My Sojourn in La Union

14 April 2012

When we got home from our Ilocos Trip, I got really sick. I wasn't sure if I had food or water poisoning or that I wasn't really able to use the toilet that much (sometimes my body tends to get shy from using the toilet), but since Monday (09 April), I was dealing with a bad case of diarrhea that seemed to last the entire week - worst day being Thursday. I feared I won't be able to travel to La Union for my cousin's wedding, but I was thankful that even if I still wasn't okay come Friday, Saturday morning seemed to be optimistic for me.

Sister's off day at work was Sunday, so we decided to meet after her shift last Saturday. Brother went with me to help me carry all the luggage and us three had dinner together. I didn't know what made me think about it, but while waiting for sister at the restaurant, I decided to drink half a glass of Coca-Cola. My tummy was still churning and making unnecessary noises, but it just made me think - in one film there was a scene where fire was used to put out another fire, so acid might help put out the acid in my tummy. It turned out to be a great solution... after the Coke, my tummy just stabilized! Amazing!



Sister and I took the 9pm bus to La Union. Along the way, we sent our Aunt Julie messages, just so she wouldn't get worried about us. Of course, I also sent messages to brother.



15 April 2012

We arrived in La Union at 3:30am. Aunt Julie welcomed us and I was also able to exchange some words with Uncle Caesar (both are my dad's younger siblings, both single). Sis and I were so tired from sitting for too long, so after a few minutes, we decided to sleep and recharge for a long day ahead.



We planned to visit Luna Church that morning, but with so many things we wanted to do (sis only had this full day as she had to go back to Manila after today) and we got up a little late, we decided to cancel it and just go directly to the cemetery to visit daddy's grave. It was a year ago when I visited his grave, it was a sweet blessing to be able to return and light a candle for him.



Before this travel, I was able to see an album on one of my friends on Facebook. It featured a food trip on a restaurant called Muchas Gracias, and since I didn't really plan to check out different places for this trip, might as well just go a food trip. Aside from the eat-all-you-can Halo Halo, sister and I also shared a serving of Vigan Longganisa Quesadilla and a serving of Bibingkang Galapong (pictured above).



From there, we went to our Aunt Lorie's place just so sister could see our cousin Mhai. Sister won't be able to attend her wedding, so with this visit, at least she was able to send her greetings personally.

Something funny happened that afternoon. Our aunt's place is located at the countryside and they do have a lot of animals roaming freely around. I found these baby goats so cute, but the leash on the mother's neck wasn't tied on a tree, so every time I tried to get one of kids, the mother goat would look sharply at me. I was able to find a chance to carry one of the kids, but a few steps away, it cried, and the mother was so angry and was so ready to chase me. I got so scared, so I quickly (but gently) put the kid back on the ground.

We went home before dinner, and instead of catching the 11pm bus back to Manila, sister decided to sleep soundly that night and just wake up real early the next morning.



16 April 2012

We woke up 3:30am and I let sister fix herself and her things. Thanks to the goodness of cousin Weng who drove us to the bus stop, we were able to get there earlier. Sadly, waiting for the bus turned out to eat a long time because there were a lot of passengers. Thankfully, the bus arrived at 5:30am, and though there wasn't an available seat, I told sis to ride and stand for a while for there will be passengers going down once it reached the province's capital city.

Us three - Aunt Julie, Cousin Weng and I - went back to Aunt Lorie's place to eat breakfast and to help with some preparations. The wedding reception will be at their place, so people living nearby offered a hand in cutting the ingredients for the dishes they planned to serve to the guests.



Cousin Anna Lyne and her son Aaron arrived mid-afternoon and together, we went to the church and witnessed as Cousin Mhai exchanged vows with her boyfriend Jonathan. I wasn't able to take that much pictures as they do have an official photographer, but I was thankful I was able to take a few snapshots.

The wedding reception was sort of a mess, if you ask me personally, as they didn't really prepare a program, but taking what Aunt Lorie said, it was a success. At the end of the day, what mattered most was the bind and them becoming "husband and wife."



17 April 2012



Such a hot, hot day!

I wanted to go out and check out places, but thinking of the heat just made me want to stay at home.

Lunch, we reheated a dish we took home from last night's wedding reception, and since vegetable is a big part of our diet, Aunt Julie prepared this cabbage salad - with tomatoes, shallots and seasoned with pepper, salt, and vinegar.



18 April 2012



Aunt Julie reported back to work (she's a nurse), so I really wanted to go out - just to go anywhere, but my niece Louianne (cousin Weng's daughter) and John Vince (son of Uncle Caesar's adopted son) played cards, so I just played with them. It was great sharing laughs with them - laughing heartily when one loses - and around 9am, Louianne went online to chat with her mom who's in Canada right now.

She allowed me to use her laptop after an hour, and it was my first time to use a MacBook. My niece doesn't realize how "special" her laptop is, but as much as special the laptop (brand) is, it still felt like any other ordinary laptop to me. :)

I packed my things late in the afternoon. I decided to travel back home tonight as I have an event to attend the next day.

I planned to take the 11pm bus, but we got to the bus stop 30 minutes earlier and was able to ride the bus some 5 minutes after. Well, it was a great timing - the bus was sort of old so the fare wasn't was expensive, but I loved the seats. It was so comfortable and since there weren't much passengers, I was able to recline it fully well and it felt like I was sleeping on a bed. :)



19 April 2012



I arrived in Manila at 4:30am. Brother will come pick me up as I had this big luggage full of food items from Aunt Julie, but he arrived around 6am. I didn't eat any snacks while on the road (as I was just sleepy the entire trip), so he and I had breakfast first before going home.

Uncle Mel dropped by to get the items Aunt Julie sent for him and it allowed us to chit chat about many things.

Yes, I attended the event that afternoon, but the story about that will be shared on my food blog, Tara, Let's Eat! tomorrow.

A very short stay in my dad's hometown. It wasn't productive as far as traveling is concerned, but I went there focusing on the wedding, and it was something I was happy to be a part of.