Saturday, 10 May 2014

Resto Review: Pinikpikan Haus, Sagada

The Pinikpikan Haus is located just below Alibama Inn along the main road. The Pinikpikan Haus is the official restaurant of Travel Factor where our daily breakfast and lunch are served.

On our first day at Sagada, we were served Chicken Curry for lunch. The chicken meat was really tender but the sauce was quite bland that I'm not sure if it was really curry. I only assumed it to be curry because it was yellow.

On our 2nd day, we had Longganisa  for breakfast. Their longganisa were small but were tasty.

For lunch, we were served with Daing Bangus with vegetables. Thankfully the bangus was boneless and their vegetables were fresh and cooked just right. What's weird about our meal was it came with a single piece of liempo. hehehehe

And since we were really hungry on our 2nd day, we ordered their local specialty Pinikpikan (Php 130). I was expecting its soup to taste like tinola but it was not, it has a distinct taste that I can't describe. The soup really warms up our grumbling tummies. Their pinikpikan had several chicken meat and a piece of etag. Etag is smoked and salted slab of pork meat but it was not for me, I don't like its consistency. As for the chicken meat, it was tender but tasted bitter because of the blood clot on the chicken which is normal for pinikpikans.

Pinikpikan Haus serve breakfast, lunch and dinner with meals starting at Php130 - which is the usual price of meals of restaurants found along the main road. But on the plus side, every meal here comes with unlimited mountain rice. So if you are heavy on rice then this is the place for you.



Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn, Sagada

We stayed at Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn while we were in Sagada for 3 days.

Normally, Travel Factor assigns their participants to stay in Alibama Inn but since their official inn is full we were designated to the Indigenous Inn which in my opinion was much better accommodation.

Our room is located on the second floor. Our room was spacious, has three double sized beds and has its own bath room. Plus their bath has a hot shower which is very important especially with the cold weather in Sagada (I hear that most of the inns in Sagada don't have it). They also offer free Wifi and free brewed coffee in the morning which was delicious.

Sorry we were not able to get their contact information and rates but rest assured Sagada is filled with inns and lodges to choose from.

The Banaue Road Trip before Sagada

Planning to go to Sagada? There are two options to go there from Manila, one is via Baguio (which is faster because it's through the expressway) another one less traveled option is via the scenic route of Banaue. We chose the later and chartered a jeepney from Banaue going to Sagada.

The long ride is very well worth it. Enjoy the cool breeze, the fresh air and breathtaking scenery. Be in awe as you see the famous Banaue Rice Terraces for the first time.

Experience riding on top of the jeepney for an added adrenaline rush and really let the cold wind brush through your face. The view on top was amazing regardless of how painful our butt got after the trip.

But hey! it's all about the experience - at least you get to say that you were able to go on a road trip in Banaue topload-style!

Friday, 9 May 2014

Resto Review: Hidden Valley Restaurant, Banaue

After 9 hours of travel from Manila, we finally arrived in Banaue at dawn. We were dropped off by the bus in front of Hidden Valley Restaurant. It was a little restaurant located along the high way and was near Dangwa and Ohayami Bus stations.

We still have at least 3 hours more travel time to reach Sagada so we want to have a heavy breakfast before we head out to our next destination.

We both ordered their Filipino Breakfast meal (Php 115) which was rice with fried egg and your choice of longganisa, daing bangus or bacon. Each meal already comes with coffee or tea. I also added one order of their Banana Pancakes (Php 65).

My husband had their breakfast meal with longganisa. Their longganisa had their own distinct taste to it, it was savory with a bit of sweetness and spiciness. I on the other hand ordered their meal with daing bangus. I was disappointed to find out that it was not boneless. And their daing lacks of saltiness.

Their banana pancakes were really thick, well I guess that's expected since it is filled by slices of bananas. Pancake itself was just ordinary for me nothing special it just had bananas.

Meals here are quite expensive but there are not that many options around either. You will have to ride a tricycle to their market for more choices.

Thursday, 8 May 2014

Conquering Sagada with Travel Factor

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere but just don't know how. You keep procrastinating on going on a trip because you don't know how to create an itinerary or don't know how much money to bring. Fret no more because there are now lots of travel agencies that offer all-in carefree tours at affordable prices.

I have always wanted to see the rice terraces up close but had always considered going to Banaue or Sagada quite far fetched. So we decided to go to Sagada through the help of a travel company called "Travel Factor". For only Php 4,950 you can now conquer Sagada without all the hassle of making the itinerary, the reservations and all the works. Their package includes the following:

  • Roundtrip Aircon Bus: Manila - Banaue - Manila
  • Roundtrip Chartered Jeep: Banaue - Sagada - Banaue
  • 3D/2N accommodation in Sagada
  • Day 1 Lunch, Day 2 Breakfast and Lunch, Day 3 Breakfast
  • Private Jeepney during tours around Sagada
  • Environment permits and entrance fees
  • Service of local guides and cave guides with lamps
  • Service of the tour director
  • Travel Insurance
  • Travel Factor ID and T-Shirt
We were not able to follow the itinerary as it is posted on their web site due to weather conditions but we eventually covered them all on the next day.

Day 0 - MANILA - April 30, 2014 (Wednesday)
TimeItinerary
09:00 PMMeet up at Ohayami Bus Station at Fajardo St. cor. Lacson Ave., Sampaloc Manila
* Ticket price from Manila to Banaue is Php 450

Day 1 - BANAUE - SAGADA - May 1, 2014 (Thursday)
TimeItinerary
05:00 AMArrive in Banaue
We were dropped off at Hidden Valley Restaurant and ate breakfast there. (own expense)
07:00 AMTravel from Banaue to Sagada
Side trip at Banaue Rice Terraces
11:00 AMArrive in Sagada
Check in at Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn

Lunch at Pinikpikan Haus
Desserts at Strawberry Cafe (own expense)
02:00 PMTrek the rice terraces and see Pongas Falls
* unfortunately we can not visit the Bomod-ok Falls because of an ongoing tribal ritual
* skipped sunset viewing due to the rainy weather
06:00 PMBack in Sagada town proper
07:00 PMDinner at Salt & Pepper Restaurant (own expense)
Hot Chocolate and desserts at Sagada Brew (own expense)

Day 2 - SAGADA - May 2, 2014 (Friday)
TimeItinerary
07:00 AMAte breakfast at Pinikpikan Haus
* skipped sunrise viewing due to the rainy weather
09:00 AMStarted the Cave Connection Adventure. We went into Lumiang Cave and came out of Sumaguing Cave
02:00 PMLate lunch at Pinikpikan Haus

Desserts at Lemon Pie House (own expense)
05:00 PMWent to Lake Danum to see the sunset but there was none because of the rainy weather
07:00 PMDinner at Masferre Restaurant (own expense)

Day 3 - SAGADA - BANAUE - May 3, 2014 (Saturday)
TimeItinerary
04:30 AMSunrise at Kiltepan Viewpoint
06:00 AMBreakfast at Bana's Cafe (own expense)
09:00 AMTrek to Echo Valley to see the hanging coffins

Visit the St. Mary's Escopal Church
11:00 AMEarly lunch at Yoghurt House (own expense)

Free time to shop for pasalubongs
02:00 PMChartered jeep ride back to Banaue

Side trip at the Sagada Weaving
05:00 PMArrive in Banaue

Free time to go to the market place
06:00 PMEarly dinner at People's Lodge and Restaurant
07:00 PMBus ride back to Manila

Day 4 - MANILA - May 4, 2014 (Sunday)
TimeItinerary
04:00 AMArrive in Manila

Meals in Sagada start at Php 200 above if you're going to eat in restaurants along the main road. But if you are interested in eating local food you can go to Centrum building's basement for carenderias.

PROs:

  • Afford-ably priced package
  • Friendly and accommodating coordinators
  • Comfortable ride
  • Enough free time was provided for us to be able to explore the town
  • Meet new people

CONs:

  • Bus station is cramped.
  • There were too many participants during the tour that we were not able to hear the tour guide's orientation when we were visiting the sites. These are only on the ocassion that our group was joined together with another group of more than 30.

Are we going to avail another Travel Factor package? Yes, most probably we will but we would definitely be asking how many people are going to participate next time. We were just lucky during our trip that we were only a group of 11 plus our room has its own CR.

Overall, we had a blast in Sagada even with a few bumps and bruises along the way. We are proud to say that we have conquered the adventures of Sagada!