La Union . Day 4

June 9 2019

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A post shared by Aivrin Villamayor (@aeivryn) on Jun 15, 2019 at 5:58am PDT

Slept at almost 2am or 3am woke up before 10am. The plan to walk on the beach early morning didn't happen. Lol 

Since we weren't able to experience a night life at Flotsam, we decided to had breakfast there instead. I love beach life. 

Last day is usually packing and traveling 

Walk a little on the hot sand after breakfast and took a bath and pack. Ready to say good bye to La Union which was better this time than the first one except for that place where we stayed. Lol. 

Went to the bus terminal and it was crazy there on a Sunday. Took us few minutes to decide to go back in Baguio where we can score a bus that will surely take us back in Manila than in La Union where there is just a little hope. Haha. 

Baguio again where there's no bus available but there was. Quick snack before hitting the road back to Manila. 

So next time it should be La Union first then Baguio. Next time. 

Hit the road from Baguio by 6pm

Arrived in Manila by 12am or 1am

Home by 2am. 

What a trip. 

At least I'm fully aware of it now. 


My Photographs: La Union

Baguio - La Union 2019 . Day 3

June 8 2019

Wake up a little late since we have to check out by 12pm and we still have to figure out what bus we will ride that can drop us to Urbiztondo (which I totally forgot what bus was that). 

Disappointment with the choice of place in LA Union (misleading advertising via website). They gave us a room where the aircon doesn't work and we almost didn't get a replacement room. I was so close on booking an Airbnb but we got another room but still, never again on that place. Though it is very near at Flotsam. 

La Union weather is so hot. 

We had late lunch but we separated from the group since they decided to walk on the beach further than what we did. 

After late lunch with Hans we decided to walk to the beach side and it's so far at Flotsam! Haha. I thought it was near but we were wrong but by the time I reached Flotsam, it was already sunset. What a view. Just what I need and just what I went for. 

Went back to our room to rest so we can experience night life in La Union but first stop, Halo-halo de Iloko. I was surprised that the store was close for the next hours since it's full house and it was already 8pm. Good thing we are just there for Halo-halo so we asked the server if we can just stay outside to eat and they let us. 

After a cup of Halo-halo, we went back to San Juan and look for a place that serve Bagnet then went back at our room. We decided to went back late to have drinks at Flotsam but they have an event and it was jam-packed that I can't even breathe. So we look for another place to drink and it was almost 11pm. We found a place with available table and drinks. Yes. Capping our last night in La Union with some good music and drinks. 

Good night. 


My Photographs: La Union

La Union 2017

Despite of the unfortunate event we both experienced during our recent trip, I still love traveling with you even it means panic buying of skyflakes and on who will get the window seat. Hahaha Thanks for planning it last minute! Lets go back soon since we still need to try a lot of food and halo-halo!!!!!! Ps. You make me hate pakbet. 😂

A post shared by Aivrin Villamayor (@aeivryn) on May 30, 2017 at 6:07pm PDT

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Probably the shortest video trip ever. 

After making the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur video that was close to 20 minutes, I told myself that I will try to summarize it more like what I usually see on YouTube. I want to accomplish something shorter but not lacking which is very impossible since I want to share more. 

It's really hard to commit on taking videos than pictures when you also want to enjoy the trip or just be as lazy as we were when on vacation. Everything might be worth it to be documented but not everything is shareable worldwide most especially if everyone will totally not get the humor. 

It took me almost 2 months finishing this up but it also end up being a short one. I got lots of footage from my GoPro but our craziness is not worth sharing. Lol

I think it took me months to do this because it didn't end well. Yes, our trip didn't end on a very high note to the point that Gem don't want to give La Union another try. Same as my blog post they are on drafts for so long now that I just decided to finally fix it and publish just this month.

I also want to do more for this video so it's a bit disappointing on my part on not documenting worthy stuff. I just realized too that I don't have video when we were in Bahay na Bato! Makes me want to travel again and do well on documentation most especially that I've been watching vlogs. It also makes me crave for a new point and shoot! it's a bit bad right? Hahaha. 'Coz I can't steady my GoPro everytime maybe I need a better tripod or grip? Idk. 

Though I want it to be different, I use "Hard Times" since that was the song that I was listening that time, it's stuck in my head and I can just dance and cry while on this trip and even after (After Laughter). Lol

Despite of the rants and disappointments can I just say that I love the part where I was able to just put up my GoPro and just capture the beach and us in it. I love that so much but that's the only sunset we experienced in La Union. Haha I hate that sun is always hiding when I go on vacation. I've been looking forward to sunset photos!

This really makes me crave more traveling and hopefully do better on documentation. 

My photos are already on queue too on my Tumblr until maybe end of the year. Haha. Too much photos! That's when I really get high, photos over videos everytime since I think it's more challenging though the hype on each is different and I enjoy both. 

Hopefully next travel video will be better and less disappointment that will not reach 2 months in the making. See even this post, excitement is missing but I'm willing to give La Union another try. :)

My Photographs: La Union

La Union 2017 . Day 3

We are supposed to check out by 12nn and we decided to transfer we were eyeing different rooms and we decided to check in on The Circle Hostel and now we are here. After check out we asked Ryan to drop us in Surf Shack where The Circle Hostel is nearby. We stayed for a while in Surf Shack had some pizza since that's the only thing that's available since it's too early for them. We waited until check in so we stayed there when we are the only costumer. We're at The Circle Hostel but again, Gem is asleep while I'm doing this since she is not feeling well but no regrets on just staying in bed whole afternoon. 

It doesn't mean you have to try surfing when in La Union why not just enjoy the new place and somehow enjoy being a local. Also food! Omg. Not the local delicacies but the restaurants that are pretty famous on TV or on blogs. We still deciding where to eat for dinner and we still have some restaurant on our list to try. 

Too early to say but I love in here. I really want to try to be here in North and I'm gonna check that out on my bucket list but at the same time, I hope this is a start for me to discover new places somewhere North. We can actually be in Vigan for 3 hours from here or in Baguio for 1 hour but we just decided to be in La Union. 

I'm also not sure if I will be able to make a video for this trip but pretty much it doesn't cover a lot, not much of videos but photos. Just waiting for Gem to wake up again so we can head out for dinner. 0526 1832 

When Gem woke up she still wasn't feeling good. :( I think I will not put it into details and let keep that incident between us. 

I'm thankful that my dude pull herself out of bed just for me to grab dinner and we decided to just eat nearby. Good thing we are somehow staying at the center (?) of San Juan where there are restaurants on every side of the road. 

We just stayed on our own bed that night until morning. Our last day wasn't the way we planned it but gonna be dude's through good times and bad. :)

Then we hopped the bus at 2pm bound to Manila and we are just thankful that we are back at our home court by 10pm. 

It's not bad for our first trip together without any connections. Can't wait for the next one. 


My Photographs: La Union

La Union 2017 . Day 2

Ryan the caretaker of the condo talked to us last night when we were in the rooftop and he was telling us that we can get to tourist attractions just tell him and he will drive us for a little extra fee. We decide to do a trip to Bahay na Bato and Grape Farm the next day. 

No we didn't wake up to early to catch up on sunrise. If you have a glass window right next to your impromptu bed who needs to wake up just for sunrise? Haha. I love waking up on different hours of morning just seeing the transformation of sky and clouds. Silently wishing to have that in my backyard but no thanks since I don't want to take that for granted. 

We left before 10am and we were there just before 11am since we have a service car and no traffic, of course. Bahay na Bato was so nice and I somehow compared it to Pinto when we entered but I don't want to do that. It's totally different from each other. The location of Bahay na Bato was also a beach front but it's not a swimming area. If you ever want to see the beauty of it go there in the morning or late afternoon for sunset. The entrance is 40php. I'm glad we did that trip since we already ditch some plans. The weather didn't suck since it wasn't raining but it's too hot! But I'll choose that than rain when visiting there. I'm also glad that it's not too crowded and the place is huge not much of people who prioritize photos for their new profile picture. lol

Not sure if I got tons of pictures but I was able to enjoy it even it's too hot. 

Ryan suggested we eat at "Nice Eatery" the cook there was so good that food are served on just a right amount with rice and soup. Tourists should also try there be a local sometimes they got bunch of choices. I was able to get buttered shrimp and for a meal of 3 people with 4 ulam and 4 rice it's pretty cheap for 215php. 

We get back at the condo at 1pm because he will fetch some guests in San Juan and then we planned to leave by 3pm for the grape farm where we pick some grapes but since we planned to stay another night after checking out there, we left the grapes and some chips in there. 

I'm thankful that I didn't slipped while we were there since it's so slippery well almost! Hahaha. We also bought some wine grapes which was good to be honest. Gem and I took home a bottle. 

After that we went back home then switched outfit for the beach where I was expecting sunset but too bad there's no sunset since it was very cloudy. 

We were able to ask cooked food from the staff of the condo which was a request from us there were Pakbet, Lato, and grill fish with tomatoes at the side. We somehow planned to have a feast at the rooftop too bad it rained. It was our last night where we once again drink and just bond with my dude. 


My Photographs: La Union

La Union 2017 . Day 1

We left Cubao bus terminal at 10pm. It was good traveling at night time since there's no traffic and no sun that heat up so bad. Unfortunately we lack in sleep and no concrete plan on arriving at 4am even our Airbnb check in is still at 3pm. 

So we end up being in Mcdo from 4am to 6am and we decided to walk a bit to Macho Temple but it's not open until 9am and we don't have pants. We thought of going to Gapuz Grape Farm since it was recommended on blogs but upon checking some tricycle driver, they are not familiar with the place. They can get us in Bauang but we will be charged for 200php and we will just be there to take picture for 20php which I think is not worth it, so we decided to pass. 

It's 9am and we are now in Jollibee since before 7am. Gem and I are just totally chillin' at fast food chains in La Union. You can't blame us we both had a busy Tuesday then travelled at night that a little bit of excitement kept us awake as well as the sad news that's happening in Mindanao that we kept on checking updates on Twitter. 

This is our first trip that doesn't include a plane or boat ride so it's so new for us but looking forward to explore more later after we checked in and at least have a proper nap or sleep until dinner. I can't help it that I already slept here in Jollibee for maybe 30 minutes that makes me feel recharge and now Gem is the one taking nap. This is one of those days that I appreciate 24 hours fast-food chains other than just having late night cravings. 

I messaged the caretaker asking if we can check-in early good thing we can by 1pm. So we still have 4 hours and I'm thinking of eating again but all we want to do is sleep. 

Sleep is important to us next to food. Hahaha. Since it's all we need to have energy. 

Though I don't even regret traveling at night since it was cold in the bus. 0524 0920 

After Jollibee, Gem wanted to try Halo Halo de Iloko and we were able to find it. We were killing time since we were in La Union so early. Halo Halo was so good even we wanted to try something else on the menu we pass since we are so full from the fast-food hangout during that morning. We arrived there before lunch and the place wasn't jam-packed yet but as soon as lunch is approaching, there are people arriving in vans where they are usually 5-10 people per group. We were only got the chance with Fiesta Halo-halo since Buko Halo-halo is not available. 

After that we decided to buy some food that we might be needing in the condo so we search for a grocery and there's Puregold. No SM this time. Hahaha. We bought food and we did kill time in there by checking out the small mall where most of the locals shop their school needs. 

We got lost on our way to our rented Airbnb but we found it. Haha. And it isn't disappointing at all it was a fully furnished condo unit with a beach front. And the view of the beach it was my favorite and I can caught myself just staring at it so much and by that it's already satisfying even not swimming on the beach. 

After check-in we sleep well only Gem was on full mode of sleeping and I was just napping because M and I are discussing something. It was already sunset when she woke up. Was able to check out the sunset and capture it but we didn't take a deep on the beach just being around it, it's already satisfying. 

We went to the rooftop after and had some beer before dinner that night.

My Photographs: La Union