A look back to my Ilocos trips

Recently I have been posting some of my Ilocos photos on noise.cash and made me reminisce about all of it and thought of sharing it with all of you.

Ilocos is a region in the northern part of the Philippines. As far as I know is that both of my dad's parents were from Ilocos Sur and that they moved to Basilan, a province in Bangsamoro Autonomous region when they were in elementary school because my grandwather was a fiscal that was assigned to that region. The family had no choice but to move from Luzon to Mindanao. For college, my dad and his other siblings studied here in Manila but I don't know if my grandparents stayed in Basilan or also moved to Manila.

But even if my dad was from Ilocos, he never brought us there well except for my mom because I know he brought my mom there one time when they were boyfriend-girlfriend. The first time that I went to Ilocos was because of our educational trip in college. I think I already said that before that one of the reasons why I decided to took up Bachelor of Science – Hotel, Restaurant Institution Management was because of the local and international trips. LOL. That time I know we paid Php10,000 or $208 (based on today's dollar rate. I don't know how much the rate was back then) for our trip. I think it was for a 3 days 2 nights trip, airfare, meals and accommodation were already included.

I commented on @Firenze on noise.cash that my first Ilocos trip was my first time to ride an airplane and my first to check in at a hotel. I guess some of you were also afraid during your first plane ride. I was also afraid but since I was with my friends who some of them also haven't rode an airplane and our friends who have already experienced it helped us to just stay cool and calm. I think if I was with my family, I would have been so nervous that I would think a lot of what if's. LOL. It was only my dad who have rode an airplane for his business trips here and abroad. I waa just lucky to have experienced it during my college days. My brother only had experienced it I think during his honeymoon when he was on his late 20s and my mom when she was in her late 50s I guess.

Most of my Ilocos trips are so memorable because I was always with different group of people. College friends, relatives and A's relatives. Again A is my friend from elementary to college. They say first times are always the best. I do not know if it applies to you but it was for me. Why? Not only did we rode an airplane but our hotel accommodation was one of my favorite part of the trip. We were divided into batches since all 2nd year students are to go to the educational trip. We were the last batch and we were the most fun out of all the batches as per our professors. Since we were last, we have asked some of our batchmates about their trip. They said it was ok, some have said that it was boring and waste of money and some of them even told us that there was a ghost in the hotel. A ghost who shook the bed of one of our batchmates. LOL. We didn't know if it was true but since we have heard a lot of stories, we were able to prepare for it. Though we think the ghost part was just a joke but thankfully we didn't experience it.

We were checked in at Fort Ilocandia Resort. We totally enjoyed our stay there and they also have other activities for their guests like archery, shooting, ATV and many other fun adventures. Of course it would be us who would shoulder for those expenses since it isn't included in our educational trip. Some of my friends tried the ATV. Like I have said it was my first time to check in at a hotel and it was love at first experience. It was because of that experience that made me want to always check in at the hotels. But of course it is only for the rich people. I know one friend of mine used to stay in different hotels during Christmas eve with her family and sometimes on her birthday. They have been doing that way back when we were still in high school. But because of our current situation, they have no choice but to stay at home. Honestly I envied her and even some vloggers who can easily book a hotel room any time they want. But I know someday I can also get to experience celebrating special occasions in a hotel. By the way, it was also my first time to experience the hotel key card. We were three girls in 1 room and all of us wanted to have a souvenir of the key. We kept on telling the concierge that we lost our key so that they could give us new keys. I just don't know where mine is but I know it's in one of my wallets from before. We weren't the only ones who requested for new keys because our classmates and friends also had to take home the hotel keys. Though we don't know if our school was charge for it. LOL.

During my second Ilocos trip, I was with my mom and our relatives. My dad didn't want to come with us but we still visited one of our relatives there on our way back to Manila. We weren't actually sure were our relative lives but good thing my cousin saw a vinegar stand with our surname on the sign. When she notified us about it, we immediately told the driver to stop. Then it was only a few steps to our relative's house. Given the chance to go back to Ilocos, I want to experience how to make Ilocos vinegar but I think it would probably take a long time because of the fermentation process if that's what its called. Also during my second trip to Ilocos, I was going through a heartbreak. Most of you know by now that I did had a lot of captions pertaining to my broken heart and my moving process on my social media accounts back then.

Anyhow, my third Ilocos trip was with A's family and relatives. It was an all expense trip. There are places that we have been through that wasn't in the other trips and vice versa but all of it was unforgettable. I know there are still some places in Ilocos that is worth to visit like the Casa de Comida and the Pug-os beach in @bbghitte's hometown.

Have you been to Ilocos or have any plans to include it in your places to visit? Well you better because there are really a lot of nice places in Ilocos, a lot of foods to try and there are also some fun and enjoyable activities to experience. We don't know yet we can travel again but Ilocos will still be on my list since I want to try ATV there. I know I can try it in other tourist spots but it was in Ilocos where I first saw it.