la union took my breath away

Traveling is one of the things that makes me super happy. I just really love being to places I've never been to before. And before going to different countries, of course, we wanted to explore the Philippines first.

Last month, Julian and I planned to go to La Union for February 9. But due to our mismatched schedules, we had to move it to February 16. We only stayed there for a day because we weren't allowed to stay overnight (strict ang parentals lol) and also we had other priorities the next day (church day). I booked a tour for both of us on Facebook. If you want to travel and book tours or even do DIY travel, you should join this group because it's really helpful.

We were asked to go to McDonald's Motorway to wait for the van at 2:00 am. After the van arrived we headed to Pangasinan for a stopover. We arrived there at around 3:25 am. I seriously forgot the name of the restaurant/diner but the beef mami we bought was super delicious. It costs about 80 php a bowl. I don't have a photo of it, but you can view my vlog below and you'll see what it looks like!

At around 6:12 am, we arrived at San Gabriel, La Union where we rode a jeepney going to Tangadan Falls drop off area. At first, we stayed inside the jeep but halfway through, our tour guide said we can ride on the top load to have the full experience. The ride was about 20 mins long (?) and my butt hurt a lot hahaha but definitely, the view was amazing.

When we arrived at the drop-off area, we trekked for about 20-30 mins until we arrived at Tangadan Falls at 7:00 am. I really wanted to swim and try bamboo rafting but it's too early in the morning and the water was so cold. Haha. We were also following a schedule so we couldn't stay there for too long.

But if you'll ever visit here someday, you should try rafting! I would definitely do it next time! The only problem is when you go back to the drop-off area, you have to trek back which is so tiring. The ~stairs~ up were too steep so we felt exhausted immediately.



At 9:57 am, we arrived at San Juan Beach, La Union. It wasn't a white beach but the sand was refined and the view was picturesque. To be honest, I am really scared of swimming at the beach. My mind is constantly full of worries about drowning and jellyfishes and what not. But I truly enjoyed my time here in San Juan Beach. I hope I get to experience watching the sunrise and sunset by the shore someday.

We had our lunch break afterward and went to Arubayan ni Ysabelle. For only 168 pesos you can eat all you want for lunch and/or dinner. They also offer a breakfast buffet for as low as 119 pesos. If you have a sweet tooth, just add 50 pesos on top of your meal and you can indulge in sweets and rice cakes as many times as you want!

The next stop was at Ma-Cho Temple which is located at San Fernando, La Union. It is a Taoist Temple to the Chinese sea-godess Mazu. You can clearly see the view of the sea on the second floor of the temple.

outfit details:

top — bikini (from a friend's instagram shop)

maxi skirt — yvanna's

hat — sm department store

eyeglasses — pacific blue (lens from EO)

sandals — my sister's

At this point, Julian and I were already exhausted so after Ma-Cho Temple, we didn't leave the van. We stayed there and slept almost the whole duration of the other places our other tour-mates went to. Lol. I believe they went to some wine shop and the famous grapes farm in La Union. We also went to Poro point, where we willingly got out of the van to take a break from napping. We ate ice cream there and afterward, went to a pasalubong center. 

We weren't able to visit Thunder Bird Resort which was one of the places I was looking forward to together with Bahay na Bato. Sadly, the tour coordinator said that we can't tour all over La Union in just a day which I understand because we're basically zombies already.

Here is a breakdown of our expenses:

Tour package - 999 pesos per pax

Tangadan Jeep Rental and Tour Guide Fee - 200 pesos per pax

San Juan Beach (Entrace & Shower) - 80 pesos per pax

Arubayan ni Ysabelle Lunch - 168 pesos per pax

Pasalubong - (optional) 220 pesos

Over all, we spent more or less 1700 pesos each. You can definitely spend less if you won't rent a jeepney to Tangadan Falls and trek for 3hrs. I hope you're enjoying your week so far! If you want to watch my travel diary on youtube, here it is..

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