I missed the sunrise that morning, something that rarely happens when I'm on a trip. Blame it on the cool breeze that passes through my open cottage and the lull of the gentle waves, with the light rain around midnight sealing the deal.

I was woken up by the high pitched chirps of sunbirds zipping to and fro between trees that line up the shore. As a kid I find these tamsi (as they are known locally) uhm annoying. We have a lot of them in my hometown but I have not heard or seen one for decades as our place became "progressive". That morning I welcomed their song.



I stepped out of my cottage, felt the warm sand, and head straight to the water for a morning dip. I watched from a distance how the island is a-buzz with activity: sunbirds darting from one tree to another for their breakfast (nectar and insects), the island's resident bantam chickens roaming around, and just off the island fishermen were hauling the nets they cast a few hours ago. Everything seems to be in silent harmony.



After breakfast I went straight to the hammock, flipped lazily through the pages of an inflight magazine, and soon was back in dreamland. I woke up with the sun on my face. The sky was deep blue with puffy white clouds. It was a perfect day.



How I wished that time would stop, but all things perfect come to an end. With a heavy heart I started packing my stuff, time to get back to Iloilo City in a few hours.



My time there was short but sweet, and I try to dwell more on the sweet part. I'll be back to the sandbar for sure.

With a super typhoon threatening central and northern Luzon (and expected to bring heavy rains to Manila as well), I hopped on a early morning flight to Iloilo city. My tentative destination: Bolobadiangan island (name is also spelled as Bulubadiangan) in Concepcion, a quiet fishing town on Panay's north eastern coast, some 2-3 hours away from Iloilo City.

The setting sun warmed up the facade, its blocks of coral rocks turned golden.  For a few seconds, the passing clouds turned pink, providing a great backdrop for this quaint church in Paoay.

Its probably one of the most photographed churches in Ilocos Norte. The church directly faces the west, making it picture perfect at sunset. We made a quick detour to Paoay on the way back to Manila after a weekend further north in Burgos and Bangui (Kapurpurawan rock formation and Bangui windmills).



Info tidbits about Paoay church:

•  Officially known as St. Augustine Church, it was named UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 (one of the four Baroque churches in Philippines to be included in the list. The other one I've visited is Miagao church)
• Architecture is a combination of Baroque, Gothic, and Oriental designs
• Its 1.67-meter thick walls are supported by 24 curved buttresses, making it very resilient to earthquakes.