Baluarte

From the enchanting paradise of Pagudpud, we now make our way to Chavit Country. Vigan City is about 3 hours by land from Pagudpud. On our way there, we stopped by the Pasuquin Bakeshop found in the town with the same name. As usual, it was Nena who led me to this one of a kind bakeshop that serves the softest biscocho around. Let me just tell you, soft is an understatement! We're talking melt in your mouth biscocho that I never even knew existed. Not only did I buy Nena a bag, we bought one to eat in the car AND to bring home pa to Manila. Yum-o!


We finally arrived in Vigan at around 12 noon and our driver for hire Jaime suggested that we have lunch at Cafe Leona on Calle Crisologo. We had the usual bagnet and puqui puqui but this time around, we ordered some pinakbet to compliment our meal. Again, I have yet to taste ugly food here in Ilocos. Everything so far has been delicious. Since we didn't know if we had enough time to go to the market, we took a chance and bought Vigan longganisa from the restaurant as well. I'm sure it's more expensive but we only had so much time so we just bought it anyway. The rest of the afternoon would be spent roaming the streets of Vigan.




After about a few minutes of walking on Calle Crisologo, the heat had become unbearable. We chanced upon mamang kuchero who offered to take us around for P150.00 -- no time limit! Wherever we wanted to go. So we thought, what better way to make lakwacha in this old town than to ride a horse drawn carriage! Feel na feel namin! Hahahahaha. We had so much fun going around all the different places of interest in this town. But I guess what Vigan will always be known for was the conflict between the Crisologos and the Singsons which led to so much violence and bloodshed. First stop palang, 'dito po binaril si Congressman Crisologo' and then a few stops away, 'dito po tumira ang mga Crisologos'. Ay grabeh. When I was in high school, I met a certain Alex Crisologo who was going out with a girlfriend of mine pero his last name did not ring a bell. Years later while watching The Bingbong Crisologo movie starring Rudy Fernandez (too much CinemaOne for me), I would find out that Alex was the son of Bingbong who was the arch nemesis of his cousin Chavit. Imagine that! History was right in front of me and I didn't even know it.


But what truly piqued my interest in this town was the Judy Ann Santos and Rico Yan movie that used Vigan as a backdrop for their love story. Profound noh? Heehee. Well, that's the truth! After seeing that movie, I fell in love with Vigan as well. This bell tower was used in the scene where Rico was telling Judy Ann about where his mom was buried and that he missed her very much. I'm telling you, kahit uggs pa si Judy Ann kasi di pa siya nag-fitrum, kinikilig ako while watching that movie. Heehee. I'm sure Reymond is cringing while I'm telling you this. If you haven't seen the movie, then you really will not be able to understand where I'm coming from!





Last stop in Vigan was Chavit's backyard aptly named Baluarte. This Chavit has illusions of turning his property into Manila Zoo! There were so many different animals roaming the grounds, most of which were exotic and wild. When we got there, the animal show was about to begin. For the final act, I was not surprised when my husband volunteers for the 'best' part of the show. As he is standing in the middle of the stage, out comes an orangutan who reaches out for his neck, plants a kiss on his cheek then climbs up so that Reymond could cradle him. Hahahahaha! You should've seen hubby's face. Nabigla pero na no choice na siya. It turned out to be a great kodak moment though and all the kids were envious of him.

After Vigan, we travelled an hour and a half back to Laoag making a quick stop at the market for longganisa and bagnet before boarding our 7pm flight back to Manila. It was a fun and relaxing trip! I would recommend Ilocos to people who are looking for a vacation spot minus the summer crowd. It's absolute bliss!