The latest vacation hot spot

The greatest thing about being in Pagudpud is that you get to enjoy a tranquil vacation away from the harried high-tech world. Yes, palanggas, in our rooms we were able to relax without work, cell phones or TV. Neither were newspapers delivered to us. Hurray!

At first, some of our groupie panicked at the idea of a tech-free vacation, but apres a day of sun-tanning, swimming, playing volleyball or just reading a good book while lying on a hammock in the beach, all of us loved the feeling of being away from the hustle and bustle of the maddening urban jungle.

The Montenegro famille enjoyed themselves immensely, too. Lo and behold, there was Hans Montenegro, our pal from way, way back, back from San Francisco "for good." Hans M. is separated from his beauty queen wife Cara Subijano, with whom he has a child. With Hans came his mother, la simpatica Rose Montenegro, brother Eric and sisters Bianca and Michelle.

Other vacationers included Luz Julian Peralta, Glo Fariña Peralta, Dr. Teresita Colome, Rep. Ana Periquet and her husband, Gen. Roy Camatu and Gen. de Leon.

But even as we took everything nice and easy at the resort, it was still party time for two of our gangmates. Since Holy Thursday was the birthday of Philip Cu-Unjieng, his wife Tricia C. and in-demand designer Pepito Albert organized a dinner – a gastronomic delight indeed – for our birthday boy.

Pepito A. was assisted by super talented interior designer and landscaper, Sonia. The party was held under a century old Dalisay tree fronting the cool breezy beach. Pepito decked the place up with colorful sarongs, torch lights and tons of exotic flowers.

Joining the party were Maja Sales and her husband, Mayor Reynolan S., who made sure that all went well. It sure did, palanggas, with the ambiance so very Bali. The menu was a gastronomic feast of lobsters, giant crabs, king prawns, maya-maya, a huge lechon and several vegetable dishes for us vegetarians.

Apres the satisfying dinner, the gang stayed up till 3 a.m., boozing, chatting and having a good laugh. Boyish Patrick Pacla joined us with his date, pretty Tricia Aglipa who arrived late-ish but partied with us until early the next morning. She had to split afterwards, though, since they had not made any reservations before their arrival.

Workaholic and vivacious Nancy Harel, the power behind the success of the PR and advertising firm Nancy Harel’s Association was there, too.

Moi congratulated Nancy H. for besting 10 other strong bidders for the tres important account of the Singapore Tourism Board. Nancy told moi excitedly, "It was my daughter Tami who prepared the winning bid. I’m really proud of her!" It seems that brilliant Tami H. had just returned after graduating with top honors at Israel’s prestigious Tel Aviv University. Things should be going roses for the Singapore Tourism Board with Nancy’s outfit offering fresh ideas with the help of her daughter Tami, naturellement.

At midnight on Good Friday – which was by then Saturday – it was the turn of hip photographer Pepper Teehankee. The resort’s first lady, Maja H.-S. prepared a surprise for Pepper T. She gathered around 20 of the resort’s employees to serenade Pepper and Philip C. and presented them with flowers after they were "crowned" by their closest friend or wife – in the case of Philip, Tricia, and sultry beauty Joyce Jimenez in the case of Pepper. Maja S. and her husband the mayor lead the singing and presentation of flowers. "This is a custom we have here," she explained to us, "It’s called Padapadakam. We serenade the honorees and present them with flowers as a gesture of love and friendship."

We spent that afternoon lolling around the beach, watching the gorgeous sunset as wild ducks flew by to settle for the night at the lagoon right behind the eco-friendly resort, palanggas.

Despite the number of vacationers in the resort at that time, there was always a waiter around to attend to one’s needs or orders, which they delivered immediately. No waiting. No hassle. The waiters were quick and ready to serve their guests. The friendly room girls, meanwhile, made sure that they did their rounds (to change bed sheets and towels daily) when the rooms were free. Saud is certainly an excellently run resort, palanggas. You can’t miss with Saud Beach Resort and Hotel.

We left on Saturday morning with heavy hearts to spend two days at the sprawling beach-front home of Gov. Bongbong Marcos in Laoag. That afternoon, Pepper, Joyce J., Gary R., Alex V.H., and moi spent the afternoon visiting the gorgeous 16th century St. Agustin Church of Paoay. It was amazing watching Joyce (who is actually a religious young miss) praying and joining in not one, not two, but three (!) processions on the night we arrived. She is one real cool gal in real life, a far cry from the roles she portrays on-screen, dahlings.

We then drove to Batak to visit the Marcos Museum and to the Little Malacañang in Laoag.

Easter Sunday, our last day, was spent at the world-class Fort Ilocandia Hotel, where we partook of a superb lunch at the hotel’s excellent Chinese resto. In the afternoon, Pepito went jet-skiing for an hour while the rest of us went dune buggying around the beach path. Tricia and moi watched Philip and Gary drive golf ball at the range with their professional swing.

Apres a yummy Italian dinner prepared by the chef of Lizza Araneta-Marcos, we were off to catch our Philippine Airline jet (which just arrived from its Hong Kong flight) back to Manille. The crew did a great job taking care of the passengers’ needs.

We touched down at NAIA on time. Apres getting our luggage, we said our good-byes. While driving home, we relished the fact that the decision to spend Holy Week in Pagudpud was the best decision we could have made, palanggas.

Why bother with Bali, when you have Saud Beach Resort and Hotel? Why bother jetting off for abroad, when we have so much more to see right in our very own tropical islands. There are so many cities and towns to visit and explore, as we discovered in Northern and Southern Ilocos with their rich heritage and culture.

Check out Pagudpud, palanggas, you’ll definitely not regret it. We surely didn’t! To get there, call tel. no. 4000 724 or 4000 725 and ask for the airport’s always accommodating tour coordinator, Michael Cheng who is the hotshot in-charge of PAL’s charter flights to Laoag and Hong Kong.

For reservations or more info about Saud Beach Resort, do call (in Manila) tel. no. (632) 921-2856; in Pagudpud, tel. nos. (077) 764-1106; (077) 764-1005; and (077) 764-1004. It’s one of the best around the Northern Coast, palanggas.

Now palanggas, that was a real cool vacation!