Friday. We went to Albertville Premium Outlets for their July 4 sale. Most of us were soooo excited, especially the girls, since they know that 100 outlet stores including Adidas, Nike, CK, Kenneth Cole, Polo RL, Coach, Nine West etc. are waiting for them. I am excited too, but the kuripotness in me whispers na kelangan ko daw mag-ipon hehe. Ang dami namin sa roadtrip, wee are 12 in all, but we rented a 15-seater van to give us more room just in case we get carried away.

As soon as some of the outlets have opened (we got there 8:30am e 10am pa pala nagbubukas, obvious na excited haha), we started our "journey". Lahat merong gustong store na puntahan at bilihan, kaya galit-galit muna. As for me, I wanted a pair of shoes, two pairs of jeans, a watch, and a few shirts. Yun lang. But who would have guessed that I would also fall into the trap?

Tingnan nyo naman kasi yung mga deals:

Shoes: 50% off each pair, tapos kapag bumili ka ng 2 pairs may libre pang isa.
Shirts: 50% - 70% off kaya ang prices around $3 - $10 na lang.
Watches: $30 each or less.
Caps: $5 - $10 each, buy 2 and get 20% off, 3 and get 30% off, and so on...
Bags, Jeans, and all the other items: 50% - 70% off!

Ayun yung plan ko, nadoble! This is the first time (in my entire life) na bumili ako ng 5 pairs of shoes (usually one in a year), a dozen shirts, and a watch (every two to three years) in one day! Ngayon lang din ako nag-shop ng ganun at gumastos ng ganun kalaki sa loob ng ilang oras (except ciempre kung gadgets yung binili ko hehe). Nilagnat ako as soon as macompute ko lahat ng binili ko haha! And worse, I wasn't able to buy anything for my mom and my sister! Wala pa din akong pasalubong! Naisip ko lang, sana bumili na di ako kahit di pa ako uuwi, sayang ung sale hehe.

Just as we expected, sobrang sikip nung van nung umuwi na kami. Literally natatabunan kami ng pinamili namin.

Saturday. On with the sale sickness. We went to Best Buy and Circuit City stores in Maplewood. Buti na lang either mahal or sold-out na yung plan kong bilhin: Creative Zen. Just when I thought delayed na yung paggastos ko ulit, natuloy kaming pumunta ng Mall of America, sale din kasi. The damage done: two pairs of slippers and a polo shirt.In a span of two days, I've spent an amount a little less than my allowance for 10 days. Nakaka-guilty... pero I feel happy kapag nakikita ko yung pinamili ko, pinaghirapan ko din yan kahit papano! <--Pampalubag-loob haha!

Sunday Plans: Go to church tapos mag-stay sa loob ng apartment maghapon, wag lalabas and resist temptations.

Now I hate Albertville, MN. :P

For those who have been asking me on how we went to Sagada and what we did there, here's a summary of our trip (I've long wanted to write about it and get out of my laziness, and this is the best try so far):

Day 0
9:00PM - 3:15AM ~ Trip from Manila to Baguio. Took us around 6 hours. In my opinion, it is best to get a bus from Victory Liner Pasay since they have trips every hour.
* Fare will cost you P395.00.
* Two stop-overs.

Day 1
3:15AM ~ Arrival to Baguio. From Victory Liner Baguio, we took a cab to Dangwa Station, where Lizardo Bus Lines is located. Their buses will take us to Sagada.
* Taxi fare would be around P35.00 - P40.00.

6:00AM - 12:30PM ~ Trip from Baguio to Sagada. Took us another 6 hours. It is best to get to Dangwa at around 5:00am to make sure that you get the first trip.
* Fare will cost you P220.00, all buses do not have aircons.
* First trip leaves at 6:00am, last trip leaves at 1:00pm.
* Some roads are rough, better take anti-motion sickness pills
* Two stop-overs.

12:30PM ~ Arrival to Sagada.
* It is required for all tourists to register at the municipal hall first.
* Rates for inns, lodges, transients, tour guides, van rentals, etc are available at the municipal hall
* It is required to hire tour guides in almost all of the tourist spots

Around 3:ooPM ~ Burial Cave Trek

Around 5:00PM - 7:30PM ~ Sumaging Cave Trek
* Wear something comfortable
* You may also want to get yourself wet inside the cave
* Bring drinking water
* For these 2 trips, you may not rent a van yet since these sites are close to the municipal hall (provided you are staying near it)

Day 2
Around 9:00AM - 2:00PM ~ Trek to Big Falls, Rice Terraces
* Wear swim suits, boardshorts!
* Bring lots of drinking water and packed lunch if you want
* You may want to wear shoes, since this trek will take you around 3 hours to and from

Around 3:00PM ~ Trips to Echo Valley, Sagada Weaving, etc.
* These are trips not as tiring as that of going to the Big Falls
* Make sure that you rent a van (will cost you about P1400.00 for the whole day, plus the tour guide fee of P1200.00)
* Make sure you do these and the Sumaging Cave trek on different days, just as we did

Day 3
Around 7:30AM ~ Casual Walk around Sagada
* While waiting for the 9:00am bus ride back to Baguio (the first bus leaves at 7:00am)
* Walk to the church, the hospital, view some cliffs, etc.

Some more tips:
* Bring medicines, iodine solutions, bandage, etc. just in case. ^^
* Drink Vitamin C, to increase your resistance to colds, cough, etc. since it' very cold in Sagada.
* Better bring liters of water, then just transfer it to smaller bottles during trips, as bottled water in Sagada can be a bit pricey.
* Make a reservation to inns in advance. We didn't do this, and we five end up staying at a more costly room only good for three.
* Do some stretching before the trek, as it can be very very tiring. A few jogs in the morning won't hurt. ^^
* Read and do some reseacrh on Sagada first, as this trip may not be enjoyable to some people. You may want to browse Visit Sagada, most of the info we had came from it.

This is all for now. I know I have missed something, do if you have more questions, feel free to post. :P