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Showing posts from February, 2014

Fronnet at Pamulinawen Festival

If you happen to read  who I travel with  or follow  this blog's Instagram account , you would know that I reserve a space for my light green finger puppet, Froggie, in my bag every time we go on a trip. Dan, however, would always tell me Froggie must have felt neglected many times because I often misplaced the poor toy. There were a number of instances when I thought I lost him, but Froggie would still reappear from nowhere. Until we visited Baluarte in Vigan last month. Froggie's last photo at Baluarte I tried rationalizing that my dearest companion decided to let us go to spend more time with the animals in the mini-zoo. But no matter how much I convince myself to believe it, I always end up blaming his mindless and careless custodian. I admit Froggie's absence during the second half of our one-month Ilocos trip can all be blamed to me. He could have enjoyed the rock formations, falls and beaches up north if only... I will cut that paragraph short to save my sa

Samtoy Bookshop in Laoag City

Book and art lovers have a common nook in Laoag City, and it’s called Samtoy Bookshop. On our first day in Laoag, we easily spotted this homey store on the second floor of La Tabacalera Lifestyle Center. If you happen to get lost in the city, you will definitely not miss this building as it’s close to Museo Ilocos Norte and Laoag Tourist Center. Though Samtoy Bookshop is a totally different business, the place reminded me of Turtle's Nest in Cebu because of my pro-RH (referring to the beer), wide reader friends frequenting (or who used to frequent) the pub. I never bothered to ask the in-charge what 'samtoy' means in Ilocano. Luckily, as part of the city's  Pamulinawen Festival this month, there is a group of sculptures displayed at the provincial capitol. They represent the inhabitants of the region (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra and La Union) renowned for its gold mines during the pre-hispanic era. They called their place 'samtoy' , a short term fo

Dead Dolphin Found at Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud

"There's a dolphin found at the beach. Go there and take a souvenir picture of it," the owner of the room we rented for a couple of days in Blue Lagoon, Brgy. Balaoi, Pagudpud told me. I was about to ask for two cups of hot water for our morning coffee last Tuesday (Feb 4th), but when he informed me about the incident, I had to neglect my famish. Something came up, and it was more important. Or perhaps more intriguing. Of course, dolphins don't bum happily on the beach, so as you suspected, this mammal's already lifeless. When we got there, it was lying on small sharp rocks, hit by the subsiding waves, its bloody mouth open as if it was shouting, "Please give me a decent burial under the sea." Locals as well as guests on vacation in the scenic community paid the dead swimming creature a short visit, all curious yet sad like us. A couple of men carried the 5-feet long, 100-kilo heavy animal to the shore for us to be able to take a closer lo