Destination: Vigan

When you finally see the place that you’ve only read or heard about, you get this kilig feeling that is undescribable. When I first got a glimpse of Plaza Salcedo from the tricycle, I couldn’t help but break into a smile.

After work, Lilian and I hauled our butts to Sampaloc to catch the 9:30PM deluxe Autobus to Vigan. I dozed on and off throughout the bus ride, but I would’ve preferred to have gotten a good night’s sleep instead. The inability to sleep when seated upright turned out to be a blessing, though. I woke up as the bus zigzagged its way towards the Quirino bridge; a sight that I have only seen in a Judy Ann-Rico Yan movie and in Pen’s 2002 pictures. I’m finally in Ilocos!

By 5:30AM, the bus dropped us off at the Bantay/Vigan stop where a tricycle welcomed us with open arms and charged us Php20/person to get to Heritage Village (My sleepy self forgot to haggle). I actually didn’t know where he should take us, and Heritage Village was the first thing that came to mind. So that was when I saw Plaza Salcedo and the sight took my breath away. All those weeks of researching and googling Vigan came full circle.

The tricycle dropped us off at the end of Calle Crisologo. It was a good thing I said Heritage Village because the tourism office was right in front of us. Unfortunately, it was too early and it was still closed. A kuchera (what the heck do you call a female kuchero?) approached us and offered us a kalesa ride. Politely, I said we’ll do it later. She asked us to text her when we’re ready for a ride. Once again, the historic vibe died right there and then. HaHa!

We walked over to Aniceto Mansion and asked if they had a day rate so we could at least put down our bags, but they didn’t. I’m sure the receptionist wanted to scream, “What the hell do you think this is, a motel?” So Lilian and I had no choice, but to haul our bags around town. Our first stop? McDonald’s. Again, historic vibe? Down the drain! It was still closed so we hung out until it opened at 6:30AM.

The façade of McDonald’s (and Jollibee and Chowking nearby) was made to look like an old Spanish house, but it still stood out like a sore thumb in this authentic historic town. Inside though, they tried to localize the place by hanging old photos of the churches in the area. Unfortunately, my breakfast was as non-native as it could get: Egg McMuffin with Sprite.

Still toting our bags, we went to Vigan Church, Plaza Salcedo (with replicas of every UNESCO site there is in the country and in the world), Ilocos Sur Capitol, Vigan City Hall, and back to Heritage Village.

Tired with walking with our bags, we decided to take a kalesa ride after I haggled the price down to Php120/hour (The standard rate is Php150). Mamang Kuchero took us to Bantay Belltower made famous by Panday (I’ve never seen the movie so I wouldn’t really know, but I’ll take people’s word for it). We climbed all the way up and enjoyed the cool air and the bird’s eye views. I found it quite sad though to see all the graffiti on the walls and bells. I think they’re doing something about it though as the gate to the belltower had to be unlocked when we got there. Good for them.

After that, we went to Burgos Museum, but didn’t go down (it wasn’t wise to waste time when we could walk there later). The next stop was Pagburnayan where they make the local burnay jars. Mamang Burnay (I need to stop with these nicknames!) demonstrated the whole process to us and told us that about 100 jars get made each day. That’s a lot of jars!

The next stop was the Crisologo Museum. Right when we entered the place, the electricity went out. I kept thinking about Pen’s Vigan ghost stories and told myself that Mr. Crisologo probably didn’t want me there, but I went in anyway because I didn’t go this far to be scared.

Mr. Floro Crisologo was a congressman who was assassinated while inside a church. You can see gruesome pictures of the murder and the pants and shoes that he wore that day. His wife, Carmeling Crisologo, became a governor afterwards and experienced an assassination attempt herself albeit a failed one; the pink car with bullet holes is on display at the museum.

We moved on over to Villa Angela, a heritage house where you can stay for a night should you have the money to do so. Its claim to fame is that Tom Cruise stayed there when he filmed “Days of Thunder.” Its cheapest room is with a detached bathroom; you’d have to go outside the room to do the number 1 or 2 at night. You’d have to pay me a million bucks to stay in that room and have to wander outside at night.

Mamang Kuchero decided to make money out of us and took us all the way to the house of the current governor of Ilocos Sur, Chav1t S1ngson. He’s well known for having exotic animals in his farm…oh, and for paving the way for former President Estrada’s impeachment. By this time, Lilian and I were sweaty and decided to just snap a couple of pictures and go back to the plaza instead of snooping around Baluarte. The “meter” was running afterall.

I told Mamang Kuchero to take us to the Vigan Shell station as I was instructed via text. When we got off, I saw someone who looked very familiar (thanks to Pen’s litratos) - Kuya Sean. He told us to go around to the main entrance of the clinic where we were welcomed by Ate Joy.

Whereas Tacloban had Raissa’s family, I had Pen’s family in Ilocos. Ate Joy asked, “So how do you know Pen?” I was about to say, “Well, Ate, we were separated at birth, don’t you know?” but opted for the “Well, she has a website and I have a website…”

An hour or so later, Pen called…to tell me to take pictures of “The Twins.” The chikahan lasted awhile and made the place sound like it was a sari-sari store where old women came to gossip (my voice fits the description well).

For lunch, they took us to Grandpa’s Inn (another Judy Ann/Rico Yan movie spot) where we had awesome Filipino food; I ended up devouring the bagnet (fried pork) and as always, I had to ask a stumper question, “Ate, why do they call it bagnet?” No one knows.

After resting (and almost falling off the folded futon in the clinic while dozing off), Lil and I headed back outside. We went back to the Burgos Museum, the birthplace of Father Jose Burgos (one of the three martyr priests who was killed in Rizal Park). The museum was more of Ilocano people stuff versus Burgos stuff. For example, they had pictures of famous Ilocano people hanging on the walls (Pen, why is your picture not up there?).

We went back to Calle Crisologo to observe it by foot where we spotted a couple doing a wedding photoshoot there. My brother (the one who sent me buying three heavy books a few weeks back) asked me to buy him a postcard with a vintage picture of Vigan. Well, as always, the souvenirs were all crap and didn’t find any postcards for him.

Feeling guilty for not yet eating anything that Vigan was known for, we headed over to the Empanadaan, a place where they made the infamous Vigan empanada. Unfortunately, I didn’t try any because I was scared for health reasons. We were on our first day of our week-long trip that would take us from Ilocos all the way to Banaue/Sagada. I wasn’t going to risk getting sick. Kaartehan!

It was nearing nightfall so Lilian and I headed back to the clinic where Ate Joy was still very busy with patients. May potential na maging milyonarya si Ate Joy! HaHa!

We packed their car with our bags and we headed up north to their house. We made a pitstop at Garden Fiesta Restaurant, which is co-owned by Pen. Tarush! Ate Joy told me to take pictures and send it to Pen because she hasn’t seen the place yet. Sister! Businesswoman ka na! The place has a great ambiance. Thumbs up!

Finally, we got to their house and saw the best tourist attraction of all: The Twins. I’ve heard and seen so many pictures of these boys from Pen that my trip wouldn’t have been complete without seeing them in person. Also on hand were Nikki and Pen’s godson, Josh. My goodness, they all look like Kuya Sean! If one tried to run away, I’m sure the townsfolk would know where to send them back. HaHa!

Okay, a rundown: Paul is fatter than Harris so you could tell which one’s which. Harris eats with his hands, while Paul eats by being spoonfed (no wonder he’s fatter than Harris). Harris is pilyo and mas magulo than Paul. The cutest thing I saw that night was Harris sweeping and wiping the floors as if he was cleaning. My guess is he has been hanging out with his yaya too much. HaHa!

After dinner, Lilian and I headed over to the house next door where we spent the night. Thanks once again to Pen’s ghost stories, I asked Lilian to stay in the bedroom while I showered in the bathroom (we slept in the bedroom next door).

The moment my body touched the bed, I was sound asleep until the next morning. Ate Joy told us that the power went out during the night, but Lilian and I never felt a thing. We were knocked out. HaHa!