelings.

Not much waves - so most of the time - we were just waiting.

Surfing is not an easy skill to learn. 

All in all - our excursion to the San Juan surf resort was a great experience.   I paid 700 pesos for the lessons and I paid 500 for the surf board.  They also lend you a rash guard.  If you are on an extended trip to Baguio - I recommend checking out La Union - I'm sure you'd find it a refreshing break from the mountain breeze.  I surely did --- but I must say I can only take those extremely high temperature for half a day.  By early afternoon - I was looking forward to going back home.

The resort looks nice.  Next time - I plan to stay overnight.

Had a blast - I want to go back - hopefully won't have to wait for 2 more years.

The Biggest Loser is a Big Winner

When I reached my 30s,  I found it more difficult to keep my tummy flat - without exerting a tremendous amount of energy in the gym.  I hired personal trainers.  I joined every single cardio class.  I drank diet soft drinks.  I ate brown rice.  But with all of these - I continued to have a round tummy.  My Chinese friends call it ITALY ( which phonetically sounds like the Chinese phrase - big round ball ).

I was getting frustrated with all of these - and wondered if I will always just be thin-fat.  I was generally thin but I had a big tummy.  

And recently - I reached the age of 40 --- and I thought to myself.  Maybe exercise is not the only thing that can make me lose weight.  Maybe I need to start watching what I eat.  A big part of me was protesting against this because I love food.  Controlling what I eat will mean that I may have to forego the joy of eating.

So I took some steps towards eating more healthful.  Almost a year ago - I started eating just salad for lunch and dinner.  I kept to eating rice and everything else for breakfast.  For six months - I continued to lose weight.   I started at 172 lbs and ended at 161 lbs. ( I used to wear XL sized clothes and 36 inches waist pants. ) I was happy with the results.  Then I hit a plateau in my weight loss.   

It took me months - as I continued with this routine - and I noticed that my weight see-sawed from 161 to 164.  So I knew I had to do something different.   I realized - I may have to give up on carbs and sugar altogether.  It's just one meal right?  So the transition may not be that hard.

A month ago.  I received an e-mail from Sebastian Sherpa (one of those internet marketing e-mails). Most of the time - I'm skeptical about these e-mails but I said - I'd charge it to experience.  I'll buy the program and see what's it all about.  Sebastian talked about our hormones - and how it affects our ability to use fat for energy.  His program basically promises - that in 22 days - my body will stop relying on the food that I eat for energy --- but will start burning the fat around my tummy for energy.  When that happens - my big fat tummy (ITALY) will be gone.

So what the heck - I said - I will try this program.

The program is basically a low carb program.  It also had other components - like walking,  breathing exercise,  detox, and sleep.  I am also to stop snacking --- which I did religiously in the past because my body must have food every two hours.  

I followed the program - and the weight started to melt away.   My starting weight was 161 lbs.  After 22 days - I was down to 155 lbs.  Finally - my weight has breached that 160 lbs. mark.   

After the 22 days - I continued with the program - low carb, no snacks.  Carb and sugar only allowed during the carb feast days.   After the 22 days - I even introduced my body to drinking fat tea ( that's tea with high MCT oil like Coconut Oil ).   Drinking fat tea allows me to practice Intermittent Fasting - and my weight continued to drop.  Today - I weigh 150 lbs.   

I still have some inches to loose and I need to build muscle definition back up.  But overall - I'm happy with the results.   I can even wear my aspiration T-shirt.  You see I bought a bunch of T-shirts 7 months ago - which were medium sized --- because I was optimistic - I will be able to fit into them. This sleeveless shirt - is one of them.   It fits perfectly today.   My pants size?  Down to 30 inches.  And the skinny jeans - really look like skinny jeans!

I read somewhere that when you reach middle age - you may have to give up on the dream of being able to wear your clothes when you were young.   Wait - I don't have any intentions of wearing the 90s jeans and T-shirts I had --- but I did wish to wear the sizes that I used to wear.  I guess - my wish has come true.

Kennon Road

When you travel to Baguio from Manila ( or any city or town from the South or Central Luzon ) - you have two choices of roads to take to the City of Pines.  One of the roads is Marcos Highway ( but in maps you may actually see this as the Aspiras-Palispis Hightway ).  The other is Kennon Road.

When the weather is fair - we prefer taking Kennon road.  It's a shorter road compared to Marcos.  Moreover - Buses and Huge Trucks are not allowed on this road.   The added bonus is the fact that it's a more picturesque drive up.

On the fork between Marcos and Kennon - you take the road on the right.   Pretty soon you will be greeted by this arch signifying you are entering the Benguet province.

Look to your right side to see the mountains of the Cordilleras.  You will see a lot of green.  In fact one of my friends say that driving to Kennon reminds him of the scenes in Blue Lagoon.  I told him - that there are portions of Kennon where I actually expect King Kong to come out from around the bend.

This is a familiar sight in the Philippines.  The trusted Jeepney carrying goods between provinces where it's packed to the brim.  Passengers end up riding on the estribo ( hanging on for dear life ).

Some parts of the mountains already have very thinning vegetation.   You hear stories from locals indicating that in the past all of these were green - or sometimes yellow - which are the sunflower blooms which the city of Baguio is known for.

This is one of the better bridges that you will use on your way up ( or down if you're coming from Baguio ).  Lots of them - and most of them were originally built by the Americans pre-WW2.

During the rainy season - we don't pass through Kennon because the waters tend to erode some rocks ( some might be small but still deadly ).   It is also common to see some of these rock walls transformed into water falls.

You will see some towns along the road.  Some of them were actually miner towns - since there were mines ( and there still are mines ) in this region.  The Spanish were actually hoping they would get gold in the Philippines - they never did.   The Americans found gold in the Mountain Province.

A famous landmark - the Lion's Head.  When you see this - you know you are near your destination.

Some vegetables getting delivered to Baguio.  Not all vegetables grow in Baguio.  Its temperate weather is not good for tropical vegetables.  

When we drive up - and I look up - I feel that heaven is a lot closer.

Teacher's Camp Photos

The doggies are enjoying every bit of time that I have stayed home with them.  Apparently - they just sleep all day.  I've always thought I miss out on a lot of things when I'm away at work.   They seem to like just being really close to me.

I pump up the excitement a bit when I take one of them for a walk.  Char Siew and Midori I took to Teacher's camp.  Brita and I went to Camp John Hay ( I will post pictures from that - another time ).

Char Siew is really all grown up.  Look at that.  He looks like a Lion.   A female Lion because he doesn't have the flowing mane the male Lions have ( don't tell him I said he's a female Lion - he will be too upset with me ).

Pretty Midori - looking far - far - away.  Most probably spotted a rat near the creek.

This is a pine tree.  I've always thought of pine trees as conical shaped --- but apparently there are different varieties and the ones found in Baguio are not the typical ones that you see in Christmas trees.   You can see a man in the foreground and the tree in the background.   I wanted to show how big the tree is. 

I wish somebody restores this place to look a lot better than how it looks like right now.  The cottages are pretty - but run down. 

If you are planning to use one of these cottages to stay in next time you're in Baguio - book early.  I hear they fill up fast.

Answers to the Scenes from Baguio Quiz

Were you able to guess where the pictures from the previous post were taken?

Most people are familiar with the Burnham park and the Athletic bowl.  Not too many will recognize the Melvin Jones Grandstand.

You may have seen the Cemetery of Negativism and the Pet Cemetery.  There is actually a third cemetery which I am not familiar with.  I can't figure out what its name is.   All 3 cemeteries I mentioned are found at Camp John Hay.

The lawn is familiar - but the popular house is covered by this nativity scene.  This is the Mansion's lawn.  They've decorated it with this nativity scene and Santa Clause hanging from a tree nearby.

Bag from the Vintage Shops in Baguio

Baguio is known for its Vintage shops.  I call it vintage shops but the truth is it's more like salvation army shops.  In the local language its called Ukay Ukay or Wagwagan.  If you are patient you can find great bargains in these shops.

Today - I found a bag that I can use for the office.  It looks like its leather but its priced at 300 pesos.  So I wasn't sure if it was real.  I brought it to the leather goods shop at Abanao square to ask them and they confirmed that its made of real leather.   I am not familiar with the brand - and to be honest I didn't care if its an unknown brand.  I just thought it looked great and I don't think you can go wrong with a bag priced that low ( around 8 USD ).

I googled the brand: Quentin Tanner.  I could not find any results for that brand. 

I plan to use it as my office bag.  My computer fits perfectly.  Like most leather bags - it is heavy - but I think you know by now that I believe in the saying - that one needs to make a little bit of sacrifice to look good.

My New Leather Bag

I got this bag for 300 pesos

Tried researching the brand but I can't find any info in the net.

Brand is Tanner Quentin

Comparative size with my Satchel

My Tattoo

I have this chinese character tattooed on my right calf  (君 - pronounced as jūn).  I got it in Austin, TX.  Like many tattoos - I got it as a dare from my friends.  They said they will pay for it if I got one.  I was looking for my name in Chinese - and this is the closest one.  According to what was written on the catalogue - it's the Chinese word for king.  Soon after I realized that it doesn't exactly say that.  The Chinese word for King is 王 ( pronounced as wáng ).  The character that I have on my leg can be translated to many words:  monarch, gentleman, lord, ruler, don.  Hey - I think I got lucky - since one of those words is Lord - which is my name.

Incense Holder

We're in the middle of the ghost month.  Feng Shui experts advise that you light up incense before 6:00 PM daily to clear up your abode of any negative energy coming form the roaming hungry ghosts.  My old incense holder - made of china - was dropped by one of our household companions.  That's a shame because that was a cheap but effective incense holder.  I tried to replace it with something similar - but the store I got it from ran out of stock.  I looked for something around that price point ( 300 pesos ) - but I can't find any in Baguio nor in Manila.

While walking around Porta Vaga mall in Baguio - I spotted the Feng Shui shop on the second level - and asked if they have any incense holder.  They gave me this one - and I like it - and I like the price ( 900 pesos ).

It is now sitting inside my bedroom and I light up incense daily - as advised by the Feng Shui masters.