Meeting Apo Whang-Od in the Buscalan Tattoo Village

Here’s last year’s birthday treat to myself: Booking a 2-day tour to meet Whang-Od, the oldest mambabatok of the Buscalan Tattoo Village in Kalinga. It was a surreal experience meeting up close a centenarian and a national living treasure. I also took the chance to be tattooed by her and her kin, and mingle with fun, cool solo joiners too. Look at the tattoos I got! (Warning: picture-heavy!)

My First Solo Joiner Trip: Ilocos Tour (Day 3)

I can’t believe it almost took me a year to finally finish the series of posts for this 3-day trip hahaha. I’m really sorry, life has been messy! I already told you that this Ilocos Tour is a dream for me and it’s a place that I’ve always wanted to go back to. But that is because of my fascination for beautiful architectural designs; and this third day experience didn’t disappoint! I finally returned to my favorite city – Vigan.

Last day means making the most out of it! The blazing heat of the north was nothing for us, backpackers. Our itinerary for the day included the Laoag City Church and Bell Tower, Malacanan of the North, Bantay Church and Bell Tower, and Vigan’s Calle Crisologo. Read more to view the places we went and the pictures I took!

My First Solo Joiner Trip: Ilocos Tour (Day 2)

It’s been a loooong time coming but here’s the second installment of my Ilocandia trip! Day 2 revolved around touring the most famous landmarks in the region – Pagudpud’s Blue Lagoon, Bantay Abot Cave, Patapat Viaduct, Bangui Windmills, and Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. Read more to see the beauty of the seas and mountains, combined with architectural structures!

After having some drinks with the other joiners and taking a restful sleep the previous night, we woke up the next day around 7am to avail the free breakfast in our lodge. Tho the egg, hotdog and rice combo didn’t fill my tummy, the shared itinerary to us was enough to fill my adventure bucket for the day!

My First Solo Joiner Trip: Ilocos Tour (Day 1)

It was in 2012 when I last traveled Ilocos. I was having a trip then in the region with my maternal relatives and the group’s average age was 50+. Needless to say, I didn’t get to enjoy the adventures that the places have to offer. Since then, it was my resolution to come back and tour Ilocos without having to think and care for my travelmates.

Ten years after, on April 2022, I finally had the chance to be in a solo joiner trip to Ilocos organized by Olen’s Travel and Tours. It was the night of Holy Wednesday when I immediately boarded a white van full of strangers, not really thinking if they are serial killers or not (fortunately, they were harmless hehe). I was just excited being there and not expecting anything but fun.

Taiwan Souvenir Stamps and Where to Find Them

YEYY I’m baaack! As a treat, I’m finally showing my favorite part of our Taiwan trip! If you’re into keepsakes and mementos like me, you would surely love the souvenir stamp booths in every landmark of Taiwan. I’d say these are the perfect souvenir as you can collect them all in a single notepad and just flip through the pages for when you want to reminisce your travels. They aren’t really easy to find so you have to look out for rubber stamps and inkpad stations scattered all over their famous tourist spots. Here’s where you can find them~

^{* I only mentioned the places where I’ve been, there are more Taiwan attractions where you can get them for sure}