Done in one of the most popular venues for weddings, Fernbrook Gardens. The layout have undergone so many revisions but finally it’s done. I am pretty proud of this. I personally love the clean layout despite the requirement of putting in so many images.
Hope you like it too.
Church: San Sebastian
Reception: LuzViMin Ballroom, Hotel Sofitel
The 40-page ArtBook carries a modern theme. The design of each page is mainly geometric particular extensive use of squares. Again, the colors are muted to allow the images to pop-out.
Prenup Venue:
Vigan, Ilocos Sur
Cape Bojeador, Burgos, Ilocos Norte
Wind Farm, Bangui, Ilocos Norte
This is the final ArtBook that will be given to Arnel and Nina during their wedding. It is composed of 20 pages with parchment paper in between pages. This paper will serve as the space that will be signed by their guest. Since the prenup was done during the heat of summer in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte, I have decided to used earth colors as the predominant color of the vectors. An aged look was achieved but still keeping the modern design of the entire graphic layout.
We further pressed north and the farthest town is non other than Aparri. Except for the Eat Bulaga song, I have no idea what is in Aparri – I just know it is freakin’ far. From Camalaniugan, less than 30 minutes we were in Aparri — we were actually at the edge of Luzon. We went straight to the pier and the winds were quite strong since at the right side is the Philippine Sea while at the left side is the mouth of Cagayan River — you can actually say this is where the river meets the sea ;).
Actually, I was so happy to see the kilometer market of Aparri – it says ZERO. We were 583 kilometers away from Rizal Park, cool.
What to visit:
The pier - where Cagayan River meets the Philippine Sea
The Kilometer marker
Public Market
Pag-asa Station
After Lal-lo then off to Camalaniugan which is just less than 15 minutes away via the national road. The belfry of the Camalaniugan Church houses the oldest Catholic Bell in the Far East. The church itself looks like a new building already with hardly any traces of its old structure. The marker itself indicated that it was destroyed by fire in 1719 then rebuilt and destroyed by typhoon in 1845. Only the belfry reflects the grandiose of its old brick structure. The side of the belfry has a narrow and steep staircase but that did not deter us in climbing the structure. It was just like going up a three story building and froM there you get a good vantage view of the town and of course a closer look at the bells. Upon closer examination the bells were forged in the year 1595. Then we banged it lightly for good luck ;).
What to visit:
Camalaniugan Church
go up the belfry and ring the oldest bell in the Far East
I love cars and car shows are just amazing. You will be surprised at the changes and modifications made by owners on their possessions. Others are definitely prize winning and definitely cost an arm and leg just to do. Perhaps the satisfaction outweighs the cost. Guests are just at awe at the amazing transformations, the paint job, the leather interiors, the chrome finishing. There is no dust that you can see and everything is sparkling clean. The collection of A-Toys, a major car modification shop in the Philippines is just jaw dropping. There are lots of cars to see. The famed Foose will definitely have serious competition in this part of the world.
Rather than taking photographs straight on of cars, I think I need to give them personality. Owners anyways give names to these babies. So here they are.
Destination prenup is really awesome. Nice view, lots of angles and different sceneries as backdrop to a beautiful love affair. In this album, we capture the moments of Arnel and Nina against the backdrop of both Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. These two provinces are among the popular places in Northern Philppines. Both places have their share of Unesco Hertitage sites. Even with the hours of driving, the travel was well worth it.
Would I do it again? You bet.
At first this place is unassuming. Little did we know that it is full of history and plays a significant role during the Spanish era. The place is known as Nueva Segovia and before one of the archdioceses in the Philippines before it was moved to Vigan, Ilocos Sur (the others being Manila, Cebu and Naga). Actually, the first bishop of the Lal-lo diocese, Miguel Benavidez, O.P. was also the founder of University of Santo Tomas (UST).
It was even made more special since our host during this part of our tour was the mayor of Lal-lo, Ms. Olive Pascual. We likewise had the opportunity to have during their prepared lunch, her husband, the former mayor of Lal-lo, Mr Florante Pascual. They prepared a sumptuous just especially for us – grilled tilapia, liempo, grilled fish, etc.. Also, cabibi, a mussel endemic only in Lal-lo, was likewise ordered. In fact, Lal-lo has its own Cabibi Festival to honorthe unique shell found only in the Cagayan River. Yummy was the order of the day.
After lunch we visited Mayor Olive’s garden located in a hilly area in Lal-lo. From this vantage point you can see the whole town of Lal-lo. The garden boast of different varieties of flowers and trees. However, the highlight in this visit was the cockfight showdown witnessed by the kids. No animal was hurt since it was a
We then visited the Municipal Hall of Lal-lo and just across it is the historical church of Lal-lo the former seat of the diocese of Nueva Segovia. At first, we were wondering why the church was facing back from the main street. We were then told that before the national road was now the old provincial road were the church façade is located. Which makes sense since façade is likewise facing the Cagayan River which was the main source of transport before.
By the way, not to be missed is the wooden cross encased in glass (during that time of our visit there are scaffold in time for Salubong for Easter Sunday). The marker states that the cross was planted by the Dominicans more than 300 years ago as part of the evangelization of Cagayan.
What to visit:
Lal-lo Church
The wooden cross encased in glass
Magapit Bridge is touted to be Asia’s first suspension bridge
What to eat:
Cabibi (shell) steam / soup
Lal-lo pastillas (made of Carabao’s milk)
Church: Chapel of Transfiguration, Caleruega, Tagaytay
Reception: Tagaytay Vista Lodge
We have covered numerous weddings in Caleruega, however this is the very first time that we have covered a very spectacular sunset. This shot made my day.
Pictures like this makes my day.
It is a must that in any place we go to, the church is the first place to visit. In this particular case, our hotel, Hotel Roma is just a few blocks away from Saints Peter and Paul Metropolitan Cathedral, one of the most popular churches in Tuguegarao. This church was built by the Dominicans and completed in 1767. The façade is made of bricks typical of the churches in the Cagayan province. The interiors of the church was quite simple and the retablo is not as ornate as other historical churches. It suffered a massive destruction in World War II and was rebuilt and now considered one of the most beautiful church facades in the world today.
The city is quite busy especially with the the hundreds of tricycles that roam every street. You will see a few calesas (horse-drawn carriages) but most of these have been modified already. The wheels are no longer wooden but made of actual “magwheels” which made the entire carriage “lowered” than what it used to be. It can sit 6 to 10 people and can really carry heavy loads. There was an instance where we saw a full-size sofa on top of a calesa.
Next stop, breakfast. Adri-Nel’s was a good choice as suggested by our hotel concierge. The food was a good selection of Filipino food , dinuguan, chopsuey with quail eggs, chicken barbecue, fried fish and of course the popular Cagayan dish – igado.
Igado is a popular Ilocano dish composed of garlic, tomatoes, bell pepper, strips of pork liver. This is my first time to taste the dish and it is truly yummy. Many say that it is even better the next day after storing it in a fridge. By that time, the pork and liver should have absorbed most of the sauce …… yummmmmy.
Such a hearty meal that made us ready to take Callao Cave challenge.
Callao (pronounced “kalaw”) Caves are the most popular destination in Tuguegarao. You can get to this place via the town of Penablanca just less than 15 minute ride from the city. The trip going to the cave can be via a road about 3 kilometers from the Natonal Road or thru the river. Regardless of way, you need to take the 184 steps going up to the cave. The cave is composed of 7 chambers and the most popular of these chambers are 2 and 4. The 2nd chamber is where you will see the chapel within the cavern which receives light from a natural opening above the cave while the 4th is where another dramatic ray of light shines through magestically depending on the time of the day. Should you decide to visit this place ensure that you bring no less than a DSLR to capture the ray of light. A point and shoot and flash photography will not do justice to the play of light and darkness as you go through each chamber. By the way, ensure that you get an accredited tourist guide to describe to you the history and trivias of the place. In our case, we got the best and the youngest, Jeric Agtarrap. He is a sort of icon among all the tourist guides. He is just first year highschool and among the 4 out of 13 who top the tourist guide exam. He speaks Filipino and English and knows a lot of pretty interesting stuff about the cave. He will show you the “three kings” and “ice cream” rock formations inside. It is just appropriate to give him a handsome tip for a job well done.
Then we proceeded to Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Piat. This church is located in the western part of Cagayan and houses the statue and image of Mama Mary which was first enshrined in Lal-lo, Cagayan in 1604. It was transferred to its present site to settle the conflict between Christian and the Ytawes. Lots of pilgrims visit this place since the image is known to give miraculous cures and grants wishes. Noteworthy is the circular way towards the church which is marked by the divided words of the prayer Hail Mary. A must do here is lighting up of candles for your petitions. Each candle cost Php5.00 (USD 0.11). Religious souvenirs are likewise sold extensively outside the church. Also, don’t forget to try their native delicacy called Pawa. It is made from ground sticky rice with sweetened ground peanut filling. It very much looks like a dumpling. A package costs P25.00 (USD0.53). Another interesting snack is the local banana bread that also costs about P25 per loaf.
Right before sunset, we reached Iguig, Cagayan around 16 kilometers from Tuguegarao City where the lifesize statues depicting the stations of the cross where located. The sprawling 11 hectare property has a good view of the Cagayan River which is ideal for just killing time and horsing around. Likewise, located here is Saint James Church or Iguig Church built by Pedro de San Pedro, O.P. in 1765
As we ended our day, we had dinner a Kusina Cagayana. The Php165 (USD3.50) per person consists of the usual Cagayan appetizer (eggplant, ocra, seaweed with bagoong), chiken, pork and fruits an buko pandan for dessert. We also decided to order the popular Pancit Batil-Patong (Php65 / USD1.38). This pancit is made of Tuguegarao miki, togue, dashes of pork chicharon and pork liver. Comes with a choice of soy sauce or calamansi. This is likewise taken with hot broth and this meal alone will last you for hours.
The visit to Tuguegarao is not only a feast to the eyes but to taste buds as well.
Places to visit:
Callao Caves
Cagayan River
Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral
Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Piat
Saint James Church in Iguig
Calvary Hills in Iguig
Where to eat:
Adri-nel’s
Kusina Cagayana
Specialty (food):
Igado
Pancit Batil-Patong
Where to stay:
Hotel Roma
+ affordable
+ near the Cathedral
+ near the supermarket and drugstore / right smack in the city center
+ with WIFI in the lobby
+ ample parking
+ with hot water
+ with cable channels
- rooms are very basic (thin cushion)
- don’t count on the room interiors you will just sleep in here
- no room service
