Riding in Tandem: The North Loop

If you’ve read my previous blog, you’d know that I’ve come to love motorcycles because of 1) speed 2) ease of travel and 3) thrift of diesel consumption.

The first time we took a really, really long ride was when we joined Motour in their North Loop Ride. And yes, it was one heck of a ride!

Okay, I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle. I don’t even know how to ride a bike. So, for the entire ride, my role was just to sit at the back and be the “Waze” for my companion. I think at some point, I became his radio as well. Anyhow, that did not stop me from enjoying the trip!

I work the night shift, so I had to take a half-day off just to be able to make it to the 3AM call time. We started our journey to the meet-up at Shell Balintawak at 2:30 AM. We got to the meeting place right on time and waited along with the others (there were around 15 motorcycles when we got there). Then, we all took a journey to Julie’s at Tarlac:

The group, now with around 20 riders, enjoyed our breakfast before we headed to our lunch destination, Riverside Restaurant, in Pangasinan.

It was the perfect spot to chill; the cool breeze, the calm waters, the fresh food, they all match. We stayed there for a good 2 hours until we decided to go straight to Dagupan.

After getting our tummies full, we went to Urduja house in Dagupan, Pangasinan.

Urduja House is the official residence of the governor of Pangasinan. On regular days, visitors are allowed to enter to see the mini-museum inside. Unfortunately, we went there on a weekend, so we weren’t allowed inside. Here’s how it looks like from the outside:

You can check out this blog for more information on the Urduja House. After exploring the citadel of Pangasinan, we went to Bolinao to check out the lighthouse, ate at Sungayan Grill, then went back to Dagupan to rest.

Fast forward to Day 3, I can consider that the highlight of our trip was our visit to Tangadan Falls, La Union. It was one of the most jaw-dropping falls I’ve seen. Standing 50 ft., visitors can choose to either jump their way to the clear waters or chill by the riverside.

It’s a 30-40 minute ride by motorcycle, and I must say, that it’s not for the faint-hearted. The ride is similar to taking a roller coaster ride on your motorcycle. The twisties seemed unending, and the road’s elevation height may be up to 80 degrees. Nope. Not kidding. It’s hard to capture it on video, but you can check out Motour’s blog to get a better feel of how it is. Our entire adventure in La Union can also be found here. Upon our arrival at the parking spot, we took a 15-20 minute hike to the jumping point.

After our Tangadan falls adventure, we went straight to Halo-Halo De Iloko.

By far, their halo-halo is the best and most-unique halo-halo I’ve ever tasted. It comes in three sizes, but you have the try the special halo-halo:

It is served in a coconut shell, topped with ice cream, pastillas, and ube (yam). As any halo-halo, it’s got sweetened banana, nata-de-coco, pinipig, sago, but what made it special for me is the mango (which is not common in hao-halos) and the polvoron added in the mix. These really enhanced the taste and texture of this common Filipino dessert. I’ll definitely come back for this one.

Day 4 came, and it was time to home. We took the Anduyan Bridge route to Baguio City, and we did not regret it. The road was the dream for motorcycle riders. There aren’t too many vehicles, it’s got a great view of Benguet, and it took a shorter time for us to get to our destination.

Motorcycle rides can be uncomfy. But if you’d like to go to places and enjoy, not just the destination, but the ride itself, take on an adventure this way.