Our Vigan Adventure

May 29, 2005

Our trip to Vigan was actually a side trip of our trip to Candon City. We needed to go to Candon because Jojie had a meeting there on a Monday so we decided to leave for Ilocos on Friday night to be able to spend some time in Vigan.

We took a bus to Vigan after breakfast at Jollibee in Candon. The trip was an hour and a half long. When we got to Vigan, we had no idea where to go or what we could do so we just asked the bus conductor to drop us off at the plaza.

We went directly to the church, said our prayers (and wishes, too), and asked for directions to their information office. No one we asked knew what we were talking about so Jojie and I decided to just walk around. Thankfully, we found the Information Office so we were to get a map and a list of the must-see places.

Armed with the map and with the bilin of the tourist officer, we hired a kalesa to bring us around the city.

First stop: The main street. Manong kalesa brought us to the main street with the Spanish houses and the cobble stones. Ang cool! We were able to have a few pictures taken and Jojie bought me a body bag in the color of our wedding motiff!

Second stop: The pottery places. Manong kalesa took us to the barangay where the main livelihood is pottery making. Nakakatuwa kasi pag tinignan mo yung lupa pula talaga! So it comes as no surprise that people there decided to make pottery their way of living.

Third stop: Hidden Garden. A really nice garden na parang Sonyas ang dating with wishing wells and water falls.

Fourth stop: Baluarte... The house of Chavit Singson. It has a mini zoo with peacocks and eagles and monkeys and crocodiles and tiger and little ponies. We even got free pony rides! A must-mention detail of the Baluarte is the giant mahjong tiles surrounding the veranda! Hahaha! Sugarol talaga!

By then, our kalesa ride has lasted for more than two hours so we asked manong kalesa to bring us back to the Plaza.

Of course, being the not-really-fond-of-food-couple that we are (hahaha! right!), we had to eat in Vigan. At first we just wanted to eat at the church-inspired McDonalds (with the bell tower, take note) but we figured that since we were there, we might as well try out the local fare. So we trekked to the main street again and decided to try out Cafe Leona, a restaurant in one of the old Spanish houses.

We ordered Bagnet and Pinakbet... ang sarap pala nun! Bagnet is basically lechon kawali na mas malasa served with kamatis, sibuyas, at bagoong isda. As for pinakbet, masarap pala yun! You see, I am not really fond of pinakbet before (did not eat it, in fact)but ever since tasting pinakbet here, I would always order pinakbet whenever Jojie and I are eating out. :)
After filling ourselves with the famous Ilocano cuisine, we hailed a tricycle to bring us to the bus station so we can go back to Candon. So endeth our one day Vigan adventure!

CANDON: We had fun in Candon, too. Stayed at Smurf cottages, which was actually a motel! ;) The highlight of our stay was the time Jojie and I went to the beach (the sand was black!) and the wind and the waves were so strong that we had a hard time staying in one place. We held hands the whole time with Jojie saying “Hindi tayo pwedeng padala sa agos, hon! Kaya natin ito!” :)