Michi Photostory

Last June, we had our North Luzon Road Trip, and before heading home, we made a quick stop at Thunderbird Resort for lunch. My husband checked if we could do a day trip and mentioned that the entrance fee was supposedly PHP 300. But when I searched, I saw it was PHP 500. We relied solely on Google and didn’t bother calling the resort to confirm. So when we arrived, we were all shocked to find out that the entrance fee was actually PHP 1,000. Toink! 

We were already there and hungry, so backing out wasn’t really an option — “ginusto namin 'to,” hehehe! The guard gave us a parking ticket, which we had to present at the reception. The PHP 1,000 entrance fee was consumable, and since there are only a few restaurants inside the resort, we decided to eat at Olives Restaurant. 

We were a group of four, and at first, I wondered how we could possibly spend PHP 4,000 just for lunch. But when I saw the menu, I couldn’t help but laugh — the meals were quite pricey, so there was really nothing to worry about after all.

Here’s what we ordered: 

Grilled Pork Loin with Caramelized Apples – PHP 750 

Catch of the Day with Mango Pineapple Salsa – PHP 750 

Margherita Pizza – PHP 800 

Chicken Biryani – PHP 1,000 

Banoffee Pie – PHP 450 

While we were waiting, they served complimentary bread. 

The meals were pricey, but they all tasted great, so we had no complaints. However, the portions were too large for our appetites, so it took us a while to finish our food. We ended up sharing everything as a family, and in the end, take out na lang yung pizza.

After our hearty meal, we started exploring the resort. It was cloudy and windy, and it looked like it was about to rain, so we didn’t stay long. 

We still had some of our PHP 4,000 consumable credit left, so I bought some bread from the Pianosa Deli Shop. After that, we headed home. We only stayed at the resort for about two hours. 

Poro Point Freeport Zone, 

San Fernando, La Union, 2500, Philippines

It’s been years since our last road trip; we went to Pangasinan - Baguio - Sagada and last month, we went to Pangasinan - Vigan - La Union. 

We live in South Luzon, so our usual stopover is Pangasinan. My in-laws live in Pangasinan, so we always visit them before starting our tour. For a change, we did sleep there and decided to stay in Alaminos, Pangasinan. 

This was a last-minute trip, so we had a hard time looking for accommodation. But my husband found Laylow Villas. We stayed here for one night before we traveled to Vigan. 

It's been 13 years since our last visit to Vigan, Ilocos Sur. I remembered I booked a flight because I don’t like long travel, but things have changed, sa dami na ng expressway, hindi na matagal ang biyahe. But because of the rain, sobrang tagal ng biyahe namin from Alaminos but thank God we arrived safe. 

With our recent trip, we only stayed at Vigan and chose Hotel Luna for our accommodation for 2 nights. I’m traveling with my mom so we had a DIY Vigan Tour and ang dami na rin nagbago. I will share that in a separate post.

On our last day, I’ve been searching kung saan magandang magside trip sa La Union. I’ve been checking different tourist spots, but in the end, we went to Thunderbird Resorts. We ate lunch here and discovered na pricey pala sa resort na ito. Hehehe! 

We did not stay long since malayo pa biyahe namin pauwi. Four days is too short; we were tired but happy for a new experience.