For the love of eating the authentic: Our Ilocos Trip;Laoag

Before we travel I carefully set an itinerary for all the things we are going to do. I even search for well known restaurants and food to try. I list down places to visit and make a budget for each. For our Ilocos trip, I had 6 revisions of the plan before it became definitive. The original arrangement was to include Pagudpud in our trip but since we have limited time we decided to skip Pagudpud and just visit Laoag and Vigan.

We rode Partas bus in going to Laoag. The bus departed Cubao at around 12:00am. The bus ride was comfortable, though it felt very cold at dawn. I thought we will reach Laoag around 9: 00am for I was expecting a 9-hour bus ride. We arrived in Partas Bus Station

La Elliana hotel

We got a very cheap air-conditioned hotel room. Considering the very affordable price of the hotel one would not expect it to be presentable. To my surprise the room was huge. It has a clean bathroom with hot and cold water a T.V. and even telephone. The linens were also clean. The staffs are friendly and courteous.

The hotel is also across the famous La Preciousa Restaurant and a block away from Saramsam Restaurant. The hotel is located at Rizal Street cor Ablan Ave., LaoagCity

 

Marcos Mansion or Malacanang of the North
After breakfast and freshening up our first stop is the Marcos Mansion. You have to pay for a small amount of money before you can enter the mansion. The place is said to be donated by the Marcos family and is being maintained by the local government. I love how the whole house is made. The huge doors, windows and rooms are so lovely to look at. The numerous tables and chairs give you information that this house was once frequented with so many visitors. The wood flooring is so relaxing and homey. The back yard with the view of Paoay Lake is simply breath taking. I could imagine the Marcoses having party in that backyard.  in Laoag at around 7am. At first we don’t know where to go. We just decided to keep on walking and looked for the hotel that I saw in the internet. BTW, I printed a map of Laoag in case we get lost. The first hotel we looked at is an average hotel which is according to the internet reviews has a good accommodation. It was okay for me but I wasn’t satisfied. We finally went back to the first hotel we saw. La Elliana hotel, after looking at the room we made a decision to stay.

Paoay Church and Bell Tower

Paoay Church, also known as the St. Augustine Church in Paoay, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. The structure is simply amazing because it is made of bricks and corals. I love old churches it may be creepy at first but I love the feeling of getting to see a part of our history.

Cafe Herencia

We are still full when we visited Cafe Herencia but the side of me who wanted to try everything insisted that we should taste the Pinakbet Pizza, which is according to the reviews that I’ve read are insanely delicious. We only ordered the pizza and yes it is insanely delicious. I didn’t regret eating there even if I felt bloated after.

Marcos mausoleum

The Mausoleum is where the glass-entombed, preserved corpse of the deposed president Ferdinand Marcos is found. Security is tight so we weren’t able to take any photos.

Marcos museum is where the memorabilia of the late president are stored, from his stint in the Armed Forces up to his presidency. The pictures and the documents show how amazing and intelligent person Ferdinand Marcos is. The things he did when he was still the president were all beautifully captured.

St. William’s Cathedral

St. William's Cathedral is older than Paoay Church, it was first built in the 1590’s by the Augustinians. The church was originally built using lime mixed with molasses, huge stones, gravel and sand. The church suffered and survived damages caused by a hurricane in 1640, an earthquake in 1706, and fire in 1843.

St. William’s Cathedral Singking Bell Tower

The Cathedral is also known for its sinking Bell tower and is said to be the tallest tower in the Philippines. Every year it sinks an inch because of its weight. The hot weather in Laoag also makes the tower sink. Stories have it that years before, a man riding a horse can easily go through its gate but now all I see are the tower’s windows.

Tobacco Monopoly Monument

The tall yet graceful monument is located right at the centre of Laoag City plaza. The people of Ilocos erected the Tobacco Monopoly Monument as a thanksgiving to the Crown of Spain for recognizing the struggles of the Ilocano people against the Monopoly.

Laoag Museum

A very interesting Museum, a lot of old stuffs are here which is very nice to look at.

Boodle Fight

We do not know if there was any occasion during that day but when we went out of the hotel on our first night a boodle fight is happening.

Saramsam Restaurant

This restaurant is so famous that even if we are not hungry we still need to eat here.

Poqui Poqui . Sounds weird for the green-minded, it is a sautéed grilled eggplant in onion, tomato and egg. It is a breakfast dish in Ilocos region.

Bagnet from Ilocos Norte is locally known as chicharon or deep-fried pork meat.

Laoag Empanada

This is just so good, even without the ketchup and vinegar.