| The Sunday Club Chronicles | ||
Monday, March 27, 2006Sagada... Umali Kayo!It took us 12 hours to reach Sagada, including a quick stop-over at Baguio. The view from the drive was great, but not nearly as great as the ones we actually saw IN Sagada.   Rock Inn, our humble abode for two and a half days, proved to be the best in accommodations in the whole of Sagada. Next to the Ganduyan Inn or Sagada Guest House for that matter, five stars na siya. And it was even better coz our backyard was this nice garden with huts and a stone formation where we had a bonfire. There was also this cafe where we made our chocolate fondue and got Regina semi-tipsy from Mountain Rice Wine. Cute!    (Click on images for larger view)Echo Valley was our first stop on Saturday morning. We trekked up and down the rocks and roots to see the view of the Hanging Coffins. Actually, the coffins were nothing great, but the view was splendid. We did a liberty scream wherein all of the mountains echoed back the scream. What a relief!    (Can you see Kuya Mandy in the 2nd photo? Click on images for larger view) After parking the cars at the townmost area, we walked down the narrow road to buy some souveneirs at Masferre's. Then it was lunch at the Yoghurt House. The place was cozy, like a cafe with a fireplace, and lots of prints on the walls. Their food... really good fried chicken and banana yoghurt with granola.   Then went to this area further down the town where we picnicked by the cliff overlooking the Sagada Rice Terraces. It is truly an 8th World Wonder. Never have I seen such beautiful terraces. They look like steps from afar but the height of one level is actually equivalent to a person and a half.       (Click on images for larger view) The next day was another adventure trip. We went on a nature trail park-like ride to this lake. It was the wrong one. The lake we were supposed to go to was Lake Danom to go Berry picking, instead we ended up in Lake Besao. It was pretty ok, except that there was nothing to do but see some of the view.    We off-roaded to, supposed to be, the peak of this mountain, I think it's called Mt. Ampacao, but we could only go so much coz the Trooper's tires could only go so far. So we just sang away by the cliff while Kuya Mandy and Kuya Nicky found a way to get the Trooper back in track. Easy for the Vitara. And since were creating such a ruckus, this guy suddenly came out of nowhere with an air rifle which we thought was a gun. Thankfully, he was the protector of the place and was just trying to help us out.    And then we went to mass in what was supposed to be the Mt. Carmel Church of Sagada. Since most of the people there are Anglicans who played baseball, the handful of Catholics present heard mass at the church construction site. Very rustic. A pretty good experience to end the day.   And after having gone through all those rough roads, the drive back home was heaven. 
Sunday, March 19, 20064x4 Off-Roading Race in Pampanga Let me first explain the mechanics of the race from how I understand it. Each team consists of 3 cars; each car has one driver and one spotter (navigator). All teams are given a time limit to finish the race. There will be a 5 (or is it 10) minute gap before the next team is sent in to go through the track. To win, all three cars in the team must finish the track. Even if one car finishes the track but two get stuck and reach the time limit, that means the team did not finish the race.  So all along, this whole family has been thinking it's like one of those F1 races, only on 4x4. It's actually not a race race. It's really a strategy thing to go through all those hills, mud, water, hell, you name it. And their cars are so cool. Imagine modified Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, Tonkas, and various Suzukis. So anyway, this year, the race was at Gugu Creek, Bacolor, Pampanga under the stiflingly dreadful heat of the sun, amidst lahar country. It was supposed to be a two-day event, except that the track was impossible to do on the first day. Sadly, the second day wasn't any better. Nobody finished it except for the Governor's team who donated the prize and went through it last.  On to the better part of it, accommodations were pretty ok by Pebbles and Caren standards. We stayed at Hotel Gracelane where we came to find that the bathrooms were not bad, the aircon was cold, and the breakfast was delicious. Not bad at all! Out of the hotel, Ate Pebs and I spent our time drinking C2 and holding ice under the tent of Kuya Nicky's team, The Delta Recon Vitara Club of the Philippines. Kuya Nicky proved to be a superb driver. And I have a new found respect for his white Samurai. You should've seen it easily go up the hill when the Land Cruiser almost slid, and you should've seen it pull the Tonka. Talk about hard core!  
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